Morning Shuffle: Have You Seen My Baby by Moby

I've been done with the house music part of my life for some time now.  This is one I downloaded to round out my Moby collection...and I really did like some of his stuff in the mid-late 90s.  I'll probably be deleting this now as I'm sure it's something I'll never find myself wanting to hear again.

Morning Shuffle: I Like Your Photographs by Starflyer 59

As proof that SF59 is a severely underrated band, I can't even find a video for the song that came up on YouTube, so I had to use another from the same record.  They're both from the Leave Here a Stranger record which is solid all the way through.  It took me a long time to adjust to SF59 leaving their heaviness and sludginess behind after Americana, but in looking at my collection now I probably have more SF59 than anything else.  I'm hoping for more SF59 records and one more collaboration from Jason with his brother Ronnie.

Morning Shuffle: The Well and the Lighthouse by Arcade Fire

I didn't get into Arcade Fire until their Suburbs record really grabbed me.  I was stoked to see them win Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammys.  Back when I was doing more running I listened to them a lot because their songs are easy to get lost in.  This song is from The Suburbs' predecessor, Neon Bible.

Morning Shuffle: Your Song by Elton John

I downloaded this one after an episode of American Idol a few years back when they did an Elton John night and I realized I knew all of the songs a little bit but didn't have many in my collection.  I'm not a huge fan, but it's something that rounds out the collection...it SHOULD be in it.  Reading over the lyrics to this one, some of the lines seem a bit forced to stick with the rhyming scheme.  One about kicking moss off a roof, and then becoming cross, meaning angry.  Just seems forced.  Anyway, it's a classic song.

Morning Shuffle: Visitation by Lamb of God

I've never been to keen on Lamb of God until this record.  I know with some certainty that their mindset is far different from mine, but I love quality heavy music.  I decided to give this most recent record of theirs a shot and it's been in heavy rotation since.  I love the thrashy-ness of the playing and the vocals are off the charts.  I have been following the vocalist on Twitter for awhile (until he quit using it) and he's an intelligent guy who thinks things out.  This is one of the best songs from this record.

Morning Shuffle: All Things Good and Nice by Jets to Brazil

So here's proof this thing is random.  I thought something was wrong this morning when out of my 16,000+ songs it pulled another song from the same record as yesterday, but that's just the randomness of it.  This one sounds kind of 70s-ish to me...like a Joe Cocker ballad...or even kind of southern rockish.

Morning Shuffle: Orange Rhyming Dictionary by Jets to Brazil

I had quit doing "Random Starts" but want to start up again.  Finally going to change the name though.  I love the idea of sharing a song a day and my take on it, or possibly my experience from a band I've worked with, but the "Random Start" name and concept credit goes to Riley Breckenridge of Thrice.  So I'll call it Morning Shuffle, and maybe someone can give me a better idea.


Anyway, Jets to Brazil is one of those bands I haven't dug into deeply, but because I have a lot of storage space and the Zune pass I have the flexibility to download a lot and explore without spending a ton of money.  I've had this in my collection for a few years and still haven't really felt compelled to dig into it...maybe because they're already broken up.  This sounds kind of Rivals School-ish to me.  

Book Review: Project Future by Chad Emerson

I have a major interest in many Disney related things, but primarily the parks and the company itself.  I enjoy reading about its development, history, and life behind the scenes.  I'm just starting to read books that tell the story behind the company and the parks.  A few years ago I read "DisneyWar" by James B. Stewart and loved it.  In fact, I'll probably read it again soon.  I've known about "Project Future" for awhile and finally bought it on Amazon Kindle to read on my Windows Phone.  We're going to "The World" in October and I wanted to see if there are things in the book that I didn't know yet.


My impression going in was that it was the most detailed telling of the complete story behind the development of Project Future, the initial code name for Walt Disney World.  I had read a review saying it was a bit dry...very factual and blow by blow.  Unfortunately I have to agree with that review.  I appreciate the detail in this book, but it read like an outline with fact after fact after fact.  "I" would have wanted more feeling in it, but I don't want to complain.  The author did include a preface saying he intentionally kept the book relatively short because it did contain so much detail and he didn't want its length to detract readers from digging in.  So perhaps if it was longer it could have included more feeling and anecdotal background.  


Leaving out much of the detail in Project Future, here's a brief synopsis of the development of Walt Disney World.  Disneyland opened in Anaheim CA in 1955 and it was created as a place where entire families could be entertained together.  Walt Disney's primary regret with Disneyland was not buying more land around the park to insulate it.  Once it was built many businesses and cheap motels moved nearby to ride the park's coattails and the area became very commercial and congested.  


In the early 1960s Walt began exploring locations for another park/resort on a grander scale and looked at locations like St. Louis MO, Niagara NY and Virginia, in addition to central Florida.  Once they targeted central Florida the company's strategy was to keep their identity secret to prevent landowners from increasing prices and other companies from jumping into the fray with them.  


Guess what?  It worked!  They formed fictitious companies and bought large tracts of land making up about 43 square miles near Orlando.  In addition, they created "improvement districts" and made themselves a municipality so they wouldn't be encumbered by local counties and governments.  They wanted to freedom to create and innovate.  They actually brought a lawsuit against themselves in Florida Supreme Court which resulted in a decision confirming that the municipality they created was legitimate.  When you go to Disney World today you don't have to look very hard to see evidence of the "Reedy Creek Improvement District", the most well known of the organizations they created to build the resort.  


To close, if you're a hardcore Disney fan this is probably a book you'll find interesting.  If not, you can learn about Walt Disney World's history from many other sources that may be a bit more entertaining.