Expecting a Swell Time
Tonight I'm taking my first non-medically related night off in over a year, so I can take TLoML to The Swell Season in concert at the Egyptian Theater. I haven't been to the Egyptian in ages -- it used to be our default movie theater in the dark ages (or slightly more recently). I've never seen a live performance there, so even the venue should prove interesting.In honor of that, a couple of Swell Season videos to whet my appetite:(song starts about 3:55 in)

Will Thanksgiving 2010 be in September?
If our president, who was so often and favorably compared to FDR earlier this year, continues to try to tinker with the economy, it wouldn't surprise me (but I'm mostly engaging in hyperbole here).What got me thinking was this very interesting (and brief) history of the holiday -- both in its inception and eventual federalization -- that The Front Porch Republic recently ran by Bill Kauffman.George Washington issued the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation on November 26, 1789, but the early presidents, disproportionately Virginian and of a states' rights disposition, regarded such proclamations

The Source of Giving Thanks
THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD’S GOODNESS IN HIS CREATIONWILL LEAD US TO THANKFULNESS AND TRUSTThere remains the second part of the rule, more closely related to faith. It is to recognize that God has destined all things for our good and salvation but at the same time to feel his power and grace in ourselves and in the great benefits he has conferred upon us, and so bestir ourselves to trust, invoke, praise, and love him. Indeed, as I pointed out a little before, God himself has shown by the order of Creation that he created all things for man’s sake. For it is not without significance that he divided the making of the universe into six days, even tho

Jagged Little Pill
Was flipping through my radio presets the other day, begging the computers who put Johnny Fever et al. out of work for something I wanted to listen to, when (finally!) The Bob came through for me, playing the original version of Alanis' "You Oughta Know." I was slightly taken aback, to tell you the truth, clearly I've spent far too much time listening to the 1996 Grammy Awards version and 10th Anniversary Acoustic version. I'd forgotten just how, for lack of a better term, raw the song was (even now, really).Inspired by that, I've listened to the entire

Mamma .... Mamma ... Mamma ...
a little fun to brighten your day ... this is a real hoot (IMHO). You might want to click through to youtube and watch it full size.Naturally, in response to this, one has to ask, "Am I really a guy who says 'a real hoot' without irony?" ugh.