Cochlear implants allow baby to hear mother's voice for the first time

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Tumor causes toddler to lose physical abilities overnight

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Decade In Rock 2000-2009

In conjunction with this years "Year In Rock 2009" and "Decade In Rock 1990-1999", I have compiiled a list for this decade entitled "Decade In Rock 2000-2009". A list of what I consider to be the Top 50 albums of this decade. In the spirit of the "Year In Rock" I chose only one song from the album that was my favorite. There are numerous artists who released multiple albums throughout this decade, and although many of the albums they released would be a noble choice for this list, I elected to limit this list to the best album a particular artist released in the decade. So, there are 50 songs, from 50 albums, from 50 artists (if that makes any sense). This list has gone through countless revisions (as most of mine do) but I feel confident in saying this was the music that defined the 2000's for me.

This decade saw the death of the Compact Disc and the rise of the mp3. The death of the discman, and the rise of the iPod. It will be interesting to see what will have changed in ten years from now in music. As I said in my last post, I believe the idea and concept of the "album" will be a lost art, and new and interesting ways of distributing music will be the way we all listen to music.

If you would like your own copy of this music, contact me. I have numerous ways of getting it to you.

(Tip: listen to all of these songs with headphones, it changes EVERYTHING!)

Behold, the Decade In Rock, 2000-2009:

1. Radiohead - "Everything In Its Right Place" Kid A
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps" Fever To Tell
3. Jimmy Eat World - "23" Futures
4. Incubus - "Warning" Morning View
5. The Strokes - "Is This It?" Is This It?
6. Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)" The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
7. The White Stripes - "Ball & Biscuit" Elephant
8. Ben Folds - "Jesusland" Songs For Silverman
9. Weezer - "Death And Destruction" Maladroit
10. Dashboard Confessional - "Screaming Infidelities" The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
11. Death Cab For Cutie - "The New Year" Transatlanticism
12. Muse - "Stockholm Syndrome" Absolution
13. Phantom Planet - "Raise The Dead" Raise The Dead
14. Wilco - "At Least That's What You Said" A Ghost is Born
15. Coldplay - "Warning Sign" A Rush Of Blood To The Head
16. Cold War Kids - "Hospital Beds" Robbers & Cowards
17. Vampire Weekend - "Mansard Roof" Vampire Weekend
18. MGMT - "Electric Feel" Oracular Spectacular
19. Saves The Day - "At Your Funeral" Stay What You Are
20. Foo Fighters - "Razor" In Your Honor (Disc 2)
21. Guster - "Diane" Keep It Together
22. Jack Johnson - 'Posters" Brushfire Fairytales
23. Thrice - "Stand And Feel Your Worth" Vheissu
24. AFI - "Bleed Black" Sing the Sorrow
25. The Postal Service - "We Will Become Silhouettes" Give Up
26. The Shins - "Phantom Limb" Wincing The Night Away
27. Silversun Pickups - "Rusted Wheel" Carnavas
28. The Killers - "All These Things That I've Done" Hot Fuss
29. Arcade Fire - "Rebellion (Lies)" Funeral
30. The Early November - "The Course Of Human Life" The Room's Too Cold
31. Something Corporate - "I Woke Up In A Car" Leaving Through The Window
32. Hey Mercedes - "Quality Revenge at Last" Loses Control
33. Coheed & Cambria - "A Favor House Atlantic" In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
34. Panic! At The Disco - "Time To Dance" A Fever You Can`t Sweat Out
35. Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire" Only By The Night
36. Minus The Bear - "I'm Totally Not Down With Rob's Alien" They Make Beer Commercials Like This
37. Phoenix - "1901" Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
38. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Tell Me Baby" Stadium Arcadium
39. Queens Of The Stone Age - "No One Knows" Songs For The Deaf
40. The Used - "Maybe Memories" The Used
41. Bloc Party - "Banquet" Silent Alarm
42. Beck - "Orphans" Modern Guilt
43. Regina Spektor - "Samson" Begin To Hope
44. Rilo Kiley - "Dejalo" Under The Blacklight
45. Fall Out Boy - "Sugar We're Goin' Down" From Under The Cork Tree
46. Spoon - "Don't You Evah" Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
47. The Hives - "Walk Idiot Walk" Tyrannosaurus Hives
48. Modest Mouse - "The World At Large" Good News For People Who Love Bad News
49. The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize??" Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
50. Band Of Horses - "The Funeral" Everything All The Time

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Year In Rock 2009

The 11th installment of my annual “Year In Rock” is complete. Below you will find my list of what I consider to be the best music of the year. Much of the new music I heard this year came from listening to SiriusXM Radio, Slacker.com, Lala,.com, Pandora, KRCL, and occasionally X96 as well as countless recommendations from family, friends, Rolling Stone and co-workers.

As before I will be naming best new artist of the year, and best album as well as best album nominees. If you are new to this: I pick my top 20 albums, and then pick what I consider to be the best song on that album and compile into a list. When I initially started doing this I put 20 songs to a CD, which limited my song choices and space, and now I just keep the tradition going.

I've also decided this will be the last year that I name the best "album" that came out that year, and instead will be naming best artist of that year, as well as the best new artist. I believe that in 5-10 years the concept of the "album" will be minimal if not obsolete, and bands will have to find new and interesting ways to release collections of music to the masses. Sure, there might be collections of songs that may or may not constitute an album, but we live in a fast paced world of "NOW" and singles rule the charts. Our attention span with music is getting shorter and shorter, and our children will question what an "album" was. Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins have already announced their plans to stop releasing albums and instead release singles and EP's. I believe they are trying to grasp the inevitable, and I think they are right.

My list for the Decade In Rock (2000-2009) will be released this week if you are interested as well.

If you would like a copy of this music, please e-mail me though FaceBook. I have a variety of ways you can get this...

The Year in Rock 2009 is finally here:

1. Discovery "Osaka Loop Mix" - LP (Best New Artist)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Dull Life" - It's Blitz! (Best Album Of The Year - Winner)
3. Phoenix "1901" - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Album Of The Year Nominee)
4. Silversun Pickups "There's No Secrets This Year" - Swoon (Album Of The Year Nominee)
5. Animal Collective "My Girls" - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Album Of The Year Nominee)
6. Muse "United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)" - The Resistance (Album Of The Year Nominee)
7. Brand New "Bed" - Daisy
8. Dirty Projectors "Two Doves" - Bitte Orca
9. Weezer "Can't Stop Partying" - Raditude
10. The Whitest Boy Alive "1517" - Rules
11. Karen O and the Kids "All Is Love" - Where the Wild Things Are (Soundtrack)
12. Company Of Thieves "Oscar Wilde" - Ordinary Riches
13. Manchester Orchestra "I've Got Friends" - Mean Everything To Nothing
14. Passion Pit "The Reeling" - Manners
15. Regina Spektor "Laughing With" - Far
16. Incubus "Let's Go Crazy" - Monuments And Melodies
17. Iron & Wine "Communication Cups And Someone's Coat" - Around The Well
18. Wilco "Wilco (The Song)" - Wilco (The Album)
19. Franz Ferdinand "Ulysses" - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
20. The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You" - I and Love and You

Honorable Mentions: As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You, Arctic Monkeys - Humbug, Coconut Records - Davy, The Dead Weather - Horehound, The Flaming Lips - Embryonic, John Mayer - Battle Studies, Oren Lavie - The Opposite Side Of The Sea, Paramore - Brand New Eyes, Thrice - Beggars

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Decade In Rock 1990-1999

In preparation for my annual list of the "Year In Rock" at the end of this year, including a special list this year for a look back at the "Decade In Rock 2000-2009"; I thought I would look back at the 90's. I decided to compile the "Decade In Rock 1990-1999". A list of what I consider to be the Top 50 albums of the 90's. In the spirit of the "Year In Rock" I chose only one song from the album that was my favorite. There are numerous artists who released multiple albums throughout the decade, and although many of the albums they released would be a noble choice for this list, I elected to limit this list to the best album a particular artist released in the decade. So, there are 50 songs, from 50 artists, from 50 albums (if that makes any sense, you'll get the idea soon enough). This list has gone through countless revisions (as most of mine do) but I feel confident in saying this was the music that defined the 90's for me. Many of these albums have stood the test of time, and have become instant classics. Some of these albums were listened to at parties, hanging out late at night with friends, and countless road trips and mix tapes. But all of this music takes me instantly back to a different time and reminds me of good times. I hope you enjoy.

If you would like your own copy of this music, contact me. I have numerous ways of getting it to you.

Behold, the Decade In Rock, 1990-1999:

1. Weezer - The Blue Album ("Only In Dreams") (1994)
2. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream ("Hummer") (1993)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer ("Paranoid Android") (1997)
4. Sublime - 40 Oz. To Freedom ("Don't Push") (1992)
5. Ben Folds - The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner ("Don't Change Your Plans") (1999)
6. Nirvana - Nevermind ("In Bloom") (1991)
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic ("Under The Bridge") (1991)
8. Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape "Everlong" (1997)
9. Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind ("Motorcycle Drive By") (1997)
10. MxPx - Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo "For Always" (1998)
11. Beck - Odelay! ("Where It's At") (1996)
12. Goldfinger - Goldfinger ("Here In Your Bedroom") (1996)
13. Blink 182 - Dude Ranch ("New Hope") (1997)
14. Pearl Jam - Ten ("Black") (1991)
15. Collective Soul - Dosage ("No More No Less") (1999)
16. U2 - Achtung Baby! ("Zoo Station") (1991)
17. 311 - 311 ("Down") (1995)
18. The Refreshments - Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy ("Banditos") (1996)
19. Cake - Fashion Nugget ("The Distance") (1996)
20. No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom ("Sunday Morning") (1995)
21. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine ("Darkness") (1992)
22. The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits ("San Dimas High School Football Rules") (1999)
23. Incubus - Make Yourself ("Stellar") (1999)
24. Jeff Buckley - Grace ("Last Goodbye") (1994)
25. Dave Matthews Band - Crash ("#41") (1996)
26. Bush - Sixteen Stone ("Alien") (1994)
27. Millencolin - For Monkeys ("Twenty Two") (1997)
28. Live - Throwing Copper ("Selling The Drama") (1994)
29. Counting Crows - August And Everything After ("Round Here") (1993)
30. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People ("Man On The Moon") (1992)
31. Better Than Ezra - Friction, Baby ("Desperately Wanting") (1996)
32. Reel Big Fish - Turn The Radio Off ("I'll Never Be") (1996)
33. Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut ("Stars") (1995)
34. Nada Surf - High Low ("Popular") (1996)
35. Soundgrarden - Super Unknown ("Black Hole Sun") (1994)
36. Blur - Blur ("Song 2") (1997)
37. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory ("Wonderwall") (1995)
38. NoFX - So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes ("All Outta Angst") (1997)
39. Green Day - Dookie ("She") (1994)
40. Unwritten Law - Unwritten Law ("Harmonic") (1998)
41. Tonic - Sugar ("You Wanted More") (1999)
42. Toad The Wet Sprocket - Coil ("Whatever I Fear") (1997)
43. Saves The Day - Through Being Cool ("Shoulder To The Wheel") (1999)
44. Silverchair - Frogstomp ("Tomorrow") (1995)
45. Superdrag - Regretfully Yours ("Sucked Out") (1996)
46. The Breeders - Last Splash ("Canonball") (1993)
47. Spacehog - Resident Alien ("In The Meantime") (1996)
48. The Offspring - Smash ("Gotta Get Away") (1994)
49. Face To Face - Face To Face ("I Won't Lie Down") (1996)
50. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet ("God Shuffled His Feet") (1993)

loves it when the old Latino lady at the Drive-Thru calls me "handsome baby" and winks at me when I pick up my food.

Show @ Murray Theatre

This past weekend we played a show at the Murray Theatre. We haven't played an actual rock show for quite some time, but it was super rad.

Plenty more pictures here...

The Neverending Story

We were having a discussion here at work about the movie The Neverending Story. At the end of the movie, Bastian is supposed to give the Princess a name before the world is destroyed. I was fully convinced as a kid whenever I would watch this movie that he gave her the name "Mosiah" which I thought was odd, given that the only other time I had heard that name was in the Book Of Mormon. The name Mosiah were names of a grandfather and grandson, respectively, and both served as king of the Nephites at Zarahemla.

Turns out I was wrong, after doing a quick Google search, the name Bastian gave to the Princess was "Moonchild". Which ultimately sounds better than Mosiah.

Welcome Back, Nick!

So, I know it’s been a while. I’m very aware of that. I don’t think I’ve written anything this calendar year. Which is sad really. Shara was looking at my blog and said, “you should just delete it.”

So I started thinking about it more. I like writing. I like having my thoughts written down; even if they are random. So instead of making any sort of resolution for the New Year, I have decided for my brain’s sake, and writing purposes I will need to write something every day. No matter how big or small; even if it’s just a though of the day, a picture, or something huge.

Today’s thought: Recently I’ve started a new schedule at work, and so far I am not a big fan. We’ve adjusted the teams we work on for our California offices, and I work with another guy and the two of us need to “man the fort” so to speak from 9 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday. So we decided the best way to do this was to split the shifts. One “early” shift (8:30 - 5:30), and one “late” shift (10:30 - 7:30), and we also decided that if you work the late shift one night, you work the early shift the next day, thus picking up the pieces from the night before if needed. This is really weird for my morning routine, which I have grown accustomed to over the past 8 + years since coming home form my mission on roughly the same exact schedule. I’m a creature of habit, and so waiting in the morning to come in, as it seems, is weird to me. Sure I get things done around the house, I blast some music, work on some projects and then head into work. It’s just the schedule throws me off. Not to mention when I work the late shift, I come home and Shara is already in bed, so then I don’t get to see her. So that’s no added bonus to it either.

Well, there. I’m done venting about that.

And now I have started, and hope to maintain more of these daily.

Amen.

The Year In Rock 2008

The 10th installment of my annual “Year In Rock” is complete. I probably tend to go a little overboard every year with this and over-analyze everything I want to include on this list. Narrowing this list down to just 20 songs each year becomes a difficult task, because to me it’s more than just a “mix tape” of songs that I liked. These were songs that, regardless of when or where I hear them, catapult me back to moment in time. As I have compiled these lists over the years and go back and listen to them occasionally, there is a sense of nostalgia for the music and lyrics. I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the moment I first heard all of these songs. Some of the new music I heard this year came as suggestions from Rolling Stone; out of pure devotion to the artist anytime they come out with a new record; listening to Sirius, X96, Pandora, and Last.fm; and countless recommendations from family, friends, and co-workers. Regardless, this was the music that defined 2008 for me.

As always I will be naming best new artist of the year, and best album. However this year I will be adding my nominations for album of the year, which was interestingly a very difficult decision once I really started thinking about it. If you are new to this: I pick 20 albums, and then pick what I consider to be the best song on that album and compile into a list. When I first started this list, I used to burn this to a CD and was really limited on space, and thus the reason why I just do 20 songs. I’ve decided to keep the tradition going strong and make it more of an elite choosing method with only being able to showcase 20 different artists.

If you would like a copy of this music, please e-mail me though FaceBook. I have a variety of ways you can get this...

Behold, The Year In Rock, 2008:

1. Vampire Weekend “A Punk” (Vampire Weekend) [*Best New Artist of the Year/Album of the Year Nominee]
2. MGMT “Electric Feel” (Oracular Spectacular) [*Album of the Year]
3. Coldplay “Lost!” (Viva la Vida) [Album of the Year Nominee]
4. Phantom Planet “Do The Panic” (Raise The Dead) [*Album of the Year Nominee]
5. Weezer “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On a Shaker Hymn)” (The Red
Album) [*Album of the Year Nominee]
6. Thrice “Come All You Weary” (The Alchemy Index, Vol 3 & 4: Air & Earth)
7. Nada Surf “See These Bones” (Lucky)
8. Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Narrow Stairs)
9. Black Kids “’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” (Partie Traumatic)
10. Joshua Radin (feat. Ingrid Michaelson) “Sky” (Unclear Sky – EP)
11. Beck “Orphans” (Modern Guilt)
12. Tokyo Police Club “Tessellate” (Elephant Shell)
13. Ben Folds “Cologne” (Way To Normal)
14. Kings Of Leon “Sex On Fire” (Only By The Night)
15. Fleet Foxes “White Winter Hymnal” (Fleet Foxes)
16. Ra Ra Riot “Can You Tell” (The Rhumb Line)
17. TV On The Radio “Dancing Choose” (Dear Science)
18. Jenny Lewis “Acid Tongue” (Acid Tongue)
19. The Killers “Dustland Fairytale” (Day & Age)
20. The Airborne Toxic Event “Sometime Around Midnight” (The Airborne Toxic Event)

Honorable Mentions: Of Montreal (Skeletal Lamping), My Morning Jacket ( Evil Urges), Panic At The Disco (Pretty. Odd.), Cold War Kids (Loyalty To Loyalty), Fall Out Boy (Folie A Deux), & CUt Copy (Ghost Colors).

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