Here are the pictures of Ryan and Cassi's wedding from Andrew's camera. To open them (Dad) you have to have the program Zipit (click that link to download it). Once you have Zipit, simply open the file. This will then give you a window with all the pictures in it. Select them all, and select "extract" from the "Zip" menu. Or if you are smooth with your keystrokes, click on one picture, hit Apple-A, then Apple-E. For those of you not on a Mac, you are on your own because I don't have a clue if this programs works for you. Goodluck everyone (really just Dad).

Ryan and Cassi's Wedding pt. One(6.7 MB)

Ryan and Cassi's Wedding pt. Two(67 MB)

End of the year Record list (in no particular order):
The Best:
1. Bright Eyes "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning"
Great record...folk, pop, rock whatever it is. The most "put together" of all the Bright Eyes albums.

2. Bloc Party "Silent Alarms"
The ignored bastard child of Franz Ferdinand and the Cure.

3. Sufjan Stevens "Illinois"
I got the chills the first time I heard "Chicago" on the radio.

4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah"
On my list for not only having a great record, but doing it all by themselves.

5. Broken Social Scene "Broken Social Scene"
Big huge sounding record with great buried vocals and walls of sound.

6. Fiona Apple "Extraordinary Machine"
While I loved the bootleg version of this record I can see why Fiona likes this one better.

7. Beck "Guero"
I can not get the record out of my stereo...Hell Yes...

8. The White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan"
Just 6 months ago I hated this band. Saw them in concert and fell in love. Couldn't believe what I was missing.

9. The Decemberists "Picaresque"
The best of all the Decemberists records if you ask me. Great stories

10. Garbage "Bleed Like Me"
I got this out of band loyalty, but it ended up getting just about as many listens as Guero. Also loved all the b-sides

Most Disappointing:
1. Billy Corgan "The Future Embrace"
Way over produced (just like the last SP album) I realized I only like Billy when his vocals are buried.


Up Next: Why Silverchair is one of the best bands to be virtually ignored by everyone.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

I listen to a lot of public radio. Especially on long car rides. This being Thanksgiving weekend, I heard a lot. Most notably this piece on health and wealth by Stephen Bezruchka. Here is a link to where you can hear the piece in its entirety:

http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/BEZS001.shtml

He makes the point that we are the richest country in the world, yet among rich countries we have the worst health. He goes on the explain that this has nothing to do with the health care system. It doesn't matter that a lot of us don't have insurance; the problem is that we are sick more often whether we have insurance or not.

The problem seems to be that of the poor. People of lower income make more trips to the hospital than do higher income people, regardless of race. This has nothing to do with personal doctors or better insurance benefits. This is trips to the emergency room. Rich or poor if your life is threatened and you need surgery, you will be in the hospital.

It just made me even more aware of the problem of people pursing the American Dream. The Horatio Alger myth (http://www.ihot.com/~has/). Materialism is killing America. Literally

Anyone other than myself see Ron Artest on the Today show this morning? If there was ever proof that education is failing it was in his inability to form a complete sentence or answer a question correctly.

I mean this guy was getting questions like "what color is the sky?" and his answers were akin to "I just learned how to tie my shoes." His answers just showed that he didn't understand the questions. His teachers and parents have failed him (this is to say nothing about his obvious lack of social skill that lead to this incident).

Here is a clip of Artest being interviewed a few monthes back. Fastforewad to the end to hear his wonderful freestyle-rap skills. http://journals.aol.com/cmottram04/ShowMeYourBlog/entries/167

Anyone other than myself see Ron Artest on the Today show this morning? If there was ever proof that education is failing it was in his inability to form a complete sentence or answer a question correctly.

I mean this guy was getting questions like "what color is the sky?" and his answers were akin to "I just learned how to tie my shoes." His answers just showed that he didn't understand the questions. His teachers and parents have failed him (this is to say nothing about his obvious lack of social skill that lead to this incident).

Here is a clip of Artest being interviewed a few monthes back. Fastforewad to the end to hear his wonderful freestyle-rap skills. http://journals.aol.com/cmottram04/ShowMeYourBlog/entries/167

Talk about moral superiority....
The good ol' GOP has just repealed a rule allowing Tom DeLay to continue to be House Majority leader despite his being indicted on felony charges. I can't believe this. How can you pretend to push morals in America when this is how you act? I guess i need some convincing that this is morally justified. Coming from a party touting their morals I would think they should hold themselves to a higher standard. I guess it is do as I say, not as I do.

So I was browsing the net and found this hilarious take on Red states Vs. Blue states. Just great and the author makes good points and backs them up with links in the text. Go on over and give it a read.

http://fuckthesouth.com

I guess I don't understand anything anymore. This Desperate Housewives Promo has gotten way out of hand. Sure, I understand that you don't want your children to see naked women. I also understand that you have the right to complain about what is on T.V. just as much as I do (do we really need 3 CSI shows and 3 Law and Orders?). However, where are you when the news shows the clip every five minutes? Shouldn't you be offended by this as well? Where are you letters to the news station telling us how vile it is for them to show the clip? In your defense maybe you are writing them but the news program is not discussing your letters.

Do you realize that your complaints have caused more people to see this clip than if you had just left it alone? I don't watch Monday Night Football. I wouldn't have seen it. So now your attempt at moral righteousness is going to, in fact, promote a show that you will in turn complain about again (Desperate Housewives).

I am deeply offended by television everyday. I can't believe that crap such as The Protege or Wife Swap (is it just me or does that sound a bit sexual?) are on the air. It offends me that someone thought this is entertainment. It offends me that I am thought to have no mind of my own when it comes to entertainment. It offends me that the voice of three people (http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_11_15.html) can command the control of the FCC.

You know what I do? I change the channel. Was your remote control broken? Change the channel you have a choice, let us all have a choice too.

Bo

just checking