urban tundra

Saturday Night Special

Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Neil's Theme

Mr. 44

and w/these words we've come out of the long, dark tunnel of the past 8 years, into the bright light of a new day. amen.

Manifest Hope

this is a great video, snagged from TPM of their coverage
of the Manifest Hope Exhibit in D.C. & a terrific interview with
Shepard Fairey in particular.

Saturday Night Special w/Ladytron

Ghosts

tonight sees the return of the oh-so-popular Saturday Night music feature, back w/a bang. nothing like gorgeous, young hipsters strutting through the desert to warm the cockles on a sub-zero winter's night. enjoy.

new Neko Case & a cause

People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

Today, we are especially happy to bring you “People Got A Lotta Nerve,” the first single from Neko Case’s forthcoming album Middle Cyclone (out March 3), because for every blog that reposts the song Neko Case and ANTI- will make a cash donation to Best Friends Animal Society. Five dollars will be donated for every blog post. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Best Friends Animal Society is one of America’s foremost animal rescue organizations. Founded in 1984, Best Friends advances nationwide animal welfare initiatives by working with shelter and rescue groups around the country. On any given day Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the nation’s largest facility for abused, abandoned and special needs companion animals located in southwestern Utah, is home to approximately 2,000 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. The society also publishes Best Friends magazine, the nation’s largest general interest, pet-related magazine with approximately 300,000 subscribers. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org.

the postman's progress

1 year anniversary

One year ago today I began this blog as a way to document what I thought was sure to be a very monumental & historic year. At the time I knew the primaries were heating up & were bound to lead to an even more interesting presidential race. (boy, did that ever turn out to be true) I wanted to document that history in a personal way. I also wanted to incorporate something of a personal creed into the process. That being, to "try to learn something new every day", or in this case to post something new everyday. On average I was able to do just that. True there was a period in Nov & Dec where, for personal reasons, I wasn’t able to post much at all. However, multiple posts at other times during the year more than made up for this period of silence.

So, one year ago today I began this blog to document 'a year'. Little did I know at the time that 2008 would turn out to be not only an exceptionally interesting year historically, but also, personally the most significant year of my life. I can’t see how 2009 could possibly top it, but as my mom would say, I’ve probably just put the 'Hungarian curse' on it, so I guess we’ll just have to wait & see…

Puttin’ Off the Ritz, indeed

woke up to this article in the NYT today. I've thought for years that things in the publishing world were a bit out of whack. guess there is some benefit to being a small fry.

"Just two weeks before announcing staff cuts and a substantial corporate restructuring in December, the publishing giant Macmillan gathered its sales and marketing staff at the historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego — where Billy Wilder filmed Tony Curtis wooing Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot” — to talk about titles on the spring lists. Between marathon meetings to discuss plans for new books, the sales reps were invited to take part in wine tastings and spa treatments.

This year the meetings will be held via Webcam."

“This business was never meant to sustain limousines,” said Amanda Urban, a literary agent who represents Cormac McCarthy and Toni Morrison, among other authors. Ms. Urban said she believed Bennett Cerf, a founder of Random House, once said something to that very effect. “At best, you can get a Town Car now and then,”

the "Pretty Darn Good" of 2008

Each year my friend Johno gathers up a group of folks & asks us to compile a CD of new songs that we have been listening to throughout the year. Maybe not the ‘Best of’, but more of a ‘Favorites from’ the past year. This is the 4th year we’ve done this, & as per usual my OCD kicked in the minute that I got his e-mail. I immediately began thinking about what new music I had been listening to over the course of 2008. I finished the list up yesterday, not able to turn away from it until it was tweaked, reworked & arranged in just the right order.
(OCD & then some).

In the past I’ve gotten a little out of control & submitted multiple CDs. This year, for the sake of ‘discipline’, & because I found myself listening to less new music, (chalk it up to the forward march of time or the fact that I just don't follow what the kids are into much these days) I decided to work within the parameters of 1 song per month. In this way, limiting the list to a very workable 12 songs. So here’s a little taste of what made the cut of ‘Faves” this time around:

08CD

a slow return

beginning the new year w/a slow return to blogging.
enjoy this musical interlude while I get back into
the swing of things.
(it's from Andrew Bird's upcoming new release)