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My favorite Beatles song?
When I first heard Helter Skelter on my first copy of the White Album (I've since had the white vinyl and the CD versions), it blew me against the wall. Something was not right here. This was not the same band that had given us the dreamy, sedate Sergeant Pepper only a year earlier. Balladeer Paul McCartney as a shouting blues singer on acid mixed ( Read more... ) -
Losing control for the very last time
I just saw the Anton Corbijn docudrama about Joy Division lead singer/songwriter Ian Curtis, Control. Of course the title was taken from the title of the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control".
Knowing how Mr. Curtis died gave me second thoughts about seeing it, but I ultimately took the plunge. I'm actually not that much of a Joy Division fan, but ( Read more... ) -
Enough is enough already
Why do I use Linux? That's actually a question I've been asking myself ever since I decided to take the plunge about a year ago. The most obvious reason is to avoid the mad behemoth that is Windows Vista. Why Microsoft had to totally screw up Windows XP, which actually wasn't half-bad and replace it with this overpriced, DRM- and ( Read more... ) -
A scourge upon the land!
If I was the president of this land, I'd declare total war on the cover band ( Read more... ) -
Things which begin with "P"
Tonight, I ventured out into the increasingly-wintry weather (59 degrees this afternoon, 38 degrees now and quite blustery) to get at least two things whose names begin with the letter "P", to wit, pills (some Tylenol for a headache) and a pot pie (because I feel just too damn pooped to cook ( Read more... ) -
"I live where it's grey..."
I guess I really shouldn't complain too hard. After all, we've had an almost unbroken run of sunny weather up until last night. I still can't deal with the greyness, the unceasing, steady pitter-patter upon soggy ground, which somehow never gets hard or fast enough to create that aural delicacy known as the sound of rain on the roof. I've never ( Read more... ) -
Everything that lives, eats
I'm listening to This American Life. This week's show is about food. I just finished listening to the segment where they described a meal of prawns (shrimp) in an Asian (Chinese?) restaurant. (warning - gross-out ahead). The prawn was peeled and served on ice, as usual - except that it was still living. One was expected to kill the skinned-alive ( Read more... ) -
Next Thanksgiving, venison!
Well, it looks like I've only posted here roughly once a year. I must rectify that ( Read more... ) -
They had health food in Dublin, but no strawberry apricot pie...
How many of you are familiar with The Roches' 1979 debut album, and a track called "The Troubles"? That's what I'm referring to in the subject line! (http://www.amazon.com/Roches/dp/B000002KK4Read more... )