So Where Have I Been All This Time?

Honestly, I’ve got a very good excuse for not having much a presence here lately. As you can see, I’ve been taken in by a cult populated by strange and unusual characters:

The blond-ish older woman in the second row of the group is our leader. We call her the Great Intergalactic Space Mother.

She’s an emissary from the Gorflon galaxy, who has taken human form and lives among us to prepare our planet for the coming of her Gorflonian brothers and sisters, whom we call the Great Intergalactic Space Aunts and Uncles. They have a wondrous message of peace and harmony for this planet, which they will share as soon as we are prepared to receive it.

Great Intergalactic Space Mother is teaching us the Gorflonian philosophies to get us all ready. I’m still too much of a neophyte to grasp it all, but the part that I do understand has taught me that the color maroon is deeply, intrinsically evil and must be destroyed. Only when Earth has been cleansed of this color will the Great Intergalactic Space Aunts and Uncles be able to walk among us.

As you can imagine what with all the alms begging, flower selling, and secret missions to pour grey paint on maroon cars, I’ve had little time for blogging. Great Intergalactic Space Mother says that if I prove myself with the car cleansing, then I can graduate to stealing and burning maroon clothing. This would all be so much easier if we didn’t have to wait until the dead of night to undertake our missions. It seems many of the unbelievers consider our acts of purification to be vandalism. Great Intergalactic Space Mother says that we will have to endure our share of persecutions, but we do so gladly and with a benevolent heart, because we know that in the end the Great Intergalactic Space Aunts and Uncles will bring great benefits to all of humanity.

I know it all sounds a little strange, but don't worry about me. The group has been very good. Infact, they've become like a family to me!

Okay so I’m, like, totally kidding…….

Actually that motley crew is most of the Evans-Mitchell brood all together in one place. It’s from our trip to St. Louis over the 4^th of July weekend, which is also right before my mother’s birthday. Keith’s mom was wanting to find somewhere in between our place and hers for us to meet, and my brother lives in Saint Louis. Keith and I drove over with my mom, who got to spend time with her grandkids. Keith’s mom drove up with her husband, and we all got together.*

We went out for dinner one evening, and a kindly passerby snapped the pic. Looking at it again:


Back row: (L-R) Carolyn (my mother...aka Great Intergalactic Space Mother), Danny (my brother), me

Front Row: (L-R) Harley (Mereta's husband), Mereta (Keith's mom), Keith, Mary Pat (Danny’s wife)

The World’s Cutest Nephew and the World’s Cleverest Niece were at home with the babysitter. If I can pry any of the pics Keith took of them away from him, I’ll post a couple.

It was a wild trip. Saint Louis closes several of its bridges to celebrate the 4^th of July, which made getting around a little interesting. Still, we had a good time. And I got to meet up with fellow blogger Gordon for ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s) and comic shopping (Star Clipper). He’s a really nice guy and fun to talk to. I’m a little late in saying this, Gordon, but it was great to meet you! I hope things go okay for your father. I’m thinking good thoughts.

*Yes, I know that St. Louis isn't exactly "in between" Louisville and Arkansas, but it still beats the 14 hour drive that it normally takes to go from one of those points to the other.

Behold: The First Fruits!

It's the first tomato* from the garden!


*I admit I can't remember if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, but "Behold: The First Veggies" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I'm sure there's a reference librarian somewhere who can clear this up for me.

Got these from Roger*

When I'm bored or blocked or don't have time to get anything else done or clearing out my backlog of stuff, I do things like this.

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

That's kind of a laugh, actually. I'll accept the first sentence, which is pretty much true, but the rest? Ha! Trendsetter? Write my own meme or survey? Ha! I need to write more actual posts before I move on to stuff like that.

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

This, on the other hand, is much more accurate.

*The fact that he mentions me by name today has nothing to do with this post. Honest. I decided to do this yesterday. Honest.

Just a few more....

Last set of Del McCoury pics.





Me, the UPS Guy and Del.








Del (guitar), Ronnie (mandolin), and Rob (banjo) McCoury. Neighbor's car in background.

And one final shot of Del McCoury!

Pictures! Finally!

Well, Blogger started cooperating a little and then stopped, but here are some of the pics from the Del McCoury performance. Keith couldn't get in range of the Amazon cameras, so most of the shots are profiles or feature the back of my head. I'll put the rest up as soon as I can.

Me and the UPS Guy watch Del.

Del and the boys, plus the camera dude. Band Members: Jason Carter (fiddle), Alan Bartram (bass), Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), Rob McCoury (banjo), Del McCoury (guitar)

And down the street, the Secret Service! (Actually, they're the UPS PR folks)

The man himself, Del McCoury! Singing! In the street! In front of my house!

Del and Ronnie McCoury. Still in the street.

Another shot of the band. You can see everyone but Rob McCoury, the banjo player.

Special Del-ivery

Take a look.

The dude in the middle holding a CD is me. The guy at the far left is the UPS guy who delivered the CD. The guys with the instruments are bluegrass legend Del McCoury and his band who recorded the CD and came along with the UPS guy to deliver it. We’re all standing in the street in front of our house, where the band has just performed a mini-concert for me, which accounts for the look of dumb-founded astonishment on my face. It’s been several days since it happened, and that look has yet to leave my face.

It all started with a phone call from Amazon.com. Last year, for their 10th anniversary, they did a promotion where select customers got stuff delivered by the folks who wrote/starred in/recorded it. They filmed the delivers and put them up on their site.

They’ve just started an online talk show with Bill Maher and they revived the special deliveries as a segement of the show, in collaboration with UPS. You can see some of the recent episodes and deliveries here. (Links to just the delivery segments are at the bottom of the column on the left.)

So they called me last week and told me that I had been selected to receive a delivery, based on an item on my wish list, if I chose to participate. Naturally, I said I would, so I signed their release and agreed to be home on Wednesday at the appointed time. They asked if I wanted to know who was coming, and I told them I wanted to be surprised, which Keith just could not believe. I thought I would be more convincingly surprised on camera if I didn’t know.

In the time in between the call and the delivery, we trimmed the trees and bushes in front of the house, cleaned the house (or at least the living room), and tried to guess who might be coming. I was a little nervous that it might be some author I wouldn’t recognize in person and I’d come off like a dud on camera. On the other hand, it might have been Grant Morrison. Since my wish list is, for lack of a better word, pretty extensive, it feasibly could have been anyone.

Thinking about it some more, I realized that the date they gave me was the same date that Del McCoury was going to be doing an in-store appearance here. It was also the day after his new CD dropped. It kind of made sense to me that they would work to set something up with someone who was already going to be here, but it was just a wild guess on my part. While we were cleaning, we kept referring to it as “getting ready for Del and the boys.”

Anyway, Wednesday afternoon, there was a knock at the door and I opened it to a UPS guy and a camera crew and a bunch of other people. I signed for the delivery, and the UPS guy told me to follow him. That was kind of odd, because on the special deliveries they've already posted, the person making the delivery was right there with the UPS guy. Now my curiosity was way piqued. He takes me around to the back of the truck, camera guys in tow, and says: “Here to help with this special delivery is…”

“…The Del McCoury band!” And he opens the door and they all pop out of the truck, instruments in tow. At this point, I’m amazed that I had actually guessed right, completely shocked that they’re actually there, and desperately trying not to sound like a babbling fool. I’m pretty sure I failed at the last part.

They sang the title cut off the new CD, standing right there in the street in front of my house. People across the street were popping out of their houses to check it out. They asked me if I had a request, and I asked for "1952 Vincent Black Lightening." On the one had it’s a lame request, because everyone always asks for that, but on the other hand, it is my favorite Del McCoury song. I always get chills when I see them do it live, and this time was certainly no exception.

Every time I’ve ever seen them perform, I’m always struck by how genuine they are, both in their love for the music and their appreciation of the audience. I always imagined they would all be really nice guys to sit and chat with. I’m really happy to say that I was right about that. They were all as nice as they could be through the whole thing, even though I’m pretty sure I was just babbling like an idiot.

We chatted a bit, they signed the CD and a picture for me, Amazon interviewed the band and me and the UPS guy, the neighbors kept staring, we posed for pictures, and then everyone left.

After all the housecleaning and stuff, it was a bit of a bummer that they didn’t actually go in the house, but I think the way it ended up was a lot cooler. I’m not sure our living room could have held everyone—Del and band and instruments, camera guys, etc. Not to mention that it would have taken forever to set up. I am really glad we trimmed the stuff in front of the house!

Since I plan events as a part of my job, I was really impressed with the smooth way everything came off. I got a kick out of noticing the little details—Del was miked, so was the delivery guy. They were very careful to get the UPS truck in as many shots as possible. Logos and brand names kept coming up in coversation. I had to hold the CD a certain way. It was really fascinating to watch.

The small army of folks that were there was fun to watch too. There were Amazon folks, of course—the host of the special delivery segment, the segment producer, the camera crew—but there were UPS PR people too. (They all stood way out of the way and had on suits. Keith and I joked that they looked like Secret Service people.) I think that there may have been a rep for the band there too, but I’m not completely sure on that. It’s a completely different world from what I’m used to, that’s for sure.

Keith took the pics you will eventually see here, once Blogger decides to do the right thing again. He had a hard time getting a lot of shots because he had to stay out of the way of everyone else. I feel bad that I didn’t introduce him to everyone. I was in such a daze and he was running around with the camera. I just wasn’t thinking about it. I feel a little bit like a jerk for that.

Honestly, I think I’m still in shock over the whole thing. Del McCoury stood in front of my house and sang songs for me! Wow!

If Mine Eyes Be Damned...

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised at the post office to receive a package containing a surprise mix CD from Lefty Brown. I knew it was coming, because he had been hinting about it in his blog, but had no idea what was on the CD, other than a few tantalizing tidbits.

It’s a great thing to get a disc out of the blue like this. It’s an even greater thing when it was created specifically for you. But, the greatest thing of all is when the disc has your own name in the title!

Songs Eddie Mitchell Should Own*

*And If Not Damn His Eyes!

Before I go any further, I just have to give a big “Thank You” to Chris for thinking of me and putting this together. It was an incredibly nice gesture, and I really do appreciate it. It’s brought me many hours of listening enjoyment so far, and will doubtless continue to do so.

Lefty told me in an email that he thought this was one of his best mixes. He’s definitely right about that. He’s also right about something else; this is music I should own. The only song I’m a little iffy on is Dar Williams’ cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. (I’m just not sure anyone can cover Pink Floyd and do it justice.) But, it’s from a CD I should own, so I can overlook it.

Every other cut is phenomenal! As Gordon would say, this is an instantly listenable mix. The flow is great and the songs fit together so well, you’d think they were cut especially for this CD.

I don’t normally do song by song reviews, but I think I will this time, given the title of the disc and all. (Plus, Chris said he was really curious to know how many of the songs I actually do own.)

Empty Shell (Cat Power): She has a phenomenal voice and is a favorite of mine. This is a good song and sound to open with. I do not yet have the CD this comes from (The Greatest) but it’s on my List of CD’s Released This Year to Get (LCRTYTG).

I’ll Come Around (The A-Sides): This group was totally new to me, until the last Mixed Bag exchange, when both Chris and his wife Kelly used their songs. This is now the third time I’ve been confronted with the A-Sides, and I’m convinced I need this CD. Great pop sound these guys have.

Comfortably Numb (Dar Williams): See above for comments. I do love Williams though. This CD (My Better Self) is one that got by me last year.

O Mary Don’t You Weep (Bruce Springsteen): The Boss does a great job with this traditional tune, rocking it out, but being true to the roots of the song all at once. I love that kind of stuff! Don’t have this one, yet, but it’s almost at the top of the LCRTYTG.

Jesus Was a Crossmaker (The Hollies): Great song. Loved it on Thom’s mix and I love it here. It’s from the Elizabethtown soundtrack, which I still gotta get, since E-town is down near where I’m from in Kentucky.

L’Accord Parfait (Autour de Lucie): It’s catchy, retro, jangly, strummy, poppy and very very French! And I totally love it! Will definitely be getting more from them!

Hold On, Hold On (Neko Case): God, I just love what she can do to a song, and the sounds she creates here give me chills. Don’t have Fox Confessor Brings the Flood yet, but it’s on the LCRTYTG.

Chicago (Sufjan Stevens): This is another one I missed last year. I must have been unconscious or something. I know I bought a lot of music last year, but it looked like I missed a lot too. Great song!

Air Pollution (Page France): Never heard of ‘em before. Definitely going to be getting more. Reminds me of some of the sing-songier stuff from Air or Polyphonic Spree. These are good comparisons in my book.

The Littlest Birds (Be Good Tanyas): At last, something I actually own! Love what these ladies can mix up with traditional sounds. Case in point: the jazzy stroll in this number. It’s catchy and I find myself humming it a lot now.

Finlandia (Indigo Girls): Can not ever go wrong with the Indigos in my book, and this solemn accapella hymn is just lovely. And it’s another one I do have.

Rebecca Go Home (Lost Dogs): Totally unknown to me, but not any more. Great, great alt-country sound to this one. Lots of weepy guitar.

Wide River to Cross (Buddy Miller): Got this one! Got this one! Buddy is the man! One of my favorite CD’s from a couple years ago. And is that Emmylou Harris on harmony? I do believe it is! Good call, Lefty!

Deep Blue Sea (North Mississippi All Stars): Another great modern take on traditional sounds. Don’t know why I never had anything from these guys before. Must fix that. Love the percussion!

Daylight (Drive By Truckers): Love the Truckers. It’s amazing how much this sounds like a U2 song, though. I think that may be because Patterson Hood is not doing the vocals. I don’t have their new one yet, so I ain’t got this one either, but will get it.

Master of Disaster (John Hiatt): John Hiatt can absolutely do no wrong in my eyes. Kick ass songwriter. Kick ass song. Got this one. Off one of last year’s best CD’s.

Handbags and Gladrags (Rod Stewart): He might seem like an odd fit here, but it works well. It helps that this is an older song and not some of his American Song Book crap. I don’t have enough good Rod Stewart in my music collection.

Girl in the War (Josh Ritter): I can say I have this one, because Lefty says he got it from a Paste Magazine Sampler, which I do have. If it had come from the actual Josh Ritter CD, I’d have to say I don’t. Gotta love Paste! Great song—sharp pointed commentary and I like that kind of stuff. “Talking to God is like Laurel asking Hardy for a gun.” Ha!

Travelin’ Thru (Dolly Parton): Dolly’s another one who does no wrong, as far as I’m concerned. Well, maybe she’s done a little (letting Whitney Houston cover I Will Always Love You comes easily to mind), but she more than makes up for it with everything else. This song from the Transamerica soundtrack (which I do not have) is one of her best, and a real upbeat hopeful note to close on.

Well, by the final count, I’ve only got five out of nineteen songs! Pretty bad. I guess my eyes are damned. But my ears are very very happy!

Thanks again, Chris.

Whole Big Bunches of Odd, Unrelated Stuff

First off, thanks to Gordon for his nice review of my Mixed Bag 4 disc. Glad you liked it, Gordon!

Speaking of Gordon, I was one of the winners in his blogiversary giveaway. That sounds impressive, until you learn there were only two entries. Oh well, I usually don’t win stuff, so it’s still kind of neat to me.

Don’t think I’ll ever get the garden done. A friend dumped a flat of impatiens on me and I’ve not had time to do anything with me. The small beds I’ve got are full, and I’ve just not had a chance to work on anything new. Did have a chance to put up a couple of hanging baskets, though. Somehow they added something that I didn’t know was missing from the whole garden experience.

I’m not sure how much of this I can mention, but something neat is going to happen at my house this week, courtesy of a certain online retailer.

It was a pretty good weekend for comic and music shopping. Went to the LCS to find very little in my file—just a Lulu collection and an issue of Age of Bronze. Not real surprising, actually. So, I got a chance to browse a bit in the comic section and the music section. Picked up the new Meat Purveyors release. Picked up the Action Philosophers collection and some CD's. Haven't bought any music there in a while.

Then we headed over to Half-Price Books for our bi-weekly payday stop. I found a couple CD’s there and a complete Vertigo mini-series from several years ago. I’ve got my eye on a couple books, but think they’re still priced a bit too high for my taste. They’ve been there a while though, so I know the mark-down is coming!

Friends of the Library had their book sale this weekend, too. I always love to go, because there’s always something interesting there. I found one of the Top 10 collections and the first two volumes of Lone Wolf and Cub. Pretty cool.

Jaxon is dead. Damn.

Joe from GLA has a blog now. He’s a pretty nice guy, so check him out.

June is Adopt A Shelter Cat Month! The ASPCA has more info. They’ve also got an article about making your backyard safe for your pets.

Once they’re through trying to screw around with my relationship, what will the GOP do next? Mojoblog has the answer.

Actually, they are going after PBS again. Sigh!

It’s a good week for concerts, Del McCoury is doing an in-store to promote his new CD, and Marshall Chapman comes to town Friday. She’s got a new one too. So much new music, so little time…..

Support your local independent bookseller! The battle against chain sellers may be older than we (or at least I) knew, but the situation is worse than ever now.

Mowing the grass is my job around here. We bought a push mower when we first moved in, because I thought the yard was too small to mess with a gas mower, mainly because of the pollution. It’s also turned out to be better exercise for me as well. Find out more about ways to care for your lawn that decrease air pollution. (Last two bits courtesy of Utne)

Gotta run!

It's Been One Year

It's been exactly a year since I wrote this post. I can't believe it. Some days it feels like it's been forever. Others, like it just happened.

I spent today at home working in the yard. Dad always had a small container garden at his trailer. It was always kind of funny because he didn't like vegetables at all, but he grew tomatoes and some other stuff. He always gave them to my mom.

I finished putting in my petunias and marigolds. The other day a roadside plant seller marked down a bunch of pansies that were pretty much dead. I found a flat that had the most viable flowers on it and bought it. I put those out too.

Keith found an old wooden bench sitting out for junk pick up. It's in the back yard now. We're going to put the containers holding his herbs out there.

My dad never got to see our house, which is too bad. He would have liked the backyard. It's starting to look really nice.

I miss him.

It Didn't Rain!

The weather held. The evening was lovely. And the music was fantastic! More later.

The Summer concert season has officially begun for the Evans-Mitchell household!

Bits of Midweek Goodness

I'm hoping it doesn't rain today, or at least not this afternoon. It's Waterfront Wednesday with Kevin Welch and Kieran Kane, and I don't want it to be rained out. Really, really don't want it to be rained out. Really.

I saw a notice in the paper yesterday about the Louisville Geek Dinner, so I just had to check out their web page, which had a link to a "geek test," which I just had to take. The result?

I'm not surprised. Neither is anyone who knows me.

Speaking of Louisville, if you ever want to know what's happening here or in the surrounding area, here's a cool calendar from WHY Louisville, which is a pretty cool group in its own right.

I got an email about a new Americana concert series that's starting in June. First act is Joe Ely, with Tim Easton and Kim Richey in the works! Yay! The group that's putting these shows on is trying to raise support to put on a major music festival. I hope it works!

Need any Emmylou Harris lyrics?

Need help surviving the last days of the Bush presidency? It's only 965 more days, folks! We can make it! I just hope the rest of the world can too.

Fantagraphics is posting the first chapter of its 30th anniversary book, a few pages at a time.

That's all for now!

How Does My Garden Grow?

I’ve not really blogged about our garden much, for some reason. I think I’ll start right now. In our house it’s really simple: Keith grows veggies and I grow flowers.

This year’s veggies: Tomatoes (lots of them!), peppers, squash and beans (lots of beans!)

Past veggie efforts have included corn, carrots, melons (not a veggie, I know), eggplant, snow peas, and various lettuces. Due to lack of a consistent success with most of these, Keith decided to stick with the tried and true this year. So far, the beans are sprouting and we’ve got lots of tomato blooms and small tomatoes!

Keith is really dedicated to his garden and I’m proud of him for that. He built an 8’ x 8’ raised bed a couple of years ago, and puts a lot of time into getting it prepped each year. He’s trying the organic route this year.

This year’s flowers: marigolds, coleus (not a flower, I know), petunias, geraniums, begonias, and impatiens

That’s pretty much the regimen every year. I stick with what I know pretty consistently. I’ve got a couple of gardening books and I keep telling myself that I’m going to spend the winter months doing some research and planning, but I never do.

I’m usually pretty late getting my flowers out, and this year was no exception. I spent part of the day Monday planting, and still have to do the marigolds and petunias. I love my flowers, but I’m not as disciplined a gardener as Keith. Yesterday morning, my thighs and lower back reminded me that I had done some gardening the day before. Groan!

I decided this year to buy my gardening stuff from a local hardware store, instead of going to Home Depot again. Unfortunately, I waited too long to get them, and the local store didn’t have much of a selection. So, I still ended up at Home Depot. Best intentions and all that, I guess. Story of my life. I did manage to find some flowers there that came from a local supplier, so I bought them. I really do need to plan this better.

Anyway, it looks pretty wimpy right now, so I can’t wait until they fill out some.

When I get the last of the flowers out, I'll take some pics and post them.

Alex Toth

I don't have much more to add to the thoughts and condolences currently being expressed over the death of Alex Toth. Kevin and Mike both have nice, simple tributes, with links to more information.

They're aren't too many folks left from that generation of mainstream artists who knew how to design a page so that it pulled your eye across it and right into the story.

Sigh!

Sprucing Up the Place

Just added some new links to the sidebar:

Serene's Successless Comics Blog--One of the participants in the current Mixed Bag
Bully Says--A very clever little stuffed bull with a lot to say about comics!
FLOG!--The blog for Fantagraphics, my very favorite comics publisher
Hey Bartender--The blog for Top Shelf, another of my favorite publishers
The Buzz--Oni Press isn't as high on my list of favorite publishers, but Scott Pilgrim just might be changing that...

And, to add some variety: MoJo Blog, the blog for Mother Jones and The Nation blogs (the real "liberal media"). The Nation actually has several blogs, so I just linked to the front page, where you can find the links to the blogs on the right side.

Any more additions, and I guess that I'm going to have to start organizing the links a little better. I kind of like the random jumble, though. My life isn't compartmentalized or categorized, why should my links be?

Enjoy!

Mixed Bag Reviews

Serene has posted reviews of all the Mixed Bag discs from this round. I got an 8 out of 10 awww-yeahs, which is pretty good, I think. She did note, though, that the disc made her feel like a crazy person. I’m thinking that means I actually succeeded with what I set out to do…

I've now listened to everyone's disc, except for Greg's and Logan's magnum opus. I tend to do most of my listening at work, so the stuff that's work unsafe usually has to wait until the end. This batch of reviews brings my reviewing almost current with my listening. I need to give Mike's disc one more listen before I finalize my write-up.

...This World, Then the Fireworks by Gordon

Starting with a rather intriguing title, Gordon has put together a strong, consistent collection of music. The tunes, drawn mainly from different sub-genres of rock, all fit together well. I liked the way he put artists that most recipients were likely to be familiar with (Yardbirds, Clash, Queen, U2) in amongst the other groups, which might or might not have been as familiar. Sometimes, having some familiar sounds mixed in with the new is helpful. It was my first exposure to Rich Kids, Material Issue, and the Effigies, for example. I really liked a lot of the material that was new to me, and will be searching out more by some of the artists.

The only tune that didn’t click with me was the Television song, which just meandered way too much for me. However, Gordon gets bonus points for using the Boomtown Rats, which more than makes up for one stumble. I also appreciated having one song (from the Hollies) with some prominent acoustic guitar. Overall, it was a solid, entertaining disc that I’ll be playing again. Good job, Gordon!

I (heart) WA by Serene

First off, the hand printed cover totally rocks! It was a really nice touch and fits the disc so well. Old (and out-of-touch) fogey that I am, I honestly expected this CD to be full of obscure, grunge band, Nirvana-wanna-be’s, none of which I would like. So imagine how (pleasantly) surprised I was that the first thing I heard after I put this disc in was a dobro! After the opening song from Sera Cahoone (who was new to me) and the Damien Jurado tune that followed it, I was totally open to whatever else this disc might throw at me.

There were only a small handful of artists I had heard of on this one, and even fewer that I had ever actually heard. This is a good collection of music, and I enjoyed most of it quite a bit. Since so much of it was new to me, it was almost like listening to one of the InRadio CD’s. Considering how much I look forward to getting each new InRadio release, that’s pretty high praise. Great job, Serene!

(Focus.) by Kevin Church

Judging from some of Kevin’s comments about music at his blog, I honestly wasn’t sure if I would like this one or not. He seems to lean towards a lot of electronic and dance stuff, which isn’t always my bag. Still, one of the reasons I do the Mixed Bag exchanges is to share music that I think is good with others who might not be familiar with it, and to let others do the same thing for me. So, I prepared myself for an experience that might just broaden my horizons a bit. Or might not.

I ended up playing his disc for almost a week straight.

Instead of the throbbing, pounding dace beats that I wasn’t sure I’d like, Kevin created a smooth jazzy, loungey, chill-out collection of music that’s just wonderful! Most of the disc is instrumental, but there are a handful of tracks with vocals towards the end. There’s lots of smooth, mellow stuff, stuff with lots of beats and things, and stuff with some killer flutes. Oh yeah, and the Theme from SWAT! How cool is that?

This has turned out to be one of my favorite discs from this exchange. It’s a great work disc, especially for those times when I’m working on creative projects.

From beginning to end, I truly love this disc. I even like the reggae tune, and that’s saying something! Thanks for the good music, Kevin! Awesome cover photo, too.

Rockin’ Like Dokken by Chris Brown

Chris made two discs, and I think his other one, I See Dead People, is one of the best discs of this Mixed Bag round. This one is not as not as good as its companion, but it is a solid, enjoyable disc in its own right. Chris and his wife Kelly have convinced me through their discs that I must get some Ookla the Mok CDs. Chris’ disc also reminded me that I’ve been meaning to check out Ted Leo for a while now. Any disc that expands my “music to check out” list gets a couple of bonus points from me!

There’s a lot to like here: an acoustic Pixies song, Ben Folds, Arctic Monkeys, Belle and Sebastian. The Prince tune surprised me, because it sounds so much like his classic stuff, but is fairly recent. Lefty also gets props for the My Morning Jacket cut. I gotta support the local guys! Plus, he used the Beastie Boys, one of the few rap acts I actually like. Yes indeed, lots of good stuff here.

What holds the disc back for me, though, is the tunes by acts I’m largely indifferent to: Wolfmother, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Dokken. I accept the inevitability of a Dokken cut on a disc called “Rockin’ Like Dokken” but I’m still underwhelmed by it. The Iron Maiden song was better than I thought it would be, but there are enough songs that I’m lukewarm about to make this a disc I’d call “pretty good” instead of “excellent.” However “pretty good” is a pretty good rating, so I think Chris can take a bow for this one too!

The Week That Wasn't

Spent the week getting ready to go to Nashville to spend some time with Keith’s mom, aunt, and a bunch of cousins I’ve never met. Had too much to do to post much or use complete sentences: flowers to plant, clothes to wash, TV shows to watch (to clear off the DVR), bills to pay, house to tidy, etc. etc....

...Then yesterday, the trip got cancelled, which is a little bit of a bummer, since I love Keith's mother and was looking forward to seeing her again.

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Since all the craziness of the week left little time for posting, here’s some quick stuff to fill the gap:

Dorian proves once again why he’s one of my blogging heroes.

The Absorbascon linkblogs. (Incredibly self-aware irony alert! I’m lazily and sycophantically linkblogging to a post that refers to linkblogging as lazy and sycophantic! But he links to a bunch of stuff I was going to point out anyway, so why not?)

The Comics Reporter has a preview/review of a book I really, really want.

Bully tells us how to do BEA the right way. What a well-mannered little stuffed bull he is!

There’s still time to enter Gordon’s contest!

The Pulse has an interview with Ivan Velez about the long-awaited conclusion and collection of Tales of the Closet. The interview includes a lot of information I didn’t know about rights disputes and other issues that held the series up for over a decade. The collection will probably be roundly ignored by most gay comic readers, but I am looking forward to it.

Speaking of books that will be ignored by most gay comic readers, Alison Bechdel has a graphic memoir out, which I am also greatly looking forward to getting.

Boneville.com, the web page for Jeff Smith’s wonderful comic Bone, has a new look!

The Indigo Girls are working on a new album and they’ve been posting little videos of the production sessions on their web page.

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Upcoming concerts we hope to catch:

Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch at Waterfront Wednesday
Marshall Chapman at Ear X-tacy
Del McCoury at Ear X-tacy

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Future plans for posts that I hope to write/finish in the very near future:

Some reminiscing about my dad and comic books
Some actual honest to god comic reviews!
A long rambly post about spirituality
A critique of the current sad state of Days of Our Lives
My addiction to serial drama
My ambivalence about the Democratic Party at this moment
The restoration of the Louisville Derby Clock
Some thoughts about comic books in general
My last mixed bag reviews
Eddie's Top Gay Comics Moments!
New music I want
My ten favorite Emmylou Harris songs
100 things I love about Louisville
Ranting about the "Marriage Protection" Amendment
Dorian kind of sort of asked me to do this pretty cool meme-thing, which I actually do want to do. I just couldn’t get to it this week.

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And finally, some little gifts for Roger who's feeling kind of grumpy.

Maybe these will cheer him up.

The Goddess of Music singing a classic!



Adam West having some sort of seizure



A picture of the sweetest kitty in the world

You can let them cheer you up too, if you need it.

Have a nice holiday weekend!

Some Comic Book Type Notes

If you missed Free Comic Book Day, Newsarama has the Scott Pilgrim story up right now. It was my first exposure to SP, and I quite liked it.

Gordon is celebrating his second blogiversary by giving stuff away! There’s still plenty of time to enter, so check out what you gotta do to win. (Don’t forget about Comic Book Galaxy’s First Second giveaway, while you’re at it!)

The scariest thing about Blockade Boy’s Letters from a Henchman is how closely the syntax, spelling, and grammar match those of most of the folks who post on comic book message boards!

Comics Reporter has a link to an interview with Gary Groth that’s well worth checking out. However, I do hope he’s wrong about one point:

But the question is always, Are there enough people to sustain that kind of activity? Plus, it becomes much, much more difficult to do when there are so many people doing it. The audience does not grow in proportion to the number of comics being published. So it's actually harder now, but there are probably more worthwhile comics being published than ever before. I suspect that there isn't a big enough readership for "literary" or "art" comics today to sustain the current bandwagon boom that so many New York houses are jumping on, and we'll see a contraction in another year or so.

I’m starting to get quite spoiled by my local independent bookseller and its ever-expanding shelf of good graphic novels. I sure would hate to lose any part of it. On the other hand, as good as they look, I do have to wonder about either the bookstore market or the comics shop market’s ability to absorb all the titles in the First Second initial launch.

About ten years ago, Keith and I were going to move to San Francisco. I had lost my job, and Louisville was starting to feel really small to us. For a lot of different reasons, we ended up staying put, but every now and then I’ll see something that makes me wish we’d taken the plunge. After all, no one ever gets smacked with trade paperbacks in my local comics shop! Wouldn’t you know that Mike started it! Folks in the big cities are so lucky, I guess!

Mixed Bag Reviews: Chris and Kelly

I See Dead People by Chris “Lefty” Brown

I haven’t gotten to listen to Lefty’s other disc (Rockin’ Like Dokken) yet, because I can’t get past this one!

First off, he has to be applauded for his choice of deceased artists to include on the disc. For the most part, he avoided the “obvious” choices—no Elvis, No Hank Williams, no Jim Morrison, no Kurt Cobain. I think this made for a much more well-rounded disc, with a variety of musical genres represented.

The few times he did stray into “obvious choice” territory, he balanced it by using slightly less obvious song choices. For John Lennon, it’s Mother rather than Imagine. For Janis Joplin, it’s Summertime, instead of Me and Bobby McGee. Neither song is totally off the beaten path, to be sure, but they show a little more thought than just grabbing the usual songs by the usual suspects, which is what really makes this disc work. He really fleshed out (so to speak) his concept well.

There’s no way I’m not going to love a disc with this much good blues on it, especially when there are also cuts by the much underappreciated Gram Parsons, Bill Monroe, and Johnny Cash on it! And if Cash singing We’ll Meet Again isn’t an inspired, off-beat choice, I’ll eat my hat. Lefty also gets high marks for included a couple of the more recently demised—Buck Owens and Ali Farka Toure.

There is absolutely not a bad song choice on this disc. I love it from beginning to end, in fact, may be the best of this batch. Yay, Chris!

Kelly Brown: Man vs. Woman

There are some sequences of songs that are just magical. The individual tunes and the way they flow into each other and play off each other is just mesmerizing and one has to repeat the entire sequence over and over again because the listening experience is so wonderful.

On Kelly’s CD, the five song set from Son House’s John the Revelator to the A-Sides’ Jump Back Jack is one of those sequences for me. It’s so magical and so captivating that the CD would be worth playing even if the rest of the CD were nothing but ambient sounds of cows mooing in the pasture! Fortunately, that’s not the case, as the rest of the CD has several other great moments: Ookla the Mok (must get something from him!), Chagall Guevara, the incomparable Etta James and Government Mule are all stand-out selections. In all honesty, I don’t care much for the rap or reggae tunes, but that’s just me. I’m just not into those genres, and nothing on this CD really changes my mind.

All in all, though, it’s a strong mix, with that one song sequence—starting with the rough-hewn country blues of Son House into the folksy-pop of Bob Weir’s Cassidy followed by Johnny Cash on Daddy Sang Bass, one of my favorite gospel tunes, then the joyous celebration of Ben Folds’ Kate and ending with the groovy, polished pop-rock of the A-Sides—raising the whole CD up to a disc I’ll being playing over and over. Take a bow, Kelly!

In the Mix (Part One)

Eddie-tor's Note: Blogger has totally fucked up this post three times now, so I'm trying it in two parts to see if that will solve the problem. If you find that any paragraphs seem to end abruptly or switch topics in mid-sentence, point them out, please. I've worked on this for so long, I'm a little cross-eyed (and more than a little cross...)

Well, they've had enough time to get to most folks, so here’s what my fellow Mixed Baggers can expect to hear:

Disc Title: Sounds Ed-clectic

Yeah, I know it’s corny, but I like the pun.

Themes: I didn’t have any over-arching theme in mind for the CD, but a couple “mini-themes” came out as I was putting the songs together. Several songs ended up having political undertones to them, for one thing, which really isn’t that surprising if you know me, I guess. It's probably even kind of stretching it to refer to that as a "theme." On the other hand, the plan to include one Go-Go’s cut, soon grew into the creation of a Go-Go’s “mini-suite” of songs in tribute to one of my favorite bands.

Dedications: Knowing some of the folks in the exchange and their music tastes, I tried to pick a couple of things that I thought they would especially like. Then I got the idea of dedicating those songs to them. Then I decided that wouldn’t be fair to the others, so I ended up dedicating at least one song to all the other mix participants. Then I got the idea to do a couple of other dedications as well. Then I decided to stop thinking about the whole thing.

Rules: Over the past couple of years, I’ve tried to make sure CD’s I created for other folks met certain basic criteria. They had to have an Emmylou Harris tune, a song from a local or regional act, and a song from an LGBT act. I do this because I like Emmylou Harris(a lot), I believe that we’ve got some really talented musicians in our local scene, and I feel like I ought to show some support for queer artists.

For this particular CD, I expanded on those criteria a bit. I’ve been feeling like my last couple of mixes were in a sonic rut—too many artist repeats and too much from one particular genre. This time I decided that I couldn’t use any artists who were on my last few CDs—except, of course, for Emmylou. I also said that I had to make an effort to include more songs from genres other than Americana.

That’s a lot of babbling about how much overthinking I did for one CD. What about the songs?

The Contents

Know Your Rights—The Clash

I wanted to kick this one off with a real bang, and this is the perfect song for it. It’s loud, driving, and unabashedly political. It’s hard to watch the news any more without being totally pissed off, and this song expresses some of that anger for me. Sadly, despite the decades since it was recorded, it doesn’t sound dated at all.

Dedicated to Gordon and Lefty, who both used Clash songs in their mixes. (Lefty used this very song, in fact!)

Arizona Yodeler—The De Zurik Sisters

Oxford American Magazine releases a music issue every year, along with a companion CD. This song was a cut on the 2005 CD, and I knew I would be using it in a mix the first time I heard it! How can you not love yodeling sisters? The yodeling is pretty fantastic too, with all those coos and trills and things. It’s just such a happy song! I thought it made such a nice, complete contrast to the Clash song, from the production to the mood, that I had to put it here.

The De Zurik Sisters were a part of the country music radio show world of the 30’s and 40’s. You can read more about them here.

This song is dedicated to Mike, because I know that if the Arizona Yodeler were a story in an old Charlton western comic, it would eventually wind up in his blog. It’s also dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, who yodeled a little.

Ghost Riders (in the Sky)—Ned Sublette

There’s only one way to follow the Arizona Yodeler in my book, and that’s with a salsa-fied version of an old country chestnut!

I just love the opening guitars in this song, and the point where the full band kicks in with the horns and percussion. This comes from one Sublette’s Cowboy Rumba, one of my favorite and most highly recommended albums! If you like what he does here with the Cowboy Song-Latin Music fusion, you have to get the CD! There’s lots more where this one came from!

This is also dedicated to Mike, because he used another version of the song on his disc.

Unforgiven—The Go-Go’s

I am an unashamed, unrepentant, unapologetic fan of 80’s pop. It’s the soundtrack of my college days, after all. Along with ABBA, The Go-Go’s are one of my all time favorite bands. Including this song on the disc eventually grew into the whole “Go-Go’s mini-suite.” Sometimes, once an idea gets going it’s hard to stop.

This comes off their 2001 reunion CD, God Bless the Go-Go’s. I love the lyrics and the cascading guitars. I’ve been waiting for a follow-up album for several years now, but they seem to have forgotten me. Maybe, I’ve been Unforgiven too?

Super Trouper—ABBA

You’ve got to follow one of your favorite groups with the other, I always say. This is one of my favorite ABBA songs, and one that I always reach for when I’m feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

It’s dedicated to Keith, because I’m sappy that way, and to Greg, because I want a spot on his ruling council when he takes over the world. It’s also dedicated to Dorian, who’s getting a copy of this disc, even though he wasn’t in the Mixed Bag group this time.

You Are the Light—Jens Lekman

One of the best things I did musically last year was subscribe to InRadio. Every other month, I get a CD in my mailbox that’s chock full of all kinds of music from all kinds of independent labels. Of course, I don’t like everything, but there are always a few gems in every bunch, like this song, which was on the March/April 2006 CD, entitled Wishbone.

I love everything about this song—the horns, the vocal stylings, the modern take on romance and relationships. It makes me smile in a slightly twisted sort of way. You can find out more about Lekman here, which is his label’s site. There’s a link there to a video for this song, which is hilarious!

This one is dedicated to Kevin, because anyone with an Ironic Dance Party Mix should really appreciate this song.


Rush Hour—Jane Wiedlin

It’s probably blasphemy to say this, but Jane, rather than Belinda, was always my favorite Go-Go. After all, she wrote most of their material. It was just a bummer that her solo career didn’t seem to do as well as Belinda’s. This was one of her few hits, off her Fur album. It was the last of the Go-Go’s songs to get added. I figured that I couldn’t do a Go-Go’s mini-suite without including someone’s solo material or side project, but what to pick? I mean: Jane’s solo stuff, Charlotte’s solo stuff, Gina’s solo stuff, the Graces, the Delphines, Frosted, Belinda’s TON of solo material—the ladies did keep busy. (By the way, anyone with a copy of House of Schock on CD that they’d like to sell, drop me a line.)

In the end, I decided to go with Jane and stick with something kind of familiar. I needed fun and poppy to kind of balance out the irony from the Lekman tune.

Right as Rain—The Kennedys

The Kennedys are a folk-rock husband and wife team, and this comes from their Life is Large album. I fell in love with its simplicity and sweetness, especially the retro-jangly-guitar-sitar stylings. I also like the “love against all odds” message.

Since this is an election year, and the Right is struggling to maintain control, I expect to see the whole “the gays are threatening our way of life” bogeyman to be trotted out before long. So I’m dedicating this one to LGBT couples in this country who are fighting for legal recognition of our relationships.

Pilgrim’s Progress—Kris Kristofferson

In the commentary for his disc, Lefty points out that political, thematic songs have long been a staple in punk. He’s right, but before there was punk, there was folk. I wanted to honor that tradition, so I picked this song of Kristofferson’s new release, This Old Road.

The whole album is incredible. Largely just Kristofferson and his guitar, he explores the screwed-up American political scene, looks back on his life, and ponders his future. In this song, he does a little bit of all three, reminding us that we need to stay involved and active in the process, no matter how old or settled we are.

This one is dedicated to Lefty (for reasons stated above), Keith (the biggest Kristofferson fan I know), and Keith’s friend Ben, who is part of the new generation of political activists. I hope we all stay young enough to believe in revolution.

Real Men—Pansy Division

And what’s more revolutionary than playing with gender identity, masculinity in particular?

I had a completely different song in mind here, however, interestingly enough, it would have shared many of the same characteristics as this one: loud gay band questioning gender assumptions. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the CD which I thought I did, so you get PD instead. It works. It’s all good.

As a small-town, rural Kentucky kid, I grew up with a lot of those “this is what it takes to be a man” kind of messages. It became pretty clear, pretty early on, that I didn’t have a lot of what it took to meet those definitions, nor was I really that interested in meeting those definitions. So, I like this song that questions all those assumptions about what it means to be masculine, yet retains a little sense of humor about the whole thing.

I’m dedicating this one to all the other queer comics bloggers out there.

Vacation—The Frogs

This was the song that took the disc from merely having one Go-Go’s song to having a Go-Go’s mini-suite. This comes from Unsealed: A Tribute to the Go-Go’s, a CD I picked up for a buck at Half-Price Books recently. Most of it’s pretty mediocre, but I cracked up the first time I heard this song. I knew it had to go on my disc, and the mini-suite was born!

Originally, I placed this song after the Kristofferson song, but that opening “Whatever” coming on the heels of Kristofferson’s earnest soul-searching didn’t feel quite right. It works well coming in after all the musings and posturings in the PD song, however.

I like the way that the “whatever’s” take this from being a silly pop romance song to a more, jaded, modern take on relationships. Two weeks away from you? Whatever!

I hadn’t heard of The Frogs before, but apparently, they’ve had quite an interesting recording history.

CONTINUED IN PART TWO