Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

by Iris Murdoch

This is a brilliant book that takes a hilarious serendipitous journey with Jake Donaghue as he goes from a self-loathing free-loading mooch to one who begins to see worth and beauty in himself and the world around him.

An outstanding read, a book that I will visit again.

I am about 2000 steps over goal.  Kicking ass!  Several times I have had to take long walks after dinner.

Reading is going well.  Well into Under the Net, LOVE IT! and I have been getting more sleep.

Nails are longer. 

Solid!

I believe new year's resolutions are good for me.  They help me distinguish the difference between want and need. 

This year, I hope to focus on fitness and health:

• Read 30 minutes a day.  I believe this will help me get to bed earlier.
• Read the following five books on Random House Top 100 novels:  Under the Net by Iris Murdock, Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, and Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara  
• Not to put my fingers in my mouth.  This seems silly but I bite my nails, skin around my nails, and cuticles.  It is sick!
• Average 10,000 steps a day.  This is going to be difficult.

As always I am completely confident.  2012, BRING IT!!!

It is never a good indication of how ones new year's resolutions have gone if one has to first go back to see what they were.  Here where my 2011 resolutions and a brief summary of how I fared:

• No TV after midnight.  Having forgotten I even made this one, I failed miserably.   
• Run three days a week and report my progress on my blog. I remembered this yet stayed basically inactive most of the year.  I would rate this as a fail.
• Read five books with my mother: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Deliverance by James Dickey, House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.   My first success!  I enjoyed most of the books, especially I, Claudius and The Heart of the Matter.  I plan continuing reading with my mother.
• Not to use the word "very" in any writing.  Again, a success!  I was aware of how easily the word "very" is replaced by other words or just left out. 
• Remove all dairy from my diet.  Not a chance, failure spectacular!  I need to get my eating under control before I try to make this kind of leap.

My brother-in-law Matt Smith gave all the brothers an assignment over Christmas to make a list of our 100 top songs.

Here where the rules:
1- no more than five songs by exactly one artist
2- no more than three songs by any other artist
3- you must own a digital copy of any song on your list

We then met on December 28th at Matt's home to reveal our list. I brought beer at Tequila and Matt made tacos for dinner. Each brother rated songs on a + (I like the song), 0 (the song is only ok), and - (remove this song from your list!) To make the evening move along each brother was given 30 minutes to play our lists on shuffle. As soon as a song was rated we went to the next song.

Before I reveal my list, I want to make clear that one can be safe and pick songs that have already been placed on societies collective top 100, or one can dig deeper and pick song that evoke personal emotions. I, of course, created a list of the latter in alphabetical order:

1- Modern Man: Arcade Fire
2- She's Enough: Atmosphere
3- The Best Day: Atmosphere
4- Planet Claire: The B-52's
5- God Only Knows: The Beach Boys
6- Brass Monkey: The Beastie Boys
7- Something: The Beatles
8- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown): The Beatles
9- Girl: Beck
10- Morning Yearning: Ben Harper
11-Furr: Blitzen Trapper
12- Tangled Up In Blue: Bob Dylan
13- Concrete Jungle: Bob Marley and The Wailers
14- See A Little Light: Bob Mould
15- Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen
16- Trapped (Live): Bruce Springsteen
17- Short Skirt/Long Jacket: Cake
18- Shake It Up: The Cars
19- Father and Son: Cat Stevens
20- Somebody's Crying: Chris Isaak
21- The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
22- Brand New Cadillac: The Clash
23- Fortunate Son: Creedence Clearwater Revival
24- I Will Possess Your Heart: Death Cab For Cutie
25- Crooked Teeth: Death Cab For Cutie
26- The Crane Wife 3: The Decemberists
27- Calamity Song: The Decemberists
28- Queen of the Surface Streets: DeVotchKa
29- So Far Away: Dire Straits
30- Used To Be A Cop: Drive-By Truckers
31- Hard Sun: Eddie Vedder
32- Alison: Elvis Costello
33- A Little Less Conversation: Elvis Presley
34- The Rockafeller Skank: Fatboy Slim
35- Helena Beat: Foster The People
36- What Is Life: George Harrison
37- Run (I'm A Natural Disaster): Gnarls Barkley
38- The Captain: Guster
39- Tick Tick Boom: The Hives
40- Oh My God: Ida Maria
41- I'd Run Away: The Jayhawks
42- Fire: Jimi Hendrix
43- Hurt: Johnny Cash
44- Movement: LCD Soundsystem
45- Losing My Edge: LCD Soundsystem
46- North American Scum: LCD Soundsystem
47- All My Friends: LCD Soundsystem
48- Rock 'n Roll: Led Zeppelin
49- Never Said: Liz Phair
50- Two Janes: Los Lobos
51- Skinny Legs: Lyle Lovette
52- Car Wheels On A Gravel Road: Lucinda Williams
53- What's Going On: Marvin Gaye
54- Overkill: Men At Work
55- Southside: Moby
56- Satellite Skin: Modest Mouse
57- O My Heart: Mother Mother
58- Little Lion Man: Mumford & Sons
59- Old Man: Neil Young
60- Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
61- Pink Moon: Nick Drake
62- All Apologies: Nirvana
63- Lithium: Nirvana
64- Cut Your Hair: Pavement
65- Alive: Pearl Jam
66- Better Man: Pearl Jam
67- Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
68- Solsbury Hill: Peter Gabriel
69- Comfortably Numb: Pink Floyd
70-Little Red Corvette: Prince
71- History Repeating: Propellerheads
72- Amie: Pure Prairie League
73- It's The End Of The World As We Know It: R.E.M.
74- Driver 8: R.E.M.
75- Catapult: R.E.M.
76- Weird Fishes/Arpeggi: Radiohead
77- Unsatisfied: The Replacements
78- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning: Richard Thompson
79- Street Fighting Man: The Rolling Stones
80- Gimme Shelter: The Rolling Stones
81- Crash And Burn: Sheryl Crow
82- New Slang: The Shins
83- 1979: Smashing Pumpkins
84- Tear Stained Eye: Son Volt
85- Black Gold: Soul Asylum
86- Flipside: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
87- The Mystery Zone: Spoon
88- Supersition: Stevie Wonder
89- All This Time: Sting
90- Last Nite: The Strokes
91- Institutionalized: Suicidal Tendencies
92- Don't Do Me Like That: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
93- Pancho & Lefty: Townes Van Zandt
94- Wait So Long: Trampled By Turtles
95- Gloria: U2
96- Seether: Veruca Salt
97- Blue Orchid: The White Stripes
98- Baba O'Riley: The Who
99- Misunderstood: Wilco
100- One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley): Wilco

I had a heated debate the other day at work.  My friend is a staunch republican who supports candidates that I have not interest in.  We got no where in our debate so I asked him what he wanted in a presidential candidate.  He had an answer and I did not.

So...

Below is a list of what I feel is important in a candidate.  I reserve the right to add or subtract from it.


1- Our country was founded on compromise; therefore, the candidate I support must be willing to listen to all sides of issues and find solutions that move in more than one direction.

2- America is best when we are creating new innovative cutting edge products. This takes an educated population that can express their creativity. My Presidential candidate must support public education for all.

3- I would like my candidate to be financially responsible. We can not continue to spend without having the money to fund. There needs to be a tax system that requires sacrifice from all economic levels. The rich and corporations must pay their share.

4- I believe our government must protect all its citizens. My candidate must not be bias against any one group of people regardless of religion, race, socioeconomic, or sexual orientation.

Charlie said: I normally wait until the last line to “surprise” with my rating. Not this time. It is a definite promote it, a big time promote it. In fact, it is my favorite CD this year.

I don’t think it would work if I just listed the songs I like because, I like them all! Really, all of them.

Because of that, I am going to try to interpret one song on this album.

“One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” is my favorite song on the album. Before I even started to try to interpret the lyric meaning, the simple melody caught me. It was so simple yet it seems as if Tweedy added one extra note thus making is at the same time complex. I can’t explain it, but I can’t even hum along without the song in the background.

Beyond the simple yet complex melody there are heartbreaking lyrics. Tweedy is talking about a contentious relationship between a son and his father. “My father said what I had become/No one should be.” exemplifies how bad the connection has become. The problem stems from religion: “I said it's your God I don't believe in/No, your Bible can't be true” and the son is even somewhat happy when the father is gone.

The song could have looked only at the failed bond, but instead it goes much deeper. It was not who was right and who was wrong, like the melody, it seemed simple but at the same time was complex.

The lyrics continue with the son seeing his relationship with his father for what it was, complex, and the song ends where it began.

Here are the last three stanza of the song:

Something sad keeps moving
So I wandered around.
I fell in love with the burden
Holding me down.

Bless my mind, I miss
Being told how to live.
What I learned without knowing
How much more I owe than I can give

This is how I tell it
Oh, but it's long.
One Sunday morning
One son is gone.

It song will be with me a long time.

If you like atmosphere say shh… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_E8SPc_jo

Charlie said:  I obviously liked this album more than you Tina.  I found the lyrics vivid, smart, funny, and blunt.  This entire album orbits around the family unit, from the pain of growing up (The Last to Say), trying to find a partner (Became), finding a wife (She's Enough), even a funny look at being a dad (Bad Bad Daddy). 

If gangster rap speaks to people growing up in gangs and violence, Atmosphere speaks to those living in Minnesota trying to raise a family.  Atmosphere are rapper who loudly claim Minnesota as their home, they do not deny they love, and point out their weaknesses and flaws.

I love almost every song of this album.  The best are:  The Last to Say, Became, She's Enough, Who I'll Never Be, If You Can Save Me Now, and My Notes. 

Tina, I even liked Bad Bad Daddy.  I think it is hilarious.

On Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, The Family Sign hits it out of the park in to the atmosphere, Promote It.

--I just did two things that changed my list: I reduced it to 10, and I bought the new Wilco album.


1- Art of Almost: Wilco-The Whole Love
2- Ok: Beastie Boys-Hot Sauce Committee part two
3- Coming Up: Lupe Fiasco-Lasers
4- Used to Be a Cop: Drive-By Truckers-Go-Go Boots
5- Calamity Song: The Decemberists-The King is Dead
6- You Are a Tourist: Death Cab For Cutie-Codes and Keys
7- Became: Atmosphere-The Family Sign
8- Helena Beat: Foster the People-Torches
9- Shell Games: Bright Eyes-The People's Key
10- One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend): Wilco-The Whole Love

some times I run to
other times I run away from
its best when I'm with