Moss

My daughters started taking piano lessons at about 3 so we decided to go for it when we finally moved into a place where we could fit one. Now that my oldest is a teenager I have noticed that it is a huge stress reliever for her. When she gets upset or stressed she will sit down and play. That alone is worth what it cost. Now I just have to figure out a way to make myself learn it as well. We ended up buying a Charles Walter which I was told was good but have no idea really.

Good to know I'm not alone in this. It actually grabbed on the second listen and I'm enjoying it more and more. "A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound" is still the standout track for me. Very catchy chorus on that.

That is so cool. I'm going to have to start checking them out every day for the possible "sighting". I do like doing them anyways.

Nice looking guitar! Sound like you are gainfully employed so apparently there is no need for a haircut.

I will never understand decisions by managers. You have a pitcher pitching well, throwing a little wild but retiring people and throwing hard. It's 2 outs, the momentum is all the pitchers, and they take him out and put in someone who proceeds to load the bases and give up a grand slam in the 7th. I knew as soon as they took him out that it was a bad move and I don't know dick about baseball. WTF? (rockies/giants game).

Include a little "Hot buttered soul" on that mix tape. Take her to some avant garde (whatever, I'm not looking up the spelling) little theatre that does edgy but cool stuff. Oh wait, you wanted gifts. How about the new Big Star box set.

That is so cool! Why can't I hear something like that when I go to my daughters choir concerts! The best I can hope for is "Wildfire".

Liam can't write songs and Noel can't sing (compared to Liam), I suspect they will be back.

Geez, that makes me feel old. Harvest Moon more than any other album is probably my Sunday morning go-to.

Sounds like my house. I actually wore my Ben Sherman Yellow Submarine shirt to work last Friday. The print looks like this:

FREE BIRD!

Can't they space this stuff out a bit better? Beatles boxes, Big Star boxes, REM remasters, I need a second job!

I hope they don't look back in anger. They can use a break (probably all this is) to maybe figure out how to write good songs again.

Before the Frost definitely has, I didn't even look for the second one yet although I'm sure it's out there.

Midlife Crises - Faith no more

So I am a couple of spins through the new "Before the Frost" album and I am liking it more than I expected. "A train still makes a lonely sound" might be the best song they have released in a long while. "What is home" sound like a lost CSN&Y track. "Make Glad" rocks like something from Amorica. "I ain't hiding" kind of sticks out like a sore thumb but it's growing on me, sounds different than anything else on the album. So far I like it better than the last 3 albums.

I enjoyed that movie quite a bit. I remember reading about that SNL thing and how they were together watching it on TV and actually considered going down there to get the $300 check or whatever it was. That would have been amazing.

That's really cool! And I had no idea he lived in Boston. Gang of four is one of those bands where all the members are pretty critical. That rhythm section is just a monster. Amazing drummer. I hope they tour again because the last time I saw them was one of the best concerts I have EVER been to.

This really belongs in a "What gear do you currently want" because I don't own it but I do want it:

Man I love that Gang of Four album. NP:

Probably the most upset I have been with an artists passing. I spent 100's of hours learning how to play his songs. Saw him in concert about 10 times. Met him at the old Stapleton airport in Denver. He was a huge inspiration to me.

Yeah, the actual game does not really excite me. The thought of wasting time playing Here comes the sun on this game instead of on my acoustic guitar does not excite me. It does appear that they really put some effort into the game though. I'm sure it will turn more than a few kids into Beatle freaks.

Just to break things up a bit, here comes the sun video from Guitar hero, impressive: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/60216

I'm embarrassed to say that just the sight of most spiders causes my scrotum to crawl up inside me so the idea of sheparding them outside seems unrealistic. I certainly don't go out of my way to kill anything and do feel a little twinge of regret about it. From a macro view though, clearly insects are winning when it comes to evolution.

I enjoyed your analysis but you started to go off the rails right here.