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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Licensed to Mix

Busy, busy, busy around here lately, Dear Reader!  I work in one of those offices where people are fond of using the phrase “feast or famine.”  which, I must admit, is better on balance than an office where people are fond of using the phrase “Looks like someone’s got a case of the Mondays.”  In any case—“feast or famine” is not typically a phrase I apply to my own life very much; usually I have a pretty good balance of “stuff to do” and “time to chill.”  But the last week or so I’ve been overloaded with “lots of stuff to do,” after coming out of a long spell of “more than enough time to chill.”  The trickiest part of these “feast or famine” things is the transition, not the actual feast or the famine.  Transitions are bitches.

So:  busy.  Established that.  Last weekend was a convergence of high PC activity that has just about run my little stalwart desktop box into the ground.  First the CD Mix—which, incidentally, I had FINISHED on Thursday last, all I had to do was decide on which song to use from the year I was born, but other than that it was DONE.  Until Friday night when I decided it was all wrong and started slinging in all new substitutions left and right.  The CD Mix kept me pretty busy all day on Saturday.

Sunday I spent pretty much the whole day editing together a clip show for the 100th Hucklebug Episode (which is up, incidentally, so feel free to give that a listen if you’re of a mind to).  All the while my old XP desktop machine was grinding away, moaning and complaining that I was really asking way too much of him, suggesting that I pick on someone my own size.  I know what you’re thinking (as Magnum PI always used to say):  why don’t I use my sweet new laptop for these activities?  In truth, it’s never really occurred to me to do so—all the data and applications for editing the show are on the PC, and I just never thought to transfer them off.  The big iTunes library is there too.

Y’all might remember that I built that PC myself, using a combination of new and used parts.  Those used parts, in particular the CPU, are well past their expiration date, so it’s time to start again.  Big project coming up this weekend.

In the meantime, let us turn our attention towards CD Mix 007, shall we?  I have so far received CD’s from Mike, Bet, Marla and Kelly.  I don’t know if mine have reached anyone yet, but I’m going to go ahead and list my tracks after the jump for all who may be interested.  Click the “MORE” link to continue…

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

CD Mix 7 - Follow up

Just a quick follow-up on CD Mix 7:  it looks like we’ve got eight (or nine?) participants:
- Michelle
- Bet
- River Selkie
- Mr. Middlebrow
- Marla
- Mike
- Patrick
- me!

Kelly with a Y, are you in?  You said you’d know by Friday, but I thought you meant last Friday.

If anyone has moved since the last CD mix, please shoot me an e-mail with your updated address.  I’m going to try to get the address list out to everyone by Friday, so that you overachievers out there can mail yours out early.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Previous CD’s - track listings

As promised, here are links to all of my previous mixes, in case someone needs some inspiration for a kick-ass cover song:

- CD Mix #6
- CD Mix #5
- CD Mix #4
- CD Mix #3
- CD Mix #2
- CD Mix #1

Monday, April 21, 2008

CD Mix Challenge:  007 - Licensed to Mix!

As promised, it’s time for yet another CD Mix Exchange!  Bet gets a (tm) for the “Licensed to Mix” gag, even though she doesn’t remember saying it (although that would explain why she thought it was so clever).

Those of you who have done this before, you know the drill.  If you’re new to the Challenge (and we welcome newbies!), here’s a quick rundown for you:  Using the list below, create a CD mix from your own collection of CD’s and mp3’s.  If you plan to play along, leave a comment below.  Everyone trades CD’s—so if there’s comments from five people, you’ll be making five CD’s.  I will collect snail mail addresses and send out an e-mail to all the participants with a mailing list.

The mailing deadline for this mix is Monday, May 5th.  If you plan to participate, your CD’s must be postmarked for that date!  C’mon, y’all, don’t make people wait.  Leave a comment below if you plan to join in—hope to hear from you all!  Should be a fun mix.

  1. Kick-ass cover—of a song someone else has used in a previous mix.
  2. Song that gives you goose bumps.
  3. Song about the state you live in.
  4. Parenthetical—a favorite song with parentheses in the title, such as “(Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.”
  5. Therefore I Am: song about thinking
  6. Alliteration—song with alliteration in the title, that is, the words start with the same letter, like “Lonesome Loser.”  (Remember the Little River Band?  Sure you do!)
  7. Favorite song from year you were born.  To help you out with this one, here is a link to a site with Top 40 lists for 1930 - 1998, that ought to cover everyone.
  8. Song about an animal
  9. Song performed by non-traditional musician—such as an actor, athlete, weatherman, plumber (“You’re a plumber; what on earth is that?”).
  10. Grammatically Incorrect—I believe this is self-explanatory.  Anything with “Ain’t Got No” will certainly qualify.
  11. Song with your favorite guitar or instrumental solo.
  12. War!  What is it good for?  Song about war.  Good God, y’all.
  13. Song about Sex
  14. Song about Drugs
  15. Song about Rock ‘n’ Roll
  16. Why so sad?  Song about the blues, a broken heart, crying, etc.
  17. Bonus/hidden track—I got a lot of comments that B-sides are a thing of the past, so I decided this was a little more 21st Century.  Any favorite bonus or hidden track from your CD collection.
  18. Perchance to Dream:  song about dreams/dreaming
  19. Famous title—song with the same title as a famous book or movie.
  20. Amnesty song—as with past mixes, this is for any song that you wanted to use in this or a previous mix but couldn’t find room for.

* In order to assist with the kick-ass cover song this time around, I will be going through my archives and posting links to all my previous mixes so you can have a little reminder and maybe get some inspiration.  I’ll have those links up tomorrow.  I’d like to encourage everyone else to do likewise, if you have some time.  If this is your first CD Mix Exchange, you can feel free to just choose any kick-ass cover song you like.

Okay, who’s in?  Comment below, please.

Friday, January 25, 2008

CD Mix #6, the Do-Over:  Track Listing!

I am officially tired of the rain.  This week in L.A. we have had rain on Monday, rain on Tuesday, rain on Wednesday, rain (and in some places hail) on Thursday, and rain on Friday.  Now, right up until Thursday, I was fine with this.  I live close to work, so I’m not stuck in much of the traffic that has plagued the southland all week.  I mean, I did move to southern California to get away from the rain, but after some 10 or 11 years away from the Pacific Northwest, I’ve finally begun to make my peace with the rain again.

Still, five days in a row?  That’s overkill.  Rain rain go away.

Anyway, that is not the point of today’s missive, Dear Reader; today is the day I have decided to post my CD track listing.  Now, I know CD’s went out Tuesday instead of Monday this time around, and as recently as last night, I don’t think anyone had received my CD in the mail yet (I’ve received two, by the way:  Mike’s and Kelly’s).  I’m posting them anyway, “after the jump” as all the hip young bloggers say these days.  Click on the “MORE” link below to reveal the songs.  If you haven’t received the CD yet and prefer not to be spoiled, don’t click.  That’s easy, isn’t it?

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

CD Mix #6 - the Do-Over!

Oh yes, Dear Reader—you read that correctly, it is time for yet another CD Mix Challenge!  This time around, you have an opportunity to right old wrongs, because every track listing in this mix is one we’ve done before in a previous mix.  And I hereby introduce a new rule, for the purpose of this challenge:  no repeats!  I know you all have tons more music that we haven’t heard yet.  Dig deep, Dear Reader.

Those of you who have done this before, you know the drill.  If you’re new to the Challenge (and we welcome newbies!), here’s a quick rundown for you:  Using the list below, create a CD mix from your own collection of CD’s and mp3’s.  If you plan to play along, leave a comment below.  Everyone trades CD’s—so if there’s comments from five people, you’ll be making five CD’s.  I will collect snail mail addresses and send out an e-mail to all the participants with a mailing list.

Deadline for CD Mix Challenge #6 is Tuesday, January 22nd.  That is the Tuesday after a long weekend, so that gives you a whole extra day to get your mix completed and get it ready to mail.  That’s three weekends, including one long one, so you have plenty of time—don’t squander it!

In fact, why not get started now?  Here, without further ado, is the official track listing for CD Mix Challenge #6:

1. Sellout (Mix #4)—a song that is used (or has been used) in a TV commercial.
2. A song that’s in a foreign language (Mix #1)
3. A song about cheating (Mix #3)
4. Song that makes you cry (Mix #2)
5. B-side (Mix #3)
6. Kick-ass cover song (all)—no restrictions on the kick-ass cover song this time, as long as it is a cover song and it kicks ass.
7. Earworm (Mix #2)—a song that gets stuck in your head.
8. A favorite live track (Mix #1)
9. Title out of nowhere (Mix #5)—a song in which the title does not appear in the lyrics at all.
10. A favorite song you have discovered since our last CD Mix (Mix #4)
11. Favorite artist duo collaboration (Mix #1)
12. Geographical location song (Mix #3)—any song that mentions a geographical place:  a country, a city, a street, what-have-you.
13. Musical question… (Mix #4)
14. And answer! (Mix #4)—track #13 is a song with a question for its title, and track #14 has a title that answers that question.  To use an example from Marla’s Mix #4:  “Why?” and “Don’t Ask Me Why.”
15. Four-letter word (Mix #5)—a song whose title consists solely of a four-letter word.
16. Seven Deadly Sins (Mix #2)—a song about any one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
17. A song you wouldn’t play in front of your Mom (Mix #1)—and again, if your Mom isn’t the type to object, feel free to choose a song that you wouldn’t play in front of my mom—if you know what’s good for you.
18. Song about violence and/or death (Mix #3)
19. Guilty pleasure song (#2)
20. Amnesty Song - with a twist!  A song that fits any two of the categories above. (Mixes #2-5, minus twist)

Yes, we’re back to 20 songs.  It was an executive decision.  It’s all about balance, you see.  Again, try not to use anything that’s been used in a previous mix if you can avoid it, and please try to get them in the mail on time.  That deadline again—Tuesday, January 22nd.  Get to mixin’, y’all!  Leave a comment below if you plan to participate!

Friday, October 05, 2007

CD Mix #5 - track listing!

The US Mail seems to have been unkind to us this round, as I have only received three CD’s so far, and I know others have only received one or two.  I realize some people got to the post office a little late, but not that many.  I’m going to go ahead and get my track list out of the way anyway, and you’ll find it “after the jump” as all the cool websites are saying these days—click on the “More” link below to reveal them.

Overall, I don’t feel like this was my best effort at CD Mixing, and there are a few tracks that I would have changed if we’d had one more week to put them together.  A lot of my choices are too “on the nose,” and others seem to fit the track if you go purely by the title, but less so when you take the song as a whole.  Oh well, no point dwelling.  Click the link below to see my track listing.  If you haven’t received the CD yet, you can come back later.  Or if you’re partial to spoilers, you can give yourself a sneak preview, as I could not resist doing with Mr. Middlebrow’s mix.

Read more...

Thursday, September 27, 2007

CD Mix Challenge follow-up

It’s not too late to join in on CD Mix Challenge #5 if there are any more takers out there!  I’ve had a couple of questions about the details, so I’ll address them here.  First, a few people have asked, how many participants have we got?  Here’s the list, as far as I know:

- Mike
- Marla
- Bet
- Mr. Middlebrow
- Duke
- River Selkie
- LilyG
- Sal Gomez
- Myself

Two newbies this round!  Fresh blood!  Nine total participants, so you each make 8 CD’s (or nine, if you want to keep one for yourself).  If anyone’s had a change of address since the last round, please let me know via e-mail (use the “Contact” link above, that’ll work).  I will get out an updated mailing list as soon as I can—hopefully by tomorrow.

I’m still stuck for one track, personally, but I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s!  Those of you who begged off this round, it’s not too late to change your minds!

ETA:  Marla and anyone else who’s interested, you can go ahead and buy songs off iTunes if you want to.  I hate to break this to you, but that was really only a rule in the first mix, and I decided it was unenforcable anyway.  And Alisa, I will send a copy of your last CD to Marla along with hers for this mix, AND I will send you a copy of your own back to you on Monday also.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Announcing CD Mix Challenge #5!

Yes, as promised, here it is at last, Dear Reader.  An all-new CD Mix Challenge, our fifth!  My thanks to Mike for some great suggestions for this round—track listings are getting harder and harder to come up with, hence the long wait between challenges.

Those of you who have done this before, you know the drill.  If you’re new to the Challenge (and we welcome newbies!), here’s a quick rundown for you:  Using the list below, create a CD mix from your own collection of CD’s and mp3’s.  If you plan to play along, leave a comment below.  Everyone trades CD’s—so if there’s comments from five people, you’ll be making five CD’s.  I will collect snail mail addresses and send out an e-mail to all the participants with a mailing list.

Since people are still occasionally having problems fitting 20 songs onto one CD (y’all are choosing songs that are too long), I’ve decided to make this an 18-track CD, with an optional “Bonus” track in the #19 slot.  If your CD is too long, you can skip track #19.

The deadline for CD Mix Challenge #5 is Monday, October 1st.  You can include an insert with a track listing along with your CD if you wish, but some people prefer the “no spoilers” approach to CD mixing.  I generally post my final track listing about a week after I’ve sent out my CD’s, but there are no hard and fast rules about doing it that way.

Without further ado, here is the track listing for CD Mix #5:

1. Song that has the same title as #18 (see note at track 18)
2. Song about the moon
3. Fashion police:  a song about clothes, or an article of clothing
4. Song about one of the seasons:  I’m thinking summer, autumn, winter, spring, but I suppose you could use hunting season, football season, whatever.
5. “Title out of nowhere:” a song whose title is not mentioned anywhere in the lyrics.  As an example, “Good Riddance” by Green Day, which is the one that’s most often known as “Time of Your Life.”  You may NOT use an instrumental for this track (because obviously the title is not mentioned in a song with no lyrics).
6. Spell it out:  a song which includes spelling out a word or words as part of its lyrics.
7. New song:  a favorite song released in 2007.
8. A song that says goodbye
9. Home:  a song about home, or a song that reminds you of your home, wherever that may be.
10. A song that makes you sad
11. Psycho:  a song with the word “crazy” in the title, or “psycho,” or “nuts” or “looney” or any variation thereof.
12. Song everyone hates except you.  Mike, this might be my favorite suggestion ever.
13. Four-letter word:  a song with a four-letter word for its title.  To clarify:  the title should be one word only, and that word should be four letters only.
14. Thanks:  a song that says thank you, or that you would use to thank someone.
15. Song that you think should have been playing when you were born
16. Kick-ass cover redux: a cover song of an original you have used in a past mix.  As an example:  in CD Mix #2, I used “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Barrett Strong for my Seven Deadly Sins song.  In this mix, I could use the Beatles cover of the same song.  If this is your first time doing the CD Mix and you have no previous mixes, you may use any kick-ass cover song you like.
17. Song about the sun
18. Song that has the same title as #1.  For tracks #1 and #18, you should choose two completely different songs that happen to have the same title.  Examples:  “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and “Crazy” by Aerosmith, or “One” by Metallica and “One” by Three Dog Night—same title, different song.
19. Bonus Track (optional):  Amnesty Song—any song you wanted to use in this or any previous mix challenge that you didn’t have room for.

A couple of these are on the confusing side, so feel free to leave me a “wtf??” in the comments and I’ll try to explain better.  Who’s in?  Does the deadline work for everyone?  That gives you two weekends to work on it, which is usually what I shoot for.  Leave a comment below.  Looking forward to everyone’s mixes!

ETA:  Hucklebug.com is temporarily down due to server maintenance, so if you’re craving this week’s episode, you can get it here.

Friday, May 11, 2007

CD Mix #4 - Track listing!

I meant to do a little blogging this week, but I ended up working a little overtime on Hucklebug editing, due to some strange sound problems.  It’s finally online, I managed to get it finished up last night, so feel free to click on over there and give it a listen, if you’re so inclined.

And now, without further ado, I give you the final track listing for CD Mix #4!

1. Song with a day of the week in the title.
- “Saturday Night Fish Fry,” by Louis Jordan.  “Gimme one a’them there fish sandwiches!”

2. A song you disliked as a youngster that you like now.
- “John I’m Only Dancing,” David Bowie.  I had the ChangesOneBowie album in high school, and I used to listen to “Space Oddity,” then skip right to “Changes” because I thought this song was creepy.  Really, like, it scared me.

3. Sellout - song from a TV commercial.
- “Da Da Da,” Trio (Volkswagen).  Now, I don’t consider this song a “sellout” the way, for example, Sting sold out when he did those Jaguar ads.  Rather, this is a song I’d never heard until the commercial, but I dug it.  And I still do, so there.

4. Kickass cover song.
- “Believe,” Robbie Fulks (original by Cher).  Behold the power of Robbie Fulks, who makes lame songs cool simply by covering them.

5. Musical question…
- “Who Taught You to Live Like That?” Sloan

6. And answer!
- “Jolene,” The Weepies.  That’s right.  Jolene taught me to live like that.

7. Third person song
- “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” The Spongetones.  Another kickass cover, this time of the classic Beatles tune.  And of course, Henry the Horse dances a waltz!

8. Uplugged - a favorite acoustic song.
- “Better Be Home Soon,” Kasey Chambers.  Yet another cover, this time of a fine Crowded House song.  I love when the harmony comes in during the second chorus.

9. A song about food.
- “Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy,” Dinah Shore.  A contender for track #3 also, because it was used in some truck commercial some years ago.  I don’t know what Shoo Fly Pie is, but if it makes your eyes light up and your tummy say howdy, I’m all for it.

10. Trains, Planes and Automobiles:  song about a mode of transport
- “Drivin’,” Henry Phillips.  He’s just drivin’ in his car, and I recommend you stay out of his way.

11. A song that cheers you up.
- “Energy,” The Apples in Stereo.  Man, how can you NOT be cheered up when listening to this song?  I defy you!

12. Media - songs about radio, TV or other type of media
- “Sunday Papers,” Joe Jackson.  This was also my first thought for track #1.  I’ve been meaning to use Joe Jackson in the CD Mix for a while now.  Of course, the one time I do, Mike copies off me.

13. Add it up:  “30 Megaton Sex Bomb,” The Dieselfitters +

14. “Six Blocks Away,” Lucinda Williams =

15. “36 Inches High,” Nick Lowe.  Math is fun!

16. Banned!  A song that is, or was in its day, controversial.
- “Stan,” Eminem.  I guess a song that includes a verse about beating up your pregnant girlfriend, locking her in your trunk and then driving off a bridge to your collective deaths is kinda controversial.  “Dear Mister I’m-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans!”

17. A song about a family member
- “Uncle Walter,” Ben Folds Five.  What a perfect world this world would be if he was President—but he’s not.

18. A favorite song that you have discovered since our last CD mix.
- “Amsterdam,” Guster.  KirstenK’s constant references to Guster in her blog made me curious enough to check them out, and I’m really digging them.

19. A song that reminds you of an old friend.
- “Surfin’ USA,” The Beach Boys.  The “old friend” in this case is actually my step-sister.  We used to listen to Beach Boys records for hours on end.  And record ourselves singing along, and totally cracking up, and then listening to the recordings, and totally cracking up.  I can’t hear this song without thinking of her.

20. Amnesty song
- “Tramp the Dirt Down,” Elvis Costello‘s poison valentine to Margaret Thatcher.  This song has tried to worm its way into every mix so far.  In the first mix, it was a contender for track 1, political song.  In Mix 2, it was a contender for a Seven Deadly Sins song (Anger).  Last time around it almost made it for Amnesty track.  I wonder if we could get Elvis to rewrite this for George Bush.

So, those are the songs!  Hope my fellow participants enjoy.  So far I have received CD’s from Kelly, Flipsycab, Bet, Mike, Marla and Michelle, and anxious to receive more!