Three dollars and 63 cents

I bought Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool as one of their specials last night, and for some reason all the tracks downloaded five times. My credit card was only charged once, but it was really weird when I came back almost an hour later and the album was still downloading.

I was drinking alone that night, except for the random guy next to me who told the bartender at some point, "This girl should have a glass of water." That was probably what saved me from a 12-hour drive home with a hangover the next day.

If you go to Barley's, I recommend the Catawba Firewater IPA...if I didn't drink it all when I was there

I thought that was a U2 reference, but then I figured I was reading too much into it

I really loved KOL's EP and first two albums. Aha Shake Heartbreak was especially great. I feel like they've become too ho-hum, airbrushed, mainstream arena rock. Not bad, but safe and commercialized in a way that I always thought they could've avoided. They're still nice to look at, but I preferred their previous image. I actually met Evan Dando a few months ago when I was at the Knitting Factory to see Nels play at that Fender Jazzmaster anniversary show. I was sitting at the bar, and he bumped my arm. He apologized and said hello, and I said hello back and realized who he was. I wanted to

I've spent the afternoon listening to the three Nels Cline Singers albums in reverse order. I haven't listened to any of them in awhile, so I've really enjoyed them.

I've ranted at length in the past about what a bad taste U2 the business leaves in my mouth. I used to buy all of their albums, their singles, their videos, their DVDs, etc..... but I gave up. The Complete U2 on iTunes was my breaking point. I wasn't going to shell out $250 I didn't have when I already owned all of their albums. I gladly would've paid to buy just the new/unreleased material, but it was an all or nothing package, and somebody sent me the unreleased tracks. I've maintained my fan club membership for the last few years only because I'm hoping it will give me the chance to get

This gets better with every listen. I wasn't that crazy about it when I got it for Christmas, but I'm loving it now.

That's a nice set list, especially I See Monsters as an opener. Was there only one set, or did they break it up? When I saw them back in September, Ryan said they'd skip the set break if the crowd could be quiet for an entire minute. I think we made it about a second and a half before somebody yelled something. He definitely gets more hecklers than the average performer, but it's good to hear he didn't let them get to him as he sometimes does.

This is a great Saturday morning chill out album. And my cat is loving the last track

As my students will tell you, all it takes it be a writer is being able to use the internet

I never complain about having to wait for a recording, because I know I could never do all the stuff tapers do between going to the show and sharing the recording. I'm still having a bugger of a time trying to figure out port forwarding so that I can seed torrents and not just download stuff. I've stopped downloading in the meantime so I don't wreck my share ratio over on Dime, but I still feel like I'm in over my head, even after doing quite a bit of reading. I'm going to try again this weekend to figure it all out.

Sorry to hear that, dondoboy. Good luck getting things figured out. I'm a non-tenure track college professor, and things are pretty awful among my ranks. Many colleges have hiring freezes, so there are many fewer jobs than usual this year, mostly at community colleges. I've already had a few jobs I've applied for get canceled, especially one I was feeling really hopeful about. If enrollment is good I could get rehired here for next year, but I'm losing hope that's going to happen.

Since I've managed to avoid the leak for the first 24 hours, I think I'll manage to hold out for the official release. Usually I don't bother waiting, but when it's a band I love, I like to bring the CD home and really savor it the first few times. I like what I've been reading about other people's reactions so far, though. I definitely think my most diehard days as a U2 fan are behind me, but I'm still looking forward to this.

Is this really a book of Wilco interviews, or is it a book of interviews with Jeff Tweedy? I was just saying to someone the other day that someone needs to write a book about Wilco that's actually about all of Wilco and not just Jeff. I'm cautious about things that are self-published, too...

Is there a statue?

I doubt it, but as I said in another thread last night, that would be just about the most awesome thing ever for me, musically at least. I saw Nels on the same bill as Lee and Thurston back at the (now defunct ) Knitting Factory back in September, and I kept hoping they'd all play together, but it didn't happen.

Nels is going to be playing a date at the Stone in New York not long after he gets back from Australia. May 10, I think? I'll let everyone know when I find out for sure. There's also a chance he may be playing a solo show in the New York area right around the time of those dates in April at the Blue Note with Jenny Scheinman. No sign of any east coast Singers dates this spring, though, which I'm bummed out about. I'm definitely looking forward to their new album, though!

I think the box set is ridiculously overpriced. The only advantage it seems is that the mid-priced deluxe edition (in both digital and CD formats) comes with the download of the Anton Corbijn film they've been touting, whereas the box set comes with the DVD. I got the HTDAAB box set on ebay after the fuss died down for maybe $20, so I'm not in any hurry to buy the box set of this one. I'm waiting to see what the iTunes bonus tracks are before I decide which version(s) I'll buy.

It's true! This is from Nels's website: