A Rubber Door

I got the following message from Michael Penn last week. He wanted me to send it to those that expressed condolences.

I want to thank you all so very very much for your thoughts and prayers over the last week.

I loved my brother very much. I will miss him terribly. It’s a very sad time for us all.

Again, thank you for the outpouring of love you have given me and knowthat it has truly meant a lot.

Just finished reading Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be the new book by singer-guitarist Jen Trynin. Never heard of her, Jen Trynin was supposed to be the woman that brought attitude to womens rock. In the mid-90’s pre-Alanis, pre-Phair, pre-every other rock chick, there was a bidding war for Trynin.

Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be details what happpened and why Trynin isn’t an household name. Along he way you learn a lot about the music industry and how deals are made (and artists screwed). Highly recommended for music fans.

BTW - as you’re reading note that some names are changed. Most amusing is the name of the singer-songwriter Shalah!; no such singer exists. Shalah! is in fact Paula Cole. I always knew Cole was pretentious, but she doesn’t come out looking good in this book.

Jen Trynin - Gun Shy Trigger Happy (iTunes)

Jen Trynin Website

Following in the footsteps of Suze here is my iMeme, based on my iTunes tracks.

Total number of tracks: 8,609 - trying to move as much to hard drive as possible.

Last 10 songs played:

1. Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins - Melt Your Heart
2. Audible - Sunday Bell
3. Sleater-Kinney - Entertain
4. Sleater-Kinney - Words and Guitar
5. Sleater-Kinney - Oh!
6. Sleater-Kinney - Rollercoaster
7. Pixies - No. 13 Baby
8. Michael Penn - Walter Reed
9. Green Day - Whatsername
10. Green Day - Homecoming

Sort by song title
First Song: “? Vs. Rahzel” by The Roots
Last Song: “Zurich is Stained” by Pavement

Sort by time
Shortest Song: This was tough because of sound effects and interludes - I discounted thouse and the shortest would be I’ve Got A Theory/Bunnies/If We’re Together from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More with Feeling at 18 seconds
Longest Song: Slide Show y Travis at 18:31 ( a lot of blank space in there)

Sort by album
First: ‘Tis The Season For Los Straitjackets - a Christmas CD that is a bit off and good
Last: Zucchero And Co. - fooled on this - it SUCKS

Top 10 Most Played Songs (yes, I like Radiohead a little)

1. Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased) - Radiohead Hail To The Thief 158 (play count)
2. There There (The Boney King Of Nowhere) - Radiohead Hail To The Thief 130
3. Paranoid Android - Radiohead OK Computer 127
4. Santa Monica - Everclear Sparkle And Fade 125
5. Until The End Of The World - U2 Achtung Baby 124
6. Quicksand - Travis 12 Memories 118
7. Everlong - Foo Fighters The Colour And The Shape 117
8. 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm) - Radiohead Hail To The Thief 115
9. Where Is My Mind? - The Pixies Surfer Rosa 111
10. Airbag - Radiohead OK Computer 111

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle

1. Chinese Baby - Clem Snide The Ghost Of Fashion
2. Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet Girlfriend
3. Sean Flynn - The Clash Combat Rock
4. The Ballad of Michael Valentine - The Killers Hot Fuss
5. Climbing Up the Walls - Section Strung Out on OK Computer: The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead

Number of search returns for:
sex: 50 (I guess my favorite would be Tired of Sex by Weezer)
love: 425
you: 972
death: 33
hate: 37
wish: 18

I am going to assume that everyone has seen last night’s episode of 24. If you haven’t you really should be watching it now instead of reading my blog; last night’s episode was another example of why 24 is the best show on television. It is so good that even the commercial breaks are too long to wait for more action - much less the week in between shows.

Some points from last night:

• Does President Logan realize how close Jack was to killing him? Jack says that Cummings was responsible for President Palmer’s death I’m thinking the two first words out of your mouth shouldn’t be “I know”. If he weren’t the President I’m sure we would have had our second beheading of the series.
• Has there been a bigger pussy in Presidential TV history than Logan? Speaking of which, I’m guessing he’s not getting any tonight.
• How bad is Jack? He found those responsible for Palmer’s death in under 6 hours! JFK has been dead for almost 32 years and there are still questions revolving his assassination.
• Who made a bigger mess of their pants last night? Samwise Gamgee (Lynn) or Walt?
• What the hell is Audrey’s problem? She apologizes for being distant? Jack’s been at CTU for 30 minutes, been interrogated and attacked. I’m thinking he didn’t have a ton of time to worry about how distant she’s been. And could she pick a better time to call? BTW - the new girlfriend is way hotter and even with annoying son, less annoying than Audrey.

Question for next week: Who was behind the bed? Kim? A cougar? Nina? (I know she’s dead - but don’t put it past the producers to do it and make it plausible). My vote - Agent Charlie Brown (Agent Chase Edmunds from Season 3).

24

The following is from a CNN article about the record profit Exxon/Mobil collected in Q4 2005.

Exxon Mobil’s 2005 net income for the year comes to $1,146 a second. That per-second profit is enough to pay for gas for the average American vehicle to be driven 10,294 miles, at current gasoline prices.

This makes me so angry. Our President does nothing. Our Congress does nothing. Seemingly we do nothing. We’ve let corporate america run amok in this country.

Been bad at this - didn’t really have a good new music list over the holidays while trying to figure out what were my top 2005 releases. OK - so 2006 is a new and Cat Power’s release is the first big release of the year (as far as I’m concerned). Here’s what else is on my (new) iPod:

Andy Stochansky - Radio Fusebox
Carey Ott - Lucid Dream EP
Cat Power - The Greatest
Film School - Film School
The National - Alligator
Neko Case - Blacklisted
Sylvie Lewis - Tangos and Tantrums

Believe it or not all of these can be found on eMusic. The Cat Power is all I expected and so far Film School and The National seem to be excellent releases.

Bennifer, Brangelina, TomKat…I’m sensing a trend. So I’ve decided that Kristen and I need a couple name. I know we’re not stars, but I’m nothing if not ahead of the curve. Everyone will have a couple name soon. Here are your choices:

• Krincer
• Krispen
• Spensten
• Spisten

Help me out - we need to know how we will be referred to when we go on our pilgrimage to help the poor of the outer banks.

Actor Chris Penn died tonight at the very young age of 43. Every news story will describe Chris Penn in reference to a famous brother and that’s a shame. He was a fine actor and the loss will be felt by his family, friends, and fans.

Condolences to his mother Eileen and his brothers Michael and Sean.

Much too young.

Please post your thoughts and condolences. I will pass this link onto Michael.