A Christmas Card for Everyone!

To steal a quote from one of my movie favs: Unforgiven (ironically enough):

"Deserve's got nothing to do with it."

Christmas!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouforeverandeverandeveramen!

God With Us!
Prince of Peace!
King of Kings!
Lord of Lords!
First and Last!

Feel free to add on!

Matthew Ryan's Dear Lover

Christmas comes at Halloween with the release of Matthew Ryan's Dear Lover CD on sale now at Matthew Ryan's website. I've blogged before here about Matthew's last CD, Matthew Ryan Versus the Silver State, and just how absolutely fantastic that release was. Here's a musician and songwriter I just cannot recommend enough. He's one of those guys that if you like what you hear now, you want to go back and gobble up his whole discographic catalog. Here's a teaser track from the CD:



Take a listen and decide for yourself if this is a CD worth taking a flier on listening to and then talking about it to friends, family, work associates, school chums, and, heck, even strangers that love brilliant, poignant albeit ofttimes heartbreaking songwriting and excellent music. His songs are ones you listen to repeatedly and then think about long after the music's stopped.

I'm purchasing it today, but hearing what I've heard from Matthew Ryan's past, I'm recommending it sight unseen, or rather, CD unheard. Of course, I'll also be letting you know in the comments about my feelings once I receive it. Here's a few pre-release reviews:

PopDose
Glide Magazine
Metromix

Thanks for listening!

Coooooooodepokkkkkkkkkkke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cue trumpets! Cue bells!

In case you guys didn't hear, well, let him be the one to tell you this awesome news!

Congratulations Kevin & Dana!

All best wishes from The Realm of Possibility to and for the both of you, forever.

Favorite Sports Rivalries

I'm still on Cloud Nine after the fabulous Monday Night Football game between my Miami Dolphins and the dreaded, evil-incarnate, trash-talking New York Jets. Score one for the good guys as the Fins took their first of two meetings this year 31-27.

As football rivalries go, for me, it doesn't get any better than the Dolphins/Jets... and I live in Alabama, and am an Auburn University grad and fan, and here you hear about the Iron Bowl rivalry 365 days a year -- and I'm not joking about that. I know most people in Alabama that root for one of the two schools, well, there's nothing that compares to Auburn versus Alabama (I'm fairly sure, if Alabama fans read what I just wrote, it might stick in their craw a bit that I listed Auburn first just now -- that's how bad it is). I can't downplay the rivalry here because it's like nothing I've ever seen. However, I have a lot of friends that are Alabama fans, and I enjoy them a lot. We give each other hard times, but most of it is in good fun. On the other hand, I don't have any, that I know of, friends that are New York Jet fans. So I don't look at them in the same way -- there are no "real people" that cheer for the New York Jets, only automaton spawn that spew the "J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets" mantra and infiltrate football stadiums, perpetrating heinous acts. Call me crazy, but since I let myself see it that way, then, the New York Jets... with their blowhard coach, their irritating chant, their sore-loser players (save Kris Jenkins, who manned-up after the loss), their big city media that follows them, and, as of right now, their 3-2 record, which is a game ahead of my team's... well, they're just sort of this nebulous evil entity that my Dolphin-fan-guts-and-insides just wants to rail against so as to champion the triumph of justice, decency, and valor everywhere over the insidious evil that flows out of the Empire State in the form of the New York football Jets.

Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. Sort of.

I could spend hours and pages writing about the intricacies of Monday's game... but that's not really Realm material. Plus, I do that with my dad and brother.

However, since it is what's on my mind, I decided to ask you guys:

What are your favorite sports rivalries? What makes them special to you? I know there are some good ones, and some that are longstanding. Red Sox/Yankees. Cubs/Cardinals. USC/UCLA. Army/Navy. Cowboys/Redskins. Bears/Packers. Celtics/Lakers. Rangers/Islanders. Sampras/Agassi. Ali/Frazier. And that's just touching the tip of the iceberg. Let's hear some good ones.

Pick 1 or Pick 2: 1) 10 Best Songs of the '00s or 2) Top 5-10 Most Meaningful Songs to You

Posting slackard that I am, here's another at least half post on the shoulders of yet another of our faithful commenters - Anonymous, (signed) BP. Back on the MRVSS post, Brett mentioned to me:

Oh, and Rich, a silly project I've been torturing myself with in my spare time this week is trying to determine the 10 best songs (or my 10 favorite, anyway) of '00's. A blog post on this subject might be enough to make Ken's head explode?

Seeing Ken's head explode always being a good thing, this exercise might be a good one to try. What are your 10 (more or less) best songs of the 2000s? We should get a lot of divergence on this one, if people participate.

------

I had been thinking of this one for a while, and I just decided to include this one with the other because I think it's easier. Obviously, music is dynamic and fluctuating, and favorites and bests can come and go depending on moods, age or stages of life, hearing a new great song, and on and on. However, looking back over your life, what five or ten songs are the most meaningful to your life? This can be any type or genre of music, any type of song. Rock, country, jazz, blues, soul, gospel, and then hymns, holiday favorites, national anthems, lullabies, opera pieces ~ nothing is excluded. Music that has influenced you, moved you, gotten you through tough times, tunes that remind you of someone dear, these are the songs I'm looking for, not necessarily and likely not your favorite or best five to ten songs. That would be a different post. For instance, I know two of mine would be:

1) The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life by the 77s

and

2) The Little Drummer Boy

So, if you're game, pick a list and let me know what you think. Best songs of the '00s, which is tough, or most meaningful songs to you, which should be easier.

Lost Musical Treasures in My Closet # 2: The Connells - Ring

Back in 1993, yeah, that's sixteen years ago, after a few moderately successful albums but problems with a record label causing a three-year hiatus in their recording, this little re-energized band from Raleigh, North Carolina called The Connells put out the CD that I consider the height of their career, Ring. I had really enjoyed The Connells' One Simple Word previously, and Fun & Games and Boylan Heights had been pretty good as well. Ring, however, brought everything together for the band, as they hit on every song. Here's a CD that, for me, had no weak moments, and the music is as fresh today as it was sixteen years ago and will be after sixteen more, I'm quite certain.


What I really love is when every single song from a CD, at different times, encaptivates me. Very, very few CDs pull this off. Ring did for me. Over time, though, and even now, I'll still have one of Ring's tunes breezing through my mind. It's one thing to have a bad song stuck in your mind -- that's bothersome -- but when Doug MacMillan's soothing voice echoes one of Ring's ditties in between my ears, it's always welcome.

Of the twelve songs, I can only remember the up-tempo Slackjawed, the single New Boy, and the haunting '74-'75 getting any radio airplay at all. Nevertheless, any of the songs seemed radio-ready to me. Upbeat numbers like Carry My Picture, Hey You, and Burden along with the aforementioned Slackjawed were interspersed with mid- and slower-tempo songs, but all of them had immediate hooks, and I was in love. After a few Connells CDs that I thought were great in the front half but a little weaker on the B-side, Ring doesn't falter but actually picks up. Spiral and Disappointed, two slower songs, sandwich the the rocking Hey You and stellar New Boy, which is a string of songs that I'd say highlights the CD if Slackjawed and Running Mary, the fantastic closer, weren't also such banner songs.

When I found Ring just the other day in a stack of CDs, I fell in love all over again.

Two-thirds of the World is Covered by Water

The rest is covered by Sean Smith.

Go Dolphins!!!

Lost Musical Treasures in My Closet # 1: Todd Snider - Songs for the Daily Planet

Every once in a while, you go digging through your old CDs and find one you've been dying to hear, but you just hadn't thought about it for awhile. Here's an oldie but a goodie. I'm pretty sure it was Todd Snider's first CD, and it's called Songs for the Daily Planet. It's a little alt-country, a little blues, a little folk, a little of a lot, and rootsy more than anything. Not everything is dynamite on any Snider CD in my opinion, but the gems are priceless. Todd's witty, intelligent, self-deprecating, wry, and sensitive, and his music is all his own. If I have to toss out some comparisons, maybe Jimmy Buffett, John Prine, Robert Earl Keen, John Hiatt... but only when these guys are at their best.

Heading down to the Destin beaches back in '95, I was listening to a modern rock radio station, and the song, Alright Guy played. It had been a long time since I had heard anything like this tune, and it was immediate, irreverent, and laugh out loud funny. Although the material in the song is dated, the music stands the test of time. Here's a link to a YouTube video of Alright Guy. That was my introduction to Todd Snider, and impulse buyer that I was in those days, I had to go get the CD. Am I glad I did. It's gotten a ton of play over the years, and it's one I force-feed upon unsuspecting friends when they least expect it!

I'll hit the highlights of the CD:

It starts out with My Generation, Part 2, a cool, little satirical number poking at today's society. Obviously, it harkens back to The Who's My Generation, but Snider's tune is totally its own. Similar to Alright Guy, the lyrical content dates it, but for this one, that's precisely the point. The song is a stellar intoduction into some of what you're going to get with Songs for the Daily Planet. Here's a lyrical sample:

We were raised up in the hallowed halls

Of half a million shopping malls

And there ain't any price that we're too proud to pay

We'll buy anything from Diet Sprite

To one thousand points of light

Hey, I admit we're not that bright

But I'm proud anyway

Here's to hair gel

Hanging out at the health spa

Using condom sense

Watching Arsenio Hall

Here's to drum machines

Stone-washed jeans

Credit cards, fax machines

Big bow-headed chicks and frat guys

Wearing forty dollar tie-dyed t-shirts

And big, bold paisley ties

Here's to living off dad as long as we can

And blending into the crowd

Oh, my generation

My generation

My generation

God, I hope I die before I get old

The fourth, fifth, and sixth songs are an incredible trio. This Land Is Our Land leads off the trifecta, and here's a live rendition of the tune on YouTube. The end of it breaks into CCR's It Ain't Me. It's pretty good, but because I'm touting the CD itself, you should also hear the studio versions of all these ditties. Here's one more live version and it's more straightforward. This Land Is Our Land rails against the extravagances and wastes of America and Americans today, reminding the listener that Native Americans were here before Western Europeans and were the better stewards of the land. The aforementioned Alright Guy follows. This tongue-in-cheek crack at the point of view character in the song is so perfect, you sing or hum along with a smile on your face the whole way. The last song of the three, I Spoke as a Child, is absolutely wonderful. The lyrics speak with a wisdom that comes only after the the tempests of life wring out the soul. Here's what I mean:

I'd like to find that old time feelin',

Somewhere in between what I've become,

Somewhere down the line it must have seemed appealing,

So I suppose that it must work for some,

But I wanna go back to going crazy,

Believing every word that I was told,

You know sometimes growing up I think I'm getting wiser

And then other times I think I'm getting old.

When I was a child I spoke as a child,

But all I heard was how I should get ahead.

Now growing up it ain't anything but all this indecision

With these debts and doubts and worries hangin' over my head.

When I was a child I spoke as a child,

I wish I could remember what I said.

When I was a child I spoke as a child,

God I wish I could remember what I said.

For me, the high point of the CD is the song, A Lot More. It won't be everybody's, but that's okay. It's mine. Although probably not written to be so, it's anthemic to me and a song I can plant my heart's flag in and want to claim for my own. Sorry to do this to you, but it's worth it on this one to lay down all the words to the song:

Some guys are looking for diamonds,

some guys just wanna pay their bills,

some guys are climbing up mountains,

while others are digging for thrills.

Some guys just wanna win trophies,

some guys just wanna get girls,

and some guys swear they won't stop working

till they own everything in the world.

Well, good luck at the end of that rainbow

if you think thats what your here for,

but make no mistake about it, baby,

I want a whole lot more.

I want a whole lot more.

A whole lot more.

Sometimes I see people out here,

playing every single one of their cards

for bigger this or better that,

or greener grass 'round the pools in their yard.

They work and they slave

just so they can save up a whole lot to leave behind.

Yeah, some guys are just so certain success

is the key to their piece of mind.

Well, good luck at the end of that rainbow
if you think thats what you're here for,
but make no mistake about it, baby,
I want a whole lot more.
I want a whole lot more.

I want a whole lot more than treasures

that I can store down here on earth.

Price 'em any way that you want to,

hey buddy, I know what they're worth.

Yeah, some guys want attention,

some guys want girls,

and some dig kickin' down doors.

Some guys will want everything in this whole wide world;

I want a whole lot more.

I want a whole lot more.

There's a whole lot more.

Subsequent to A Lot More is the tragic You Think You Know Somebody about two friends, one of who is abused by his father unbeknownst to the other until they grow up and the cycle repeats itself, but in a sorrowful ending. Really, really good song. I really like Suzanne Vega's Luka and how it illustrated child abuse, but this one is just as good at the very least.

Somebody's Coming is a rocker that heartens the downtrodden that Somebody is coming back for His children. While it might bother a few folks that in one song, Snider is singing about smoking dope, quitting school, or getting drunk off his arse, then in another, he's proclaiming Christ's return, well, let me just say, that's what you're going to get with Todd Snider. And I love it.

The final song, Joe's Blues, transitions into the ghost track, Talkin' Seattle Grunge Blues. Hilarious and sardonically cutting at the music scene in the 90s, here's a YouTube video of the song. When the CD first came out, this track was the one about which I heard the most buzz. Over time, as the grunge wave went its course, the song may not have the impact it once did. However, I dare you to listen to it without cracking a grin. Can't be done.

Songs for the Daily Planet is laced throughout with fantastic songwriting and is part of what's best in the Alt-Country music genre. If you've never heard it, I'm heartily recommending it. Take a listen! On every Snider CD, there're always jewels to be found. Songs for the Daily Planet is a crown full of them.

Your Worst Inhibitions Tend to PSYCH You Out in the End

One day and counting! TOMORROW 10:00 p.m., 9:00 CST, Psych, Season 4, begins. I'll make these short and sweet -- my Top 10 reasons Psych is my favorite TV show:


10) Great episode names: Granted this isn't a real reason to watch the show, but if you have the DVDs and see the episode names, sort of like Seinfeld, you can relate to them by name because they stick out --

Tuesday the 17th
Black and Tan: A Crime of Fashion
Gus Walks into a Bank
There's Something about Mira
Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead
Spellingg Bee
Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast

Because of this familiarity, they touch a little closer to home when you're laughing about them with friends.

9) Corbin Bernsen works as Shawn's dad. The obsessive cop who trained his son to be hyper-observant and let Shawn live with all his misconceptions of his parents' divorce so not to soil his thoughts of his mother - this has led to a rocky yet touching relationship between the pair that grows as the serial comedy goes along. A great side story.

8) Rewatchability of the episodes. I've got all three seasons on DVD, and there's no episode I wouldn't watch and laugh at a second, third, and fourth time.

7) The scenes where Shawn and Gus run away chicken. About two or three times each season, something happens that scares the pants off of our two heroes, and they just take off running. Those scenes are so laugh out loud funny, I almost wish there were more. But that would spoil it and make them predictable. It's great how it is.

6) Maggie Lawson as Juliet O'Hara - She wasn't in the pilot episode, but bringing her on was a stroke of genius. She's cute, perky, just believable enough in a cop role, and perfect for Shawn's love interest.

5) And since I've brought up Jules, the new twist that brought Rachael Leigh Cook in as Shawn's old flame, Abigail - the one that got away in high school - has made for a really good love triangle. I hope the show continues this for a little while. The sub-plot of Shawn and Jules attraction has been well played, and this little addition makes a nice turn. We'll see how it goes, but I'm looking forward to it.

4) The show doesn't take itself too seriously. This is pretty much true of all the USA shows, and that's probably a reason I like nearly every show. Monk's my least favorite, but it started in the right vein of not trying to be a hard-boiled cop show. Some of the characters are caricatures (like Lassie in Psych), but eventually they show human sides. Burn Notice and Royal Pains also do a very good job of this, and they're even more serious shows. I think In Plain Sight is the one that takes itself the most seriously, and it doesn't totally, but because of that, I think it suffers. Psych doesn't at all. It's not supposed to be reality, but you can suspend your belief because it works well enough as a dramedy and the fringe benefits are fantastic.

3) My kids love it. Now, not everything in every episode is kid-friendly, and sometimes I have to pause the DVD episodes and fast forward because of some innuendoes or a little too much kissing or spending the night. However, most episodes are pretty family-friendly, at least for a watcher like me.

2) All the 80s and pop culture references. The show is so loaded with them, it's hard to pick any out without just overflowing. The new commercial where the lady asks Shawn if he believes in Karma is a perfect example. Shawn's witty reply: "Of course, I do. I'm a Karma Chameleon." And Gus chips in with, "We come and go." I think my favorite might have been in Tuesday the 17th, which was an excellent spoof on the horror movies in the Friday the 13th genre, where Shawn, who was jealous of Gus' relationship as a kid with Joey Cunningham and now they're grown, states, "My least favorite tag team of all team." And Clive, a camp counselor, retorts, "Really, with the Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkov on the table." (Those were pro wrestler villians, if you didn't know.) Not missing a beat, Shawn remarks, "You came up with that reference? Wow!" It's chalk full of these sorts of references, and they.are.hilarious.

1) The relationship, repoire, and banter between Shawn and Gus. I haven't seen better chemistry between two actors in any show... ever. They are hilarious together, touching sometimes, meaningful at others, you know they love each other as friends, and they work together on their cases so well. These are the roles James Roday and Dule' Hill will be remembered for forever. And that's gonna be a GREAT legacy for the two of them.

Psych is awesome!!! I love it! Watch it tomorrow! Is there anything else I can say?

A Little Glen Phillips

I don't have much time today, so I thought I'd just toss out some song lyrics that move me from one of my favorites, Glen Phillips. Back in the '90s, he was the front man for the band Toad the Wet Sprocket, but since, he's embarked on his own solo career - one for which I'm very thankful. Very, very talented and intelligent guy. Here's some lyrical examples.

From his CD Mr. Lemons, here's a sample from the last track A Joyful Noise that exemplifies the grace of God.

Mouth open
lies pour out
you know we’re not leaving you, not leaving you alone now
you will make a joyful noise

Hallelujah

This is a song of thanks to the Creator also from Mr. Lemons. It's called Thank You. This is one you really have to hear the way it crescendos into a rhymic, tribal chanting at the end. It's really cool.

You made this world, You made this world
You made this world, Thank you, thank you
You gave me life, You gave me life
You gave me life, Thank you, thank you

Your love is everywhere, Your love is everywhere
Open me, open me
You sowed these seeds, You sowed these seeds,
You sowed these seeds, Thank you, thank you

You brought this peace, You brought this peace
You brought this peace, Thank you, thank you

Your love is everywhere, Your love is everywhere
Your love is everywhere, Open me, open me

And last, the whole song, Duck And Cover (bolded for emphasis by me), from the CD Winter Pays for Summer, pretty much explains itself:

Someone's in the back yard, banging on the door
Daddy's gone away, he's coming back no more
His baby's curled up on a stranger's floor
Mama's thinking family dinners weren't too much to ask for

Everybody here's got a story to tell,
Everybody's been through their own hell
There's nothing too special about getting hurt
Getting over it, that takes the work
Cause one way or another, we'll all need each other
Nothing's gonna turn out the way you thought it would
But friends and lovers, don't you duck and cover
Cause everything comes out the way it should

Blessed are the humble, blessed are the meek
Blessed are the hungry, blessed are the weak
Blessed are the ones on the other side
Blessed are we for just being alive
One day I stopped wanting anything at all
The heavens opened up like a waterfall
No use in worrying about when it ends
Just for now be thankful for what I get
Cause one way or another, a man's gonna suffer
It makes no difference the way you wanted it
But friends and lovers, don't you duck and cover
Cause everything comes out the way it should in the end

Seems like life is a palindrome
You cry when you die, you cry when you're born
In between it's all about the ups and downs
Add 'em all together, they cancel each other out
Cause one way or another, One way or another
You won't get what you wanted
You'll get enough, for sure
One way or another
Winter pays for the summer
Won't get what you wanted
What you got'll be good

Someone's in the back yard, banging on the door
Daddy's gone away, he's coming back no more
His baby's curled up on a stranger's floor Mama's
thinking happy endings weren't too much to ask for.

Glen's go so many great songs. Some of my other favorites are Everything But You, I Still Love You, Train Wreck, Easier, Thankful, Waiting, Sleep of the Blessed. And if that's not enough, go pick up a copy of the Toad retrospective P.S., which has a sixteen great songs, and almost any American adult will recognize at least a few of the tunes on that CD. YouTube any of the songs on P.S., and they'll take you back, I promise.

Just like I promise you'll love Glen Phillips' music. It's a money back guarantee!

MRVSS

You knew it had to be coming. I held out as long as I could. Run for the hills if you must.

Since three years ago, I have a new favorite CD, and it's never far from my car or house radio. Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State (MRVSS). This one's gold. If you haven't heard Matthew Ryan, as one reviewer comes close to nailing his rasped voice and incredible music, "Think: Leonard Cohen meets The Clash, Bruce Springsteen meets Nick Drake." For this one, I'm just going to jot down the song titles, a lyric or two from each one, and then perhaps make a note about the song. So, without further ado:

1) Dulce Et Decorum Est

I think

I am

heroic in a failing way

for some of us it goes that way

The title of this song comes from a famous WWI poem by Wilfred Owen. The translated Latin is, for the song's purposes, "it's sweet, it's right". I think I might blog on Owen's poem one day soon.

2) American Dirt

Honey, I swear it's not my fault,

they shut us down, the big door was locked,

the bigger the dream, the bigger the trap,

the bigger the black and disappointment...

---

I've been spitting out American dirt, all that money can buy, all that money can buy

---

I wish I done something with my life,

Something safe and sort of useless...

When I analyze the autos, toys, the Wiis, every new technology that comes along, the furniture... how lavish I live compared to the rest of the world, I get what Matthew Ryan is talking about here.

3) Meet Me by the River

But I recall watching you walk down the aisle,

and I recall the way flower girls made your mother smile.

We used to smile

4) It Could've Been Worse

Your love in a car, you promised her everything

not knowing what everything really was.

She's the first girl you kissed, she's the first girl you miss,

when you're feeling like this

broke and in the dark.

Her blonde hair was a setting sun;

her mascara was born to run.

You got scared when she started to show,

one more thing you'd have to let go.

---

...but i'll never believe, that you jumped and just ended there,

the note you left read "look everywhere", "you'll never bury me"

This song follows a tragic young life to it's tragic end. It's an awesome song. I'd say it's a high point on the CD, except I'd be saying that about so many of these tunes, it would just be pointless.

5) Hold on Firefly

The rotten apple of her eye, talks junk on weekends,

at a dump called the Firefly, he's laughing with his friends

---

Sugar gets bitter, she knows to watch her tongue

that bastard never hit her in front of anyone.

Hold on to me, hold on to me,

you're going to feel better, you're just afraid to leave.

The characters in a lot of Ryan's songs are similar this girl, tragic figures. Here, this one's caught in an abusive relationship that she doesn't know how to end.

6) Jane, I Still Feel the Same

You wore my shirt beside the ocean, your eyes were serious the air was blue,

and I've relived that simple notion when you're young does it make it any less true?

'Cause, Jane i still feel the same.

You were a good thing, you were a good thing, in a world gone wrong.

7) Killing the Ghost

Sleeping like a machine gun,

your bedroom was no fun.

Falling down hard on my head was shooting black stars,

never knew who you were now I know what you are.

I will carve from you my life

I couldn't care less, it feels all right.

I'm cutting it close, I'm cutting it close, I'm cutting it close,

I'm killing the ghost.

Unrepentant and hard-edged, if you've been in a bad relationship for a long time, this is just about the perfect break-up, separation, divorce song. The repetitive and driving lyric "I will carve you from my life, couldn't care less, feels alright. I'm cutting it close, cutting it close, cutting it close, killing the ghost" leaves one wondering whether he's getting it done or not, but there's no doubt what the sentiment is.

8) They Were Wrong

Here's the saddest song you never heard,

these Catholic kids get what they deserve.

We were in the front row at the sad last goodbye,

you were so pissed off you were trembling inside.

Why would you ever live to wish and wait by the front door,

that your daddy never answered and your momma won't any more?

They were wrong, they were wrong, they were wrong, they were wrong,

the day is never too long, when it's gone it's gone.

They were wrong.

My God, they're still wrong.

I haven't totally figured this song out yet, but if I guess, it sounds like a girl at a Catholic school for girls met up with a boy from a parochial school, one thing led to another, and she got prego. Her friends abandoned her as did her parents.

9) I Only Want to be the Man You Want

I only want to be the man you want,

the ring that you twist, the song you hum.

I only want to be the man you want.

Don't say it, don't say it, your thoughts are loud your worry heard.

You'll wave goodbye beside the things you think will get you by,

when you should land my hummingbird.

Maybe you should land my hummingbird.

Beautiful song that fills the mind with pictures.

10) Drunk and Disappointed

He parked his Lincoln underneath the trees,

about a quarter to nine, he walked inside the Applebee's.

And nothing was moving not even the sky,

Johnny wanted a lot of things, but Johnny didn't want to die.

How did you get so drunk and disappointed?

Ain't nothing here to pull you through.

How did you get so drunk and disappointed?

The worst you'd fear is coming true, it's coming true. It's coming true.

Another song about a character who has hit rock bottom, but he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to kill himself, but he's not sure how to live either.

11) Closing In

You put your hand in mine as the plane took off,

you said, "You don't know how lucky you are." Now I know I was.

Maybe I'll go for a walk, maybe I'll go to hell.

Maybe it's just that we're the only ones that save us from ourselves.

Step by step now, day by day, from where you been,

the hits come on still, one by one, maybe we'll never win,

but we're closing in, we're closing in, we're closing in.

Just a perfect closing song for a CD like this one - tinged with a little hope after the mess of life that's gone before with a little forgiveness and the feel of redemption mixed in.

*************

I suppose that if your music is all shiny, happy people or pick-up trucks or Marvin Gaye, you may want to steer clear of Matthew Ryan. However, if you enjoy thoughtful, intelligent, rock music with some pop sensibility, you might want to give MRVSS a try. In my car and home, I have quite a few CDs, and many that I love and listen to a lot. None, though, have come close to being played like Matthew Ryan Vs. the Silver State.

Trust me on this one. ;)

Knock, knock, knock...Rich. Knock, knock, knock...Rich. Knock, knock, knock... Rich. Knock, knock, knock... Rich. Knock, knock, knock... Rich.

(Ed. note: OK, THAT'S TOO COOL!! Sorry for shouting, but thanks to Milly I just found www.sheldonshirts.com. It's very exciting. They have links to all the online retailers for the tshirts worn by Sheldon and Leonard on the show. Merry Christmas to me. BTW, is my geek showing?)

Since we're already two seasons in, this may be a tad gauche. But since I've always been known for my devil-may-care Errol Flynn-type audacity, here goes anyway. I love me some Big Bang Theory.

(And no, in case you're wondering. This is not like Rich's unhealthy obsession with alternative country song lyrics or the the show 24.)

I love me some Sheldon, some Leonard, some Penny, some Raj, and some Howard. But especially some Sheldon.

I think it may be that I just relate more to his character. In all probability either because we're both geniuses or because both of us are tall, suave, Southern boys. At any rate, if you don't know what I'm talking about right now, run don't walk to the Netflix link on the sidebar and move The Big Bang Theory Season 1 to the top of the queue.

I was a late convert myself. There, I admitted it. But don't continue to make the same mistake I did. It wouldn't wear as well on you, trust me. From the show's title to its closing credits, the mirth and mayhem will keep you in stitches no matter which episode you are watching or which character you find most relatable.

Occam's razor suggests that we shouldn't analyze this further. However, if you're a fellow BBT fan, I'll indulge your secret need to share personal thoughts in a public forum using an impersonal technology, and we can discuss what makes this show so great while everyone else is left ostracized and puzzled by our witty banter.

Hey, someone in Kuala Lumpur just made popcorn in my microwave!