Monday Morning iPod shuffle 6/15/09

I Fell – The Handsome Family – Through The Trees
Jaguar And Thunderbird – The Skeletons – Brown Eyed Handsome Man: St. Louis Salutes Chuck Berry
When It’s Springtime In Alaska, It’s Forty Below – Johnny Cash – Orange Blossom Special
Come Home – The Dave Clark Five – The History of The Dave Clark Five
No Answer – Juliana Hatfield – Hey Babe
Walk On Down – Aerosmith – Get A Grip (Rare track featuring Joe Perry on Lead Vocals)
Oh, Candy – Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick
It Tears Me Up (Live) – Elvis Costello – King Of America (Bonus Tracks)
Avalon – Andy Kirk and His Clouds Of Joy – G.I. Jukebox Volume 2
Love To You – The Beatles - Revolver
Forced Love (Live) – Sebadoh - ...In Toyko
Wide Open – Jay Bennett – The Magnificent Defeat
Froggy Went A-Courtin’ – Woody Guthrie – Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4
It’s All In Your Mind – Beck – Sea Change
Useless Desires – Patty Griffin – Impossible Dream
Goin’ Back (Version One) – The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers (Bonus Tracks)
The Moderns (Live) – Mark Isham – Rare On Air, Vol. 1
The Future – Leonard Cohen – The Future
I Decided – Daniel Cartier – Avenue A
In My Way - Poster Children – Tool Of The Man
Just The Way You Are – Billy Joel – The Stranger
Crazy – Material Issue – International Pop Overthrow
I Can See Clearly Now - Doyle Bramhall - Bird Nest On The Ground
Feel – Teenage Fanclub – Man-Made
Black Cowboys – Bruce Springsteen – Devils & Dust

I Wanted You – John & Mary – The Weedkiller’s Daughter
I’m A Ghost – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Hearts Of Oak
The Story Of Yo La Tango – Yo La Tengo – I’m Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Don’t Close The Door – Geggy Tah – Sacred Cow
Steep Air – Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
On The Banks Of the Kaney – Big Chief Henry’s Indian... - You Ain’t Talkin’ To Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
Present Joys – Alabama Sacred Harp Singers - Anthology Of American Folk Music
Little Darlin’ Pal of Mind (Live) – Flatt & Scruggs – Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall
Beauty Trip – Television – Television
Baby – Buffalo Tom – Birdbrain
Home (Live) – Pavement – Slanted And Enchanted: Luxe Edition
One Way Out (Live) – The Allman Brothers – Eat A Peach
Rain – Rusted Root – When I Woke
Black Peter – Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead
The Fontana – The Sea And Cake – Red, Hot & Bothered
Name Of The Game – Badfinger – Straight Up
Peg And Awl – Pete Seeger – American Industrial Ballads
Looking For A Way Out – Uncle Tupelo – Still Feel Gone

Park for Pastor Fred Winters

See link attached to title

A nice idea for a life cut short needlessly and too soon...

CLANK!! Wall Of Sound echoes even louder now

Phil Spector's lengthy trial and sentencing came to an end today with the former record producer being sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. Surprising, since it seems as if most high profile cases like this do not usually see the defendant seeing much if any time behind bars. However, Spector has been out of the limelight for many years and may not have the substantial resources it takes for stars to fight this type of case & get off the hook.

Let's just say that somewhere Ronnie Spector is smiling today while saying to herself, "I told you so."

Click on title to see the AP story

Music Library Expansion (or Explosion)

Here is a list of recent music purchases from January to May 2009. Many of these were purchased new via the markdowns that Borders was having while they purged their music department (30-50% off) and others were bought used. A few were bought at Euclid Records on Record Store Day (April 18, 2009) or from Amazon.com. As a general rule, I don't like to pay over $13.99 for a new CD.

Dave Alvin - Ashgrove (2004)

Dave Alvin - West Of The West (2006)

The Beatles - Anthology 3 (1996)

Jay Bennett - The Magnificent Defeat (2006)

Big Brother & the Holding Company - Live at Winterland '68 (1998)

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (2007)

Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, & Stephen Stills - Super Session [Remastered/Expanded] (1968)

Neko Case - Live From Austin, TX (2007)

Neko Case - Middle Cylcone (2009)

The Clash - Sandinista! [Remastered] (1980)

Bill Cosby - It's True! It's True! (1969)

Miles Davis - Milestones [Remastered/Expanded] (1958)

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way [Remastered/Expanded] (1969)

John Doe - A Year In The Wilderness (2007)

John Doe & The Sadies - Country Club (2009) Vinyl

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life (Deluxe Edition) (2009)

Justin Townes Earle - Midnight At The Movies (2009) Vinyl

Steve Earle - Live At The BBC (2009)

Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror (2006)

Aretha Franklin - Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul (2007)

Patty Griffin - A Kiss In Time (2003)

Murry Hammond - I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way (2008)

John Hiatt - Live From Austin, TX (2005)

Peter Himmleman - Unstoppable Forces (2004)

Robyn Hitchcock - Goodnight Oslo (2009) Vinyl

Iron & Wine - Around The Well (B-Sides, Rarities, etc.) (2009)

Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers [Remastered/Expanded] (1969)

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp! [Remastered/Expanded] (1979)

My Morning Jacket - Z (2005)

A. C. Newman - Get Guilty (2009) Vinyl

Pearl Jam - Ten (Deluxe Edition) (2009)

Grant Lee Phillips - Virginia Creeper (2004)

Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn [Remastered Mono & Stereo mixes] (1967)

Rilo Kiley - Take Offs and Landings (2001)

Rilo Kiley - The Execution Of All Things (2002)

Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads - Volume 3 (2004)

Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads - Volume 4 (2006)

The Smithereens - Meet The Smithereens! (2007)

Spoon - Girls Can Tell (2001)

Spoon - Gimme Fiction (2005)

Suicide - Suicide [Remastered/Expanded] (1978)

Suzanne Vega - Songs in Red & Gray (2001)

Wilco - Ashes Of American Flags - DVD (2009)

Yes - The Yes Album [Remastered/Expanded] (1969)

Neil Young - American Stars N Bars [Remastered] (1977)

Neil Young - Live At The Fillmore East (Neil Young Archives Series) (2006)

Neil Young - Fork In The Road (2009)

Q: Do you remember how the Flintstones got the newspaper?

A: on stone tablets

I know...I know! I haven't posted on this blog in over a year! I promise to work on it. Lot of things to update here. Changes coming soon!

Favorite Albums of 2008

Note: This list has no particular order, but the albums near the top have had more spins than the albums near the bottom.

Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind
Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
James Hunter - The Hard Way
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip In The Grain
Cat Power - Jukebox
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Steve Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
The Grand Archives - Grand Archives
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Elvis Costello - Momofuku
Justin Townes Earle - Good Life
Crooked Still - Still Crooked
She & Him - Volume One
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
The Moondoggies - Don't Be A Stranger
Magnolia Summer - Lines From The Frame

Reissues/From the Vaults
Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
R.E.M. - Murmur (Deluxe Edition)
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon (Deluxe Edition)
Pavement - Brighten The Corners - Nicene Creedence Edition
Neil Young - Live At The Canterbury House, 1968

Fantasy Baseball Draft 2008

Here's the results of my fantasy baseball draft from Saturday, March 22. We play with 17 starting spots per day, but roster size is 22. We can keep 4 players from one year to the next. I'm happy with the draft, but it was unfortunate that I could not keep Victor Martinez as my catcher. I think my weak spots are the outfield and starting pitching. We'll see...

C - Varitek

1B - Pujols (Keeper)

2B - Utley (Keeper)

SS - H. Ramirez (Keeper)

3B - M. Cabrera (Keeper) 

LF - R. Ibanez

CF - T. Hunter

RF - Cuddyer

OF - Winn

Util - Youkilis

SP - Hamels

SP - Sheets

RP - F. Cordero

RP - K. Gregg

P - Soria

P - Broxton

P - Neshek

BN - Vasquez

BN - Maddux

BN - Marcum

BN - Glavine

BN - L. Milledge

It runs and moves...now time to make it stop.

When I bought my 1968 Mercury Cougar, the car started and the engine ran fine but the car did not move due to a transmission problem. When the transmission was rebuilt last week now the car runs and moves forward and back. However, when we went to take Jack to the transmission shop the brakes hardly worked. So, now it's time to make the car stop.

On Saturday, my dad and I started the work on the brake system. The plan is to completely replace the components on the front and rear brakes; pads, shoes, rotors on the front and drums and shoes on the rear. First, I wanted to diagnose if there were any other issues that needed to be addressed and decided to bleed the brake system.

What we slated as a job that would take about one hour took about two and a half. After trying to find the right size wrench, which took longer than I had ever thought, we settled on a crescent wrench. We started working on the rear brakes since they were the furthest from the master cylinder. We put the car on the lift and raised it up and I got in the driver's seat the pump the brakes and my dad opened the brake bleeder to allow the excess air from the system. This seemed to go smoothly and we got the rear brakes done quickly. The front brakes were a different matter.

Back on the road...Time to Roar!

Jack is back on the road!  After 8 months of owning Jack, my 1968 Mercury Cougar, the first significant work has been done.  When I found the car I knew that it had a transmission problem.  The car would not go forward, but only backward.  I bought the car and my dad and I brought the Cougar home on July 7th, 2007 and there it sat except for an oil change and some cleaning.  I finally had the money ready and it was time to put Jack back on the road.

My dad's friend recommended that I take my problem to Kenny at Guaranteed Transmissions in Granite City, IL.  He likes working on older transmissions and gave me a good price and I made the appointment to bring the car to the shop on Saturday, March 15.  This sounds a lot easier than it was.  Jack was parked in my dad's garage about 30 miles from the shop.  For a car that does not go forward this is not an easy task.  We also found that there were barely any brakes. My dad, his neighbor Jeff, and myself had to load Jack onto a car trailer.  We parked the trailer behind where the car was parked and pushed Jack out of the garage up to the trailer.  Then we hooked a come-a-long to the axle and I started to wench Jack up onto the trailer.  With the car finally loaded and secured with straps. Total time about an hour. My dad and I drove to the shop and delivered the Cougar to the shop and Kenny and I pushed Jack into the garage as my dad drove. 

Kenny called me on Tuesday morning that the vehicle was done.  My dad and I went to the shop on Wednesday afternoon to pick up Jack.  This time it was much easier to load the car onto the trailer because I could drive it right up the ramps rather than pushing or using a wench.  We drove back to my parent's house and unloaded Jack and stowed the trailer.  

Now it was time for a test drive! My dad and I hopped into the venerable Cougar and drove up and down the streets of his subdivision.  I have not licensed the car, nor does it have any insurance.  Besides, as I said earlier, the brakes were mushy and barely stopping the car so we weren't going very far or very fast.  The transmission seemed to shift nicely and went forward with no issues in all three forward gears. I muscled Jack around the streets and cul-de-sacs as the power steering wasn't working too well. My dad and I came back to the garage and put Jack up on the lift to inspect the work that Kenny had done.  Then we checked the power steering fluid and it was almost empty.  We filled up the power steering reservoir with fluid and I took Jack back out for another drive by myself.  This time the Cougar was much easier to maneuver through the turns. Now we just have to see if the fluid continues to leak.  

Thanks go to dad for helping with the trailer and loading and unloading process and not getting upset that his truck got dirty as we drove past the steel mill a couple of times.  Special thanks to Jeff for the use of his trailer and helping with the loading process.  

Now I just need to replace the front brake pads, shoes & rotors and rear brake drums, get some decent tires, put insurance on the vehicle, get the car licensed, buy new shocks and leaf springs, start the body work process, replace the interior...yadda, yadda, yadda. 

The music has been silenced

The music industry lost these talented people in 2007.

Alice Coltrane - jazz musician and widow of John Coltrane
Brad Delp - lead singer of Boston
Denny Doherty - singer from The Mamas and the Papas
Kevin DuBrow - lead singer of Quiet Riot
Dan Fogelberg - singer/songwriter
Robert Goulet - singer
Lee Hazelwood - singer, songwriter, music producer
Don Ho - Hawaiian crooner
Frankie Laine - singer
Boris Pickett - singer/songwriter - famous for the song Monster Mash
Boots Randolph - saxophonist - famous for the song Yakety Sax
Paul Raven - bassist for Killing Joke, Ministry
Max Roach - jazz drummer
Zola Taylor - singer from The Platters
Hank Thompson - Country musician
Billy Thorpe - English born, Australian musician
Ike Turner - guitarist, singer, ex-husband of Tina Turner (for good reason)
Porter Wagoner - Country musician