A Nice Little Bowl of Cancer

Make no mistake, that's all it is. Before you really freak out, you should remember, this is the work of many and not just one man. I just thought I should touch on this subject since it comes up quite a bit. Two seemingly ordinary words that when put together make this dreadful phrase- "Quitting Smoking" - aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhh!!!

Now, do I know that smoking causes cancer (lung and throat), ruins your skin, causes heart attacks and just generally kicks your filthy ass? Yes, I do.

Does that make me wanna stop? Yes...and no

Here's the thing- I don't want to stop smoking. There it is. I figure I'm still new enough to it to get away with it, and, yes, I realise this is a silly idea but I honestly don't give a fuck when the non-smokers go on and on and on and on about how I shouldn't. I get that you care and all but leave me the fuck alone. Thank you.

And now I'm off to have a smoke...

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I'm sitting here typing while listening to John Legend (who I don't even fucking like) and stealing glances at my muted TV-where Simi fucking Garewal is yet again loading upon us a full hour of the most self-congratulatory bullshit anyone has ever had the unfortunate luck to witness...

and now just a little tribute to soon-to-be Oscar Winner Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line

"Baby, Baby, Baby..."

it does indeed burn, burn, burn...

A Case for Sheryl Crow

I've been thinking about Sheryl Crow lately (and what with her breakup with the yellow one, who hasn't?) and I've just been wondering why she doesn't get more respect. Now don't get me wrong I am in NO way a die-hard fan of hers and I'm not expecting PJ Harvey/Cat Power style critical hossannas but she gets nothing. Instead, Sheryl is absent-mindedly put in the same category as Melissa Etheridge, Vanessa Carlton, etc. as female artists that someone likes, just not you. Now La Crow has made her share of stinkers: her cover of 'Sweet Child O'Mine', 'The First Cut is the Deepest' and even most of The Globe Sessions but that doesn't discount the good stuff.

Tuesday Night Music Club is a very good debut and if you can ignore all the bickering between collaborators (and you can now that over a decade has passed) you have a great set of songs: the achingly tender 'Strong Enough', the somber 'Leaving Las Vegas' and, her breakout hit, 'All I Wanna Do' which despite it's off-putting ubiquity is actually a really really well-written song-very laconic, funny and blissfully casual.

Her second album is her masterwork- the self-titled LP found her in darker form, previously only hinted by her Led Zep cover 'D'yer Mak'er', with funny and bitter songs with a distinctly 90s style- check out 'If It Makes You Happy', 'Maybe Angels' and 'Redemption Day'..

This also not to mention her lesser but still great work on 2002's C'mon C'mon and last year's Wildflower...She's not the greatest thing in the world but her unassuming style never hurt anyone so go ahead and give her another listen. Is it really going to hurt?