Little Thinkers (16 of 16): Louis Pasteurized Milk

Greetings to our blog readers in Croatia, Norway and New Zealand. And, to those of you who have the misfortune of being on death row in Huntsville, Texas, perhaps for a murder you didn't commit. Oh....our best regards to Gov. Rick Perry (editorial comment: Thank God, he's not our president).

From what I've been told, we 've had many celebrities visit this blog recently, including Bill Bragg, Toby Keith and Neil Diamond.

Here is today's quote from Louis Pasteur, the last in our series of Little Thinkers quotes:

"It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes."

From the Record Collection- (4 of 8) "More Songs..." by Talking Heads

It is a busy night for sports and politics here in the United States, as Virginia Tech and the University of Michigan, my late father's two alma maters are playing in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Meanwhile, Republicans are holding the Iowa Causes. NPR and "USA Today" have both projected that Mitt Romney has the leading going into tonight.

But, even at busy times like these, it feels like there are few things better than listening to old, vintage vinyl records. And, amongst the ones I have, few of them are played as often as "More Songs About Buildings and Food," the second studio album by Talking Heads which was released in 1978.

The album, which runs 41:32, includes the single "Take Me to the River," which is a cover of a version that rhythm and blues singer Al Green released in the early '70s. Other great songs on "More Songs..." include "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" and the catchy tune "The Girls Just Want to be With the Girls."

"More Songs..." marked the first of three collaborations between Talking Heads and legendary producer Brian Eno, who has also worked with David Bowie and U2. The album got critical praise, but it didn't sell well upon initial release.

But, "Take Me to the River" made it to number 26 on the charts, and strangely enough it lead to Talking Heads appearing on "American Bandstand." Given that the band is an artsy New Wave punk band, one might sooner expect to see Toby Keith on "Austin City Limits" today.

The band consisted of lead singer David Byrne, who also designed the amazing art work on the album's cover which consists of many tiny Polaroid photos, drummer Chris Frantz, his wife and bass player Tina Weymouth and keyboardist/guitar player Jerry Harrison, who has since become a successful music producer since the band's split in 1991.

Political Confusion Test (Entry 17 of 21)_ Feist or Toby Keith

My sister who resides with her husband and their two cats in a suburb of Anchorage, Alaska, (in-joke) was kind enough to get me "Stephen Colbert's Christmas Special" for the holidays and I was really taken in by the unlikely duet between independent darling Feist and country singer Toby Keith, who has been known to make provocative statements regarding the use of military force.

The two are extremely different from each other as (Leslie) Feist, who some times performs with the band Broken Social Scene, is a laid-back starlett who hit it big with her release "The Reminder" that featured the hit single "1....2.....3....4." She is also Canadian, and I presume she does not eat beef.

Keith, on the other hand, is a vocal militant country singer from Clinton, Okl.,
who hit it big with the song "How Do You Like Me Now?" in 1999. Keith played a hunter on Colbert's Christmas special, which seems very appropriate given his politics.

But, amazingly enough, Keith who was a hard-core supporter of George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential election considers himself a 'conservative Democrat' even though at times times he makes Sen. Joe Lieberman look like Hugo Chavez. Keith is also good friends with Cong. Dan Boren (D-Okl)....what a minute, there's actually a Democratic congressman from Oklahoma?!


NOTE: The last entry in this series is actually posted on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time:" http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

For the record, my sister does not actually live in Alaska.