Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 9

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

I first encountered Iron & Wine on the soundtrack to Garden State (thanks, Brian). I didn’t realize that “Such Great Heights” was a reinterpretation of a Postal Service tune, and hearing it first I actually prefer it. In any case, I was taken with the singer’s unique voice, but I wasn’t moved to act on it.

Soon after I moved back to South Carolina, I discovered the KEXP Song of the Day podcast. Every weekday, a free mp3 selected by the staff at one of the arguably few “real” radio stations anymore, KEXP out of Seattle. One of the first songs I downloaded was “Boy with a Coin” (video) by Iron & Wine, from his album The Shepherd’s Dog. It’s addictive and glorious. Two years later, it’s still the most-played song in my iTunes. I still haven’t found a single thing he’s sung that I haven’t enjoyed, but for some reason I haven’t purchased any of his albums.

Next time: perhaps the most over-played song in recent memory

Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 8

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

Next up is another track from The Kooks. Actually, this song and the other one are fairly interchangeable in terms of how much I like them. The thing about this band—at least their first album—is their phrasing, both lyrical and musical. It’s so much fun to sing along to. Unfortunately, their second album Konk wasn’t quite as whimsical. Sophomore slumps are common, and it’s not just the artists’ faults. The label and their marketing teams deserve some of the blame, and this case is no different. The general public probably didn’t notice any advertising for the album, but many of the music outlets I kept up with had interviews and stories involving this band that I thought was out of character for them. Maybe all the fame, or more probably the pressure that comes with it, got to them.

Next time: an addictive, soulful tune from a fellow statesman

Final four

(I realize this has probably been played into the ground for everybody else, but I laughed when I stumbled across it.)

A Motley Crue of Toxicologists

Motley Crue Still Exists -- Who Knew?

Three years ago this month a phalanx of Duke physics grad students, including most all Lunchtimers except “field theory” Brian descended upon Baltimore, MD for the American Physical Society‘s “March Meeting.” At the time most of us were desperate to find post-doc positions or other jobs given that in January several of us had been told there was no funding left to continue our research past May.  I must have gone on a half-dozen interviews myself, including a memorable one for Wolfram’s theory group.

(Incidentally, nuclear people do get to go to an APS meeting every year, just not the “March Meeting.”  They have to settle for the “April” meeting, which this year is May 2-5.)

Little did I know that three year’s later would find me with a permanent job (inexplicably in toxicology) attending another March conference in grey and chilly Baltimore.  This time around I’m here for the Society of Toxicology‘s annual meeting. 

Life in Technicolor II

The video for Coldplay‘s new single “Life in Technicolor II” is the best video I’ve seen in a while… I might have to revise my Top Five list. (I should publish that sometime…)

Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 7

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

Psych is almost one of my favorite shows on television. The show follows goofy Shawn Spencer, son of a retired cop, who was drilled with techniques of keen observation as a child. He’s never been able to hold a steady job, until he enlists his nerdy best friend Gus (played by West Wing alum Dulé Hill) to open a psychic investigating firm. Of course they’re not psychic, but they’ve found it’s the only way to get the local police department to contract them out. The show is quite funny. Most episodes revolve around a theme, from spelling bees to roller derby to astronomy.

The theme song is performed by The Friendly Indians, the garage band of series creator Steve Franks. I’ve always had a little more respect for people who’ve been in a band, because it’s not easy. I’ve dabbled in karaoke from time to time, but I’ve never had the discipline to perform in an actual band.

Next time: more British rock

Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 6

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

Sara Bareilles was another discovery through VH1 You Outta Know, months before she had her brief popularity with this track, “Love Song“. I admit, I haven’t had occasion to hear any of her other work, so any impressions I have will have to stand on the strength of this one track.

Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 5

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

I’ve written about Jamie Cullum before. Once again, I present a cover of a contemporary song as opposed to a standard or original composition. I plan to correct this soon, though yet another will show up on the 2008 Spring CD. In any case, his version of “Catch the Sun” by Doves warrants this inclusion. The song is from his second album, Catching Tales.

Cullum seems to cover songs by Americans and his fellow Brits equally well. Other artists include Pharrell, Jimi Hendrix, and even the Gershwins. With every album, he’s recorded fewer covers and has performed more of his own original material, either written solely or with his brother Ben. Personally, I like the mixture, and I hope he keeps some variety in future work.

Next time: a good old-fashioned piano-pounding rock song

Fair Warning

Well, the semester is over and I’m home for a couple of weeks of respite with my family. That means I finally have time to pick back up the Bunton’s CDs series. So look out—I hope to make a significant dent before January 4. Just don’t expect anything on Christmas or December 31-January 2 (Gator Bowl).

Being Trendy

So my sinus headaches have progressed into an eye infection requiring that I now get antibiotic eye-drops just like Emil (Ann’s cat).  I guess he made it look cool and I sub-consciously wanted in on the trend.

Apparently epidemiologists work may be similarly replaced by simply monitoring the frequency of search terms using Google Trends (awesomeness previously discussed). Lunchtime’s unwilling blogger Ann reports (by forwarding a New York times article) that Google Flu Trends is having remarkable success at correlating the flu incidence reported by CDC and the prevalence of flu-related search terms:

Correlation between trends in flu-related searches and incidence

I know it’s been a long time since I last posted, but I have become a massive Digg addict and if you care what random web-pages I’m looking at you can follow me there.  Last week I finally replaced my computer (purchased in 2001) that died this summer.  It has a mere four cores, so Brian’s cyber-manhood is safe for now).  The upshot is that in a few weeks I will be blogging more regularly.  In the mean time I am playing some games I have been waiting on for, oh, four or five years.  I started with Gears of War, which is a lot of fun but not as awesome as Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World for Donnie Darko.