CDs listened to today:

• Fine Young Cannibals: The Raw & The Cooked
• The Kooks: Inside in/Inside Out
• John Cage: Thirteen
• Van Hunt: (eponymous)
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 3 (Roger Norrington conducting)
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Bela Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• The Cardigans: First Band On The Moon
• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
  

CDs listened to today:

• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)
• Various Artists: Freezone 2: Variations On A Chill, disk 2
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Igor Stravinsky: Symphony Of Psalms
• Washington Social Club: Catching Looks
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sergei Prokofiev: The Piano Sonatas, disk 2
• Marshall Crenshaw: Life's Too Good
  

I had a nice moment today.

I'm in Phoenix on business and got a surprise phone call from H! It went very well and she's just as charming on the phone as in email, but darnit, still no date…

CDs listened to today:

• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
  

CDs listened to today:

• Peter Jona Korn: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Pearl Jam: Ten
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseau, disk 2 (Peter Hill, piano)
• Julie Roberts: (eponymous)
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
  

CDs listened to today:

• Hothouse Flowers: People
• The Kooks: Inside In/Inside Out
• Eric Ewazen: Sonata For Trombone (Steve Witser, trombone)
• Metallica: And Justice For All…
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
  

I've been having a marvelous flirtation with H.

The thing is, we "met" online, via a facebook flirting game and I've yet to convince her to even talk to me on the phone, let alone meet in person! I've seen enough of the right kind of photos to feel OK about her looks (oh, call me shallow if you like), and I'm just itching to meet her. She's making me just a little crazy, but I don't think I'm managing to make her feel the same way!

CDs listened to today:

• Frank Black: Teenager Of The Year
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 2 (Roger Norrington conducting)
• Fine Young Cannibals: (eponymous)
• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
• John Cage: Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano

CDs listened to today:

• Arild Plau: Concerto For Tuba And Strings
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Henri Duttileux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Bela Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
• Cafe Tacuba: Cuatro Caminos

I'm still in Idaho Falls today.

I gather my ex, A, works at the Idaho Falls center that I'm visiting, so I was a little apprehensive about seeing her for the first time since I broke things off. I even saw a woman who looks a lot like her from behind (everybody's in four-foot-high cubicles, so I really mean the hair and the hooded sweatshirt), but in the end, I didn't see her. Mixed blessing, I suppose. On the one hand, it probably would have been awkward, but I think it also would have been some closure.

Boy, you don't always appreciate the basics.

I flew to Idaho Falls last night and found out that my bag didn't arrive with me. Sadly, that meant I had to wear yesterday's slightly grubby clothes again today. Ick! It's really the dirty shirt and the dirty underwear I don't like--I'm used to wearing not-too-fresh jeans now and then!

And wow, am I glad I put on fresh socks before I left for the airport!

CDs listened to today:

• Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Herbert von Karajan conducting)
• Various Artists: Freezone 2, Variations On A Chill, disk 1
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
• Was/Not Was: What Up Dog?
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
  
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ride: Nowhere
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, disk 1
• Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20

CDs listened to today:

• The Kooks: Inside In/Inside Out
• Sergei Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 2
• Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 1 (Peter Hill, piano)

CDs listened to today:

• Frank Black: Teenager Of The Year
• John Cage: Solo For Sliding Trombone
• Hot Hot Heat: Make Up The Breakdown
• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
• Eric Ewazen: Sonata for Trombone (Joseph Alessi, trombone)
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• John Mellencamp: The Best That I Could Do
  

I'm no longer idealistic enough to watch the Olympic Games.

I used to really enjoy them, but for me, the games of my childhood were about sport. Now they're about commercialism and nationalism. For me, it was the Seoul games that turned me away with the naked displays of nationalistic, and perhaps even ethnic, chauvinism on the part of the Korean fans. The last Olympic games I enjoyed were Barcelona and Lillehammer, which seemed so charming.

The Beijing games appear to promise more naked racial and nationalist displays as the Chinese work to show they aren't the inferior nation of the past. I'd rather they worked for peace in Darfur or Lebanon to show their putative "greatness"--whatever that means to them. Instead, I fear we'll see more poor sportsmanship like in Seoul or Atlanta (or even Athens). I'd like to see more fans like the Swiss, who don't complain about the winners when they lose, they quickly blame their own athletes and coaches! Plus, they turn up with those cowbells to show their enthusiasm--much nicer than the "USA!" chants...

CDs listened to today:

• Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
• Jeff Buckley: Grace
• Duke Ellington: Suite from "The River"
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 1 (Roger Norrington conducting)
• Feist: Let It Die
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
  

CDs listened to today:

• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Kevin Puts: Dark Vigil
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Juilliard Quartet)
• Various Artists: Essential Selection, Vol. 1, disk 2
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Igor Stravinsky: Le Rossignol
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Wallflowers: Bringing Down The Horse
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 3 (Hakan Austbo, piano)
• Tony Rich Project: Words
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• John Prescott: Suite For Alto Trombone
• Suede: (eponymous)
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
  

CDs listened to today:

• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
• Sergei Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 1
• Pavement: Slanted And Enchanted
• The Kooks: Inside In/Inside Out
  

CDs listened to today:

• John Cage: Music Of Changes
• Hot Hot Heat: Elevator
• Frank Black: Teenager Of The Year
• Eric Ewazen: Concerto For Bass Trombone
• Megadeth: Rust In Peace

I'm ticked off at Senator Hillary Clinton again today.

I actually had a tough time choosing between her and Senator Obama when it came time to attend my state's caucuses. While I agreed with more of Ms. Clinton's views and proposals, her political baggage in the Washington, D.C. partisan wars of the last 20 years is considerable and I preferred a fresh start in the White House. Senator Obama seemed to represent that (although some of his recent campaigning seems to gainsay the "post-partisan" politics he's been selling).

Yesterday, there were plentiful news reports circulating that Senator Clinton is busy insisting that her delegates and supporters "must be heard" at the convention. This seems like a combination of preening vanity and sore loser syndrome on the part of the Senator from New York--and whatever supporters she still has. A divided Democratic convention only further weakens Senator Obama's already-compromised ability to show he's a new kind of politician and he's having enough trouble without this.

I think that, if Senator Clinton were truly working to make America a better place and not to simply gratify her own ego, she would find another way. My suggestion would be that she show us her love of country and sacrifice her ego at the convention. First, she should ask ALL her delegates to vote for Senator Obama on the first ballot. In return, Senator Obama should ask all New York delegates to symbolically vote for Senator Clinton for the nomination to recognize her contribution.

Next, she needs to do the important thing for America and work to ensure a Democratic president: Ask to be the one who nominates Senator Obama. This would be her big moment, passing the torch and praising her formal rival with all the enthusiasm of someone who truly believes her party is best for America. The way she behaves right now, she only believes in herself and those who support her, not the party and perhaps not the United States of America.

Come on Senator Clinton, show us some greatness and be the one to close the matter. Give a speech nominating Barack Obama and make it one that takes time to honor your own supporters and then ask them to join her in making the White House Democratic. If she gave a great speech, she would cement her status as a leading light of the party and make her a serious contender for president next time there's an open Democratic nomination. Otherwise, she's playing Ted Kennedy to Barack Obama's Jimmy Carter, circa 1980, where a divided party only made things that much harder for President Carter when he faced Ronald Reagan in the general election (not that it would have saved Pres. Carter...).

CDs listened to today:

• Leonardo Balada: Torquemada
  
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 5 (Herbert von Karajan conducting)
• Fastball: All The Pain Money Can Buy
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Duke Ellington: Suite from "The River"
  

CDs listened to today:

• Rufus Wainwright: Want One
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Ingram Marshall: Hymnodic Delays
• Metric: Live It Out
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Strokes: Room On Fire
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Arnold Schoenberg: Suite for Piano
• Various Artists: Essential Selection, Vol. 1, disk 1
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella

CDs listened to today:

• Parliament: The Best Of Parliament
• Steven Mackey: Tuck And Roll
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 2 (Hakan Austbo, piano)
• Damien Rice: O
• The Kooks: Inside In/Inside Out
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Francis Poulenc: Stabat Mater
  

CDs listened to today:

• Duke Ellington: Suite from "The River"
• Victor Ewald: Quintet No. 3
• Sarah McLachlan: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
• Frank Black: Teenager Of The Year
• Mauricio Kagel: Piano Trio No. 1
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 3 (Herbert von Karajan conducting)
• Family Stand: Moon In Scorpio
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
• John Cage: Four
• Buddy Holly: Greatest Hits
  

This makes a lot of sense.

Somehow former Vice President Al Gore had become a polarizing figure in American politics. It's kind of hard to fathom how a man with so little personality in public could be the object of so much adulation, let alone anger and contempt. Perhaps it was the incredibly refined politics of division practiced by the current administration that made Senator Gore a figure of repeated vilification by those who support the president beyond all reason. The most divisive part of Senator Gore's rhetoric in recent years has been on global warming, where even the president and most of his administration have now stopped the blizzard of lies they were producing and have admitted that global warming is a fact and that human agency is a key factor.

Anyway, I wander. To get back to what makes sense: I recently saw a part of a speech by Senator Gore where he argued that more drilling for oil in the United States (or territory controlled by the USA) would not make oil and gasoline prices fall. The argument goes like this: every time Americans grumble about high energy prices, the oil companies push for the rights to drill in every last environmentally sensitive place they find appealing. Yet, in the long run, energy prices don't go down, so what is the benefit of letting them drill off the Louisiana coast or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

What will drive down oil prices? A real, long-term drop in demand. It's demand that made the oil prices into headlines over the last year--consumption increases in China and India and a stubborn unwillingness to conserve in the United States. It's time for us to create tax and regulatory policies that encourage efficiency and conservation to reduce our energy demand. It's a drag on our economy and a strategic nightmare to rely on nations as unstable and unsavory as Venezuela, Nigeria, or Saudi Arabia. And if we used our abundant national creativity, we cold soon lead the world in green technology--which we could then sell to like-minded nations. Do you really think China, India, and Europe enjoy sending their money to these oil states, either? I wager they'd much rather pay us.

CDs listened to today:

• Leonardo Balada: Columbus: Images for Orchestra
• Clifford Brown: Brownie Lives!
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
  

CDs listened to today:

• Igor Stravinsky: Orpheus
• The Violent Femmes: (eponymous)
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 4
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra