In which I talk about why I hate talking about music

So, about five years ago, I started really hating talking about music.  Not just online, but in person.  I have used the analogy "we might as well be arguing over which color we should like best", and I kind of stick to that.

I suppose I sort of used to talk about music here and at League of Melbotis, but talking about music in person is often an oddball conversation wherein you're both talking about driving, but one of you is talking about driving sports cars on empty stretches of road, and someone else is talking about NASCAR, and someone else is talking about playing SpyHunter at Chuck E. Cheese in 1987.

On the internet, however, there's no difference between a somewhat apathetic or agnostic stance and finding that your "meh" attitude just outright offends someone.

Concrete Example: If I could barely muster a shrug that REM finally hung it up after not finding a place in my record collection since Out of Time, released almost 20 years ago, I'm sorry.  It doesn't mean I think you're an idiot for praising Monster or Automatic for the People.  I haven't paid any attention to the band since my Junior year of high school.*

I just don't care.  And its not that I don't care that much about YOU as a person (and I know you take your music seriously), but I can't do anything with the fact that we have different ideas about the rock and roll.

Blondie = No Post Friday

Went with SimonUK to see Blondie.  I'm afraid there's no post for Friday.  Or, at least, anything on comics.

That show was AWESOME.  If Blondie is coming to your town, I can't recommend enough that you go.

Debbie Harry is an amazing frontman/lady and it was this great all-ages crowd who all knew all the words.

Ms. Deborah Harry still has it

I will say a few things about Debbie Harry:

1)  she is such a weird/ bad dancer, that it kind of circles back and becomes awesome again.
2)  her voice hasn't changed at all.  She sounded phenomenal.
3)  she seemed to warm up to the crowd as the show went on and was having fun by the end.  And she kept pointing to the 40-something guy in my row who was freaking out completely at seeing Blondie.

The band is full of amazing musicians

I've seen a lot of bands, but its rare I see a bands and walk away thinking "those guys are remarkable musicians".  That's something I think the 3-chords and an attitude approach to rock has really eliminated from live shows, but these guys still totally do that.

Simon and I were en route to my car and saw a crowd waiting behind the building near the buses and decided to humor ourselves.

SimonUk poses with guitarist Tommy Kessler (he is awesome)

No, I have no idea who these girls are in the picture below, but they wanted to be in the shot.  I am sad Simon apparently had a seizure while taking the picture.  It makes this a bit of a Bigfoot moment.

I granted Mr. Kessler a photo-op

Ms. Harry did not exit through our door, or at least while I was standing there, and I doubted she'd want to pose with me if she DID show up, so Si and I moved on.

So, anyway, yes, the show rocked.  And Blondie went straight from "Rapture" into The Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right (To Party)".  It was hilarious.

But I was more or less satisfied when "Atomic" made the playlist on the 3rd song.

Once Upon a Time in America

An Italian conducting an orchestra (I believe in Poland) performing a song written for a movie about early 20th Century American Jews shot partially in Rome (for that vintage look). That's America, people.



I'm a big fan of the movie Once Upon a Time In America, but a very big fan of the score.

Happy 4th of July, cont'd (America at its finest, video #2)

Just in case the previous post didn't say enough about why I love America, I would remind you: we made James Brown AND Rocky.

It's that time of year...

Show Me The Way To Go Home - Jaws from Thomas Kelly on Vimeo.

When Pre-Schoolers compose songs about Superman and Flash

An old chum of mine now lives in Seattle.  Apparently he's putting the words of Pre-Schoolers to music and performing them. 

This song is about the time Superman and Flash ran into a couple of large mammals in a cave.

Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to hear the song (its about 1:30).

Talking Heads

The video for Burning Down the House was probably the poppiest moment the band Talking Heads ever achieved.  The video got regular play on MTV, became the band's only Top 10 hit, and was where I remember first hearing their music.  The video hit in 1983, which would have made me about 8, and still very excited about whatever showed up on MTV, be it Tina Turner, Billy Idol or the J. Geils Band.

However, I really liked that tune.  Its a pretty darn good rock song, and I don't know if I parse the video now any better than I did 28 years ago, but I did like that there seemed to be something to figure out and I suspected it had something to do with the band members wrestling some inner-something.

We ALSO project David Byrne's face onto the side of our house

But, as a kid I didn't care so much about what the art was trying to say so much as the fact that I liked these people who all dressed in white suits, apparently weren't too worried about glamour or attitude and had a kick-ass blonde on bass.  Even then I thought that was unusual and nifty.

10 things I currently like

As I went on and on about things I didn't like in a few recent posts, I thought I'd share a few things that I have enjoyed of late.

1. Game of Thrones - This show got off to a rocky start with an all-exposition pilot, and I wasn't sure I was going to care all that much about a fictional history of a fictional land when there are very real histories to care about.  But it did have a certain je ne sais quoi, and by the end of the 3rd episode, I was in for the full season.  I can't spell anybody's name, or remember half the names, but its still a really well produced show.  And Peter Dinklage's character is my new hero.

2.  Batman Inc.  - Yesterday I read Batman Inc. # 2-5.  There's not a lot of emotional depth to this one that I enjoyed in prior Morrison Batman work, but its a compelling story and epic mystery. I think he does a great job of picking up Rucka's vibe with Batwoman, and I would likely pick up an El Gaucho series all on its own (which...  probably just me on that one, I guess).

3.  Batman Beyond - I did read Adam Beechen and Ryan Benjamin's first few issues in the collection entitled Hush Beyond, and I quite liked it.  I was a big fan of the TV series and straight-to-video movie, and I wasn't tired of the universe that was developed for the show and the JLU cartoon.  Beechen and Benjamin clearly were both familiar with the series, and its a fun read.  Very glad this series is ongoing and they they're giving Superman Beyond a One Shot to see how that goes. 

4.  Treme - I haven't made it through The Wire*, so don't start on me that this isn't as good as The Wire.  Its a damn good show, although parts have gotten a bit cute for my taste this season.  And its a good reminder of what happened and is still happening in our backyard.  Great ensemble cast, amazing ability to weave in culture and music, and it has Khandi Alexander outside of a CSI show that I can watch without feeling my eyes burn.  It is also job #87 or so that Kim Dickens has had in the last few years (JimD is right, Kim Dickens is pretty great).

5.  Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - A co-worker turned me onto this band, and they're much more listenable than  I would have guessed.  I particularly like the cut "I Love Creedence". 

6.  Friday Night Lights - yeah, I know its already been canceled, but I love this damn show.  And its so sad so many people bring their baggage from high school and apply it to missing one of the best shows on network TV.  The one downside is that I'm not sure the show ever got better than its pilot, which was one of the best hours of TV I've ever seen.  Also:  Connie Britton I could watch doing crossword puzzles or delinting sweaters.


7.  American Gods - is pretty good.  I need to just block out some time to finish it.

8.  Edamame - why nobody told me about this stuff before is mindblowing.  You are all on notice for not alerting me to edamame before now.


9.  The ACL Fest Lineup - Go figure, the one year I don't buy a 3-day pass, its a great line-up.  I'm only going Sunday. 

10.  My goofy gym - I love places with goofy names, and that includes my new gym:  Planet Fitness.  It just seems sort of half-baked, like they decided "eh, that's good enough" and called it a day.  Inside, the gym proudly declares itself "The No Judgement Zone" in four foot letters, which isn't a misspelling of "Judgement", but its also not how you see it usually spelled (ie: judgment).  And for that, I JUDGE THEM.  Also, literally everything in the gym is purple, yellow or black.  I can only guess this is seriously screwing up the rods and cones within the eyeballs of the employees.


*park it.  I will watch it eventually.

Happy Mother's Day - in song!

Happy Mother's Day to the Moms out there! This Mother's Day my own mom is in Kenya wrestling lions or something, and Jamie's mom is in Trinidad and Tobago. So, no formal Mother's Day business for us.

But, hey... I assume somebody out there who reads this might be a mom. So, you know, we tip our hat. Its the hardest job out there, and there's not a lot of room for screwing up.

Anyhow, let's celebrate the holiday... in song!

From our friends in Pink Floyd:



From Dumbo:



From our friend Glen:

No Post Wednesday - Arcade Fire was in town

Well, I went to see Arcade Fire tonight with Jamie, Jason and pal AmyR. The show was really pretty great, and in no small part because Jamie and I figured out it was the first show we'd been to together since a Bowie concert circa 2004.

I dig this song off the most recent album.


Before leaving the stage, Win commented for maybe the fourth time about how much they love Austin, and reminded us "You don't even know how good you have it here". And I think maybe that's true some days. But I'm also glad someone else noticed.

And here's another favorite:

Baby, You're My Angel

Sexy Sax Man IS above The Law (this is the best thing you will see all day)

Thanks to JasonC for the link

Rebecca Black's "Friday" (or: in which I discuss exploiting starry-eyed teens and their parents for fun and profit)

So.  Rebecca Black.

Randy asked me to cover the rise of Rebecca Black, a girl I'd guess is a high school underclassman and who has become famous for a very bad song which is making the rounds.

If you have not seen the video that launched a meme, I'll go ahead and embed it below. I invite you to watch the video in order to inflate Rebecca's hit count and get some context here.



So, I'll be honest... yes, its vapid, pointless pop music, clearly cranked out quickly and cheaply.  It utilizes auto-tune to fix a non-professional's deficiencies, and to make it sound exactly like every other song that's on Top 40 radio. Sure, its hard to say much about the song other than "they really know how to repeat the same words over and over", and itts intended to appeal to an audience I'd guess is between the ages 5-15 (ie: children's music - which i doubt Black herself has grokked), but it is MOSTLY a song that Ms. Black's folks would feel completely comfortable to hear their child sing in front of a crowd (if one can ignore the poor grammar of "we so excited".  Which raises questions for me about the writer's intentions regarding who was supposed to sing this song, but let us not go there.)

The video and song have been mocked by folks online who know better* and believe themselves snarky.  Hey, that sounds sort of like what we do here, but let me be 100% honest with you:

I have absolutely no idea what is funny about this meme. This song sounds exactly in my head like what I hear when anyone from Hilary Duff to Miley Cyrus to Britney Spears to Ke$ha to (insert pop starlet using autotune who is the product of a producer looking to create a brand).  It sounds like bad pop, which is what it is.

Perspective, people.

Sure, its a stripped down version of the overproduced pop that's dominated kid's music since someone tried to make a go of making Tiffany a household name.  I salute Black's parents for not buying that she has to put on a skimpy faux-Catholic school girl Halloween costume ala Ms. Spears to get attention, nor that she should sing about wanting to be "rubbed the right way", as Aguilera insisted en route to making the Top 40.  She seems like a sweet kid, and if riding in a car is a big deal to her, more power.

But...  I am 35 and a dude, and this is not intended for me.  This is exactly what pop music sounds like right now no matter who is performing it and no matter how they're dressed.  The difference is that she's singing about the dumb stuff that I suppose most kids in middle-class and upper-class homes think about at her age. Honestly, isn't this her "Everybody's Working for the Weekend"** but for rich kids for whom Friday represents a chance to get a ride with her friend's mom to the Pizza place where that cute boy from Geometry might be hanging out?  At least she's singing about what she knows. 

The fact that she can't sing (thus: auto-tune) and the lyrics are asinine: I'm sorry, where were all you people when Will Smith decided his daughter needed to be a pop star and everyone talked about how great and catchy that @#$% was? 

In short, its silly, its badly written, it doesn't really work...  but that describes 95% of what gets generated out there that outsells all your favorite bands.  So let us all give poor Rebecca a brake.

And... did we just notice that there are cynical producers exploiting bright-eyed young people and their parents? Heck, I admire Ark for their brazen choice to put their label out front and announce to YouTube Nation exactly who was making mad bank off of this hack job. And who can say that this method hasn't worked for them?

• Rebecca Black has a top-selling tune on iTunes.  
• You have smug self-satisfaction and once entertained notions that Crash Test Dummies were a good band when you were trying to define your tastes as "alternative". 

It's the Disney Channel of music.  If we're going to bag on this, let's all tune into Wizards of Waverly Place and bag on that show for not being The Wire.

Now what I do love is that at 2:30 in the video, this random, much-older guy shows up and starts rapping about how he wants to echo Rebecca's sentiments regarding the awesomeness of Fridays and his joy at seeing a school bus.

Guy in car, I salute you.***

Also, at about 1:16 it seems Ms. Black was asked to invite her pals to join her in a video shoot, and, man...  her friend in the braces does just not know she is about to be an internet meme.

Now, I know what I was listening to by 7th grade, so I can say with confidence, this would have drawn the same blank stares from me that Ms. Debbie Gibson received during her reign (btw, is this really worse than Electric Youth?), but maybe in, like, 2nd grade I would have thought this would have been great to hear at Pizza Royale while plugging quarters into the Galaga machine.  Back then, this would have been right there in my wheelhouse. 

You aren't going to really convince me that this is a whole lot different from, say, Taylor Swift.  Teen singer, handled by agents and producers, singing repetitive, tuneless songs, not in control of her own destiny...  Actually, that's kind of how I feel about modern country in general, but I digress.  The difference seems to be just how much someone's parents were willing to spend on an investment and how much a producer thought they could make on a kid before they wised up and he moved on to the next kid.

I am also not convinced that this girl is any different from the 10's of 1000's of bright-eyed hopefuls who show up for American Idol, nor what becomes of the "winners" of that show.

Now, I am willing to embrace this video and song as silly, if you'll acknowledge that Avril Lavigne did far more damage to the music industry than a 1000 Rebecca Blacks could hope to accomplish.

*I've seen your record collection.  You don't know better, and you have some explaining to do.
**I would submit that "Working for the Weekend" and much of the Loverboy catalogue was weaker than this tune, but we still let that @#$% play over the PA at Red Robin three decades on.
***In the story I've written in my head to give the video a narrative, this is RB's aunt's boyfriend who is the only one who appreciates Ms. Black's auto-tuned talent.

Oh @#$%...  

Here she is going acoustic (thx, Randy!)


I think her friend in the braces is sitting there on the couch looking way more comfortable this time.

Confusion over Arcade Fire Grammy Win is Nothing Short of Magical

Firstly, you have to go to the tumblr site accumulating the Twitter-Rage over Arcade Fire winning whatever Grammy they won.

Secondly, who over the age of 15, thinks the Grammies have any particular value?  I can remember my moment of "oh, ha ha, seriously?  I give up" when it came to the Grammies, and it came in the form of Sheryl Crow winning album of the year* back around 1994 or 1995. 

I don't know if Arcade Fire had the album of the year.  I certainly didn't listen to all of them.  Or even some of them.  The complaint was that nobody had heard of Arcade Fire.

Full disclosure: I've only seen Lady Antebellum's name in print, so I can sort of understand how you can have a question mark over your head when someone you don't know is nominated.  But of three of the top nods, Gaga, Perry and Eminem are better known for their personal lives and antics than their actual music (sorry, Marshall), and its arguable that Gaga and Perry's albums are forgettable pop, secondary to the merchandising and performance aspect of the music industry (and I am not bagging on Perry or Gaga for being very good at what they do, but when you don't include the visual, Gaga's music is pretty standard issue disco stuff and Perry sounds like any pick-of-the-week female pop artist of the past 20 years).

If you give a damn about music, at some point I can see getting tired of throwing in votes for boring records because its "good for the industry".   It isn't. 

But, if the public hasn't heard of Arcade Fire, its kind of refreshing to see that's the case.  It likely means two things.
1)  The mix of Arcade Fire's refusal to do ad spots, perform on Nickelodeon awards shows, stay out of jail, etc... has meant that they lack celebrity, which has nothing to do with quality of an album
2)  The music industry is amazingly and hopelessly splintered.  That isn't alarming, that's more or less always the state of the industry.  I don't expect for people to have ever heard of the bands I listen to  if they don't actively seek out music (ie: they wait and see what gets dropped in their laps).  A lot of people do seek out music, but as enough people do not, clever marketing has a significant effect.

Is it good for the Grammy to go to a more-Pitchfork friendly album than, say, Taylor Swift?  I doubt it helps the TV ratings much and most certainly will turn off mainstream radio listeners, but maybe its good.  American rock has been about turning to something new and different, and while Arcade Fire are establishment favorites by alt-rock standards, its a kick in the pants of another auto-tuned Lady Gaga performance with a disco beat or Eminem (who is good) winning for doing what he's been doing since I was an undergrad.

I'm always amazed by the narrow view of the listening public, but its something I got over very quickly working behind the counter of a mall record shop.  People come to music for different reasons, and none of them are bad reasons, even if it means that you wind up making regrettable purchases.  But most people generally believe that what they and their friends listen to is what everybody listens to, and that, of course, is kind of dumb.

Its wrong-headed to think that Perry or Gaga fans will be inspired to check out Arcade Fire (a band that supports concert hall shows, for those who say they've never heard of them).  But you can sit back and enjoy the confusion and remember what it was like to be sixteen and see your folks get bunged up when a band you liked made it onto TV.

It would have been far more hilarious had someone the likes of Dan Deacon won album of the year.  That would have been TV gold.


*I would apologize to Sheryl Crow fans, but somebody has to tell you.  Yes, my taste in music better than your own.**

**not really***

***well, maybe.  I mean, Sheryl Crow?  Put down the Dave Matthews and back slowly away.

Catching up on Sunday and Monday

Sorry for the lack of posting on Sunday or Monday.

Sunday we watched the Super Bowl and ate until we threw up. No, I was not enamored with any particular Super Bowl ads, and, no... I don't like the Black Eyed Peas in general, or Christina Aguilera, so I see no reason to bag on them in particular now when enough people like them that they got hired to do the Super Bowl (even if both performances were sort of disastrous).

As per the actual game, I used to be a big Green Bay fan, but slacked off my viewing the past... 8 years or so. So, yes, I cheered for them and was pleased they won.

On Monday night, Jamie and I went to a screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a seminal movie for sci-fi nerds, film score dorks, Dreyfus goons and Devil's Tower and mashed potato enthusiasts.

srsly, geology?

The screening was part of a "Film Score Focus" series, hosted by the guy who runs a radio show here on our local classical station, KMFA.  The program is dedicated to understanding film music. As my film score knowledge extends only to about six composers (one of whom may or may not be Prince), and I'm usually pre-occupied on Sundays, I rarely hear the show, but its a good time when I do tune in.

If you've never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, its Spielberg's wish-fulfillment movie about an unlikely way to get out of a dead-end marriage without involving Kate Capshaw. Wait, that is not what its about at all.*

Its about "Ohmigodlook. UFOs!"

The movie has a killer score and is just a lovely, optimistic film that makes you wonder: What happened between this and Hook, Steven?  I do think the movie might be a smidge dated at this point in structure, audio design, etc...  but that's okay.  The story itself is compelling enough and detailed enough that its still a good watch.

So, anyway. No real review. No real post.  Thanks to SimonUK for coming out for the show!

*Because the most fantastical idea is that Teri Garr circa 1977 would be someone I'd want to escape.

The Signal Watch Salutes the Marriage of Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

I wasn't going to mention this because, well, maybe two of you will care.  But...

Congrats to one of my favorite comic writers and one of my favorite musicians.  They got married over the weekend.

Congrats Greg Rucka and Kanye West!

Wait...  that isn't right.

Oh, right.

Congratulations to Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer!

This picture made the rounds on the comics webs the past 48 hours, and we figure its free for us to use, too.

We at The Signal Watch know they will never see this post, but we wish them the best, anyway.  We were impressed when we heard these two were coupled up and we're glad they made it official.

For those of you wondering, Neil Gaiman is the writer of many very good comics (most famously Sandman) and novels (I just got both Jamie and Judy to read Anasi Boys, and I think you guys might like it, too), and Amanda Palmer is a solo performer as well as half of Evelyn Evelyn and Dresden Dolls.

The dress is apparently something Palmer used to wear as a street performer.  Go figure.

Trololololo! Chlidren's choir makes Christmas Magic/ Nightmare Fuel

People, I have no idea...



but I do like that V, Hilary Clinton and Superman are all in the choir.

So a few of my favorite Christmas Tunes - some of which Nathan didn't mention

Ah, the Holidays. I love the lights, the cold weather (when we can get it in Texas), the food and camaraderie. And, as we've discussed, the music.

The older I get, the more I realize its a time of year for dwelling a bit in the past, enjoying the same movies, songs, decorations, etc... over and over. That's a good thing. We need a chance to reflect on who we are, who we were and who we can be next year, and if it takes putting a fake tree in your living room and hanging gaudy baubles from the branches to do that, that's okay.

That doesn't mean every year is that same. Every Christmas is, of course, different. For some its the first year of a new romance. For others, its the first year alone. For some its Christmas with a new baby, while others may just see it as a day when they can get overtime during a shift at the toll booth. But so it seems appropriate that with all the ways we filter Christmas, so, too, should we have a wide variety of songs.

Here are some more favorites:

Miss Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas:



Mr. Bing Crosby with White Christmas (which held the record for best-selling record for decades, btw):



I'm not sure Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keene is popular outside of the Great State of Texas, but around here, its definitely got some traction. And, yes, people always sing along.  Apologies to those of you from outside Texas.





Ms. Darlene Love singing Baby, Please Come Home (this is a top 3 type favorite for me. Do not accept U2 covers):




The Pogues and Ms. Kirsty MacColl (RIP) on Fairytale of New York:




And there's no video of this track, recorded circa 1963 -  Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, The Bells of St. Mary's.  Its also not, technically, a Christmas song.  The movie "The Bells of St. Mary's" was released during the Holiday season (only a small part of it actually takes place during Christmas), but somehow its become a quasi-Christmas classic.  And its a really great movie, too.  I confess to getting a little weepy at the end.

Anyhow, Bob B. Soxx (I am guessing: not his real name), just kills on this song.

Special Bonus Tracks:

-From Mr. Mojo Nixon, a man who has made a career out of not really caring a whole lot/ not taking it all too seriously, Sleigh Ride.  In one take.  Without ever bothering to look up the lyrics.

-and this isn't a song.  I'm just posting this for Jamie.  It's the long-forgotten Stick Figure Theater's take on Its a Wonderful Life.

NathanC Helps You Pick Out Your Holiday Tunes

We have a brief window here for enjoying the sights and sounds of the Holidays. A while back at our links site I mentioned a list of Christmas music suggestions I'd seen at the always-trustworthy Pop Culture Safari.

Click here to visit that list.

Do not proceed until you've read the column.

Okay? Okay.

A lot of good stuff in there.  I just don't think its Christmas without the Phil Spector Christmas album.  Spector may have gone bonkers, but:  (a) he knew how to get a great sound (b) he knew talent (c) he knew how to cut a Christmas album and (c)  The Ronnettes. 

I have many trusted sources when it comes to music, but I figured that I should look to one of our specialists in such matters. Already Mrshl weighed in with recommendations for the Holidays from Sufjan Stevens and Low.

Corpsman NathanC is very knowledgeable about music of many genres, loves Christmas, and, honestly, works in radio. So while you may like your stuff... let's give Nathan a little benefit of the doubt. Man has paid his dues.

Nathan and I had an email correspondence over a few days, and Nathan's end went like this:

Nathan: Okay, so I finally got around to checking out that list. Man, I can find no fault in *any* of those Christmas music picks on the blogger's "main list." My top choices are the Phil Spector album, which captures the essence of Christmas in the big city. It feels very modern and classic at the same time. I have the Wynton Marsalis album, and can attest that it is a swingin' affair. Much better than an album of Wynton's original compositions (sorry Wynton), which I find to be too often academic.

(The League says: I don't think this is on the album, but diva Kathleen Battle does Christmas with Marsalis and Co., and its worth a listen)


Of all the modern crooner/swinging Christmas records, my favorite has been Diana Krall's "Christmas Songs" from a few years ago. The arrangements are terrific. And I fall in love with her when her voice cracks during "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

I don't know that I can add more to what this fella says about the albums, other than to recommend a "buy" on the Spector, Presley, Guaraldi and Sinatra albums. Must-have for ANY Christmas collection. As for the Chipmunks, you'll be okay with the one song. And buy Diana Krall's CD.

(The League Says: Elvis Costello is a wise man.)

Later:

Re: Bob Dylan's "Christmas In the Heart":

Far from the "What the hell?" reaction most people had to this album, I felt Bob Dylan's choice to release a Christmas album to be inspired. Dylan's voice has always been unique, but since "Time Out of Mind," it's lowered into a grizzled drawl. His past few albums have been somewhat inspired by old-timey and regional music (note Dylan's favored Col. Sanders suit and tie, too), and so I feel his present demeanor and style fits within the context of a Christmas record. The arrangements on Christmas in the Heart only amplify the fireside feel. It's like your kind uncle full of eggnog singing.

(The League Says: Here's some of that album!)

By the way, those Christmas song compilations that Target puts out ("Jingle Bell Rock," "A Traditional Christmas, Vol. 1," etc.) every year are great. I always pick some up for half-off after Christmas.

Was Nat King Cole on that guy's list? If not, for shame!!!!

Who are my favorite Christmas song interpreters of all time?

In no particular order:

Nat King Cole
Frank Sinatra
Doris Day
Ella Fitzgerald
Diana Krall
Elvis Presley

(The League Says: For The King, we post video. Respect.)


My favorite Christmas song? Of course, it's Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song." It doesn't order you to deck the halls, to jingle bells, or anything like that. It just reminisces about the many sights, sounds, and smells of the season, and wishes you a Merry Christmas. Which is what we all want, isn't it?

(The League says: We agree that this is absolutely top notch. Here's The Velvet Fog himself)


And Finally:

The Beatles Christmas recordings are charming if you're a big fan of the group. But after 1965's record, they start to get very, very zany, and work better if you're under the influence.

The reviewer used the word "melancholy" to describe "Christmas Time is Here" by Vince Guaraldi. To quote The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

And I just checked his list again. He *did* skip Nat King Cole! Heresy!

The League Says:

We've got our own favorites and we'll be back with them soon!

I am pretty sure you won't finish reading this meandering blog post

It would be bad form to not have a post ready for a Monday, but I'm kind of running dry at the moment.  Bear with me.

The weekend 

The holidays are here, and that meant Saturday we were able to attend a lovely get together at Matt and Nicole's place.  Sweaters were worn, cocktails embibed, and a cold front hit just before the party, so it didn't feel odd or unseasonal. 

I learned a lesson in trying to be a safe driver:  if you're planning to cab it around town - do not decide its time to call a cab at 2:00 AM on Saturday night/ Sunday morning during the middle of holiday revelry.  They will never, ever show up.  And you will spend an ugly hour regretting that last cocktail with SyFy Channel on mute showing some horrendous movie with Alan Cumming painted blue, and Jamie just staring at the window and repeating "where are they?", only to give up and force a sober Nicole to drive you all the way back to your house at 3:10 AM.

Today was fairly lazy.  Played with the dogs.  Read.  Cleaned up a bit.  Walked the dogs.  Fixed the fence.  Slept for a while in the afternoon, facedown on the sofa.  Denied the fact that I need to go to Lowe's and do a few last bits of Christmas shopping (I am way, way out ahead on Christmas shopping).  Met up with Matt and Nicole at a sort of Italian bistro near Nau's, ran into Keora and Laura (wife of SimonUK). 

And now I'm sitting in front of the fake fire with sleepy dogs. 

Big 12 and Longhorn Football

OU won the Big 12 Championship, which is secretly good news to me (as OU is my second favorite college team, but we do not say such things in Austin). 

And it looks like UT's long-bemoaned Offensive Coordinator, Greg Davis, will be leaving UT's coaching staff by hook or by crook early this week. 

I don't know much about Davis.  He doesn't get in front of the mics or cameras very often, but I know that in a city that screeches to a halt on game days, I have never heard one person who didn't second-guess or immediately leap to chip in to question Davis's coaching and play calling.  That's not an exaggeration for dramatic effect, that's a fact.  And it seems that UT's great recruiting of the past 10 years finally wasn't able to overcome the deficit in offensive coordination.  At some point, you can't have 100K people in the stadium all slapping their foreheads, and everybody but the Offensive Coordinator knowing that the play called was not going to work.

That's not to say people aren't warily eyeing Will Muschamp (UT's Defensive Coordinator), his millions per year and the fact that UT oddly already anointed him Mack Brown's successor despite the fact that Brown isn't scheduled to retire or leave Texas.  I don't think Muschamp is on the chopping block quite yet, but if UT is giving up as many touchdowns next year as they did this season?  That sweetheart deal is going to dry up pretty fast.

Anyway, strange days for Texas football.

On the positive side:  Looks like Oregon will challenge Auburn for the National title spot!  Very happy for our man in Oregon, Fantomenos.  The Ducks have been building to this point for a while, and I'm personally planning to dress in green and watch that one.

Jackie Chiles returns

Back in the 1990's Seinfeld was (and still remains) one of my favorite shows.  Many will remember the OJ-case inspired character, Jackie Chiles, loosely based on now-deceased showboating attorney Johnny Cochrane.

A colleague of The Signal Watch is a contributor to award-winning legal blog Abnormal Use, which recently swung an interview with the actor who portrayed Jackie Chiles, Phil Morris.  We encourage you to read the interview. 

I confess that, yes, I do still watch Smallville on the CW (I'm quite a fan of Ms. Durance who plays Lois.  Rowr.).  For the past few years, Morris has guest-spotted on the program as J'onn J'onzz/ John Jones (aka:  The Martian Manhunter), and he's been a real highlight in a show that I usually enjoy semi-ironically (because, man, Smallville...).  I figured it was too much to ask that they spin the character off into his own, better show, so I take what I can get.

You can also see Morris in new clips as Jackie Chiles on Funny or Die!

Congrats to Abnormal Use for a great 2010!

Spider-Man play suffers another injury

An actress playing a major role as a villain suffered a concussion when a rope smacked her in the head.  This same actress has to sit in her harness 6 hours per day. 

I really do think people will turn up to watch the show, but its for the same reason you go to NASCAR races: horrendous accidents.

Never Assume

You people can enjoy the malarkey that is The League in small, bite sized chunks and opt in or out of dealing with me as you please.  Even Jamie has the option to tell me to shut it, and/ or leave the room.  But there is a person who does not have any options.  8 hours per day, 5 days per week, my officemate (who also reports to me in the org chart) has to sit and listen to whatever I say.  And I kind of just talk.  And talk.  And talk and talk and talk and talk and talk all day every day.

And its kind of unfair.  Literally nobody else on the planet has to put up with my monologuing or fear for their livelihood.  And so it came to pass that I was completely under the impression that my officemate and I were on the same page that KANYE WEST IS THE GREATEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED, EVER.

Apparently, not so.  So, if anyone else has some ideas for what to get an officemate for Christmas that isn't the new Kanye West album, please let me know.