This should interest anyone who has been a fan of country music or Elvis Presley at any point in the last 30 years. A songwriter named Dennis Linde died in Nashville last week. Based on the news pieces and what his friends have said about him, he was a humble man who really didn't care for a place in the spotlight.

He did some amazing work, though. You can see some of his titles here...

Brilliant.

I just thought it was important to recognize that he was alive and that he did what he did. That's the kind of guy that I look up to.

It has simply been too busy to update. So, I am planning a lllllllaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggeeeeee update in the next couple of days, and I'm struggling to come up with a way to make it interesting enough for you to read all the way through. However, you should know that I bought a new car today. It will be in tomorrow, and I will tell you all about it including pictures and details of the decommissioning ceremony for the Trusty Explorer. Soon.

I'm back from Chicago (or as Bill Martin would say, "Chicargo"). Too tired to recap right now, but all was great. I hope to update tomorrow in between buying the last couple of gifts, wrapping everything, and hopefully driving to Georgia. I also hope to do my little end of the year blog thing, which I am considering cynically titling "2006: The Year of the Inevitable."

Chicago

I'm heading to Chicago Tuesday afternoon. I never would have guessed fifteen years ago that I would care for Chicago as much as I do, but I do like it a lot. On top of that, several dear friends will be there to join me in professional debauchery. If everyone will cooperate and not die, then this will be the only time in the next year when I have to wear a sport coat. Here's hoping.

I'm back in Nashville on the 22nd, then I'm off to Georgia on the 23rd for Christmas and buying a new car. Um, yay.

Who rhymed precocious and pro blush?

I went to a new gym just for today for a change of pace. I got my butt whooped by a StairMaster, which is pretty standard. Less standard was the moment I realized that I was exercising feet away from this person. At first I thought that time hadn't been too good to her, but changed my mind later when I learned that she is sixty-one years old. That doesn't seem right, but it is.

Holiday Randomness in Prose

In spite of the difficulty of recovering from Kip's visit, I am having one of the more productive weeks I recall. This is sort of strange, considering the disillusionment with music I am experiencing now (but have not blogged about for hope that ignoring it will cause it to disappear). In spite of the strangeness, I am ok with that.

I have recently begun to pay attention to the two professional teams Nashville "sports" (puuuuuuuuhhhhhlllllllleaze). The Predators are having a nice year, but I wish I understood hockey a bit more than I do, eh. The Titans are recovering nicely from a rough start, and the town seems to be behind them again. I don't think I will ever be able to be diehard for either one. I think only the Dawgs and the Braves get those honors. But I do randomly find myself yelling at the tv set when something goes well for one of them. Plus, it is a lot of fun to say "Go Titans" with a Tennessee accent.

Music nerds: I have learned that "James B0nd Theme" breaks at least two significant rules of orchestration. It doesn't seem to matter, though. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed Casin0 R0yale... the real one, that is.

On the other hand, purchasing and cooking the PotatOH! was a waste and a bust... and not the good kind of bust.

I met another Georgia fan songwriter tonight, and that was kinda cool.

When the announcer on Family Feud says "Ready for Action," I never think they look like they are really.

I would be willing to bet Jared didn't have the chips or the Cokes.

I wonder if Gwen Stefani will have some more songs that don't sample or use material from old Broadway musicals.

I wonder why I know that about Gwen Stefani.

Lamest blog entry ever.

Yeah.

Buckeye Blowout, thanks to Kip

Kip Pantries dropped by for the weekend, and we had a blast. Based on the past, you can pretty much guess how we spent most of the weekend.

Because there is now a painfully obvious absence of college football on television, we felt it necessary to correct this by way of the Playstation 2. At some point in time, a discussion arose regarding the 1916 blowout of Cumberland College by Georgia Tech. After forgetting about the topic for some time, we found ourselves in the middle of a brutal game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Kip was having a bit of a difficult time rallying his OSU team, so I gave him a garment that I thought might help.


The resemblance is stunning

After donning the garment, Kip went all Rudy on me and began beating Georgia's arse. Feeling bad that we had been contributing to a Bulldog defeat, we attempted to rectify the error by running up the score for the Dawgs a la NATS 1916. The result was significant.

Barely even had to lift a finger.

Kip was ATL-bound this morning with quite the emerging cold and fifteen fresh dollars from the poker game that followed the blowout. We had a great time as always.

Lots of work this week, along with a visit from Warren. I've been thinking about my dad a lot lately, and will probably get a little mushy about that some time this week too.

O Holy Night

Do it, but make sure you have your throat lump remover handy. For me this is where this show became un-missable. Unreal.


(Hat tip: Michael Ledford via Facebook. Thank you!)

Still expect the single on iTunes without dialogue tonight. Also, expect me to transcribe the living shit out of that arrangement... surprise.

Edit: Thanks also to Amos who called today and turned me onto "Tromb0ne Sh0rty," who is - not so oddly - the featured trumpet player. You can find more info at his website and at his myspace page. Thanks Amos!

Edit 12/10/06: At one point in time, there was a video above of the version of "O H0ly Night" from Studi0 60 on the Sunset Strip. It has since been removed. You can buy the whole episode from iTunes if you want.

I am genuinely sorry that I've been non-bloggy. There is much that I want to tell you, but I just haven't found the right way to say it. I'll come up with it soon. Hope everyone is well.

Pulling against Tech is almost as much fun as pulling for Georgia.

... make that 15 by phone.

I rarely laugh out loud when I watch television. As I watched Dave and Conan tonight, I noticed myself giggling aloud and thought to myself how strange that was. I have decided that it was either because I felt particularly good after a really good leg workout today, or because I heard from 14 people by phone and 36 by email or Facebook in one day. If it was the latter, that's pretty cool.