Easy Reader

So my order from Jinx arrived today and I finally got a chance to read the back of the “Revolution is not an AOL Keyword” tshirt I bought. For those who are too young to recognize the allusion, “The Revolution will not be Televised” was written and performed by poet/musician Gil Scott-Heron (1 April 1949 -). I have a copy of it on Black Power: Music Of A Revolution, an ablum I highly recommend for anyone interested in the Black Power movement’s speeches and music (both of which are collected on this 2-disc set). Anyway, enough history.

“Revolution is not an AOL Keyword” was penned by Eddan Katz in March of 2003 and uses the same structure as “Televised” to great effect. Here’s a sample:

Revolution will not promise penile enlargement.
Revolution will not get rid of spam.
Revolution will not earn you up to $5000 a month
Working from home, because revolution is not
An AOL Keyword, Brother.

And, while quite humorous, it does pack a few strong political punches:

Revolution is not an AOL Keyword.
Revolution will not be brought to you on Hi-Def TV
Encrypted with a warning from the FBI.
Revolution will not have a jpeg slideshow of Dubya
Calling the cattle and leading the incursion by
Secretary Rumsfeld, General Ashcroft and Dick Cheney
Riding nuclear warheads on their way to Iraq,
Or North Korea, or Iran.

I don’t think any shirt I’ve bought has made me smile quite so much.

Other clothing arrivals include the now infamous “All Your Base…” and “Stop Laughing. Computers are cool now.” tshirts. And soon to debut on my car is the classic “Pirates are way cooler than ninjas” bumper sticker (don’t worry, I only put stickers on glass).

Also in the mail today was yet another addition to my ever-expanding reading list: Pragmatic Version Control Using Subversion. I am currently reading The Pragmatic Programmer and become more impressed with each page turn. It is like a philosophical/spiritual guidebook for geeks. I’m loving it.

And since I am on the topic of books, I wanted to throw out this teaser: I just finished reading the rough draft of a book by a good friend and colleague and I can’t wait until all of you can read it too. It reinforced a lot of my deeply-held beliefs and even taught me a few things. That’s all I am saying for now. I will post more on it later, when the book is nearing delivery, but I thought I’d peek your interest (well, the interest of the three of you reading this).

This little meme’s been racing ’round the net like a bad case of mono, but I’ll chip in my 2¢ since I am such a music freak. Thanks Krista.

Total volume of music files on my computer

55.44GB – 16,287 songs

The last CD I bought

Actually I bought 2 at the same time: Weezer’s Make Believe (for me) and Dave Matthews Band’s Stand Up (for Kel).

Song playing right now:

“1976” by RJD2 (from Since We Last Spoke)

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me

There are so many bands I love, making this a really tough choice. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Cake, Jurassic 5, The Beta Band, Soul Coughing and XTC have all been there for me at varying times in my life (and continue to be a part of my personal soundtrack). The songs below fit one or both of the criteria for this meme, but this was a really hard list to compile.

• It’s hard to pick a favorite Belle & Sebastian song, but I do love “The Model” from Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant.
• “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush always makes me cry, but I love it. It’s from The Sensual World and is featured in a touching montage in She’s Having a Baby (it is also available on the soundtrack).
• Ben Folds’ “The Luckiest” is another song that makes me misty. Not only an incredible pianist, Ben’s an amazing songwriter. Other faves from that album (Rockin’ the Suburbs) include the title track, “The Ascent of Stan” and “Zak and Sara”.
• “Everywhere” by Bran Van 3000 is another great track from yet another stellar album, Glee.
• I had to include some Pixies, and, after much thought, I think “Where Is My Mind?” is probably my favorite (“Gigantic” and “Here Comes Your Man” were it’s toughest competition). It’s on Surfer Rosa, which I consider one of the few perfect albums (Doolittle also makes that list).

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton

The question really is “Who do you know who a) has a blog; and b) has not already received the baton.” I’ll try Scott Hoosier, Peter-Paul Koch, Jason Landry, Dave Stewart and Brian R. Williams