The Sentinel

This is a nice action flick that falls in to the category of "action-packed thriller with high-tech gizmos in the hands of super cops (Secret Service agents actually) who predictably catch their perps combined with an inappropriate romantic liaison and way too much camera movement" (Dramamine anyone?). Seems like that would be a narrow genre but is it really?

In other words, this is a good way to pass 2 hours on a weekend but ultimately forgettable. In a month, I won't remember the title.

New Neil Young album

Available at Neil's site via streaming today for the first time.

Track 1: "After the Garden"
Nice descending guitar riff after the verses. The reference to "Woodstock" is relevant and a good image to show living on the laurels of the hippie generation won't sustain a paradise.

Track 2: "Living with War"
Neil sings with the 100-member chorus. Nice brass. The melody is a little simplistic.

Track 3: "The Restless Consumer"
Nice driving song. Just because it's a predictable rant against modern consumer culture doesn't mean it's an ineffective song.

Track 4: "Shock and Awe"
Neil's site crashed.

Guilty pleasure

I love David Spade's weekly show on E. He's still funny after all these years.
Trying to find a link though, I could not find one on the E network site. Maybe it's already canceled. Figures.

Blogs for everyone!

I guess anyone can blog these days, even Neil Young. I wonder if his new album will be up to its politically charged hype.

Random notes

1. I have more than 2200 songs on my iPod now. Still much more to go. I should have bought the 60G version dammit.
2. I saw "Heart of Gold" for the second time. Great film. I love the way Emmylou Harris accompanies Neil on the new song "This Old Guitar", an ode to the Hank Williams acoustic Neil bought decades ago. Also, the solo version of "The Old Laughing Lady" that accompanies the closing credits is riveting. Can you say "restraint"? The whole thing is just one camera shot.
3. My favorite XM stations so far: 40--Deep Tracks and 44--Fred.
4. The Summer of Bob starts May 6, which also happens to be Kentucky Derby day.

Lack of practice makes imperfect

Two brief posts on Andrew Sullivan's blog, here and here, made me realize Republicans, after years out of power, learned how to get elected but not how to govern. Are they simply out of practice? One corollary: this also explains their vehement opposition to campaign finance reform.

Musical epiphany

I was enjoying one of my new gadgets, XM Satellite Radio, in the car when they played "Borrowed Tune" by Neil Young. Then they played "Lady Jane" by the Stones. Blew me away! Listen to them back to back and pay attention to the melodies and Neil's lyrics.

Lottery

To prepare for winning the $220 million Powerball prize tomorrow, I called the lottery folks to ask if I could switch residences to a non-income tax state to avoid the 6% Kentucky income tax. After all, that's over $13 million at stake and if I am going to be rich, I want to be stinking rich. The nice woman tried to help me but had obviously never fielded this unusual question. She finally deferred by recommending that I "axe an attorney". Strange, that she would prescribe the old "kill all the lawyers" advice to me.

I'm a runner-up

I won $30 for 2nd place in my office NCAA pool. Out of 30 contestants, that's not too bad. I'm going to give the money to my favorite charity. Not the Human Fund, me!

Katie's leaving

Katie Couric is leaving the Today show to anchor the CBS news. Good for her; she seems like a good egg.

I am a part-time viewer of the first hour now and then (I usually surf), but if NBC puts Ann Curry in her place I will probably never watch the Today show again--she's godawful. If and when I see her first newscast, I count the number of time she says the word "morning" and cringe with each repetitive utterance. One time I think she said it 6 times in the first 30 seconds.

On the chalkboard at my Starbucks...

...today's drink special is (I kid you not):

Iced decaf quad tall blackberry organic no-whipped-cream light ice white mocha.

CNN says Tom Delay will not run for Congress!

Moral to the story: Them that gives, gets. Maybe with luck he'll do jail time.

Crossword from hell

Actually it's from Starbucks and the NY Times. 6 puzzles in 6 Sunday editions and the final answer is due tomorrow. I don't normally do puzzles but this one is complicated, interconnected and maddening. I'm so close--I have 5 of 6 keywords, the magic word decoded and all the puzzles solved but just can't get the last bit I need to solve it. It's been fun but I'm getting frustrated without a breakthrough! See www.starbucks.com/crossword but it's too late to tackle it.