Can't Get Her Out of My Head

Thanks to last night’s episode of Glee, I cannot get the songs of one Ms. Britney Spears out of my head. This is not a state of mind I welcome or relish. However, it put me in mind of my favorite type of musical cover. Most singers can sing a great song well, but I really enjoy it when someone can take a song of dubious artistic value and make it great.

There is something there about taking what you find and making it better than you found it by sheer talent, hard work, and passion that speaks to me. In this spirit I give you Richard Thompson’s version of “Oops, I did It Again”.* He brings meaning, heft, and yes, irony to a song that did not have it before he got ahold of it.

*I realize this comes perilously close to a Stuff White People Like entry, but Richard Thompson is a genius so I can live with being a walking UU cliche.

Not Just Ted Stevens

Tough day today. Several co-workers and friends knew the pilot who died along with Sen. Ted Stevens last night. Terry Smith was very well-regarded and will be missed. He just attended a memorial service a few weeks ago for his son-in-law, who also died in an aviation accident. I can't even image what it must be like for that family right now. Things are pretty somber around here.

A close friend of mine works with Smith's other daughter and used to work with him. I had to call her to tell her when I found out that he definitely was one of the fatalities. People had been on pins and needles all day; we knew there were four survivors, but not their identities.

I felt pretty down after I called her and heard about the reactions of his former associates on her side of the airport. A few minutes later Eva Cassidy's version of "How Can I Keep From Singing" came on my iPod. It helped. It's still a tough day, but it helped.

Kind of Blue Turns 50

Still celebrating awesomeness, Miles Davis's Kind of Blue turned 50 yesterday. I wanted to commemorate this yesterday, but for some reason it didn't get transferred to my iPod and the physical disk is AWOL. This is truly one of the greatest albums ever, so if you've got it, give it a listen. Seldom do we ever get to see so much talent come together to make such a nearly perfect thing.

If anyone knows where my disk is, let me know.