On The Record

My Bonnie Lies On the Turntable

Bonnie Raitt - Sweet Forgiveness

Released: April 1977
Purchased: Springtime 1977

Album Rating: 3 stars
Album Art: 2 1/2 stars




Tidbits: Sweet Forgiveness hit #25 on the Billboard Pop Album chart in 1977, and the lone single, a cover of Del Shannon's Runaway, peaked at #57 on the Pop Singles chart. All songs were penned by other songwriters. Bonnie sings lead vocals and plays guitars, backed by Will McFarlane (guitars,) Jef Labes (keys,) Dennis Whitted (drums,) and Freebo (bass.) Additional musicians included Fred Tackett (guitar,) David Grisman (mandocello,)and Bill Payne (synthesizers.) J.D. Souther, Rosie Butler, and Michael McDonald provide backing vocals.

In the spring of '77 I was still marching in place at Naval Training Center San Diego, but my time there was nearing an end. Though the 8-track player was still in use, I was stockpiling LP's and contemplating a time when I could hold a 12" vinyl recording in my hands, clean it delicately with a Discwasher, and ever so gently (without touching the grooves!) place it on a felt-covered turntable. (Yes, I was meticulous when it came to my records. Sue me.) My former dance-around-the-room roommates had completed their schools and moved on to assignments elsewhere, and a few new freaks moved in. (Including one woman who used Brut products and wore a lot of flannel.) These new roommates didn't seem to enjoy music quite as much as I did, but one woman, Sandy, had a bad habit of setting her clock radio to stun every morning at 5:30. No matter that classes didn't start until 8; Sandy had to share I'm Your Boogie Man with us at 5 frickin' thirty.

Still, her bad habit resulted in my introduction to Bonnie Raitt and her cover of Del Shannon's Runaway. I liked Bonnie's reinterpretation of this classic song and already knew the lyrics, so I could sing right along and delight the freaks who shared my room. Back then, Runaway was my favorite cut on the album, but given time and more exposure to Bonnie Raitt, it's been overtaken by the title song, Sweet Forgiveness, My Opening Farewell (Jackson Browne cover,) and Two Lives. There are hints throughout the album of the future Bonnie, a la Nick Of Time, so when I listen to this I feel like I was making a future draft pick. (I'll trade you one 1977 Bonnie Raitt for three 1980 Christopher Crosses!) And, just to be fair, Bonnie's earlier albums also contain plenty of future greatness predictors, but I didn't hear them until after I owned Sweet Forgiveness.

Bonnie's backing musicians and vocalists on this album are A-List 70's musicians, so that's covered quite well. Rosie Butler has backed up everyone from Cher to Warren Zevon, and released her own cd this year. We all know Michael McDonald for ruining his huge contribution to the huge hits of The Doobie Brothers.

Let's get to the cover art. On the front, there's a nice shot of Bonnie in her bell-bottoms and peasant top, apparently eyeing tight jeans worn by a guy in her band while he looks out at the blue Pacific. Is she sweetly forgiving him for something? On the back, it's a shot of Bonnie again, standing in the same spot as the cover shot surrounded by her band. The clothing and hair is what catches my eye. It's so mid-70's laid-back California rocker. The guys are all dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, and western-style shirts. Wait! They'd all fit in in Kenny Chesney's band right now! This is nothing artistic or creative, but it's at least average and acceptable.

This certainly is not the finest album in Bonnie's vast catalog; in fact, it's often referred to by music snobs as a throw-away. Still, there's plenty here to like, and I'd never throw Bonnie away!

And, in case you're wondering, I left that Brut-wearing roommate behind in the dust and moved on to lovely Ft. Gordon, GA soon after. Whenever I catch a whiff of some guy wearing that disgusting scent, I get the creeps.

Click here* to download Runaway.

*download available for 7 days only.

Take Me Back Tuesday

Oh sure, you just want to know how old I really am, right? This one's going to be fun!! Let's see...grade 10...what the heck was the year? Oh, do you mean before or after Christmas vacation? I'll just go with the entire school year, I guess!

1. Name three songs that were popular when you were in grade 10.

Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Brother Louie - Stories

2. Name three award winning artists from the year that you were in grade 10.

Roberta Flack
Stevie Wonder
Bette Midler

3. Name three albums from the year you were in grade 10.

Guess what? These are all classics!
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of the Moon
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And the Spiders From Mars
Deep Purple - Machine Head

What's New This Week

I'll pick something up on Thursday, when I go back to working days! The summer days are dwindling, but I'm looking forward to crisp autumn breezes and pumpkin everything!

Here's what's new this week:

Herbie Hancock - Possibilities - Chock full of collaborations with John Mayer, Trey Anastasio, Annie Lennox, Damien Rice, Paul Simon, and more! - Picks Of The Week

Badfinger - Day After Day: Live

Death Cab For Cutie -Plans - Tied for Pick Of The Week

Bob Dylan - reissues

Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times

The Rolling Stones - lots of reissues


Todd Snider - That Was Me: The Best Of Todd Snider, 1994 - 1998


The Tubes - Best Of: 10 Series - This is a nifty series of cds to grab if you just want a snippet of the best of any band, and The Tubes are certainly worth a revisit. Yeah, she's a beauty!

If You're Inclined To Help Storm Victims

Go here. The American Red Cross needs monetary donations, not your old shirts and coats, to help victims of the devastation on our Gulf coast. You can also help out, if you're eligible, by donating blood.

Don't Block My Sun!

At Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Youngest decided to take a rest from playing in the chilly waters. Here he is during his chill-out:



At one point, I leaned over to talk to him and he brushed me away, saying, Don't block me, mom. Can't you see I'm trying to get a tan? No problem, kiddo. Except you're covered in a towel, a rash guard, and a cap! I love kids!!

Lovely Lighthouses...Too Much Seafood

We're home and addicted to watching Katrina coverage. I see that B-Team Weather Channel reporter, Stephanie Abrams, is in Ft. Walton Beach this time. (Hey, they had Cantore during Ivan last year!)

Anyway, I'll post pictures for now. We've got errands. School starts in 2 days!

Nubble Lighthouse - Cape Neddick

Portland Head Light - The lighthouse tower

The famouse Portland Head Light - Cape Elizabeth

The other lighthouse off the coast at Cape Elizabeth. Don't know the name of it. (Bad Tourist!)

Heading "Down East"

We're hoping to enjoy some fresh lobster rolls, lobster tail, lobster bisque, and maybe some lobster ravioli.



A driving tour of lighthouses is on the agenda, as well as a trip to the flagship LL Bean store!

See you in a few days!

It Was 10 Years Ago This Month

What was 10 years ago, you ask? My 25th birthday? The first time I used a cuss word? Joan Rivers' first face lift? No, sillies, 10 years ago, we bought our first PC.

Now, we did still own an Apple IIe (stop laughing) at that point, and it was still perfectly useful as a word processor and a paper weight, but it was time to move up. At the time, I was the committee chair of our Cub Scout pack, and I had tons and tons of useless paperwork important documents and files to maintain so that the future fine, upstanding citizens of Okaloosa County could go camping and become Webelos. I needed a real computer.

And what a screaming machine it was. A Packard Bell 386 with a 28.8K modem and 20 meg hard drive (something like that), complete with Windows 3.1 and AOL installed. Here's what I knew about computers at the time: I knew how to type. I knew that this computer was small compared to the computer at the comm station where I worked in Guam. In that "computer room", the entire room was the computer! Holy crap. This one fits in a couple of small boxes! And no punched cards to feed through the thing to program it! Wow.

After Significant Other set up the thing on his desk in the spare bedroom, we realized that there was no phone jack in the room, so we had to jerry-rig a long phone cord to stretch out the door, across the hall and our bedroom, and into the jack behind our bed. Not exactly attractive. First thing I wanted to do was check out what all the fuss over American Online was all about. I ended up taking a course at the local community college, just to learn a how the difference between a CPU and an ISP. (All the while, it seems that Significant Other believes he's created a monster by hooking me up with this new wonder.)

Chat rooms! Things you could overhear if you snooped on us: "Good lord, check out the chat rooms, honey." "What's M4M mean?" "You mean, these people are doing that on the internet?" Holy crap! "Let's go in the lesbian chat room and pretend to be lesbians. It'll be fun." "Check out that screen name! " "Let's get out of here!"

Fast forward through the decade. Chat rooms on AOL. The IRC. ICQ. 128K modem. Pentiums. Cell phones. Cable internet. Internet on your cell phones. Your own domain. Blogs. Blogging from your phone. I have no idea where we're going with all of this access to technology. It's simply mindboggling.

As much fun as it has been in the past ten years, the greatest treasure in the whole thing was locating a close friend I'd lost touch with. When I left the Navy and left San Diego, I left without saying good-bye, (long story for another time) and I'd regretted it. When we returned to San Diego for visit several years later, I could not find her anywhere. I knew her family was in FL, but they were unlisted and I had no idea what her sister's married name was. It had been twelve years of searching. When we got AOL, I searched screen names and came up with a possible in her FL hometown. I emailed the gal, and it was my friend's sister. Imagine my elation! The sister remembered me, sent me my friend's address and phone number, and she was still in the San Diego area! I didn't want to just call her right out of the blue, so I took an old picture of us and wrote on the back "If you know who this is, please write or call me," and slipped it into the mail. I gave my address and phone, not knowing if she'd contact me. I wouldn't have blamed her after the way I left. But, a week or so later, I got a call. "NAT! IT'S YOU! Oh my GOD, girl! How the hell have you been?" And we rekindled the friendship. Next year, we'll celebrate 30 years of friendship. (we met in boot camp in May of 1976.)

What a long, strange trip it's been, eh?

Take Me Back Tuesday

Before we begin, don't miss catching up on what's new this week here, with a couple of free downloads.

This week's Take Me Back Tuesday is all about the food! Great. I'm hungry already.

1. Name three songs with food or food related words in the title.

Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett
Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan - Click here* to download.
Sweet Potato - Cracker

2. Name three artists with food or food related words in the title.

Cake
Cracker
Humble Pie

3. Name three albums with food or food related words in the title.

Sweet Potato Pie - The Robert Cray Band
Flat As a Pancake - Head East
Here's Your Pizza - Steve Forbert & The Rough Squirrels

*downloads available for 7 days only

What's New This Week - August 23

Here's what's brand, spankin' new today!

Pick of the Week, Twin Cinemas by The New Pornographers.

Delbert McClinton - Cost Of Living

Townes Van Zandt - Be Here To Love Me

Fairport Convention - reissues

Jerry Garcia - Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1

Josh Kelley - Almost Honest

Amy Rigby - Little Fugitive

John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt - Click here to download Exodus Damage from this new release.

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema - Pick of the Week - Download an mp3 of Use It from this new release HERE, courtesty of Matador Records.

Prog Rock's Biggest Influence Dies

Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer, passed away yesterday. Without Robert Moog, we would have missed out on Yes, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, and Pink Floyd. (Or they would have used plain old keyboards!)

What he invented:

And So Begins the Decline Of Ahnald

I love the smell of doom in the morning, especially when it's a Republican former-Mr. Universe. Hollywood needs incentives (read about it here) to produce quality entertainment such as Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Monster-In-Law, don't you think? Screw incentives to produce actual produce! Let's make some movies, California!

You Oughta Know

Last night at work, I picked up a free VH1 music sampler titled You Oughta Know, Artists On the Rise. Since it was free as a promotion, I feel no guilt at all offering you some mp3 files for download, thereby saving you a trip to Borders! But you'll go anyway and pick up the latest James Patterson or Nick Hornby, right?

Click here* to download Keane's Everybody's Changing.

Click here* to download Moby's Beautiful.

Click here* to download Rilo Kiley's Portions For Foxes.

Click here* to download Lifehouse's You And Me.

Click here* to download Better Than Ezra's A Lifetime.

*Get 'em while you can! Downloads available for 7 days only!

Top 5 on Friday

The real "next Beatles," The Redwalls, tell me to "Step right up, start a colorful revolution." I don't know if I can do that, but I can play along with Music Memoirs' Top 5 on Friday. This week it is a colorful revolution.

Top 5 "Colorful" Songs

• Blue Letter - Fleetwood Mac - Click here* to download.
• Over The Rainbow - Eva Cassidy
• Yellow - Coldplay
• Bright As Yellow - Innocence Mission
• Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix

Runners Up: Green-Eyed Lady- Sugarloaf; Behind Blue Eyes - The Who, Anything with "Blues" in the title, Orange Crush - REM; Green Onions - Booker T & The MG's, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Elvis Costello

*As always, downloads are available for 7 days only!

Garth Brooks Inks Exclusive Deal With Walmart

I thought Garth Brooks retired. This should be great news of all 6 of you Garth fans who don't own the cds yet. (I thought you stocked up when he said he was retiring. Didn't you get that Greatest Hits thing when he said it was never going to be available again? Damn skippy!) Wait a couple of months, say, in time for Christmas and the new Garth boxed set. Then you can shuffle off to Walmart, risk getting your vehicle scratched and dented in the vast, crowded parking lot, be greeted by your friendly, smiling senior greeter, and also take the opportunity to grab your 12 packs of undies, a gallon of milk, and a box of shotgun shells at the same time to save on gas. So, break out your cowboy hats and color-blocked shirts, come this holiday season Walmart is going to become GARTH*MART!

Artist Of the Day?

Click 5

I'm going out on a limb here. This band is touring with The Backstreet Boys and Ashlee Simpson, both of which cause me to cover my ears and say, "I'm NOT listening!" until their songs are over.

I'm also skeptical, because they're being touted as "The Next Beatles." Hello? There simply is no next Beatles. Period. I hate that kind of hype. You can't be The Beatles just by dressing in matching suits and cutting your hair in a mop top. You have to have the songwriting chops, the performance chemistry, the sheer talent and personality to even be considered in the same league. (An interesting note here: four of the five list The Beatles in their favorite band picks in their bios. Yes, I read them. Slap me, please. I guess the holdout, Eric Dill, would be the "one most like John" then?)

Still, the song that repeats when you visit their site, Just The Girl, is darn catchy. It's more akin to Backstreet Boys meet Blink 182 than it is The Beatles, though.

I'll let you be the judge. Go here and listen to the song (it plays automatically.) I can't find any other songs to link to, even on Amazon.

Next Beatles or Just Another Boy Group?
Deserving of Artist Of the Day or no? Your call!

Artist Of the Day

Abigail Washburn

In my lastest issue of Paste Magazine, I flipped to a photo of a waifish woman who, at first glance, looked just like Patty Griffin. The article (which you can read here), a chronicle of a handful of Americana musicians traveling in China, intrigued me and I was compelled to find Abigail's web site and give her a listen.

You can stream the entire album, Song Of the Traveling Daughter, here, or download a podcast in .mp3 here.

What's New This Week

Summer is typically a slow time for new music releases, so the list can be rather short. Here's what's coming out today, though.

The Outsider - Rodney Crowell

Weird Tales Of The Ramones - The Ramones - 3 disc anthology, with bonus 54-page comic book!

The Stooges - The Stooges - Deluxe edition; Fun House - Deluxe edition

Early 21st Century Blues - Cowboy Junkies

Come On Back - Jimmie Dale Gilmore

The Essential Taj Mahal -Taj Mahal

Love Sweet Love - Lynn Miles

Modern Times - Marc Antoine

The Cure - several reissues

Judas Priest - several reissues - Breaking the law, breaking the law!!

Horses - Patti Smith - reissue - Pick Of the Week - If you don't own this recording, by all means, add it to your collection. Patti's debut album is one of those rare "before its time" records. Punks of all ilk owe a lot to Patti.

Music Industry Marches On To CD Burning Issue

Those wonderful bums folks at the RIAA have been busy tracking down evil 12-year-olds and grannies for their file-sharing crimes and now they've set their eyes on conquering The Burner (Who, in the Dark Ages was known as The Taper), that arch-enemy who makes copies of cds for friends and relatives. This heinous nemesis must indeed be defeated before the entire recording industry will accept the simple explanation that the music they push is, for the most part, hackneyed crap, suitable for bargain bins.

Here's the part I like the most: Simon Wright, chief executive of Virgin Entertainment Group International, which oversees the Virgin chain of music stores, said he's in favor of labels releasing more albums in a copy-protected CD format, regardless of the potential for consumer backlash.

Regardless of the potential, eh? Sounds like a big, fat "F#@* YOU, consumer" to me! Next thing you know, if you burn a cd for your son who's low on cash and away at college (not that I know anybody who does this), you'll be sleeping with the fishes like Luka Brazzi.

*Photo clipped from here.

"Top" 10 Worst Rock Songs Of All Time Or "The Jukebox From Hell"

Last week, The Music Memoirs posed one of my favorite musical challenges: to name the 10 - 15 worst songs of all time. I'm going to keep the "all time" in the rock era, though, since that's what I listen to most of the time. These are in no particular order. Worst offenders: Sappy Love Songs.

• Feelings - Morris Albert - Whoa whoa whoa, feelings, baby. I wish I'd never met this song.
• You Light Up My Life - Debbie Boone - I hated this song in the 70's, and I turned the station every time it played on the radio. I think it's tied with Feelings for sappiest love song ever.
• How Am I Supposed To Live Without You - Michael Bolton - No wait. This could be a three-way tie.
• Ben - Michael Jackson - Uh. It's a friggin' RAT, Michael. A RODENT. It's not your friend and definitely not worth a song. When he recorded this, I believe it is the precise moment when Michael began his journey to freakiness.
  
  

  Ben, you've got a friend in me?!
  

• The Last Kiss - J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, with a newer version by Pearl Jam - Where, oh where could my baby be? Probably died from diabetic shock from this song.
• That stupid-ass Chumbawumba song I can't even bring myself to remember the name of.
• I've Never Been To Me - Charlene - This gem is packed with more cliches than the ladies room at the junior prom. Remember the passionate part where she speaks and says "but you know what truth is?it's that little baby you're holding and it's that man you fought with this morning, the same one you are gonna make love to tonight...that's truth, that's love" ? That makes me gag! (No, I didn't memorize those lyrics. I had to look them up.)
• The Macarena - By those two Spanish speaking dudes - It reeked of major suckage and stuck around for way too long.
• My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion - Dreck!
• Dream Girl - Dave Matthews Band - A new one on my list, just due to one line of the lyric: "I would dig a hole all the way to China, unless of course I was there, then I’d dig my way home." Uh. That's just friggin' DUMB, Dave. Spendin' a little too much time acting now, are ya?

Tell me your 10, folks!

Artist Of the Day

Brandi Carlile

23-year-old Brandi Carlile is poised to break out of Washington state in a very big way. Rolling Stone named her one of their 10 Artists To Watch in 2005, she's currently touring with Citizen Cope and Marc Broussard, and will open for Tori Amos in September. Like her contemporary retro country-gal Neko Case, Carlile demonstrates her admiration for the old-time country vocals of Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, but her band is decidedly rockin'.

You can listen to four songs, including one live cut, at her myspace.com site here. (It's a stand-alone player.)

Of course, you can download the awesome song, Fall Apart Again, at her own website. Right click here for the download. See if you can hear that glimpse of Jeff Buckley's influence in her achingly beautiful vocal.

They Will, Indeed, Surprise You

Today was the final day of swimming classes for Youngest (see here for more swimming fun.) Since the kiddos tooks their swim tests two days ago, today was set aside as a water fun day. All the way to class, I my son was excited, practically yelling in my ear, "We get to jump off the diving board and high dive today!" Right. This from the kid who had to hold the teacher's hand to jump into 3ft. deep water from the dock every day. Instead of sharing my doubts with him, I simply replied, "Sounds like fun!"

At first, the class just played water basketball, using some rusty old backboard in the deeper water at the lake. Then "M" shuffled the boys out of the water and onto the dock. It was time to take a jump from the diving board. "Who wants to go first?" he asked. Total silence. The boys just stood there looking at each other. I think some of that testosterone was in the air between them as some sort of unspoken dare. Nobody wanted to break the silence and there seemed to be a lot of interest in their own feet. Suddenly, Youngest walked out to the end of the diving board! WHAT is THIS? He's been chicken-shit for 6 weeks! Now HE is the first one on the diving board? I was amazed! Off he jumped and that was that. I heard the other boys grilling him when he got back onto the dock. "Is it scary?" "How high is it?" "Nice job, "K!" My eyes could have been playing tricks on me, but I could swear he looked a foot taller. All of the other kids jumped soon after, except for one. The other guys did a great job cheering him on and chanting his name, but he just would not jump in.

Nobody jumped off the intermediate or high platforms, though. I guess the diving board was enough fun for one day.

Top 5 On Friday

Top Five "Space" Songs
(Interpret as you like..)


Anybody hearing "Ground control to Major Tom"?

1. Space Oddity - David Bowie - This is the song that beckoned me into David Bowie's musical world. I've been floating in a most peculiar way ever since. Click here* to download.
2. Space Truckin' - Deep Purple - Sing along at the end and annoy your neighbors!
3. Spaceship - Angie Aparo - Had a brief stint on MTV. Angie is a brilliant songwriter and an emotive singer, but this song doesn't do his talent justice. Still, it's catchy.
4. Outaspace - Billy Preston - A trippy 70's instrumental! Ga-ROOVY!
5. Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds - A country-rock Byrds song from 1966!

*download available for 7 days only

What's Your Humor Style?

I'm Cutting Edge. (Yeah, I'm right up there with Carrot Top, I guess.) You can take this 3 Variable Funny Test here.

My results?

The Cutting Edge
(52% dark, 50% spontaneous, 31% vulgar)

Your humor style:CLEAN SPONTANEOUS DARK

Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top.Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi

I scored 99% on both spontaneous and vulgar, and I'm not ashamed of it! ANd it's true I like Letterman and have been watching him since the early 80's. Leno's just too smarmy for me.

Here's a brief example of what I do to amuse myself in public places, especially in crowds. I'll lean over to my husband, point out a woman and say "Lesbian-Not a Lesbian?" Husband peruses hairstyle, clothing, watch strap, shoes, and choice of bag/backpack/wallet of said woman and takes a guess. (And don't get your panties in a bunch, it's just in fun. Two of my best friends are lesbians and would join in if there were with me.) Payoff is when you see the woman embrace or kiss an apparent partner. We can also play this using male subjects, but it's just not as much fun.

Hat tip to Paula at Ultrablog for the link! (I'm glad she's not my humor opposite!)

Artist Of the Day

Nickel Creek




Paste Magazine, a dandy music mag, offers up a fine piece on Nickel Creek, calling them "bluegrass's red-headbanging stepchild." Read it here.

Producer Eric Valentine leads the way for a slightly altered direction with their spankin' new release, Why Should the Fire Die? You can preview it here. Of course, I have a sample for you below, Best Of Luck, a good representation of the rocked up sound.

Click here to download Best Of Luck. (winamp media file)

Click here to download an mp3 file of a more traditional sounding Nickel Creek, though they perform a very non-traditional bluegrass song, Pavement's Spit On a Stranger.

It's Photo Day

My youngest has only 2 days of swimming lessons left for the summer. He was late in taking them, but at age 8, he wasn't the only older kid taking lessons for the first time.

Our town's rec department sponsors Red Cross swimming lessons every summer, and they take place rain or shine, right in the nearby lake. I'm telling you, there were a few mornings where I sat on the bench shivering in a jacket while the kids stripped down to their suits to swim. I felt like a horrid mom, forcing my kid to put on the brave face and take the cold.

The first week of classes, I was trying to figure out where I'd seen the swim teacher before. Probably a high school friend of my older son, I figured. Turns out he was not only a classmate, but a co-worker at that insidious Abercrombie & Fitch store (son still works there on and off when he's home.) I casually mentioned to my son that I thought the teacher, "M," was hot. Yesterday, as I drove my son back to his house in his college town, he shared, "Mom, I told "M" that you thought he was hot. He laughed and said he's heard that before. One mom even said it to his face." Geez. I'm trying not to make eye contact now!

The class braving the cool lake waters.

Suppose all their ducks are in a row? (See them on the log?) Yes, my kid is the positively pale one in the class.

Are you sure we have to jump into the deep end to pass the test?

I did it, Mom!!

And what did I do every morning during this 45 minutes of relative peace and quiet? Why, I caught up on some reading, of course. Books 1 - 5 of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I should finish Hot Six by the end of the week!

We're going to miss swimming lessons for the last 2 1/2 weeks of summer vacation, but I'll enjoy sleeping in a little.

Take Me Back Tuesday

It's all about soul this week folks!

1. Name your three favourite R & B / Soul songs.

• I Want You Back - Jackson 5
  
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough - The Supremes
• My Girl - The Temptations
  

2. Name your three favourite R & B / Soul artists.

• The Supremes
• The Temptations
• Marvin Gaye
  

3. Name your three favourite R & B / Soul albums.

• What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
• Songs In the Key Of Life - Stevie Wonder
• The #1's - The Supremes - (yeah, it's sorta cheating)
  

What's New This Week

Will that be credit or debit?


The Boo Radleys - Find The Way Out: Anthology

Holopaw - Quit +/or Fight


Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die? - Pick of the Week!!

The Fleshtones - Beachhead

Juliana Hatfield - Made In China

Michael McDonald - The Ultimate Collection

The Plimsouls - One Night In America - reissue - This was a live show, recorded in 1981.

Richard Thompson - Front Parlour Ballads

Various Artists - Killer Queen: A Tribute To Queen - Features covers by Jason Mraz, Joss Stone, Los Lobos, The Flaming Lips, and more.