Friday, January 16, 2009

Music CDs

Live From Austin, TX. by Richard Thompson. Fifteen tunes recorded July 2, 2001 with that aqua colored guitar he always uses.

Tha Carter III by lil Wayne. A rap album.

Hotel California by The Eagles. This will check out.

"Off With Their Heads" by The Kaiser Chiefs. Peppy rock music with nice hooks. If you like this there are two other discs you can place holds on.

Glide by Jerry Douglas. Link to this comment: Jerry Douglas is probably the most famous dobro player in the world, which might sound like damning with faint praise, except that he's also one of the most in-demand session musicians in the world, period, as well as a constantly sought-after producer, and the man John Fogerty describes as "my favorite musician, and I'm including Otis Redding and Elvis in that."

Rockin' With Wanda
by Wanda Jackson. Compilation of by the Queen of Rockabilly.

Gospel

Unspoken by Jim Brickman. Gospel piano.

A New Hallelujah by Michael W. Smith. Concert recording from a 2008 performance.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

16 and 13/16 Inches of Books

Fiction

Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. "She steals more than your kiss." Girl wakes up from six month coma accused a car wreck and thinking her family wants her dead.

A Body to Die For by G.A. McKevett. "Voluptuous" private investigator Savannah Reed helps investigate the murder of diet guru's husband.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich. Another Stephanie Plum novel.

Never Tell A Lie by Hallie Ephron. Suspense novel.

B.P.R.D. 1946 by Mike Mignola. Another Hellboy comic.
I have still not watched either Hellboy movie.

Mounting Fears by Stuart Woods. President Lee is facing an election and trouble abroad.

Dead or Alive by Michael McGarrity. Kevin Kierney rushes home to New Mexico when his business partner is murdered by an escaped convict on Kierney's doorstep. Kierney teams up with his Deputy Sheriff son to track the escapee into the mountains.

Outlaw Marshall by Al and Joanna Lacy. Inspirational western fiction. Deputy U.S. Marshall convinces bad guy to go straight. Former bad guy starts tracking other crooks when he is framed for murder and Deputy Marshall comes to the rescue.

Joys of My Life by Alys Clare. "A Hawkenlye Mystery." Nuns in 1199 travel three weeks across England on request of Queen Eleanor. Meanwhile Sir Josse is investigating a report of devil worshipping knights. Both groups meet at construction of the cathedral in Chartres.

Driftless by David Rhodes. Family dramas set in Wisconsin.
This book hit a best of the year list and since it is set in WI. The author published a three books in the 1970s then was paralyzed. A publisher got to wondering what the author was up to, called the author's old agent and asked. The agent called the guy - they had apparently been out of touch for years - and it turns out he had a manuscript (this novel) ready to go.

Eclipse by Richard North Patterson. California lawyer Damon has been divorced by his wife and his work is soulless. He gets a message from an old girlfriend for help. The girlfriend's husband has been charged with murder by a corrupt government in West Africa and Damon agrees to defend him.

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J. Box. Jack and Melissa adopted a girl nine months ago. The teen father never signed his parental rights away and not the dad's powerful father in Denver wants him to get the child back. Jack and Melissa have to decide how far they will go to protect their kid.

Non Fiction

Unmasked & Anonymous: Shimon & Lindemann consider portraiture by J. Shimon & J. Lindemann. Published by the Milwaukee Art Museum. Selection of different portraits with a spread age for both the subjects and date taken.
I ordered this after following a link from Madison Shooters that mentioned an exhibit at the Art Museum.
The photos include two kinda creepy nudes.

In Sickness and in Power: illnesses in heads of government during the last 100 years by David Owen. When a president falls sick, how is it handled? Do you hide the severity or pretend it never happened? Does the economy and politics go nuts? Covers several people including Nixon, Stalin, Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Churchill.

Rich Like Them: my door-to-door search for the secrets of wealth in America's richest neighborhoods by Ryan D'Agostino.

Decorating with Ceramic Tile: innovative techniques & patterns for floors, walls, backsplashes and accents by Jerri Farris. New and updated edition.

Large Print

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz. Crapola.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

"More Music, More Music, More Music"

Music CDs

Quantum of Solace: original motion picture soundtrack by David Arnold.

Funhouse by Pink. Some weird pop album. Ordered on suggestion of a Page.

Afterwords by Collective Soul. Greatest hits collection. Also ordered on suggestion of a Page.

Live From Austin, TX. Three albums recorded during performances on Austin City Limits.

Live From Austin, TX. by Waylon Jennings. Recorded April 1, 1989. 17 tunes including Luckenbach, Texas, Good Ol' Boys, Rainy Day Woman.

Live From Austin, TX. by Merle Haggard. Recorded October 30, 1985. Includes a performance of Bob Will's Ida Red (not as good a version).
We also have a compilation of Wills' tunes recorded in the late '30s and early '40s, Seven Miles Out of Town.
I have Encore which is a three disc set of later Will's recordings. I need to check-out Seven Miles.

Live From Austin, TX. by Jerry Lee Lewis. Recorded October 17, 1983. Includes both Rock N' Roll and Country hits.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Three New DVDs

DVD

10 Items or Less: the complete first and second seasons starring That Guy You See in Lot so Commercials. Leslie takes over the family grocery store, Greens & Grains, after his dad dies. "Of course, the staff of Greens & Grains isn't exactly the brightest. Then again, neither is Leslie." A comedy series from some cable network.
I've caught a couple episodes of this show and thought it was funny and figured someone else might think the same.

Eagle Eye starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Billy Bob Thornton. A product placement opportunity for Jeep as Jeep. Plot: two people are "Activated" to be used as assassins and follow around by bad guys using high-tech gizmos.

An American Carol starring David Allen Grier, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Farley, Leslie Nielsen. Comedy. A Michael Moore type guy wants to band the 4th of July and ghosts of America's past confront him. A conservative response to Moore's movies.

Monday, January 12, 2009

What to Read 18

Books I will not be reading. Instead of selecting a few items I read and enjoyed, I selected a few items I have not read and would likely NOT enjoy. I had difficulty keeping a short list.

O's Big Book of Happiness
Eclipse from the Warrior series by Erin Hunter
Anything by Karen Robards
Anything by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
One of Those Malibu Nights by Elizabeth Adler
Sugar Queen by Sara Addison Allen
Secrets of the Sexually Satisfied Woman by Laura Berman
Harlequin and anything else by Laurell K. Hamilton.




More CDs By Bands I Never Listened To

I ordered quite a few of CDs at the end of the year with left-over moolah. We have 23 discs sitting on the processing cart.

Music

Spirit by Leone Lewis. No clue. Some singer.

David Cook by David Cook. Some guy with plucked eyebrows, an overly neat beard, and eye makeup.

Love on the Inside by Sugarland. Country Western music. Judging by the cover art and musicians' photos this is one of those pop albums marketed as country. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
The guy half of this duo must be going bald because he always wears a hat.

Lucky Old Sun by Kenny Chesney. This guy must be going bald too.
Maybe that's why Chesney and Renee Zellweger got divorced. Maybe Chesney never took his hat off until the wedding night and she freaked out.
Maybe he has a problem worse than balding. Maybe he is missing part of his skull and there is a bare metal plate on his scalp. Or, maybe it is a glass plate and you can see his brains.

Joy to the World by Faith Hill. Whoops...a little late on this one. Hill sings Christmas standards.

That Don't Make Me A Bad Guy by Toby Keith. Keith has an advertisement/competition from Ford in the back of the CD booklet. "Enter to win the new '09 F-150 and go on tour with Toby Keith."

I Am...Sasha Fierce by Beyonce. The title sounds very pretentious. Two disc album.

Fearless by Taylor Swift. Very popular teenaged singer gal of Country & Western music.

Take It to the Limit by Hinder. I think I chose this out of a catalog based on sales. Some sex drugs and rock and roll band with a heavier sound, I think. Justin Who Checks Out Many CDs will be happy with this one.

Don't Forget by Demi Locato. Another teenage singer. Pop songs.

How to Walk Away by Juliana Hatfield. If you didn't already reserve this from another Library in our System.

Rock N Roll Jesus by Kid Rock. This disc has been out a while and has been selling really well. I should have ordered it earlier.