Monday morning

(Via Savage Chickens)

Walk like an Egyptian

(Via Crooks and Liars)

Here's wishing the rebellion in Egypt well. Remember, America, Joe Lieberman wants a "kill switch" on our internet access, too. The bastard.

Always ahead of the curve!

(Via Ebert) This was in

1994! I got my first computer two years later. It's pathetic the lack of awareness these paragons of the media show.

I haven't been paying attention:

It totally eluded me that the last post I did was number 900 for the birdhaus! Wow, if only I got paid by the post . . . .

Blah blah blah blog

I think I have posted less posts during December 2008 than any month since I started this little blog a few years back. Heck, I didn't even do the semi-mandatory "Season's Greetings" post. (I hope you had a nice one, by the way.) I spent a few days visiting the step daughter and grand daughter over Christmas, but otherwise, I have been around mostly. I did book my first voice over gig, which was an incredible experience, and I have been doing a little work for the local food bank.

I am not one of these bloggers who is going to let this thing eat my life. I post as I can, and as I feel moved. That being said, I am still here, still ranting or raving occasionally, and I will keep trudging along.

Self portrait

One of the blessings and constant amazements of my life has been my grand daughter. She is so funny, bold, loving, and just plain wonderful that I am always feeling blessed to have her in my life.  She visited us over the Thanksgiving holiday, and it was a great time to share with her.

At one point she came out to the computer room by herself, and when I came out to join her she had already opened my iMac's PhotoBooth program and started taking pictures of herself. She had seen me do this once or twice, and at five years old she is a sponge for learning how to work things. The photo here is one she took on her own before I got to the scene. 

Is it any wonder that she is my ice cream mint honey heart?

Friday Random 10 plus 4

Random, random music form my 'puter's library chosen by the iTunes Party Shuffle function (no editing allowed!!!):

Today Will Be Better, I Swear/Stars/In Our Bedroom After the War

White Rabbit/Jefferson Airplane/Woodstock:Three Days of Peace and Music (Disc 3)

L'esprit D'escalier/Jet/Shine On

US Forces/Midnight Oil/Oils on the Water

I Quit/The Jealous Girlfriends/The Jealous Girlfriends

(I Can`t Get No) Satisfaction/The Rolling Stones/Got Live If You Want It

My Blakean Year/Patti Smith/Trampin'

closer/matt pond PA 

Turn on the Sun Again/The Real Tuesday Weld/eMusic Compilation 2008

Artists Only/Talking Heads/More Songs About Buildings And Food

Haunted/Evanescence/Fallen

Red River Blues/Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee 

New Routine/Fountains Of Wayne/Traffic And Weather

Come Back To Me/X/Under the Big Black Sun

Friday Random 10 plus 2

Ten random tunes from my computer, chosen by the iTunes Party Shuffle function:

Pleasing Interlude No.1/Electric Six/Senor Smoke

Severed Hand/Pearl Jam/Pearl Jam

Without a Fight/Hoobastank/Every Man For Himself

Broken Harp/Polly Jean Harvey/White Chalk

It`s So Dirty/Squeeze/Cool For Cats

I Keep Faith (Solo Version)/Billy Bragg/Mr. Love & Justice [CD2]

Here We Go Again/The Hives/Your New Favourite Band

Dropout Boogie/Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band/Safe As Milk

Ultraviolet/The B-52s/Funplex

I'll Tell You What to Do/Ronny Elliot/Ronnie Elliot and the Nationals

Fuck It/Seether/Disclaimer II

YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE/Spike Jones/78 Digital Downloads

Is Spike Jones the spiritual father of Captain Beefheart?

Out of town, not out to lunch . . . .

I've been visiting my grand daughter and step daughter for the last five days, with a couple more days to go yet. I don't get to see them often enough, so I am very focused on them during my time here. Plus my grand daughter, who is five, always wants to play on the computer with me if I have it out, so blog posting is at a low priority right now.

She and I made a visit to worship at the Church of Chuck E. Cheese here locally, and I got the pictures here posted. She is an utter joy to be with, and I am quite happy, though also very tired. It's good to be the grandpa!

Boomer's photo shoot

I thought it was time for a series of pictures of one of our cockatiels, and Boomer is about the most cooperative. He flew to my iMac and perched there for a while, allowing me to get some handsome shots of him:

He really likes to watch the cursor, for some reason, although here he seems to be looking for help.

Here he establishes his ownership of the computer.

"You lookin' at me?"

"No more flashes, please! I have spots before my eyes!"

Friday Random 10 plus 6

Fugazi Hard at work . . . 

A random list of tunes from my 'puter's library, picked by the Party Shuffle function of iTunes (no editing allowed!):

Atom Age Trucker/Southern Culture On The Skids 

I Need To Say Goodbye/Vast/Nude

Wheels/Cake/Pressure Chief

Going Steady/Death from Above 1979/Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) - EP

Pocoyo (theme)/Pocoyo/Hey Hey (Big Songs for Little People)

Twin Cinema/The New Pornographers/Twin Cinema

05 Love_Is_Not_Enough/Nine Inch Nails/With Teeth

Bastard Wants to Hit Me/They Might Be Giants/Live Downloads

SMOKIN'/Super Furry Animals/Out Spaced

I Got The Hots/Robyn Hitchcock/2004-01-09 - Maxwell's

Bulldog Front/Fugazi/1997-05-03 - Electric Factory

Before The Dawn/Evanescence/Not for Your Ears

Ballad To An Amber Lady/Pearls Before Swine/One Nation Underground

The Southern Thing/Drive-By Truckers/Southern Rock Opera

My Body Is A Cage/Arcade Fire/Neon Bible

The Gift/Seether/Karma And Effect

The Pocoyo is a kid's song I got to burn on a CD for my grand daughter (a CD which has been played so repetatively that her Mommy is threatening to use it as a frisbee). Cake is a great group, and I recommend anything they do, as I own everything they have released. Fugazi comes from my old hometown of Washington, DC (actually I'm from Adelphi, MD, but who knows where that is?), and they are still churning out the Straight Edge punk for their own label Dischord Records. And frankly, I was late picking up on The New Pornographers, but they are smokin'!

A picture says a thousand words:

(Via bifurcated rivets)

Friday Random 10 plus 5

My iMac would make a pretty good DJ. Here's a random sampling chosen by the iTunes Party Shuffle from the computer's music library:

get it on the run/Chinga Chavin/Country Porn

Vibrator/Electric Six/Senor Smoke

Ray-O-Vacs Theme/The Ray-O-Vacs/Album

Up So Close/Cake/Motorcade Of Generosity

The Shadow Government/They Might Be Giants/The Else

Hella Good/No Doubt, Shapeshifters/Mashed

Poor Boy/The DeTractors/Last Tractor Out Of Town

Old Part Of Town/James McMurtry/Childish Things

Evening On The Ground (Lilith's Song)/Iron & Wine/Woman King

Another One Bites The Dust/Queen/Pure Funk, Vol. 2

There Ain't No Heart in My Anymore/TK Major/A Year of Songs

Paranoimia/Art Of Noise/In Visible Silence

Business Time/Flight of Conchords/The Distant Future EP

Human Behaviour/Björk/Debut

Red And Purple/The Dodos/Visiter

I remember when I worked in a truck stop after high school, Chinga Chavin was a universal choice for the pill-poppin', not stoppin' trucker crowd. Crude? Well, yeah, but ain't that the point? He wrote "Asshole from El Paso", a take off/reply to Merle's "Okie from Muskogee", which Kinky Friedman had a minor hit with. WMFU has the whole thing up on line here. Ah, nostalgia . . . .

The bird on the computer . . . .

It's Boomer, of course. He likes to sit on top of the new iMac as much as he liked the old one. He'll lean over and go after the cursor, too. Quite a guy!

Quote for the Day (Obvious Truths Division)

Making duplicate copies and computer printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose. - Andy Rooney

Friday Random 10 plus 5

It's been a while, so here's a random sampling of tunes from my new iMac's music library, chosen by the Party Shuffle function in iTunes (listed by song/artist/album):

Driven Under/Seether/Disclaimer II
Jack The Ripper/Link Wray & His Ray Men/The Swan Singles Collection
No Sign Of Life/Ok Go/Oh No
Who Do You Love?/Ted Leo & the Pharmacists/Living With The Living
Oxycontin Blues/Steve Earle/Washington Square Serenade
Play Tough/Apples In Stereo/New Magnetic Wonder
Me, I'm Not/Nine Inch Nails/Year Zero
Friends of Mine/The Shatners/Sad Encounter with Shirtless Boy on Short Bus Ride
Lets Not Talk About Love/Heather Nova/Storm
Bonus/Ministry/Rio Grande Blood
Spinning World/Foxglove/http://music.download.com
The Fall (Live In London)/Ministry/Rantology
Love Gets Strange/Don Dixon/E E E *
Glass Concrete and Stone/David Byrne
Enjoy Yourself/Todd Snider/East Nashville Skyline
Drive featuring Michael Stipe/Dashboard Confessional/MTV2 Album Covers: Dashboard Confessional & R.E.M.

(*By the way, "E E E" is one of those unknown albums by one of those under appreciated artists that you really should seek out and snap up. Don Dixon is an amazingly talented song writer, producer (including the first two R.E.M. albums), and musician who has labored under the radar for far too many years. "E E E" was released in 1989, but it is a mix of pop, rock, and R&B that sounds as fresh today as it did then. Maybe fresher, given the current crop of pablum we are inundated with. It is still available, so your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find it, buy it, and listen to it repeatedly. And keep an eye out for Don's latest album, "The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room", or for that matter any of his releases. You won't go wrong---trust me!

Hitting the road for the holiday:

Ah, the holidaze! We're going to hit the road tomorrow to go see our grand daughter and her Mommy, and spend a bout six days immersed in the spectacle that is Christmas. The child is very excited that Boppy (me) and grandma are coming. She told her Mom that "Santa is a fake", but she also is asking when he is coming, just to cover all her bases. Being 4 and 1/2 is a time of doubting, but also a time of faith. (This picture is of her from last summer during one of my visits. Hence the strawberries, which are TOTALLY out of season now.)

I am taking my new laptop with me, so I may be able to post from the road for the first time. We'll see. It can get hectic with the family thing in full bloom, so I'll do my best.

Now that my job is over and the world is an open book, just ready for me to write my story (that's the view I get when I'm optimistic, anyway), I should try to keep up with these posts a little better. Maybe . . . . .

Friday Random 10 plus 5

Here's a selection of songs chosen by my NEW iMac, picked by the Party Shuffle function in iTunes (listed by song, artist, and album):

Tongues of Fire/Foxglove/http://music.download.com
Muskrat Sally/Mustard/Eureka Grande
Tell It to Me /Tom Waits/Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Never Gonna Change/Drive-By Truckers/The Dirty South
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?/Frank Zappa/12/2/72 --Cowtown Ballroom, Kansas City, MO
Love, Reign O`er Me/The Who/Quadrophenia
Bethlehem/Westminster Glee Singers
Women Without Whiskey/Drive-By Truckers /Southern Rock Opera
Invisible Man/Wall Of Voodoo/The Index Masters
Ocean Of Noise/Arcade Fire/Neon Bible
I Want To Hold Your Hand/The Beatles/1962-1966
My Tulpa/Magazine/Real Life
Breach Birth/Chevelle/This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In)
Getting Into The Jam/Electric Six/Fire
Planet Of Weed/Fountains Of Wayne/Traffic And Weather
Ordinary People/Neil Young/Chrome Dreams II

Long time no see!

Well, that has to be about the longest time I've been postless here at the birdhaus blog. As I said previously, my job position at the nonprofit where I work was abolished, so I am now looking for new employment. I'm not sure where I will land, but I do feel some relief, along with the requisite anxiety. It's odd. I feel compelled to really assess my direction here, and not just jump at the first possibility for employment that looms in my path. It seems important to me to look for the true path I NEED to be on, and not just grasp at straws. I am striving to see the opportunity in what at first feels very adverse.

And I did get a new computer. (What do you do when you lose your source of income? Buy something!) I purchased one of the new series of iMacs, and it is such a quantum leap forward for me from my five year old G4 iMac. The Intel processors definitely make a huge difference speed wise, though I haven't gotten any of the memory eaters like PhotoShop or Final Cut to really test its mettle yet. I am hoping this is a part of my new start in finding a way to make money with my talents, instead of just selling my time to some business entity which doesn't really give a rat's ass about me.

We'll see. For now, I'm looking to the future with hope, uncertainty, and faith. An odd combination, but one which is just a part of being in the midst of change. So it goes . . . .

Friday Random 10 + 5

A random sampling of tunes from my computer's music library, selected by the Party Shuffle function in iTunes (mostly listing artist/song/CD title):

World Falls Away/Seether/Karma And Effect
Superfly/Curtis Mayfield/Pure Funk
Soap Opera/TK Major/A Year of Songs
From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)/ The Decemberists/Picaresque
Black Eyes/Snowden/Anti-Anti
The Good Old Days/Eels/Shootenanny
Valley of Debris/Heartless Bastards/All This Time
Guest Room/The National/Boxer
For the Turnstiles/The Be Good Tanyas/Hello Love
The Name of This Thing Is Not Love/Elvis Costello & The Imposters/The Delivery Man
Too Young/World/Euphoria/A Gift From Euphoria
Another Brick In The Wall Part/Pink Floyd/The Wall CD 1
Nuclear/Ryan Adams/Demolition
It`s All Over But The Crying/Garbage/Bleed Like Me
Revolving Dora/Fountains Of Wayne/Traffic And Weather
Dead And Lovely/Tom Waits/Real Gone

By the way, Fountains of Wayne Traffic and Weather is an awesome album, subverting the pop form nicely, similarly to how the Beatles used to turn it on its head. Check it out!

And what are you listening to?