October 26, 2015

No matter how much you love your job, Monday mornings can feel like a slow-motion trudge into the deepest bowels of hell … again. Just in case your morning feels like wading through a waist-deep sea of oatmeal, I’m starting a weekly “Monday Funday Dance Party.” For the days when coffee just isn’t enough.

October 21, 2015

I found this picture of an instrument I’ve never seen before; the “Autophone Organette.” I figured I’d see if I could find one in action: And the punch card thingy made me think of the composer Conlon Nancarrow. Nancarrow wrote a lot of music that was so technically complex, he couldn’t find anyone who could

October 14, 2015

Just bought the original studio recording of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” My parents had this on vinyl (and still do), and I listened to it all the time as a kid. They remastered it in 2012 (not my parents, some other people), and I’m loving it. I’ve seen the first movie version of this, as well as

August 8, 2015

Mornings are tough, no matter what. I only work part-time, and I don’t have to be there until 10:00 AM. But I still have to get up at 7:15 so I have enough time to painfully peel my eyes open with coffee and scandalous news stories. For almost seven years, I had a job that

July 28, 2015

This was playing in the drugstore today. Back when I was learning to play guitar, “House at Pooh Corner” was one of the first songs I learned. This is Loggins and Messina, but the song was originally done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt band back in 1970. It was okay to be earnest and sincere

July 17, 2015

This just popped into my head, displacing “Thank You For Being a Friend,” the theme song to “The Golden Girls.” Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Dawn. There was a point in the early to mid-seventies where pop songs became so hook-laden that they were almost annoyingly catchy. You hear it for the first time in