Sound of the Day

Video of the Day

Via Sullivan, the Kaiser Family Foundation produces something every American should watch about health care reform:

Hard Knock to Swallow

I don't watch Hard Knocks because I have better things to do with my time, but I might have to watch this week's episode to see what kind of cuss-laden speech Rex Ryan gave to the Jets at halftime to make them come out and shit gold for thirty minutes.

Because well, I'm poor.

And I could use thirty minutes worth of gold shit.

...Also, I'm pretty sure Jason Taylor is a zombie, because that S.O.B. just won't die.  Or retire.  I would accept both as a reasonable end.

Tap the keg

Prediction I have no business making beyond the fact that I like it:

Next big thing in brewing - RYE BEER.

Ish is good.

Unlike some seriously confused Christians in Florida

...We're going to do what you're supposed to do with books.

So we're going to be doing a little bit of a special event here at Cheshire Prospects - we've been asked to to a book review!  In the coming weeks we'll be reading and discussing Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More by Stever Robbins, the Get-It-Done Guy from his Quick and Dirty Tips podcast.  If you'd like some more information about the book, a preview of the first chapter, and how to pre-order it before it drops, head over to this website.

Once I see how the book is set-up, I'll let you know how we'll break down the review and discussion.  I think this'll be a fun exercise for all parties involved.  If you want to snag yourself a copy and have a little reader dialogue in the comments section, I think that would be pretty cool too - our own little online book club.  Maybe it'll even lead to this becoming a more regular feature, like how TNC does over at his spot.

And maybe it'll actually make me a more effective blogger!

How we really save America

By acting more like these people and less like these people.

"You know that new sound you been lookin' for?"

Linkin Park has it.  When I first heard The Catalyst a few days ago, I was seriously like "What the hell is this?"  Electronica, really?  I had head that LP was going in a new direction, but really?  ELECTRONICA?!

But now I can't stop listening to it.  It's what I've heard some refer to as "a grower:" a song that, the more you listen to it, the more you like it.  And thinking back to other LP albums (Meteora, and definitely Minutes to Midnight) many of my favorite songs from their band have been like that.  The more time you spend with it, the more you notice the detail and work that go into it, little things that get lost in the blunt ear trauma that LP can tend to cause at times.

So give it a listen.  Go into it with an open mind.  I recommend watching the video (which is pretty cool and creative on its own), and then plugging your headphones and listen a couple more times before deciding how you feel about it.  There is some pretty sick layering that Shinoda and company have put together in their opening single to A Thousand Suns that can't be appreciated through laptop speakers.

A Thousand Suns drops September 14, and I'm kind of excited to see what the rest of the album will be like.

If you want to hear another track off of the album, check out LP's MySpace page (MySpace still exists?!) to check out Wretches and Kings, another very different style LP song with hints of Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against The Machine.

In the Teapot

Conor Friedersdorf highlights Dave Weigel's post on the history of the Tea Party movement, how the Republican Party's attempt to jump on to it, and it's impact on the future of politics in the federal government.

In Her Cathedral

With a hat tip to Zoe Pollock, a pair of photo essays from Matador Trips that will leave you marveling at Nature in all her glory.

Video (Experience) of the Day

Via The Daily Dish (I suggest trying "eats" and "shaves"):

Not just oats

Quote by Quaker thologian Richard Foster that I found really insightful today:

There is a time to feast and there is a time to fast. It is the disciplined person who can feast when feasting is called for and fast when fasting is called for. In fact, the glutton and the extreme ascetic have precisely the same problem - they cannot do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Happy 200th post everyone.