Taxi Cab Rate Hike

The rates for taxis in NYC have gone up. If they ever actually took people to Brooklyn I'd be worried.

I'm on a new Christmas CD!

That's right, Hi-Fi Christmas Party Volume 2, with Yuletide power-pop originals from artists including The Spongetones, The Elvis Brothers, The Bradburys, October Elsewhere, Sketch Middle, The Gripweeds, Joey Molland and more!

All money raised will go to benefit the Blood Center in Milwaukee to fund research into Von Willibrands and other diseases. My good friend and former bandmate Dan Pavelich, currently playing with the Bradburys, is the driving force behind the benefit CD and he knows first hand about the good work going on at the Blood Center in Milwaukee because his daughter Mari struggles with Von Willibrand's disease.

So if you'd like to help a good cause and hear some excellent Christmas-themed power-pop, check out the CD which will be 'dropping' right after thanksgiving.

Links to purchase will soon be posted at the Bradburys' site.

Rock on!

I've cut and run... from my land line

I finally cut off my land line and gone completely mobile. I weighed the pros and cons of keeping it for quite a while, but the choice was made clear when I realized the main thing I used the line for was calling my cell phone to make it ring so I could find it.

For $45 a month I think I can look around my apartment a little longer.

Verizon of course tried to scare me into keeping it, telling me that if I ever called 911 on a cell phone the emergency services would never be able to find me and wouldn't even bother trying because I had the gall to call them on a cell phone like some Hollywood hotshot, but Verizon and I have a troubled past and I think it's best to move on.

Why I Love Election Coverage

No, it's not the pretty charts and dazzling motion graphics trying to come up with new ways to display 2 percentages, and it's not the extremist pundits trying to sneak their talking points into whatever question they're asked.

It has to be the fact that it's the only time you see all of the anchors on air at the same time. On MSNBC last night we had Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert and Brian Williams at one desk with Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman throwing to them from another. It's like that one episode of your favorite soap opera when all of the subplots come together and you see all of the characters together for the first time all season.

So it's not just an election in which we the people have our voices heard, it's also a big party at Stefano's mansion.

Juliet Foxtrot Kilo

New indie band or the airport I flew into today?

I just got back from scampering about L.A. for a few after my weekend in Montana, and the worst part about flying east is you pretty much lose a day in the process.

Then when you go to pick up your stuff from baggage claim you lose another whole day.

And now I'm about to lose my third because my car is parked at Newark and my flight came in to JFK (don't ask).

These are the stakes when you don't have an entourage of hangers on to do your bidding (and keep track of your stuff).