Deutsches Eck

In one month, I'll be standing here! Click on pic for a closer look.

This is India

That place where you call for Tech Support...
Sometimes SPAM is funny. Thanks JB!

Holding Back the Sun

Sometimes SPAM is cool. Thanks Darla!

Quote of the Day

"We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately"

Benjamin Franklin

Do You Fancy a Bum?

Would you let him feel your nuts for a tenner? Cup your balls for a tenner?

5 Songs on MP3 Shuffle

I read somewhere that you can really tell a lot about a person by the songs that will appear when you hit “shuffle” on their MP3 player. I’ve always wanted to try that. So, doing a shuffle (making no changes just to sound cool, like saying every song is Lori Anderson or Radiohead or Tom Waitts), here are my 5 songs:

“Newgrange” by Clannad

I still love all that romanticized Celtic mysticism and this song sets the stage like no other. Really ethereal and can transport me to the rainy west coast of Ireland. “Is that a horse I see in the distance? It’s Enya riding, wearing a velvet cape and wishing she wrote this song!” (BTW, Clannad are Enya’s siblings)

“That Train Don’t Stop Here” – by Los Lobos

Nice choice! I’ve seen the boys more times in concert than any other artists. This boogie woogie rocker really shows off how they can get a house going. Cesar Rojas has one of the best voices around. “Bartender, another round for my friends…”

“Airegin” by Maynard Ferguson

Ooh, this is one of the newest songs added to my player. This was ripped from my old vinyl record (thanks honey!) since this album wasn’t released on CD. Maynard might be gone, but his stratospheric music still inspires nerdy high school trumpet players around the globe.

“Evil and A Heathen” by Franz Ferdinand

When I saw these Scottish lads 2 years ago, this song ripped a hole in the ceiling of the venue. This studio version only hints at the energy of the live version, but it’s as good as it gets (head-and-shoulders above the rest!). Alex Kapranos is sexy as hell and really drips with charisma on this and every track he sings.

“Kotahitanga / Union “ – by Oceania

This might sound like I did this on purpose, but it really did appear. I posted about this a few weeks ago and am still listening to Oceania. I’m a huge fan of indigenous or roots or global music [whatever you want to call it]. But when you can mash it up, make the sound new, it’s really inspiring.

As Tony Bourdain would say, “What have we learned here?” This is my take on these songs, and whatever they say about me, well, I’m not sure. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Dusty Springfield biopic

I hear that Nicole Kidman is set to star as Dusty Springfield in a new feature film. While I don't really see her playing the part, maybe with a good script she can pull it off. It takes someone special to pull off a number like this (from 1964):



While this has NOTHING to do with Nicole Kidman, and barely anything to do with Dusty, check out the video for the White Stripes' version of the same Dusty song. Yep, that's Kate Moss [directed by Sophia Coppola]. Cool version, but I doubt very much it was the original vision for the song. Hmm...maybe Nicole could do this pole dancing too?

Duffy - "Mercy"

It's kind of Amy Winehouse-lite, but it's growing on me. Amy won't be back to the recording studio any time soon - as evidenced by her being cancelled as the singer of the next theme for James Bond's "Quantum of Solace". Even if she did, any studio release could never be as good as "Back to Black." So in the absense of anything from darling Amy, here's Duffy (she's from Wales). Maybe blonde wigs will be the rage?

Meat Faces

Nothing says "love" like a smiley face in your sandwich.
I'll be certain to look for these at Tesco when I'm in Ireland next.