Let's Run

Here is the latest run mix. You can check it out on your Rhapsody account by clicking here.

1. Haven't Found - Pras
2. You Are The One - Shiny Toy Guns
3. Strangelove - Depeche Mode
4. Pictures Of You - The Cure
5. Chewing Gum (Vocal mix) - Annie
6. Love At First Sight - Kylie Minogue
7. D*ckh**d - Kate Nash
8. So Lonely Was The Ballad - Jamie T
9. Writer's Block - Just Jack
10. Block Rockin' Beats - The Chemical Brothers
11. Where You End - Moby
12. The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim
13. Probably A Robbery - Renegade Soundwave
14. Violence - (Hacienda version) - Pet Shop Boys
15. This Charming Man - The Smiths
16. Lost A Friend - James
17. Lemon - U2
18. Open the World - Sam Phillips
19. 6Th Avenue Heartache - The Wallflowers
20. Keys - Golden Smog
21. Simple Twist Of Fate - Jeff Tweedy
22. Annabelle - Gillian Welch
23. Hotter Than Mojave In My Heart - Iris Dement
24. Are We Ever Gonna Have Sex Again? - Amy Rigby
25. Gladys and Lucy - Victoria Williams
26. Where Am I Now - Shelby Lynne

Best of 08 Update

Shiny Toy Guns - You Are the One (We Are Pilots [2006])
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko (We Are Pilots [2006])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

I really enjoyed this album. Sorry I just discovered it in fact. It's good alternative, dance pop. Good stuff. "You Are the One" is the opening song to the album and it's followed by "Le Disko". Watching the first video makes me think of a modern day Human League.

Best of 08 Update

Foals - Olympic Airways (Antidotes [2008])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

I really like this song. The album is pretty good, but not my favorite. To me these guys sound a lot like Modest Mouse and so if you like that sound you might like these guys. If you don't then I'd stay away.

Best of 08 Update

The Jim Jones Revue - Princess & the Frog (The Jim Jones Revue [2008])
allmusic, myspace

This album is like 50's rock meets noise punk or something. The album seems to have been recorded at too high a level, so it's very loud and very noisy. It's a very odd sound and over an entire album it wears one down, but this song is very good. It is the first song on the YouTube clip I've attached.

Let's Run Mix

Click here to checkout this playlist on Rhapsody.


1. Sick Of Myself - Matthew Sweet
2. Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.
3. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab For Cutie
4. Speed Of Sound - Coldplay
5. Music Was Saved - Starsailor
6. These 3 Sins - Gomez
7. Tiny Little Fractures - Snow Patrol
8. Bend and Break - Keane
9. Why Does It Always Rain On Me? - Travis
10. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
11. Hug My Soul - Saint Etienne
12. Been It - The Cardigans
13. Solar Sister - The Posies
14. Gigantic - Pixies
15. Puke And Cry - Dinosaur Jr
16. Ventura Highway - America
17. Cemetery Lawn - The Rosebuds
18. Judy And The Dream Of The Horses - Belle and Sebastian
19. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
20. Laid - James
21. You're So Pretty - We're So Pretty - Charlatans U.K.
22. Lucky Man - The Verve
23. Clocks - Coldplay
24. Over My Head - The Fray
25. Not What It Seems - Something Corporate
26. Suedehead - Morrissey
27. Four Flights Up - Lloyd Cole
28. And Your Bird Can Sing - Matthew Sweet
29. Mary Anne - Marshall Crenshaw
30. A Million Miles Away - The Plimsouls
31. Waiting For The Weekend - The Vapors
32. David Watts - The Jam
33. Rock DJ - Robbie Williams
34. My Love (Single Version) - Justin Timberlake
35. Hot In Herre - Nelly
36. Temptation Eyes - Blake Babies
37. Know Your Onion! - The Shins
38. She's Not There - The Zombies
39. Love Potion No. 9 - The Searchers
40. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
41. Welcome Back (Theme from Welcome Back, Kotter) - John Sebastian
42. Little Honey (from "Thelma & Louise") - Kelly Willis
43. This Will Be - Natalie Cole
44. The Sweetest Taboo - Sade
45. Breakout - Swing Out Sister
46. Good Lovin' - The Rascals
47. Nowhere To Run - Martha and the Vandellas
48. My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder
49. Family Affair (Single Version) - Sly & the Family Stone
50. Runnin' Away (Single Version) - Sly & the Family Stone

Hulu.com

You've got to love the web. We missed the opening episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles the other day and forgot to tape it. Luckily the episode was already posted on hulu.com. I hooked the laptop up to the TV and we kicked back and enjoyed the episode. Check out hulu it's a cool site with free movies and television episodes. It's an NBC Universal and Newscorp company. My only hope is that the in the future the Netflix players like the Roku will also stream things from hulu.com and other such sites.

Let's Run Mix

Click here to checkout this playlist with your Rhapsody account.

1. Slow - Tricky
2. Come To Me - Bjork
3. Little Bit - Lykke Li
4. It's All Good - El Perro Del Mar
5. That You Know - Paula Frazer
6. The Bad Photographer - Saint Etienne
7. The Birds and the Bees - The Real Tuesday Weld
8. Paper Tigers - Yuji Oniki
9. Three days from Now - Ladybug Transistor
10. Destination Girl - Finishing School
11. Dancing In The Dark - Solange Knowles
12. Right Here/Human Nature - (Radio mix) - SWV
13. It's Like That - Mariah Carey
14. Dont Tell Me Its Over - Gym Class Heroes
15. Cupids Chokehold - Gym Class Heroes
16. The Woman With The Tattooed Hands - Atmosphere
17. Jazz (We've Got) - A Tribe Called Quest
18. Gettin Up (Main Version) - Q-Tip
19. Description Of A Fool - A Tribe Called Quest
20. These Days - Glen Campbell
21. All The Things She Said - T.A.T.U.
22. Not Gonna Get Us - T.A.T.U.
23. Human Nature - Michael Jackson
24. Sign Your Name - Terence Trent D'Arby
25. Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart
26. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On - Robert Palmer
27. Sweet Thing - Van Morrison
28. Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
29. Take Your Mama - Scissor Sisters
30. Olympic Airways - Foals
31. Shut Up And Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
32. Golden Skans - Klaxons
33. Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
34. Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
35. Never Say Never - Romeo Void
36. Under Pressure - (with Queen) - David Bowie
37. All The Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
38. Rocks Off - The Rolling Stones
39. Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
40. I'm No Angel - Dido
41. No Difference - Everything But the Girl
42. Smile - Olive
43. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne
44. Cool Scene - The Dandy Warhols
45. Kick In The Teeth - Supergrass
46. Connection - Elastica
47. Guilt - The Long Blondes

Best of 08 Update

Gym Class Heroes - Dont Tell Me Its Over (The Quilt [2008])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

OK this band has one very interesting twist. They will blend older songs into new songs, but instead of sampling the song, they actually live record and pull the component of the song they want into their song. I got introduced to these guys a few years ago with their song Cupid's Chokehold which revolved around the old Supertramp song Breakfast in America. So anyhow I'm listening to their new album which is OK, when I hear the opening to Bruce Springsteen's Something in the Night. This alone was enough for me to pick this song as one of my top songs of the year. This is the only song on the album that was really a stand out for me, but it's a fun use of a great Springsteen hook.

Best of 08 Update

Glen Campbell - These Days (Meet Glen Campbell [2008])
allmusic, band homepage

I grew up a big Glen Campbell fan, loving his Jimmy Webb hits from the late 60's and early 70's. This album goes back to that sound using modern songs. This is similar to the project done a few years ago with Johnny Cash covering modern tunes. I found the album an easy listen, though I wouldn't run out and buy it, well that is except for this song. I really think this may be one of the best songs he's ever made. Of course this isn't that modern a song since it was written by Jackson Browne when he was very young, but this song fits perfectly with this classic Glen Campbell arrangement.




For comparison here is Browne doing the song six years earlier on another AOL Session.

Best of 08 Update

Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl (One of the Boys [2008])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

OK I know this is a big leap from the last update, but this is a good pop song and I'm a sucker for good pop songs. It has a great sound and ridiculously silly lyrics. The album is pretty much a throw away, but this song is a lot of fun.

Best of 08 Update

Trips and Falls - Between Baptism & Burial (He Was Such a Quiet Boy [2008])
myspace

This is the beauty of the subscription services like Rhapsody or Napster. You can discover an obscure band by chance that you like. I really enjoyed this album and especially this song. Sad to say these guys have no presence on the web except for their myspace page, so there are no videos of them that I could find. Check them out though they have a neat sound, one of my favorite albums of the year.

Best of 08 Update

Death Cab for Cutie - Your New Twin Sized Bed (Narrow Stairs [2008])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

OK this song takes us off in a bit of a different direction. I decided to listen to this album because I heard these guys interviewed on Sound Opinions a few weeks back and thought they sounded pretty good. I like the album OK, but this song was a stand out.

Best of 08 Update

Olive - Smile (Trickle [2000])
allmusic

I completely missed this band back in 2000, didn't have anything like Rhapsody or Napster subscription services back then to get exposed to so much different music. I'm seeing a pattern here by the way in the music from this year so far. But whatever this is a good song. The album is fine, but no other song really stood out to me like this song.

Best of 08 Update

Swing Out Sister - Who's Been Sleeping (Filth and Dreams [1999])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

I have to say I had forgotten about this band. I really enjoyed their first big US hit Breakout and the quickly forgot they existed. They are in fact still putting out music, and this song may encourage me to pull out some of their newer stuff and give it a try.

Best of 08 Update

Hooverphonic - Plus Profond (A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular [1997])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

I guess I was still in the late 90's dance mood when I caught this song. I enjoyed this album. Should probably take the time to listen to some of their other stuff, but just haven't. I've embeded here an FMA (Fullmetal Alchemist) video someone has made with this song.

Best of 08 Update

Nubla - Malquerida (Voayeur [2006])
allmusic, band homepage, myspace

I admit that I have no idea what this song is about, but I really like the sound of the song. In fact I like the sound of the album. It feels very late 90's dance club to me. There was a band I got into for a short time in the late 90's (I can't remember their name) that had a very similar sound. Hearing this album it brought me back to that vibe. It has layered off center beats and a dark, erotic feel to the music.

Let's Run Mix

1. Love Like This - Natasha Bedingfield
2. 3 a.m. - Matchbox Twenty
3. Stuck In Here - Filter
4. Just Pretend - Ben Folds
5. Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass (Full Mix) - Ben Watt
6. Baby - Brandy
7. One Wish For Me - Miguel Migs
8. So Far - Miguel Migs
9. House Of Cards - Radiohead
10. A Sort Of Homecoming - U2
11. Listening For The Weather - Bic Runga
12. Wrong Impression - Natalie Imbruglia
13. San Andreas Fault - Natalie Merchant
14. Babylon - David Gray
15. Make It Mine - Jason Mraz
16. Jane - Ben Folds
17. Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
18. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
19. Just What I Needed - The Cars
20. Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers
21. The Modern Age - The Strokes
22. We're The Same - Matthew Sweet
23. Valerie Loves Me - Material Issue
24. Seeing Is Believing - The Three O'Clock
25. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
26. Groovin' (Single/LP Version) - The Rascals
27. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
28. Welcome - Maxwell
29. When Can I See You - Babyface
30. Another Sad Love Song - Toni Braxton

Margaret's Bianchi

Back in 2007 we decided it was time for Margaret to get a new bike. We weren't riding much but her bike had issues. It was one we had bought used at Play it Again Sports for I believe $36. It was a fine bike, Margaret did two triathlons on the bike, but it didn't fit her very well and the shifting had a lot to be desired. Our hope was that if we got her something that fit better and was geared better she would ride more. The big debate was on what kind of bike to get her. This old bike of hers had standard road bars, but was setup like a cyclocross bike with brake levers across the flat part of the bar. She loved this and I can say I never once saw her go down onto the drops. In my mind it seemed then that we should get her a flat bar road bike. I mean we could buy a standard road bike and then add different shifters, but why when I thought we could find her a good flat bar road bike.

There was, however, a problem. I couldn't find a flat bar road bike that was setup like a road bike. Most of the gearing and tire widths I was seeing matched more of a touring bike and this wasn't what I had in mind. Again I went back to the idea of the Surly Pacer and building my own, but decided against it when I remembered the 2005 Bianchi Strada. The beauty of this bike is that it is setup exactly like a road bike, it simply has different shifters and handle bars. After searching around I found a place online that had one her size in stock. They shipped it and I put it together. It is a very pretty bike and though a little heavier than the Brava actually has nicer shifters. It has a suspension seat post which adds some weight but definitely makes for a more comfortable ride. The main thing is Margaret really likes the bike and feels comfortable on it.

My Bianchi

So back in 2005 I was looking for a road bike. At the time I had an old hand me down late 80's Cannondale touring 10 speed. There were some nice things about the bike, like it was free and had fantastic shifters. But there were some bad things as well. It didn't fit me all that well, and it was really geared for touring, so it had a very limited cruising speed. Not that I'm a fast rider, but you want to be able to continue to accelerate when you can, especially on a nice flat road when you can hit a good cruising speed. I remember we were out one day riding when a group came flying past us. I tried to stay with the group, but it was a slight downhill and they were chugging along around 28mph or so. Well on my Cannondale to go that fast I had to be in my highest gear and spinning at 120bpm just to keep up. I noticed that they were all cruising along with a gear or so to spare and keeping a comfortable cadence. I decided right then and there that I was getting a new bike.

I didn't want to spend much, so I was looking at a lot of entry level bikes. After reading a lot of reviews and talking to different folks I decided I wanted to do a steel bike instead of aluminum. The basic idea being that entry level aluminum bikes aren't the most comfortable and can give you a bit of a harsh ride. Where steel is heavier, but has a more comfortable ride. The first bike I looked at seriously was the Surly Pacer. This frame had a lot of great reviews, but it meant I would have to build the bike. Though this interested me, I decided it was a bit too much for me. My next pick then was the Bianchi Brava. I must confess I liked the idea of owning a Bianchi and I loved the color of the Brava in 2005. I contacted the Bianchi dealers around here, but didn't have much luck as none of them had a Brava in stock. They could order the bike for me, but the nearest dealer who would do this was a few hours away. So I started looking online and found a dealer in the Philly area who would sell the bike online. I ordered it up. Happily the bike fit my legs, but it was a bit long for my arms. I ordered a new stem for it and have been happy ever since. It is a very comfortable ride. I feel like I'm riding a big luxury car at times.

The Big Picture

So we had some pictures that we wanted to have enlarged to put up on the wall. Well it dawned on me that with digital photography there should be software out there to help with this, and in fact there is. But what I also found were companies that do this for you. We sent a couple of images off to get enlarged and they look fantastic. You check out colorenlargement.com yourself. They can take a standard 6meg jpeg up to 40"x60", that's incredible.

Here is my favorite of the two we sent off. It was blown up to 36"x18" and just looks incredible.





I think Margaret prefers the barn picture.