Alabama Shakes

Found a group called Alabama Shakes.

Listened to them on a Blues show on my local NPR station.

Kind of a gospel blues style is the best I can describe them.

http://alabamashakes.bandcamp.com/

I really like "Hold On".

The YouTube live version is spectacular.

Always good to find new music to start the new year.

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Wishes

Sometimes I wish....
... that I could go up to anyone and talk with them or hang with them and not feel like I would creep them out because a complete stranger is intruding into their lives. (Brave words for a four-eyed fat man.)
Case in point: we were traveling last week and at a Burger King in another city I saw four teens sitting at a booth. All were pierced. The oldest seemed to be about 16yrs. The younger ones were maybe 13-14yrs.
Were they siblings? Were they homeless? Were they their own gang just trying to survive without adults in a big city?
I can make up stories about their lives. But I wanted to sit with them and soak up their lives. No judgements. No trying to save them. Just observing...
How would I do that? Hand them a business card? Tell them I am a writer/producer/filmmaker?

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Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files

Just finished reading the novella, "Back Up" by Jim Butcher.
Great read. And quick. (I don't read novels very fast.)

We're watching the Dresden Files on Netflix. Well done series. They made some changes from the novels to make them play better on TV. (I like it that on the TV series, Dresden doesn't carry a staff with him. By eliminating that, it makes the viewing more believable to me.)

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Rasputina and Madame K.

My radar seems like it reaches out and finds stuff... and then I find something I should have found a long time ago.










Like the group, Rasputina.

I found them by randomly looking at blogs this evening.

Madame K is a big fan of Rasputina. I can see why.

So a big thank you to all of you that share your passions with the rest of us and make our small worlds larger.


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Time is the Enemy of Art

Time is the enemy of art.

As I take time to struggle with writing, the longer it takes the harder it becomes to finish.

Or as it has been said,
"Time is short and Art is long."

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Maria Doyle Kennedy

Found another singer who's a new favorite.

Maria Doyle Kennedy does a nice cover of a U2 song "How You Remind Me". And an Irish song, " Ag Criost An Siol".
You can listen to both songs at Grooveshark.com.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/

Maria was also in the 1991 film, The Commitments. And in the TV series The Tudors.

http://www.mariadk.com/home.html

http://www.myspace.com/mariadoylekennedy

Hope you get to listen.


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My other cat talks too

Here's a trial animation of one of my cats using Crazy Talk 6 and the sample voices included.



It's a fun distraction.

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