Going to Work with Johnny Rotten

Donning parka, gators, Stabilicers and the trusty iPod, I set out for work this morning during a fairly brisk snowfall, walking uncleared sidewalks for the most part through drifts up to knee height. Again in shuffle mode, I was accompanied by a suitable mix of sound, including Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Nigel Kennedy's violin and Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols doing Anarchy in the UK. Arriving at my destination about 40 minutes later, simultaneously wet and dry, hot and frozen, exhausted and exhilarated, I once again marveled at the ability of music to help get us through just about anything ...

Photo of the Day

Anja Niedringhaus is an internationally-acclaimed German photographer for the Associated Press who has documented war in the Balkans, Iraq and other war zones. Her photo of an Israeli Arab child appears in today's newspaper.

Song of the Day

Crazy by Alice Russell

If you like Gnarls Barkley -- and his Crazy, among others -- as much as I do, you should check out Alice Russell's cover.

I heard it tonight on Jeremy Peterson's OPBMusic slot, but here is a YouTube version (albeit almost unlistenable; sorry, I will try to find a better quality replacement, but maybe you can still get the idea in the meantime):



And here is the terrific Gnarls Barkley original:

Song of the Day

The Rip by Portishead

You can probably hear this track, from their newish Third album, on the band's mySpace page.

While Third may not displace the early 90s Dummy as one of my all-time favorite albums, this thing is really growing on me.