Belated happy new year everyone. I’ve had good intentions to blog more often, but all of my writing energy is going toward new songs, editing research papers for publication, and trying to land a letter in Penthouse Forum. Here is a bunch of things I’ve been reading/digging/thinking about over the last month, culled from my [...]
Tagged too many to list, twitterVarious publications have been compiling “best of the decade” lists for various cultural forms. A music email list I’m on conducted a poll on the best records of the decade. Here are mine, compiled in about 20 minutes. Thank goodness for iTunes, which made this a lot easier. One caveat is that I restricted myself [...]
Tagged music that mattersFrom my Twitter feed: Sociology/Social issues/Higher Ed Can you imagine the outrage that would ensue if dozens of white teens died in the Chicago suburbs every year? Chicago public schools in 2007-08 academic year: 34 deaths and 290 shootings. Not enough ppl care, certainly not ones in power. Sad. http://bit.ly/tI4nF # Thomas LaVeist does work [...]
Tagged music, politics, sociology1. U2 – 44 2. John Coltrane – 32 3. Miles Davis – 26 4. Pearl Jam – 21 5. Amadou & Mariam – 18 6. Chris Whitley – 15 7. Van Morrison – 13 8. The 757s – 11 9. Los Lobos; Uncle Tupelo – 10 11. Bap Kennedy – 9 12. Blue Mitchell [...]
Tagged musicMJ = great player, not a nice guy. Sadly, people just go along with it. “Jordan’s night to remember turns petty” – Yahoo! http://bit.ly/EhbbJ # Incredible show – more thoughts later. “U2 Reinvent the Stadium Show as 360 Tour Launches in Chicago” – Rolling Stone – http://bit.ly/qKlL7 # It’s the beginning of the third week [...]
Tagged academia, music that matters, racism, sports, Swine fluFor academics: outstanding post by @tenuredradical on departmental workload issues, w/ good advice on how to handle it. http://bit.ly/4j0ygd # Good news: Amy had a short story accepted by Third Coast, a great literary journal. You can read some of her work here: http://bit.ly/DJSxN # 67 excellent documentaries available through Netflix http://bit.ly/cjXRT # Excellent column [...]
Tagged academics, documentaries, literature, music, sociology, workNY’s Mercy College offers 1-on-1 mentoring for incoming frosh. Our students frequently complain to me about advising. http://bit.ly/23MfAo # Minnesota’s AD: Big 10 about business, MAC about educating. I feel the same way about research vs. teaching schools. http://bit.ly/16HO2L # GOP parents teach their kids an early lesson about partisan hatred. Nice work. NYTimes.com http://bit.ly/cutwL [...]
Tagged twitterAkron/Cleveland bummer: Bang and the Clatter Theatre defaults on loan, closes up shop. cleveland.com http://bit.ly/XHs3J # I love this. GOP strategists worry about effect of Palin, Beck, Limbaugh on party’s future. Reap what you sow. HuffPo: http://bit.ly/91oYm # Interesting question of taste vs. perception: craft brewers moving from bottles to cans. Akron Beacon-Journal: http://bit.ly/ZraRu # [...]
Tagged Akron arts, good beer, sociology, wingnutsWe saw Terrence Blanchard in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. And watched Stewart Copeland’s “Everyone Stares” movie last week, hence some of the results in this week’s chart. The new Blanchard record, “Choices,” is very good and features some cool spoken word from Dr. Cornel West. 1. Terence Blanchard – 31 2. Miles Davis [...]
Tagged musicMy top artists for the past week according to Last.fm. What were you digging? 1. Sonny Rollins – 39 2. Townes Van Zandt – 36 3. Terence Blanchard – 28 4. Hothouse Flowers – 22 5. David Byrne – 21 6. Steve Earle – 20 7. Joe Henry – 15 7. John Coltrane – 15 [...]