A Mahrathon

Hello, Blogreader.

Beginning today at 4:48 CST, I will be doing a charity fundraiser to benefit Heifer International. Basically, it consists of me streaming a 26.2-hour dj set over the internet.

If you would like to tune in, you can click here. It works fine through iTunes. I think it also works through Windows Media.

It'll be mainly indie music from this decade, but I'm likely to take plenty of detours backward in time as well. Probably won't stray too far in the other direction, as I'm not a huge fan of the music that'll be coming out in the future.

The money I raise will be donated to Heifer International's Eastern Uganda Umbrella Project. I think Heifer is a pretty neat group. They're international in aim, and I particularly like how they structure the gifting so that the recipients later pass on livestock, plants and training equivalent to the original gift to another needy group in the future.

To make a donation and help out, you can click the following:

Thanks for reading and/or tuning in. I promise that my next post will not ask any of you for money.

A possible soundtrack for the GBA(s)FC

I put together a mix CD using the prompt for the GBA(s)FC. I could have made six or seven of these, easily. There's an awful lot of music that touches this theme. If you're curious, here's the track list.

01. Terrible Vision - Rhett Miller

02. Hindsight - Death Cab for Cutie

03. Eyesight to the Blind - the Larks

04. I'm Looking Through You - the Beatles

05. Love at First Sight - XTC

06. The Bird That You Can't See - Apples in Stereo

07. Just Want to See - Cowboy Junkies

08. I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face - Dusty Springfield

09. I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash

10. See My Friends - the Kinks

11. Visionary - Redd Kross

12. Seen the Light - Supergrass

13. Beginning to See the Light - Velvet Underground

14. I Can See For Miles - the Who

15. Last Night I Had A Vision - Eddie Holland

16. I See Red - X

17. Visions - Stevie Wonder

18. Lookin' Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival

19. Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson

20. Vision of Division - the Strokes

21. The Further You Look, The Less You See - the Temptations

22. Why Look at the Moon - the Waterboys

23. Sound and Vision - David Bowie

Additionally, I put a timer in the sidebar to tick down to the submission deadline. I have no idea if it is displaying properly in other time zones, but it seemed like a neat thing to pop up there.

At present, there are 41 entries. Which is blowing my mind. You guys are really kicking ass, as they say.

Xmas CD

Given the loathing I feel for most Xmas music, a couple of years ago I decided to see if I could put together an hour or so of seasonally appropriate music to which I could actually listen without feeling my skin falling off and my spine fusing together. Each year, I have tweaked the list a little. Here's this year's collection:

01. Winter Wonderland - Phantom Planet
I'm not a big fan of these guys, but they do a great job delivering this tune.

02. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan
Again, not people I normally find myself listening to. But their take on this song is just plain fun.

03. Silent Night - Johnny Cash
No explanation required.

04. I Hate Christmas - Oscar the Grouch
(Who needs that big red noise?)

05. Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple

06. White Christmas - The Drifters

07. Christmastime - Michael Penn and Aimee Mann
(Probably on here more out of love for Mr. Penn. Still quite listenable, though.)

08. Thanks for Christmas - XTC
(This is one of the few on here I tend to hear at malls, but it remains a great holiday song.)

09. Five Christmas Wishes - Steve Martin
(From an old Saturday Night Live monologue.)

10. ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus? - Guster
(Great version of a great song.)

11. Up On The House Top - The Jackson Five

12. Go Power at Christmas Time - James Brown
(The "Hardest Working Man in Show-biz" delivers another of his weird stream-of-consciousness songs. He's mostly talking to his band. Seems only marginally related to Xmas, but then so am I.)

13. Santa's Beard - They Might Be Giants

14. Deck the Halls - Jackie Wilson

15. Make Someone Happy - Seal

16. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Martina Sorbara
(Very dark, lovely version which appears to be sarcastic. Still beautiful.)

17. The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
(The melancholy emo section continues.)

18. The Little Drummer Boy - Ringo Starr
(Weird that on an album that includes two Sesame Street songs, one from South Park and other miscellany, this is the one that feels most like a novelty song.)

19. Little Saint Nick - the Beach Boys

20. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Temptations

21. That's What Christmas Means to Me - Stevie Wonder
(The overrepresentation of Motown continues. Assuming it is possible to overrepresent Motown.)

22. Father Christmas - the Kinks

23. Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison

24. Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
(This Leonard Cohen song is all over television these days, usually the Jeff Buckley version that leaves me a bit cold. I prefer this one, or the one by John Cale.)

25. (All I Want for Christmas Is) My Two Front Teeth - The Count
(Oh, sure. The vampire wants his teeth only so he can wish you Merry Christmas.)

26. Jew on Christmas - Kyle from South Park
(Beat out "Merry Fuckin' Christmas" by a slim margin.)

27. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch - Boris Karloff

28. Merry Christmas, Baby (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) - The Ramones

29. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon
(I couldn't have left this one off.)

Honorable mention: The Heat Miser, Christmas Song - Ray Charles, The First Noel - Emmylou Harris, Christmas Song - Weezer, that one by the Waitresses whose name escapes me, Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes, and probably enough other material to make a second disc next year.

Fits on a cd, too!

Feel free to leave a shout-out to your favorite omitted song in the comments.