Hello Happy Pitbulls

Visitations from the Movin EZ channel

I've been enjoying music on my commute with my Sirius satellite radio, which gives me the option to set alerts for artists or songs so I can be notified when a favorite is on one of the many music channels. I can't remember exactly how this happened, but I ended up on the Movin EZ channel (a la Beatles "I'll Follow the Sun") and was then treated to some of the oldies but the goodies from various road trips with my mom: Billy Joel "She's Always a Woman"; Simon & Garfunkel "The Boxer"; Neil Diamond "Love on the Rocks". 

My mom was playing DJ this morning on satellite radio.  How cool is that?

Catching up on TV

I missed a couple of my TV shows over the past few weeks, so my iPod now has episodes of Heroes and Gray's Anatomy.  Hey Brett - thanks for the iPod!

All These People

This is another music find courtesy of NPR.  This morning, since Howard Stern was in re-run again (!!!) I was listening to NPR News and Notes with Ed Gordon and heard a story about Harry Connick Jr.'s newest song called "All These People" (available on NPR) or for download from iTunes.

All of the proceeds from the sale of the song go to benefit the Habitat for Humanity Musician's Village in the Upper 9th Ward.  Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis have teamed up to put a public face on this effort to rebuild the community for New Orleans' musicians impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  Read more about the effort here.

After watching all of the recent recounts of Katrina recalling the events of the past year and the slow rebuilding effort, I find this story so full of hope.

The song is wonderful -- and I got mine on iTunes.

Gym update

I've made it to the gym EVERY day this week and have logged 11 miles so far this week on the elliptical thingy.  It's a very entertaining place, but I'm glad I have my iPod.  This morning Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood's Summer Wine came up in the shuffle and I had to laugh -- that song (about a john getting rolled by a working girl) was our first dance song at our wedding.  It also has a fine euphemism in it.  Cracks me up every time.  It's an amazing song.  It's not quite as funny as it would have been if we used Some Velvet Morning (when I'm straight) -- the song about Phaedra.

Well -- two more days of work.  I think I can, I think I can...

I made it to the gym!

Okay, so I am a little late getting wrapped up in all of that new year's resolution bullshit.  I waited until the end of January to get my ass to the gym.  But, what better excuse to use my new 60 GB Video iPod -- a gift from my fabulous brothers (and spouses) for my birthday!

After taking several days to drag all of my content across our SLOW network to my PC, I was able to fill up my new iPod with all my iTunes purchases, podcasts and more.

So what did I listen to?  Shuffle mode, per usual.  I should have listened to the KEXP podcast, but of course I didn't think of that until now.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to relax a little about getting to work at the crack of dawn.  I am usually there from about 7 am to 6 pm at night.  So the new goal (and I'll let you all know how this is working out) is to go to the gym first, then get to work whenever, and then stay at work until 6.  So my work day may get cut down to only 9 or 10 hours, but they're getting their money out of me, considering the typical government workerdrone spends about 3 hours a day chatting.

So -- day 1 at the gym -- not so bad, thanks to my iPod!

Repeater Repeat

The Life of my iPod may have changed.  I am at work right now, and I realized that Sacramento must have some Sirius repeaters or something because I brought my radio inside, and the antenna is nowhere near the window and it's coming in crystal clear.

Since I have my iPod on shuffle all the time, it's pretty much the same deal -- commercial-free music of any genre.

We have some intermittent problems with satellite reception at home.  We just need to get the antenna up on the roof I guess. 

Oh well - back to work!

Another Sunday

Another Sunday, full of fun stuff -- laundry, bills, organizing, and bad TV.  In fact, it's 4:26 and I'm still in my PJs!  What a luxury.

I still have work to do for work, I'm trying to revamp the design of my temple's web site, and I'm trying to chill at the same time.  It's been a good weekend for that so far.

I've been enjoying having Sirius Satellite radio.  In the car, and streaming over the net at home.  It's a great alternative to commercial radio.  Honestly, I think it really will take the place of my iPod, exept at work.  My iPod tends to be background for the day at work, and when I go to the gym, it's great.  If the new Sirius S-50 portable thing actually gets reception in the gym, I won't need an iPod anymore.

More Cowbell

I've been driving around with the same old stuff in my car cd changer for a while, but what's been a regular staple when there's nothing good on the radio (quite frequently, lately) is my Six Feet Under Soundtrack (Volume 2: Everything Ends). 

I'm sure I mentioned before that I got most of the information about new artists over the past several years from that show.  I absolutely love the soundtrack, and it's great driving music.  My faves are Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism and Sia's Breathe Me.  There's something haunting and lyrical about the quality of the music that just makes me feel at peace.

However -- right after Transatlanticism on the cd, there is a cover of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper, and every time it comes on, all I can think about is the Saturday Night Life skit with Christopher Walken (who has my vote for President in 2008) where Will Ferrell plays cowbell.  More cowbell I say!

What I am listening to tonight...

I actually listened to the Indie Pop Rocks! stream (from SOMA FM) and got a pretty cool set of music while I cleaned off my desk for teleworking tomorrow. Here's what I heard:

Sleater-Kinney: You're No Rock N' Roll Fun
764-hero: Photographic Evidence
Franz Ferdinand: 40'
Tiger Trap: Chester
Poole: Story with Me
All About Chad: Japanese Couple in Reverse
Decemberists: Shanty for the Arethusa
Stereolab: The Flower Called NoWhere
Metric: On a Slow Night
Jeff Buckley: Lilac Wine
Snow Patrol: Whatever's Left

Good stuff, all around. I think I'll like this category.