Okay, so maybe that whole Tryptophan thing is just an urban myth, but there’s no denying that those big Thanksgiving meals can sap the life right out of you! Therefore, since we did Thankful songs last year, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight another holiday tradition, the afternoon nap!

1. Behind the Wall of Sleep – the Smithereens
2. The Devil Never Sleeps – Iron & Wine
3. Come Into My Sleep – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
4. Sleepwalker – the Wallflowers
5. Talking in Your Sleep – The Romantics

I love Autumn; the crisp air, the beautiful colors of nature, the chance to break out the sweatshirts & jackets, the realization that the holiday season is quickly approaching…

Wait a minute. The holiday season is quickly approaching?

Holy crap!

I better start Christmas shopping!

How about a few FALL songs in the meantime?

1. I Fall Down – U2
2. Fall Line – Jack Johnson
3. I Fall to Pieces – Patsy Cline
4. Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
5. I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You – Tom Waits

And as an added bonus, the song that Michael Stipe has referred to as his favorite REM song (and definitely one of mine too)…

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: from the Greek words Paraskeví (Friday), dekatreís (thirteen), and phobia (fear) – in other words, it’s the fear of Friday the 13th!

A persistent superstition based on the belief that Friday is an unlucky day combined with the belief that 13 is an unlucky number. It’s kind of like a double kick in the “you-know-whats”.

1. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
2. Bad Luck – Bruce Springsteen & Mike Ness (Social Distortion)
3. Thirteen – Big Star
4. Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye – Black Crowes
5. Mr. Lucky - John Lee Hooker (w/ Robert Cray)

The sky was blue & cloudless on Sunday afternoon, but I was able to snap this picture of a little bird in the tree by our garage. I think it’s a starling, but I’m not sure.

1. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley & the Wailers
2. Maybe Sparrow – Neko Case
3. When Doves Cry – Prince & the Revolution
4. Swan Swan Hummingbird – R.E.M.
5. Roadrunner – Bo Diddley (One of my favorite versions of this song was made for the Backbeat soundtrack, which was actually a cover of a cover… Dave Grohl, Dave Pirner, Thurston Moore, Mike Mills, Greg Dulli and Don Fleming as the very young Beatles covering Bo Diddley – sounds weird, but it’s awesome.)

And, just in case you hadn’t heard…

Special Halloween Eve Edition!

The skies were almost orange that morning – but I LOVE those clouds. I tried to take some pictures of a full moon, which seemed more appropriate for this weekend, but they just didn’t turn out. Going to have to play with the settings & figure out how to get a good one.

And how about the Friday Five portion of this post? It’s not as fun as last year’s - but it’s still pretty good!

1. Halloween Head – Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
2. Dr. Bones – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
3. The Invisible Man – Queen
4. Speak of the Devil – Chris Isaak
5. I’m Your Boogie Man – KC & the Sunshine Band

And one more thing…  leave that no-account Oogie-Boogie out of this!

(via SoulPancake;)

“Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the one day they know you can’t come.” — Jeff Goldblum (as Michael Gold in The Big Chill)

Eight college friends search for lost ideals following the death of their mate Alex in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill, and brilliantly setting the stage is Kasdan’s iconic opening scene, where JoBeth Williams (as Karen Bowens) starts playing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Stones on a booming church organ. Each of the characters knowingly smiles at the first chords of the song. And a minute later, Mick Jagger’s rendition joins the soundtrack. In an instant, you’re thinking about love and life, memories and friendships, as well as your own death. So, thinking about the group of people that will likely come together over you one day, what songs sum up your life and would bring smiles to those left behind?

List 5 songs you would add to the playlist for your funeral.

Okay, so it’s kind of a dark, depressing subject. But it is Halloween week after all.  So here is my list:

1. Iron & Wine – the Trapeze Swinger
2. U2 – Love Rescue Me
3. Lyle Lovett – Don’t Cry a Tear
4. Norah Jones – The Long Day is Over
5. Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World

I thought this morning I would combine SkyWatch Friday with Friday Five, which I haven’t done in a while. The songs in this case are inspired by the picture; a gorgeous sunrise that I was watching in my rear-view mirror on my way to work Tuesday morning.

1. Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning – Cowboy Junkies
2. Sunrise – Norah Jones
3. Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens
4. Sunshine – G. Love (with Jack Johnson & Zach Gill)
5. Why Does the Sun Really Shine – They Might Be Giants (the answer song to their own original, scientifically incorrect, Why Does the Sun Shine)

Have a great weekend!

As fun and relaxing and beautiful as a summer vacation can be, sometimes it’s just nice to be home again.

• Home – Los Lonely Boys
• Heading Home – Donavon Frankenreiter & Jack Johnson
• Call Me on Your Way Back Home – Ryan Adams
• More than One Way Home – Keb’ Mo’
• Sing Me Back Home – Merle Haggard & Johnny Cash

I’m bored. I shouldn’t be bored but I am. I guess knowing that you’re leaving on vacation in about 26 hours makes the days seem that much longer. Regardless, I’m bored.

Let’s do a random iPod Shuffle, shall we?

1. I Forgot to Remember to Forget – Elvis Presley
2. Sacred Vision – Iron & Wine
3. Think About It – Flight of the Conchords
4. Broke – Todd Snider
5. All That You Have Is Your Soul – Emmylou Harris
6. Insider – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
7. The First Cut is the Deepest – Cat Stevens
8. Brand New Cadillac – The Clash
9. Fingertips (Reprise) – They Might Be Giants
10. Bisbee Blue – Calexico
11. Moon Song (bonus track) – Norah Jones
12. In Your Eyes – Sarah Kelly
13. Miracle Man – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
14. Birds & Ships – Billy Bragg & Wilco
15. Walking the Dog – Rufus Thomas

Hmmm – began & ended with Memphis legends. Interesting.

Ok – I’m still bored.

Music critic and CBS Sunday Morning contributor Bill Flanagan stated last Sunday that Michael Jackson was the third and final “Big Bang” in popular music.

“The first explosion was Elvis. That was about sexual liberation and racial integration, and that blast lasted about ten years.

The second explosion was the Beatles – and everything they issued in. Suddenly pop music was about long hair and experimental sounds, progressive politics and outlaw rhetoric. Rock was about a counter-culture. That blast reverberated for 20 years, right through Springsteen, Prince and U2.

The third explosion was “Thriller,” Michael Jackson’s 1982 album – the best selling record of all time, and an album that invented the pop world we are still living in 25 years later.”

While I will agree that Thriller was one of the major turning points in popular music, I can’t concede that it was bigger or more important than Elvis or the Beatles.

First of all, the effects of the first two are still influencing popular music and culture as we speak. In fact without either one of them, the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson would never have existed. So to say that Elvis’ explosion only lasted ten years or that the Beatles’ only twenty is to greatly under value exactly what they did.

Second, neither Elvis nor the Beatles imagined the success and influence they sparked. They basically came out of nowhere and unwittingly changed the course of music and popular culture forever. MJ’s rise was measured and planned. There’s no denying that the man had more than his share of talent and charisma. But he only really did exactly what he was groomed to do. Thriller was his sixth studio album and had been in the spotlight for ten years before his explosion. So it was less meteor and more slow-burning forest fire in my opinion, not realizing that it was as big as it was until suddenly it was impossible to escape. (Did you try to watch MTV the day the Thriller video was released? It was impossible!)

I know that both the Beatles and Elvis had their share of scandal and tabloid-worthy personal storylines, but no one has ever been more of a freak show by design than Michael Jackson. As far as I’m concerned, the whole thing was part of his master plan; to stay in the spotlight as long as possible regardless of the headline. He made a conscious effort to seem bigger, more mysterious, and enigmatic than he ever actually was. And it worked. Packaged and marketed perfectly for that specific time in history.

But bigger or more influential than Elvis & the Beatles? I don’t think so.