Rilo Kiley---Portions For Foxes

When I saw Rilo Kiley in Orlando, it was a good thing the Station Agent was there to restrain me. When they performed "Portions For Foxes", I was beside myself in ecstasy. Isn't that what ecstasy means?

I guess that's why I have to post this song on KTWS Radio at least once a month.

But they have fought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth:
They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes. Psalm 62.10-11

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J.D. Justice Covers A Better Son/Daughter

Justice's piano does, well, justice to Jenny Lewis composition, who must now take her deserved place among America's great composers...or I'm going on some kind of rampage.

RIAA Claims Ripping Your own CDs is Illegal

The RIAA is totally out of control. Now they claim that you can't rip songs from CDs you bought. Not for use on your iPods. Not to make compilations for the car. Not to store on your hard drive.

Great work RIAA. You couldn't have made a stupider decision if you tried. This organization has gradually radicalized to a position where they will have a hard time maintaining a remotely influential role in what the music industry eventually morphs into.

This is will be another example of those who cling too tightly to power long after their relevance has been exhausted eventually ending up with nothing.

Bonnie Tyler---Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Bonnie Tyler is either the greatest lip syncher of all time, or she really sings on stage the way she does in the studio.

This Boy

The Beatles in 1962, against a background of
destruction, courtesy of the Luftwaffe.

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Simon And Garfunkel, Central Park, 1981---The Boxer

"After changes, we are more or less the same..."

I wish I had been there.

Simon and Garfunkle - The Boxer

If I could I would grow the 'fro Garfunkle is rocking in this clip from 1975 performance of "The Boxer". It is the ideal hair-do in my opinion. Man this song makes me want to get up off my arse and do something with my life.

Coven---One Tin Soldier

Jinx Dawson has been called the Queen of Goth. You could never tell that from this song, which is great, and featured in the self-righteous but also great film, Billy Jack.

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Ben Gibbard - Silver Lining

Ben Gibbard pays tribute to his Postal Service bandmate Jenny Lewis with a cover of Rilo Kiley's "Silver Lining".

What To Do In Pepperland

If you are interested in Beatles outtakes and other random Beatles stuff, click here.

If you want to hear the most consistently valued Beatles song, according to poll after poll after poll, click here.

It's "A Day In The Life"

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We Can Work It Out

I really hope we can...

Hey Jude---Across The Universe Film

An entire movie of Beatles covers would probably annoy me--so I am unlikely to see Across the Universe--but I don't mind one at a time. This one ain't bad.

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Juno, Kimya, Sonic Youth, Paris Hilton and My Faith in Mankind (Humanity)

I went to see Juno tonight. The movie was pretty good. I liked the actress (Ellen Page) that played Juno a lot, and she was surrounded by actors (Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons), actresses (Allison Janney) and music (Kimya freakin' Dawson is all over this thing) that I like a lot.

An important song in the story is Sonic Youth's cover of the Carpenters' "Superstar".



I love that Kimya Dawson finally got a big break. She was invited to do Conan but had to turn it down because she won't cross the writers' picket line. Such integrity. Finally the strike cost me something--the sheer joy of seeing Kimya play on Conan.

At one point in the film Juno tells her dad that she's losing her faith in mankind. I think a lot of us know how she feels. I'm not going to tell you if Juno had her faith in mankind restored--watch the movie--but this story I just saw about the fate of the Hilton estate (it's mostly going to charity) helped restore mine, just a bit.

From Reuters:

Jerry Oppenheimer, who profiled the Hilton family in his 2006 book "House of Hilton," has said Barron Hilton is embarrassed by the behaviour of his socialite granddaughter Paris and believes it has sullied the family name.

Barron Hilton, who is 80, has not commented on Oppenheimer's remarks.

The foundation supports projects that provide clean water in Africa, education for blind children, and housing for the mentally ill. Its aims, based on Conrad Hilton's will, are "to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute."

(more)

I guess she'll just have to get by on millions, not billions.

/film has more on the Juno soundtrack, which comes out January 15.

All The News That Fits

All of the text below was lifted from Yahoo News. The part about the "big stories" really kills me.

Year's most shocking stories

Everyone remembers Britney Spears shaving her head, but what were the other big stories?

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Umm Doha cuts hair and waxes eyebrows in secret from her living room because making women look pretty can get a person killed in her Sunni-dominated Baghdad neighborhood.

Hardline Muslim extremists who believe it is sinful for women to appear beautiful in public have forced many beauticians to move their trade underground.

Sunni and Shiite militants began blowing up salons roughly two years ago. They killed several stylists and bullied others into putting down their scissors and makeup brushes for good, all in an effort to stamp out what they view as the corrupting spread of Western culture.

It's me again--Hector Diego. Methinks Ms. Spears should have left that lock of hair in the back...wouldn't she make a fine looking Hare Krsna?

Station Agent?

Anyone?

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PS: I couldn't find a karaoke version of Revolution Number Nine, so I had to settle for the original. Oh well...

Ford Heir Vs. Communist Government Of Bengal

Sriman Alfred Ford, an heir to the Ford dynasty and active Hare Krsna devotee, is determined to build the temple complex and Vedic planetarium depicted above in Sridhama Mayapura, Bengal, India.

The Communist party, and now the Communist government, of Bengal is determined to stop the religious project. They claim that the Hare Krsna movement is an enemy of communism and an agent of the United States.

Spokespersons for the Hare Krsnas counter that they are an enemy of no government that allows religious freedom. As for Ford, no one denies his status as an American.

But the Hare Krsnas being recognized as agents of America? The truth is that as a new religious movement anywhere outside India, the Hare Krsnas are trying to become a church--that is, part of the establishment. They would prefer to be a team player in any country of the world.

Ironically, the Hare Krsna movement has its historical origins in Bengal, where, for all practical purposes, it is the establishment. They were there first, centuries before modern communism became a reality (the Station Agent says it has never been a reality, although it should be).

Perhaps it should be, but why does it have to be anti-religion?

I predict that Ford's dream will eventually come true, that his efforts and his estate will make it come true--by the grace of God. I just hope he lives to see it.

There will be numerous ceremonies during the construction, and people will hear the recitation of Vedic mantras which will sound like Ravi Shankar's recording, below.

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Instant Karma

This picture needs no explanation, although it could be accompanied by a mountain of argument.

It's always good to be thoughtful.

Here's John Lennon.

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Rilo Kiley---Patiently

Sounds like 80's New Wave, and Rilo Kiley does it so well.

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Beatles Style White Christmas

An anonymous recording of "White Christmas", with Beatles resonance. It ain't bad.

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Ave Maria In San Diego

For millions of years the Pacific Ocean has lapped the shores of what we now call San Diego, California.

The Europeans came, then the surfers came, and stayed.

Ave Maria.

Grateful Dead---Sugar Magnolia

The girls are gathered around the Christmas tree, and tearing open gifts, right? And I say to the wife, what is the happiest Grateful Dead song that immediately comes to mind?

I dedicate this song to my beautiful wife. She can wade in a drop of dew.

By the way, I wonder if Santa Claus is related to Jerry Garcia?

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The Seekers---I'll Never Find Another You, Live

Judith Durham has a voice like a song bird. She's as great a singer as Joan Baez and deserves her credit.

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John Lennon---Watching The Wheels

Harrison and Dylan Duet---If Not For You

I believe this is a sound check performance at Madison Square Garden for the Concert for Bangladesh, 1970. It's one of Dylan's many memorable melodies.

Of all the Beatles, Harrison was Dylan's closest friend.

Could You Have Christ Without The Crucifix?

The Virgin and the Lamb


Lord Krishna and Mother Yashoda


DO YOU SEE A RESEMBLANCE?


I am always shocked when I see a crucifix. I consider this aspect of Christianity to be one of its lowest points. I realize that premodern Christian theology insists that God must incarnate and suffer for the sins of humanity so that humanity may be redeemed, but I would request Christians to consider this: Why must God do anything? If God is omnipotent, why can't He redeem humanity without personally suffering?

In other words, I am asking, do you believe in an almighty God, or do you not? For if God can do anything, He is under no constraint to suffer for us. Simply by His desire our redemption can be assured. No? Have I said something illogical? WHY IS GOD'S SUFFERING ''NECESSARY?''

I believe that so much nonsense has passed for theology for so long that people don't even question its basic premises. The result of this is atheism, for it is more logical to believe in no God at all than to believe in nonsense.

I'll offer another example. Most Christians, whether conservative or liberal, will agree that God is all merciful. I'm fine with that, for who wants an unmerciful God, especially if the same being is omnipotent? But conservative Christians insist that God sends folks to hell forever on the basis of their deeds for a single lifetime. Is this "all merciful"?

Once again, I ask--do you believe in an all merciful God, or do you not? I would rather be an atheist than believe in the conservative Abrahamic God, which refers to the tradition of the cruel God of conservative Jews, Christians, and Muslims. An ordinary parent, unless completely deranged, does not kill his own child, but the conservative Abrahamic God does far worse--he tortures the recalcitrant soul FOREVER. No such God exists in the Indic traditions of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.

All of the above is by way of preamble to my proclamation of COMPLETE DISGUST WITH CRUCIFIXES. I predict that in the future the crucifix will remain important only to fanatics who cannot understand that God is the Supreme Enjoyer, not the Supreme Sufferer. Perhaps the genesis of their lack of understanding is the insistence that God must be their Supreme Quartermaster--we desire, He delivers. We want to avoid hell and go to heaven (quite understandable) so let us take God, give him a body of flesh and blood, torture Him a bit, then put Him on a stick for all to see.

Some may think that I do not understand the Western tradition. On the contrary--I think I have understood it very well.

You don't have to torture God to have religion. Instead, you could worship Him as a little baby.

I do.



Tags: Ave Maria

John Lennon---Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

This is Lennon's art. Can you dig it?

Here's something I lifted from the Palo Alto Daily News, December 24, 2007.

"...with the passing of nearly three decades, one can only wonder what the man who told the world to 'Imagine all the people, living life in peace,' would have to say if he were still alive today.

Some may be surprised by Ono's thoughts on the matter.

'I think he would be angry,' Ono said. 'He wouldn't like to see children being maimed - so violent. You know, it's different from those days. ... Girls are being sold into slavery. ... He would be expressing anger in his art. A lot of people do today. That is GOOD.'

And given the lasting effect his creative contributions have had, one could assume that regardless of message or medium, Lennon would still have our attention.

'With his visual art he wanted to create good vibes,' Ono said. '... In the end, he created a possible image for the future.' "

I'm not convinced that it's so different now, Yoko, but you are so right about possible images for the future.

"War is over if you want it."

I'm not sure what that means, but I have a feeling Lennon wanted us to think about it.

Imagine.

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Jenny Lewis---It Wasn't Me

Here's a little ditty from Jenny Lewis' critically acclaimed 2006 album, Rabbit Fur Coat.

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Dicken's Christmas Carol

If he had been heeding the advice of Bob Marley instead...

Modern Japanese Greensleeves

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Rolling Stones---Sympathy For The Devil

The ruins of Dresden, Germany, 1945.

Before going off on a good holiday mood, let's take a sober look at the world as 2007 comes to its inevitable end.

I know a dude that is in need of some restraint.

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Joan Baez---With God On Our Side

You don't count the dead, when God's on your side.

1966.

Merry Chrimble From The Boys

I couldn't help posting this one too, the Beatles 1963 Christmas message for their fan club. And to think, folks on this side of the Atlantic didn't even know who the Beatles were in December 1963, because Capitalist Records didn't understand this musical cow of plenty until it had become a cash cow. That's just the way it was.

And still is.

The Beatles Wish You Merry Christmas

Or rather, Happy Christmas, as the British say...

This stuff is from the Beatles' Fan Club holiday message that they sent out each year.

The King---Blue Christmas

This one takes me way back, to what...the late 50's?

I like the female warbling in the background...everyone is having a bit of Christmas cheer. These days someone is elected Designated Driver.

Stay safe, folks...

Ringo Starr---Photograph

Now, who wouldn't love Ringo?

Paul McCartney---Maybe I'm Amazed

From his first solo album, McCartney.

John Lennon---Oh My Love

Let's have some Beatles solo career stuff, early seventies.

Dylan---It's All Over Now Baby Blue

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Stones---As Tears Go By

Possibly one of the best melodies ever composed by Jagger/Richards--it also happens to be their first composition together.

1965.

Sean Kingston---Take You There

A Jamaican beach at sunset.

This song is dedicated to my daughter # 4.

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Tchaikovsky---Nutcracker Suite

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1892.

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Neil Young---Harvest Moon

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