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Dance, dance, dance to the radio

Songs in my head:
"You've Got a Friend" by Carole King
"Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" by the Arcade Fire
"She's Lost Control" by Joy Division

Watched A Charlie Brown Christmas last night and realized that I can relate to it more now than when I was younger. A timeless story along with a wonderfully loose and melodic score by Vince Guaraldi. Plus Snoopy is always a treat.

My goal of being done with my holiday shopping was not met. Still have a few things to get for a certain family member but I have some time tonight to take care of this. So far the shopping has been very easy to take care of, but I think it's easier to be a customer in a retail store than a retail employee.

NME has a lot of news: Ash is working on a new album while Meltdown is getting a US release sometime in 2005. Doves' new single, "Black and White Town," and record, Some Cities, will be released in the UK in February. No word on an American release date. Manic Street Preachers recently played their first gig with a second guitarist since Richey Edwards' departure.

Speaking of the Manics, us Americans will get the soon-to-be-released-in-the-UK reissue of the Holy Bible. Billboard has all the info here. I have yet to get to the Holy Bible-era of the band in Simon Price's Everything. Right now I'm on the Generation Terrorists-era and I am looking forward to the upcoming side chapter about why the Manics never made it in the USA.

Final word on the Manics today: still no word on an American release date for their newest record, Lifeblood.

Motley Crue is back together, again. Rolling Stone has all the info about their upcoming tour and Greatest Hits collections. For those counting, this is the third greatest hits collection for the Crue. First it was Decade of Decadence, Greatest Hits and now Red, White and Crue. I'm curious if this time in the band will be covered in a future edition of their tell-all bio, the Dirt.

The Internet Movie Database is reporting about Lindsay Lohan's recent performance on Good Morning America. I saw it and I thought she looked like she was lip-syncing. Guess I wasn't alone in this observation.

The Onion AV Club has their list of the best of 2004. I'm anxiously awaiting their list of "least essential" records of 2004 though. Their lists of "least essential" records from the 1990s, 2000, 2001,2002,2003 and Reality Off-shoots are hilarious.

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