Ballad of the Irish Horse (album)

Ballad of the Irish Horse (album) is an album released by The Chieftains in 1986. The Chieftains are an Irish group who sing traditional Irish music.

At first I thought "the Irish Horse" was slang for something dirty. But now I think they just mean an Irish horse.


Nostril of the Irish horse.
Photo: Iguana Jo via Flickr (CC)

Chasing Time (compilation album)

Chasing Time (compilation album) was a compilation album released by the '80s progressive metal band Fates Warning. I don't think I know this band.

Fates Warning has inspired me to write a poem. You can read it while you listen to your favorite Fates Warning song. Below is my poem. It's called "Chasing Time (compilation album)".

Chasing Time (compilation album)
We're not chasing time.
Time's chasing us.
But time is slow.
And we are fast.
We will take a big lead.
But then we will take a nap. And time will win the race.
Slow and steady.

Adam Shonkoff


Chevy Chasing Time (compilation album)
Photo: Alan Light via Flickr (CC)

Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 3

Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 3 was a live digital download of a Grateful Dead concert, the third in a series. The live performance was recorded on October 26, 1971 at the University of Rochester in New York and released in 2005 as a bunch of ones and zeroes.

Who would've thought?


Housefly dead.
Photo: Samyra Serin via Flickr (CC)

Still Life (Annie Haslam album)

Still Life (Annie Haslam album) was a solo album from Annie Haslam, who had previously been the vocalist in the 1970s English prog rock band Renaissance. Still Life was released in 1985. According to Wikipedia, the album sold well. I'm glad for it.

Here's a video of the title track. It's good for relaxing and being contemplative and wondering what life might be like if you lived near a majestic mountain or by a reflective body of water or in a canoe. Still. That's what life would be like. It would be a still life. Now I get it. I just had to think it through.

But there are many other ways to live the still life. Sitting alongside a bowl of fruit. Or sleeping. Sleeping is still life. Or sitting in a chair without moving. Still life. Waiting at a traffic light too. Or staring at clouds. Or at a person with a deformity. Or at someone you love. These are all ways to live the still life.

And in the end, we die. And death is the ultimate still life.

Or is it?


Chicken wings still life.
Photo: thatcanadiangirl via Flickr (CC)

Jennie Bomb

Jennie Bomb is the second album from the Swedish all-girl rock band called Sahara Hotnights.

I like Sweden. I've never been there, but I have worked several years for a Swedish educational travel company and have bought a lot of affordable furniture from a Swedish homegoods company.


Down in front.
Photo: Majsan of Sweden via Flickr (CC)

Habeas Corpus (Living Things album)

Habeas Corpus (Living Things album) is the second album from the band Living Things. Outside the music industry, habeas corpus is a writ. A writ is a legal action. The purpose of habeas corpus is to safeguard citizens from being unfairly and illegally detained. I like habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus can be literally translated from the Latin as "have the body." If you don't have the body, you can't be a living thing and you can't buy Habeas Corpus, the second album from the band Living Things.


Habeas corpus is a touchy subject.
Photo: takomabibelot via Flickr (CC)

Diana Ross & The Supremes: The Ultimate Collection

Diana Ross & The Supremes: The Ultimate Collection is a greatest hits collection released on compact disc in 1997. The words "Ultimate" and "Supreme" mean almost the same thing. The Supremes' Ultimate Collection includes such classics as "Love is Like an Itching in my Heart," which sounds awful.

In the underappreciated movie The Wiz, Diana Ross played Dorothy. Richard Pryor played the Wiz. Pryor was supreme.


Diana Ross is also a playground.
Photo: curiouslypersistent via Flickr (CC)

Lucky 7 (album)

Lucky 7 (album) is the seventh studio album released by the band Reverend Horton Heat. It was released in August 2002, and the single "Like a Rocket" was the official theme song of that year's Daytona 500.

According to Wikipedia, other singles on Lucky 7 include "Reverend Horton Heat's Big Blue Car," "Sermon on the Jimbo," and "You've Got a Friend in Jimbo." Reverend Horton Heat is a psychobilly band. Psychobilly music combines punk and rockabilly. Wikipedia says psychobilly lyrics often reference horror, violence, and lurid sexuality.


Jimbo plays bass.
Photo: PUNKassPHOTOS.com via Flickr (CC)