My 'top 10 albums of 2006' list is still being shuffled (congratulations, Beck and The Roots, you just got added!) so I'm making a corresponding playlist in which each track represents my favorite song from the album which is at that spot in my top 10 list. So Neko Case's 'Fox Confessor Brings The Flood' is my favorite so far, and 'Star Witness' goes to ...

Perfect title. Go see it in the theater. The soundtrack! acting! editing! dialogue! Marty! Bringing hardcore film-geek back!

About a week ago, the big news was how a leaked NIE document's conclusion is exactly the opposite of what the Bush administration has been saying -- that the situation in Iraq and our effect in the 'war on terror' is getting worse, not better. The entire NIE has not been (and may never be) released, but the story reminded me of a Chomsky interview I read a ...

FYI: I'm playing around with a Wordpress plug-in for alternating mastheads. Found myself getting bored with the photo I've had up there, so if you see random splashes of color don't have a seizure, ok? I just needed a bit less... drab.

"There is no way of knowing what goes on inside a tiger's head. ...We don't have the technology."

So maybe some of you thought the Walkmen's version of Many Rivers to Cross was a little weird. How many of you had heard the original anyway? What do you think of Peter, Bjorn and John's Young Folks? (you may have to stop a video in the left column to prevent dual audio craziness). I think you might find yourself annoying everyone around you by whistling.

I've been a fan of Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers To Cross since seeing the film Hi Fidelity. There are about a trillion covers of this song (I do like the Blind Boys of Alabama's version), but today I came across The Walkmen's take, which is actually a remake of a crazy Harry Nilsson/John Lennon album called Pussy Cats. You can hear the Beatles harmony all the way through ...

My birthday was thoroughly enjoyable! Thanks to everyone who bought me gifts, sent me email or fed me sweets. As a lovely post-birthday present, Officer Tasby let me off on a warning tonight. I'm pretty sure I was only going 66mph on the Tollway, and NO ONE goes 55, I swear! But after assuring him that I had indeed come from work (10:30pm, it was a long day) ...