A Bloy and his Blog

One of my favorite Christmas songs. I love the melancholy mood of it. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas time is here.
Happiness and cheer.
Fun for all that children call,
Their favorite time of the year.

Snowflakes in the air.
Carols everywhere.
Olden times and ancient rhymes,
Of love and dreams to share.

Sleigh bells in the air.
Beauty everywhere.
Yuletide by the fireside,
And joyful memories there.

Christmas time is here.
We’ll be drawing near.
Oh, that we could always see,
Such spirit through the year…

When I think of the life Michael Jackson, it’s hard not to consider him a tragic figure. With the announcement of his death today (at the young age of 50), even more so. But when I consider Michael Jackson, what comes to mind are not the struggles he had in life, not his eccentricities, but some of the excellent music he made. In particular, some killer songs on his albums Off The Wall and Thriller.

I’ve always loved the simplicity and intrigue of “Billy Jean”, my favorite song of his. Thank you Michael, and may you rest in peace.

Billy Jean by Michael Jackson

Neko Case has made a free MP3 available of People Got A Lotta Nerve.

From now until February 13, Neko Case and Anti records will donate five dollars for every blog that posts the song (or one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to their profile) to the Best Friends Animal Society.

The new song is from her forthcoming release Middle Cyclone (coming out on March 3, 2009). What a great way to put out the word on the new material. Thanks Neko! I can’t wait for the new album.

Get a free MP3 of Wilco & Fleet Foxes covering “I Shall Be Released” by Bob Dylan. All you have to do is pledge to vote this November. You were going to vote anyway, right?

Here’s a sample of the song, which was recorded from a live show this summer. Very reminiscent of Dylan and The Band.

Found via Rolling Stone Rock & Roll Daily.

Rolling Stone was the first adult magazine I subscribed to. I’ve been getting it delivered to my home for over twenty years now. But I let my subscription expire this month, and I’m a little nostalgic about it.

Its musical focus was what first got me reading Rolling Stone — especially the music reviews. Over the years though, they’ve added more features on pop-culture things like fashion, television, and video games. Lately a good deal of their random notes section looks like it came from a sleazy tabloid. Often the music news in the bi-weekly magazine was not news to me. I had already heard about it online. I became less and less interested, and issues would pile up, unread. Over the past few years I wondered why I was paying for a subscription, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to stop.

read the rest of: No longer a Rolling Stone

Did you see the lunar eclipse last night? I stepped out of my place about every 15 minutes or so to watch the show. When I was out there I wondered how many other people throughout the ages watched the moon darken with awe, as I was doing. Watching the Earth’s shadow slowly make its way across the lunar surface, I could understand how ancient peoples might start freaking out during such an event. I was also reminded of “Sister Moon,” the title song from Sting’s excellent album, …Nothing Like The Sun (who actually lifted that line from Shakespeare’s My Mistress’ Eyes sonnet).

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the Sun.
My hunger for her explains everything I’ve done.
To howl at the moon the whole night through,
And they really don’t care if I do.
I’d go out of my mind, but for you.

I didn’t have enough ambition to mess around with my camera and tripod during last night’s -5 F temperatures, but you can see images of the eclipse from SpaceWeather.com.

I got a kick out of this.

Stairway To Heaven by The Beatnix