A Journal for Jordan

Oh man, this is deep. Please check this out:
http://spotlight.news.yahoo.com/v/11317059

Mike Singletary!

Good times at the Cuellar household! Go Niners!

Jeff Tweedy Sunken Treasure DVD

My first Netflix review: Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure. Fricken amazing!!!!!! Rent it! Buy it! See it! You'll thank me later. . .

Here's the trailer:

MLB Network!

Oh-yeah, this is the real deal! The channel looks amazing! If you have cable you're ready to go. Nothing extra. Check out the promo.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200812053704040

The Fireman (Paul McCartney) - Sing the Changes

The Fireman! Yes, this is Sir Paul McCartney's new single! Good stuff!!!!!! SING THE CHANGES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcfiViHa1F4

Stevie Wonder - Someday at Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Pearl Jam - Let Me Sleep

From their annual fan club Christmas single (1991). You can also find it on their B-side album, "Lost Dogs." Great song.

Written: Vedder/McCready

"Why History Can't Wait"

A GREAT ARTICLE SUMMARIZING WHAT I EXPECT FROM AN OBAMA PRESIDENCY. IT'S WORTH YOUR TIME.

PICTURE: ANNE SAVAGE
Made of faces from Obama rallies, Savage calls this mosaic Out of Many, We are One. It is pieced together from the faces of 5,700 people who attended the rallies she covered.

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008
Why History Can't Wait (LINK)
By David Von Drehle (TIME MAGAZINE)

EXCERPT:
But crisis has a way of ushering even great events into the past. As Obama has moved with unprecedented speed to build an Administration that would bolster the confidence of a shaken world, his flash and dazzle have faded into the background. In the waning days of his extraordinary year and on the cusp of his presidency, what now seems most salient about Obama is the opposite of flashy, the antithesis of rhetoric: he gets things done. He is a man about his business — a Mr. Fix It going to Washington. That's why he's here and why he doesn't care about the furniture. We've heard fine speechmakers before and read compelling personal narratives. We've observed candidates who somehow latch on to just the right issue at just the right moment. Obama was all these when he started his campaign: a talented speaker who had opposed the Iraq war and lived a biography that was all things to all people. But while events undermined those pillars of his candidacy, making Iraq seem less urgent and biography less relevant, Obama has kept on rising. He possesses a rare ability to read the imperatives and possibilities of each new moment and organize himself and others to anticipate change and translate it into opportunity

Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker - The Golden State

Here's Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) covering John Doe's (X) "The Golden State." Good stuff!!

No One Is Safe From This Economic Crisis

"The search for efficiency and the urge to consume has set us all up like a row of dominoes - there is no buffer, no resiliency. As one problem rises it causes another. As one solution is tried it drives another problem. We all pull back and the consumer economy stalls. The auto industry and credit firms feeds the media (40% of conventional advertising). Papers and TV and Radio networks, many subject to LBO's will have to fail as per the Tribune. Every sector will be laying people off. Sales of all things fall off a cliff - driving more business failures and layoffs. Cities and states that depend on sales tax and property tax and the credit markets can rely on none of these. So they too will have to lay off millions - thus making all the problems worse. National governments will be asked to save us all and of course cannot. As States and Cities get squeezed and cannot borrow, they will too lay off millions - teachers, firemen police. No one will be safe," - Robert Patterson, surveying the year to come.

Face of the Day

A nun attends the last Sunday mass before Christmas at the Latin Catholic Church in Gaza City on December 21, 2008. Some 2,000 Palestinian Christians live in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. By Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty.

Stone Gossard - 1999

Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam covering Prince's 1999. Zak is diggin it right now! So you better dig it! :) Thanks to my old high school bud for this video.

UPDATE: MAN, I'M DIGGIN THIS BIG TIME!

Mike McCready Profile (CBS Local News)

This is for the Pearl Jam fan. Good stuff!

PART 1


PART 2

Wilco - Muzzle of Bees

This is for you Erik. . .

Immigration In America

A video that shows immigration to the US from 1820 to 2007. Each dot represents 100 people. This is cool. . .

"Whatever America's faults, what other country draws so many for so long?" - Andrew Sullivan


Immigration to the US, 1820-2007 v2 from Ian Stevenson on Vimeo.

President Bush - More Shoes! Shoe the Shoeless!

C'MON IRAQ! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOUR DIRT IS HIS FUC*EN FOOD?

FUNNY STUFF. THEY DID FINISH THE SHOW. . .

INDIO, 1993

Tom Jones - Treat Her Right

Wow! This will either excite or scare the hell out of you! Either way it's great entertainment! It gets real good at the 1:15 mark. Enjoy. ;)

Allen Ginsberg & Paul McCartney - The Ballad Of The Skeletons

Said the Presidential Skeleton
I won't sign the bill
Said the Speaker skeleton
Yes you will

Said the Representative Skeleton
I object
Said the Supreme Court skeleton
Whaddya expect

Said the Miltary skeleton
Buy Star Bombs
Said the Upperclass Skeleton
Starve unmarried moms



Said the Yahoo Skeleton
Stop dirty art
Said the Right Wing skeleton
Forget about yr heart

Said the Gnostic Skeleton
The Human Form's divine
Said the Moral Majority skeleton
No it's not it's mine

Said the Buddha Skeleton
Compassion is wealth
Said the Corporate skeleton
It's bad for your health

Said the Old Christ skeleton
Care for the Poor
Said the Son of God skeleton
AIDS needs cure

Said the Homophobe skeleton
Gay folk suck
Said the Heritage Policy skeleton
Blacks're outa luck

Said the Macho skeleton
Women in their place
Said the Fundamentalist skeleton
Increase human race

Said the Right-to-Life skeleton
Fetus has a soul
Said Pro Choice skeleton
Shove it up your hole

Said the Downsized skeleton
Robots got my job
Said the Tough-on-Crime skeleton
Tear gas the mob

Said the Governor skeleton
Cut school lunch
Said the Mayor skeleton
Eat the budget crunch

Said the Neo Conservative skeleton
Homeless off the street!
Said the Free Market skeleton
Use 'em up for meat

Said the Think Tank skeleton
Free Market's the way
Said the Saving & Loan skeleton
Make the State pay

Said the Chrysler skeleton
Pay for you & me
Said the Nuke Power skeleton
& me & me & me

Said the Ecologic skeleton
Keep Skies blue
Said the Multinational skeleton
What's it worth to you?

Said the NAFTA skeleton
Get rich, Free Trade,
Said the Maquiladora skeleton
Sweat shops, low paid

Said the rich GATT skeleton
One world, high tech
Said the Underclass skeleton
Get it in the neck

Said the World Bank skeleton
Cut down your trees
Said the I.M.F. skeleton
Buy American cheese

Said the Underdeveloped skeleton
We want rice
Said Developed Nations' skeleton
Sell your bones for dice

Said the Ayatollah skeleton
Die writer die
Said Joe Stalin's skeleton
That's no lie

Said the Middle Kingdom skeleton
We swallowed Tibet
Said the Dalai Lama skeleton
Indigestion's whatcha get

Said the World Chorus skeleton
That's their fate
Said the U.S.A. skeleton
Gotta save Kuwait

Said the Petrochemical skeleton
Roar Bombers roar!
Said the Psychedelic skeleton
Smoke a dinosaur

Said Nancy's skeleton
Just say
No Said the Rasta skeleton
Blow Nancy Blow

Said Demagogue skeleton
Don't smoke Pot
Said Alcoholic skeleton
Let your liver rot

Said the Junkie skeleton
Can't we get a fix?
Said the Big Brother skeleton
Jail the dirty pricks

Said the Mirror skeleton
Hey good looking
Said the Electric Chair skeleton
Hey what's cooking?

Said the Talkshow skeleton
Fuck you in the face
Said the Family Values skeleton
My family values mace

Said the NY Times skeleton
That's not fit to print
Said the CIA skeleton
Cantcha take a hint?

Said the Network skeleton
Believe my lies
Said the Advertising skeleton
Don't get wise!

Said the Media skeleton
Believe you me
Said the Couch-potato skeleton
What me worry?

Said the TV skeleton
Eat sound bites
Said the Newscast skeleton
That's all Goodnight

-Allen Ginsberg

Jay Farrar - The Picture (acoustic)

Good stuff. . .

The Public Education Hole

THIS IS PRETTY POWERFUL LOOK AT THE HOLE WE'VE CREATED IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. THIS DEFINITELY OPENED MY EYES. A MUST READ. AROD, GO BACK AND GET YOUR CREDENTIAL! WE NEED GUYS LIKE YOU!

By Amanda Ripley / Washington
TIME MAGAZINE

EXCERPT:
Rhee is convinced that the answer to the U.S.'s education catastrophe is talent, in the form of outstanding teachers and principals. She wants to make Washington teachers the highest paid in the country, and in exchange she wants to get rid of the weakest teachers. Where she and the teachers' union disagree most is on her ability to measure the quality of teachers. Like about half the states, Washington is now tracking whether students' test scores improve over time under a given teacher. Rhee wants to use that data to decide who gets paid more--and, in combination with classroom evaluation, who keeps the job. But many teachers do not trust her to do this fairly, and the union bristles at the idea of giving up tenure, the exceptional job security that teachers enjoy.

Please read the rest of the article here - Rhee Tackles Classroom Challenge

The Band - The Weight

Man I love the way they groove. . . You just know they're feeling it.

The Campaign Managers: Florida, Rev. Wright, The Economy, Palin, Iowa

THIS IS FOR THE POLITICAL JUNKIES (LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE). YOU WILL LOVE THIS! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS AIRS ON C-SPAN. . .

FROM MARC AMBINDER'S BLOG.
11 Dec 2008 08:57 pm

At Harvard's Institute of Politics tonight, David Plouffe, David Axelrod, the winners, and Rick Davis and Bill McInturff, not the winners, met on somewhat neutral territory to exchange war stories and engage in a series of fascinating counterfactuals meant to help the Kennedy School of Government draft a bit of story.

For example: Plouffe acknowledged that if Florida had kept its delegates and its January date on the Democratic nomination calendar, Obama might not have won the nomination. "Florida was concerning to us. If that Florida primary, coming three days after South Carolina, it might have mitigated all of South Carolina, and, in fact, we might not be the nominee."

READ THE REST HERE: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/12/the_campaign_managers_florida.php#more

John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

Warning: This video will make you think.

"Self-Inflicted Prophecy"

December 10, 2008, 9:00 pm
Self-Inflicted Prophecy (New York Times)
By David Kramer
Years ago, I had had a run of terrible luck in my life. My career was going nowhere. I thought about going to see a shrink, but I was totally broke and I didn’t want to get myself involved in anything that was going to cost me lots of time and money. So I went to see a psychic. In my mind, it was just like seeing a shrink, only instead of wasting all that time mulling over my past, I could set some totally arbitrary goals and navigate my life through them, moving forward.

My wife knew this guy named Kevin and he apparently was quite good at this. I asked him if he could do a reading of my stars and numbers. He agreed.

Kevin told me almost right away that I was living with a black aura and that my career and money were my biggest issues. I knew right then that Kevin was legit. Kevin told me that I would struggle for many years in my career — I’m an artist — and that things would slowly get better and better. He then told me that in 10 years (this year actually, 2008), things would finally work out — I would never have to worry about money again.

Read the rest of the article here - http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/self-inflicted-prophecy/

Paul McCartney & Neil Young - Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Bridge School 2004. Dragged my 8 1/2 month pregnant wife to this show. So you can say that this was Ava's first concert. Pretty cool. Eight rows back and I was in heaven. It was absolutely surreal to see McCartney and Neil sing THIS song together. Look at Neil. He's like a little kid playing music with one of his rock heroes. It was quite amazing. By the way, my wife was a trooper. She was in pain but that didn't stop her from singing "Hey Jude." :)

A Reminder To All Republicans

HERE'S A REMINDER TO ALL REPUBLICANS WHO ARE TRYING DESPERATELY TO LINK OBAMA TO THE ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SCANDAL. I'M QUICK TO REMIND THEM OF THE EIGHT DISASTOUROUS YEARS WE EXPERIENCED UNDER THE "DECIDER."

Eddie Vedder w/ My Morning Jacket - A Quick One While He's Away (live)

Eddie Vedder and My Morning Jacket cover The Who. Turns this up! Second time I had to post this. . . Trying to convert here!

By the way, this song inspired Pete Townshend to write two "Rock Opera" albums ("Tommy" & "Quadrophenia").

Part 1


Part 2

Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise (acoustic)

Classic rock? I'm getting old. . . Anyway, I love this version. Enjoy.

I Have More Arod.

KUNG FU MONKEY


SURFING DOG


BEAR PLAYING HOCKEY


SKATEBOARDING DOG

My Bad Arod

How about "slam dunking monkeys" Arod? Is this real? ;)

Simon and Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy In New York

Feeling this right now. . .

"Crazy Swingin Baby Neighbor"

The only funny thing about this is the people filming the video. Wow!

The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Getting myself psyched up for the "Civil War" lectures. . . :)

"Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is 'The Red Badge of Courage'. It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity." - Ralph J. Gleason (Rolling Stone Review 1969)

Robbie Robertson, who wrote the song, describes the inspiration for it:
"When I first went down South, I remember that a quite common expression would be, 'Well don't worry, the South's gonna rise again.' At one point when I heard it I thought it was kind of a funny statement and then I heard it another time and I was really touched by it. I thought, 'God, because I keep hearing this, there's pain here, there is a sadness here.' In Americana land, it's a kind of a beautiful sadness." -Robbie Robertson (Guitarist for The Band).

Gordon Ramsay - Sticky Lemon Chicken

Gordon is the man. . .

Jim James & Calexico - Goin' to Acapulco

This is a Bob Dylan cover from the movie "I'm Not There." The original "basement tape" is amazing! This version is also amazing!

"Giants must appeal to Sabathia's heart, not wallet"

BRUCE JENKINS MAKES A GREAT ARGUMENT FOR SABATHIA.

Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle Sports Columnist

Friday, December 5, 2008

(12-05) 17:27 PST -- The Giants aren't going to compete with the Yankees' offer for CC Sabathia, nor should they. They're playing a hand called logic, with a side of sentiment. Sabathia just might be that rare individual who truly appreciates the value of lifestyle.

Sabathia's idea of bliss isn't the madness of New York City, or a relentless press corps hounding him at every turn. He prefers the serenity of Fairfield, his hometown, and more down-to-earth pursuits. As an anxious public awaits his decision on the free-agent market, sources keep hinting that Sabathia's deep-down preference is the Giants.

Then for heaven's sake, man, just pull the trigger. What could be sweeter than pleasing your family (a wife and two kids), playing in a spacious ballpark, playing in a DH-free league (the man loves to hit) and joining a team that just might become a favorite in its division?

If there's a constant to the free-agent mind-set in all sports, it's that money counts above all. Terrible city? Lousy team? Yanking your kids out of a cherished school system? "That's cool," says the athlete as he poses for photographers with his agent. "I've got the most coin."

What a monumentally lame way to conduct your life. Financial concerns are paramount for those of us in the real world, but not for someone who (a) already is a multi-millionaire and (b) was just offered five years for more than $100 million. That's a ballpark estimate of how far the Giants might go for Sabathia. It sad to think he'd join the parade of mindless sheep, accepting the Yankees' package (a reported six years at $140 million) for the sake of bragging rights.

Some would question the wisdom of the Giants' interest. Didn't they learn from the Barry Zito experience that it's risky to sign any pitcher to a conspicuously long-term deal? Shouldn't they be chasing down a power hitter? Don't they already have a chance to possess the best starting rotation in the NL West?

For one thing, this isn't Zito, whose career downturn already had begun in Oakland. Sabathia is at the peak of his game, durable and reliable and exceptional in the clutch. All of the available power hitters carry some annoying baggage, ranging from poor defense to absurd contract demands to "curveball, strike three." There's always the chance Sabathia has placed excessive strain on his arm, but as we view him today, in his pristine state, his value is absolutely unassailable.

Even if the Dodgers retain Manny Ramirez and the Diamondbacks' young players rise to their potential, Sabathia makes the Giants a serious postseason threat (Sabathia and Tim Lincecum in the first two games? That series is over). He gives them an identity, a reason to win back some disgruntled fans. More than anything, he'd make the Giants matter - and if you know anything about club President Larry Baer, that's more important than oxygen.

The suggestion from here: Make the most ostentatious offer the budget will allow, and don't worry about the Yankees. Play upon one of Sabathia's finest attributes: common sense.

"Wasilla whack-job"

FROM ANDREW SULLIVAN. NOW YOU HAVE TO GET A NEW PASSWORD RONNIE:

More evidence that the Wasilla whack-job was getting pretty Barbra by the end of the campaign. The McCain camp spent over $100,000 on make-up and styling for Palin in the last two months of the campaign, and there's another $30,000 in clothing allowance has yet been spelled out. When you put it all together, we're talking about a woman who, if this carried on, would have an annual budget of something close to a $1 million for clothes and make-up alone. Some hockey mom. No wonder this beauty pageant contestant who once claimed she smelled of fish and longed to meet IvanaTrump, doesn't want to leave the stage (or go back to Alaska which she pretends to govern). And it's all perfectly fine if your goal is to provide a bimbo hood ornament for horny old white male voters. Just please don't tell me any of this has anything to do with a serious political party.

Eddie Vedder w/ Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Face Of Love

The original song can be found on the Dead Man Walking soundtrack with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Nusrat's nephew, Rahat, is singing with Eddie. According to Wikipedia, "Rahat took over the family Qawwali party after Nusrat's death in 1997." The 2:50 mark is when the magic begins. . . By the way, they're from Pakistan. Oh the power of music. . .

The La's - Timeless Melody

One of my favorite Pearl Jam covers. . .

>

Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers

Not much to say here except that this band and song rocks! Too bad they broke up. . . Anyway, give it a chance. . . Good stuff!

Mike Ness - Story of My Life (acoustic)

OKAY, I'M GOING. . .

Mike Ness - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (live)

Mike Ness is doing a bunch of SoCal shows this month. This video convinced me that I need to be there. . . :)

You can find the original Bob Dylan song below this video. Good stuff!



Here's the original:

BOB DYLAN - DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALL RIGHT

NBC News - Latinas learn to lower health risks