Ever since Joel turned me on to netvibes I have dramatically increased my blog consumption. If you’ve kept up with the del.icio.us roll at the right, you’ll notice that I’ve been consuming a lot of lifehacker posts. I’m really digging the evolution of the web and how much of the productivity software is moving to web apps and away from our hard drives. For instance, I use Google Calendar exclusively for all my calendaring needs, GMail for all my email and Google Docs for anything I want to be able to access on the weekend when I’m not at the office. I’m sure you all do something similar. I know Joel’s referenced Remember the Milk

What I want to know is where we go for info. My netvibes is tabbed thusly: life, news, sports, politics, tech, GTD. The usual suspects appear for the news (nytimes, washintson post, Google News) and Espn.com for sports, crooks&liars, etc. for politics, wired, boing-boing, slashdot for tech, 43folders, dumblittleman etc for GTD.

JttM where do you go to function on the web?

(yes, i know this could be handled by checking out each other’s del.icio.us posts, but i don’t think anyone but jhb, murder and me use the bookmarking service)

p.s. if anyone can help me load a .html text file and access it as a bookmark, i’d appreciate that. here’s why.

I didn’t listen to nearly as much new music as DMarsh in 2007. But I still felt like I hardly had time to really digest what I consumed (and some albums, I’ve just not yet listened to: e.g. Battles, Elliot Smith, some dude named Matthew Dear).

Nothing blew me away in 2007. I don’t expect that anything from this year will fundamentally influence my tastes as much as 1997’s OK Computer and Blur or 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But so much from this year was consistently solid. To continue an annual tradition, here’s my favorite albums from 2007 (for the heck of it, in rank-numerical order):

1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible. If we could come up with an objective equation to rate music, Neon Bible would be the best album of 2007. In fact, it’s biggest drawback in critics’ circles, I think, must be that the album is so accessible. You, your sister, your dad, and your questionably lame co-worker could all agree that on Neon Bible. Which is not to say that the music is just artless, vapid pop. It’s expansive and thoughtful. The beginning of “Intervention” has a grandness and ambitiousness that I think most indie rock bands today eschew—which is what I think separates Arcade Fire from most of their contemperaries. Arcade Fire aim to write U2-like anthems; not just catchy or clever pop songs.

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Like DMarsh, to me, 2007 was an incredible year in music, probably the best since 1997 and markedly more impressive than sorry 2006. During 2006, I worried that I was out of touch with the music scene. For a long time in 2006, nothing new really interested me, and I found myself reverting to my familiar mainstays: Belle and Sebastian, 2005-era Ryan Adams, the Clash, etc. But after 2007, I feel comfortable that it wasn’t me being out of touch, it was the music in 2006 that, well, was substandard. Anyone of my favorite albums from 2007 would have been on the top of my list in 2006.

I’ll get to my favorite albums in a separate post, but 2007 was a substantial year, so I also want to talk about a couple of larger points first. Two themes dominated my mood and reaction to music in 2007.

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If you’re having a hard time coming up with a gift idea for the Republican feminist in your life or if you just want a good laugh consider, the 2008 Great American Conservative Women Calendar. (Thank you DrudgeReport, and your hilarious cast of advertisers!)

I joke not.

Rather than swimsuit pinups, this calendar features conservative women modeling “the latest professional styles”, like sweater-clad Michelle Malkin busy, blogging away on her laptop. The calendar is a suggested $25 or FREE if you have an active university email account. Send your orders to kmccann@cblpi.org. And god bless America.

I’ll be back in town tomorrow and will be home for xmas and new years. My fold out love seat has been spoken for for part of that time, but the couch is un-called and there is plenty of floor space. If you don’t want to post your travel plans on the internet, call me or shoot me an email so we can go caroling or something.

Interested in a little free friendly fantasy action for the college bowls? Just pick your winners by Dec. 20th and rank the games according to your confidence in your prediction.

Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/group?groupID=17979

Game Front: http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/frontpage

Group: JttM
Password: donotpassgo

This year was good to me. I found more good music from this year than perhaps the ten previous years combined. This is probably partly because technology is making it so easy to find and get new music. But I’ll give the artists some credit too.

Because what music I like depends so much on my mood at that moment, I’ve decided to just clump the albums into tiers.

Top Rung:

Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha: Like several of you, I am a fan of his 2005 release Andrew Bird and The Mysterious Production of Eggs, but I like Armchair Apocrypha five times as much. It’s a little less quirky, just as philosophical, and there’s more whistling. If you don’t know Bird, he’s a singer/songwriter/violinist/whistler/philosopher with a distinctive, ever-changing, and hard-to-describe style. A cohesive album with single material too, but the best of the best is far from radio friendly. Easiest criticism: too adult contemporary. Start with: Fiery Crash; Dark Matter; Armchairs.

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible: The best band in the world finally has enough material to play a full set without cover material. Easiest criticism: not as good as Funeral. Start with: Keep the Car Running; Antichrist Television Blues; and the simple but beautiful Neon Bible.

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup: an unmistakable “new world indie pop” sound and an unmistakable masterpiece. DeVotchka (Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack) is about the only band I can compare them to, and even that falls short by a few furlongs. Easiest criticism: too weird and over the top. Start with: Cherbourg; Nantes.

Blonde Redhead – 23: a haunting and lush electronic indie rock album that sounds like a gift from the future. Easiest criticism: inconsistent and lyrics that are almost impossible to decipher. Start with: 23; The Dress; My Impure Hair.

Cloud Cult – The Meaning of 8: Their best album yet sounds like what most indie rock bands are trying to sound like. This description from AMG fits many of the songs – “features a Montreal indie-rock chamber pop formula that focuses on the build — a guitar part slowly propels from finger-picking into a militant strumming over orchestral swells until the bottom drops out and then returns with a grandiose tom-fueled chorus.” Easiest criticisms: whinny voice, too many tracks, and dorky lyrics. Start with: Chemicals Collide; Dance for the Dead.

The Maccabees – debut album from a young British Rock band with new-wave, post-punk, and indie influences rocks like only the British know how. Easiest criticism: too loud and lacking the bad-ass factor. Start with: About Your Dress; Good Old Bill.

The National – Boxer: this is what The Arcade Fire would sound like if you took away half of their instruments, mellowed them down a little bit, and dropped Butler’s vocals an octave. Boxer is an example of a whole that is greater than its parts. A steady pulse of intense drumbeats holds it all together nicely. Easiest criticism: while the sound is pleasant and unique, the songs are easy to play and could be covered by eighth graders. Start with: Fake Empire; Squalor Victoria; Brainy.

Phosphorescent – Bonnie Prince Billy? No. Damien Jurado? No. Iron and Wine? No. Band of Horses? No. Phosporescent? Yes. Pull this one out when you’re about ready to fall asleep but don’t have another reason to go to be bed. Easiest criticism: depressing, weird, and short. Start with: Wolves; At Death, a Proclamation; My Dove, My Lamb.

Radiohead – In Rainbows: As good as any Radiohead album. So sonically unique and complex. Easiest criticism: Thom Yorke is a whinny non-sensical scar on this planet. Start with: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi; All I Need; Nude; 15 Step.

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I saw this today. I knew that legalization was probably coming, but I didn’t realize it would be happening this soon. I’ve been curious to try Absinthe, but not enough to go to any trouble to do so. Now that it’s legal, presumably, less trouble will be required.

I know a few of our ‘readership’ have experience with the stuff. Anybody know anything about the brands that are available in the U.S.? Should I lock myself in a padded room before I try it? How much is enough/too much? Any suggestions for pithy remarks I could make before, during, or after the experience? Et cetera?

After Chase Daniel blew his chance in the spotlight yesterday, the Heisman race has boiled down to two players: Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden. McFadden deserves the trophy. Here are my four arguments.

Unlike most sports fans, I’m not a statistics guy. One of the many things statistics won’t tell you is who has a giant target on their back. 99% of hard-core college football fans believe the Glenn Dorsey is the best defensive player in the nation. If one just looks at the stats they would argue that their are dozens of better defenders in college football, because Dorsey’s stats are pedestrian. But nobody would freaking do this because it’s easy to see why his stats aren’t staggering - he is double teamed on almost every single play. Anyone that has watched an Arkansas game this season knows that a similar story is true for McFadden. Our opponents often seemed more concerned with stopping McFadden than winning the game. Tebow had the luxury of starting this season without an X on his back. Plus, it’s much harder to limit a quarterback on a solid team than it is a running back on a team with a subpar quarterback. When sports commentators are talking about McFadden and the Heisman, they usually start with something like “he is the most outstanding player” or “he is the best player,” but then use statisitcs to argue why Tebow deserves the Heisman. This makes about as much sense to me as saying Glenn Dorsey is the best defender in college football, but Jo Schmo who had more sacks deserves the award for best defender.

Tebow’s stats are as amazing as everyone thinks they are. However, McFadden’s stats are better than most are giving him credit for. He set an SEC record for most all-purpose yards in a season. He needs just 167 yards to break Heisman-winner Herschel Walker’s SEC record for most yards in a season. He tied the record for most yards in a game. He moved past Heisman-winner Bo Jackson and into third place for most yards in an SEC career. He threw four TD passes without an interception. He was the only player to run for more than 100 yards against LSU this season (206 yards and 3 rushing TDs). Although he failed to hit 100 yards in three games, Auburn was really the only team that could limit McFadden without sacrificing the win. And most of Auburn’s success was due to their offense keeping the Razorbacks’ offense off of the field.

What if… McFadden had gone to Florida as a quarterback. If McFadden had Florida’s receivers, practiced the QB position, and got as many play calls as Tebow, he would be having similar success. He probably wouldn’t have as many passing yards, but would have more rushing yards. One reason McFadden didn’t go to Florida as a QB is because he would rather be one of the best RBs to ever play football than a gimicky college QB without a clear position in the NFL. If Tebow was a running back at Arkansas… third string.

Looking back on this season twenty years from now… McFadden was one of the most exciting players and best RBs to ever play college football… and Tebow scored a lot of touchdowns.

McFadden deserves the Heisman.