I admit I didn’t see the Julia thing coming at the end of the last Being Human. Great, sad scene.
As usual, there were a couple of great songs in the episode, including this beautiful number by Alialujah Choir (featuring the Portland Cello Project).
Simply beautiful song, with an excellent video to go along with it.
Alialujah Choir is not a one-trick pony either.
More great music.
This is huge!
I get a bunch of records to review, and discover and review a lot of good music that way. But it’s not everyday that a new record by the original lineup of one of the best bands of all time hits my inbox. But that just happened.
The dB’s have a new record!
![15004 [Converted]](https://newsome.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/3138-the-dbs-falling-off-the-sky-de8a8f05706c25971.jpg?w=233&h=242 "15004 [Converted]")
It gets better. Lots better. This record is excellent. Better than excellent. Wonderful. Perfect. Holsapple, Stamey, The frickin’ dB’s!
‘Falling Off the Sky’ is the first new dB’s album in a quarter-century. It’s also the first in three decades to feature the band’s original lineup of Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Gene Holder and Will Rigby — the same lineup that recorded the beloved early-’80s classics for deciBels and Repercussion.
Street date is set for June 17 on Bar/None Records.
Listen to That Time is Gone for yourself.
Is that The dB’s or what?
The second track, Before We Were Born, is even better. Far Away and Long Ago sounds like a great, undiscovered Beatles song. There’s not an average song on this record. It is excellent, from start to finish. It’s a beautiful blend/mash-up of 80s alternative rock/indie rock/Americana.
She Won’t Drive in the Rain Anymore is as wonderful as its title. Beautiful. Wistful, like most great music.
Early leader for my record of the year. If you buy one record this year, it should be two copies of this one. One for you and another for some poor soul who doesn’t know about The dB’s.
I gotta go, so I can listen to this record over and over.
So, just when we think things couldn’t get any worse for Wake Forest basketball, about half the roster decides to get on the transfer bus and get the heck out of town.
For a while I was mad about the mess that AD Ron Wellman and head coach Jeff Bzdelik have made of this program. Then, over two years of absolutely horrible basketball, it became sort of funny.
Now, I’m struggling to hold on to that humor, and avoid complete apathy.
In that regard, here’s the 7th episode of Deacon Blues. There is an email floating around the message boards today that is allegedly from Ron Wellman to the board of directors of the Deacon Club. I cannot believe it is real, and at this point have to believe the email is a hoax. But either way, WFU basketball is a complete mess.
In this episode, Ron reads his (alleged) email and a helpful Deacon fan translates it for us.
Note: All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated…..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone.
Obviously, this is satire and humor. No offense to any person, real or fictional, is intended.
Deacon Blues Archive: Episode 1 is here. Episode 2 is here. Episode 3 is here. Episode 4 is here. Episode 5 is here. Episode 6 is here.
I just came across this short documentary about the best band (OK, maybe second best if you consider Tres Hombres era ZZ Top as a separate band from whatever they became later) to ever come out of Houston. Great records, even better live shows. One of my all-time favorites.
Here’s a very good playlist, courtesy of YouTube
I used to love Netflix, back in the DVD era. Eventually, I happily made the move to a streaming-only subscription. I didn’t even care about the Qwikster thing.
But over time, my love began to fade a little every time I read the weekly new releases post at Hacking Netflix.
(see Hacking Netflix for a weekly listing of new Netflix content)
It has become a rarity for me to see something on the streaming new release list that I would watch if Netflix paid me, and almost nothing I would pay to watch. I find that I’ve already watched anything worth a hoot via iTunes and my AppleTV. Yet another example of how Apple is beating everyone at everything.
Still, $7.99 a month is low enough to stay off of my cancellation list. As long as Netflix doesn’t run off a gigantic cliff of stupidity.
The first time I read that Netflix wanted to become- wait for it- a cable TV station, I honestly thought it was a joke. Someone writing a satirical headline in the name of outraged traffic. I’m way too smart to fall for that old trick.
But, as it turns out, that is exactly what Netflix wants to do.
Really, Netflix?
If you’d asked me three months ago how Netflix could ensure its demise, I would probably have said to partner up with some cable television outfit (who, ironically, used to be your arch enemy) and go from super-cool, useful service to yet another dying medium trying to eek out a few years of life while technology- and maybe even Apple– renders it completely obsolete.
Seriously, I understand that the empty bag holding, long-gone cat searching dinosaurs like the MPAA and the RIAA are thrashing around trying to harm the inevitable forces of their demise. But why go from a threatened business plan to a dead one?
I’m not going to bail just yet, but it looks like Netflix may soon join Tivo in my shrine to wonderful things that were killed before their time.
The Song of Ice and Fire series is clearly my favorite series of books since (at least) The Lord of the Rings. And Arya Stark is without a doubt my favorite literary character ever.
Sadly, I just finished the latest book and now have to wait no telling how long for the sixth book.
The Game of Thrones television show is also just about perfect. As we approach Season 2, HBO has released some very excellent trailers.
And others have made some equally excellent parodies. Here are my two favorites.
The Simpsons (from the actual show)
and the Disney version
Awesome stuff.
I’m always bringing up aardvarks. Whenever my kids tell me something about an animal, I’ll start talking about aardvarks. It’s probably one of the reasons most of them don’t talk to me much. Well, that and my primordial rural-upbringing based belief that if the only time you want to talk is when you want something from me, don’t bother.
Anyway, back to aardvarks. If you want to experience the awesomeness of aardvarks, here you go. A little background.
But I’m still not going to give you more money. Or do your homework for you. Or take you to Starbucks.
The excellent and highly recommended Athens, GA music blog Southern Shelter has some live Mike Cooley shows from the past week or so.
@ The Earl (2/22/12)
@ The Earl (2/23/12)
@ The Melting Point (2/24/12)
Among these shows are versions of two of my all-time favorite songs:
Women Without Whiskey
Panties in Your Purse
and a great cover:
Behind Closed Doors
Good stuff!
I thought I had retired Deacon Blues, but this story in the Winston-Salem Journal compelled me to create a 6th episode, in which Ron Wellman and DV7 discuss WFU basketball
Note: All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated…..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone.
Obviously, this is satire and humor. No offense to any person, real or fictional, is intended.
Ron Wellman may be a great Athletic Director, but he is not winning these interviews. If you stand up over and over and spout nonsense, you are hurting your cause. You can spin, and you can craft a message. You simply cannot make absolute statements like "I couldn’t be more excited about our future" unless it is a fact. Or unless you just don’t care.
Deacon Blues Archive: Episode 1 is here. Episode 2 is here. Episode 3 is here. Episode 4 is here. Episode 5 is here.
Newsome.Org 