Added to iPod – Last of 2008

December 30, 2008 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

Jet lag kills. Remember that…

We have gone over the 12,000 mark and I haven’t even touched the infamous Christmas CDs yet.
Dusty Springfield – “Dusty In Memphis” A classic.
Graham Parker – “Passion Is No Ordinary Word” Great two-disc ‘best of’ set
Tricky – “Maxinquaye”
Lyle Lovett – “Joshua Judges Ruth”
Medeski Martin & Wood – “Shack Man”
The Damn Personals – “Standing Still In The USA” Fine Boston rock by another defunct band.
Illinois Jacquet – “Flying Home:Best of The Verve Years” Great sax player from the good old days.
Outkast – “Stankonia” Still my favorite of theirs.
For 80s music, I was finally able to track down The Motels first album and The Vapors “Magnets”. Hard to find on CD.
Then – feeling my Blues selection was a bit anemic – I tossed in my Chess Blues box set and a SONY collection called “Best of The Blues – 1920-1996”. Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Leadbelly, Buddy Guy, Blind Lemon Jefferson and many more. That should take care of that.

Well, I have a pile of compilation discs to go through, but I’m nearly unconscious. So – off to bed….

Back to the Q

December 28, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

… damn ….

To All

December 24, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

A Merry Christmas and Happy holiday to everyone – whatever your faith may be.

Though the snow may be gone (as it is 60 degrees farenheit right now), the joy remains.

SNOWING!!!

December 19, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

I am home…

Trimming the tree and watching it fall. I couldn’t ask for more.

Flying

December 15, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

My plane leaves at 1:35AM from Kuwait. Brief stop in Amsterdam in the morning, then Newark.

Home for the holidays. Catch ya later!

Added To iPod

December 13, 2008 | Filed Under Music | 1 Comment

Finally – some new rock n’ roll! Not exactly new, but new to me and within the last five years so it makes the cut. It’s nearly the end of the year and the lists are starting to appear. On Yahoo, I saw some guy’s “10 Best Albums” of 2008. Two bands I didn’t know – The Constantines and The Hold Steady – were on it, with the critic raving about them being “sons of Springsteen”. So – fearing the worst – I sampled them out on iTunes.

The hyperbole was off base but the bands are the real thing.

For The Constantines, I picked up Shine A Light and Tournament Of Hearts. Think of them as the Kings Of Leon’s moody younger brother or – more to the point – the angry sons of the Replacements. Shine is considered their best so far. Raw, edgy and passionate, it roars at you from the first tune “National Hum” and doesn’t hold back. By the time you get to the expansive “Young Lions” halfway through – you’ll be hooked. Tournament keeps up the pace but gets a bit more melodic and lead singer Bryan Webb brings his lyrics up front. The passion and the grit are still there, especially on “Draw Us Lines” and “Soon Enough”. The new record – Kensington Heights – is slightly more accessible with some great tunes, such as “Credit River”. Bass, drums, guitar and the occasional organ or piano – this is straight up and unpretentious. It will reward on further listening and these guys are probably killer in concert.

The Hold Steady is a different beast cut from the same cloth. Here I snagged Boy And Girls In America and the new one, Stay Positive. For these guys, I liked them right off – probably because they sound so familiar. The band is a feisty bunch of smart-asses who wear their influences – not just on the sleeves – but all the way through to their underwear. That organ riff is pure Tom Petty. That guitar lick sounds like Thin Lizzy. Is that a line from the Sweet or Billy Joel? Sure – why not? Does it really matter what they are borrowing when it sounds so damn good? Front man Craig Finn is less a singer then he is Master of Ceremonies – closer to Shane McGowan than he will ever be to Springsteen. I can see him on stage with a cigarette in the mic stand, a pint in his hand and leering at numerous girls in the crowd, spitting out words upon words of his travels and debaucheries. Check out tunes like “Stuck Between Stations”, “Sequestered In Memphis” or “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” and tell me those aren’t fun. Go on – I dare you.

This is American Rock ‘n Roll (even if The Constantines are from Toronto). Blue collar and hard at work. Sweating it out in the clubs. In a world where people think Coldplay and David Cook (ech!) are “rock” artists, let’s clean those pipes and dig back in our memories to what rock was supposed to be. These guys are proof that you don’t have to be stuck with the oldies stations.

Monday

December 8, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

I was off today, part of my two holidays for Eid Al Adha (remember? I work for a living.) So I did some laundry and put up a batch of red and white wine that should be ready by the time I get back from my Christmas vacation. But it was a very sunny day – and the temps have been pretty normal lately – so I decided to sit outside, read and get some sun. (Generally, I don’t get much sun.)

My apartment is on the roof of my new building and it makes for a wonderful deck under a clear, open sky. I set up my deck chair for maximum exposure on this white, Irish skin. As a sat down, however, I realized something more was needed. Whether you know it or not, all Muslim countries are filled with mosques. On all the mosques are a set of loud speakers that face in all directions so that everyone can hear the call and the prayers of the Imam. This occurs a number of times each day – my personal favorite being the one a 4:30AM. For some reason, I did not feel like being distracted by the booming of the Imam. Instead, I opened the sliding glass doors to my apartment, turned on the stereo and pumped up the volume on the Stone’s “Exile On Main Street”. The music didn’t carry very far, but far enough to offer counterpoint.

I sat for a while reading my book (“Mystery Train” by Greil Marcus, which is about rock ‘n roll) when I looked up and found myself face to face with a bird. I believe it was a pigeon though I can’t say for sure. It was bigger than a pigeon. Not fat, just… larger. And it was all white. Completely white. It wasn’t a dove because it didn’t have the right shape head. So I greeted the pigeon (of course) and watched him as he walked around the area. He then proceeded to walk straight toward the apartment – specifically the open glass door to the apartment. I called to him (naturally) and suggested that would not be a good idea – as visions of running after a bird in my bedroom raced through my mind. For a moment, he stopped and waltzed over to the other side of the patio… only to turn back around and head for the door again. This time I got up and slid the door almost closed, leaving just enough room for the music to filter out and large pigeons not to saunter in. He spent most of the rest of his visit near the door. I took some bread and tried to offer some food, but he was not remotely interested. Eventually, he flew up to the ledge, shot me a look and took off.

Obviously just a Stones fan.

Christmas in Kuwait

December 5, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

Strangely, Christmas trees have sprung up all over Kuwait. There is one in most hotels. One in my office and other offices I have seen. Fake trees, garlands and other ornaments are for sale in every store. You can even buy candy canes and those annoying, singing stuffed creatures that run on batteries. When I was walking around the Le Merdian in Abu Dhabi, I noticed a neon display of Santa and his reindeers back near a storage area. I guess the large expat community being mostly Christian (particularly all the Indians) warrants such displays. It’s nice… just incongruous.

Even more strange is all this Christmas activity happening during the next major Muslim holiday. This Sunday begins Eid Al Adha (“eid” just means holiday). This holiday runs for 2, 3, 4 or 5 days depending on whether you are in banking, in school, part of government or work for a living. Eid Al Adha commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah. Because of his obedience, Allah spared Ibrahim’s son. He then sacrificed a lamb to Allah. I am told that I will see much sacrificing of sheep and lambs along the side of the road during this holiday (though the meat is brought back to be shared with the family).

Soooo… A week of celebrating birth, blood sacrifice and eight tiny reindeer. Throw in the UFC and it’s a festival!

Mumbai

December 1, 2008 | Filed Under Main | No Comments

I was listening to the BBC this morning and they were interviewing people on the streets of Mumbai. One woman was saying a government official – one of the elected MPs (“Ministers of Parliament”) – came by to view the aftermath of the Taj Hotel carnage. She was offended because he came not to mourn the tragedy, but to show a movie director around. “Not even a documentary director”, she said. Other MPs have arrived for photo ops and then been whisked away in moments. I also heard a report saying that Indian intelligence had received warnings about the attacks. Supposedly, the intelligence agency passed this information along to the government. The ministers either A) ignored the warnings or B) haven’t received the info yet as the memo is probably still being passed through the inter-office mail system, being stamped in triplicate by numerous low level functionaries and will arrive in their in-boxes sometime next year. But you can be certain all the MPs will be against the attacks and for tighter security… so long as it will get them elected again.

Just to show that no matter where you are in the world – politicians SUCK ! Just ask Bangkok…