Music

Got an email from my Uncle Jim on Last.FM, of all places.
Last.FM is great because it just hangs out in your system tray and watches what you listen to in iTunes, then makes a feed of what you've listed to, and makes a radiostation based on what you've been listening to. It's a very passive way of greating a radio station, but makes a fairly accurate list of your iTunes collection. However, mine isn't exactly 100% on with my musical tastes. Mostly becuase my Sansa 280e doesn't scrobble.

A more active way to make a "Radio station," but without having to go full-bore into hosting and running your own files are the Mixtape services.
I have also been playing with a service called "muxtape" (http://heygabe.muxtape.com/) and MixWit (www.mixwit.com).
Both of these services let you make "mix tapes" of songs, the former of songs you upload from your own collection, and the other from stuff already available on the Internet.

Anyway, keep on Rockin' Uncle Jim.

Over the weekend, I had a heated discussion with some young fellows about the nature and character of Johnny Cash. I thought it would be important to set the record straight.  I do not dislike Johnny Cash, nor do I consider him a minor deity who graced us with a gravely magic voice. He was a man. Like Elvis. Who recorded a few great songs and a lot of mediocre ones. Like Elvis.

I hung my Head is one of my favorites at the moment. Even though it's technically a Police song, I Hung my Head is pure Cash. It's a story about a regretful incident bringing a sad end to an otherwise regretful life. Like Elvis'.

Cash was at his best when he was singing like a palpable answer to Tex Ritter, case in point, the folk ballad "Same Hall." Imagine if all of  Blood in the Saddle had been performed by Johnny Cash? Awesome, that's what you're Imagining-- pure awesome.