The one band NPR really wants me to love

There are many ways to fill your days when you're unemployed. One way that's sort of a tradition in my family is to go for a long walk. It's a good way to eat up an hour or two and it gets you out of the house for free. So every day I go for a long walk in the Arizona sun and listen to podcasts. There's something about hearing stories about other people's lives that keeps your mind off yours. 

Two of my favorite podcasts are music related, naturally. Sound Opinions and All Songs Considered provide music news, album reviews and enough constant SXSW updates to fill me with jealousy.

Most of the time, these two podcasts don't agree on much. Sound Opinions, which features two newspaper writers, takes more of a populist stance while All Songs Considered encompasses more of that liberal media elite snobbery that we're so accustomed to on NPR. Both podcasts find common ground on one topic, though. I should be listening to Ponytail.

What's Ponytail, you ask? Well, technically they're an art punk band from Baltimore, but to really understand what they're like, you need to think about Yoko Ono imitating a tiger while people play random instruments in the background. Mostly, it makes me think, "THIS is what you agree on?"

I'm sorry NPR gods, but I can't get behind this band. I'm a lyrics freak and there's a noticeable lack of lyrics in Ponytail's work (unless you count the odd Japanese schoolgirl yelp). I want to be hip, too, but this is where I put my foot down. I'm sure their show at SXSW was killer and it's great that the lead singer is this tiny ball of energy, but I am not going to listen to this music. I'm just not. Does this mean I'm kicked out of the NPR cool kids club?

I think they both agree on the new Decemberists album, too. I can get behind that. Maybe that will keep me in the club.

How not to do community journalism

I've been meaning to post a link to this terrible, terrible story for a while now. I just can't wrap my head around (1) why this is news (2) why ANYONE cares and (3) why each sentence needs its own paragraph. Just read it then consider a world without professional journalists.

Hey everyone, remember Shannon?

When you are living with your parents, it's the little things that matter. Little things like the weekly showing of Lost that appears every Wednesday to break up the long stretch of days of not getting called about the resumes you sent out. It's 60 minutes (sometimes more) of thoroughly confusing drama that demands you focus on it and not the the strange set of circumstances that led you to this house, in this town with this amazingly large HDTV. 

So I've been a little out of sorts this week because Lost was a rerun. To fill the gap, I've spent my time reading the wiki, the recap of last week's episode and just about everything else I can get my hands on. In that spirit, I give you a gallery presenting the 10 Most Worthless Characters on Lost. Oh Television Without Pity, you always know what I need, and it is usually more stuff about Lost. That, or a job.

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Today also marks the launch of Kelly's (aka, Ladybear) new blog. It's over there on the right and it's called Here's What's Happening. What is happening, you ask? Well Kelly and her husband Josh (the author of the Lost column I wrote about the other day) just moved to Madison, Wisconsin after years of living in New York City. The whole thing reads like the pilot of a new sitcom. Look for it on the CW this fall.

Yep, we still don't know about the smoke monster

In the middle of all my travels and job hunting I missed an importnat development. Josh wrote a column about Lost! You can find it here, but I guess you can't talk to anyone about it.

I won't bore you with my theories about the new season (and it seems most of you haven't even seen it yet so it would just be a spoiler) but there are a whole new batch of querstions floating around. I have given up any hope of them being answered, but I would like them to get to the smoke monster at some point. Please? Can we at least answer the smoke monster question? Please?!

Whew!

OK, I'm about blogged out, but I'm hanging in there to see who wins Album of the Year. I'm 90% sure that it's gonna be Coldplay, but you never know. Until then, I have a few hits and misses:

• I can't get over Neil Diamond's terrible rendition of "Sweet Caroline." I'm a Neil Diamond fan from way back but he just talked his way through that song. It was a big yawn.
• M.I.A. showed up all the boys during the Rap Pack segment. Here she is ready to have a baby at any moment and not only does she have a crazy/awesome outfit, she was the best performer out there. OK, Jay-Z was a close second.
• I thought the Four Tops tribute was really nice. I usually cringe when they bring out the old guys but the whole performance seemed really fun and sweet.
• What's up with Green Day wearing suits? Are they all grown up now?

Wow! The old people win again. That was a pretty lukewarm reception for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for album of the year. I guess everyone else was expecting Coldplay, too. Maybe it goes back to my original thought that "Viva La Vida" is a great song but the rest of Coldplay's album is just meh. Now, shut up Robert Plant and let us go home.

Fifteen steps, then a sheer drop

The Grammys are constantly trying to create special moments. That's the point of all those silly duets. Most of them are cringe inducing or at least laughable. Then Radiohead comes along.

They performed the strangest song of the night, "15 Step" with the USC marching band and rocked the house. That's how it's done, Jonas Brothers. I kind of hope they release an mp3 of their performance so we can all buy it on iTunes. Or maybe we can just pay what we want for it.

She was just 17?

Have you ever thought how creepy it is that Paul McCartney still sings "I Saw Her Standing There"? The dude is 66 now and he's still singing about 17 year-olds. The song is also slipping out of his range. I know the crowd likes it but maybe he should find a new tune.

I'm also against his dyed hair. Leave a little gray in their. Just For Men has a special product for that now.

A fool could read the signs

So it looks like the infamous old Grammy voters finally reared their heads by giving Robert Plant and Alison Krauss the Grammy for Record of the Year. It's not a bad song, but it really looked like Coldplay was going to sweep everything tonight.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have to give them props for giving the Best New Artist award to Adele. She's like Amy Winehouse without the crack addiction. She's got a little more Dusty Springfield going on than Amy, and if you don't have her album you should go check it out.

What's my age again?

Is Blink 182 really getting back together? If they are I'm kind of excited about that. I was just thinking the other day about how all of their solo projects have been pretty terrible and gone nowhere. I'll be interested to see what they can come up with. I'm not sure they can still do songs about getting in trouble with their parents since they're all like 35 now.

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I once read a review of Hanson (remember them?) where it was mentioned that they weren't terrible teen pop because there was an underlying musicality to their work. The idea was that young fans would be drawn to their bubblegum pop but then grow into different music as they discovered the band's influences. That's sort of the way I feel about the Jonas Brothers. They're nothing I would listen to, but a young fan might start with them then check out Stevie Wonder or Elvis Costello. They're like gateway rock.

'Cause when you're 15 and someone tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them

I have to admit that I thought Taylor Swift was another Disney creation. I just read her Wikipedia entry, though, and she seems like someone who really worked her way up the ladder. I have to give her props for that.

What's up with Miley Cyrus' nasal singing? Is that her country voice? I've never heard her sing like that before - not that I hear a lot of Miley Cyrus.

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Two more things:

(1) Robert Plant always reminds me of a wet Labrador.

(2) T Bone Burnett is the secret genius of the music business. He has produced an album you love. Seriously, go look it up.