Focused on Pete Rose

We're off!

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What did we learn from the elections of 2010?

Not much.  We learned that we're still a bipolar society that feels more comfortable when one party has the White House and the other Congress.  We understand that national implications are at play in all elections but that doesn't mean we get it.  When we vote for governor of Texas, we're really not "sending a message" to Washington; we're voting for who we think would make the best governor.  Or senator.  Or dog catcher.

Still, we realize a lot of people don't think that way and see that this year's elections indicate a questioning of President Obama's plan.  If you ask us, the donkeys kind of blew a golden opportunity these last two years.  As the party of overwhelming power, given the aforementioned bipolar tendancies, they had two years to make a good case for staying the course.  This was an extraordinary opportunity that was wasted not by the particular decisions made but by the arrogance with which they were made.  Had an olive branch been presented to the elephants, perhaps the dems would have woken up on Wednesday morning still in power.

As for the President, we don't think there's enough data to give him a definitive grade yet.  We think we'll learn a lot about him in the next six months though.

We think it takes about two years for economic policies to show effect.  So, while there's no way to explain away W's blame in the economic catastrophy we've gone through, by the same token some of the things he did on the way out the door are showing some positive effect now.  So as we close the book on George, yes -- he screwed the economy.  But he also took the first steps at fixing it.

Let's see what Obama does now, with a level legislative playing field.

 ~~~
Fare thee well, Sparky, we'll see you on the Other Side. Save us a Machine.

~~~
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We get asked a lot if we're trapped in the '80's, due to the Vintage Album Review.  We promise we're not!  In fact, old '80's music only represents a small portion of the stuff we buy.  But everyone else in the world is already reviewing the new stuff and they do it well.  No need for us to go there.  So, as we convert our original vynil collection to digital, we throw a review out there.  But to give you an idea of what we're listening to, we're introducing a new feature, entitled This Week's iTunes Purchases.  We'll throw out the name, artist, year and first impression of the albums we buy and occasionally some commentary.  To give you an idea of what we've been up to, here are the last ten albums we've bought from the iTunes Store:

Keith Richards -- Vintage Vinos -- 2010 -- **1/2 out of five. 
--About what we expected.  Nothing earth shattering here, nothing terrible.  A weird mid-album live set is thrown in that just kills the continuity of the collection though.

Scala & Kolancy Brothers -- Dawn (EP) -- 2010  ****
--We originally picked this up for the song Our Last Fightm featured on Sons of Anarchybut totally dig the choral versions of Creep and Smells Like Teen Spirit.  This is good stuff.

Elvis Costello -- National Ransom -- 2010 -- **
--A train wreck.  It's like he had a bunch of random -- and mediocre -- songs sitting around and slapped them together. 

Huey Lewis and the News -- Soulsville -- 2010 -- ***
--The late 50's and early 60's soul sound isn't really our thing but this collection of covers is well-played and flawlessly produced.  No new territory is covered here but that which is, is covered well.

Sufjan Stevens -- The Age of Adz -- 2010 -- **1/2
--We're still on the fence here.  He's added some techno and synth to his sound and we like that but he's an acquired taste.  We have to be in the modd for him and need repeated listens before we can judge.

Thelonious Monk -- Solo Monk -- 1965 -- ****
--Jazz at its finest.  The only flaw is in the production, as some of the sound quiality is iffy.

Chicago -- 17 -- 1984 -- ****
--For future review.  This tour was the first concert we ever went to.  With the sister.  Yeah, we know.

Bruce Springsteen -- Save My Love -- 2010 -- ****
--The first single from his forthcoming album, which we pre-purchased.  The rest of the album comes out next Tuesday.

KT Tunstall -- Tiger Suit -- 2010 ****
--A very solid third effort.  If you jusdge her by Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree, don't.  That song sucked and her stuff is way better. 

John Mellencamp -- No Better than This -- 2010 -- ****1/2
--Reorded on a 1953 tape recorder and one microphone with all accoustic instruments in abandonned hotels and garages around the country, this album is a love story to the roots of rock and roll -- you can actually hear the reel-to-reel inbetween some songs.  This is the first album since James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, in 1965.  The only deviation from authenticity is in song length.  Had he kept them all in the two - to two-and-a-half range,  this album would be perfect.


 Until next time,
Keep the Faith