Three dollars and 63 cents

Note to my 2:00 MWF class: we won't be meeting on Friday, March 27. Your professor has to go to, um, a meeting

Northampton looks doable. I was already thinking of going up there that weekend to see the Charlie Hunter Trio

Yeah, it especially reminds me of the Jackknife Lee remix of Fast Cars. It makes me wonder if they might resurrect that for the next tour. It was a lot of fun the few times I heard them play it. I listened to the new single a lot in the first two days it was out, but I haven't played it since then. I don't dislike it, but I guess the novelty has sort of worn off. Part of it may also be that I'm getting caught up on the music I got for Christmas and a few other things I pre-ordered months ago that are finally coming out.

Just finished: Now playing: (Nels Cline Trio--Ground)

I'm planning to go Saturday

That's very cool! I almost drove up to Massachusetts to see him play a solo set last week, but the weather was iffy. His trio will be playing at the Rochester Jazz Fest in June, and I'm hoping I'll be able to go see them. I'm about to listen to:

I think the tour only starts this weekend. As far as I know, he's playing with his band, though. If that show in Philadelphia were Saturday instead of Sunday, I'd be there for sure, but unfortunately I'm going to have to skip it. I listened to the album for the first time this afternoon. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, which I mean as a good thing. What's always struck me about his work is the way it transports me. I get lost in it, whether I'm listening to an album or seeing him live, and I felt a much stronger sense of that than I expected to. I need at least a few more listens befo

This is excellent, and well worth the $10 + shipping. It's a very good recording of a very good performance. My only complaint is that I wanted it to be longer! Also, I agree with Lou. The thumb hole might've been helpful, but a slightly bigger outer sleeve would've easily solved all the problems, too. If they thought about including a warning, that should've been a clue to them that the packaging wasn't very well-designed. These problems could've been easily avoided.

They looked pretty similar to Mr. Costello's headphones, too

I've gotten so used to my noise canceling earbuds, but I miss headphones sometimes. My dad had a big pair when I was growing up, and at first we shared them, though as he started listening to less music I started listening to more, and eventually they spent more time in my bedroom than they did at the family stereo. Just the size and feeling of good headphones now make me nostalgic, because immediately I remember how much music I discovered through my dad's headphones.

I listen to music mostly through iTunes. At some point in my life I want to get a good stereo system, but now isn't the right time for me to do that, both because of cost and because of my living situation. I just got a new laptop, and I splurged and got the high-end sound card. I've been shocked how different and how much better my music has sounded through headphones in the last few days. It's like getting a whole new music collection in a way. I'm about to turn off the lights and sprawl on the floor to listen to a new CD that I've been waiting for for months. I can't think of a way I'd ra

I was 9 and wanted to go see it with my older cousin, who I always tried to imitate because I thought he was so cool, and my mom wouldn't let me go That cousin eventually gave me his cassette copy of Under A Blood Red Sky when I got into the band on my own. Not long after that, I realized he wasn't cool and was actually a jackass, but at least I got my first copy of UABRS from him.

I'm enjoying my first listen to this a lot.

ATYCLB is my least favorite U2 album, but I love that song so much. It's playful but heartfelt, too, and probably the closest Bono has ever gotten to blue-eyed soul. I've been a U2 fan since I was 13. They were the first band I ever loved, and though I'm not sure I'd rank them even in my top five favorite bands now, they're a band I always go back to. Critics and naysayers can say what they will, but there's nothing quite like a U2 show. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like the new tour will likely be in stadiums, which I'm not crazy about, but I'll definitely try to see them at least once

I finally picked up the mail I got while I was out of town, and this album was in the stack. The packaging is lovely, and thankfully I didn't have any problem getting either of the discs out, but I'm glad I put both into iTunes right away, because they were both hard to get back in and probably won't be as easy to get out next time. watchtower, that's weird that the website is showing that Live In Montreal isn't out yet, because it came out last year. Truthfully, I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet, since I've been out of town for a few weeks, but I'll let you know how it is when I list

Yeah, she overdid it with the delivery a little, but it was still a wonderful poem. I'm looking forward to reading it again. I wish I had more time to really soak in all of this. It still feels a little surreal, since I've gotten so used to feeling jaded and disgruntled about politics in the last eight years, which has been most of my adult life. Today is the very first day a president I voted for is ruling our country. While there's nothing noticeably different, change feels possible, which is reassuring. It certainly isn't going to just fall into our laps, but it was so good to hear Obama

It may not be a bad idea to drop Fat Possum a line and tell them that. Their customer service is really good, even though it's hard to find an email address on their site (the customer service guy's name is Patrick, if I remember correctly). I had a problem with another CD I ordered from them last month, and they sent me a replacement copy the next day.

I'm sure mine has arrived, but I stopped my mail while I was out of town for the holidays and can't get it until tomorrow

I'm appreciating the contradiction between the lyrics and the music--it sounds like a throwaway dance track, but it's not at all. I have a hunch it will be a song like Vertigo that I get tired of after awhile, but I think it's some of Bono's best songwriting since Pop. On the last two albums, there was this transparency in his lyrics, this sense that they could (mostly) be taken at face value, but here there's some sarcasm and irony, some shape-shifting that I don't think we've seen from him since the 90s, and that's refreshing. I don't expect the entire album to sound this way. From what I'

It was a nice concert. There were a lot of combinations of artists that didn't seem like they would've worked but actually sounded pretty good together. And I agree with you, solace, that Jon Bon Jovi did an okay job, definitely better than I was expecting. I would've much rather heard Betty LaVette sing with John Legend, though. I tuned in mainly to see U2, but I think I liked Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen the best, mainly because Pete Seeger looked elated for the entire song. Obama's speech was powerful, too. I think it's finally sinking in for me that he really is going to be presi

You're lucky then. It would've been so much better if it had just been Betty LaVette.

Good call on the HRC logo. I'd forgotten about that, and if that is in fact what it's hinting at, I appreciate how subtle it is. Strangely, what's probably my favorite U2 cover is the one for my least favorite U2 album:

Fixed that for you. How anybody can complain about ticket prices for charity shows is beyond me.

Dave Fanning is supposed to debut the single on his radio program in Ireland Monday morning. I'm surprised they're waiting until Feb. 15 to release the single digitally and the next day to release the hard copy--it will be all over the internet for nearly a month. I like the cover. There's a simplicity to it that I wasn't expecting from U2. That image without the equals sign (or whatever those bars are) was floating around some U2 sites all week, and I liked th original a little more. There's been speculation that maybe the bars are simply placeholders for text, but I hope they go for a text

One country gets seven shows and you still find something to complain about?