Rusty Shackleford

Let me guess--it tastes like a pot brownie. But seriously--I'd be fine with the Pac-16, I just want this to be over. If Nebraska ends up in the Big Ten, I can wish them a fond farewell, although I hope OU gets one last shot to beat them on their way out. But my fervent hope is that Missouri, who started this mess, is left begging to be in the Horizon league after the Mountain West spurns their advances. Of all the nerve...

I am baffled at the whole thing. I'm an OU fan, and I'd be fine with them joining the Pac-16, but I don't really understand what the Big Ten is doing. They must have a 14 or 16 team expansion ready to go, because there's no way it makes sense for them to add just Nebraska (or NU and MU) right now. The Pac-16, with the east and west divisions as rumored, actually makes a fair amount of sense. OU has already played at UCLA, at Washington, and at Oregon over the past 5 years, so it's not like west coast road games are such a huge deal. They'll just start playing non-conf games closer to

Yeah, Jay doesn't exactly have a publicity machine. The gig was listed in last Sunday's Post as a coming attraction, but overall not a lot of hype. Surprisingly, the place was pretty full--good for him. But the merch table was unspeakably lame--a bunch of Allison Moorer (opening act) T-shirts, and some American Central Dust CDs. Come on, Jay--I'm more than willing to shell out $25 for a T-shirt, but you have to do your part.

Caught Jay Farrar and Mark Spencer at the Birchmere last night. Jay was on an acoustic guitar all night, and Mark alternated among acoustic, electric, pedal steel and keyboard. They played mostly newish songs, although they pulled out a few from Sebastopol, along with the obligatory Windfall and Tear Stained Eye from Trace. Jay seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and even told a joke or two, sort of. ("Some of these songs mention God in the lyrics. When I think about what God looks like, I picture Willie Nelson.") The highlight of the evening was an acoustic duet of "Still Be Around"--J

I'll add the Strathmore, North Bethesda, 3/30 to the uncirculated wish list. It's actually pretty stunning to me how many of these great "Evening With" shows haven't circulated. The Strathmore show was the 4th time I've seen Wilco in the past 3 years, and the first one I don't have a recording of. I guess I'm pretty spoiled.

3 pages and nobody's mentioned this one? Windfall - Son Volt ("Trace")

Their old label I.R.S. did a reissue series of the I.R.S. albums (called "The I.R.S. Years") in the mid-1990s that included bonus tracks, but the jury was split as to whether there was any remastering done or if it was just a repackage with the bonus tracks. Murmur and Reckoning were remastered and reissued in the mid-90s by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (the "gold discs") as well. And then Warner Bros. reissued all the WB records on DVD-A a few years ago with 5.1 surround sound mixes. Yeah, seeing as how none of these records has ever been out of print, I'd say it's getting out of hand.

These are a little louder, but not painfully so (unlike the unfortunate "And I Feel Fine" set that came out a few years ago--I can't even listen to those discs). They don't sound "clipped" like the "And I Feel Fine" remastered greatest hits record, but it is definitely louder. I have the remastered Reckoning and the "I.R.S. Years" CD version from the mid-90s. The new remaster is a little louder, but a little clearer too. I mostly like it for the expanded booklet/liner notes, which is one area where R.E.M. tends to do a good job. I'll be interested to see how the Fables remaster compar

I got Reckoning, but not Murmur. I already have the Mobile Fidelity "gold" CD for Murmur, and the show on the 2nd disc is widely available in more-complete form. That said, the Reckoning remaster was definitely worth it, and the Murmur one probably is too if you don't already have the MFSL version.

Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is available for download for $5 at Amazon this month. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QWISUY/ref=s9_simv_bw_p340_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1WY87GFBMKJ3ZVQGB0M4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1260423602&pf_rd_i=163856011 I'll have to check that one out.

Son Volt, Tear Stained Eye Jane's Addiction, My Time

Gary was supposed to play a solo show last night about 2 miles from my house. It got canceled, which kind of sucks. Oh well. I agree about RFTF--it's pretty lethargic, so it's not really a record for active listening, if that makes any sense. But last summer, on a warm-but-not-too-warm day, I listened to it through headphones on my hammock in the back yard, and it sounded great.

I'm familiar with Mr. Moon's work with R.E.M. Suffice to say, I saw no need to purchase the Virginia EP/DVD.

Ahhhhh....that's good stuff. Congrats to Montreal once again, and good riddance to the Pens.

Television's reunion album from 1992 is pretty good.

Thanks for posting that. I've set the DVR.

Drive-By Truckers, The Living Bubba

Yep. That's what's so frustrating--that after the great regular season they had, the Caps couldn't beat Montreal in a game where both teams played hard. The Caps gave away Game 1 and Game 5, and the Canadiens gave away Game 2. But those last 2 games were hard-fought all the way, and the Caps couldn't score when it counted. 6-on-4 with almost 2 minutes left, they have to put one in. I can't help but feel like they got a bum draw in terms of matchups. Montreal played them tough in the regular season too--every game was a one-goal affair, with 2 of them going to OT. They had better regula

Yeah, that hurt. Getting a power play with 2 minutes remaining and a chance to tie and not scoring--that sucks. If Washington's power play had been merely wretched, they would have won the series going away. Congrats to the Habs. I'm going to go drink myself to sleep now.

I buy CDs for any band I know I like, but I'll still buy cheap MP3s for someone I'm iffy about. Amazon's daily deals and monthly $5 MP3 albums still get me here and there. As a result, I've got tons of cheap MP3s on the iPod and computer that I'll likely never listen to, plus CDs from about 10 bands that rotate in and out of my car.

Game 7 hasn't been played yet, but I'm already profoundly depressed. Should the Caps lose this one tonight, it'll cement their legacy alongside the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Cubs, and other famously inept franchises at winning the big game. I've only been a fan for 12 years or so, so my experience is limited to blowing 2-game series leads in 2003 and last year, as well as Game 7 against the Flyers 2 years ago and getting swept by Pittsburgh in 2000. I wasn't even around for the truly painful chokes of yesteryear. All these guys had to do was win one game out of 3 and they'd move on to pla

Very exciting. I'm thinking they'll put Theo back in for Game 3, but who knows. It's looking like a pretty tough series.

I understand that there are jerks everywhere, and I expect to encounter jerkitude on airplanes and at the mall. But when someone has paid a fair amount of money for a ticket, made their way to a venue, and nudged their way to the front of a crowd of hundreds, why would they pick that time to have a conversation? It's utterly baffling. I was at a Son Volt show last year where these jackoffs waited until the show had started and then "pretended" to see their friends up front and pushed their way through the crowd, giggling all the time, as if they were fooling all of us into letting them up

I was at the Caps game, and it was excruciating. My only solace is that the Caps played very poorly, and Montreal played pretty well, and it still went to OT. I don't know why they seem to start the playoffs so poorly every year, but it's not good.

They're generally pretty prompt, going on about 15 minutes after the scheduled time on the ticket.