The music stops and the party's over.

Here we are, the last day of the month. It has finally felt like summer around here which is nice.

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

This week a pretty well known band, I think most folks at least have heard of this band and at least a song from this record.

Thanks to all for reading.

Caspain offers free download of yet to be released cd

Breaking news! Boston area band Caspian announced via Facebook (and Twitter) today with the following message:

We are giving away our new album for FREE download right now at gimmesound.com/caspian. No joke. We still get payed for each download, so even if you have pre-ordered, plan on ordering, are waiting until street date, etc., please download and support the band. If you enjoy the record, please buy a vinyl or CD copy. The music industry is changing folks! Evolve or die.

Here is the direct link here. To get each song, go to the right of the song title and click the down arrow.

Check out "Of Foam and Wave" to start if you are new to the band. Great stuff, March to the Sea gives this two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Randomness...

I was poking around a little today and first and foremost this blog will be four years old on Wednesday July 29th. Impressive and sad all at the same time. Not a lot of valuable content here, but it was always fun to post and then see if anything got a reaction. That was never the idea, but from time to time it could happen.

Met many a good person in blogging but in recent months blogging has fallen off the radars of most of the folks I once followed and loved to read. Occasionally there are posts, some are far more active than others, but those blogger get more comments per post than I have had readers since this blog started.

People have moved on to Facebook, or Twitter or just decided blogging was no longer for them, and that is fine and good. I miss a lot of it, but understand.

Will I be around in four years (well I hope I am) will I be blogging..dunno. I hope to keep at it, even if its just for "me".

Also under the milestones of the month I added one more year of life to my existence on the planet. Birthdays are sort of "ehh" when you reach a certain age. I am not displeased with my age but I had a few moments recently doing that whole "What if" and "what am I doing" you know..not quite midlife issues, but those ponderings.

I am fortunate on many levels, blessed on even more so for me to complain is rather trivial. There are things I need to do for "me" this coming year. Some easily attainable goals as I move forward.

That is really it..just felt like posting something for a change.

To four more years!
-March

If you get down and you quarrel everyday, You're saying prayers to the devils.....

Where the heck did July go??

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

Readers comments on last weeks entry were not the most pleasant. I was surprised at that honestly, but this week I think I'll have regained your trust.

Thanks to all for reading.

In the news...

It has been far too long..here we go.

A New York man is suing Bumble Bee tuna for $100,000 claiming he found a bone in his tuna. The man said he choked on the bone for more than a minute, and although now 'fine', he said the incident has ended his love affair with the sandwich.

An Ohio man has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for mowing the grass of neglected park. The man was trying to save the town money and clean up an "eye sore" that the town had left unattended to.

8 of the 9 current Supreme Court Justices attended either Harvard or Yale. - Washington Post

About 60% of college students have a relationship they describe as "friends with benefits". - Men's Heath

American Teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month for the fourth quarter of 2008. Teens texted nearly 80 times a day, more than double the year prior. - New York Times.

Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia do not allow drivers to smile for their license photos. The reason, facial recognition software has difficulty in matching smiley photos. - USA Today

A Virginia clinic offered free Botox injections to the unemployed saying "you will be perceived in a better light if you look good".

A Washington State high school Junior decided to light up a joint in class. He did so while debating the legalization of marijuana.

Two years ago, 47% of Harvard's graduates took jobs in finance or consulting. Only 20% of the class of 2009 will go this route, with the others going towards education or health care. - Wall St. Journal.

Of the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II, 2.6 million are still alive. They are dying at a rate of about 300,000 a year. - Associated Press

Microsoft took six months to choose "Bing" for their new internet search engine. They worked with everyone from lawyers to linguists to come up with a word that was not obscene in any language. Business Week

Sales at Ice Cream Parlors are up 20% or more over last year. The comfort food seems to sooth folks in the tough times . San Francisco Chronicle.

Henry Allingham, the oldest man in the world. When asked for the secret of his long life, he always says: "cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women." *** Sadly Mr. Allingham passed away this past weekend***

I'll talk but you won't listen to me.

Well we made it one more week. Is it just me or is the year (never mind summer) just flying past?

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

This week a solo artist that seemed to have everything going for them, then a few "strange moves" changed their course. Wonderful record..check it out!

Thanks to all for reading.

It feels a little like summer..well late spring at least..

This past weekend we finally sat outside. We didn't "entertain" we didn't cook out..we just decided to have a drink on the patio. It was great. The weather around here has been very rough (cool/cold/rainy) we really "lost" June when it comes down to it.

It was a very mellow affair, we had the folks across the street come over for "Ritas and Mudslides". We had a fire in the chiminea later and it was pretty bug free too..which was really a shocker.

Just good times..nice to enjoy it finally.

Now before you say "Thanks for the invite!" I have to say that I stopped on the way home from work and sort of popped the idea on the wife when she got home. In the end she had fun too..I swear.

look a little closer...sometimes it wouldn't hurt...

Happy Friday to you!

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

This week we look at a band, who on the cd featured, began to find major success in the US, it would only get bigger. Hope you'll stop over.

Thanks to all for reading.

The Riceboy Sleeps - link to mp3

Readers of this blog know that I have a love affair with Icelandic band Sigur Ros.

The band is currently working on their next studio record, but in the mean time a side project from lead singer Jonsi and his partner Alex is due out very soon (July 21st in the US)

Originally an outlet for Alex's visual art "The Riceboy Sleeps" is/was a book published in a very limited run. The music to be released was created as part of these sessions as well.

Check out their site here where you can sign up for their newsletter and get an mp3 from the forthcoming disc.

Looks and sounds (per the norm) stunningly beautiful.

All these bad times I'm going through just dance

Happy Friday to you! For folks in the USA a happy and Safe Independence Day to you!

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

This week we look at a UK band that broke in, in the US on the record prior to this one. They never really matched the success of that one, but still a decent effort.

Thanks to all for reading.

March waxes poetic....

It has been a week now since the death of Michael Jackson and like most folks it is hard to go even a day without hearing "something else".

Was I a fan of his, on some levels sure. Thriller came out when I was 12 years old. MTV used to play videos and his were all pretty excellent from this record as well. Did I have a "Beat It" faux leather jacket, no but I did have the cassette tape and I'd listen to it..and I liked it. I listened to some of his older stuff as well, like Off the Wall and the occasional Jackson 5 song here and there. By the time "Bad" came out I was "too cool" for his music and pushed it away. It was after all 1987 and I was,well 17! Soon after (or was it during) he got to be a strange guy, with his personal life garnering more attention than his music work and then it kept just getting sadder and sadder (as well as weirder and weirder).

When I heard the news I was surprised, but not that surprised if that seems fair. Imagine if the died suddenly between 82-85? We'd all have the day off work/school.

Anyway, I haven't purchased a single thing from him since I bought Thriller on cd a few years ago (quiet you).

One place you get mixed reviews on his life are political cartoons of all places. Check out about 10 pages worth..covering all aspects from seeing him as an icon..to seeing him as a criminal.

Check them out here.

Anyway, Michael, where ever you are I hope you are at peace, thank you for some damn fine pop songs too.