December 20, 2005

'Saw two of the Dixie Chicks (Natalie Maines and Martie Seidel) out on the town last night with a large contingent of family members (25 to 30 people in all, I would guess). 'Twas the first time I've ever seen 'em around Austin. 'First song when I started up my iPod this morning? "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" off their "Home" CD.

Second song today? "Gambler's Prayer" by Todd Hoke. I hadn't really checked out Todd's page since he moved to North Carolina. But, I looked at it today and was surprised to see a big ol' redesign. Nice. The point here, though, is to tell you to read the September Ramblings on his news page. The open mic night story is just so sad. But, he tells it in such a great way (no surprise there) that you can't help but laugh. Go on, now...

December 12, 2005

Today's tale of the iPod. I jotted down song titles as the day went along and then took time when I got home tonight to write a bit about 'em. So, here you go:

• 9:20AM: "Live Close By, Visit Often" by K.T. Oslin - title track of K.T.'s most recent CD (as far as I know or can tell). The main hook: "Why don't you live close by, visit often? That'll work, that'll work for me. Live close by, visit often. 'Save us both a lot of misery." Heh. Co-written by who? Raul Malo. Two great song writers. How could it possibly miss?

• 9:28AM: "This Shirt" by Mary Chapin Carpenter - off the "State of the Heart" CD, her first CD, released in 1989. One of my all-time favorite songs. I had a shirt like this in high school. I haven't been able to wear it in years. But, I still have it. In a box. Somewhere. 'Love that shirt.

• 10:27AM: "Black & White" by Three Dog Night. A favorite from my childhood. I would call the local radio station (we lived in Denver at the time) and request this and "Joy to the World" (also by Three Dog Night). I'd try to use different voices and call multiple times hoping the radio station would think they were getting lots of requests. I thought this was a terribly clever scheme. Since I was only about 10 or so, I'm sure they knew it was the same kid. And, I don't recall any of my requests ever being played. I always knew that it played right after I had to turn the radio off, though. You know it happened that way!

• 10:56AM: "A Better Man" by Clint Black. Another song from a debut CD. 'Hard to believe "Killin' Time" came out in 1990. It seems like Clint's been a favorite of mine for at least 10 years longer than that. Apparently, not so much. Back in the day, Clint used to come play in Austin at Aquafest. You'd pay for a discount pin before the festival started. The cost ran around $10 or so (maybe less...I can't remember for sure) and then you'd pay about $3 to get in on any given night. And, you'd hear the best music. It was great. I got to see Clint a time or two over on the Country stage. Amazingly, there would only be about 100 other people there. So, you could sit about 15 or 20 feet away away from him and just be happy that he was there. It was great. He was so darned cute. He still is. But, back then, it simply amazed me that there weren't thousands of people hanging around that stage. There's no way that could happen today.

• 11:02AM: "Shelley" by Dance Hall Crashers. I have no idea where I heard about this group. Maybe from my old launch.com days? I really don't remember. But, I do enjoy their "Lockjaw" CD. And, this is my favorite song.

• 11:26AM: "Everything Falls Apart" by Dog's Eye View. Lyric: "The devil's not in the details. No, the devil is in my pants." I was driving along about a year ago, I think, listening to the radio. I rarely listen to the radio anymore. I must've been driving the MearMobile or something. At any rate, I heard that snippet of lyric and had to have the song. I bought it from iTunes that day or the next. 'Dunno nuthin' 'bout anything else Dog's Eye View sings. 'Guess I should change that, eh?

• 11:31AM: "Coffe Shop Song" by Sarah Sharp. I heard Sarah do an in-studio interview on K-UT, I think. 'Bout a year and a half ago. I ordered her CD that day. And, I loved it. I've now seen her at the Cactus Cafe a couple of times (she did a fun show there just a couple of weeks ago!) and find her to be quite the intriguing performer. This is a great song she says is made up of stories told her by people walking up to her as she sat at a coffee shop on the Drag.

• 11:34AM: "Crime of Passion" by Ricky Van Shelton. I liked Ricky well enough. And, then I saw him open for Reba or someone at the Erwin Center at least 10 years ago. And that was the end of that. Hearing his booming voice resonate through the Erwin Center just blew me away. I love this song. Katie hates it. Too bad for her. Heh. You'd think with her love of "True Crime" books, she'd enjoy a song about a guy who's dragged over to the wrong side of the law by his passion for a woman...but, alas, apparently not.

• 11:38AM: "If I Left You" by Kelly Willis. Geesh! How many great songs in a row does that make? Wow. Kelly Willis is something else. This is a great song. Unlike many of the songs above, this one is not off her debut album. I think her debut ("Well Travelled Love") is out of print. It's still my favorite but, really, you can't go wrong with any of her stuff.

• 11:57AM: "Dead Skunk" by Loudon Wainwright III. Heh. Another from my childhood. For some odd reason, this song just won't let me be. Whenever I'm driving around and get a whiff of dead skunk, I cannot help but sing the refrain from this song. Oddly, it was not in my song collection until I recently downloaded it from iTunes.

• 12:00PM: "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. This came on just as I was getting ready to leave for lunch. A great classic from my youth. My mother did enjoy the occasional Johnny Horton song!

• 1:12PM: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by simon and Garfunkel - off their Greatest Hits CD. This always makes me think of Monique. She'd have this album (yes...an actual album) playing in her dorm room for hours on end. We would just listen to Side 1 over and over and over. I'm sure it drove Terry absolutely nuts! Geesh. That was during our freshman year in Littlefield Dorm. Nearly 25 years ago. How scary.

• 1:36PM: "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by the bluehouse. Most of the stuff on their CDs is original. This remake is spectacular. The first time I heard it, I wasn't sure it really was the same song. But, it is. It's lots of fun playing this for folks. They listen. Their eyes narrow. They wonder if it's really that song. And, to a person, they all love it.

• 3:13PM: "Stolen Horses" by Ray Wylie Hubbard (off his "Growl" album). Esther stopped by for something and as she was about to leave I noticed the song was about to end. I had to rewind it to the beginning. She laughed at me and left. If you ever get the chance to see Ray Wylie perform, do it!

• 4:01PM: "Strangeness of the day" by Kate Campbell. Hard to make it through the day without some Kate Campbell. I'm just sayin'.

• 4:15PM: "Carry On" by Pat Green. A few years ago (back when I still had my Explorer), I was driving home from Bastrop on a Sunday evening and tuned my radio to 93.3. Back then, it was a country station. And, on Sunday evenings, they had a show featuring local artists. That night, it was Pat Green. I think Cory Morrow may have been doing the interviewing. I don't remember for sure but I think he was the regular host. I don't suppose it matters a whole lot who was asking the questions but...the interviewer would ask Pat about a song. Pat would tell a short story about the song, or the writing process, or what was special to him about the song. And, then they'd play the song. I was blown away. I'm pretty sure all the songs were from the "Carry On" CD. They were giving away copies during the show. I called in, won a copy, and picked it up the next day! I really like that CD. And, I've since bought copies for friends so they must've known what they were doing, eh? Heh.

• 4:30PM: "Sincerity" by Lisa Stansfield. Back in the dark ages before my iPod, I always (and I mean always) took Lisa's "Affection" CD with me when I flew. I'd put it on "repeat" and listen to it over and over. It got to the point that I'd get settled in my seat, start up my portable CD player, and everything would be right with the world 'cause I was listening to that CD. It's a great CD.

• 5:45PM: "First Sign of Spring" by Susan Gibson. She wrote the Dixie Chicks first big hit ("Wide Open Spaces"). I saw Susan play at the Cactus last summer. I bought her "Outer Space" CD at the show and like it a lot.

• 6:14PM: "Lonely Girl" by the bluehouse. A very good way to end the day!

December 10, 2005

I was watching something on my TiVo this morning when I got a call from Jennie. She does seem to be having fun at Disney World. Go, Jennie!

That's not why I'm here, though. Nope. I'm here to show you this:

I paused the TiVo when the phone rang. After I hung up, I went to hit the play button but noticed the tag line in the paused frame. Rage??? How odd. Look at those photos of Judy and Fred. They don't seem particularly full of rage. Nope. Then it hit me. K-EYE's news motto is "Coverage You Can Count On." I just happened to pause things at the perfect moment. Too funny. So, I had to waste 20 minutes capturing the video and getting some screen shots for y'all. Here you go...some still shots of the sequence as it normally flashes across the screen (the "rage" frame is down there on the lower left):

I do know a few people who can count on becoming enraged whenever they see the news. Maybe K-EYE should change its motto. Heh heh.

December 8, 2005

It's really really really cold here in Austin today. It's about 1:45 in the afternoon and only 27 deg F. Brrrrr. UT was supposed to open up at 10 this morning. So, I came in. Only to find that they'd decided at about 9:15 to stay closed until tomorrow. There's ice on the overpasses and bridges which makes for some treacherous driving conditions. I was already here, though, so decided to do some work 'cause I've got plenty to do. It's cold inside as well, though. The heat doesn't appear to be on. But, the thermostats don't realize it so the blowers are blowing plenty of cold air around. Not the best of working conditions. I've got a little space heater for just such occassions. Sadly, it's not helping much since the cold air continues to blast it's way through the heating ducts. The point of this entry, though, is the song that came up on my iPod a few minutes ago:

"The Blizzard" by Jim Reeves

That cracked me up. So, when it was done, I played it again! And, decided to share my misery with you. Poor you. It's not quite blizzard-like in my office. But, it is darned cold. Again I say: brrrrr...

December 5, 2005

From today's Campus Watch crime report:

Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor (Jester Center West, 201 East 21st Street)
Two UT students were observed assisting a third UT student up a flight of stairs located on the west side of the dormitory. The two assistants needed to hold the third student upright while the officer spoke with them. The student in need of assistance was found to have consumed alcoholic beverages to the point she was a physical endangerment to herself. The two assistants dropped the intoxicated student when she began to display a severe involuntary physical reaction to her over-consumption of an alcoholic beverage. One of the two assistants stated she is a daily reader of the Campus Watch and requested this report be omitted from today's watch - oops, too late; my apologies. Occurred on 12-4-05 at 2:20 AM.

Crime Prevention Tip:
I placed this entry into the Campus Watch to illustrate the importance of having sober friends around when you've been drinking. As shown in this case, a sober friend will not keep you from getting a citation, but it may keep you from going to jail. If the student in this case did not have sober buddies with her, she would have been arrested for public intoxication. More importantly, a sober buddy will keep you from getting injured or worse. Just be careful when selecting your sober buddy. If that person is squeamish around partially digested stomach contents, he or she may drop you as a friend - literally.

Another classic, eh? Heh heh.

December 1, 2005

Things that make you go hmmmm...

Punishing success in the oil business by Steve Chapman (Chicago Tribune)

. . . .

And, then there's this: The Million Dollar Homepage. In August, a kid in England who was trying to figure out how to pay for college, hit upon the idea of selling one million pixels for a buck a pixel. Minimum 100-pixel order, if'n you please. And, now, just over 3 months later, he's already sold more than 700,000 pixels. As he notes in the blog he's been writing as his idea became reality:

Some people were wondering if I thought this site is a long-term business that will run like a regular company. Of course this site is NOT a long-term business - it is a one-off 'business event' - a fun idea and an opportunity to be part of 'internet history'. I naively thought this went without saying, but apparently not. There is no long-term business concept here; it's a unique idea that will only work once.

A "one-off" idea. That's gonna net him a million dollars. Wow. As the Brits say: simply brilliant.

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joanna@joanna.org
URL: http://www.joanna.org/archive/Dec2005.html
Last updated: December 20, 2005

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