Gentleman Agitator

The Gentleman's Favorite Music Discoveries of 2008

This is a new feature on Gentleman Agitator. It is a list of my top 25 musical discoveries of 2008. Some of these did not come out this year, but all have come out this decade and most within the last five years. It is really hard to pick one favorite from all of these. I will say, the songs with the asterisks are my favorites on the list.

All I Want, Sally Dworsky * 

All My Stars Aligned, St. Vincent 

Be Ready to Sail, Clare Lynch*

Dancer, Xandria

Evening Of My Life, Gravy Train!!!! 

Feels Like Home, Chantal Kreviazuk * 

Free, Vanessa Renee *

Hallelujah, Allison Crowe *

In This Room, Leslie Tucker 

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today, Audra McDonald * 

I’m That Fool, The Irises

Love Again, Baxter 

Love Me Still, Louise Setara

Lullabye For A Stormy Night, Vienna Teng *

Piece Of It All, Jann Arden *

Roam, lijie *

Safe In A Crazy World, Corrine May *

Stolen, Julie Moffitt

The Long Way Round (Swimming Pool), Badly Drawn Boy

The Lovely Years, Fisher

Time Goes Away, Rosie Thomas * 

Today, Joanna McMeikan  

Wild Horses, Charlotte Martin * 

You And Me, Rosie Thomas

Your Key in My Pocket, Semiautomatic 

 I think my favorite group or singer of this year has to be Rosie Thomas. 

She has a gentle, thoughtful style of song making that has been sorely missing for a long, long time. Rosie’s myspace bio quotes her, ““Whether you are a musician, painter, or whatever, there is a passion that sometimes gets lost because all of the sudden you have to clock-in or have deadlines. I sort of wanted to get back to that time when I played music for nothing.”

The site describes her music as, "…Rosie’s music typically exists in the intangible realm of memory where childhood idylls meet adult expectations…”

Rosie also has a friend named Sheila Saputo. Sheila likes to perform stand up comedy. Oddly enough, though the two have been long time friends, they have never been seen together. Hmmmm.... Sheila describes herself as, “I'm a real fan of the I Love Lucy coffee table collection series. I collect dryer lint from various discount dryer machines on melrose avenue. I enjoy riding my bike in the evenings. I roller skate every thursday night with my church rollerskating group, skating for the high'er. I dream of one day living on my own chicken farm, with goats and sheep too. I'm an excellent driver.”

You can listen to Rosie, my other favorites and more by tuning into WC3PO Radio on the left side bar of Gentleman Agitator.  You can find Rosie on "Sarah, Vienna, Rosie and Other Angels" or "21st Century in Song".

God Bless All of You, All of You on the Good Earth

Dear Readers,

 

I have returned from my long hiatus. Life was very busy indeed this year. Life was also very exciting and life changing in a great way. Now, I am back, in time for a Christmas message. This year, I remember not only Christmas 2008, but also 1968.

Yesterday, National Public Radio aired a report heralding the 40^th anniversary of the Apollo 8 spaceflight and the first orbiting of the moon. The first time human beings had traveled so far from Earth.

When Apollo 8 orbited the moon in 1968, the world seemed a chaotic and uncertain place, even for the little boy that I was. Forty years on, the world seems to be at another one of those uncertain times, perhaps even more so than in 1968.

The crew of Apollo 8 delivered a Christmas Message back to Earth and offered us a view of a small fragile orb set against the dark of space. Remembering this and the message they sent reminds me that God is in control of life and that life is a precious thing. That despite the failings of humanity, there is hope. Where there is life there is hope. And where there is life and hope there is God.

Maybe you remember 1968 and the awe you felt when you saw your home from space as never before. Perhaps you are too young to remember. Either way I invite and urge you to listen and look at this moment in history.

Just stop and think about life, as you never have before. Think about your place in the universe. Think about where you are in life. Think about your life with God. May these thoughts lead you to a new perspective, new fascination, and renewed faith.

And now, to paraphrase the message from Apollo 8, “From the Gentleman Agitator, a goodnight, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”

1968: Apollo 8 Christmas Eve, by Cantonrep at YouTube

NPR's Climate Connections: My Response to a Listener's Comment

    Below is my response to a listener of NPR’s "Morning Edition Sunday" program. It is in reference to my previous post about the "Climate Connections" story about Robert Falcon Scott. This was written to NPR:

    I must comment to a listener’s comment on your story about Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer, on your March 30th program. The host claimed that there were many comments about the story and I was certainly surprised by the one you used. Valerie Spain’s comments really had nothing to do with the story itself. Spain wanted to make the statement that Scott’s actions in the quest for the South Pole were based purely on arrogance and stupidity.
    I did not interpret Daniel Zwerdling’s “Climate Connections” story to be about judging Scott’s final expedition against Amundsen’s. The story was not about how the British government and press exploited Scott’s death. It was about both of Scott’s expeditions as pioneering attempts to conduct research in Antarctica. The second expedition was the attempt for pole and conducting further research in 1911.
    Roald Amundsen should be commended for the expedition he carried out. It was done with efficiency and economy. He chose to use dogs to haul his sledges all the way to the pole for instance; Scott did not.  Amundsen, the native Norwegian, had the insight for instance to live with Inuits (Eskimos) and learn the ways of extreme cold survival from them. One needs to be honest though that Amundsen was only after the pole. He had no intent of conducting scientific research.
    I felt that Daniel Zwerdling’s story was more about how research and living in Antarctica had changed in the century since Scott’s time. Perhaps the book, The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford had jaundiced Valerie Spain. Huntford had it out to tear down Scott’s heroic legacy in little bits and pieces. It was a very good book in many ways in laying out all the events between the two expeditions and some about other polar explorers such as  Nansen, Peary and Cook. However, Huntford’s poisoned pen laces the work with character assassination of Scott. Other books since then have had a more balanced approach. One of my favorites is The Coldest March, by senior NOAA researcher Susan Solomon. Her book looks at how the climatic conditions on the march back for Scott’s men were out of the norm, even for Antarctica. While taking into account Scott’s abilities, she uses real science and concludes that no matter the quality of preparation with the given resources of that era would have prevented their final fate.
    I would urge Valerie Spain and others interested in the subject to read The Coldest March and other works on the subject for a more balanced view.