Vegetarian?

I've sometimes joked that I would just start eating meat. It sure would be easier to eat meat, but as a lifelong vegetarian I just never could.

Then I stumbled upon a blog called meatdiary the other day written by some woman who claims to be a lifelong vegetarian. That is, if you consider eating fish all of your life vegetarian. Oh, and she ate chicken as a kid. Then she's been eating chicken for the last 14 years as well (along with fish, and probably all other seafood as well as other poultry such as turkey). So this so-called vegetarian is blogging about her decision to eat meat this year. So what? You ate dead fish and dead chickens almost all of your life. Now you have a burger and think that is something?

I continue to be confused by how people call themselves vegetarian and then eat fish or even chicken. This isn't an attack on those people for their diet. Good for them. Words do have plain meanings, however. A vegetarian does not eat dead, rotting flesh.

An analogy? I go around telling people that I don't drink alcohol. Except I've been drinking beer since high school. Oh, and I just moved to Napa Valley, and it is almost socially necessary to drink wine here. So I usually have a glass of wine with dinner. But this year, I've decided to go crazy and start drinking alcohol. So I this week, I tried a martini. Next week, it will be a rum and coke. Wow! A lifelong teetotaler is now drinking alcohol, and it is great! Would anybody take me seriously if I started a blog about that?

Soldier Gives Iraqi Police Motivational Speech

Culturally, I'm not really sure this works with the Iraqis. But I bet it felt good, and many of us have wanted to say these things at times.

Webb Sisters New EP

Certainly, there are bigger new releases this week.  Still, I find myself listening a lot to the new Webb Sisters EP, Comes in Twos (available on itunes).  They have been performing with Leonard Cohen live, making his upcoming tour dates all the more compelling (most of the North American dates will be announced soon).  The EP features a live recording of Cohen with the Webb Sisters performing If it Be Your Will.  Brilliant.  They are so damn good that Cohen pretty much just introduces them and lets them perform his song.  

I'm not sure if the Sisters have been influenced by Cohen or if they were selected to preform with him because of a similar musical outlook.  Some tracks could be called alternative country, especially In Your Father's Eyes.  Others, such as Words That Mobilise [sic], will be pleasing and familiar to fans of Cohen.  I like them all.  A solid release, and I'll definitely look forward to seeing the Webb Sisters performing with Leonard Cohen.  If I can get tickets.

Worse Song?

Lionel Richie released a new single, Just Go.  I'm not sure I've heard a worse song released as a single in quite some time.  What happens to musicians as they grow older that causes them to release pure pap?

Careless Whisper

I'm not sure it really takes all that much to do a grunge cover of a 1980s song, but Seether's version of Careless Whisper is pretty good for what it is.  Actually, this is a double dose of nostalgia for me -- the 1980s trip combined with the 1991 sound.  Is grunge making a comeback?

Careless Whisper - Seether

Mac and iPhone Are Not the Same Thing

Just a quick geek vent lamenting that so many formerly good sources for news and information about Macs have too much iPhone information.  Yes, both products are made by Apple.  But that does not mean I'm interested in sorting through reviews of every dorky new iPhone app.  

The Rake's Song

The Decemberists came out with a new single, The Rake's Songfrom the upcoming album, The Hazards of Love.

Quite disturbing, but superb nonetheless.  Looking forward to the album, which is supposed to continue with the story of the narrator heard in this song.

Starting to Feel the Disappointment

I knew this day would come, but I didn't think it would come so soon. I'm feeling a creeping sense of disappointment with President Obama, the stimulus package, and most of all with the Democrats in Congress. I guess I'm still holding out some hope that the Senate will clean things up, perhaps with pressure from President Obama. But it is not too damn likely. I'm not against taking out a mortgage in the form of additional debt (although I really hate the idea of debt), but it should be limited to spending that meet two tests. First, the spending must provide a near-term benefit in the form of either jobs or other economic stimulus. Second, the spending must be for something that really is an investment in the future and not merely current spending. Plenty in the bill as currently written meets neither test. Much of it does not qualify as an investment in the future.

I'd also be okay with using this opportunity to take on a big challenge -- particularly real comprehensive health care reform or a progressive tax simplification. Alas, neither -- even though both could be done in a way that stimulates the economy. Just stupid spending on stuff that makes the Democrats and Obama vulnerable to attack -- and rightly so.

New Music Tuesday

As is typical on Tuesdays, a slew of new music was released. The first single to catch my eye was Black Weddingby Meg & Dia. This will be one of the songs on the upcoming album, Here, Here and Here, which is set to be released on March 3, 2009.

I was only vaguely familiar with them prior to listening to this single, so I approach it with a clean slate. Musically it sounds on par with Avril Lavigne or Taylor Swift. Although that is an accurate observation, I realize it may not be entirely fair. Singles are often uninteresting musically. They are designed to be catchy even to the person listening on the radio while ordering at the Carl's Jr. drive through. This single should work well on pop and so-called alternative radio.

Lyrically, it is somewhat more sophisticated. Dia posted the lyrics and an explaination of the meaning on her myspace blog, if anybody cares to check that out. Personally, I didn't love this song or the lyrics, but it is enough for me to want to check out some of their back catalog and possibly the new album.

Black Wedding (Album Version) ...

[Edit: I found another new single from Meg & Dia, -- What If-- that sounds even more like Avril Lavigne. Oh well.]

What If (Album Version) - Meg ...

Coachella

The lineup for 2009 Coachella looks pretty damn good, at least for Friday. Paul McCartney seems to have been a bit of a boob since around 1970. The real headliner is Leonard Cohen. If all you did was show up for his performance, the ticket price would be worth it. Add in Franz Ferdinand and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), and Friday is set to be a great night. Of course, I can't forget about Morrissey. Wow. I'm somehow a bit ashamed to also admit that I'd like to see the Ting Tings. The only problem with Friday night is whether you'd be able to catch all of those shows.

Saturday is a bit of a dud in my view. I've always thought the Killers were overrated. Perhaps knowing the Mormon connection has clouded my judgment. Amy Winehouse might be interesting to see. I saw TV on the Radio in concert before and can't stand them either.

Sunday is also a dud with the huge exception of the Cure. I saw them when they headlined Coachella a few years ago and they gave a great show as always. I also saw them last year and for the first time they seemed to be a bit of a retro, novelty show. All the 30+ crowd forced their increasingly fat bodies into their old goth clothes and made a go of it one more time. The infusion of youth from the Coachella crowd will be a good thing, and some kids might discover a great band.

I'm envious of those of you who can make it to Coachella this year.

Oh Buddha!

I posted the lyrics to this song as one of my first blog posts. I finally have found an audio version. I still prefer this by the Imperials or other adult -- especially Eric -- because it sounds much more intolerant that way. But even kids can effectively communicate the message that they will go to heaven and everybody else in the world is going to hell.

Oh Buddha - Nashville Singers

Parenting Books

I picked up Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast Worldby Marybeth Hicks up at the library on a whim. As the parent of a four year old, I'm interested in ideas to do a better job as a parent. I suspect that most parents don't want their kids growing up too fast, don't want them chasing the latest fad, don't want them trying oral sex when they are twelve -- at least not their daughters. If the goal of this book is to convince you of these ideas, it is successful. However, the author fails to deal with the challenges of parenting honestly. With four children, surely she has faced some challenges. By and large, she does not share them. Instead, the anecdotes in this book are of how perfect her children are. When it is necessary to tell an unpleasant anecdote, it is usually a friend or a letter from a reader. So if you want to read 304 pages about how perfect Marybeth Hicks and her kids are, have at it. Take that ride in her minivan. If you want an open, honest, solution-based discussion of how to raise your child, look elsewhere.   

A somewhat-related book that I though was much better is Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder-- It is less preachy and more based on research in addition to just anecdotes.

New Music Night

Good new stuff from Franz Ferdinand's new album Tonight.  Not terribly groundbreaking, but they have a good formula of catchy, danceable music.  I imagine that someday the formula will wear thin.  That happened with Barenaked Ladies and Cake for me.  But for now, I'm tappin' my toes to Franz one more time.  

No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand

Comcast Speak

I'm going to see if I can spend an entire day speaking to others like a Comcast Customer Service Representative.   I've been on the phone or doing an online chat with several of them this evening, and they all have the same sort of non-responsive, passive voiced, overly appeasing way about them.    It will take some practice.  I may sign up to work for them in the center just to learn how it is done.

In any case, I think what they are saying is that I can't report an outage because they have an incorrect spelling of my last name on the account.  That will take them 24-48 hours to fix.  I think.  It has literally (no exaggeration) taken 6 hours to get that much out of them.   

So I'm damn close to just canceling them.  We have good free TV reception (can even buy an HDTV antenna and a TIVO machine and life won't be half bad).  Then I'll see if the phone company's DSL is any good.

Christmas Podcast

It is back!  By popular demand, the Unwilted Christmas podcast is uploaded for your listening pleasure.  It is in M4A format this year -- deal with it.