Month: November 2009

Gaaaa

Let me know if you find anything buggy on the site – I only just now noticed that Comments were turned off on the previous post. And we’ve had some server outages lately as well, so sorry about that.

In other news – I saw Big Star!

Best of 2009: A Mix Disc via YouTube

I’ve been making mix CDs of my favorite songs from 2009 for some people lately, and I’ve come to realize that nearly all of the songs are available on YouTube in some shape or form. I should note that while most of these are songs that debuted in 2009, some of them are simply songs I discovered for myself in 2009. So here is my personal chart of Top 15 tunes from 2009:

1. All I Know is Tonight – Jaga Jazzist

2. This Is for the Better Days – (Band of) Bees

3. Marrow – St. Vincent

4. Cannibal Resource – Dirty Projectors

5. Shake Me Like a Monkey – Dave Matthews Band

6. Love Letter to Japan – The Bird and the Bee

7. Microburst Alert – OSI

8. Carry Me Ohio – Sun Kil Moon

9. Ooh You Hurt Me So – Clare and the Reasons

10. Down the Drain – Chickenfoot

11. The St. Valentines Day Massacre – Starling Electric

12. Stadsvandringar – Dungen

13. Hallmark – Mike Keneally

14. A Crimson Grail – Rhys Chatham (featuring me and 199 other guitarists at Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Festival)

15. What to Do – OK Go (on handbells)

And as a bonus, an awesome video of Robert Plant jamming with friends on “Calling to You” featuring my friend Tom on keys.

Noticing Things

I know I’m not a New Yorker yet because I still notice things that no one else seems to.

  • I’ve found USB flash drives on two separate occasions. The first one was a few months ago. I found an email address inside one of the documents, and sent a message, but never got a reply. The second one I found yesterday. I Googled the owner’s name and connected with her on Facebook[1]. I got it back to her last night.
  • Leaving the office a few weeks ago, I saw a large Post-It note attached to the bottom of a lady’s purse. I walked along with the hastily moving crowd of folks, figuring someone would mention it to her. No one did, so I had to. She was relieved; the note contained important info she would likely have lost had I not intervened.
  • Also a few weeks ago I found a debit card at the E train turnstile. I thought about announcing to the riders that Mr. Lopez had left behind a personal item at the turnstile, but wasn’t sure if that was the best course of action, so I just called the number on the back to tell them it had been found. It had already been reported lost.

1.) Something that would have been impossible just a few years ago.