finding new music - "but it sounds like coldplay"

Pains me to say this but some of the silly teeny bopper shows are excellent for finding new music. Usually, bands that oddly sound a lot like Coldplay. Shows like gossip girl, one tree hill and the o.c. The producers must have slews of young, hipster cool-ies going to little dives in NYC and Portland and finding these guys, offering to put them on this "hot new hip cool show! yea!" before they get big time. Then after they reach moderate fame, they're back on these same shows - see cutie, death cab for; mouse, modest; airwaves, angels and; etc; etc. Really though, the "new music", it all sounds like Coldplay. All of them. They all sound like Coldplay.

wasting time

How much time does the average human waste in a day? A week, a year? It's disgraceful. And I am the world's worst. Every day, I have, oh, 20 or 30 things I might want/need to do. Not major things, I'm talking about minor things - do some laundry, work on a story, begin a new story, organize photos, clean the basement, dye my hair, listen to new music, read something, experiment in the kitchen, etc., etc. These are everyday things. But I reach a point, and think it's going to take too long, that I don't have enough time to do that, any one of dozens of minor little... "things" - most of which are enjoyable, or at least meaningful and rewarding. Is it just me? What a waste, what a #?@$-ing waste.

JD Salinger

Everyone has an opinion of this guy. Sure, he gave voice and call to action to countless post-adolescent boys. His words rang true and continued to bleed into our minds with the fifth, sixth, tenth readings. So accessible - his books, not the man. Personally, I never could finish Raise High...Left the last four pages. Unread. Had to leave something behind. I'd already read the others, plus those volumes of pirated stories from his earlier days. Now, with wide speculation of a dozen or more completed, unpublished novels - kept in a locked safe near his NH home - I may well finish those last four pages. A legend gone. One of the best we ever had.

Nirvana, Seasons in the sun

Seasons in the sun



Beautiful. Playful. Sloppy. Raw. But mostly beautiful.

The forgotten blog

I've seen - and swiftly forgotten - stats on the numbers of blogs created, blogs continued and those abandoned. So sad. Everyone starts with so much to say and so little time. Two, three, five posts a day on what they cooked for dinner or what movie dispelled expectations. Then it dips to twice a week, then three times a month, then seldom. And then the inevitable. The forgotten blog. Lost. Discarded. Left as worthless. Pity. It's a window to life. It happens with education, relationships, television programs and learning new things. Always in like a lion and out like a lamb. Like the loveable schlub said, "you're out of your element". So I'll again restart my random thoughts. At least until tomorrow when I change my mind again.

Current

This is a new habit. Current.com - available from most cable providers. This is the TV/news organization fronted by AlGore. If I watch standard news - either msnbc, fox, whatever - then watch this, the comparison is huge. Best news-type channel available. The investigative journalism is real, a bit unnerving at times, exciting and provocative. This thing is way ahead of the curve - music, news, life. Plus some of the viewer-created content they play is great. It's like superior quality public access.

Where the Wild Things Are

Some books are just too good to mess with. Others have a genuine potential to be something more. M Sendak approached a virtually unknown Spike Jonze ten years ago about doing something with his classic. Finally it's been done. Sendak, S Jonze, D Eggars and perfect use of an Arcade Fire song. This is too good to not be great.

Here's the trailer: