Thursday, August 12, 2010

Mixed CD: Strummin'

Tonight, I'm making a mixed CD for my brother-in-law. The theme: Strummin' Songs

When making a compilation, I cast a wide net, bringing in every possible song by every possible artist - starting with about 40 songs. Then narrowing that list to the final 15 or so (depending on the song length).

I am about half way through my initial list compilation and am stuck. Here is my current list. Any suggestions?

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town - Cake
Thought I Knew You - Matthew Sweet
I Wanted To Tell You - Matthew Sweet
Blue - The Thorns (Matthew Sweet and others - covering the Jayhawks song)
Among The Living - The Thorns
*Amie - Pure Prairie League
Gonna Make You Love Me - Ryan Adams
New York, New York - Ryan Adams
Comin' Atcha Live/Truckin' - Tesla (I've always had a soft spot for Tesla.)
Dead Flowers - The Rolling Stones
Bootleg - CCR
Cross-Tie Walker - CCR
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - CCR
*Cotton Fields - CCR (though I think I put this one on too many compilations)
Don't Look Now - CCR
Leather and Lace - Stevie Nicks with Don Henley
I Should Have Known Better - The Beatles
The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Beatles (Can you believe this song went to #1?)
Ten Years Gone - Led Zeppelin
Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin

Again, I'm trying to create an initial list that I can then narrow down to about 15 songs.

Suggestions?

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*CCR's Cotton Fields


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*Pure Prairie League's Aime (though the cut single version)

Sunday, August 08, 2010

House Owning

Carlos is in the process of buying his first house. He has found a house and has gone through inspections. He should have ownership by the end of August.

Carlos, Jason and Julie were over last night. I have been having issues with my toilet. (The back water tank overflows at times; all the parts in the tank need to be replaced.) The toilet overflowed twice while everyone was over. Very frustrating.

Recently, my cable box went out and had to be replaced. The cable guy unhooked all my extra (read: non-Cox Cable) items - including my Wii. Since then, I hadn't figured out how to use my Wii, including watching instant Netflix movies on my TV via the Wii and my wireless router. (Getting all those items to work initially was a four hour process.)

So last night, I was warning Carlos about the perils of home ownership. Tonight, I called him and told him the good things: It took me about 90 minutes, including many breaks to calm my frustration and three trips to Home Depot to purchase the correct tools, but I fixed my toilet. With that done, I tackled my Wii - and fixed that too!

I told Carlos that one of the best things about home ownership is the sense of satisfaction of completing house projects that you didn't think you have the skills to accomplish.

Now I'm maybe ready to rip out and replace my bathroom sink. Stay tuned.