Archive for November 2008
The Miser Brothers are Back!
- filed under Misc.
ABC is bringing back the Miser Brothers this year.
From the press release:
“Mickey Rooney returns as the voice of Santa Claus and George S. Irving returns as Heat Miser in a tale of how Santa throws out his back and is unable to deliver gifts for Christmas, threatening to ruin Christmas for children all around the world. This time it’s up to the battling brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser to come together and help save Christmas!”
I know what I will be doing at 8pm on Dec. 13.
Sunday Flashback — Angel of My Eyes
- filed under Music
Angel Dean has a big voice — brassy, bold, head turning.
I first saw her in 1991 fronting a band called the Zephyrs — they released a single on Diesel Only Records called Leaving. At the time there was a small group of musicians living in New York City recording country music, and Diesel Only attempted to capture that scene. If you are reading this in New York City wearing a truckers hat you should know that you weren’t the first.
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Leaving
Someone handed me a cassette of the band’s demos at their concert and I was convinced that they had a real future — Angel Dean could really sing, the Zephyrs could really play, and that should have been enough.
It wasn’t.
Thirteen years later Angel Dean teamed up with Sue Garner, who had also been playing country music in New York City and released Pot Liquor, a country album of beautiful harmonies.
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Dark Sky
I wonder about those Angel Dean and the Zephyrs songs I heard all those years ago. If they are sitting in someone’s basement they should definitely see the light of day.
Top Ten Lists
- filed under Music
Every year Large Hearted Boy collects best of lists for book and cds from around the Internet. It’s a great resource at a site you ought to be starting your day with in any case. I’m beginning to think about my top ten list for the year — feel free to send ideas my way.
Patchwork
- filed under Music
Seattle pianist and singer Robin Holcomb blends folk, jazz, country, and classical influences into a uniquely American patchwork that sounds simultaneously postmodern and ancient.
Holcomb weaves marches, waltzes, and hymns through her songs; her work is familiar, intimate and rural, and her quavering voice gives life to widows’ tales and makes epics of farmers’ laments.
She is playing tonight in a rare New York appearance at Joe’s Pub.
Chris Whitley, RIP
- filed under Music
Guitarist Chris Whitley died three years ago today of lung cancer. He was 45.
He did not sell many albums during his lifetime and, while prolific, didn’t give the public much to hang on to. He was always searching; just when you thought you could categorize him, he would shift his focus: an album of acoustic country blues, followed by electric rock, and later by an album that featured turntables, electronic synths and dance beats. It would be hard to like all of it — but impossible not to fall deeply in love with at least some of it.
Living with the Law and Dirt Floor are my favorite Whitley albums. Living with the Law benefits from producer Daniel Lanois’s rich atmospherics; Dirt Floor strips those away and gives us Whitley unadorned and alone.
Big Sky Country
Scrapyard Lullaby
Yip Yip Martians
- filed under Misc.
Topless Robot has a list of the 8 most underrated muppets of all time.
My choice: the Yip Yip Martians.
Hat tip: the always informative Pop Candy.
What We Know
- filed under Misc.
Given the media attention on this issue I thought it would be useful to set out what we know about the Clintons’ finances:
The total amount the Clintons have made since leaving the White House, delineated by year. www.taxhistory.org
Each of the sources of that income, including all of President Clinton’s business income, and the amount. www.taxhistory.org
Speeches the President was paid to give since leaving the White House. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00000019
How much he was paid for each speech, who paid him, and when and where he gave it. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00000019
The amounts that the Clintons each made on their books. www.taxhistory.org
The property they own. www.taxhistory.org
The investments they own. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00000019
The interest income they have made. www.taxhistory.org
Contents of their bank accounts. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00000019
The liabilities they have held. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?CID=N00000019
The charitable contributions they have made through the Clinton Family Foundation. http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/ffindershow.cgi?id=CLIN040
What we know about the Clinton Foundation:
Revenue and assets of the Clinton Foundation. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6903
Stocks held and grants and allocations made by the Foundation. http://clintonfoundation.org/about-the-clinton-foundation/annual-financial-reports
Commitments made at the Clinton Global Initiative. http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2612&srcid=2384
Number of children who now have access to pediatric medicines through the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative’s partnership with UNITAID: http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-hiv-aids-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Number of Rwandan children who have modern sanitary facilities for hand-washing because of the Foundation. http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-hunter-development-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Number of countries in which the Foundation helped to secure lower priced AIDS/HIV drugs. http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-hiv-aids-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Percent reduction in the price of an effective malaria drug because of the Foundation’s efforts. http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-hiv-aids-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Number of people in Asia with access to safe drinking water because of the Foundation. http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-global-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided or reduced because of the Clinton Climate Initiative. http://clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/clinton-global-initiative/what-we-ve-accomplished
Vote for the Best of 08
- filed under Music
Drowned in Sound is asking readers to vote for their three favorite albums of 08. I selected Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and TV on the Radio (they omitted Glasvegas as an option for some reason).
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