jim's blog

The other night, 2 people I know took a pretty strong position that McCartney's Christmas song ("Wonderful Christmas Time") totally sucks compared to John Lennon's equivalent ["Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"].  "Insipid" was the word wielded most often.  Personally, I found this quite surprising, 'cause I like 'em both...

Well, we've reached the eve of the "shortest day of the year", also known as Winter Solstice. And in the mystical spirit of the day (and birth of a new season), I'd like to make a surprising prediction: The next album probably won't be released as "James Land".

First:

This evening there was a very rare event in college football.  Up until now, the universities of Nebraska and Oklahoma had faced each other a total of 85 times.  And as of tonight, both teams shared exactly the same won-loss record since joining the Big 12 conference!  Pretty wild, for one thing.

So today, right at noon, I jumped on my bed, turned on the radio, and laid there with ears wide open :D  Actually, this has now become a favorite Sunday ritual, as it's when KVSC-FM broadcasts the latest "Alternative Radio" program...

OK - at approximately 1:15 a.m. last Sunday morning (just after drinking my only beer of the night), I had the strong inpulse to make some tea. This was fairly surprising, and a first clue that something was up.  So i boiled up a nice fruit herbal tea, drank it down, and went to bed.

Yet shortly after laying down, I noticed an "off" feeling in my throat and lungs.  I was able to sleep alright that night, but upon waking definitely noticed that a cold had arrived. So I immediately went into "healing mode":

Well we finally got the first bona fide snowfall of winter.  This means at least 2 things (offhand): #1 any spiders seen in the house now will not be sent outside until next spring.  #2 There's a chance it could arrive in blizzard form!  And that's exactly what happened...

So my neice Heather recently sang "Puttin' on the Ritz" in her middle-school choir. Upon hearing about this, my dad quickly disappeared and returned with an old, warped vinyl '45 record record. It was a version of that song as recorded/performed by "Taco"!

First...

This fall, like pretty much every fall, comes complete with college football! Yet this year there's another set of contests that may actually be more important: the 2010 elections. In the U.S., I think we tend to look at elections like a sport, as opposed to a constructive partnership  (where you both agree on the common goal, yet sometimes differ on how to get there). In spite of all that, I'm gonna look at it like a sport right now...