Falling Slowly

It won't have the same impact out of context, but this scene from "Once" almost brought me to tears, for reasons I could never articulate. If you haven't seen the film, please do. You'll never forget it.

U23DWTF?

Isn't an over-the-top 3D concert film the very sort of excess that fueled the movement that gave birth to U2 some 30 years ago? Apparently, the movie is quite an achievement and pretty thrilling, but man - irony is irony.

I confess I'm still a fan, but the way they market themselves is getting pretty icky.

Downloads

A rational argument for $0.50 movie downloads, from the always rational and wise, Seth Godin.

Dolphins

Dolphins can produce amazing air bubble hoops. We can only watch in wonder. These creatures really are mysteriously beautiful.

Almost

Recently read an interesting interview with Andrea Klein, who designed several of Bruce Springsteen's album and single sleeves. She mentioned that during the initial "Born in the USA" packaging discussions, Bruce was very intrigued by the photographs in Joseph Szabo's book "Almost Grown", and seemed committed to the idea of using them within the design. He eventually drifted away from the idea, but after looking at some of those photos, I really wish he'd stuck with them. They seem perfect to me.

I was also surprised to see this shot, which some of you may recognize.

Obama's Website

Barack Obama - President of The United States of Drop Shadows, Outer Glows and Gradients. Actually, I think this site is extremely well done.

Death of the Disc

Just learned that 2 more CD outlets in my area have closed down. With the remaining music store chains rapidly converting themselves to DVD and game shops, there's no question the old compact disc is nearing the end of its life cycle. I'm in no hurry to abandon the format but I'm actually welcoming its demise - the used CD market is going to get quite lovely over the next few years and I'll gladly paw my way through the bins in search of dirt cheap treasures. Hopefully, the online distributors won't go away anytime soon (I'm looking at you CD Universe and CD Baby).

For those eager to convert their collections to MP3, this company does it in bulk for a buck a disc.

Chuck Berry

81 year old Chuck Berry is still playing live. Here's a photo gallery from his Dec 30th show in NYC. He also does one date every month at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis.

His website isn't performing too well, however.

Carnivale

After renting almost every episode of HBO's "Carnivale" last year (for some reason Tracy and I never got to the end), I found both seasons for a ridiculously low price at Future Shop just before Christmas, so that became our spousal gift. We're now blasting our way towards the end of season two in a dusty tornado of post-holiday viewing. We loved "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" but there's something about "Carnivale" that gets under your skin. It's a highly detailed story that really demands a second viewing to fully appreciate.

Very attractive (but somewhat flimsy) DVD packaging, by the way.

Dave Bush Band

On drums - Dave Bush
On guitar - Dave Bush
On keyboards - Dave Bush
On vocals - Dave Bush

Still looking for a bass player.

Flight

A guy launches a paper airplane 300 feet above Manhattan. The impressive flight is recorded. You get to watch.