soundboard de cheevo

at Bottletree, Feb. 24, Birmingham, AL Birmingham's quintet, The Triceratops (first four photos) were a good matching with the red-haired force of nature known as Baby Dee (last four photos) who is on tour nationally with her band of four. With atypical and well-played instruments from both bands, including harp, piano, trumpet, cello and violin, this was a better evening than the Oscars could have ever provided. It's too bad more people didn't agree and venture out, but for those of us who did, it was unforgettable. I'm already hoping Baby Dee comes back and that the city can give her a better showing. A good recent article on Baby Dee, that provides a bit of her amazing back story, is here. Her Web site and myspace are also worth perusing to see the amazing photo on her most recent album alone. The Triceratops are also on myspace.

I've entered a photo in the Humane Society of the United States Spay Day contest and need help with votes. Click here and enter the words "Maddy Lou" under pet name search choices (upper right-hand corner). You should see the above picture. I think you can only vote once time per e-mail address. Thanks for your help in advance. Go Maddy -- power to the paw pads!

It's hard to believe that one year ago I carried two kittens home from the Shelby Humane Society in Columbiana. They cried and both crapped in their cardboard boxes on the way home and I thought it was funny how Maddy Lou, then tragically named Bertha by the SHS staff, hissed at Gus for the first few hours. They warmed up to me and each other by that first evening and it's hard to ever imagine my life without them. My apartment living ceased to be lonely and in their resting and playing hours, they have brought me immeasurable joy. Maddy has learned to climb to the top of my bookshelf and Gus just looks up in amazement and jealousy. Being slightly crossed-eyed all he can do is look up at her and meow. It's sad and funny at the same time. He's longer than her now, but she's wider than him (sorry girl, I feel your pain). They still try to sleep in the same small bed together, still eat out of the same bowl (even when both bowls are full) and still clean each other. Th...

These are lifted from badcupid.com. Thanks to Web geek and co-worker Kenneth Carter for the 411. Least popular candy heart sayings are also pretty great, but nothing I wanted to post here. Ye who click on this link, be forewarned.

The Miles College jazz ensemble, The Milestones, played for a lecture series at Vulcan on Feb. 12. It was definitely the best way to spend a rainy Tuesday night. The music they focused on was from the 1920s-40s and featured a song by jazz man and Birmingham native Eskine Hawkins, who made a club in Ensley (an area of Birmingham) famous by a song he wrote called "Tuxedo Junction." Band leader and Miles faculty member Daniel Western gave us a brief oral history of the contributions of Birmingham jazz musicians who played in Harlem's famous Savoy Club with A-listers like Louis Armstrong. This kick-started me into watching Ken Burns' 10 episode Jazz series , generously loaned to me by a friend and it's pretty amazing. The entire photo set is here.

I realized recently that I love taking pictures while on vacation, but never so much while I'm home. I guess it's a mindset and I've considered photography a leisure activity and I never feel so leisurely while running out the door to go to work, so I decided to change that. I drive, have the camera literally resting on the opened window and I just shoot having little idea what I'll have until I get home. There are the occasional good fortunes of stopping at a red light with a good frame in front of me, but mostly I've been flying blind. So, here's what it looks like on my way to work from a few different routes. Richard Arrington Blvd. at 1st Ave. N Fifth Ave. S 1st Ave. N Back of lofts on 1st Ave. N Fifth Ave. S and 23rd St. Mystery building on 5th Ave. S, catty corner from Workplay -- do they make meth here? 24 St. S firehouse This series will be updated. More photos are here.

The only thing that surprises me about this news clip is that it wasn't shot in the south. Thanks to Dooce for posting this earlier.

Thanks to Kenneth Carter, my buddy at the News, for the tip on this clip. I never knew the terror that could exist in this seemingly innocent Disney classic.

In news from the homefront, the kitters have been especially entertaining this week. The constant change in weather has made them crazy at night, the witching hour being about 2 a.m. Maddy Lou has decided during cold weather she can't not be in my lap or on my body. Recently she's taken to getting completely under the covers with me, a lump for me to discover when I wake up. I have never known a cat to do this. Sometimes she sleeps on my shoulder sometimes literally in my arms like a stuffed animal. Always meowing too early in to get me up and sometimes knocking picture frames and other items off my dresser to get my attention, although all she gets is four-letter words when she tries those stunts. She also gets on my back and wraps her paws around my neck like she wants a piggy-back ride when she thinks I'm paying the computer more attention than her. I wish I could figure out a way to make money with this show biz star potential. Last week the two went to new heights in c...

This is a t-shirt, sold on one of my favorite and most random blogs ever -- stuffonmycat.com My birthday is almost a month away (hint hint). Who ever decided to put a tabby cat in a Devo hat and give it the most obnoxiously '80s pseudo instrument ever is a freaking genius and someone I want to know.

The photo is Rebecca's, of Rock Paper Rock fame, and also her idea to make it like a seventies greeting card, but I actualized her vision. This is no portfolio piece, but does remind me of the inspirational posters with Bible verse that a couple of cousins of mine used to have on their bedroom doors as kids. What was that decade's love affair with sunsets and Meat loaf all about? (I'm referring to the singer here, not the entree). Like powder blue suits, these are two facets of that decade that will always be a mystery to me.

Get your electoral groove on today and please go vote. If you don't know where to, click here. Be part of the solution.

A good part of this past week was spent on the couch sick with the sinus crud, coupled with asthma, my lifelong enemy. We're in a weird weather pattern with one day in the thirties, the next in the sixties. It confuses a poor body. Having so much slug time with the kitters gave me time to reflect briefly on some current and past goings on in the world of entertainment. Many great discoveries were made by me all by myself and a definite tragedy. I will break it down like this: 1.) Radiohead rules the world The most recent Rolling Stone has an incredible article on Radiohead and their latest album, In Rainbows . I think this is the band's best work since 1997's OK Computer . They bring sound sophistication to a whole different level than any band in my lifetime, with the exception of Sonic Youth maybe. Mark Binelli's well-crafted profile on the elusive quintet can be found here. 2.) Add Murderball to your Netflix cue You won't be sorry. Although I'm a few years b...

I guess I'm sort of on a roll here with various election postings. I'm not interested in turning this into a purely political blog, but it's news, is out there and can't be ignored. First off James Fields Jr., a Democrat, made Cullman County history Tuesday as the first black person to win the House District 12 seat against a Republican. Cullman is about 50 miles north of Birmingham and has had a reputation of being a racially intolerant area. I don't know what truth lies in those rumors, but I've heard them for much of my life, as have my parents so it makes me think it's not all urban legend (or rural legend as would be more appropriate.) Here's what The Birmingham News' Ken Faulk reported today. Also, in important election news, it appears that my friend Angela Georges, who I blogged about last week, won the photo contest she entered soundly with 29% of the vote so she and husband Tim will be fortifying their kindercompound with plenty of free d...

Thanks to Roy for posting this earlier on Facebook.

...for Rock Paper Rock promoting upcoming white kid hip-hop show. Click on image for full res experience.

It was built in 1913, is located on 2nd Ave. N, sat vacant for many years and now has been given new life as condominiums. Here's an article about its recent transformation.

My good friend, Angela, a Decatur, Ga. mom, teacher, photographer, artist, all-around fantastic person and creator of one of my favorite blogs My Daily Struggle , has entered a national photo contest with a picture she took of her two-year-old, Audrey Rose, and some pretzels in various states. She sent a call asking friends to vote for her photo and I'm passing it on. The photo to vote for is the one I posted and you can vote once a day until Jan. 30. So far Audrey is in the lead by a head (of curls of course.) Her latest blog entry reads: So, of course, I'm asking everyone I know to go and vote for Audrey's picture! She's one of ten finalists in this contest. Here are the details: Voting has begun and will take place through 5pm PT on 1/30/08 at http://www.modernmom.com/main/polls/10/111 The entry with the highest number of votes at the end of the voting period will win a $100 Target gift certificate. This could mean a lot of diapers, people. Tell everyone you know. Y...

Yesterday marked the end of a era for me as I watched the last episode of " The Sopranos ." It has left me a little hollow in the gut, like the way you feel when you have to say goodbye to someone you love, not knowing when you'll see them next. That series has been my companion for the past few years. It has conned me into feeling sorry for murdering sociopaths and adulterers and sad when main characters met their inevitably untimely, but predictable tragic fates. Creator David Chase did a brilliant job with this series which features some of the best dramatic acting, particularly in the roles of Carmela and Tony Soprano ( Edie Falco and James Gandolfini ), that I have ever seen. Cinematography, editing, locations and soundtracks have also been excellent. I know I will venture back in re-runs to this show for many years to come. If you haven't seen the series and can deal with the content, I couldn't recommend it more and I suggest the real episodes, not A&E...

Today the rare occurance of snow happened over much of central Alabama. The last time I remember seeing such a blanketing was back in 2000 which proves why people around here get so damn excited and and excitable about it. It's not like the mad panic to the grocery for milk and bread is justified (or for others, beer and Golden Flake potato chips). Folks just like pretending it could happen. It's a southern thing I suppose. As for the snow, it didn't last long and was mostly melted two hours after it quit falling, but it was a joy to watch. I was in Crestwood and got to witness Stella, the wonder pup, as she looked up at the sky with great amusement and some confusion, although she looks at many things that way. More photos from the weather phenomena are here.