Geek Mix

From Wikipedia: “The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as “a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, gaming, etc.”

Geek stuff seems to be ‘in’ right now, which is fine by me. I’ve been one for years, and a little social acceptance isn’t a horrible thing, although I honestly don’t care one way or the other. I’m also an unabashed Star Wars fan, and today’s release of the Clone Wars is as good an excuse as any to geek out today.

30 Century Man (Scott Walker) – The Jigsaw Seen
Bleached Bone Fields – We’ll Write
Do You Believe In Magic? – The Format
Fly Me To the Moon – Frank Sinatra
It Is Pitch Dark – MC Frontalot
Man on the Moon – R.E.M.
Paranoid Android – Radiohead
Sci-Fi Kid - Blitzen Trapper
Skullcrusher Mountain – Jonathan Coulton
Subterranean Homesick Alien – Radiohead
Sunshine Superman – Donovan
White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane

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Catch the trade winds in your sails

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

I’m on a short trip out to a conference in Utah this week and the weekend – I really can’t wait to get back on a plane again, see somewhere new. Here’s some songs that I’ve been listening to recently:

Come Fly With Me – Frank Sinatra
Falling or Flying – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
Freeway – Removed by Request - Aimee Mann
International Airport – Carbon Leaf
It’s My Turn To Fly – The Urge
Leaving on a Jet Plane - John Denver
Minutes to Memories (John Mellenkamp) - Carbon Leaf
Out of Town - Zero 7
See The World - Gomez
Venture Highway - America
Where Are You Going? - Dave Matthew’s Band

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V-Day

So it’s Valentine’s Day.

When it’s good:

Destiny – Zero 7
Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
Dreaming – Sara Wheeler
Hold You In My Arms – Ray LaMontagne
Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
This Is Us – Mark Knofler and Emmylou Harris
Love Love Love – Tristan Prettyman
Songbird - Willie Nelson
I’m A Believer – The Monkees
Come Fly With Me – Frank Sinatra
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

When it’s not:
Out To Sea – Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well – Mike Doughty
Apologies - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Let It Die – Foo Fighters
Ashes and Wine – A Fine Frenzy
When The Pain Dies Down – Chris Stills
Learn To Fly - Carbon Leaf
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile

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Christmas Time is Here

So, I’m going to jump on the Christmas-mix bandwagon, because this is probably going to be my last post for about a week. (I still don’t have the internet at my place, and I get a week off from work, where I can get away from everything and read.) So, here are some of my favorite Christmas songs, new and old. The best of the list is the one at the bottom, which was part of the now canceled show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town - Frank Sinatra
Silent Night - Skye
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
2000 Miles (The Pretenders) – Coldplay
When I Get Home For Christmas – Snow Patrol
(There’s No Place Like Home) For Christmas - Perry Como
Jingle Bells - Diana Krall
Here Comes Santa Claus - Elvis Presley
Toy Soldiers – Carbon Leaf
Silver Bells - Kate Smith
Have Yourself a Merry Christmas – Coldplay
Holly Jolly Christmas - The Format
Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Watermark - Enya
O’ Holy Night - Troy Andrews

After my break, we’ll be back with the best song and album of the year, as well as my picks for the best new artists and some thoughts on what we’ll be seeing next year. And, I’ve got an announcement for a huge, major feature that’ll take up most of the year that I’m quite excited about. Stay tuned.

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Duet – Sinatra & Bono

Here’s a duet from two of the world’s most renowned singers, the great Frank Sinatra and U2′s lead singer, Bono. This collaboration marked Sinatra’s return to Capitol Records, and this song helped make the resulting record, Duets, a commercial success in 1993.

I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Frank Sinatra & Bono

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In the Shadow of the Moon

On September 7th, there’s going to be a documentary released to theaters that looks absolutely fantastic. It’s called In the Shadow of the Moon, and it’s about the space program that would eventually bring the human race out to the moon. It’s gotten quite a few awards from the Sundance Film Festival, and from the trailer, it looks fantastic, and seems to have a number of interviews from original astronauts.

Space history is something that I’ve really gotten into. I graduated from a military college with a degree in history. Not surprisingly, there’s a good degree of military history involved there, and frankly, I’ve wanted to avoid military history to some degree, although it’s something that I’m really interested in. Space is just cool, and I’ve been looking for good books on the subject. With this documentary, I started poking around for more books, and found that there’s a book by the same title (In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969), by Francis French and Colin Burgess, which is an absolutely amazing read so far. It’s comprehensive and detailed, and apparently, the two authors wrote another book, called Into That Silent Sea: Trail Blazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965, which is something that I’ll be getting soon.

I’m a huge fan of science fiction, but there’s something about reading about the actual events that’ve occurred that makes me thrilled inside. Science fact sometimes trumps Science Fiction.
Fly Me To The Moon – Frank Sinatra
Man on the Moon – R.E.M.

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