Thank you very much can I have another?

Here we go - Samuel Alito is the new Supreme Court nominee and I told you so. He is so much like Antoine Scalia that he is referred to as "Scalito".

I am praying that this too blows up in Dubya's face - further damaging his party and his lame duck presidency. The best thing that could happen to the U.S. is George Bush becoming lame duck a year into his final term.

We'll miss you Harriet

So now Harriet Miers is gone and let me say that the only reason democrats should be happy is that this is another example of the poor decision making of this administration but we can't get too happy because whomever Bushy picks to replace Miers will be worse.

Our only hope is that he tries to go too far right and even the moderate republicans can't vote for the nominee.

One can hope.

George Bush joke of the day

(George Bush joke - kind of redundant isn't it?)

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE Who says a pilot isn't in control

George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are flying on Air Force
One. The President looks at the Vice President, chuckles, and says, "You
know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out the window right now and make
somebody very happy."

The Vice President shrugs and says, "Well, I could throw 10 $100 bills
out the window and make 10 people very happy."

Not to be outdone, the Secretary of Defense says, "Well, then, I could
throw 100 $10 bills out the window and make a hundred people very
happy."

The pilot rolls his eyes and says to his co-pilot, "Such arrogant asses
back there. Hell, I could throw the three of them out the window and
make 56 million people really happy."

Harry Potter - Goblet of Radiohead

I can't believe I'm about to say this - but I actually might want the Harry Potter soundtrack. Members of Radiohead appear in the movie on the soundtrack.

I tell everyone what to do

Apparently a market research study found that I am the most likely to create and spread computer generated media over the web. (This article may apply to iPod owners in general).

Never realized how common I am.

"A Million Ways" video

Saw this video for the band OK Go on Best Week Ever and loved it. Worth the bandwidth to watch.

Play the video in Window Media

Play the video in Quicktime

(or just go to the OK Go Website)

My 100th post

What a worthy way to use my 100th post but to wish a Happy 30th birthday to my girlfriend Kristen.

I want it that way - video

Two chinese students doing their take on the Backstreet Boys "I want it that way". This is funny as all hell.

Click here for video

What ever happened to an inside voice?

So yesterday I had to go up to New York City for work and I forgot my ipod in my car. No big deal - I could sleep on the way up and on the way back work. I never realized how necessary to my sanity my ipod is on Amtrak. I can't believe how many people are talking on their phones. Now I don't really mind that too much - people have work to do. BUT there was one woman behind me that talked and laughed at top volume for half the trip. Who does this? What ever happened to someone having an "inside voice"? And being that I could hear her entire conversation, I know that what she had to say of importance should have lasted 2 minutes - no longer. I pictured the person on the other end clawing their eyes out.

Cell phone tips for the train:

• Put your phone on vibrate - I don't need to hear the polyphonic version of Livin' La Vida Loca
• Turn down your volume - hearing "Mommy wommy loves you" 28 times at top volume is enough to send anyone over the edge
• Keep it short - remember when cell phones came with 30 minutes a month? Act like it.
• Oh and I will come over the seat if you even think of using speakerphone.

And for those of us that are overly sensitive to this - bring your ipod.

Lost without Lost

Three weeks until another Lost? Dang it. Not sure what I learned from tonight's Lost, but they're now using promos like ER - "The one episode that everyone will be talking about".

I read a story about the Fox show Prison Break where the executive producer Paul Scheuring has the first two years mapped out. I am trusting that that is the same case for Lost.

Three weeks.

Homeless on $8.5 million a year

So a week ago I was wondering what would be the quote of the year. Thought that George Bush might have it locked up until today. The NBA recently instituted a dress code. Not a bad dress code - no ties or button down shirts - just no hip-hop clothing for team business. Makes sense. Of course the prima donna basketball players have no understanding of reality. Even so - watch out Brownie, the following quote by Denver Nuggets forward Marcus Camby is going to the top of the list. In response to the dress code Camby said: "I don't see it happening unless every NBA player is given a stipend to buy clothes,''

$8.5 million a year doesn't go as far as I thought (I'll let you know after I win the Powerball tonight).

More on Harriet Miers

What did I say?

Apparently Harriet Meirs is a card carrying anti-abortionist. George Bush blindly moves forward with his agenda disregarding how our country feels. Someone in Congress needs to stand up to him. He is blatently attempting to inflict his views on us regardless of how we feel.

We did this to ourselves. Allowing the corrupt and righteous to take over this country is the fault of the voters.

The Roots - free concert in Philadelphia

Tomorrow night the Roots will play a free concert here in Philly. Also on the bill is Fishbone (apparently they're still around). If you're interested click here to get a ticket. If you're simply in town and not interested I would suggest avoiding the city hall area.

(No word on the free Air Supply concert)

How desperate do you have to be

This is a French "sex worker" protesting the criminalization of the sex industry and for equal rights.

All right. OK. No comment.

A thought on Harriet Miers

We all know how shrewd the republicans are. And I hate to be Oliver Stone on this but couldn't all of this republican criticism be a ruse? Seriously - so many democrats like her simply because the republicans don't. Wouldn't it be a smart strategy to bring in a staunch anti-abortion candidate and then convince your allies to attack her hoping that the conservative attack itself convinces democrats to vote for her?

Just saying that no one should get excited until we actually hear her beliefs (assuming we ever do).

Quote of the year

So I was wondering what the quote of the year might be. I've loved the P-diddy quote where he said that he was simply going to be called diddy "because the 'P' was getting between me and my fans." But will there be a better quote than "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."?

Any ideas? Post your quotes as a comment.

Virtual voodoo doll

Here's a shout out to the fucker that took my umbrella from the umbrella stand on Saturday night. I'm sure you figured "Hey - I forgot my umbrella, who's to know if I take someone elses?" Assclown. I guess I could have taken someone elses - but then I couldn't complain.

My Peanut's character

Here's my Peanut's character. Is it me or does Schroeder look like Chris Martin?


You are Schroeder!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

1,000 songs in your pocket

Oh what the iPod has done. 1,000 songs in your pocket (or in my case 3,300 and counting) seemed like such a great thing - and it is, but it has permanently changed the way I listen to and how much I enjoy music.

I've had enough - Give me more!

Every month I download 90 songs from eMusic. I probably buy on average another 2-3 albums per month. Then there are the free MP3s you can get everywhere. I think I’ve reached my breaking point. I thought about the music that I had purchased over the past month and with over 7 albums worth, I had not one coherent thought about any of them. I have impressions, but no overwhelming feeling for them.

1997
When Radiohead’s OK Computer was released in 1997 – it was a seminal moment for me and my music listening career (don't laugh - career is a good choice of words for it). To this day I believe it is the best album I have ever heard. The first time I heard it, I got goose bumps. I proceeded to play it so often that to this day it’s as familiar as my family or friends. It is one of the last great albums that for me that is an album and not a bunch of songs.

2005
One day while walking through the city listening to Green Day's American Idiot I realized that it is as good an album as I had heard in years. A classic even. What surprised me is that it took me so long to figure this out. I had had the album for 10 months. I realized that the problem is that now listen to so much music, that it all doesn't have the impact that it once had. Music has become a commodity. Nothing is special anymore and goose bumps are rare.

Music critics often review a cd on one or two listens. That's where I am now. Every month I have 10-15 new albums in my queue. I realize now that I've probably missed some classic because I didn't give it enough time. Proof is when I thought about my top 20 favorite albums - 16 of them were produced prior to 1999. Now part of that is because that is when I was first discovering the music I now listen to, but I think the other part of it desensitization.

So a fleeting thought passed through my head - stop the influx. Yeah, that's a great idea. Stop the influx. But it's like crack - once you've had a taste - you can't go back. How did I live without 300+ cds at my disposal at any given moment.

A discman? 12 songs in my pocket? The dark ages.

Michael Penn in Philadelphia

Michael Penn played the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia this past Monday, October 3rd. Here are a few pics from the night...

Michael's voice was in rare form - last few times I've seen him weren't ideal conditions. This time - perfect. There were some welcome additions on this tour - first off Buddy Judge - Michael seemed much more at ease with Buddy on stage. Also a few great adds to the playlist such as Try and Bucket Brigade.

Michael on stage



















Buddy Judge on stage


















Michael singing an autograph























Michael, me and my girlfriend Kristen after the show

The Amazing Race: Family Edition

The following is from an article previewing The Amazing Race: Family Edition:

One of the first thing that hits you is the diversity of the casting. The producers, including Jerry Bruckheimer found a winning formula from the beginning, pulling on the diversity of the nation. What makes a couple? Man-woman? Man-man? Father-son? Siblings? Every year, they try to cast all the possibilities, knowing that each one provides a different dramatic energy to the show. Too many reality show contestants look and feel exactly the same.

I've been watching The Amazing Race for 3 races now and the first thing that I saw immediately in the family edition or Amazing Race 8 is a total lack of diversity in the cast. 10 families from all across the United States and this is what I can tell by the Amazing Race - the U.S. is 90% white and 10% black. If you're not in this segment you apparently don't exist. Of course the black family is named "The Black Family" - I kid you not. It's actually a good thing they're gone because it was getting uncomfortable hearing the announcer saying "and here's the Black family". I won't even mention that 2 of the last 3 races were won by black couples. Maybe that's the problem?

For a show that could have a broad definition of family the fact there are no lesbian, gay, Hispanic, Asian, middle eastern or anything else but white families is simply disappointing.

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

Since I had a bootleg of the original version of Fiona Apple's recently released Extraordinary Machine, I anticipated listening to the two together. I have only listened to the album once but I can say this - the two versions are very different. The same songs - just produced with a different hand.

My first impression is that I miss some of the quirkiness of the original. This version seems to have a lot more going on in it - more instruments, sounds, effects. The original seemed simpler. It may just take me getting used to it.

One note - I downloaded the original, and paid for the release version; that's the way it should be.

"Next blog" of the week

I can't believe I hit the next blog button and got an actual blog (no porn or insurance site). Check out the site for Little Levi Fox and his proud parents.