Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Here's the official website. VH-1 has the world premiere of the "Irish Blood, English Heart" video. He's got the next cover of the vile Spin (but, dammit, it's Moz, so I've gotta...). What are the chances that both Morrissey and Prince would return at the same time? It's a good time to be alive, folks. [BTW, Musicology is in stores now. Get it and thank me later.]

I don't like the nicotine patch. It's itchy, and it isn't a cigarette. I'd punch my baby sister in the face for a Camel right about now. But since she's 800-some-miles away, fortunately (in this instance), I won't.

Oh holy fuck. Guess who's got an mp3 up from Sonic Youth's forthcoming Sonic Nurse? You know it's Matthew, leading the charge with Lee's "Paper Cup Exit." [Psst! And it's fucking great, like most Lee songs are, too.] Matthew's had a particularly strong week of posts, including a great, bizarre glitch-hits track by Girl Talk and one from the new Ghostface Killah album. If you want your horizons expanded and love free music, Fluxblog's the place.

Between their verses on Sleepy Brown's should-be-a-#1-smash "I Can't Wait" and the make-'em-say-whoa! of the "Roses" video, OutKast really are pretty untouchable now, aren't they? And they just got named to Time's list of the 100 "most influential" people - in the world. Repeat after me: Big Boi and Andre 3000 are the indisputable shit.

Music in my head, 4/17/04:

1. Sade, "Is It A Crime": Drama drama drama, high drama. But so good to hurt so bad.
2. Pete Townshend, "Rough Boys"
3. Cars, "Since You've Gone": Because I heard a woman walking down a sidewalk in heels, clicking and clacking, which recalls the intro to this.
4. TLC, "Girls Talk"
5. Loverboy, "Hot Girls In Love": While largely surrounded by women on Saturday, I seriously doubt they were the inspiration behind either of the past two selections.
6. Ready For the World, "Digital Display": ...and certainly not this marvelously good-bad single.

Music in my head, 4/18/04 (less, because I was on a date):
1. Skid Row, "Monkey Business": In church, no less. Am I going to hell?
2. Neneh Cherry, "Kisses On the Wind"
3. Stone Temple Pilots, "Days of the Week"

Music in my head, 4/19/04 (so far):
1. Damian Dame, "Right Down To It": One of the greatest '80s R&B singles you've never heard of, even. And they were signed to LaFace!
2. After 7, "Ready Or Not": Speaking of L.A. and 'Face...
3. Prince, "Shockadelica": Nothing makes Wal-mart more entertaining than his royal badness getting nasty.
4. Urge Overkill, "Sister Havana": A true-blue WTF.

Blame it on the NCAA Women's Final Four - and, more to the point, on ESPN's coverage of said event. Their commercials for the women's tourney this year prominently featured Liz Phair's "Extraordinary," and y'know what? This single is, apparently, the exception proving the rule about her eponymous '03 album (i.e., that it's way too slick and sucks). "Extraordinary" is slick, but feels more like a cousin to Exile in Guyville (or at least Whip-Smart) than to Avril fuckin' Lavigne; it's got that old Liz lyrical bite to it missing from so much of her current work. And the guitar crank sounds like so much mid-'90s alt.rock, in a good way. And those twin snare cracks heading into the chorus are ripped directly from "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The best compliment I can give "Extraordinary"? You can't tell it was produced by the Matrix. From me, that's rather high praise, trust.

Personal speed round:

The Expo was exhausting but fine, and successful. Not only did we make a lot of sales, I ended up getting a date out of it, with an EMT working the show. Had a good time with him yesterday on a long Sunday drive (it was sunny and 70 degrees) to Brattleboro, VT and back. I start one job today, another later this week. And within about 2 hours, I'm going on the nicotine patch and quitting smoking. The patch is only so that I'm not a total cunt at my new jobs; I only plan to use it 1-2 weeks at most.

Whew!

Today, day two of the Fabric & Quilt Expo, was also day two of hearing none of my own music all day. So I decided to do an experiment, akin to Waking Ear, and keep track of all the songs which popped in my head throughout the day.

1. Van Halen, "Why Can't This Be Love?": Stuck there for a good two hours, probably because I saw a sign at the Worcester Centrum Centre (where the Expo's being held) for VH's upcoming shows there. Not great, not bad, fairly indicative of Hagar-era VH.

2. Ray Charles, "Hit the Road, Jack": Genius. It's easy to take Ray for granted, but he won't be around forever, so let's appreciate him while he's still alive.

3. Missy Elliott, "Work It": "Picture Lil' Kim dating a Pastor."

4. Prince, "The Cross": One of his great unsung classics. Ever wonder what the last 25 years of music would've sounded like without him? I'd rather not, myself.

5. Ratt, "Lay It Down" and "You're In Love": You can never go wrong with a little Ratt.

6. Lindsey Buckingham, "Go Insane": This one seems to pop up at odd, random moments. Maybe because I told my Mom that "these [fabric/craft-obsessed] people are insane"? A superb single from a man who's better - and more talented - than most people, sadly, realize. Stevie's the presence in Fleetwood Mac, but Lindsey's the one who makes it work.

7. Sandra Bernhard, "Time of the Season": From her first one-woman show, Without You I'm Nothing. "9:35? You were in the tunnel, I'm sure you were. Whose tunnel were you in?"

8. Hall & Oates, "So Close": Ignore the fact that Jon Bon Jovi cowrote and produced it and just accept (and enjoy) it as a fine late-period Daryl & John guitar-driven nugget.

"I think we can't know all the time what it is we're supposed to do. There's no way - not anymore - for us to think anything is ever going to stay the same. But we can trust that we'll do the best we can, and I like to think there will be people who love us who will help."

- William J. Mann, The Men From the Boys (Bookspan, 2003 edition, p. 342)

Speed round:

If you've seen Best In Show, substitute fabrics and quilting for dogs and you know what my day was like. And tomorrow. And Saturday, all of which I'm spending here, working for Brian's business (his parents', really), Quilters Treasure. Thus, light posting will be the norm until Sunday.

I read William J. Mann's Where the Boys Are last July, and loved it. I've finally gotten around to reading the novel which came prior, The Men From the Boys, which seems to actually be even better. Mann has an interesting duality going on, in which he writes serious nonfiction alongside fiction which, while sterling and serious itself, seems to have been unfortunately characterized as semi-trashy by certain members of the gay press. Don't let the shirtless-buff-boy-bedecked covers fool you; Mann is in it for keeps, and writes gorgeously, things I find myself thinking but can never seem to get to paper in just the manner he does. He's so fucking good. And I'm insanely jealous of the fact that Devon's met him more than once. Bitch.

A diva, sure, but headling above the likes of Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight? Careful you don't get too big for your $300 panties, there, Jess.

I don't mean to make light of it, but am I the only one who finds something a bit fucked up about this story?

Single of the week: "Wanna Get to Know You" by G-Unit featuring Joe. In a twist, this hiphop single with an R&B hook comes off sounding like an R&B single with multiple hiphop hooks. Joe steals the show, and the song, on this Marvin Gaye-sampling smoove record which is that rare rap record that I could imagine getting busy to. Even 50 doesn't sound as scary-hard as usual.

What the world has been waiting for: "deluxe editions" of the first two Warrant albums. I actually kinda liked Jani Lane and the boys; their pop-metal was heavy on the pop, real sticky-sweet, but with a nicely crunchy guitar sheen. And "Cherry Pie" isn't sexist (nor sexy, natch) - it's hilarious (though what's that bit around 2:37 about "trained professionals" about?).

And you know what else? "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (from Cherry Pie) is just pretty darn great, period - the sound of Warrant stretching their wings a bit, and seeing what they could do. Maybejustmaybe it's time for some Ratt-style critical revisionism? Paul, whatcha think? I mean, sure, Jani and company weren't as good as Ratt, certainly - but I'm also thinking they might've been better than the credit they - well, didn't get.

Honey, have you seen MJ lately? Don't go down that road, Lil' Kim, please, baby... [And doesn't she look like, well, plastic now? It's like one of those Lil' Kim dolls from the "How Many Licks" video come to life!]


[2nd pic credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.]

After seeing that super-scary pic of Lil' Kim (taken today, at her arraignment in NYC on obstruction charges), however, I was reminded of how great she once was, the true "Queen Bitch" of hip-hop. Sadly, her albums (and singles) seem to decrease in quality with each successive release (save perhaps last year's "The Jump Off" and its infamous Sprite reference), but damned if Kim's '97 debut, Hard Core, wasn't positively slammin'. My favorite single taken from it was the "Crush On You" Remix featuring Lil' Cease, her former partner-in-crime from Junior M.A.F.I.A. (and the uncredited Biggie cameo, yessss!). Wasn't it yours, too? Let's remember together (the download is to your right).

Yet another reason why I find The Advocate so annoying: for their "Music Hall of Fame 2004" issue (don't get me started*), they got an exclusive interview with smooth jazz saxman Dave Koz, who's coming out (yay!). But did they put him on their cover? Sure, at the very bottom. Instead, to sell copies, they splattered a bunch of het musicians in favor of gay marriage on the cover, led by the excrable Pink**. Given the choice between featuring on their cover an openly queer person everyone may not know and a straight celebrity, The Advocate will pick the "hope they sell copies for us!" celeb every single time.

*Actually, it won't take but a minute to start and finish: their "Music Hall of Fame 2004" consists of the aforementioned Koz interview and blurb-quotes by those 42 musicians, a 2-page piece on Junior Senior, and a few more album reviews than usual. Whoo boy, that's quite a "Hall of Fame" there.

**Memo to Pink: you're not Billy Idol, and you'll never be as fucking cool as him, so quit fucking sneering.

It rained pretty much all day yesterday, and all night as well. Thanks to a front moving through, our temps rose overnight, by a good 15 degrees. So this morning, when I stumble out onto the deck circa 7am, it's 54 degrees and humid. Absolutely lovely, actually (the wind had largely died down, too). I noted how amazing the air smelled, thick with the scent of pine trees and wet earth. Which, as is wont to be the case, got me thinking about church camp. Which got me thinking about how every year, from 5th grade through my junior year of high school, after dropping me (or any of my sisters, for that matter) off at whatever camp I was attending for a week that summer, my Mom would always stop at the nearest post office and drop a postcard in the mail, so that I'd have mail the very next day. It was usually something along the lines of "Hope you're having fun and making friends - have a good week - will see you Saturday - love, Mom." Which, as it would happen, got me thinking of this little ditty which Mom occasionally sang:

I'm-a gonna wrap myself in paper
I'm-a gonna dot myself with glue
Stick some stamps on the top of my head
I'm-a gonna mail myself to you

My mind works in some very moebius-strip-like mysterious ways at times...

Fucking hell, Bush makes me so damned angry. I tried to watch some of his press conference last night with my roommate, but I wouldn't shut up, kept yelling at the television, livid over Bush's parade of lies and bullshit. So Brian asked me to leave, since he wanted to hear the Prez "make a fool of himself" (as he put it). I went up to my room, where I put on the only music I possibly could, DJ/rupture's Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat6).

I needed to counteract Bush's falsehoods and rah-rah flagwaving, so I needed Arabic music, which is featured plentily on Minesweeper Suite. I've talked before about the brilliance of rupture's turntable techniques, but what really both brings me down and cranks me further up is the source material he uses, and how he utilizes it. Melding Arabian tunes with machine-gun beats and political protest hip-hop (cf. Dead Prez), this Suite sounds like a war. Ever near the mix's end, where rupture drops in "Killing Me Softly With His Song," feels like protest music. Recontextualized this way - especially underpinned by Timbaland's stunning "Are You That Somebody" instrumental, especially that cooing baby, who takes on an eerie note here - I'm reminded of the Middle East, of the kids in Iraq growing up under a U.S. occupation no one save the Bush/Rove cabal asked for, of 12-year-old Palestinian boys being pushed into the service of Hamas as suicide bombers. Damned right the personal is political, and vice-versa. And DJ/rupture fucking gets it. On Minesweeper Suite, the DJ sounds like a soothsayer, a truth speaker, a fortune teller, and architect. He's helping draw the new 21st-century road maps - will we be smart enough to follow them?

Random MusicMatch 25:

1. Echo and the Bunnymen, "The Killing Moon"
2. Dinosaur Jr., "Freak Scene"
3. Hall & Oates, "Dance On Your Knees/Out Of Touch"
4. The Darkness, "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)"
5. Everything But the Girl, "Good Cop Bad Cop"
6. R. Kelly & Public Announcement, "She's Got That Vibe"
7. Prefuse 73, "Radio Attack Pt. 2 (re-edit)"
8. Dizzee Rascal, "Jus' A Rascal"
9. Daniel Letterle, "I Sing For You"
10. Television, "Marquee Moon"
11. Luomo, "Tessio"
12. Freddie Jackson, "Tasty Love"
13. Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, "Blue Light Boogie - Parts 1 and 2"
14. kid606, "My Kitten (Christoph de Babalon Remix)"
15. Prefab Sprout, "Cars and Girls"
16. Talking Heads, "Burning Down the House"
17. The Alarm, "68 Guns"
18. Snoop Dogg, "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"
19. Guns 'N Roses, "Anything Goes"
20. Bob Marley/Bill Laswell, "No Woman No Cry (Ambient Dub)"
21. Playgroup, "Number One"
22. Babyface, "There She Goes"
23. R. Kelly featuring Jay-Z and Boo & Gotti, "Fiesta (Remix)"
24. Kraftwerk, "Tour de France 2003 (Long Distance Version 2)"
25. Aaron Tippin, "Where the Stars and the Stripes and the Eagle Fly"

Only 3 days. Geeked yet?

Good God, Complicated Fun is a superbsuperbsuperb music and popcult blogzine. I was reeled in by the series of "I Hate 1984" posts (particularly Matos's genius riff on Daddino's CDR700 Go! 1984: "Bonjour, Monsieur Orwell!"), but it's all such good gravy, babies.

Sticking in music-geek land, I present for your delictation The Slack Album, DJ N-Wee's "Hov/Pave" mix. What do you think of it? [Link via Nate. Speaking of Nate...]

Patrin's take on the forthcoming Jim DeRogatis-edited anthology, Kill Your Idols is just so. fucking. good. that I may not even need to read the book (though I assuredly will). Now, this is why I read Hipster Detritus in the first place.

For all of your non-mainstream listening needs, there's my favorite mp3blog, which is of course Matthew's Fluxblog. Strength to strength, trust.

Eppy's Virtual Michiana Blog makes me tres happy. Why couldn't I meet people like this when we both lived in friggin' Indiana?!

Johnny, I trust you saw the latest "Robbie is gay" story? I dunno... I've always thought that Robbie was just 'avin a bit o' fun with sexuality, myself. I honestly believe he's straight - not that there's anything wrong with that...

Speed round:

Chrisafer is doing a lovely job of big-upping National Poetry Month over at his place, as these posts make clear - and the month's not even half-over!

Damned right that, as Jermaine O'Neal says, "If it was any other team, it would be everywhere." But it's the Indiana Pacers who've notched up 60 wins this season, along with homecourt all the way through the playoffs - including, if they make it that far, the finals. Time to move your NBA attention to the Hoosier state, folks.

If you're not reading Devon the Escort's Diary, you really should. He's been on fire of late (har har), with a series of blistering posts about getting the clap. Fascinating and funny stuff, the way Devon writes it.

The Lollapalooza lineup continues to evolve and firm up, with the additions of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Gomez. The routing should be announced soon.

The 9/11 commission continues its hearings this week, with some sure-to-be must-see testimony from FBI directors and Attornies General past and present today. It's all about C-SPAN, baby.

I heard the instrumental of Jay-Z's "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)" used as a vocal bed during NPR's Morning Edition this morning. Like whoa. In further Morning Edition news, the bad is that longtime host Bob Edwards is out at month's end. The good news is that my soon-to-be-superstar cousin Steve Inskeep will be interim cohost starting May 1st (and rumor has it, he's at the front of the line for the permanent gig).

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the world-record wind - 231 mph! - atop Mount Washington, New Hampshire. I'm so eager to head up there this summer. I mean, the folks at the observatory up there as even bigger weather geeks than I am!

Found a fairly amazing church on Sunday, United Church of Jaffrey. Part of the United Church of Christ denomination, UCJ is an Open and Affirming congregation - which, roughly translated, means they're a mainline Protestant denomination which loves homos. Yay, queen!

Oh, and I've accepted two part-time job offers which will start next week, in case you're interested.

The Rough Guide to R. Kelly, Volume 2
1. Down Low (Nobody Has To Know) (featuring Ronald Isley)
2. Half On A Baby (Extended Video Version)
3. Fiesta (Remix featuring Jay-Z, and Boo & Gotti)
4. We Ride (featuring Cam'ron, Noreaga, Jay-Z, and Vegas Cats)
5. A Woman's Threat
6. Bump 'N Grind (Old School Remix)
7. Sex Me (Parts 1 and 2)
8. Slow Dance (R. Kelly and Public Announcement)
9. Your Body's Callin' (His & Hers Remix featuring Aaliyah)
10. Ignition Remix
11. I Believe I Can Fly
12. Happy People

Total time: 65:21

The Rough Guide to R. Kelly, Volume 1
1. She's Got That Vibe (R. Kelly & Public Announcement)
2. Religious Love
3. Dollar Bill (featuring Foxy Brown)
4. Sadie
5. Step In the Name of Love (Remix)
6. I Wish - Remix (To the Homies I've Lost)
7. Your Body's Callin'
8. Honey Love (R. Kelly & Public Announcement)
9. Take You Home With Me (a.k.a. Body) (Jay-Z & R. Kelly)
10. You Remind Me of Something
11. When A Woman's Fed Up
12. Ignition
13. I'm Your Angel (R. Kelly & Celine Dion)
14. Bump 'N Grind

Total time: 64:33

The Rough Guide to (featuring R. Kelly)
1. Sparkle - Be Careful
2. Mary J. Blige - It's On
3. The Notorious B.I.G. - #!*@ You Tonight
4. Kirk Franklin - Lean On Me (also featuring Mary J. Blige, Bono, and Crystal Lewis)
5. Quincy Jones - Heaven's Girl (also featuring Ronald Isley, Aaron Hall, Charlie Wilson, and Naomi Campbell)
6. Nas - Street Dreams (The Street Dreamin' Remix)
7. Wyclef Jean - Gone Till November (The Makin' Runs Remix) (also featuring Canibus)
8. Puff Daddy - Satisfy You
9. Fat Joe - We Thuggin'
10. The Isley Brothers - Contagious (also featuring Chanté Moore)
11. Missy Elliott - Dat's What I'm Talking About
12. Ginuwine - Hell Yeah (Remix) (also featuring Clipse and Baby)
13. Nick Cannon - Gigolo
14. Jennifer Lopez - Baby I Love U! (Remix)
15. Twista - So Sexy

Total time: 69:00

Made some new Rough Guides today, all around an artist currently up on child-porn charges in Illinois. But damn if he's not ridiculously talented.

The Rough Guide to (produced by R. Kelly)
1. Hi-Five - Quality Time
2. Aaliyah - Back and Forth
3. Changing Faces - Stroke You Up
4. Janet Jackson - Any Time, Any Place (R. Kelly Remix)
5. Toni Braxton - How Many Ways (R. Kelly Remix)
6. Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
7. Trin-i-tee 5:7 - God's Grace
8. Syleena Johnson - I Am Your Woman
9. The Isley Brothers - Mission to Please You
10. Maxwell - Fortunate
11. Britney Spears - Outrageous
12. Michael Jackson - One More Chance (Paul Oakenfold Mix)
13. Joe - More & More

Total time: 59:09

Thank goodness Purdue listened. And if they - i.e. AD Morgan Burke - hadn't, Andy Katz says things would've been very different next season in West Lafayette.

In lieu of actual new content...

I realized this weekend that I've got another couple of Rough Guides I did in the can, ones which in fact I made in 2003 - I just didn't name them as such. The first is my Aaliyah: 26 Songs comp from last year. There aren't liner notes for it per sé, but I can direct you to this piece I wrote in February 2003 about babygirl in their stead.

The Rough Guide to Aaliyah (except that it's 2 discs and not in chronological order)
Disc 1
1. Are You That Somebody?
2. Erica Kane
3. I Need You Tonight (So So Def Remix) (Junior M.A.F.I.A. featuring Aaliyah)
4. I Don't Wanna
5. More Than A Woman
6. If Your Girl Only Knew (Remix featuring Missy Elliott)
7. Your Body's Callin' (His & Hers Remix) (R. Kelly & Aaliyah)
8. Try Again
9. Hot Like Fire (Timbaland's Groove Mix)
10. Come Back In One Piece (Aaliyah & DMX)
11. At Your Best (You Are Love)
12. We Need A Resolution (featuring Timbaland)
13. One In A Million (Armand's Drum'N'Bass Mix)

Disc 2
1. Back and Forth
2. 4 Page Letter
3. Miss You
4. You Won't See Me Tonight (Nas featuring Aaliyah and Timbaland)
5. Rock the Boat
6. Best Friends (Missy Elliott featuring Aaliyah)
7. Age Ain't Nothing But A Number
8. Loose Rap (featuring Static)
9. If Your Girl Only Knew
10. I Am Music (Timbaland and Magoo featuring Aaliyah and Static)
11. More Than A Woman (Masters at Work Alternate Mix)
12. Come Over
13. One In A Million

I finally met the man/myth/legend of Maine bloggers, Johnny, today. He drove down from Portland and I had the opportunity to bask in the glow of his fine company for a couple of hours. He's just as sweet and charming as I knew he'd be - and don't let him tell you otherwise. A true gem, he is.

In several unrelated stories, the government is quietly working to kill overtime pay for the poorest stratum of the workforce, key civil liberties are being eroded and Iraq drifts toward anarchy. But as long as no one says any dirty words on the radio, we’re all gonna be OK.

Nicely pointed news and comment (served separately) in this story from HITS Daily Double, which is fast becoming my primary source for any and all music-biz news.

Update: on the front page of his website, Howard's got a statement in response to the FCC fines.

Took me a couple days to get the final standings tabulated, but congrats to Senor Stebbins, the winner of submeat's 2004 tournament challenge. Mike actually tied for first place with Albert, but correctly picked UConn to win it all, and took the tiebreaker thus. Mike will soon be receiving a big package of C700 Go! love.

Speed round:

I have my first job interview Friday. It's with a KFC/Taco Bell. Hey, it's a job. Have now applied at about 15-odd places, including two temp agencies. Driving a good bit, too; planning on going to the DMV for my driving test in about 2 weeks.

CMT, as part of their ongoing "100 Greatest" series, have compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos (the country part is implied). #1, kinda-but-not-really-surprisingly, is Johnny Cash's "Hurt." But the entire list is interesting and definitely worth examining (you can view 30-second clips of most of the videos, too).

Janet Jackson's Damita Jo did not debut at #2 because of her "wardrobe malfunction," people. It debuted at #2 because its first single ("Just A Little While") was a radio dud (and, honestly, starts well and goes downhill) and its second ("I Want You") is a slow-burn record (which had damned well better turn into a multiformat hit, 'cause it deserves to). Her career will be just fine.

No ABBA reunion - ever. Which is a shame for those of us who never had the chance to hear those glorious Swedes sing harmony live.

What'd I tell ya? It's a matched set of titles at Connecticut. Storrs, CT, "center of the basketball universe" - who knew?

Superb article over at mtvnews.com remembering that there was another Seattle musician who died on 4/5: Layne Staley, whom I miss a lot. Especially lately, as I've been listening to Boston's WBCN, which is like grunge never died: Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, nearly every hour. [Not that there's anything wrong with that...]

Yeah, I know I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain, but I'm tryin' to find a job here, people; that comes before blogging. In the meantime, check TV On the Radio's Desparate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes - not a total triumph, but some of the most audacious music you'll hear this year - and Prince's Musicology, which may in fact be a total triumph - c'mon, you knew he still had it in him.

Dammit, Kurt, you asshole. Why'd you have to go and take your gifts, your creativity, your love away from us, from Courtney and Frances Bean, from Dave and Krist? 10 years and it seems like yesterday. I miss you, Kurt. I wish you could've found whatever you needed to stop the pain while you were on earth with us, and I hope you're happier, at peace now.

Rock Me Tonight: 1980s :: Doing It To Death (Part 1): 1970s.

UConn by 8-10 points tonight, in case you were wondering.

And UConn in a very close game tomorrow night, in case you were wondering. His-and-hers championships all around!

Hi there. I'm back, live from New Hampshire and online at last, thanks to the concerted efforts of my roommate Brian. Let me share just one brief vignette to illustrate how different my life already is here: Thursday morning (at 7am, before I'd even had any caffeine), while smoking my first cigarette of the day, I was tossing pieces of bread to the Canada geese in the river below where I stood. Just a wee bit different from living in a metro area of 1 million-plus; it's so quiet here that when standing on the deck, I can hear the wings of flying geese flapping. Pics to come soon.