Sentimental Valium

OK--another musical suggestion. I can't add it simply as a link anymore since I've messed my page up so I'll give it here. The guy's name is Ed Harcourt. He provides a little something for everyone--at times a typical singer/songwriter and then pushing the boundaries of pop music at other times. You can listen to some streaming songs on his site--the newest album of his, Strangers, keeps testing the outer boundaries of mellow melodic music. If you like Pete Yorn, Brenden Benson, David Gray, Duncan Sheik, etc etc... then you will probably appreciate Harcourt. It definitely has an indie angle, but isn't as "distancing" as alot of that genre can be. Check him out! I expect most of you won't be disappointed.

Now, for the lists. Last night AN and I had the chance to jam through a few John Lennon songs. I went to bed last night with a couple of them bouncing around in my head and woke up wondering to myself "What would be my Top 10 Favorite John Lennon songs?? So......

thebaldtrain's Top 10 John Lennon Songs (solo work only)
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1. Beautiful Boy
2. God
3. Happy Xmas (The War Is Over)
4. How?
5. How Do You Sleep?
6. Instant Karma
7. Jealous Guy
8. Mother
9. Real Love
10. Watching The Wheels

Andrew--I expect some kind of comment from you. And I'm sure others will "complain" because I left off the most "famous" Lennon's songs: "Imagine." But that's exactly why I left it off. I'm not really sure it's in my top 10 anyway. One day I'll post a Top 10 Lennon's Beatles Songs.

How about another list:

Top 10 "G" Movies:
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1. Glenngary Glen Ross (Unreal performances by Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin and Al Pacino. It's dialogue driven--not a lot of action,but those actors do such an incredible job of interacting with each other that it doesn't feel boring. It's tense and emotional. There's also a drinking game you can play with it that is pretty "well known": watch the movie and every time there is some kind of variation of the Fbomb, you take a drink... Collect the keys as people are coming in--no one will be driving home after that game!)
2. Gods Must Be Crazy (I laugh every single time I watch this. I used to have this on VHS, but I'm sure I don't anymore. I need to own this. The crazy Keystone Cop-fast forward stuff gets a little old, but this still ranks up there as one of the movies that makes me happiest when I'm watching it!)
3. Graduate (I know it's sort of sick--the whole Mrs. Robinson thing. But I love the soundtrack and I think it's one of my favorite Dustin Hoffman roles. Besides, who doesn't like the 70s fashion?!)
4. Grosse Point Blank (Another great John Cusak film. It's a little darker in spots than I'm used to seeing him in, but I have liked this since the first time I saw it. Something about the way he acts is so believable to me!)
5. Groundhog Day (Bill Murray and Chris Elliott--who knew they would be such a dynamic comedic duo?!?! This movie is filled with lines that I quoted over and over in college. "Ned the Head--Needlenose Ned--Got the shingles real bad in high school, almost didn't graduate...")

[honorable mention: Gattaca; Godfather; Good Will Hunting; Gosford Park; Green Mile]

Bottom 5 "G" Movies:
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1. Garbage Pail Kids Movie (needs no explanation)
2. Ghost (I hated this movie when it came out--I still have a strong abhorrence towards it. Mostly I just despise Whoppie.)
3. Gone In Sixty Seconds (Not only did I not like this movie, but I was insulted by it. And I like Nicolas Cage most of the time! And so does Suzie!!)
4. Grease 2 (whatever!)
5. Grumpier Old Men (The first one had moments of cuteness--this one was simply annoying and self-indulgent.)

Hopefully I'll post more regularly now. I'll give the update on the website as soon as I get it. I think I'm heading out to get "The Gods Must Be Crazy" somewhere--I need to own it!!

posted by -tr0y- @ 2:05 PM

Current song: "Christmas Celebration" by Weezer.

I remember being about 9 years old, thinking I could help my dad out with a mechanical endeavor. I wanted to "clean up" the lawn mower. I thought I would take care of the oil, maybe the gas, maybe clean then underside.... All the things that he made look easy so many times before. When we went to start to mower the next time, it was obvious something was wrong! I think I had put the wrong kind of oil in--or maybe put the oil where the gas goes... something like that. The point is that I messed up a relatively simple task because I really didn't know what I was doing--I assumed I could figure it out.

Jump ahead 21 years. (Wow, that hurt my body in a major way to write that...) I decided to "fix" my blog this morning--you know, clean up the face, fix and update some links, add a picture, etc etc... Just like the mower, I have messed something up and can't figure out how to fix it!! All my links are missing--I'm not sure where they went and I'm not sure how to add any new ones to this new template. I tried to add a picture but it doesn't seem to be showing up. Essentially, I'm less happy with the current state of this blog than I was when a lot of you couldn't read it. At some point, I'll try to enlist the help of people who are much smarter than I am and get a more functional page up again. I was able to get the comments back in place though--my one accomplishment!!

Current song: "We Don't Make Each Other Laugh Anymore" by Arab Strap.

I'm happy to announce that the first two songs are completely finished! After a couple of months of rehearsing, recording, editing and mixing, I finally have a CD in my hands! I'm thrilled for people to actually hear the songs. They will be "officially" available for purchase ($.99) this Sunday. I'll pass along the website as soon as I am sure it is finished. Of course, I would be THRILLED if people wanted to buy the song, but I don't expect anyone too obviously. Either way, you can listen to a 30 second clip of the song. And for those who don't like to download songs (or if your mammaw doesn't want you to......), it's possible to buy the two song CD from our online store and it will even be MAILED to you! I would post the song so you guys can hear it, but unfortunately that's not "legal" anymore... As I get some other songs of mine finished though I can pass some sneak previews along....

Current song: "By My Side" by Ben Harper.

I'm in the process of providing a few other "Top 5 Lists" that I'll hopefully post this afternoon. I'm going to work a little more on the blog and see if I can mess it up some more.

posted by -tr0y- @ 1:01 PM

soooo sorry! Evidently c@it is worried that I have perished. I both have been unbelievably overwhelmed with a recording project (getting close to done!!!) and just haven't felt the magic for blogging. Sorry.

Also, a few of you have let me know that the template I'm using isn't cooperating with your machines. Unfortunately, that probably means I need to switch the look of the site for a while. Sorry c@it.... We'll connect and see if we can design something else soon. My hope/plan is to spend some time tomorrow morning updating the site--both the look and a longer post to give an update about life for thebaldtrain.

posted by -tr0y- @ 11:25 AM