My nocturnal behavior of late afforded me the opportunity to finally watch 'meet joe back', 12 years after its release.  I had no idea Joe was death, and no idea I would enjoy the movie so much. The first scene is striking yet tragic for hopeful romantics; striking b/c it can always happen, tragic b/c [...]

Running on about 3-4 hours of sleep today in lieu of musical schedules.  I once read that eddie vedder used to stay up for days and then go surfing, hence writing songs like Alive. I think many things have come to life in my subconscious which are floating up, changing habits and perceptions. I see [...]

It's been a long time since I've clung to a band like the past few months with Roman Candle. What makes me gravitate towards them?  Clear, concise lyrics — While reading amazon review I see the album bashed because of the literal nature of the lyrics, and how that tends to get annoying. My response, [...]

Often I think about what would some of my musical heroes (Billy Bragg, Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, Sondre Lerche, Ben Folds, the gang from Belle and Sebastian, and of course Neil Finn of Crowded House) do out here staring at this ambiguity everyday. I'm certain their imagination would keep them company, and this [...]

15 year class reunion next year.  When I was a younger lad I couldn't wrap my head around this sentiment.  I once read that at your 10 year anniversary, you show up in a BMW and say, hey, look how cool and successful I am, at 20 years, you show up in a minivan and [...]

Switching between Bon Jovi's New Jersey album and dailylit.com's TS Eliot poetry samples leaves me with a nice balance for the day. That's what you got here in Baghdad, scenarios and environmentals that will condition you for a bright future.  I've come to really like it out here, although I don't want to stay a [...]

But there's one thing I've learned for fact, There's a Music You can Only Hear When You're Starting from Scratch I let the beautiful words of Roman Candle fill my Bose noise cancelling headphones, I get whisked away to what I'm almost sure will be a more elegant time in life. Tonight I think the [...]

Being deployed is much like prison, lots of time for reading and exercise.   My current favorite philosopher / statesman, Cicero of Ancient Rome, considered one of the most versatile minds of the time.   the books for the time, 29% done, 71% to go – Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy [...]

Something you won't hear in mainstream media who is entertaining and pitting American vs American in ideological battles. The biggest market drop in 15 months seems to be because the institution investors in Shanghai decided to initiate a big sell off.  The Shanghai index is largely off limits to foreign investment.  It's grown over 50% this year, and now [...]