Yearly Archives: 2005

Favorite music of 2005

2005 is almost over which means it’s time for my best music of the year list.

Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
Uplifting lyrics with excellent musical arrangements that almost alternate between jangly, acoustic guitars and melodic piano. An example of the latter, the track “Different Names for the Same Thing” sounds like a John Lennon song, straight off of Imagine. This CD includes my favorite song of the year, “Soul Meets Body,” a beautiful love song whose chorus stays in my brain for days every time I hear it.

I do believe it’s true,
That there are roads left in both of our shoes.
If the silence takes you,
Then I hope it takes me too.

So brown eyes I hold you near,
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear,
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.

Where soul meets body…

View more →

The path not taken

,

Today on the public radio show, To the Best of Our Knowledge, they asked the question, “What do you regret in your life?”

After I graduated from high school, I stayed in my parents’ home and attended college at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I had considered attending the University in Madison, but decided against it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I think chose that path because it was the “safe” thing to do. I may have been a little scared of moving away from home. Sometimes I think I made the wrong decision and should have gone to school in Madison. By doing so I believe I would have gained a level of maturity sooner and would have broadened my horizons a little more than I did by staying in Milwaukee.

View more →

December frost

,

Frost on the Window

When I woke up this morning the temperature in Madison was -5 degrees (F), the coldest so far this season. After I noticed the sunlight beautifully illuminating the frost on my bedroom window I couldn’t resist getting out my camera.

Concert memories

A while ago I discovered pages in the albums I keep my concert ticket stubs in were turning yellow. Yes, I am a music geek — I save my concert ticket stubs. Acid-free, archival-quality albums were the fix for the problem, so I bought a few. As I was transferring the tickets into the new albums, I was reminded of all those excellent shows I’ve been to. Below are some thoughts on the best:

Sting – July 10, 1988
I’ve seen Sting in concert several times now, but he never tops this show. Probably for a number of reasons: He was promoting his best album, …Nothing Like The Sun, he had an excellent backing band, and my friends and I had great seats (6th row in a 20,000 seat amphitheater). Favorite song from the show: “Englishman In New York.”

View more →

Graduation of the broken wrist

At an appointment with my physical therapist yesterday, I was congratulated by her. She felt I had “graduated” and would not have to come any longer.

It’s been twelve weeks now since I broke my wrist and had the subsequent surgery. I have had regular “dates” with my therapist since the end of August. First twice a week, and for about the past month it was at once a week. As she pointed out yesterday, I’ve come a long way.

View more →

Bruce Springsteen, solo acoustic

It was almost unbelievable. There I was, in the Dane County Coliseum. Bruce Springsteen was playing one of his rock anthems, “Promised Land.” The 8,000 people in the place were sitting and so quiet you could hear a pin drop, were it not for the music emanating from the stage.

Of course the reason we were all so quiet, instead of singing along with our fists pumping in the air, was the intimate nature of last night’s concert. Billed as a solo acoustic show, Bruce alternated between playing guitar, piano, and even a pump organ on a few songs.

View more →

Disasters and intelligent design

The lead story in yesterday’s paper was the devastating earthquake in Pakistan. Authorities are now predicting as many as 30,000 deaths as a result of the quake. The U.N. is reporting 2.5 million people in the affected area are homeless. Statistics of that magnitude are difficult for me to comprehend.

In the editorial section of that same paper were two opposing viewpoints on whether intelligent design should be taught in public schools, which caused me to wonder:

View more →