Best Albums of 2000s

So, I have begun compiling a top 100 albums list for the past 10 years, the beginning of 2000 through the end of 2009. And I am curious to know, what do you think is the best album that has been released in the last decade? Did Wilco record it? The Arcade Fire? Someone more obscure? Weigh in kids, we'll keep the conversation going until the list goes public in December.

The More You Know

I recently caught a series of Dove commercials on YouTube, one in particular that made me think that Dove was a company I might want to get behind:

But then I saw this ad, also on YouTube:

And, in case this kind of thing bothers you:

Make sure you're paying attention.

True Love Will Find You In The End

Rage Against The Machine

Suppose you are Alfred Montrose Fingermuffin, capitalist. You own a factory, and your factory uses huge industrial metal presses to make Fingermuffin Thingumabobs. Great big blades powered by hydraulics come stomping down on metal ribbon and cut Thingumabobs out like gingerbread men. If you can run the machine at a hundred Thingumabobs per minute, six seconds for ten Thingumabobs, then you're doing fine. The trouble is that although in theory you could do that, in fact you have to stop the machine every so often so that you can check the safeties and change shifts. Each time you do, the downtime costs you, because you have the machine powered up and the crew are all there. So you want to have that happen the absolute minimum number of times per day. The only way you can know when you're at the minimum number of times is when you start to get accidents. Of course, you're always going to get some accidents, because human beings screw up; they think about their sweethearts and lean on the Big Red Button and someone loses a finger. So you reduce the number of shifts from five to four, and the number of safety checks from two to one, and suddenly you're much closer to making Fingermuffin's the market leader. Mrs. Fingermuffin gets all excited because she's been invited to speak at the women's retreat, and all the little Fingermuffins are happy because their daddy brings them brighter, shinier, newer toys. The downside is that your workers are working harder and having to concentrate more, and the accidents they have are just a little worse, just a little more frequent. The trouble is that you can't go back, because now your competitors have done the same thing and the Thingumabob market has gotten a bit more aggressive; and the question comes down to this: how much further can you squeeze the margin without making your factory somewhere no one will work? And the truth is that it's a tough environment for unskilled workers in your area and it can get pretty bad. Suddenly, because the company can't survive any other way, soft-hearted Al Fingermuffin is running the scariest, most dangerous factory in town. 

In order to keep the company alive, safeguard his family's happiness and his employees' jobs, Al Fingermuffin (that's you) has turned into a monster. The only way he can deal with that is to separate himself into two people-Kindly Old Al, who does the living, and Stern Mr. Fingermuffin, factory boss. His managers do the same. So when you talk to Al Fingermuffin's mamagers, you're actually not talking to a person at all. You're talking to a part in the machine that is Fingermuffin Ltd., and the ones who are best at being a part are the ones who function least like a person and most like a machine.

What's Your Response?

Today we had a coaster crawl (taking our coaster campaign to local bars and coffee shops) and were featured in the Statesman. Spread the word. 

For more information visit www.whatsyourresponse.com