New iPod Speakers, and New Music for Christmas!!

Just getting into listening to some new music on my new iPod speaker system called iHome Studio Series. It's got really great sound (50 watts per channel) coming out of a cool-looking package. Very portable for use in hotels, friends' homes, etc. A review: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/ihome-ip1-studio-series-speakers-for-ipod-iphone/
The new music is: Thea Gilmore: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=thea+gilmore&uni=1 and Angelique Kidjo: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=angelique+kidjo&uni=1, the Monsters of Folk: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=monsters+of+folk&uni=1 plus an Alicia Keys track that has a great chorus (whenever she sings the words "in New York" it just sounds fantastic): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMS5xQ_V0TQ&feature=PlayList&p=025D76AF3E47CCEC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=47

Recent Music Purchases...

I've been having lots of fun lately adding to my music library. I have now been able to get that Shemekia Copeland music I wanted - it's great! Also got (some of it from some of you folks - thanks!): Angelique Kidjo; Anthony Hamilton; Aretha Franklin; the Bad Plus; Beck; Bettye Lavette; Bob Dylan's latest; Cassandra Wilson; Cat Power; Death Cab for Cutie; Conor Oberst; Gary Moore; Jamie Lidell; John Mayer; Kings of Leon; Lily Allen; Melanie Doane; Missy Higgins; Neko Case; Petula Clark; Prince; Randy Crawford; Rudder; Serena Ryder; Steve Earle; Sugarland; Susie Arioli; the-Dream; TV on the Radio; U2; Buddy Miller; Metric. I've added some hyperlinks to many of the above-noted artists, so if you want to get any info on them, click the artist's name if it's purple-coloured.

"Elderly"??!!??

This article in today's Sun was disturbing on two fronts. Firstly (and most importantly) it's a very sad state of our city when this type of attack occurs against innocent citizens. But secondly (and not to make light of the seriousness of the whole event being reported) it made me wonder when we began referring to a 62-year-old man and his 59-year-old wife as "elderly"! Isn't "elderly" much later than this?? (Maybe I'm being a bit too sensitive, since these ages aren't really that far away from me, and many of my friends and acquaintances are already there!?!)

As letter to the editor of the Toronto Sun April 23, 2009: http://www.torontosun.com/comment/letters/2009/04/23/9212391-sun.html

New Music

Today I got the soundtrack from "Slumdog Millionaire" very interesting stuff produced by a guy called A. R. Rahman. Also got more music from India Arie: Testimony Volume 2. Haven't yet been able to get Shemekia Copeland's new cd "Never Going Back". Saw her on Letterman the other night, and really liked her...just discovered that she's the daughter of the late great blues guitar guy, Johnny Copeland.

Inexpensive TV Cables, etc.

My brother-in-law uses this place to buy tv and stereo cable for way less than one would have to pay at Best Buy, etc.:

http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

One HDMI cable that I recently bought at Sears for over $100 is only $10 (plus around another $10 shipping) from these guys!! (I couldn't wait to get these cables delivered as I just had to get watching my new TV, but next time...)

Both my brother-in-law and a friend/neighbour have used this site for their techy needs, and both report good quality stuff at ridiculously low prices...just goes to show how much we're getting ripped off by the big retailers on this kind of necessary accessory.

Yes We Can

(Well, I think We Can) This article in the National Post today (January 26, 2009) was pretty interesting to me. I've often thought that things can sometimes get better just by sheer force of will and acting in a positive way to help make things better. I also believe that if the media gets behind positive news and de-emphasises the more negative stuff, maybe people will not be quite as frightened to spend their money and work hard to improve their own livelihood, and thereby improve others in the process. We need strong leadership from all of our leaders, both in the political world and in the business world. Many of the business leaders/bosses are pretty smart guys in whom we have to have some faith to "lead us out of the current darkness and back into the light of prosperity". I know...that's maybe some pretty schmaltzy, overly-simplistic, naive and sentimental stuff. But I really think there's some truth to it. Watching the recent speeches and actions of the new U.S. President, I feel more positive that things can slowly get better. I hope that Canada can put aside its political in-fighting and find a way to help the people jump-start the Canadian economy as well. Work hard, try to stay positive and on target, and trust that we can make it better...

New music: Fall 2008 to Jan 2009

Yikes! Just looking through my iTunes/iPod music, and realized that I've added quite a bit (395 tracks!) of new stuff over the past few months from various sources including the iTunes store, plus another music site, and actually going to HMV and buying some cd's.

If you're interested in learning about these albums, just click on the hi-lited words.

Cassandra Wilson "Loverly" cd; Herbie Hancock "River"; Hiromi "Brain"; Jackie Greene (Jackie Greene is probably the most accessible and popular one of my recent acquisitions for most people) "Giving up the Ghost"; Marcus Miller "Marcus"; Orchestra Baobab "Made in Dakar"; Missy Higgins "Sound of White"; Petula Clark - just a random ten of her hits; Putumayo presents "Nuevo Latino"; Sam Phillips "Don't do anything"; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings "100 Days"; Al Green "Lay it Down"; Molly Johnson "Lucky"; Solange Knowles "Sol Angel"; Sergio Mendes "Encanto"; Buddy Guy "Skin Deep"; Tony Grey "Chasing Shadows"; Alejandro Escovedo "Real Animal"; Kings of Leon "Only by the Night"; Bob Dylan "Bootleg Volume 8"; TV on the Radio "Dear Science"; Aretha Franklin "I Never loved a Man"; India Arie - selected tracks; Anthony Hamilton - selected tracks.

Cheap Red Wine - "Fuzion"

It's really very good for that "Tuesday-night-at-home-with-the-wife-and-a-pizza" kind of vibe... Yes, it's only $7.45 but don't let that deter you:

FUZION SHIRAZ MALBEC LCBO 83188 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 7.45 Wine, Red Wine, 13.3% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Argentina by: Familia Zuccardi

It's been often sold out in the LCBO in recent weeks leading up to Christmas.