I had the pleasure of seeing The Decemberists at Radio City last night and I was blown away.

I should start by saying that on more than one occasion someone has mentioned The Decemberists to me.  Actually not just someone, but people I know and respect.  I can’t remember exactly who it was, but I know I’ve had this low level awareness that a band called The Decemberists was out there and that I wanted to see them or at least download some songs and give them a listen. So when my friend Brian asked me if I wanted to go, I jumped at the chance.

Now, again I feel the need to be fair.  I haven’t seen Brian in about 15 years.  Brian and I were very close in college.  We’d been to each other’s houses and the other’s parents.  At one point I drove 4 hours to D.C. just to have dinner with him.  We lived together for a while after graduation.  Brian married another one of my close friends.  It’s hard to believe, but somehow we lost touch and time passed.  It happens.  Luckily, Facebook got us back in touch.  So, after 15 years, Brian could have asked me if I wanted to go watch paint dry or grass grow and I would have said yes.  The fact that I would get to see this band of which I was vaguely aware was just a bonus.

More...

What are your favorite song lyrics?

Technically, this is a repost.  I'm re-posting it for a number of reasons.  I first put this together when I got on Facebook and everyone was doing lists.  Since then I've hooked up with a lot of old friends who might enjoy this.  Also, I much prefer the lists thing to the quizes thing and I'm hoping to reignite that craze.  Finally, last time around I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't include any rules.  So, here it goes. 

By the way, this was originally designed for Facebook.  If you're reading this on my website, submit your entries as a comment to this article.

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Copy the text of these instructions and paste them into a new note.  In that note include your five favorite song lyrics.  Tag five or more friends who might appreciate this and ask them to post their five.  The five lyrics should be from five different songs.  Try not to include more than one verse or chorus.  Definitely do not include the whole song - that clearly doesn't count.  You could include more than five songs, but that would just be showing off.  Tag me so I can see your lyrics.

Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind

Visions of Johana
Bob Dylan

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

Just Like Heaven
The Cure

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret, waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait till the end of the world.

Until the End of the World
U2

I could live without so much
I can die without a clue
Sun keeps risin' in the west
I keep on wakin' fully confused
I never seen no mountain
Never swam no sea
City got me drownin'
I guess it's up to me
I can't live without your touch
I can't live without your touch

Within Your Reach
The Replacements

Moves like a fist through the traffic
Anger and no one can heal it
Shoves a little bump into the momentum
It's just a little lump
But you feel it
In the creases and the shadows
With a rattling deep emotion
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean

The Cool, Cool River
Paul Simon

I’ve written a new Facebook application called My Playlist. The application displays a playlist like the one shown here on your profile either on your wall or on your boxes tab.  It works by reading an XML file version of your playlist off of any FTP or WWW server on the internet.

The easiest way to get an XML export of your playlist is to use a plug-in for your music player.  Brandon Fullerhas written plug-ins for iTunes, Windows Media Player, WinAmp and Yahoo! Music Engine.

Brandon has also written a Facebook application that will show information about the last song you played.  I took that idea and expanded it into the entire playlist.

I used the Facebook.Net toolkit to write the application using .Net in VisualStudio 2008.  There were some interesting hoops I had to jump through to get the playlist to show in the profile at all and to get the “Add To Profile” button to show up on the application start page.  I think that story deserves an article all of its own.  I hope to get around to writing that sometime soon.

Testers Needed

Right now, I need a few patient people to actually test this application out.  I say patient because there is a little bit involved in getting the plug-in installed and working and because after going through all that, there’s a small possibility that it won’t work at all.

One of the problems is that Brandon Fuller’s plug-in costs $15.  I will get a license for anybody who is willing to test this for me.

Another problem is that the output of the plug-in, the XML file, needs to be hosted somewhere on the internet where it can be downloaded by my program.  This means an FTP or WWW server.  I suspect that most people don’t have their own servers and wouldn’t know how to find one.  Luckily, I do have an FTP server and will gladly host a place for you to put your XML file.

All this leaves is actually installing the plug-in and setting a few settings and I can help out with that.

If I haven’t lost you yet and you are still reading and you are interested in trying this out, let me know. 

If you’re not sure that you want to help out, don’t worry about it.  This is just for fun and isn’t important at all.  I won’t hold it against you if you don’t try my application.  Really.  If you still want to help put, leave a comment on the application page or become a fan.

[Link to application on Facebook]

Answer honestly and try not to appear cool -- it doesn't work amongst friends. After answering, tag those whose musical taste you wish to know more about.

1. What are you listening to right now?
   As I’m writing this, I am listening to “What Would You Have Me Say” by Blue Sandcastle .
   However, if you want to know what I’m listening to right now, you can look at my playlist.
2. As a teenager, what was a band you were ashamed to admit to liking?
   As a very young teen, it was Men at Work.  Later, all of my friends and I were into “Alternative” music, but I still really liked Dire Straits too.
3. And today?
   Wow, there’s so much to be embarrassed by.  One that comes to mind is Avril Lavigne.  I got exposed when Carl’s daughters were teenagers and it just stuck.

Have you met an artist you admired? How did it go? I once literally bumped into Bono.  He was making a cell phone call on the street and wasn’t paying any attention.  When he hung up, he turned around and walked right into me.  He said, “Sorry mate.”  I didn’t say anything.  This was the day that U2 recorded “All Because of You” video in New York.  It was the day before Thanksgiving and later that night Deb and I were on our way to see the balloon blow up party at AMNH and it happened on 90th & CPW.   Since I didn’t say anything this hardly counts as having met him, but the story is definitely worth telling.  I didn’t say anything to Deb about it until a block later and she still bugs me about it. Also, just after I graduated from college, I worked as an audio technician for a company that did work for NPR.  I met several artists that I admire including Neil Young, B.B. King, Charles Brown and Bubba Hernandez.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have more than a few words with any of them. Finally, I’ve been friends with Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols for a long time and can honestly say he is one of the nicest people I know.

1. Have you had dreams about bands or artists?
   I’m sure I have, but I can’t think of any.
2. What was your first gig attended?
   It was either the Ramones at Spit or 10,000 Maniacs at Malibu, but my first big-arena concert was The Alarm opening for Pat Benatar at Nassau Coliseum.
3. Which living artist have you not seen, but desperately want to?
   I can’t think of any, but I’ll let you know.
4. Which artist or what band would you like to resurrect and see live?
   Haven’t they all regrouped already?
5. Which song/riff/solo would you like to learn to play and sing just right?
   I don’t play or sing, so being able to play or sing anything even poorly would rock my world.
6. How many records do you own, or how many songs do you have in your iTunes?
   There are 5796 songs in my iTunes right now, but about a thousand of them are not in rotation.

What are your favorite song lyrics?

Kevin asked for everone's single favorie song lyric. I offered the first verse of Dylan's Visions of Johanna, but I can't leave it at that. In fact, I prefaced my entry by saying that I would be second guessing it for a week. I've decided to keep track of all of my second guesses here in hopes that I might be able to comfortably stop thinking about it. So, following is a list of what might be my favorite song lyrics. Please comment with your own favortes.

Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind

Visions of Johana
Bob Dylan

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

Just Like Heaven
The Cure

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret, waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait till the end of the world.

Until the End of the World
U2

I could live without so much
I can die without a clue
Sun keeps risin' in the west
I keep on wakin' fully confused
I never seen no mountain
Never swam no sea
City got me drownin'
I guess it's up to me
I can't live without your touch
I can't live without your touch

Within Your Reach
The Replacements

Moves like a fist through the traffic
Anger and no one can heal it
Shoves a little bump into the momentum
It's just a little lump
But you feel it
In the creases and the shadows
With a rattling deep emotion
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean

The Cool, Cool River
Paul Simon