SPAM for the holidays

Can someone please tell me why there is only spam in my e-mail inbox this Christmas? This is kind of depressing really. Luckily we were spared SPAM on the table for Christmas lunch! Honestly, how do we get people to write to each other again? To take the time to sit and reflect on what to tell others, to actually work that out for oneself!

The end of a year is for most of us a moment to take stock. One can do it lightheartedly or ... not -- which one to choose?

2006 was not a year to go down in history and yet a few small things happened to brighten the picture:
- Spending Easter time with Polona and Luka in Ljubljana -- a definite high point;
- Managing to bring down my working time to 90% -- another small victory even if the 90% is illusionary, the additional days off are definitely real;
- Finding amazing new people on my path and hoping that solid friendships will come out of these encounters.

Yet something will need to happen in 2007 for my mind to be completely at peace. Somehow difficult to pinpoint. I seem to be at a stage where I start to feel that something is missing in my life. Maybe the ability to make a difference in the wider sense? Maybe simply becoming me again. I hear you guys saying I am simply going through the famous mid-life crisis. Maybe!

So you will have guessed, my new year resolutions will include getting back on the right path. Making sure that I don't just sit on my butt. You see me do that? Coax me!

Ghost in the Machine

No I am not referring to a 1981 album by the Police or the 1967 essay by Albert Koestler (which are really related).

My ghost is called Norton and it lives in my PC... Thanks to him I was able to re-install without to much headache (or heartache for that matter).

So I'm in the game with a working PC. Send me e-mail!

25 days -- that's how long it would take ...

... to listen to my 8,887 songs on iTunes. And only few of my CDs are in the collection! Oh well, retirement is only 25 years away... Wish me luck!

Fabchannel.com - How I so wish it were mine!

I was telling you a few months back about fabchannel.com. Well it's definitely worth regular visits. A lot of cool concerts were recently posted.

Check these out:

• Lily Allen (she's off-key most of the time, but what energy!)
  
• The Frames (they're depressing alright but cool!)
• The Pipettes (just pure fun! showgirls they are!)
• Thomas Dybdahl (how cool is he with his hat and his beer?)

And in December, they have two "treats" for me... Early Christmas presents!

• Sarah Bettens (3/12)
• The Nits (21/12)

Music Keeps Me Sane

Music for a good cause:
(OK I already used that gimmick but the cause is still worth it):
Casa Alianza CD #2 is out. Buy it and contribute to the fight for taking kids off the streets in Central America.

Check out the playlist here. 12 great Swiss artists have contributed to this edition including William White and Tiger the Lion.

Music for a good cause (bis repetita):
This time a little more selfish. Music for my mental sanity! I bought a great pile of CDs last time I went to town (always an event!). They now keep me awake when I put many long and late hours at the office. Some tracks tend to top the playlist for different reasons, here's a short list:

• "Scared" by Albert Hammond Jr
  This track is kind of soft for my tastes yet I keep playing it. Something to go with my mood these day! The album is pretty cool and melancholic. Trivia: Hammond is also one of the lead guitars of The Stokes.
  
  
• "The young idealist" and "How wrong can you be?"by Lloyd Cole
  Lloyd is back. How cool? His new album is 100% true to the best of his older stuff. Mellow, lyrical and sometimes quite funny, Listen to the lyrics of "The Young Idealist" and you'll see what I mean! Some of you might even be able to identify!
  
  
• "I don't feel like dancing" by Scissors Sisters
  That's just what I need around 21.00 when my energy is waning and my stomach cries for a bite to eat. This keeps me going a little longer.
  
  
• "Jupiter" by An Pierlé
  A gem in the middle of a wonderful album. Saw her in concert recently and I was taken immediately. Funnily I discovered her in 2004 via the Tanger-Glasgow on Couleur3. The only other girl listener who put together a programme had a song by Pierlé in it and that was the beginning of that!
  
  
• "The art of letting go" by Eskobar
  One of my favourite nordic bands. Smooth voice and catchy melodies with a twist of drama. This track is a perfect example of that.
  
  
• "Tricycle" by Psapp
  I love their stuff! And now I am almost desperate because they are becoming mainstream. Thanks to Grey's Anatomy!
  
  
• "Quiet town" by Josh Rouse
  If you ask anybody in Switzerland if they know Josh Rouse you'll get a big blank. Ask them if they can hum the song from the UBS ad and they'll do that without any problem. Well, they're humming Josh Rouse's "Winter in the Hampton" from his previous album. This track opens the new one called Subtitulo, a definite favourite in the recent months!
  

I really have to put together a few mores mixes, so you guys can discover in sound rather than words!

Until then ... "Stay out of trouble" as the Kings of Convenience would say!