Archive for December, 2008
December 29, 2008 at 1:06 am
I can’t say this was the best year for new music, especially since some new albums were pushed into 2009. But I did get a chance to listen to a bunch of new albums in the last month or two of the year, and thought I’d put together a list of my favorite new music from 2008.
Mind you … some of these albums are not new. But they were new to me in 2008, so they deserve a shot at being listed.
1. Viva La Vida, by Coldplay
I was a bit leery before this album came out. The previous release had some great songs, but the album was not better than the sum of its parts. I was glad to see they were working with Brian Eno on Viva La Vida, and wasn’t disappointed with the results. I just listened to this one again over the weekend, and it’s as good as I recall. And Prospekt’s March, the new EP, is also pretty good.
2. Day and Age, by The Killers
This is one of the CDs I just got for Christmas, and the one I’ve been listening to the most. It’s a great bounce-back after Sam’s Town, which was good enough … but nothing special. I’ve listened to Day and Age 5-6 times now, and each time a new song jumps out at me. This is the album I want to listen to each day when I first fire up iTunes.
3. The Great Big Sea, by Beat Radio
I don’t even know how to describe this album or band. The vibe I get from them is a group of guys playing together in a garage, or maybe in a small club with 30 people watching. It’s small music, and I mean that in the best way. Some of the songs are kinda strange. Quirky, even, in a good way. It’s very unique pop music. I hate to compare, but I suppose these guys are in the same neighborhood as Death Cab For Cutie. “Ancient as the Stars” is one of my favorites; I have three different versions of it — demo, regular, and alternate. You can download a bunch of their songs for free, even.
4. Poison Kiss, by The Last Goodnight
You probably remember the song “Pictures Of You,” which was used in a commercial for … HP printers, I think. (?) Very catchy pop tune, and the whole album is pretty much like that. Some of the tracks are on the sappy side, but I like “This Is The Sound” and “Stay Beautiful” a lot.
5. Streets Of New York, by Willie Nile
Really couldn’t decide what should go at No. 5 here, but this album kinda stayed with me for most of the year. I don’t know much about Willie Nile, but he’s a pretty clever songwriter and these are catchy pop tunes. (Much like the last two albums I’ve listed.) “Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead)” is a typical song title.
Honorable Mentions
- A Hundred Million Suns, by Snow Patrol — Got this one right when it came out, but it’s never been a must-listen. I don’t think it’s as strong as their previous album.
- David Cook, by David Cook — Don’t laugh, this is pretty darn good. Sean got it for Christmas, and I’ve been listening to it, too. If it wasn’t so new, this one might end up at No. 5 above.
- Eleven Songs, by Luka Bloom — Another one that I haven’t owned long enough, but Luka’s albums are always good. “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Light That Shines Within You” is the standout song for me.
What were some of your favorite albums that discovered in 2008?
December 27, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Hope you all had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever you celebrate at this time of year. 
We had a quiet Christmas with just the four of us around. And I even got to skip snow shoveling for a day – huzzah! Meanwhile, we somehow soared to 45 degrees today, after two straight weeks of not getting out of the 20s. Sparky had his first walk in forever this afternoon. Meanwhile, blog posts for the week are below….
Small Business Search Marketing
Hyperlocal Blogger
Pasco Real Estate Blog
Richland Real Estate Blog
Kennewick Real Estate Blog
West Richland Real Estate Blog
I hate snow, but it sure did provide the spark for a lot of local blogging….
December 26, 2008 at 2:25 pm
In tough times like this, it seems some of our fellow Tri-Citians have found a novel way of making a few extra bucks: by turning in criminals.
So far this year, Crime Stoppers has paid out $3,800 in rewards to 20 people, with $1,400 given just in October and November, said Mike Blatman, the law enforcement coordinator for Crime Stoppers.
“It kind of fluctuates, but it is up,” Blatman said. “It’s largely because of the economy and the holidays.” …
This year, reward money paid is about $1,200 above the average of $2,667 a year, Blatman said.
Depending on your outlook, that’s either really creative or really desperate. Or maybe a little bit of both.
Full story at the Herald web site.
December 25, 2008 at 2:12 pm
… to shop for yourself!
Actually, it wasn’t supposed to be that way, but I ended up buying myself a kinda-sorta Christmas present on Christmas Eve at Circuit City:
It’s like this: Sean’s computer monitor died a few days ago. So he’s been without a computer. My laptop died on Tuesday, and after spending a couple hours on the phone with Apple Tech Support, the decision was that I needed to get a new hard drive.
So, on Christmas Eve I went to Circuit City to get myself a new hard drive. Sean asked me to look for a monitor for him, and if I found one that he could afford (he has some money saved up), to buy it and then he’d pay me back.
Well, the hard drive was easy to find. But there were no monitors left in his price range. There was, however, this gorgeous, Samsung, 22-inch LCD monitor for $209. So I decided to get it … and if Sean wanted it, he could pay for half and the rest would count as a Christmas gift from mom and dad. Or, option 2 was that I would keep this monitor and give Sean my Sony 19-inch monitor.
He chose option 2. So, while I went out with the plan to shop for him, I ended up getting myself a sweet, new Christmas present!
Merry Christmas to you! I hope Santa brought you lots of goodies, and please also remember the reason for the season. Count your blessings.
December 22, 2008 at 2:21 pm
From the New York Times in 1999:
Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers.
I think the problem actually goes back to the ’80s and the Reagan Administration, but have never seen any old articles referencing that.
December 20, 2008 at 9:33 pm
What a completely lame week of blogging this past week was. Too busy with client work … too busy dealing with snow and super-cold temperatures all week … too busy with birthday and holiday stuff. How’s a guy supposed to keep a half-zillion blogs up-to-date with all that going on? 
Richland Real Estate Blog
West Richland Real Estate Blog
Small Business Search Marketing
See? Told you it was the lamest week of blogging ever….
December 17, 2008 at 10:35 pm
One of the Tri-Cities is Kennewick.
Kennewick is an Indian word thought to translate roughly to “land of mild winter.”
For the past week, the Tri-Cities has been more like Antarctica. We hit -6 last night. We haven’t been above 25 degrees since last week. And the bitter cold is supposed to last another 4-5 days.
Luckily for me, I have official Google Lip Balm to get me through the cold!
And get this: It’s vanilla-flavored! Yummm!
Best of all, if it’s cold where you are now, too, you can buy some of this stuff, too.
December 15, 2008 at 10:41 am
TIME magazine (correctly) lists Wall-E as the best movie of 2008. Awesome! Says Richard Corliss:
A dirt-of-the-earth guy hooking up with the ultimate ethereal gal, WALL-E and EVE could be the 29th century version of Tracy and Hepburn, or Seth Rogen and any attractive woman. It hardly matters that the movie is not-quite-silent, when it blends art and heart as spectacularly as WALL-E does.
I’m telling ya … Wall-E for Best Picture at the Oscars!
December 14, 2008 at 12:24 am
While the rest of us have to wait another ten days, Sparky got his Christmas present tonight: Dog Bed 2.0. (Only $20 at Costco!)
The little pad he’d been sleeping on was a) pretty darn dirty, 2) getting too small, and 3) pretty pathetic in terms of padding. He absolutely loves this one, and has been on it almost non-stop since we gave it to him. That’s good – less time in my office, crawling around the computer cables, etc.
December 14, 2008 at 12:03 am
It’s snowing at the moment. Been snowing lightly for a few hours now. I think we have a inch or two on the ground. Sparky went outside in the snow — his first time ever — an hour ago. He was scared at first, then curious, then loving it! Me? I’m not much of a snow fan. I’m ready to relocate to San Diego. (Not likely to happen.)
Here are the week’s blog posts……
Small Business Search Marketing
Hyperlocal Blogger
Richland Real Estate Blog
Pasco Real Estate Blog
U2Diary.com
@U2 Blog
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