This Day in Music

What was No.1 on the day you were born?

Unfortunately, this little site can only access the pop charts that started in 1952 for the UK and 1955 for the US. I guess there wasn't any pop music when I was born in 1950, so I checked our wedding date - August 19, 1972 - and got School's Out by Alice Cooper in the UK and Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan. What a pair o' tunes.

Makin' (Mad) Money

I've recently been setting my DVR to a new show (since March) on CNBC - Jim Cramer's Mad Money. Since the market bubble burst 5 years ago, like many others, I've been watching less of CNBC than I did when everything was going up every day. In that timeframe, the network didn't help itself much, with what seemed like the boring advice of Suze Orman every day all day.

Well, with Cramer (formerly of the excellent Kudlow and Cramer) and Mad Money, they've got a high energy practical stock picking, commiserating, shouting, and sound effect show. Apparently it's acquired quite a following, including a fan's blog and a bunch of after hours traders that seem to jump on Cramer's picks immediately, if you watch the trade crawl on the bottom of the screen. If you're at all into stock-picking, check it out.

Wake n' Bacon

A multi-sensory alarm clock, which looks like fun, although, with my almost clockwork-like 6-hour sleep cycle, I'm an early riser without it, especially when I go to bed at 10 rather than midnight, as I've been doing recently. (via Boing Boing)

The Brothers Grimm by Terry Gilliam

There I was watching the coming attractions before Batman Begins this morning (excellent, by the way), and up comes a preview for The Brothers Grimm (2005), directed by Terry Gilliam. How did I not know about that one?

Probably because, for some reason, its preview is not included in Apple's list of trailers, one of my favorite haunts. (Found the preview here.

Gilliam's one of my favorite auteurs, particularly for Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

This grim Grimm fits Gilliam. (This sure ain't looking like a Disney fairy tale.)

By the way, another preview this morning was for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -- a Willy Wonka remake by Tim Burton that looks like it will further justify my appreciation for Johnny Depp as a best film actor of our time. Whatta range!

More About My Home State

There is so much more to the culture of this most densely populated state in the union than a few blue collar rock heroes, diners, and numbered exits on the turnpike.

From WFMU's Blog.

The Daily Show and the Michael Jackson Verdict

Another example (with video) of the best show on the tube.

Movie Demographics

With Lois working in retail, meaning being left on my own on weekends more often, I've been hitting the multi-plex this year on a semi-regular basis. I tend to go to the earliest show on Sunday mornings to avoid the crowds. And I tend to save my $6.50/movie for those special effects offerings that take advantage of the sound systems and big screens. Up until last weekend, my viewing this season consisted of titles (listed with my rankings) aimed at the man-child I am...

Sin City (A+)
Kung Fu Hustle (B+)
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (B)
Kingdom of Heaven (A-)
Star Wars/Sith (B)

...but sometimes an "adult" movie will call to me as well. Last weekend it was Cinderella Man (A+). Howard and Crowe, together again with some fine work. Paul Giammati and Renee Zellwegger fine in it as well. Big Oscar contender all around.

One thing I did notice at the Cinderella Man showing (1:00PM on Saturday instead of my normal church-going hour show) was that I was a lot closer to the average age of attendee, if not below average. Given the usual films that I see in theatres, it's been quite a while since I've seen so much gray hair (to go along with mine) and so many canes and wheelchairs at the movies. A fair number of my fellow viewers might even have first-hand, childhood memories of Champion Jim Braddock in the 1930s.

I expect a shift back to my usual demographics for the next few movies I'm looking forward to...War of the Worlds, Batman Begins, and Fantastic Four. Definitely less gray hair.

Something Common

What do the light bulb, the solid body electric guitar, the seaplane, phonograph records, Abbott and Costello, drive-in movies, college football, and pork roll have in common?

Find out here.

My New iPod Playlist System

At about the time of my April 30 post about my music habits, I started fiddling with my iPod listening habit. I like what I've done.

I used to live on a "Been Awhile" playlist...everything 3 stars or better (universe of about 3300 non-classical, non-holiday, non-comedy tunes) not listened to in the last 7 months. It seemed to settle in at about 200-400 songs at any one time. But I wanted to hear my favorites and some of my classical more often, so the following arcane system, developed once I realized that there was the ability to include playlists in playlists, allowing you to mix and logic with or logic. Somehow I've missed that until recently.

Here it is...

One playlist of my 3-stars not played in the last 6 months. (currently about 220 out of 2100)

One playlist of my 4-stars not played in the last 2 months. (330 out of 900)

One playlist of my 5-stars not played in the last 1 month. (100 out of 164)

One playlist of my 4- and 5-star classicals not played in the last 3 months. (a lot of mozart chamber music, baroque, and philip glass and steve reich, both of whom I have to skip past if my better half is in the car while playing) (64 of 330...I'm about to add more to the 4-star universe in this category.)

One playlist of tunes added in the last 3 months not played in the last 2 weeks if listened to less than 4 times. (that's the arcane part, or just the weird engineering mind of mine expressing itself) (25 of 50 -- usually dip into itms once a month for 10-15 new tunes)

One playlist of PDQ Bach not listened to in the last 2 months. (yeah, I know. more weird.) (12 of 98)

And one playlist to rule them all, set to shuffle.

After a couple months of this, there's about 700 songs in the list, giving me a higher rotation of my faves, and giving the new ones a chance of exposure as well. The classical and PDQ Bachs are a bit depleted because I have the master playlist sorted by last listened - oldest first - so new sessions have been starting with those neglected categories.

And every once in a while, I'll clean out the "It's been over a year" playlist.

(oh, yeah...I do often upgrade and downgrade tunes while playing. you do know that if you click the center button twice while playing, you can add or deduct stars from your rankings.)

(and oh, yeah...if this kind of setup intrigues you and you have more or less of a collection than mine, you might want to lengthen or shorten the "not played in the last" timeframes.)

That's probably way more about me than you wanted to know.

But that's what blogs are for, eh?

Tags: ipod, playlist