Dana's Mixed Bag

For the past few years I’ve put together discs or playlists of my favorite songs of the year. Today I’ll feature 2003.

2004: one of the biggest artistic letdown years in memory. So many new bands came to the forefront, but few had a decent singer. The title is based on the grossly overrated Modest Mouse CD “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”. It took a while to think of a whole CD of decent songs for 2004, and I couldn’t do it. I filled in the rest with a few great oversights from 2003. The Best CD this year: Keane – “Hopes and Fears”. Honorable mentions: Phantom Planet, Incubus, The Cardigans, and Juliana Hatfield. Other CDs you’re likely to enjoy are by U2, Green Day, Maroon 5, Joss Stone, and Tift Merritt.

Songs:

1. Everything I’ve Got In My Pocket (Minnie Driver) Yes, THAT Minnie Driver. Perfect on a foggy day.
2. You’re The Storm (The Cardigans) From a super-mellow CD. This song is simply gorgeous, though.
3. Bend and Break (Keane) Even more gorgeous! Sounds like Freddie Mercury sitting in with Coldplay.
4. So Alive (Ryan Adams) Actually a 2003 song. A big departure for the alt-country former Raleighite.
5. Worn Me Down (Rachael Yamagata) This one stuck in my head all year.
6. Vertigo (U2) The whole iPod thing made me sick of it…still stands as one of the best ‘04 rock songs.
7. Call Me Mellow (Tears For Fears) Yes, THAT Tears For Fears is back with their best song ever.
8. Another White Dash (Butterfly Boucher) Opened for Sarah McLachlan captured the crowd’s hearts.
9. Breakin’ (The Music) ESPN is using this one for Winter X Games ads. Very Jane’s Addiction-ish.
10. Suspended (Matt Nathanson) Nice little song. Don’t know much about him.
11. Somebody Told Me (The Killers) Great album cover. Great, funny lyrics in the chorus.
12. Mona Lisa (Jesse Malin) This one grew on me at the office this year.
13. Beautiful Ways (Pat McGee Band) VA roots rock band with nobody named Pat McGee in the band.
14. C’Mon C’Mon (The Von Bondies) Featured in a Chevy ad.
15. Long Time Coming (Delays) Featured in a diamond ad around Christmas.
16. Almost (Sarah Harmer) Sarah is a heavy-rotation darling of Rochester’s great WBER radio station.
17. Daughters (John Mayer) This song never really hit me until we saw him do it live.
18. Take Your Mama (Scissor Sisters) Fun little throwback to the old Elton John. Great showing on SNL.
19. Talk Shows On Mute (Incubus) Brandon Boyd can flat out sing.
20. The First Single (The Format) Officially a 2003 release, but couldn’t be ignored. Can you say “The Outfield”?

Play This List In Rhapsody

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For the past few years I’ve put together discs or playlists of my favorite songs of the year. Today I’ll feature 2003.

With 2002 as best year ever on record, 2003 had a tough act to follow, but made a strong showing. While I didn’t have 2 CD’s worth of qualifying songs this year, I still had to do some paring. 2003 saw the introduction of garbage and lawsuits clouding downloads on KaZaa. We also saw the introduction of online music stores and streaming services. iTunes, Napster, and Rhapsody will be followed by much competition in 2004 which benefits everyone but record store owners (sell, sell, SELL!!!) . CD of the year: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Fever To Tell”

Songs:

• The Laws Have Changed (The New Pornographers) – The laws definitely changed in 2001, when great music returned to the market! TNP is one of those breakthrough bands of 2003, and this song makes a great statement. This is a good overall CD, but they should let her sing more.
• Down on the Corner (Johnny Marr and the Healers ) – Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has a new project, and this song is one of the best in years. Why in the world isn’t this one on the radio???
• It Is What It Is (Minibar) – This one will bounce around in your head for days.
• Jerk It Out (Caesars) – So which Pulp Fiction-esque soundtrack will include this one. Get up and dance y’all! “I’m Gonna Kick You Out” is another great song on the “39 Minutes of Bliss” CD.
• Reoffender (Travis) – Domestic violence in a maudlin setting. Sorry to bring you down. This one will always make me think of the video that features the band all beating each other up. Make sure you’ve heard The Invisible Band before buying the disappointing 12 Memories.
• The Riches (Jane’s Addiction) – My favorite band returned with an outstanding CD. I’m glad that Carmen hasn’t ruined Dave Navarro. Now if they’ll just come back through Raleigh!!!
• I Can’t Remember (The Thorns) – Supergroup consisting of Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins, and Pete Droge has put out my favorite song of the year. Eat your heart out Crosby, Stills, Nash! This song ought to be saturating every radio station. Oddly, The Thorns’ cover of the Jayhawks’ “Blue” is getting more traction. The CD is, overall, disappointing. We’ll see if they stay together to put out another disc.
• Cannonball (Damien Rice) – Don’t know a whole lot about him. This song did finish at #11 in the WBER countdown.
• You Were Right (Badly Drawn Boy) – They’ve been around forever, but never really broken through. This one will do!
• The Rising Has Been Defeated (Jack Johnson) – Former surfer movie guy Jack Johnson is every bit as cool as Steve Miller wanted to be. Jack’s latest disc On and On sounds just like the 2001 breakthrough Brushfire Fairytales, but that’s a good thing.
• Blackest Eyes (Porcupine Tree) – The most interesting song I’ve heard in a while. Caustic AND beautiful in one!
• Watching the Sun Come Up (Ed Harcourt) – Don’t know much about him either. This was on a CMJ disc in the Summer and just kept popping out at me. Hey Ya (Outkast) – Fun! It seems that every sportscast is using this as bumper music.
• Wheels (Grand Drive) – Like Paul Simon minus the Africa! This was featured on CMJ this Summer, too, and stood out.
• I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself (The White Stripes) – Sofia Coppola (Director of “Lost in Translation”) sealed this entry with her GREAT video. Actually, all videos these days should feature Kate Moss’ pole dancing. WBER had “Seven Nation Army” as their #1 song of the year. Many critics hailed this CD, Elephant, as the best of the year.
• Cutest (Shamra) – Featured on CMJ this Summer, but I know nothing about them.
• Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) – Think Chrissie Hynde on acid. This CD is infectious and ended up being my favorite of the year. Good drummer, too.
• Pain Killer (Turin Brakes) – You heard this one on a Volvo ad soon after the pretty good CD was released. What a clean recording!
• Amsterdam (Guster) – Maybe you’ve tried to steal this one and only gotten the “meow” song, but here’s the real thing. Guster opened for John Mayer in Cary and really got the place going. They are a favorite of Rochester’s great station WBER.
• Special (Wilshire) – This song was on a CMJ disc this year and the song is infectious. Too bad the CD is one of the worst this year. It makes Rubin and Clay’s discs look edgy and groundbreaking.. Great song, though!

Listen Using Rhapsody

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In following the rainfall accumulations over the last few days, there is an enormous discrepancy between rainfall amounts published in the printed News & Observer and at Weather Underground. The problems lie with the latter (appropriate verbiage, wouldn’t you say?).

Anyone with a rain gauge can tell you that Wednesday’s torrential rainfall, especially at 9am, produced more than just 0.27″ of rain. They can also tell you that we got more than just 1.37″ of rain on Friday. The rain was so hard that it awakened us at one point, and from reports, these rains were not spotty. The result is an approximate 50% misreporting of rainfall accumulations. Note that both sources claim to report the RDU Airport readings.

Note also that the N&O’s Actual Month To Date gauge (found on the last page of the Local section) reads 4.66″ while in Thursday’s paper it read 0.57″. According to that statistic this event must have produced 4.09″ of rain, much closer to wunderground’s tally than the N&O’s daily tally.

The problem here is that people likely pay attention to just two statistics, Year to Date (a very arbitrary measure) and Yesterday’s Precipitation. The conclusion many would make is that:

• we have a serious rainfall deficit and,
• we didn’t get enough rainfall “yesterday” to help

The conclusion it seems they want us to make is to increase conservation. The only way to do that is through new laws restricting use. This sentiment is echoed repeatedly through the editorial page and smacks of class warfare and jealousy. Some have even iterated that in periods of water surplus citizens are “not responsible enough” with water and restrictions such as odd/even day watering should become permanent law. While it is not smart to waste treated water (that required energy to produce), the truth is that we have a small to moderate deficit of rain. Here are some facts:

• Over the last 365 days we’ve gotten 43.3″ of rain, a 1.1″ surplus (+3%)
• Over the last 90 days we’ve gotten 7.92″, a 3.18″ deficit (-29%)
  
• Over the last 30 days we’ve gotten 4.66″, a 1.47″ surplus (+46%)

In the worst case scenario, the 90-day period, we’ve gotten 71% of the normal rainfall total. August and September were clearly the months that threw us off. While we still need to conserve water somewhat, the Water Nazi’s case is not improved by misreports of actual rainfall.

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Incredible Madden imitator also does Bush as well as anyone.

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Channing Crowder, a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins who grew up in Atlanta and played at the University of Florida, revealed today that he is now excited that he won’t need a translator when his team plays in London this week.

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I have a patient who runs a neat little free email newsletter that women, especially, would really like. It’s called “Social Butterflies” and it features fun things to do and places to shop. One issue, for example, featured heads-ups on Crowder Park Nature Classes, Roots of NC Music classes, Family Movie Festivals, Lazy Daze info, and info about Padoodles, a Fuquay-Varina kids’ boutique. To sign up for the newsletter, email
CaryHeise@yahoo.com.

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Socialized medicine in England is like pulling (your own) teeth.

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No, I’m not talking about the dusting of snow that paralyzed Raleigh a few years ago. I’m referring to the sheer panic over the “severe drought” we’re experiencing. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal agency, the Raleigh area is at a 1.2″ deficit on 365-day rainfall. Because we normally get 41.43 inches (avg of last 30 years) of annual rainfall, we have received 97.1% of our total normal annual rainfall.

One misleading aspect of this argument, admittedly, is the rainfall of November, 2006, one of Raleigh’s wettest. In the month that usually is our 3rd driest with 2.98″, we received 9.03″, about 3X normal. The current reservoir problems are most likely due to low rainfall in the last 2 months. During August and September we get 7.21″ normally, but only got 3.13″, or 43% of the normal rainfall for the period. We were above average in each of June and July with 22% excessive rainfall.

With just a couple of months of abnormal rainfall, we should not be in as bad shape as our leaders purport. Either the truth is not being reported or our water is being mismanaged. If reservoirs are so low, why are we not investing money to make the capacities bigger while we have access?

So if we get 1.2″ of rain one day will the Water Nazi’s call off the dogs? Don’t hold your breath as jealousy reigns supreme. Those with sprinkler systems, cars worth cleaning, and automatic washing machines will continuously be attacked while those same water molecules on which we’re currently low will stay contained in a closed system. It would be one thing if we had been running a deficit for months, however all this water restriction talk began early in the summer. At that point we were running a more than 10″ surplus.

Here’s the data for the last 12 complete months. Make what you will of it.

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