Happy Birthday Elfgirl!!!

Living Well
WhatFunLifeWas (1994)
Bedhead




Soul and Fire
Bubble & Scrape (1993)
Sebadoh

Race Rabbit
Keep It Light EP (2007)
Zykos

December Was a Sham
Red States (2005)
This Microwave World

Measure for Measure

The New York Times has a new blog called Measure for Measure which seeks to delve into the creative process of songwriting. Andrew Bird, Rosanne Cash, Suzanne Vega and Darrell Brown are contributors.

The first post, "Words Will Tell", is written by one of my favs - Andrew Bird.

I’ve spent most of the last year inside a tour bus. I’ve spoken more words to journalists than I have to my friends and family. All of this has kept me from what I realize now is my job, and that’s to daydream. Now I bring my bike on tour and ride every day. Wandering in an unfamiliar town, the rhythm of walking or riding and a few hours to kill is nearly the perfect recipe for a new idea.

I’ve got 11 songs mostly written and several dozen distinct melodies. I never worry about the melodies drying up. Since I can remember, I’ve had melodies in my head. I chew my food to them.

Almost every breath contains some fragments of an escaping melody. If I shape my lips so as to whistle, my breath will take on a musical shape like sonic vapor. Words are much trickier. I would forgo words altogether if I didn’t love singing them so much. My choice of words and my voice betray so much and that’s what’s so terrifying and attractive about it.

The Water Jet Cilice
Soldier On EP
2007

friday reads

A federal appeals court on Thursday ordered Siegelman released pending the appeal of his corruption case, just hours after the House Judiciary Committee announced that it wants to hear his views when it probes claims of selective prosecution by the Justice Department.


Abu-Jamal to get new sentencing hearing.


Eric Lichtblau: The Inside Drama Behind the Times' Warrantless Wiretapping Story.


Chris Floyd: Operation Permanent Presence: The Civil War "Surge" in Iraq


Up to 1,000 long-forgetten fuel storage tanks could be buried under the streets of downtown Austin.


A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

thursday reads

A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad.


Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.


The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is now digital and interactive.


Violet Blue: Every girl online is fat, ugly and unsexy.


The New Yorker has an essay on useless pennies.


M. Yu takes a look at some of the fetish art of Trevor Brown (nsfw).

Women Tied Up in Knots - Bongwater [The Power of Pussy - 1991]

wednesday reads

Mark Danner: Taking Stock of the War on Terror


Scott Horton: Judicial Bamboozlement


I found this post by Jessica to be incredibly disturbing: "Miss Bimbo"


Another coup in the world's most unstable country.


Chemical Geography


Shedding some light on the sex life of the giant squid.


100%ALCOHOLIC

("Cheers!" to World-O-Crap)

tuesday reads

Chris Floyd: Still Not Worried? Petraeus Blames Iran for Green Zone Attack

The AP takes a look at the more than 100 foreign-born members of the U.S. military who earned American citizenship by dying in Iraq.

Cheney on 4000 American Dead: "They Volunteered"

U.S. Army soldier Mike Belgrove opens up a discussion on his blog on this unfortunate milestone.[from the comments]:

I've opened up a discussion on my blog so I can talk to people and answer their questions and hopefully make people understand that not all military are supporting this war and that every one of those deaths was important and unneeded. I'd like it you'd stop by and toss in your two cents.

I'm all for defending my country but U.S. did not need to be defended from Iraq.

Faced with the dramatically spiralling costs of wheat, rice and corn, the World Food Programme has made an unprecedented appeal for at least $500m (£250m) to help it continue supplying food aid to 73 million needy people this year.


An interesting article from the Asian Times: Tibet, the 'great game' and the CIA


A gun belonging to the pilot of an American plane went off during a domestic flight at the weekend.

McCain = four more years of Bush.



fubar says...pass it on

It looks like Sen. John McCain has a post up over at The General's place.

Happy Birthday Susie Bright!

monday reads

The number of United States military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion five years ago has passed the 4,000 mark.

Joan McDonald believes her son was a casualty of the war in Iraq, but the Army says that while he did suffer a severe head wound in a bomb blast, the cause of his death is undetermined, keeping him off the casualty list.

Hundreds of veterans who gathered outside Washington last weekend to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning to their communities across the country with the goal of stoking resistance to the Iraq war from inside the U.S. military.

Tomgram: Michael Schwartz, How to Disintegrate a City


Paul Krugman: Taming the Beast


Majikthise: Roger Stone, Eliot Spitzer, Miami Velvet, and the FBI

(click here to view)

Ann Telnaes Cartoonists & Writers … Mar 24, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

easter...everywhere

Babelogue / Rock 'N' Roll Nigger

Privilege (Set Me Free)




She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)

I Had To Tell You

sunday reads

Soldiers go to Killeen’s bars to forget, but they come to the tattoo shops to remember.


Bad Ideas in Airline Security


Pastafarians Rejoice! A statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster installed at the Cumberland County, Tennessee courthouse.


Cross sci-fi with crafting and you've got the Alien Abduction Festival, an event built around tinfoil hats, UFOs and the infamous anal probe purportedly conducted by curious extraterrestrials.