And now, on the eve of the new year, I realise what a powerful year 2006 has been for me. Things started with a bang on the 1st of January, and throughout that month and right into July, the dramas seemed to continue.

Here’s to 2007…

Last night I dreamt that I met Robert Fripp (of King Crimson—I’ve been listening to their music a lot in the last few days) and discussed the music of Yes with him. Of all the embarrassingly geeky dreams I’ve had (and I’ve had a few), this has to rank high on the list.

The Power to Believe is still great, by the way…

Having just purchased 2003’s The Power to Believe, King Crimson’s last studio album, I’ve given it a few listens and very much like what I hear. (Some of these things take me a while to get around to…)

King Crimson are one of those anomalies in the music world: a band who has been highly influential and yet they’ve only ever retained a cult following. It is, however, the Music Snob’s opinion that the home of any self-respecting rock aficionado should have at least one copy of In the Court of the Crimson King (even if you never actually listen to it).

What is King Crimson? Classical avant-garde heavy metal jazz rock fusion would be my attempt to describe their music, and yet that label doesn’t really seem adequate. They are an approach to music that is difficult to pin-down yet immediately identifiable.

As I listen again to The Power to Believe, what initially seemed harsh and jarring is revealing itself slowly but surely. Complexity sacrifices accessibility, but I’ll take the former over the latter any day of the week (except Sundays). This album has staying power.

In May, 2005 I wrote about a fish that jumped into a boat and attacked a man.

In October this year I posted a follow-up about a stingray that also jumped into a boat and attacked a man.

Now I bring you this:

A woman was crushed and seriously injured yesterday by a dolphin in an accident described by a marine biologist as “three million to one”.

Last night, she was in a serious condition in Auckland City Hospital after being flown there by helicopter.

Pauanui Coastguard jet rescue member Steve Taylor said the 27-year-old from Pukekohe was sitting on the bow of a 5.5m runabout “just cruising among some dolphins” at Slipper Island off the Coromandel when the accident happened about 2.30pm.

One of the bottlenose dolphins became “over-excited” and jumped on to the boat, Mr Taylor said.

I choose not to read too much into that last line.

Lindsey Buckingham’s new album, Under the Skin, was the first of the four CDs to grab me (out of those I received on Christmas).

Here’s the official EPK for the album, which should give you a taste of Under the Skin’s unusual charm:

Well, what a shock to read the paper today, only to discover that James Brown kicked the bucket on Christmas. The guy seemed invincible and never showed signs of letting up, but I guess it’ll get us all sooner or later.

Of course, I’ll always think of his recent mugshots whenever I think of him now (and the same goes for Nick Nolte), but despite being a potential arsehole in real life, he had a musical legacy that lives on today. And he was in The Blues Brothers.

Merry Christmas, fellow miscreants!

This year I received four CDs from Santa:

1. Surprise by Paul Simon (with Brian Eno) is an interesting album that I suspect will reveal itself more fully in time, but there’s enough there initially for me to want to dig deeper
2. Under the Skin by Lindsey Buckingham seemed the most interesting of the bunch, though it too will reward multiple listens
3. Highway Companion by Tom Petty is solid rock and surprisingly strong, sounding like it could have been released 15 years ago
4. Straight Outta Lynwood by “Weird Al” Yankovic is probably his strongest album in ten years, which is quite an achievement for an artist who could’ve easily been a one-hit wonder in 1984

More thoughts on these albums soon…

It’s true:

OWENSBORO, Kentucky, Dec 22 (Reuters Life!) - Kentucky, the untamed western frontier when the American colonies declared independence in 1776, is struggling to keep a taste of its past alive — a stew traditionally made from roadkill and veggies.

[…]

But unlike Brunswick stew, which has been embraced by epicures, burgoo is just a generation removed from its roots as a roadkill-and-veggie ragout. Indeed, in the late 1990s, during the scare over mad cow disease, health officials warned Kentuckians to stop eating squirrel brains, which, like squirrel meat, remains a something of a delicacy here.

My mouth’s watering just thinking about it!

Yesterday, teacake suggested I recommend five tracks for the Porcupine Tree novice, so here they are:

1. “Radioactive Toy” was recorded in the very early days, back when Porcupine Tree was simply a one-man band, with Steven Wilson writing, producing and playing all the instruments himself (running time: 10:10)
2. “The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)” is the first half of the multi-part title track from their 1995 transitional album, and it includes incredible ambient passages and psychedelic space rock (running time: 18:37)
3. “Blackest Eyes” demonstrates the band’s more recent integration of heavy metal into their sound, still never losing sight of melody or songcraft (running time: 4:23)
4. “Drown With Me” is a simpler song that nonetheless displays Wilson’s penchant for multiple vocal part overdubs (running time: 5:22)
5. “Arriving Somewhere But Not Here”, from Deadwing (their last album), effectively summarises the band’s various sounds (running time: 12:02)

If you get to hear any of these tracks, please tell me what you think!

After six months using last.fm, I’m now fairly confident that my profile there reflects my current taste in music. Let’s review, shall we?

Artists

1. Peter Gabriel is, without a doubt, my favourite artist—his music can be uplifting, disturbing, serene, harsh, compassionate or aggressive, but it’s always emotionally significant
2. Kate Bush is the yin to Gabriel’s yang, as most aptly illustrated on Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up”, and certainly my choice for second place
3. Genesis were a band I initially became interested in simply as an extension of my interest in Peter Gabriel, but one listen to A Trick of the Tail should convince anyone that (musically, at least) they were a fantastic group even without their eccentric frontman
4. Porcupine Tree are, in my opinion, the greatest band of the modern era, even if most people still haven’t heard of them
5. The Police were the punk rockers who weren’t punks, slipping intelligent, literate music under the noses of a public who had tired of the dinosaurs of progressive rock

Tracks

1. “Refugee” — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers may not be my all-time favourite track, but it would have to be right up there
2. “Tom Sawyer” — Rush is an expert blend of progressive and hard rock—two styles I’m particularly fond of

Equal third are “Trains” — Porcupine Tree and “Mountains” — Prince & the Revolution, while equal fifth are “The Sound of Muzak” — Porcupine Tree and “Comfortably Numb” — Pink Floyd. All six of these tracks are highly recommended.

Will things be different in another six months?

Sometimes in life our worldview is so radically altered by an event or piece of information that we are forced to reevaluate our previous assumptions. These so-called “paradigm shifts” fundamentally change how we view life—they’re like the twist at the end of a movie like The Usual Suspects, Memento or (my favourite) The Empire Strikes Back.

As Luke Skywalker discovered, these paradigm shifts are not always pleasant experiences. Life can be quite difficult at times, especially when you’re struggling to assimilate a new (potentially nihilistic) worldview, but believe me, you’re better for it at the end of the day.

I’m not going to say that there’s some cosmic plan for each and every one of us—that what happens to us happens “for a reason”. What I will say, however, is this: you can either learn from your personal struggles and grow as an individual, or you can simply suffer through life without benefiting from your hardships. To me, the latter option seems like a waste of potential. I want to be the best person I can be, and I’ll use any opportunity to reach that goal.

This year I was greeted with a paradigm shift on New Year’s Day, and at first it was quite a shock, but I took this new information and soon realised there was good news there if I was willing to see it. Because of my decision, my life is infinitely better.

This week I had another paradigm shift, and it was the best Christmas gift anyone’s ever given me. In this case, I realised it was a good thing right off the bat, but it’s not always so apparent.

The one thing I can take away from 2006 is this important lesson: life, with its ups and downs, should be embraced as a whole. Don’t worry about making a mistake—just learn from those mistakes in the process of living life.

Left Behind: Eternal Forces sounds so offensive that it might actually be fun:

Liberal and progressive Christian groups say a new computer game in which players must either convert or kill non-Christians is the wrong gift to give this holiday season and that Wal-Mart, a major video game retailer, should yank it off its shelves.

Even better…

In Left Behind, set in perfectly apocalyptic New York City, the Antichrist is personified by fictional Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, secretary-general of the United Nations and a People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive.”

Players can choose to join the Antichrist’s team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia’s side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story.

No prizes for guessing which side Yusef Islam (a.k.a. Cat Stevens) would be on.