The Puget News

The original “Yes We Can” speech…

I’m looking forward to a president than can speak and inspire unity with something other than fear. Aren’t you?

OK. Weird title. One of those gifts that keeps on giving. Probably not the best reference when you’re speaking about an infectious disease but perfectly acceptable when you’re speaking about an original music group with infectious grooves. Beware of a sudden impulse to twitch rythmically.

There are some people who believe what you put out to the world comes back to you, that whole karmic cycle thing. Honestly, one of the nicest things about having a blog is that I can talk about things I enjoy and occasionally get valuable interactions back from people I’ve never met before. Such is the case with the amazing international music sensation, Dengue Fever.

Hey Dengue, if any of you see this, your PR company is earning their money! One of my brief mentions of the new album on Faves.com and a cross-post over here on my blog earned me a nice response from the PR firm handling the band. They gave me the following free mp3 music track to share with all of you (and a little hint that a Seattle show may be forthcoming soon - wink, wink, nudge, nudge):

MP3: Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth, “Sober Driver”

Download from Amazon for only $7.99!

Let me know what you think of that track in the comments. Download it. Share the wonders of Dengue Fever with your friends! Wait, that just sounds weird…

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Tom Waits. The voice. The performer. One of the only people on the planet I will pay hundreds of dollars to see play and KNOW that it’s money well spent.

Well, the good news is that Harper Collins has just published The Early Years: The Lyrics of Tom Waits 1971-1983, a collection of the first 10 years worth of his lyrics. While you can easily look up any lyrics of Tom’s that you like online, having them all put in a nice little book that you can flip through - jumping between road songs, songs of grief, loss, chocolate confections, old cars, cologne, deals with devil, late nights, drinking, and dancing; why, that’s just too much to pass up now isn’t it?

Ol’ 55
Now the sun’s coming up, I’m riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks,

Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade

Just a-wishing I’d stayed a little longer,

Oh, Lord, let me tell you that the feeling’s getting stronger.

Click the little widget below to view pages from inside the book. It will be fun. I promise.

The new Iron and Wine video for “Boy with a Coin” is outstanding, featuring Sam Beam playing guitar to a class of flamenco dancers:

The winners for 2007 have been announced. Do you think Oprah was in cahoots with the jurors? Her newest selection just won the prize for fiction…

An award winning article regarding the physics of violin acoustics and the mysteries of the “Stradivarius sound.” A very compelling read that makes me want to learn to play violin - showing it as a complex and sensual instrument while breaking some of the mystical taboos associated with the greatest instruments.

Every violin, whether a Stradivarius or the cheapest factory-made copy, has a distinctive “voice” of its own. Just as any musician can immediately recognize the difference between Domingo and Pavarotti singing the same operatic aria, so a skilled violinist can distinguish between different qualities in the sound produced by individual Stradivari or Guarneri violins. The challenge for scientists is to characterize such differences by physical measurements. Indeed, over the last century and a half, many famous physicists have been intrigued by the workings of the violin, with Helmholtz, Savart and Raman all making vital contributions.

Article originally discovered via this post over at Signal vs. Noise.

My intent in this post is not to bring things down and I promise to return to our normally scheduled programming shortly. Several days ago was the 3-year anniversary of my father’s pre-mature passing. Those who know me know that this was a huge and horrible moment in my life. He was a bright, talented, funny, and honorable 50-year old man. I expected to have many more years to spend with him.

I remember living in the country when our TV was a house decoration with few fuzzy remote channels. As a result, we listened to a lot of music. I remember spending nights in front of the record player with Neil Young, CSNY, Leo Kottke, Jimi, and early Stevie Ray. Most of all, I remember my dad’s searing renditions of “Needle and the Damage Done” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” His voice was beautiful, powerful, and darkly soulful, which is probably the main reason he sang “Danny Boy” at the funerals of so many friends and acquaintances.

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How’d you like to go to a concert of a great band and have them block the way out to play you one more?