Planet GFMorris

• Dan Benjamin - Regarding The Personal Web
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Experiments in Life » Blog Archive » Mmmmm, Books
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• 100_2117.JPG on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  Jon was telling us about doing this to her on New Year's Eve.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• 100_2103.JPG on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
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• 100_2095.JPG on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Richardson Reportedly Withdraws From Cabinet Appointment - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
  "According to The Associated Press, a federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Mr. Richardson’s political activities won a lucrative New Mexico state contract:

  "A person familiar with the proceedings has told The Associated Press that the grand jury is looking into possible “pay-to-play” dealings between CDR Financial Products and someone in a position to push the contract through with the state of New Mexico." Buh-bye.

  (tags: obama richardson corruption politics)
• Science Anxiety on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• News Analysis - Is the Real Target Hamas Rule? - NYTimes.com
  "As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza?"
  (tags: israel hamas gaza palestine)

source: Schoeps mk4 > kc5 > cmc6xt > Sound Devices 702 (24/96)
location: Sec A, Row Z (Left of center)
transfer: 702 > firewire > Spark XL 2.82 > xACT > .flac (16/44)

2008-08-03: Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA (disc 1) and 2008-08-03: Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA (disc 2).

The speed at which I added this album should tell you how bad that Wilco bootleg was. Bleargh.

As this was my first ever attempt at recording a show, I thought it should be my first upload too! The equiptment was borrowed at very short notice so I was rather unfamiliar with the functions. Because of this I managed to miss the first few bars of the opening number and I completely missed “I’m A Wheel” whilst I was trying to change mini-discs in the dark! Otherwise this is the full show. The recording is very good indeed, a little bit bassy but it really captured the sound of the room. A nice intimate show with some great banter too. The show was recorded using a Stereo Sony mic plugged into a Mini-disc recorder on the short play setting for the best quality possible with this machine. It was then transferred to CD without any EQ or altering of any kind. I hope you enjoy this show, Vudicus.

Sound Quality: Very Good + Lineage: Mini-disc master - CDR - WAV - FLAC

2004-06-23: Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, England (disc 1) and 2004-06-23: Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, England (disc 2)

Lineage

Source: ADK A-51TLs (FOB,~2′ROC,~ 7′ high, cardioids DIN) > Silverpath BumbleBee XLRs > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Warm mod) > iRiver H120 (@ 16 bit/44.1kHz)
Transfer: iRiver H120 > USB > Cakewalk Sonar 4.0 > CD Wave Editor (exported as FLAC)
Taped and transferred by: Alex Herd (AlexHerd@TapersSection.com)

Notes

-No fades between discs so that the set can be joined seamlessly on longer media
-the windscreens took a little of the high end sparkle off of the tape, so I added a dB of 10k & 16k

*THANKS to Blues Traveler for allowing taping! Please support them by going to their shows and by buying their merch!*

*A Team Pittsburgh tape*

2007-07-29: Hartwood Acres Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (disc 1) and 2007-07-29: Hartwood Acres Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (disc 2).

• Fraser Speirs – The Joy of Travel Planning
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• i'll never let go, jack. i promise. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Through a Glass, Darkly » “Let there be many windows to your soul, that all the glory of the world may beautify it.”
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• DANGER BLOG » Blog Archive » Books Read in 2008
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Being Renewed Day by Day » Blog Archive » New Year’s Resolution
  Glad to see Sarah back at it.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• The Israelis Invade
  "How does just war theory defend the deaths of many innocent civilians as a means to increase 'deterrent strength'? But notice also the modesty of Israel's apparent war-aims: a more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term. They're not optimistic about ending those rocket attacks, are they?" Otherwise, it's "we had to! they started it!" :sigh:
  (tags: israel gaza palestine)
• Feed validation revisited: The parallel universe of iCalendar feeds « Jon Udell
  "Now I’m exploring the parallel world of calendar syndication, using ICS feeds instead of RSS/Atom feeds. And it feels like 2001 all over again. There are ICS feeds out there, but nowhere near as many as RSS/Atom feeds. And my hunch is that even when ICS feeds are published, they’re often unused, so there isn’t enough feedback to flush out problems." I have been thinking that 2009-10 is going to be the year of distributed calendar feeds [for awesome!], so … something like this is terribly needed.
  (tags: ical validation)
• Sam Ruby: iCalendar Validator?
  "Jon has done an excellent first step: demonstrating that there is a problem.

  "The next step is harder, and for the feed validator was borne mostly by Mark. For each of the red entries on that page, somebody needs to identify what should be tested for, and for each test identify a short message, an explanation, and a solution. Identifying real issues that prevent real feeds from being consumed by real consumers and describing the issue in terms that makes sense to the producer is what most would call value." Amen. I love Sam for stuff like this.

  (tags: ical validatoin)
• Israeli Ground Forces Push Into Gaza - NYTimes.com
  "GAZA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday, a Palestinian witness and the Israeli army said, in the first ground action of an eight-day offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

  The small column of military vehicles crossed the boundary fence into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, said the witness, a resident of Beit Lahiya." My gut instinct is this: if you want Hamas to recognize your sovereignty, you have to recognize theirs. SO TREAT GAZA AS SOVEREIGN, AS YOU DID WHEN YOU LEFT IN 2005, AND DON'T FUCKING INVADE THEM. :sigh:

  (tags: israel gaza palestine)
• Converting iTunes Playlists to M3U Playlists | Live Granades
  This is going to be like that XKCD where Randall gave a foofy request to YouTube, and then they implemented it. Fantastic.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Israel Lets Some Foreigners Leave Gaza - NYTimes.com
  The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East, Robert Serry, told reporters on Friday that he was deeply worried that Israel would decide to move into Gaza.

  “We are gravely concerned about that prospect because that would just mean another cycle of violence and a further escalation of the conflict,” he said. “This must stop. With Israeli tanks on Gaza’s border, it is absolutely imperative now that we find an immediate and lasting way out to avoid an even deeper and deadlier conflict.”

  (tags: israel palestine)
• Rangel Pushed for a Donation, A.I.G. for a Tax Cut - NYTimes.com
  "The company has never made a contribution. But less than a month after Mr. Rangel met with its officials, the company turned to the congressman for help: A senior A.I.G. executive who had attended the fund-raising meeting wrote a letter directly to Mr. Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, urging him to support a provision of a tax bill that would save A.I.G. millions of dollars a year, according to Joseph M. Norton, a company spokesman." More openness, more openness, more openness.
  (tags: public_policy)
• In Obama’s Team, 2 Camps on Climate - NYTimes.com
  "Mr. Obama was asked in a television interview last month whether he would consider imposing a stiff tax on gasoline, whose price has now fallen to below $2 a gallon after cresting above $4 a gallon last summer.

  "He replied that while American families were getting some relief at the pump, they were hurting in other ways, through rising unemployment and falling home values. 'So putting additional burdens on American families right now, I think, is a mistake,' he said." I reluctantly agree, even though I support higher taxes on gasoline.

  (tags: global_warming economics public_policy)
• Obama’s View on Power Over Detainees Will Be Tested Early - NYTimes.com
  “If they adopt the Bush administration position, or some version of it,” said Brandt Goldstein, a professor at New York Law School, “it is going to be a moment of profound disappointment for everyone in the legal community and Americans generally who believe that the Bush administration has tried to turn the presidency into a monarchy.”
  (tags: torture public_policy)
• Blankbaby: See, I'm totally a pseudo-Mac celeb
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Converting iTunes Playlists to M3U Playlists | Live Granades
  I feel like I'm contractually required to make these kinds of comments.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Experiments in Life » Blog Archive » Christmas Adventures
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• detail: titan ii on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• The Fight Over NASA’s Future - NYTimes.com
  The Obama transition team, in meetings and requests for information from NASA, contractors and others with a stake in the process, has asked whether increased financing can narrow the five-year flight gap by speeding development of the new spacecraft. The advisers have also asked what the costs and consequences might be of continuing to fly the shuttles for at least one or two additional flights, or even to keep flying them until the next system is ready.
  (tags: obama nasa)

I have the need to rock out tonight.

I’ve actually been reading on this one for a week or so now; I read some over Christmas when I was in Guin, but I haven’t really picked it back up since I’ve been home. I’ll work on it some more tonight. [Still reading on Panic, too, but that's a book of essays, so it's getting read in fits and spurts.]

• The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.
  WTG Scottycakes!
  (tags: humor Mac blankbaby)
• Experiments in Life » Blog Archive » Doing my part to offset the decline
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• notes on "rating things"
  "What I like about this type of rating is that it forces you to make decisions about what is better than another item. There are no five star movies or percentage ratings that can tie. This is better than that. If you see something new and fit it into the continuum it says something about that movie." This is always how I've wanted to rate stuff.
  (tags: rating)
• The Kings of Huntsville » Blog Archive » 24 Weeks and Questions for my OB
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Some Truths for Now
  "And so you have an excruciating confluence of the questions of proportionality in a just war and asymmetry in the war against terrorism. What renders the current awfulness particularly wrenching is that the immoral means Hamas uses are logical from the point of view of an entity that is committed to Israel's destruction but not powerful enough to achieve it. And the response of Israel is logical from the point of view of a Western country enduring constant terrorist bombardment. Hence the never-ending argument in which both extremes reinforce themselves. This is not, one remembers, a Likud government. This is what the center left needs to do in Israel to stay in power at this point. And it has the backing of Egypt."
  (tags: hamas israel middle_east)
• The Problem with “Feeling Creative” | 43 Folders
  "My sense, though, is that for most people who repeatedly do (and sell) creative work, this all seems a bit like wanting to feel like a world-class athlete. Because 'feeling creative' produces great work in approximately the same way that 'feeling like a doctor' makes you a gifted thoracic surgeon."
  (tags: creativity)
• Year of Months - Coming up… January! » 3 miles down
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)

Taper: George Wang
Source: DPA4022 > Sonosax SX-M2 > Audio Magic Hyper-Conductor > SBM-1 (Oade T-Mod)
Location: Sec 1, Row J, Seat 1, 10th row stage left stack, 20 ft. stage left stack

DAT > FLAC: D100 > Digigram VXPocket V2 > Steinberg WaveLab v5.00a > CD-WAV >
FLAC frontend v1.7.1 > .flac

2004-12-31: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA (disc 1) and 2004-12-31: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA (disc 2).

Source: AudioTechnica 853(FOB @ Board 20ft from Stage)>Sony M1 Dat>Audacity 1.2>Nero>CDR
Transfer: CDR>EAC>WAV>Flac Frontend (Level 6)>Flac16

Taped by: Debra Jones (datgirl333)
Transfered by: Scott Brown

2006-06-17: Sonic Stage, Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN, USA

• Review: Incase Power Slider battery backup for iPhone 3G
  For my 3G-using peeps.
  (tags: iPhone battery backup)
• Favorite Ten
  I look forward to Brandon's list, not only because it's good music, but because the photography is TOP NOTCH.
  (tags: music photography)
• nice hat on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  Brandon's eye for this stuff is just phenomenal.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Through a Glass, Darkly » Books read 2008.
  Continuing a long-standing joke about this between myself and Kari.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Sleepy on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• laura portrait on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• bt.etree.org | Community Tracker - Details for torrent "Wilco 2008-12-13 DCU Center - Worcester, MA"
  (tags: etree_torrents wilco worcester massachusetts)

Source: Schoeps MK4/MK8(Midside)>KC5>CMC6>Lunatec V2>Sound Devices 744T(24/96)
Location: 11th row center; stand at 8 1/2′
Recorded by Stuart Tackett (GMail: stustu1)

2008-08-07: North Charleston Performing Arts Center, North Charleston, SC, USA (disc 1) and 2008-08-07: North Charleston Performing Arts Center, North Charleston, SC, USA (disc 2).

Yes, I’ve listened to it before. No, I haven’t owned it before. No, I’m not watching The Wizard of Oz as I listen.

• The Kings of Huntsville » Blog Archive » Christmas Day
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Experiments in Life » Blog Archive » Doing my part to offset the decline
  I think the fundamental problem is I don't have a place in my house set aside for reading and, as such, I don't do it.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• 30GB Zune apocalypse arrives as devices enter digital coma (Updated 2x)
  "As of this writing, Microsoft has yet to respond to Ars Technica's request for comment on the problem, but one thing is clear: when your music player is already the punchline to numerous Internet jokes, having a digital angel of death sweep over the firstborn first model en masse isn't going to help the situation." HA HA!
  (tags: Zune Microsoft)
• The Kings of Huntsville » Blog Archive » Christmas Day
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• karaoke silliness on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• 2008: music in review | domesticat.net
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• 2008: music in review | domesticat.net
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)

Let me be clear: I’m cheating and using iTunes here. Specifically …

• Date is in the range: 01 Jan 2008 - 31 Dec 2008
• Kind does not contain AIFF [to filter out unprocessed bootlegs and demos].
• Grouping does not contain Extant [to filter out where I migrated my library off of my old Mac to my new one]; I then did a manual check of the Extants with a similar list and my Musiclogging archives.
• Album Rating is greater than three stars.
• Genre does not contain Concert Bootleg. If desired, I’ll cover the best of the best concert bootlegs in a separate post, probably no earlier than Friday because I’m still adding bootlegs. [I am not adding any more studio releases at this point.]

This list is unoptimized; it’s actually done in alphabetical order by artist. At the end, I’ll give a best-of list, countdown style. Because I like embracing constraints, I’ll give a one-sentence statement about each album as to why it’s just so darn good. If you’ve ever talked to me for longer than 90 seconds, you know that one sentence is an unreal constraint.

• Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha, grabbed in January. Intelligent, charming folk/pop … with whistling.
• Blind Faith, Blind Faith, grabbed in August. It’s too bad that these guys couldn’t keep it together, but I’ve come to the conclusion that one-off groupings for albums can be a killer thing.
• Tom Brosseau, Late Night at Largo, grabbed in February. Recorded after everyone left the bar that night, it’s a live record without an audience that showcases Brosseau’s brilliance as a songwriter.
• City and Colour, Bring Me Your Love, grabbed in May. Dallas Green’s writing is enough for me to forgive him for using his Canadian ou.
• Matt Costa, Songs We Sing, grabbed in December. Just when you think that you’re done with singer/songwriters, someone like Matt Costa comes along.
• Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces, grabbed in December. Oh Miss Magnolia … oh Mr. Pit, oh Mr. Pitiful.
• Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs, grabbed in May. I would lock Ben Gibbard up in Dick Cheney’s “undisclosed location” if he’d make another killer record like this one.
• Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism, grabbed in July. It’s a good thing that emo bands like this weren’t big when I was 15.
• Deb Talan, A Bird Flies Out, grabbed in April. I would ask Deb Talan to marry me if Steve Tannen hadn’t done so first.
• Deb Talan, Sincerely, grabbed in May. Even if her voice is a bit … unique.
• Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal, grabbed in September. I had read No Depression rave about Escovedo for some time, and dammit, they were right.
• Five O’Clock People, Temper Temper, grabbed in March. Now if they can only go less than half-a-decade before putting out another disc.
• Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple, grabbed in August. I’m still picking up pieces of my mind blown apart by this record.
• Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere, grabbed in August. Gnarls Barkley makes me want to buy a bunch of old soul records, which I’d argue is a good thing for my musical self-education.
• Randall Goodgame, Bluebird, grabbed in November. If you ever wanted Randall Goodgame to stop playing the guitar all the time, these tracks are for you.
• Andy Gullahorn, Reinventing the Wheel, grabbed in November. Gully’s ability to have you laughing in one verse and hating yourself in the next is still with it; it feels like he’s got a Greg Maddux-like songwriting career ahead of him.
• Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog, grabbed in August. I used to sorta like Sam Beam, and this record made me love him.
• Jackopierce, Promise of Summer, grabbed in September. This is a NoiseTrade success story, and it turns out my friend David manages them, too, which is fun.
• Matthew Perryman Jones, Swallow the Sea, grabbed in August. There is a reason that MPJ started getting his songs played on TV, and it’s because the man cuts deep into his soul and bleeds all over your ears … in a good way.
• Carole King, Tapestry, grabbed in April. Thank you, Gilmore Girls, for making me feel like a natural woman … I think.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin, grabbed in January. I am of the opinion that great blues/rock bands have a shelf life, but man, these guys hit it hard early, eh?
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, grabbed in January. And then they followed it up with a record at least as good as the first one.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III, grabbed in January. Hats Off (to Led Zeppelin) for making another killer record.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV, grabbed in February. Been a long time since rock and roll sounded like this, but hey, paying homage to this would sound weaksauce.
• Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti, grabbed in February. For “Kashmir” alone, but the rest of the record is really fucking good.
• Nathan Lee, Down at the Rutledge, grabbed in February. If you stuffed the soul of The Boss and The Piano Man into a muscled, keyboard-banging dude who lights up Nashville, you’d get Nathan Lee.
• Sandra McCracken, Red Balloon, which I had in August, long before it came out, neener neener neener! I still feel like Sandra’s best record is yet to come, which is both a compliment and not, if you think about it.
• Nirvana, Nevermind, grabbed in August. I can’t believe I didn’t have a copy in the 1990s; I had the plaid shirt jackets from Eddie Bauer, dammit.
• Over the Rhine, Live From Nowhere, Volume Three, grabbed in August. I don’t care that there are great tapers for Over the Rhine: I will buy every damn one of these yearly records if only to support Karin and Linford as they continue to make beautiful music.
• Andrew Osenga, Letters to the Editor: Volume Two, which I helped distribute in September. I am admittedly quite biased, but hey, he didn’t play my guitar on this one, so back off.
• Andrew Peterson, Resurrection Letters, Volume Two, which, um, I never blogged, apparently. Looks like I got it in mid-August according to iTunes metadata. Not as good as previous AP albums, but still very good.
• Portishead, Third, grabbed in December. From everything I read, it’s like Portishead and Trent Reznor had a baby, but it’s one beautiful, industrial baby.
• Radiohead, The Bends, grabbed in December. It’s good enough that I’m overcoming my “don’t put the shiny new bauble on the year-end list” sentiment.
• Radiohead, Hail to the Thief, grabbed in December. Wacky song titles, impenetrable lyrics, and a shitload of rock and roll.
• Radiohead, In Rainbows, grabbed in July. You could have had this for free, and you don’t still have it?
• Alli Rogers, The Silent Stars EP, grabbed in December. Iowan singer/songwriter makes a homespun Christmas record.
• Alli Rogers, You and the Evening Sky, grabbed in March. I really feel like Alli gets lost in the sea of Midwestern-bred female songstresses, which is a damn shame.
• She & Him, Volume One, grabbed in March. I don’t like this as much as Paste does [really, #1, guys? REALLY!?], but it’s a fun listen.
• The Soft Drugs, Get Back - Side A, which I never blogged because I downloaded this one on the recommendation of one of the music blogs I read. And, of course, now I can’t find it. Who cares where I got it, it’s four tracks of fun pop/rock.
• Steven Delopoulos, As If Love Was a Sword, which I also appear to have never blogged, nor have any URLs for. Sad. You either love Delopoulos’s ethnic-tinged songwriting and fingerpicking, or you don’t; I do.
• Waterdeep, Heart Attack Time Machine, which is a NoiseTrade download, and as such, is something I can’t link to here something I have now linked to since Derek was the bus driver and drove me to school. John Wilson, you were right to pimp these guys to me all these years.
• Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken, Ampersand EP, grabbed in February. I think I’m contractually bound to put them on there for making a record I’d wanted them to make for at least 18 months.
• The Weepies, iTunes EP, which I never blogged but love. And before you fuss, that’s an iTunes Plus link. These exclusive EPs are fun ways to get into a band’s history, as this does in bringing songs from both Deb and Steve’s solo careers into The Weepies’ sphere of influence.
• The Weepies, Happiness, grabbed in February. This is not the record to start with, but it’s good.
• The Weepies, Hideaway, grabbed in April. I would call this a bit of a major-label sophomore slump, but it’s still good; shame they didn’t tour it.
• The Weepies, Say I Am You, grabbed in January. This record makes me want to be in love, which is the best compliment I can think of to give it.
• Wilco, Kicking Television, grabbed in April. I’ve got bootlegs that are better than this, but it’s pretty damn solid, and I’m a completionist.

That’s 47 albums. Yowza! About one a week … that’s a very, very good year.

Now, I’m gonna take it to 11 … and be a bit more verbose.

1. Radiohead, In Rainbows. There is nothing that I can add to all that has been said about this album, from the distribution to the music itself. I didn’t buy this until it came out on a physical disc [I'm a curmudgeon and have this problem, which I'm hoping to lick in 2009], but this is the album that made me a Radiohead fan, much as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot made me a Wilco fan. Favorite Tracks: “Nude”, “Reckoner”, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”.
   
2. The Weepies, Say I Am You. 2008 was a weird year for me; I spent a lot of it pursuing a relationship that didn’t ultimately work out, and a lot of this album was my soundtrack. This is right in my wheelhouse, to be sure—singer/songwriter-y, acoustic guitar-driven, solid melody and harmony. In a world where In Rainbows doesn’t exist, it’s my best album of the year. Favorite Tracks: “Painting By Chagall”, “Riga Girls”.
   
3. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha. I bought this album on a lark, because it was well-regarded. Some of my best musical purchases are done that way, and this is definitely one of them. I think what gets me about Andrew Bird is that he’s a self-comfortable artist who is willing to experiment and do big things with his sound. The analog to an artist I’m friends with is the amazingness of Jeremy Casella’s Recovery [and if Jerry ever sees this, he's gonna hit me for putting him and Bird in the same sentence]. This is one of those albums I find myself singing often, and there is no greater tribute to me than that. Favorite Tracks: “Darkmatter”, “Plasticities”, and “Scythian Empires”. I never will forget whistling the last as I was walking through the Nashville airport on my way back from Philly after a whirlwind, 20-hour trip to see Caedmon’s Call play.
   
4. Five O’Clock People, Temper Temper. I was a big fan of 5OCP when they were making music in the 1990s, and so I grabbed this as soon as I heard it came out. It was … nothing like their old sound, in a lot of ways, but man, it frickin’ rocks. Favorite Tracks: “Gold Rush”, “Aftermath”, and “February”.
   
5. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple. I had heard all this buzz about Gnarls Barkley, but just … dismissed it for whatever reason. I do that; I’m dumb. But then one day “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” was highlighted on NPR, and I almost had to pull over to the side of the road, I was so blown away. Favorite Tracks: “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”, “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)”.
   
6. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs. Like with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, a lot has been made about this record coming out of Ben Gibbard taking residence where Jack Kerouac did at Big Sur. I’m of the mind that creative pursuits are often terribly lonely affairs, so I think this was a good idea. This record brought the lyrical brilliance and nose for melody that Death Cab’s always had, but they also exhibited their musical chops on it, too. For whatever weird reason, I want to draw parallels to this and Elliott Smith’s Figure 8. Favorite Tracks: “I Will Possess Your Heart”, “Cath…”, and “Long Division”.
   
7. Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog. I simply did not think that Sam Beam had this much awesome within him. I am very glad to be wrong. Very, very glad. Favorite Tracks: “House of the Sea”, “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog”, “Peace Beneath the City”.
   
8. Tom Brosseau, Late Night at Largo. At this point, you have to mail a check to Tom Brosseau’s management to get a copy. It is worth your time in doing so. I’ve written about Brosseau before, but here he is in a nutshell: North Dakota boy moved to LA that writes about home because he both misses it and hates it, in a way. If you grew up in a cold climate and have moved to warmer latitudes, you know where he’s coming from. His music has a sense of ironic detachment, but it’s also just plain good. Also, he sings so high that he makes Thom Yorke in falsetto sound like Barry White. Favorite Tracks: “Rose”, “Broken Ukulele”, and “Young and Free”.
   
9. Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces. Okay, I’ve got a thing for young guys who write songs about not getting the girl, or getting the girl and losing the girl, but … dude, this guy can rock it up. Favorite Tracks: “Emergency Call”, “Heart of Stone”, and “Miss Magnolia”.
   
10. Matthew Perryman Jones, Swallow the Sea. Unlike most years, this is the only time when an artist I personally know appears on the list. I think that most of that is because I’m becoming harder on my friends’ more recent albums, honestly. But MPJ made a killer, killer record here, a worthy followup to Throwing Punches in the Dark, which I was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to top. He topped it, though. Favorite Tracks: “Save You”, “Motherless Child”, and “Feels Like Letting Go”.
    
11. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV. There is nothing I can add to this that hasn’t been said, eh? This is my favorite Zep album, even if it doesn’t have all of my favorite songs. Favorite Tracks: “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway to Heaven”. I mean, duh.
    

What about you? Do you have some of these records and violently disagree? Did I overlook something to the point that you’re ready to shake me for not listening to it? I wanna know.

• Baseline 1.4.2 | Mac Gems | Macworld
  "Whenever you scan a volume, the program asks if you want to save that scan as a baseline. Assuming you do so, you can later use that scan as, well, a baseline for comparison with a more-recent scan. Baseline will then tell you not only the size of every file and folder, but also how much each file and folder has changed since the previous baseline was saved. (If you’ve saved multiple baselines, you can compare the current scan to any of them.)" NERDTASTIC!
  (tags: storage os_x)
• Set half-star ratings directly in iTunes | Mac OS X Hints | Macworld
  "iTunes has long supported the ability to rate (and display) half-star ratings for songs, but until recently, you had to use an AppleScript to actually set those half-star ratings. Now, thanks to a hidden iTunes preference, you can set half-star ratings directly within iTunes." NERDTASTIC!
  (tags: iTunes rating)
• After-Christmas Shopping
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• Last chance photo saloon | domesticat.net
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• News Analysis - For Hamas, Logic Led to Cease-Fire’s End - NYTimes.com
  "Even knowing that retaliation was certain, Hamas seemed to end the cease-fire in part because of its longstanding discipline and consistency. For years it has preached to Palestinians the rejectionist credo that Fatah negotiated with Israel and got nowhere; Hamas’s way of armed force, it argued year in and year out, was the only way."
  (tags: israel palestine)
• Albums I Loved In 2008 :: canspice.org
  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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• The App Store Effect - Inside iPhone Blog
  "Certainly, some developers are attempting to counteract this App Store effect, by providing higher quality products at a higher price. SimCity, currently the #2 selling app, has a $9.99 price tag. However, that's a game with an established brand; top sellers have by and large been $0.99 applications. It's difficult to look at iFart Mobile, which has sitting at #1 in the App Store for nearly a week, and view this as a quality, stable marketplace for developers or consumers. The App Store, like Walmart, has been reduced to selling disposable goods at the lowest possible prices." That last sentence KILLS.
  (tags: iPhone application_store)
• The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart
  "If you know nothing about maintaining a mower, Wal-Mart has helped make that ignorance irrelevant: At even $138, the lawn mowers at Wal-Mart are cheap enough to be disposable. Use one for a season, and if you can't start it the next spring …, put it at the curb and buy another one. That kind of pricing changes not just the economics at the low end of the lawn-mower market, it changes expectations of customers throughout the market. Why would you buy a walk-behind mower from Snapper that costs $519? What could it possibly have to justify spending $300 or $400 more? That's the question that motivated Jim Wier to stop doing business with Wal-Mart. Wier is too judicious to describe it this way, but he looked into a future of supplying lawn mowers and snow blowers to Wal-Mart and saw a whirlpool of lower prices, collapsing profitability, offshore manufacturing, and the gradual but irresistible corrosion of the very qualities for which Snapper was known." Amen, brother.
  (tags: quality quantity wal*mart)
• Digital Domain - What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting - NYTimes.com
  "TEXT messaging is a wonderful business to be in: about 2.5 trillion messages will have been sent from cellphones worldwide this year. The public assumes that the wireless carriers’ costs are far higher than they actually are, and profit margins are concealed by a heavy curtain." Stuff like this will bring down the curtain, and then it'll be something else. It's always a pricing game in telecom, and then someone undercuts the competition.
  (tags: SMS)

• Rosey on Lions
  "Since William Clay Ford Sr. bought the Lions in 1964, the team has won one playoff game. That is a disappointing year for the Patriots. But it’s not even the losing that drives Lions fans craziest. A lot of teams lose. It is that Ford does not seem to try. He kept the same general manager, Russ Thomas, from 1967 to 1989. He kept Wayne Fontes as coach for more than eight years. And of course, he kept Matt Millen for eight years as well." At least Mike Brown doesn't suck this much.
  (tags: nfl)
• Alex Payne | Software I Paid For But No Longer Use
  "Digital life being fluid and transient, even paid software can quickly fall to the bottom of the virtual junk drawer. Sometimes I feel that an application was worth paying for if only for temporary use, and sometimes not." An interesting concept. I could write my own…
  (tags: software)
• NASA @ Home and City
  Thanks to Paul Armstrong for pointing me to this. Want to know how NASA has made your life better? Here's how.
  (tags: NASA)
• Bring Me Java, Bring Me Joy » What I did this weekend
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• ESPN - Romeo Crennel fired after Cleveland Browns finish 4-12
  "Lerner, who's been expected to make a run at former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, said Monday that Cowher told him he was not interested in joining the Browns." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THE BROWNS SUCK!
  (tags: nfl)
• A Reporter Suddenly Becomes the News - NYTimes.com
  "But there was an unexpected ending. Midway through her reporting, Ms. Levine found out that she had been laid off as part of a 64-employee cut at NPR.

  "Ms. Levine, who has worked at NPR since 1977, said she decided the final episode, and her final piece for NPR, should be about her own situation." OUCH!

  (tags: NPR)
• Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
  "You can calibrate your iBook, PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro computer's lithium ion battery for best performance.

  "The battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate. With all iBooks and PowerBook G4 computers, except the aluminum PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), you should perform this procedure when you first use your computer and then every few months thereafter." I need to calibrate my MacBook. Hm.

  (tags: Apple battery calibration)
• GFMorris.com » GNM: Radiohead, The Bends
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• GFMorris.com » GNM: Radiohead, The Bends
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Bringing the Drama | the cake and Christmas Eve recap
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Still Alive. | Kenotic.net
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• GFMorris.com » GNM: Radiohead, The Bends
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)
• Through a Glass, Darkly » Poor crazy house.
  (tags: gfmorris_comment)