The GI Bill

Around the time I was driving home for Thanksgiving there was a super-interesting segment on Talk of The Nation regarding the failings of the current (Montgomery) G.I. Bill. The segment was based on a book by Edward Humes entitled Over Here, and the premise is that thing that makes America great today was the resources available to veterans when they returned from WWII. Obviously, if I’m just now talking about this it is because the piece stuck with me. The segment stuck with me because I think this Humes** guy is wrong.

It goes like this. The original G.I. Bill compensated service members returning from war with one year of unemployment pay, their entire college education (private or public), and low interest, zero down payment home loans. The Montgomery (current) G.I. Bill provides active duty service members up to $1100 per month for 36 months ($39,600) to be used within 10 years of the completion of their service. Receiving this money is contingent upon forfeiting $100 from their first 12 paychecks (pay $1200 and get $40,000).

Humes claims that because 1 in 8 Americans served in WWII the benefits these service members received amounted to the “best investment our country has ever made.” Accordingly, he thinks the same benefits should be awarded to the current service members. He also claims that the current GI Bill reaches less than 1% of the US population, so its benefits cannot be felt.

So, this is what I think:

• Today’s military is a voluntary military. The average cost of a college education in 2007 was 6,000. That means that those who CHOOSE to enter the military can have their tuition and a large amount of living expenses covered at a public university. I can’t think of one state that doesn’t have at least one public university that is not worth attending. PLUS, the veterans can take out loans to cover the difference at a private college. PLUS, they are earning a significant salary from what they earned while in the military. I have an MBA friend who was earning $85,000 a year while in Iraq (granted he was a flight officer…the point is that the salaries they earn are not insignificant).
• The success that America had following WWII cannot be contributed to any single factor. Winning the war was probably a much greater investment to this country than providing an education to those that returned. I doubt that providing those current service members a free education when left service would have the same effect. The US is a much different place than what it was in 1945.
• 16 million Americans died in WWII. That amounts to about 10% of the population. Less than .5% of the population is currently in the military. Education wasn’t an arbitrary investment. It was a need to rebuild this country.
• Using an inflation calculator, the $10 billion cost of the WWII GI Bill amounts to over $111 trillion.

An interesting aside to the NPR story is that Jerome Korlberg has recently started a private fund to pay for scholarships for veterans. Korlberg returned from WWII, went to Harvard Business School and Columbia Law School, started KKR, and became a billionaire. The GI Bill obviously had its intended effect on Korlberg, but two free graduate degrees is probably a bit excessive.

Song Recommendation - The Underdog by Spoon

**Apparently this Humes guy won a Pulitzer Prize back in 1989.

I'm sure you all know by now but the new MMJ album is going to be named Evil Urges and will be released on June 10th.

Trouble in Vegas

Trouble in Vegas. That's the name of a tournament. Accurately described by its slogan as "Best and worst idea, ever." You see, it's Las Vegas and there are a lot of ways to get in trouble. I know this because I've been going through a season (the one with the Minitature Killer) of CSI in anticipating for the trip. Making mental notes.....mainly of all the ways to get killed or sexually assaulted (many less ways to do this) in Vegas. Because of watching the show, every girl I saw I just assumed they were a transvestite or a prostitute. We also only saw 1 cop in the 4 days were there. I guess when you don't have laws you don't need cops. Then again, that creates quite the disconnect with the TV show.

Flight was uneventful. Eric asked why Republicans existed. You know, the usual topics of conversation. We started gambling immediately upon arriving in Vegas. You see, we chose the Thrifty Wild-Car (ain’t that cute) option. This meant that we were getting any car full-size or larger at $12 a day. Apparently this didn’t include the Mercedes S-Class, but did include the Chrysler Town and Country. Because that’s what we rocked in Sin City. A pair of mini-vans. Which, when you have 40 alumni in town is probably the best option.

The airport is at the opposite end of the strip as the Stratosphere. And since it was Thursday and 8 o’clock we drove down the strip to get to the hotel. The last time I was in Las Vegas was when I was 12, and although I had a great time I don’t think I appreciated the city enough. There is no (NONE!) doubt in my mind that Las Vegas is the weirdest city on Earth. The amount of money needed to design and build the hotels/casinos on the strip is absolutely ridiculous. They know what they’re selling, and they’re good at selling it.

Well, I learned on the plane that almost everyone was flying into Vegas on Thursday night so they could have an extra night of gambling and debauchery. I chose the flight so I could carpool with the Purdue kids and pay cheap Thursday night rates. I had no idea what I was getting into. I guess you can imagine what happens when people who haven’t seen each other in a while meet in a casino. Madness. I went to bed about 2:30. Apparently everyone else went to bed at either 430 or 630. The sleep I got was so terrible that I would wake up in the middle of the night and say, I can’t wait for my nap tomorrow. I only had a sportcoat to use as a blanket (note to self, never be homeless) and each time I woke up I looked at the beds hoping that the comforter fell off. No luck. I found out in the morning that I was sleeping next to the air conditioner. I also found out that everyone else in the room was super hot and not using their comforters.

Friday was a day of waiting. Well, waiting and the Monte Carlo catching on fire (Can't you just hear Billy Joel Sing. "We didn't start the FIRE, it's......). We were all anxiously waiting for the rest (the idiots who worked on Friday) of the group to get there. Finally everyone did. And Friday night turned out to be a replay of Thursday night (it was at this point that I began to see a pattern and was pretty sure what was going to happen on Saturday night). The tournament hosted a party at the bar at the top of the Stratosphere. It’s a pretty incredible view of the strip. There is also a rotating restaurant up top. No more rollercoaster though. Spangle lost a bunch of money. Doug won a bunch of money. Doug lost more money than he previously won. I lost $20.

Saturday was the pool play of the tournament. The fields were typical (I guess) desert (remember you’d rather have two deSSerts than one deSert) fare. Brown and dry. Temp was about 55 degrees (it’s a dry heat), but the 65 degree difference than what it was at Purdue when we left made it feel like we were playing pretty reasonable. Doug got hurt on the 5th point of the tournament. To his credit it stepped on an electrical cover and twisted his ankle. To the fields credit, it didn’t matter how it happened he was going to get hurt. Luckily, he was able to play through. Lost to some LSU/Texas alumni. Lost to some Washington alumni. Beat some team from Chicago.

Saturday night we venture down to the main part of the strip to eat at the buffet at Planet Hollywood. Our dinner corresponded with the Miss America pageant. Also being held at Planet Hollywood. Planet Hollywood had dancers on the black jack tables. Watched the fountain show across the street at the Bellagio. I cannot image how much that casino paid for that property. Then they just dug a hole and built a gigantic lake with a fountain show. People must have thought they were insane. Actually, I bet people just shrugged their shoulders and went about their business. I realized on Saturday night that I get no enjoyment from gambling at casinos (Churchill Downs, now that's way different) and was in bed by midnight (Total losses for the weekend, $27). I think the rest of the group made it to the room not much later. Apparently 3 consecutive nights is Vegas is one too many. Girth won a bunch of money at roulette. Lucky him.

The Sunday portion of the tournament was wet. We lost our first game to MSU alumni and vehemently tried to get out of playing Harvard, but they really wanted to play so we went ahead and lost to them also. Then we went to In-N-Out Burger. Except that Tarr thought he knew where an In-N-Out Burger was but instead took us to In-N-Out Bailbonds. What an idiot. Finally we made it. I don’t know what those people from California get all excited about. I mean, yes it was good, but it’s not like it was amazing or life changing.

Then we went to the airport and flew straight home without incident. SIKE. There was a 4 hour delay with our flight, and we didn’t get back to Indy until 430. Didn’t get back to Purdue until 6. I missed another class. I don’t really feel like I’m in college anymore.


It was a really fun weekend. But more about who I was with than where we were. I would have had just as much fun in Iowa. It's not like we did anything Crazy.

Song Recommendation - Home by Marc Broussard (A perfect song for the upcoming Mardi Gras)

Bad Luck

Where has Nick been? Good question. I'm not even sure where I have been. I've been doing a pretty good job about posting this past month or so, and I'm sure that my readers (all three of you) have been checking the site anxiously. Each day that passed no doubt felt like a little more of your soul disappearing. Well have no fear; One Big Holiday is back in the game.

It's been a wild week. Where to begin. I'm in Louisville every other Thursday/Friday working part-time at Humana. Since classes weren't held on MLK Day and I don't have class until 430 on Tuesday, I waited until Tuesday to drive back to school. Well, I waited until Tuesday to drive halfway back to school. I was driving and I was thirsty. So I decided to stop in Franklin (Exit 90) to get a drink at the McDonalds. It was in the McDonalds parking lot that the Explorer's transmission decided it was finished working. That's not completely true, it would work for about 50 feet each time I turned the car on. The last 85 miles to West Lafayette would have taken quite a while at 50 feet a pop, so I decided to call the tow truck. So, I hung out at McDonalds for an hour and hung out at a Ford dealership in Greenwood for an hour before Sara drove up from Btown to take me the rest of the way to Purdue. I didn't make it class on Thursday I can't really say that the mechanical failure of the vehicle was that much of surprise considering I've been able to freely switch from Drive to Neutral to Reverse without putting my foot on the brake. Luckily we have friends in the transmission business.

The transmission is final event in a string of bad luck which began we me losing the jump drive with all my MBA stuff on it. A good 1.5 years of work. I'm an idiot for not backing it up more.
The middle event was a trip to the doctor for a foot injury that happened back in October. So, I as at the doctor and he's putting me through the paces. Taking x-rays, watching me walk, poking, prodding, and other things that doctors do. Finally he says, "Well, the x-ray looks fine. That means you've either damaged the ligament or there is a fracture internally. I can't tell the difference without doing an MRI, but with both those injuries I would just put it in a cast. So, let's save you some money. I'm going to get my stuff to put a cast." Well, this was not expecting when I walked into the doctor's office and I say, "Wait a minute, I'm going to Las Vegas next weekend to play in a tournament. I'll just come back in a couple of weeks and we can put the cast on then." So, on Friday the doctor is putting my foot in a cast. Lame. It's going to be on for 6 weeks. Double lame. I'm going to Chile and Argentina in 4.5 weeks. Triple lame.

But I can't be too sad. Today is the 28th of January. Since the 18th of January I've been to 3 classes for a grand total of 4.5 hours in the last ten days.

Song Recommendation - To Love Somebody by Ray Lamontagne AND Damien Rice

Now begins the hard journey to spring with only a brief stop at a dry creek called March Madness.

Or so sayth David Massey when speaking about the end of the football season. But Nick, doesn't DMassey understand that the Super Bowl still have to be played? Well, yes he does understand. But like myself, he understands that a Patriots-Boston Super Bowl is going to be an ESPN/East Coast media love fest. I don't even know who I would root for. I guess I'll root for Giants begin that I hate Bruski and Harrison from the Pats, and it would be hilarious if the "Perfect Season" ended in defeat (How can it be called a perfect season if the season isn't over yet? Perfect Regular Season....yes. Perfect Season....not yet.) Then there we would be mucho debate if the Pats were still the greatest team ever. Oh the people at ESPN Radio would have a field day**.

If you don't know yet, and you should. Consider that it has been on the MMJ webpage for like a whole week. MMJ will be playing a show June 20th at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. That's one that probably shouldn't be missed. Speaking of shows that shouldn't be missed. I was at what is considered the greatest MMJ show of alltime at Bonnaroo '06. Only Sara was so tired from a day full of music (ending in Tom Petty) that we left after about an hour. I still want to punch myself in the face everytime I think about it. I should have rationed my day better. Whoa is me. Paste Mag also has some good MMJ tidbits.

I recently watched an episode of Celebrity Rehab and I've got to say that I am super impressed with Dr. Drew. He seems like a stand-up guy, and the guy I want to get me of my drug addiction. You know, once I get a drug addiction. He is way more talented than one would think from his work on Loveline.

Song Recommendation - I'm Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys

Nope, not the normal selection but man is it good. Truth be told, it makes me want to fight someone (which probably wouldn't be much of a fight with a shoulder in rehab and a foot that's going in a cast when I get back from Vegas).

I asked Bostonian Jess O'Leary (as indicated by her Irish name and her cop father) if Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly was the better Irish punk band from Boston. She seemed to think Dropkick Murphys was, but that was a matter of personnel preference I think. I do wonder why Dropkick Murphys have a bagpipe in the mix consider that it is a Scottish instrument. Oh wait, I just checked and the bagpipe is actually an instrument of Irish origins. Weird.

Seriously, The Onion is hilarious. Girls, don't cry yourself to sleep over it. It's just a joke.

**In fact, after writing the paragraph I was watching PTI on ESPN and Wilbon/Kornheisiweirtgjr were already debating who the best team would be ('72 Dolphins, '86 Bears, '07/'08 Patriots) if the Patriots lost. PTI. Best sports related show ever? False. The original American Gladiators. True. PTI. Best sports talk show ever. The best.....easily.

The Tallest of Southern Indiana Mountains

Last night, Sarah, Sarah, Sara, Cate, Ben, Aaron (in bright neon green jacket) and I took to the slopes of Paoli Peaks for a litte midnight skiing action. Luckily we decided to do it on the coldest night of the year. I was dreading the experience because of the price and the cold, but as it turned out, it was cheaper than reported AND it wasn't that cold. Aaron was a natural on the slopes while Cate and Sara spent the night learning the snowboard. I think they might be ready for the X-Games. Not X-Games 12 but X-Games 13. If I had to guess. Only problem I had is that because it wasn't a mountain the ratio to ski time/lift-time wasn't very favorable. It's a good place to go if it is you're learning or re-learning. Sara can't move today.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant will be starting their the tour in support of their Raising Sands album together with a performance at The Louisville Palace. This presents quite a conundrum**. You can't find a more star-filled concert than one involving Krauss and Plant AND they are performing at the incredible Louisville Palace. The dilemma comes from the fact that I think their critically-acclaimed CD is really bad. In fact, I'm beginning to think that I don't like Krauss in anything other than straight blugrass. They will apparently be playing songs from throughout their careers, so that's a plus. But I just don't think I want to go. I will hate every minute that I am not there.

In other concert news, Ben Folds is coming to Purdue. Another poor choice, but I'm sure the freshman will like him.

In other concerts news, Dierks Bentley is coming to Purdue. As he was one of my favorites from last year, I'm pretty happy about that. I hope I get some good tickets. He is wild on stage

**Coincidently, one of my favorite movie exchanges is from Cold Mountain (theme song -You Are My Ain True Love by Alison Krauss) when Boise and Inman are about to shoot each other (sorry if you haven't seen the movie, but you've had four years) and Boise uses the word conundrum in their exchange.

Inman: I hope so. Look, how old are you? Give me your gun and ride home, I'm done fighting. I'm sick of it.
Bosie: I give you my gun and you'll shoot me dead.
Inman: I will not shoot you, but nor am I walking down that mountain looking over my shoulder for you.
Bosie: That's what you call a conundrum. I tell you what I've got on my side.
Inman: What have you got on your side?
Bosie: The confidence of youth.

Song Recommendation - Let It Ride by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

(Soon to just be The Cardinals)

Gun-Toting IRS Agents

Radiohead played a free show tonight in London. That's pretty cool. A free Radiohead show. What could make it cooler? The fact that they announced yesterday that they were having a free show that night. I don't care who you are, you gotta think that's cool. Truthfully, I've never been that much of a Radiohead. I own a couple of their albums (including In Rainbows....paid $11.50 for it when it was pay-as-much-as-you-want on their website) but for me it's just good background music. Nothing I get excited to listen to (see MMJ post below). BUT. Announcing a free show the same day of the show. That is cool. That's what music should be about. Doing whatever you want, however you want, and having fun doing it.

So, I was reading ABC News Mobile on the Treo yesterday and found a couple of interesting things. One article was reporting that they (Cop? someone? The interns on CSI?) found the body of an IRS agent that had been missing since December. Apparently, the lady committed suicide and they recovered the IRS-issue gun with the body. Look, I’m sorry that this lady committed suicide, but wait a minute. The IRS-issues guns? What is that all about? Do they have mice in the facilities and prefer high velocity projectiles to mouse traps? It’s not like an auditor is gonna be hot on the trail of a case and decide that they need to take a gangster down. That may have been the case with Al Capone 75 years ago, but that was a different time and place.

The second article was in regards to Tom Cruise: The Unauthorized Biography. So, the story is that Tom Cruise’s baby (Suri) isn’t actually his biological baby. But it (I don’t know if Suri is a boy or girl name) is in fact the baby of L. Ron Hubbard (inventor of Scientology) and Katie Holmes. Well, L. Ron died in 1986, so the little bundle of joy was apparently created in a test tube. I have no idea if this rumor is true or not. I do know that if it is, Tom Cruise is even more psycho than previously suspected. If it isn’t true it is still a hilarious rumor to start because it makes Tom Cruise seem even more psycho than previously suspected.

I went to the business etiquette dinner (definitely a Gourmet, not a Gourman) last night hosted by Krannert. It was the second time I’ve been because well, it is a free meal and the presenter is pretty entertaining. Anyway. I learned all these archaic rules about how I am supposed to dine. Which makes me wonder. Who made these rules anyway? Why is it that the proper way to eat is the way the King of England ate in the mid-19th century? What makes his style so “right” or proper. Why are we supposed to eat that way? I mean, shouldn’t they (the proverbial they of course) eat like the rest of population.

Song Recommendation - Karma Police by Radiohead
(I don't care what I said earlier, this song is AWESOME)

MMJ would have rocked Woodstock

Well sports fans, the site of Woodstock (well kinda...the actual site of the festival was purchased in 1996, but maybe some cars parked in what you're buying) is now for sale, and you too can own a piece of music history. All you need is $8 million. If that is a bit out of your price range, you can just have 8 million of your friends each pay $1. $8 million that way is the same as $8 million any other way. Mr. Yasgur sure was making a bold claim when he said "this is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place." Now let’s see. An estimated 400,000 (dirty) people attended the festival. I mean, there were over 500,000 in Normandy on D-Day. Battle of Somme, France had over 3,000,000 participants. War sure knows how to assemble large groups of people in one place. Now, if Mr. Yasgur would have said "this is the largest group of people ever to assemble on my farm", I wouldn't have been sure but I would have believed that. To put things into perspective. Birth of Nick Haywood. Probably at least 8 participants.

I've got a lot of free time on my hands these days, so I've been watching a good about of movies. Just finished North by Northwest. That Alfred Hitchcock guy sure can make a fine film. The lead actor is some guy named Cary Grant (I don't think he ever made it big) and he makes quite a team with Hitchcock. Don't be scared that it was made in 1959. You should watch it. It's better than almost any movie that came out recently (how's that for being ambiguous).

Sad day for the Colts. I sure didn't expect the season to end so soon. No use blaming anyone, we just didn't get the job done. Dungy is probably leaving. DMassey and I wore our Colts gear today to support the boys. David said it best (like he always does), "It's easy to be a Colts fan Sunday morning, but the true fans are still around today."

Song Recommendation - One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket

I still remember this vividly. Sophomore year at Purdue, I was watching Conan and he mentioned that the band was from Louisville, Ky. I thought that that was cool, so I look up just in time to see these weird looking dudes starting playing what turned out to be the most amazing tune ever. A tune that when played with such enthusiasm burns in your soul and can't help but make you happy (you can tell that even Conan was surprised and impressed). So, then I downloaded the rest of the songs off the album off the internet (so sue me....oh wait, the RIAA will) and then the next day I went and bought the album (It Still Moves). That was the night my musical journey began. (Tear)

I really didn't just cry. I'm too manly for that. But since I explained that you probably think I did, but you see, I didn't. Or you don't know what I am talking about since you think the last word I put was what you do when you have 1 thing and you want 2. But that's not what that word was.

Kuwait can't get enough of My Morning Jacket

Anybody want some My Morning Jacket news? Well you're going to get it anyway. It's from a variety of sources. The tidbits from Reuters are actually from an article that was picked up by the Kuwait edition of the Arab Times Online. Apparently, the Kuwaitis are big fans of independent music. (I doubt that last statement is true.)

• Word on the street is that MMJ's newest record is going to be gospel/Sam Cooke-inspired. How's that for awesome? I don't really know what gospel-inspired means, but I do know that MMJ is going to pull it off quite well. (Rolling Stone issue 1041)
• MMJ just finished recording its next studio album in New York with frontman Jim James and Joe Chiccarelli (the White Stripes, the Shins) co-producing. The band hopes for a June release, then will tour in the United States, as well as the United Kingdom and Europe. (Reuters)
• The band will perform at this year's South by Southwest event in Austin for the first time since 2002, and James will do an acoustic show in addition to the full-band set. Other U.S. dates are being booked. (Reuters)

The only part that scares me is that I don't like the White Stripes at all. Hopefully none of that flavor will get introduced on the album.

Also, according to Google Analytics 75% of all visitors that stop by the site stay between 0-10 seconds. Geez, you people can sure read fast. Amazing. Simply amazing. Reading a whole post in less than 10 seconds. Incredible.

Song Recommendation - The Weight by The Band

By the way, how awesome would it be if you were so famous you could just go by the title of your profession. What if instead of Jacob Blair, we called him The Teacher. Or instead of Katie Haywood, it was The Nursing Student. Or instead of George Bush it was The President. What a minute........

Mr. Blair I think you're cool. Even if your students don't.

What's with Blair (link on the right) posting to his blog everyday. That means I've got to post everyday. And sometimes I don't have good stuff to post about. Then I have to make up stuff. Luckily, I already had this one prepared.

Check out this interesting article that appeared on WSJ.com about journalism in the US since 1940. It is not only interesting, but informative too!!!

While reading The Jungle, I noticed things in there that seem so ridiculous today. Someone would get sick, and they would send them to the saloon (which is interesting in that, today "saloons" are more upscale than bars....I would say...but these super-poor immigrants all went to saloons) to drink some whiskey. So, in 50 years you'll be showing your grandkids what a TV was used for and they'll be amazed. And then they''ll be like, "You used WHAT to cure cancer? That's so dumb. People sure weren't very smart in 2008, Gramps. Everyone knows that doesn't really cure cancer. Hehe. You're funny." And you'll be like, "I know kids. We were dumb. But at least I had a really happy life and I was really successful business and now I'm really rich. If you don't shut up, I'm going to write you out of my will." That will show them. But then in 2058 we're not going to use money....or cars....or plates....or music. We're going to be living in a world with no land (because the polar ice caps melted) and the only way to find dry land will be with a tattoo on the back of a mysterious girl. And we'll be chased by pirates around the globe. Or, maybe that was the plot to Waterworld.

Song Recommendation - See These Bones by Nada Surf (weird, I know...but it's good)

Song With Dirty Talk About Nipples

Someone Google searched the words "song with dirty talk about nipples" and was directed to my website. If that is not the most hilarious thing you've heard today, then you've either had a really funny day or have no sense of humor. Incidently, I searched for that myself to see if I could find my way to the site. Based on the results, I probably shouldn't have done that in the Krannert Computing Center.

Check out this hilarious video about Steve Jobs and this little girl who wrote him a letter. In all fairness to Apple, the little girl is dumb. They already make a program that allows you to show lyrics on your Ipod. Everyone knows that.

I was checking out some rumors about who was and was not going to be at Bonnaroo this year, and heard some really depressing stuff. Apparently, at the recent Arcade Fire shows they have been telling the crowd that this is the last time they will be playing in America for the next couple of years. I mean, come on, they're from Canada. It's not like there are any big cities in Canada.

School started. I found out that I'm going to get credit for the Chile/Argentina study abroad trip. That means I'm going to be finished with school in March. I also started working part-time for Humana. Same stuff I was doing last summer. Trying to save some money for my trip this summer.

Song Recommendation - Ain't No Time by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

A Mustache For Charity

Since the beginning of December I've been living the life of a character (?) on To Catch A Predator. In my book, that means growing a mustache. To make it better, I've been growing it for charity and in competition with various other students at Krannert. The award ceremony is tomorrow and I BETTER win an award.

You can check out the photos here.

Song Recommendation - Dashboard by Modest Mouse

Potluck

The Death Cab For Cutie website has announced (with a video) that the band finished up work on a new album set to be released in May 2008. Glad to know the band finished the album, and is now going to sit on it for 5 months. I mean, come on, you're killing me here. I mean we know that it's probably going to rock and that it definitely will have the best lyrics of any album of 2008. Give it to us already.

Speaking of working on an album, My Morning Jacket is working on an album in Upstate New York. Speaking of New York, I saw that some had checked my website from New York, and I was pretty positive it was one of the MMJ guys...alas, they were from NYC...I bet the guys went to a library in NYC to check it, to throw me off their tracks. Anyway, my point. Here's what Jim James had to say about the album in an interview with My Old Kentucky Blog.

"We are currently working on a new record. It will feature songs and probably some album artwork. We are very excited about this concept - which will hopefully change the industry forever."

Wow, MMJ coming strong again. Changing industries. These guys are men of vision (I want to say visionaries, but didn't want to look up the proper spelling. Plural with a Y is always tricky. Of course, all this typing when I could have just looked it up.)

Marvin Harrison of the Indianapolis Colts has been practicing and will be back for the Divisional Playoff Game. Harrison has been out since Week 4 (maybe?) with what was said to be a bruised knee. That must have been the worst bruised knee ever absorbed by the human body. It had to have been more than that. 3 months for a bruised knee. No way. I'm speculating that he tore something. He is the guy who broke his wrist a few years ago (2004.....maybe) and was able to get by with telling everyone it was a bruised wrist until after it had healed.

Heard a story on NPR about how Egypt was having a problem with building collapses because shoddy work is being done with poor materials. Seems to me that they should go back to the pyramid shape for the building. Those have been standing tall for the last, oh...about, 4500 years.

I wonder how many people made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight/eat healthier and then went to Steak N Shake or IHOP after a night of partying. Now that’s how you start things off right. I know, I know. You're starting tomorrow. I've got to be honest with my readers. This Google Analytics stuff that I previously wrote about is messing with my head. It is just way too cool. Shout out to the one reader who visited one time from South Korea. Also, shout out to the person who found this site after Google searching Adam Tarr. Big brother is watching.

Anyone notice Barack Obama getting his Martin Luther King on during his speech following the Iowa caucus. Definitely entertaining, but riddle me this. What is he going to say if he actually wins.

Song Recommendation - Girls In Their Summer Clothes by Bruce Springsteen

Best Album of 2007

Paste Magazine recently released their Top 100 Albums of 2007. Of the albums on the list, the ones I purchased (yes, purchased, since I don't like to download music) were:

1. The National - Boxer
2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
3. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
8. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
10. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
11. Radiohead - In Rainbows
12. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
16. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
24. Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
29. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
32. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

An editorial (Issue 38, page 14) that appeared in the magazine (but I couldn't find online) by Paste Editor, Josh Jackson, made the point that music is personal and everyone responds to different albums different ways. As an example, the reviewer who reviewed Boxer when it was released gave it 3 stars (of 5). 6 months later it is the album of the year. Interesting. He also made the point that there is battle royal between the staffers to make sure their favorite album is at the top of the list. All this is being said so that I have justification to rank my top 10 albums of the year. And because I get confused about what albums are released in what year, I'm going to re-rank the above albums.

1. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
2. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. JJ Grey & Mofro - Country Ghetto
5. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - This Is Somewhere
6. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
7. John Butler Trio - Grand National
8. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
9. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
10. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

I had to go to a listen off between Modest Mouse and Bruce Springsteen, but that's the way it turned out. Dashboard and Fire It Up were just to catchy to be ignored. I'm fairly confident about the order of my top-5 but after that I'm not so confident in the order. But it's my list, so whatever. As you can see, I also remembered a few of my other favorites. How were Grace Potter, JBT, and JJ Grey not on the list?

Song Recommendation - Sweet Illusions by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals