The Calm Before The Storm

Posted on September 29, 2011 by g-mo

Alright everyone- final nominations are in and I am happy to announce that we have 137 songs. There have been a number of different opinions on this whole “Man On The Street” definition of what should and shouldn’t go in. The trend seems to be very strong support for keeping songs, and not so strong support on what should definitely go. So we are going to forgo the vetoes and just let everyone have a shot. 18 songs will do a play-in to get to the Round of 128, then we’ll go.

OK, so what happens next: as always, the Living The Dream Team is constantly looking for process improvement. We are going to do our very best to make the first round genre based match-ups, rap versus rap, country versus country, decade vs decade- at least by some logic. Once the field is pared down to 64 songs, THEN we’ll do our one rerack and seed the winners 1 to 64. From there it’ll be a straight NCAA deal.

Stay patient as the Team works on getting things set-up behind the scenes. Thanks for everything and get excited to kick things off tomorrow night!

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Thirty One Years Later

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Janos Marton

Before they released their first single, REM almost lost its name.  It turns out another new wave band was about to release its first single under the name REM, and the two bands duked it out in a “winner keeps the name” concert.    By the time I got into them, REM was already at their apex, but their work in the 80s is the stuff of lore.  They pounded the college radio, indie scene album after album, with truly marginal increases in commercial success, weird appearances on Letterman.   It was a format that finally paid off.  The breakthrough singles “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” and “Stand” whetted the world’s appetites for Out of Time, a true barn-burner of an album that sold millions and turned REM into international stars. Continue reading →

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Paul Heintz, Appalachian Conquerer

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Janos Marton

Atop Mount Katahdin

A hearty shout out to friend of the site Paul Heintz, who successfully completed his adventures along the Appalachian Trail.

Heintz started back in March and hiked more than 20 miles a day.  His smart phone was remarkably handy in relaying great pictures and amusing tales throughout the half-year odyssey, which you can check out at his site, Hiking About Blogging.

We’ll be sure to have Heintz on as  podcast guest soon enough.

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LBJ and Hurricane Betsy: 46 Years Later

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Janos Marton

I have always been an avid LBJ fan.  Aside from the Vietnam War, which I recognize is a huge ‘aside,’ he was probably the second greatest president of the 20th century after President FDR, the hero he fashioned his nickname after.   He is most famous for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid.  However, achievements also include the Immigration and Nationality Services Act, which allowed non-white foreigners to legally immigrate to the U.S in significant numbers for the first time, the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), Head Start, any many other landmark bills in environmental, educational and anti-poverty policies.

One of my favorite LBJ stories, however, involves his response to Hurricane Betsy.  Forty six years ago today, Betsy ominously crossed the Gulf Coast, crashing into New Orleans the next morning.  The entire 9th Ward was submerged, and much of the city was wrecked by a storm as seismologically powerful as Katrina. Continue reading →

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Morning in Alaska by Nathan Senge

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Janos Marton

(LivingtheDream.org welcomes Nathan Senge, submitting his first piece for the site.  Writers can send us their work at LTDdotorg@gmail.com)

Morning in Alaska

    Nathan Senge

 They had been dropped off on the knife-edge and it was growing quiet. There was a feather-toss of snow crystals that flaked against the sunlight as they watched the helicopter clip into the distance. They walked to the edge of the north face of the mountain, their skis on their shoulders, to peer over the hanging cornice wall of wind-drawn snow.

Alex Candle approached the wall first, stepping carefully towards the edge and stabbing it repeatedly with his ski pole as he approached.

“How’s it look?” Craig Hattress asked, standing a few yards behind him.

“Blind.”

“Sure we’re in the right spot?”

“I’m sure.”  Continue reading →

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The People’s Choice…And One Last Request

Posted on September 4, 2011 by g-mo

Well, the Summer of 2011 has drawn to a close- the students are schooling, you’ve got one last chance to get your best white apparel in…and the People have chosen a champion. First of all, thank you so much to voters that went the extra mile to rope in extra voters: big shout outs to ASF throwing a pre-game vote party in Montreal, to Maureen (and Chris B, who has become an under the radar semi-regular) for repping it up in Chicago, to Anna Z for galvanizing our first voting contingent from lovely Madison, WI, and of course to Janos for hosting his party at Dukes. And now for the numbers… Continue reading →

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The People’s Choice Championship

Posted on September 1, 2011 by g-mo

Freddie

Back in early April as the first tournament was drawing to a close, Janos and I did some brainstorming and came up with a response to the criticism of “where’s that song”- a tournament within which we would each nominate our own songs. We coined the term “People’s Choice Tournament” and just like that, an idea was born. Now, as we stand at the cusp of deciding just who this champion will be I can only laud all voters and participants for coming the whole way with us.

Florence

 

The beauty of this final is that it is a response in a way to early concerns of pop domination. By that I mean music is nostalgia no matter how you spin it, and artists like Queen, Gladys Knight, Fleetwood Mac, and Bruce Springsteen always have a bit of a leg up on more recent bands. However, our voting has been true and resulted in the most compelling of championships- a battle of today versus yesterday. Continue reading →

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People’s Choice Tournament: Semi-Final Results

Posted on August 31, 2011 by brooklyngoestosea

               The end is upon us.  And the results are in.  I will keep it short and sweet.

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Final Four Podcast!

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Janos Marton

Way more interesting than these Talking Heads.

Gmo, the Doctor of Ceremonies, hosted an entertaining and uplifting conversation with the Final Four nominators: Mark B., Dinah, Meghan and me.

It’s a fun, get-you-in-the-mood for the Final Four kind of chat.  Listen here.

New Yorkers, the location for Saturday’s championship listening party will be Dukes on 9th and C. Details here.

 

 

 

 

 

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The People’s Choice Tournament: Semi-Finals

Posted on August 29, 2011 by brooklyngoestosea

Well, they do clean up nice.

Welcome to the final four songs of the People’s Choice Tournament! The finals hold two great battles. The first is a pair of powerhouse songs out of the early-to-mid 1970s from completely different genres. Second are a pair of songs from two years ago, both falling within the bumbershoot that is modern “indie-rock.”

This tourney really shook out in a rather spectacular fashion, with lots of huge upsets and fantastically close calls (e.g. Dire Straights’ Romeo & Juliet losing by .35 last round to Midnight Train to Georgia). Let’s see how this penultimate round racks up!

Will Little Lion Man be King of the Jungle?

The songs are here.  And the votes are due by 8 pm EST on Wednesday, August 31.

Continue reading →

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