Ahlschwede Blog

I've Been Waiting

... for some silly little thing to blog? Could be.

In any event, I just came across this fun little quiz on John's blog. The idea is to go to the collection with all your songs in iTunes and hit shuffle. Answer the questions by writing down the names of songs that come up in shuffle without worry that you're writing down jibberish.

It amused me to read John's answers- here are mine.

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Part III

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Welcome to the Terrordome

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Kingdom Coming

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
I Started a Joke

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'€™S PURPOSE?
The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Everybody Hurts

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Kiss Me, Son of God (Alternative Version)

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
The Wizard

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native)

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
The 1812

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Kiss the Devil

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Biggest Killer in American History

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Chesterfield King (Live)

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Chinese Dance

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Peter's Denial

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Don't Got To Prove It

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Got The Life

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Everything's Alright (reprise)

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Too Much

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Touch Me

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Stronger

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
I've Been Waiting

Omaha Music in Minnesota

Moving to Minnesota, I was surprised at how much I missed my preferred Omaha radio station, 89.7 The River. The River is a college station that's gone pro, but still supports itself with fund-drives in addition to advertising. It's got a distinctive voice in its programming.

Sad to say, I'm fairly disappointed by everything on the radio here except for their Public Radio stations, which, admittedly, are the best Public Radio stations I've ever heard. So, getting a little tired of listening to Public Broadcasting 24/7, I decided to start make iMixes of The River's weekly playlists. For those of you with iTunes the here are playlists for the first week of October, and a playlist from the Summer of 2007.

Bands you only discover in death

On a hot July night seven years ago I found myself driving through West Virginia. I had escaped the fires and chaos of Woodstock '99 days before. Though I still had adrenaline in my veins my soul was tired and I was heavy of heart. I scanned through the radio stations searching for a signal as I passed in and out of the peaks and vallies of the Appalachian mountains.

I found myself hooked on a Saxaphone. The band was Morphine, and the song was A Cure for Pain. It was deep, sensuous, and on the one hand serious and the other almost lighthearted. Gallows humor. A little community radio station was playing a Morphine marathon all night long, because the lead singer, Mark Sandman, had recently passed away. After spending 3 days watching the best of the recording establishment strut their stuff, I was baffled that the most moving musical experience of my trip was an all night music marathon on a community radio station. That the only reason they played so much of their music was because the lead singer had died seemed like a cosmic injustice.

So it was with a sense of deja vu that I downloaded the greatest hits of The Go-Betweens from iTunes after reading enormous praise for them when their lead singer died last week. As it turns out they're brilliant. My question for the media, why didn't anyone speak up earlier? You don't have to wait for someone to die to do a feature on a band that baffles everyone with the high quality of their work and the low volume of their sales.

In other music news Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is finally on iTunes. It's a strange song because it was only added to her latest album after the initial run because the album's mediocrity had generated mediocre sales. Thank god iTunes lets you purchase by the song.

Beloved Celebrities Go Nutso

On All Things Considered this evening they had a story on Anger Management that was interlaced with clips of celebrities getting angry. The best one was Casey Kasem getting upset because they had played an upbeat song just before he had to send out a dedication for someone's dead dog. Take a listen. (22 seconds Real Audio) By "best one" I mean that all the other clips are sports related, or by Morton Downey Jr. - where anger is expected. With Mr. Kasem, anger is not something you'd expect from his public persona.

Which reminds me of a set of reported NRP outtakes... I'm not sure if they're legit, but they seem plausable. (Some seem too boring to be made up, but some of them, like the one with Terry Gross seem to stretch credulity.) The Garrison Keillor one is the most distubing - check this out:

GARRISON KEILLOR: [whispering] The first section of our show brought to you by Powdermilk Biscuits, in the big green box, made from whole wheat raised by Norwegian bachelor farmers, so you know they’re not only good for you, they’re also pure, mostly. Whole wheat that gives shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done. Heavens they’re tasty, and expeditious.

SOUND EFFECTS GUY: Yah, and they’ll make ya poop like a champ, too! [squeezes whoopee cushion]

KEILLOR: [still whispering] Yes, they’ll really get you going…Jesus…ok, cut, cut… [screaming] Tom that’s it, you’re fucking fired!! You hear me you cocksucker?! Fired! Now, get the fuck out! Get the fuck out! No, just get the fuck out before I call the fucking cops!

[whispering] And now, the news from Lake Wobegone.

(From http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/stories/the_npr_blooper_reel.php October 21, 2003.)