The World of Marty Stuart

I'm becoming more and more impressed with the world of Marty Stuart. Most people haven't a clue who he is, but he's been involved in a ridiculous number of recordings over the years. He's played with Johnny Cash and Lester Flatt. He even helped to turn Billy Bob Thornton's Private Radio into a half-way decent effort. He really is an understated presence. I mention this because I just picked up a copy of Merle Haggard's The Bluegrass Sessions, and guess who was on it...Marty Stuart. He plays a mean mandolin, and he's positively brilliant on it -- as is Haggard who has really come back from nowhere land in the past year or two. According to the All Music Guide, Stuart w'll turn 50 in September, which means he has a lot more time to make great music, and hopefully obtain more recognition for his work.

Where Does the Time Go?

Good grief. Nothing like getting really sick for awhile to put your plans to write on hold. It's been a weird few months, to say the least. I don't really want to talk about that though....So, let's move on....

Friday Night Lights recovered somewhat, but it never got up and running quite as well as the first season. I'm glad it's returning in the fall though. It's still a great show, despite the problems that crept in during the second season. I'm going to chalk it up to a sophomore slump that was compounded by the on again, off again, will it or won't it return that led things off as well as the writer's strike that brought everything to a screeching halt. Season three will be back to normal. I'm sure of it!!

Kudos to CBS for picking up Dexter. What a wickedly good show it is. If you missed it rent it, and stick it out the grisly first half hour of the first episode. It's all kind of morbid and twisted, but Michael C. Hall from Six Feet Under fame is perfect for the role. He is so able to play this seriously disturbed serial killer and make him into a likeable person. Who ever dreamed up the idea of a serial killer stalking serial killers (that would be Jeff Lindsay, author of Darkly Dreaming Dexter) really needs to get checked out. I just may have to get Showtime, so I can watch the second season right away.

Police to Make a New Album?

So, the big buzz of the music world today is Andy Sumner's dropping hints that (perhaps, maybe, if you read between the lines and actually believe they can stay together) the Police might make a new album. In a statement to the Associated Press, Sumner said, "It's sort of like living with the elephant in the room. I would see it as a challenge, to make an absolutely brilliant pop album at this stage of our career, and that would be something quite remarkable."

Personally, I can't see it happening, and even if it did, I can't imagine it would be any good. Even before they hit the road, they sounded tired. Their appearance at the Grammy Awards should have been exhilarating, but instead, it fell flat. Believe me, I'm a huge fan of the Police. I'd love to see them make an absolutely brilliant pop album. I just don't think they have it in them anymore.

Friday Night Lights

What did they do to Friday Night Lights? After waiting all summer for the show to return, the opening episode was a bit of a letdown, to say the least. The plot wasn't entirely plausible, particularly the storyline featuring Landry and Tyra. The show also was overrun with pointless rock music. I'm not ready to give up. Perhaps, they were just setting the stage for the second season. Last year, the story just evolved so naturally, it's hard not to be angry about the soap opera that started Season Two.

Welcome! The Ozone Hole Is Smaller!

Welcome to my blog. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I hope it will be interesting to you. I'm very concerned about the environment and the state of our world, and every day there seems to be a lot of depressing news. This past week there was some good news on the environmental front. The ozone hole is continuing to shrink, and it's 30 percent smaller than it was last year, which was record size. Maybe we've turned this thing around. Maybe not. Scientists say that there is a natural fluctuation that occurs, so this might not be "indicative of a long-term trend." Still, I hold out hope that if we all focus on problems such as this, we can take corrective action to make things better.