$17 Music Collection

My favorite way to buy music is still on CD, particularly used CDs. CDs were the first essentially perfect way to distribute music. They may be the last way to really own it. As long as I own that disc, I can use the music on any device that exists now or in the future. I can make as many copies as I like. I can sell or give the disc away, and nobody can do a damn thing about it.

So three or four times a year I go over to SecondSpin.com and load up on cheap CDs. Some of the CDs I love the most sell for a few dollars each. Here are six of my favorites you can get for $4 or less:

• Dwight Yoakam, This Time $2 This is, without question, the perfect country music album. For just $5 more, you can add Gone, which is also the perfect country album.


• Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers $3 You're may be sick of the big hit from this album (Stacey's Mom), but every track is great.


• Kim Richey, Bitter Sweet $4 There usually aren't many used Kim Richey CDs out there. They are all fantastic - this is one of her most thoughtful and touching albums.


• Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road $4 Great southern rock / folk. The title song makes me feel like I'm about 5 years old, back in the South around 1970. But it's good.


• Joan Osborne, Relish $2 This is another album with one huge hit (I won't name it). It must have sold millions of copies, because used discs are cheap as dirt. Personally, I like all the songs here - each one tells a story.


• Sonia Dada, Day at the Beach $2 One reviewer calls this an "amalgamation of soul, pop, rock, blues, and gospel." That's about right. Call it what you will, it's great poetry set to great music. For less than $20, you could pick up all six Sonia Dada albums. An ex-girlfriend turned me onto this band ... so every cloud does have a silver lining.
  

Second Chance for Mint

I have been told that mint makes the perfect houseplant, because it is almost impossible to kill. In fact, mint is absurdly vigorous and invasive. Unless confined in a sturdy container, mint will take over your garden and subjugate your lawn. If you forget to lock your doors at night, mint will sneak into your house (or your apartment) and get your wife pregnant.

But a few years ago I murdered a pot that a friend gave to me. Apparently, not even mint could survive my towering neglect. Now I’m trying again. Looks pretty good so far, doesn’t it?

Well, so far anyway.

I Had A Dream

All of this healthcare stuff is getting to me … even in my sleep.

Last night, I dreamed that I was standing with Barack Obama outside the White House. He was telling me his plans to help the country. Though I can’t remember any of the details now, they made a lot of sense to me at the time. But as I listened, enraptured, I smelled something burning. Over the President’s broad shoulder I saw smoke coming from the White House.

“Uh, Mr. President …” I said. At that moment the great man put his hand on my shoulder. He said, “James, I need YOUR help. Together, we must do something about our great nation’s housing crisis.” I noticed for the first time that a flock of the President’s admirers were standing on the National Mall. They were all holding building materials – boards, shingles, windows, and more. The crowd stretched out of sight.

“Sure,” I said, “but there’s smoke …” The President didn’t seem to hear me. He gave me a hammer and a saw. “James, together, we will build a gigantic People’s House, for everyone in America.”

“Well,” I stammered, “A lot of people already have houses. And speaking of houses, there’s smoke coming out of …”

But the President wasn’t finished. “Some fortunate people, millionaires mostly, or at least couples making a combined $250,000 a year, have houses. We will recycle the pieces of those houses to make a People’s House that will bestow dignity and security …”

“Hey!” I yelled at a man in the crowd, “That’s my garage door! You give that back!”

The President just looked more determined, and I was ashamed for interrupting. He said, “The People’s House will reduce energy usage and increase the average enjoyment per square foot by …” The smell of smoke intensified, and one of the White House windows shattered from the heat. Flames gushed out.

“Mister President!” I was shouting again, but I felt I had no choice. “Just stop for a second, and look at YOUR house. Don’t you see anything wrong?” The crowd muttered. A few people called me a bully, and one woman even accused me of working for Fox News. I honestly feared for my life. But the President calmly raised a hand and the crowd backed off. He said, “Is there anything wrong?” For a moment the world held its breath. “Yes!” the President said at last, “I see what you mean.” I felt enormous pride, but then he continued: “It could use some guest bedrooms. Follow me!”

“Wait!” I said, “I meant you should put out the fire first!!” But it was too late. Millions of Americans followed the President, and began randomly nailing boards onto the burning White House. Fire spread everywhere.

It was just a dream, but I can still smell the smoke.

Broken Health Care System

Several years ago, my Grandma Ramey broke her hip. She was from the rural South, and by no stretch of the imagination was she “rich.” She had nothing but public programs to rely on. In the hospital, she went into a form of dementia. But within hours of her injury, she had a new hip. The horrible pain started to go away. She came out of the dementia. She lived for almost another decade – healthy, independent, and in her right mind.

Our broken healthcare system in action.

In Canada or the UK, Grandma could have waited for weeks or months for a new hip – if she ever got one at all. In her condition, what would weeks of severe pain (and worse, total helplessness) have done to her? I am convinced the dementia would not have ended. She would have died in that hospital – in horrible pain, terrified, and unable to even recognize her family.

I’ve listened to President Obama. I don’t think that people on his side of the argument are in any way bad or stupid. But the program he’s pushing will mean waiting lists for everyone. It will also cripple medical & pharmaceutical R&D. The hip that kept my Grandma alive, the cancer treatments that give some hope to my family & friends who are fighting that disease, and the vaccine that would have prevented the cancer that killed my sister in her 40s – none of these things were developed in countries that have socialized their medical systems.

We can’t be like Canada. Most Canadians can drive to the US for medical care, if they don’t want to wait in line – and millions do just that. Almost every medical treatment used by Canadians were developed in whole or in large part with research dollars from American companies. When our government crowds private enterprise out of heath care, we will be stuck.

The Man With Two Blogs

I now have two blogs: the one you are reading and this one.

Why?

I could say that I am a complex human being. Maybe a single blog just isn't enough to capture all of my facets

Maybe I've decided that I must produce more blog coverage in today's media-centric world.

Maybe I'm just typing relative nonsense in order to fill the space around the picture that I've attached to this entry.

But the truth is that I've created a second blog in order to double my advertising revenue.

Equate Sterile Saline Solution Aerosol

UPDATE: I finally ran out of the 2 cases I bought last July. The good news is that this is still commercially available. Rite Aid stores are carrying the 12 oz aerosol can, and you can buy this from Drugstore.com and others. The bad news is that the price ranges from $6.25-$7.99 per can, with shipping on top. The price at Rite Aid is $7.99 as I write this, so, for now, I plan to shop there.

Here is the Blairex web site - it has links to Drugstore.com:

http://www.blairex.com/BLBlairexSaline.php

Greenville

I'm in Greenville SC this week. The city has rebuilt its downtown -- I can honestly say I have never seen a more beautiful city.

I'm staying in a hotel within walking distance from the city's minor-league ballfield, an amazing park, and about 100 good restaurants. Seriously, it's heaven. For months, I've been hearing this voice in my head: "You could do your job from here ..."

I took several pictures from my hotel room and posted them on Flickr (link below). The one here is a night shot, a very long exposure. The streak of light on the right is a car driving into the frame.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10335838@N04/