i am fuel, you are friends… (or, remember the spacemen 3?)

Heather Browne writes the blog I Am Fuel, You Are Friends out of Colorado. She’s been at it for a couple of years, and has a real knack for picking out key songs on album releases.

Every Monday, she highlights a song from newly released albums in her “Monday Music Roundup.”

This week, Heather highlights Spiritualized’s “Soul On Fire” in her most recent Monday Roundup. Her take on this song is pretty accurate and made me think of the placement of “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous. Some songs will bring people together and can be truly empowering. This has that power and reminds me a bit of “Bittersweet Symphony” from The Verve.

Thanks, Heather, for reminding me that this album is out there. And for reminding me that Spiritualized is out there, too. Spiritualized has been around for quite awhile and was born from the breakup of Spacemen 3 (who were also friends of the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy). Described as “space rock,” their music is dependent on atmospheric guitar work that really creates a sensation of open space.

Spiritualized is almost Menudo-esque in that it has had more comings and goings than possibly any other band. In fact, the Wiki-page on Spiritualized actually includes a chart:

The one constant has been Jason Pierce, who truly is the core of the band. He’s the guy singing in the video for “Soul On Fire.” Check out that song here:

And, for good measure, here’s Spacemen 3, “Hypnotized,” courtesy of MTV.

Finally, here’s the Jazz Butcher performing “Human Jungle.” If you aren’t familiar with the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, you’d better get to know them before they get to know you…

(Now… how was that for a meandering post?)

Even if you win a rat-race, you’re still a rat.

“Trying to seduce an audience is the basis of rock ‘n roll, and if I may say so, I’m pretty good at it.”

These are just some of the many pearls of wisdom that has spewed forth from the mouth of Jon Bon Jovi.

Who knew that there are several, if not many, websites dedicated solely to the wisdom of Jon Bon Jovi? More specifically, who knew Jon Bon Jovi had wisdom to share? Not so sure? Try this…

“Each step I take ain’t worth the ground that I walk on if we don’t walk in our own way.”

I find it best to read these quotes with a gruff voice (like Gob from Arrested Development when he’s performing his magic act) while staring thoughtfully into the future.

Still not convinced?

“There’s no 25th hour in the day, so don’t look for it.”

Oh my God, that is SO true.

If you’re feeling the pain that so many are in the country, waste no time. Head here immediately…

Or here… here (this one’s called “Brainy Quote”) or here.

When organizations work in a vacuum

Whenever I have money to deposit, I use the drive through ATM. There are two around town I tend to use. In both cases, the envelope the ATM dispenses tells me the envelope should be inserted into the ATM with the lip on the bottom. However, the sign on the ATM tells me the lip should be on the top.

I get a similar experience when I take a business reply envelope to the set of mailboxes on the street – one says “stamp mail” and the other says “meter mail.” Which one is a business reply card?

We have two teams working on the site right now. One on the architecture and one on the design. If they’re not talking, someone’s going to be using our site on their blog as an example of working in silos.