b.rox

After a couple weeks of little to no activity, we got three offers on our house yesterday. There’s a long way to go to actually close the deal, of course. So I’m not throwing any parties, but I can’t deny that my mind is athrob with a steady pulse of excitement. We might just pull [...]

We’re finally getting a couple days of cooler, drier air, so it’s time to break out the autumnal tunes. I think just about everybody in New Orleans is in a better mood today. It won’t last, but we’ll enjoy it while it’s here. What passes for autumn in the subtropics really doesn’t compare to what [...]

This is what I like to listen to in my office. Not too distracting but with enough of an edge it doesn’t put me to sleep. This is about an hour and a half of music by Alio Die, Winquist Virtanen, Bomis Prendin, and others. Some of this stuff creeps out my co-workers — tell [...]

Does this image of the Ten Commandments ring any bells? Well, if you know me, it should look vaguely familiar. Those are my teeth. It’s a remix by a Flickr user “zeevveez” in Jerusalem which uses a photo I took of my own teeth just over four years ago: That’s what I love about Creative [...]

Just in case you thought we were getting too sappy around here. Twelve anti-love songs by B.B. King, The Plastic Cheeses, Moon Cakes, and others. About 40 minutes of fun. Actually we had a fun anniversary celebration last night. Our old friend Amanda was in town with her husband Michael (whom we’d never met before) [...]

Xy and I are celebrating our 16th anniversary today. This might be a good time to revisit our infamous puppet-show wedding. Or if you’re in the mood for music rather than video, here’s sixteen tracks for sixteen years together — mixed with a minimum of saccharine because, like the song says, true love is not [...]

An hour of music. You tell me: what do these 21 tracks have in common? Besides a general level of awesomeness.

Here’s a mix of twenty-one tracks to inspire and uplift, occasionally veering into the cornball but mostly keeping it real, including music by Oneida, Ella Fitzgerald and Desmond Dekker. When I look back over the last few years, there’s sure plenty to get down about: floods, murder, war, personal hardships aplenty for my family and [...]

Here’s a mix of fourteen tracks for the equinox, about an hour of music, a mystical blend of jazz, electronica, a little hip-hop and some raging heavy metal (sorry Beth) including music by John Coltrane, Death Cab for Cutie and Heaven Shall Burn. I kind of feel sorry for the autumnal equinox. Of all the [...]

Dear Persephone, Since I see you every day I sometimes don’t notice the incremental changes. You still just look so tiny to me, and even after carrying you for blocks, you still seem so light. But I know you’re growing, because you can now open the top drawers in the kitchen, which you couldn’t do [...]

Just got this via e-mail. Here’s an opportunity for some New Orleanians to go to Washington DC in support of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. Short notice but this is something I believe in. I wish I could go! But I can’t. Maybe you can? Please spread the word, because the bus leaves soon. [...]

Our open house is today, and we hope plenty of prospective buyers will show up. Our old friend Brian Rice recommended that we should have some “soothing, but hip, music playing low in the background.” So here is a mix I call “Soothing but Hip,” eleven tracks of long sweet mellowness, including music by Brian [...]

For no particular reason, here’s a mix of 18 tracks with a vaguely animalistic theme. It’s an hour of music, aggressively eclectic — some might say obnoxiously so — from madrigal to metal, from rock to reggae, from the goofy to the sublime, from Thurl Ravenscroft to Blue Öyster Cult to Quincy Jones. The animal [...]

I got so much positive feedback on my last mix (well, it doesn’t take much to encourage me) that I thought I’d give it another shot. Here are 34 tracks of raucous, dirty, offensive, strident, silly, snotty, and fun punk rock, about an hour and a half of music by 45 Grave, Against Me!, Poison [...]

Our inspection period is just about over. We’ve found a number of deficiencies which we are asking the seller to correct: There are structural issues under the house. A lot of sills and joists need to be replaced or, in some cases, repaired. There’s a flat roof over the addition in the rear of the [...]

I don’t know why but I’m feeling the love today. So here’s some music: Sixteen tracks on the theme of Universal Love. It’s an hour-long eclectic mix that starts poppy, gets funky and ends silly. Music by Galactic, Diana Ross, Golden Ball and more… (8tracks terms of service forbid a complete track listing.) Enjoy! One [...]

Bissell Homecare, Inc. PO Box 3606 Grand Rapids MI 49501 For the attention of Mark J. Bissell, President & CEO Dear Mr. Bissell, We recently purchased a Lift-Off Revolution Remanufactured 3760R vacuum cleaner produced by your company. During its second use, the stretch hose came detached from the hose grip, rendering the whole apparatus inoperable. [...]

I don’t have much use for most of the new features in iTunes 9 (released yesterday) but there’s one thing I like: Apple has added nested AND/OR functionality to smart playlists. Very nice. In fact I’d upgrade for this feature alone.

Well, it’s official. Our house is on the market. There’s a “For Sale” sign in front. We’ve been very happy here. It’s hard to think that our home for the last seven years might soon belong to someone else. But here’s hoping. If you’re interested call our Realtor, Shannon Sharpe Briand, at (504) 616-7000. It’s [...]

There’s an article in today’s paper on a subject near and dear to my heart. I’m even quoted herein. My comments follow. Greenway Ahead by Lolis Eric Elie, The Times-Picayune Saturday September 05, 2009, 10:42 PM In a move that could help create the first new public park in New Orleans in two decades, the [...]