Table of Contents Archive:
Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 by Todd Snider
King of the Crows by Mark David Clines
Patty Griffin by Patty Griffin
2020 NFL Draft Report (with Team Grades)
Loversity by Sam Lewis
Widdershins by Grant Lee Phillips
Karma for Cheap by Aaron Lee Tasjan
Runaway by Passenger
The
Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
The Fallen by David Baldacci
The Smiling Man by Joseph Knox
The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen
The Thief of All Light by Bernard Schaffer
Noir by Christopher Moore
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blood Truth by Matt Coyle
Robicheaux by James Lee Burke
Tool of War by Paolo BacigalupiThese are my favorite CDs released in 2016. My tastes run to Americana, roots, alt country and folk. In the case of close calls, I am likely to err on the side of the lesser-known performers who need more exposure. It is a loose top ten with no real effort made to order them.
2018
NFL Draft Report (with Team Grades)
Minnesota Vikings: A
• Immediate Help:
Daniel Carlson, K, Auburn
• May Play:
Mike Hughes, CB, Central Florida
Brian O'Neill, OT, Pittsburgh
Colby Gossett, OG, Appalachian State
Tyler Conklin, TE, Central Michigan (Good Value)
• Too Early:
None
• Why Draft:
Ade Aruna, DT-DE, Tulane (available after)
• Watch:
Korey Robertson, WR, Southern Miss (UDFA)
Holton Hill, CB, Texas (UDFA)
Tray Matthews, S, Auburn (UDFA)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A
• Immediate Help:
Vita Vea, DT, Washington
Justin Wilson, WR, Penn
• May Play:
Ronald Jones II, RB, USC
M.J. Stewart, CB, North Carolina
Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn
Godwin Igwebuike, S, Northwestern (UDFA)
• Too Early:
Alex Cappa, OT, Humboldt St.
• Why Draft:
None
• Watch:
Jack Cichy, LB, Wisconsin
Sergio Bailey, WR, Eastern Michigan (UDFA)
Cole Boozer, OT-G, Temple (UDFA)
Complete Report
-------------------------------------------------------
My
Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2016:
(follow the link)
-------------------------------------------------------
Just to make it clear I don't really give a rats ass whether Kyle Busch
or Kyle Larson wins a NASCAR race in Joliet, Illinois
However,
with NASCAR slipping badly in the TV ratings and losing money at the
live gate, I would recommend an injection of reality and credibility.
If you don't want to be viewed as a similar extravaganza as
WWE
or GLOW, it might be time to stop pretending your so-called sport is
not rigged or moderately scripted.
If Kyle Busch is celebrated
as a winner of a race he won by crashing full throttle into the back of
the car in front of him, then you no longer have an event decided by
the rules of fair play. You have an event where the rules are
arbitrarily enforced to favor the teams and personalities the
event has determined to be most advantageous for the governing body.
If Matt Kenseth or Chase Elliott or Matt Dibenedetto had
won the race in the same fashion there would have been a change in
results or monumental penalty levied (you can look it up).
If
you think I'm over-reacting to impact of the results of the Overton
400, I offer the fact that there was so much boo-ing and detritus
hurling that Busch insulted the fans twice on an open mike and then
flipped off the fans as he got back in his car to drive to a special
makeshift, indoor victory lane so NASCAR and NBC could have a properly
quiet and predictable celebration.
If anyone thinks that
NASCAR won't lose a percentage of live race fans they can't
afford at Chicagoland Speedway and as fans of TV broadcasts,
then
you haven't been paying attention. NBC which took over as the
network for the last half of the season has been pointing to their use
of popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as a way to return the sport to
some of its late 90s early 2000s glory. In the face of this
embarressing finish, both Dale, Jr. and Jeff Burton gushed over the
action of winner Kyle Busch that neither would have tolerated when they
were on the track.
My only comment on this relatively
inconsequential episode in sport is the same I would make pertaining to
consequential evidents in the column to the right. Don't show
me
one thing and describe to me that it's different than what I just saw.
Update:
Three weeks later, Kevin Harvick bumped Kyle Busch out of first on his
way to a victory. Busch could only comment, "I’m
not sure he had to do it, but he did. It’s fine. How you race is how
you get raced, so it’s fine.”
-------------------------------------------------------
Special kudos to Maggie Stiefvater for how she wrapped up the Raven Boys series with The Raven King.
-------------------------------------------------------
These are my favorite CDs released in 2016. My tastes run to Americana, roots, alt country and folk. In the case of close calls, I am likely to err on the side of the lesser-known performers who need more exposure. It is a loose top ten with no real effort made to order them.
The Wild Swan by Foy
Vance Rangers & Valentines by
Trapper Schoepp Dream
Anyway by Markus Rill and the Troublemakers Midnight Motel by Jack Ingram Dori Freeman by Dori Freeman Sean McConnell by Sean McConnell Down in a Hole by Kiefer Sutherland Willow Springs by Michael McDermott I'm Not the Devil by Cody Jinks The Very Last Day by Parker Millsap Tied for 11th:
The Narrows
by Grant Lee Phillips
American Band
by Drive-By Truckers
-------------------------------------------------------
1.Cleveland
Browns: A Starter: Myles Garrett,
DE,
Texas A&M Possible Steal: Roderick
Johnson, OT,
Florida State One to Watch: 2. Dallas
Cowboys: A Starter: Taco Charlton,
DE,
Michigan Possible Steal: Ryan Switzer,
WR,
North Carolina One to Watch: Xavier Woods,
S,
Louisiana Tech 3. Jacksonville
Jaguars: A- Starter: Leonard
Fournette,
RB, LSU Cam Robinson,
OT,
Alabama Steal: Watch: Kenneth Walker
III,
WR, UCLA
2017 NFL
Draft Report (with Team Grades)
Kai
Nacua, S, BYU
Complete Report
-------------------------------------------------------
My
Top Ten CDs of 2015:
(There
were two CDs from the end of 2014 which I didn't get until well into
2015 -- too late to wedge into the already posted Top Ten CDs of 2014.
But they are both so good, I am leading off with them in a special
pre-2015 section.)
Dust Devil
by LL Cooper
Home Now
by Gerald Dowd
Rich in Love
by Colin Linden
Complicated
Game
by James McMurtry
All Your Favorite Bands
by Dawes
Fortune
by Rod Picott
Waiting on You
by Sam Lewis
Royal Blue
by Lilly Hiatt
Something More Than Free
by Jason Isbell
The Spirit Moves
by Langhorne Slim and the Law
Out of the Birdcage
by The Damn Quails
Tied for 11th:
Little
Neon Limelight by Houndmouth; Ode
to Thinking by Bobby Long; South
Broadway Athletic Club by The Bottle Rockets; Traveler
by Chris Stapleton
-------------------------------------------------------
I
recommend:
Paint Another Layer on My Heart
by Caleb Caudle
Once again, how do these fantastic performers slip through the cracks
on me?
My
Top Ten Movies of 2014 (follow the link)
-------------------------------------------------------
I
Recommend:
Home Now
by Gerald Dowd
-------------------------------------------------------
by Brian Keane
by Jonny Two Bags
by Paul Thorn
by Jess Klein
by Irene Kelley
by Secret Sisters
by Paul Creane and the Changing Band
by First Aid Kit
by Parker Millsap
by Jackson Browne
Tied for 11th:
Ride Out by Bob Seger; River and the Thread by Rosanne Cash; Nocturne Diaries by Eliza Gilkyson
Special:
(a 2011 release which gained a wider release in 2014)
by Travis Meadows
------------------------------------------------
My
Top Ten Favorite Novels of 2014:
Sycamore Row by John Grisham
Gulf Boulevard by Dennis Hart
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi
Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke
Wolf in Winter by John Connolly
Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore
Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner
Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh
------------------------------------------------
Special Sports
World
According to Me:
NFL
Draft 2014: Complete Team Grades and Brief Analysis
So many surprises, given all the things the Dolphins have done wrong and continue to do wrong, they had one of the two best drafts along with another surprise (some of you may remember my opinions on Ted Thompson) the Green Bay Packers! Also, the Raiders finally had a good draft?
------------------------------------------------
I Recommend: My Favorite Lesser Known Movies of the 2000s (Part One)
------------------------------------------------
My Top Books of 2013: (Follow the link)
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
Joyland by Stephen King
Suspect by Robert Crais
Nowhere Nice by Rick Gavin
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Dead Eye by Mark Greaney
The Wrath of Angels by John Connolly
The Son by Philipp Meyer
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I would also recommend Light of the World by James Lee Burke; Sandrine's Case by Thomas H. Cook, Gods of Guilt by Michael Connolly, and Gun Machine by Warren Ellis.
------------------------------------------------
(Top 15 as it was an especially good year for my kind of music)
American Kid (and Silver Bell)
by Jason Isbell
by Houndmouth
by Foy Vance
by Peter Cooper
by Rob Lutes
by Max Gomez
by Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil
by Mike Stinson
by Sam Baker
------------------------------------------------
Just a fun,
unique sound which critics try unsuccessfully to compare and
classify. A very nice debut collection of songs for a group
just getting off the ground and who really seem to be enjoying doing it. ------------------------------------------------
Featured
Author:
John
Connolly (Again)
------------------------------------------------
(For all my friends who keep asking me what smaller or lesser known films they should rent or put in their queue or get on demand.)
Robot & Frank (2012)
Hit and Run (2012)
Stand Up Guys (2012)
The Guard (2011)
A Perfect Getaway (2009)
------------------------------------------------
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Casey Donahew Band
------------------------------------------------
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2013: Complete Team Grades and Brief Analysis
----------------------------------------------
My Top Ten CDs of 2012:
Radio Dial
Same Old Brand New Me
by John Eddie
Prairie Sun
Sirens
by Sons of Bill
The Way We Move
I Am the Man You Know I'm Not
by Ronnie Fauss
Last Bird Home
by Chris Castle
Palisades
Mutt
by Cory Branan
When Bitter Met Sweet
Tied for 11th:
Hit Me Back
The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones
Feathers & Fishhooks
------------------------------------------------
I Recommend: James Lee Burke's
------------------------------------------------
Radio Dial by Jason Myles Goss
When not touring, Jason resides in Brooklyn, NY, where he spends his time eating sandwiches and taking his dog, Bodie, to the park.
Enough said, buy this CD. It is great. It will be at or near the top of my best of 2012.
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
Same Old
Brand New Me
by John Eddie |
Format: MP3 Download
18 superlative songs! Like an old-fashioned double album only without the songs you used to skip.
------------------------------------------------
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2012: Complete Team Grades and Brief Analysis
------------------------------------------------
My Top Ten CDs of 2011:
Death of a Decade
by Ha Ha Tonka
Dirty Jeans And Mudslide Hymns
by John Hiatt
KMAG YOYO
by Hayes Carll
Nothing Is Wrong
by Dawes
Here We Rest
by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
90 Miles an Hour
by Brian Keane
Little Bird
Bella
Silhouette
(tied for 10th):
The Damn Quails
by Damn Quails
No Rider
by Brian Martin
Until Tomorrow Comes
Sweet Nothings
----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
by Jon Dee Graham
-------------------------------------
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Rob Lutes
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2011: Complete Team Grades and Brief Analysis
-------------------------------------
Special Sports
World According to Me:
The Making of a Genius: The NFL Way
by Lenny "the Schneid" Woodson
-------------------------------------
My Top Ten CDs of 2010:
Goodnight Lane
The Jukebox in Your Heart
by Mike Stinson
Sweet Saint Me
Halfway out of the Woods
I Wasn't Built for a Life Like This
by Caleb Stine
Nowhere Nights
Early Widows
American Slang
The Last Black and White TV
Pimps and Preachers
by Paul Thorn
Faith to Fall
by Kate Burkart
Best CD which didn't actually have a CD ?
Saints, Thieves, and Liars
-------------------------------------
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Amy Rigby
-------------------------------------
Best Book I've Read in a long Time: The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
It's a saga of a boy's struggle to connect with his scattered family and to understand the inexplicable gift he's inherited all while moving west in search of his own destiny.
-------------------------------------
I asked for it. A new Mike Stinson CD, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2010: Team Grades and Brief Analysis
Five of My Favorite Singer/Songwriters who are overdue for a new CD: (Instead of a criticism, a hope there's more great songs to come)
Mike Stinson: A honky-tonk voice so unique and a talent for pathos dripping with irony. One of the top songwriters I've heard so far. There has been promises of an impending new project due out any day now, "The Jukebox In Your Heart."
Last CD: Last Fool At the Bar
Brian Keane: A founding member, but now part-time player of the Band of Heathens, he recently gained some notoriety for co-writing Hayes Carll's award-winning "She Left Me for Jesus."
There have been hints since 2007 that a record entitled "Forbidden" was imminent. Still hoping.
Last CD: I Aint Even Lonely
David Halley: The writer of "Rain Just Falls" would be enough, but he has two fantastic, hard to find CDs: Stray Dog Talk and "Broken Spell."
Said to be working on new stuff with a band called Shake a Stick.
John Eddie: A touring, live performer whose only major release is Who the Hell is John Eddie which produced some airplay for songs like "If You're Here When I Get Back" and "Let Me Down Hard."
No word on an upcoming release.
Irene Kelley: The writer of one of the best country songs of all time, "A Little Bluer Than That." Her sophomore effort, "Thunderbird" was a little disappointing, but A Simple Path was a revelation.
Come on, y'all. The crowd is getting restless.
I Recommend: The Missing by Tim Gautreaux
Special Sports
World According to Me: Favre Not Alone Among Great Quarterbacks with less than Favorable Finishes
My Favorite CDs of 2009: (in no particular order)
Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away by Slaid Cleaves
Time Stands Still
Cotton
by Sam Baker
Glamour Puss
by Tom Catmull and the Clerics
Blood and Candle Smoke
by Tom Russell
What I Know
by Tom Rush
Long Gone
Rattlin' Bones
by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Tucson
by L.L. Cooper
Many Moons
by Robyn Landis
The Ghost of Rock & Roll
by Matthew Grimm & the Red Smear
------------------------------------------
Special Musical
World According to Me: My All-Time Favorite Songs so far
------------------------------------------
Now, that A-Rod has been exposed, what shall we do about the "steroid era?"
There has been consternation about the besmirching of the record book. Much longing for the days of Ruth and Aaron.
A little due diligence would cast some light on this darkness. How did the sport reconcile the many Babe Ruth homers hit during the game's admitted "live ball" era. Lip service for awhile, and then we let it slip into oblivion. And did we agonize over nearly half of Hank Aaron's homers coming after they'd lowered the mound which took pitchers a lot longer to adjust to than hitters. Nope.
What are the agonizers worried about? That names other than McGuire, Bonds, Sosa, and A-Rod would be at the top of the power totals? Really, who?
I have already ranted about the erroneous, widely-held beliefs about steroids. (See the World According to me)
However, I encourage anyone interested in learning some level-headed facts about the "steroid scare" to check out the following: (the first is a real eye opener from HBO's Real Sports):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2754168929523377644
http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/
-------------------------------------
Another Special Sports
Addendum: News surfaced over the weekend that 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean, Timbaland and other rap stars had been implicated in a steroids investigation.
My Favorite CDs of 2008: (in no particular order)
Mission Door
by Peter Cooper
Trouble in Mind
by Hayes Carll
Long Way From Tupelo
by Paul Thorn
Piece of What You Need
Man Descending
Twenty Dollar Know How
by Tom Catmull
Traveling
by Steve Poltz
Between The Daylight and the Dark
Beautiful World
Truth and Fiction
by Rob Lutes
Featured Author in My All-Time Favorites: Lisa Gardner
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2009: Team Grades and Brief Analysis
I Recommend: Sam Baker's Pretty World and Mercy
I Recommend: Tim Maleeny's new Cape Weathers book, Greasing the Pińata
I Recommend:
Peter Cooper's Mission Door
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Jimmy LaFave
Featured Author in My All-Time Favorites: Robert Campbell
I Recommend: Hayes Carll's new CDs, Trouble in Mind
I Recommend: Markus Rill's CD, The Things That Count
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2008: Team Grades and Brief Analysis
I Abuse the News: So impressed by the success of "the surge," More Than 1000 Iraqi Troops
feel compelled to pursue other opportunities
--April 4, 2008
I Recommend: Tim Maleeny's Cape Weathers books, Stealing the Dragon and Beating the Babushka
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Steve Poltz
I Recommend: Mary Gauthier's newest CD, Between The Daylight and The Dark
I Abuse the News: Congress to Suspend Legislative Duties
to instead Concentrate on the Important Work of Questioning Sports Figures and Pop Icons -- Feb. 16, 2008
I Recommend: John Burdett's Bangkok Haunts
I Abuse the News: Scandal over 200,000 small arms lost in Iraq
Blown out of Proportion
By Lenny Woodson
November 11, 2007
Featured Author in My All-Time Favorites: Don Winslow
I Recommend:Tom Catmull and the Clerics CD, Tom Catmull and the Clerics.
Special Sports
World According to Me: NFL Draft 2007: Team Grades and Brief Analysis
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Jess Klein
I Abuse the News: Bush Administration Doesn't Hate Lawyers; Just Good Lawyers
compiled by Lenny Woodson
March 6, 2007
I Recommend: James Lee Burke's Pegasus Descending and especially the audio book performed by Will Patton
I Abuse the News: U.S. Revealed as Foremost Supplier of Insurgent Weapons Compiled by Lenny Woodson, February 8, 2007
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Teddy Thompson
**I can never let the season pass without recommending a special holiday treat of a book:
The Stupidest Angel:
A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by
Christopher Moore; winner
of a 2005 Quill Book Award for the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror book,
but it's really just the best laugh-out-loud romp of any book to
ever include a slow-witted angel,a talking bat, and a gaggle of
brain-sucking zombies .
It's a stocking stuffer!***
I Recommend: Chris Smither has a new CD, Leave the Light On.
I Abuse the News: Bush extends pettiness to rest of world
I Recommend: Captain/Barricades & Brickwalls by Kasey Chambers
I Abuse the News: Scientists say Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak possible
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Paul Thorn
I Abuse the News: A Country Within
Not Belarus! That Would Let US Off the Hook
I Abuse the News: Belarus Calls U.S. Presidential Election Invalid
The Man Who Ruined Too Much: Could it be Fay Vincent?
I Abuse the News: Bush requests O’Reilly’s “Enemies List” to add to surveillance
I Recommend: FADE TO BLONDE by Max Phillips
Featured Author in My All-Time Favorites: John Burdett
World According to Me: Complete Victory, Will Dubya’s action figure have the kung fu grip?
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites: Robert Burke Warren
I Abuse the News: Chief Army Contract Overseer Demoted After Criticizing Halliburton Pact
I Abuse the News: Bush tells Congress: Stay Home; Their services no longer needed
Featured Performer: Irene Kelley
World According to Me: George W. Bush: One of Our Greatest Presidents?
World According to Me: No Need for a Deep Throat in Bush Administration
I Recommend: John Prine: Fair & Square
The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley
The Subdudes'E Miracle Mule and Primitive Streak
The World According to Me: An Evening at the Barrymore With Abraham Lincoln
I Abuse the News: SPIN WARS Expected to Kill or Under-report the Deaths of Thousands Around the World
I Abuse the News: Shiites Stomp on Drawings of American Flags
World According to Me: May 25: An Anniversary; A Continuation of a Different Kind of War
Featured Performer in My All-Time Favorites:Vonda Shepard
World According to Me: The Bush Agenda: Is there a Bush Agenda?