Hey, so two posts in two days, must be some sort of record. Must be the re-awakening of the intellect, or at least the need to pontificate to the huddled masses.

As of late, I’ve had a pretty good drive for new music and books. I can track it to the 3 weeks in TN, and while I’ve not had a ton of time to read lately, with the gym and work, music is getting a good workout. Now if only iTunes would give me a bulk discount.

Books… I can always tell when I get mind-bored, I start picking up things to read that keep me engrossed for a week or so. Tom Clancy books are great for plane trips, but when you’ve got serious time to kill on the road, only some heavy lifting will do. I’m a pretty quick reader, so I mow them down. Funny enough, one of the books I would have never picked up if I wasn’t so keen on having Jon Stewart’s next baby. So, the reading lately has been:

  • Making of the Atom Bomb
    • A little heavy on the personal and psychological history of each and every person — I actually started to skim these sections. The description of the science behind all of this is pure gold. It is amazing to think that not only was plutonium completely unknown, nuclear chain reactions were a myth, heck even the model of the atom and the existance of the neutron were mysteries as late as the 1920s. The science language is pretty heavy, but I managed to follow everything except for the nitty-gritty details of how the hydrothermal reactions inside the implosion actually worked. I’d suggest a cursory reading in electrical chemistry and quantum mechanics to really grok the details, but YMMV.
  • Against All Enemies
    • Wow. Not for the die-hard Bush supporter. Wait, if you are a die-hard Bush supporter you probably can’t read because you are a bit blinded from the nights of reading the Bible cover to cover. Let’s see which of my friends give me guff for that one first. I really don’t have a problem with the Bible reading, except when it is done to freaking support and generate legislation for 300 million people! End Rant Oh, yes, back to the book… an excellent, and really quick read. It offers a pretty rantish and one-sided view of how the current administration dropped the ball priority-wise on the whole Islamic fundamentalist terror thing. While the book did feel a bit first person, I enjoyed it and the next book in the list vindicated 99% of the claims made. Frankly, Clarke was a bit nice about some of the claims he made, or at least the Commission was better versed in portraying the massive mess it all was/is.
  • 9/11 Commission Report
    • First thoughts — amazingly easy to read. It reads like a story, not some less-than-thrilling-gov’t-report. They do a good job of hooking you with a detailed description of the attacks as they unfolded, then go into the history of the whole fiasco. I use that word with relative ease, as after reading this book, I am fucking mad. I know, family values and all, but seriously…what an entirely screwed system we have. I seriously doubt much has changed, at least in a functional sense, given current practices in the administration. Oooh, a bit ranty (not randy, well yes that too, but for entirely different reasons…) tonight! As for the history of Al Qaeda (why is it spelled Qida sometimes ?) — I was really shocked at how organized, both monetarily and logistically they were. Given that — they have the same problems any organization does: employment of dolts. Unfortunately for us, we’ve been unable to captialize on those mistakes and the terrorist field is a seriously Darwinian pitch. Now for the US gov’t agencies. Honestly folks, you think that we’d have our poop together better. I kinda expected, after media stories and such, about how badly the administrations, CIA, etc had issues with manning the pumps, but the real bummer was the FBI. I think calling them amateur Keystone Kops would be a nice complement. I fear that in the future we are only looking at smarter, more dedicated (thanks Iraq exit strategy), but slightly less funded people. I’m going to make sure my life insurance is updated and I spend some time inserting currency into the luck bank.

Phew…looks like I am swinging for the fence tonight. Let’s see if I can convince Bogart to amuse himself for a bit longer (you’d think a few miles of running would tame the little bugger for an evening, but no).

Music - talk about listening to completely different things. I’ve been keeping a pseudo-hold on the Country music scene in the last few years, but tend not to purchase many albums as most of the new stuff is pure horseshit. In the last year, there has been a lot more ‘core’ music brought back — it seems Gretchen and B&R started a trend back to the middle. I’ve actually got quite a few artists albums now that I’ve bought that I am quite happy with. Too many to list (so says the iTunes bill), but if you are playing good ‘Redneck’ or ‘Core’ Country music, I’m listening. Keep up the good work. Toby - the ‘I ain’t as good as I once was…’ is a nice move back from Douche-Bag land, but I’m not sold yet.

Now for the non-country stuff:

  • Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up
    • Not too bad, a bit more mellow than past works.
  • Korn, Seether, Nickelback
    • So, this all got started with Kelly in TN, listening to Nickelback in her car, but I’ve been scouring the net for recent Korn albums and newer artists.
    • It turns out that Korn has been kicking but — the last album I had was Issues, and there have been several great ones since then. I also managed to d’load a few of their music videos, total rock fest.
    • Nickelback is really good, solid music. I was cool with the standard ‘girl went buh-bye’ message, but starting to fade after playing the album 30some times.
    • Seether. Thanks Kris — good suggestion. They seem to fit pretty nicely between Korn and NB, and I am looking forward to their concert here in August…or is it Sept. I have quite a few friends that are looking to got to this too, should be a good time.
  • Norah Jones - Feels Like Home.
    • Yes, Yes, — Korn, then Norah Jones. Pretty good album, that voice is just sexy. This album is a bit more playful than the first one, so kinda fun to listen to when I just need to chill.
  • Revisits - lots
    • I’ve started to play quite of the ‘oldies’ songs — no, not that crap our folks listened to in the 70s, but the Ella Fitzgerald, Anita ODay, and friends that put some serious soul into those songs.
    • Celia Cruz - sometimes I just feel the need for a bit-o-the Latin love. Good times. Shit, that was out loud wasn’t it ?

So it appears my nature for being verbose is waning with the tunes — really there have been just too many good ones in the iTunes library lately to comment. Perhaps I finally need to get off my arse and add the ‘top 10′ and ‘recent 10′ tunes to the sidebar here… Hrm, I bet this would make good content for a static page…. anyways.