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Sass Jordan redux

Jan 312010

I’ve been in a major Sass Jordan mode for the past several days.

It’s kind of bittersweet, because I think part of it is that I’m making peace with the fact that musically, she’s pretty far down a road now that I don’t much care about. (Not that being a Sass Jordan fan in Alabama isn’t lonely enough.)

I blogged favorably about Get What You Give, and I still enjoy it some, but it hasn’t burned in with me long-term like her earlier stuff has. From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, which came out late last year, feels like a continuation of that record to me. It’s a James Taylorish place that, when I listen to it, constantly reminds me that it isn’t what she used to do.

For me, the four-album run from 1988′s Tell Somebody through 1998′s Present is the heart of her excellence. It’s power pop, then roots rock, then pissed-off roots rock with a splash of grunge, and finally a mellower turn, but still with enough guts to reverberate.

I found this killer “Make You a Believer” on YouTube this afternoon. This is the first track on 1992′s Racine, performed at a Toronto festival in 2003, with the inimitable Jeff Healey (RIP) absolutely wailing on a solo. Enjoy.

Nick Saban statue underway

Satire, Sports 2 Responses »

Jan 302010

Apparently Mal Moore has jumped all over the need for a Nick Saban statue on the Walk of Champions. It’s in progress now. It could be ready as soon as A-Day.

I’m not so sure about the photograph after which they’ve chosen to model the statue, though.

Roll Tide to you, my friends. Apparently we may drop as far as third or fourth in the recruiting class rankings this year. Try to keep your chin up. I’m sure we can stay above .500 this fall. Heh.

(Pause for a moment with me. Do you feel that? Do you ever just stop, and drink it in, and enjoy being all the way back? I sure do!)

Another “not quite” winter storm

Current Events No Responses »

Jan 292010

The cold rain (as currently forecast) has initiated cancellation of both boys’ basketball games tomorrow morning. So far, I’m still on for a three-hour volunteer stint at our church’s breakfast and lunch counter tomorrow afternoon. They’re saying it might get treacherous tomorrow, but hell, they said that about tonight. I guess we’ll see.

You don’t have to go far north of here at all to get into genuine winter nastiness. We’re being just spared. You know, given that it’s on a weekend, I don’t much mind. It almost doesn’t count for me if it’s not disrupting the workweek. Heh.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Thursday miscellanea #72.5

Menagerie 12 Responses »

Jan 282010

Well, I had more bullets. Lucky you! (I spent a very long time deciding whether this post would be #72.5 or #72′.)
Hi to folks visiting because of my friend Greg mentioning my blog on WBHP this morning. (And thanks, Greg!)
J.D. Salinger died yesterday. He was 91. I wouldn’t say there are any more than ten or twelve people on a list of “seminal authors of the 20th century,” but he’s on it. RIP.
So did Tangina. She was 76. RIP.
I don’t understand those “high surface area” brownie pans that make more brownies with edges. To me, edges are to be avoided. I like a mushy, gooshy brownie. I especially like putting a nuclear hot one in a bowl and melting vanilla ice cream on it.
The Challenger disaster was 24 years ago today. I still don’t remember why I was home from school (illness? weather?), but I was, so I saw it live.
If a convertible is small enough that you can reach the soft top’s entire arc of travel from the driver’s seat, then no matter what the car costs, it’s stupid to put a power mechanism on the top.
Though I hardly require it, I’ve gotten comfortable with “Mr.” from someone college age or younger. People in their 20s are next. I’m getting old.

Thursday miscellanea #72

Menagerie 6 Responses »

Jan 282010

There are the usual caveats about timing and degree, but it looks as if it may ice tomorrow night. That’s kind of a waste. Can’t it do it on a weeknight? Heh.
Toyota now owns the biggest recall in history, and the step of halting sales of most of the new product line is unprecedented. This is a big, big deal, and is going to hurt for years. Don’t underestimate the immediate effect of this on employment, either.
I have little to say about the State of the Union address. The grand, staged events don’t matter nearly as much as the on-the-ground, day-to-day stuff. I suspect year two will find his ego keeping him the same viciously partisan and woefully incompetent executive he’s been to date, which to me is the best of all options.
I’m taking a seminar at church called The Man I’d Like To Be, by Neal Jeffrey. It’s good, though I think I could take or leave the video portions. I’m enjoying the resulting discussion, and getting to know our associate pastor and a few guys a bit better.
John Edwards just keeps endearing himself. A former aide shares in a new book that Edwards hated making appearances at state fairs where “fat rednecks try to shove food down my face. I know I’m the people’s senator, but do I have to hang out with them?”
I think all of the stink over the Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad is silly. I thought it particularly rich that a spokesperson with the Women’s Media Center sniped about “uniting, not dividing” in a statement.
Did you see that Holiday Inn now offers free human bed-warming service at one of its London locations? Yup, they’ll actually send someone to your room to lie in your bed for five minutes. (No word on whether the person will also piss on the toilet seat and leave hair in the shower drain.)

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