Bodhi meets his Dad.

Congrats to Sam and Pam Scholl!

In observance of President’s Day, Michael Franti & Spearhead are calling on one and all to make submissions to their “Letter to the President” Contest. Submissions can be letters, songs, or poems no longer than one page in length, and should contain “your thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams–for or against, now matter how spicy, cheeky, irreverent, or downright pissed off they may be.” All letters will be judged for their thoughtfulness, passion, and humor, and must contain some form of constructive criticism (What would you do?).

Three winners will be selected to attend one of three shows over President’s Day weekend. Two are at the Warfield in San Francisco and one is at the Montbleu Resort in Lake Tahoe. Winners will receive a pair of tickets with VIP access plus $100 toward travel. Winners will also be asked to read their letters in front of the audience before the show.

Submissions should be emailed to contest@stayhuman.org by February 7, 2007. You can also email your letter directly to the White House: comments@whitehouse.gov.

Aaaaaaah! Not the Shining Heads Poll??!?!

Well, the results are in, the votes are cast. Thanks to all who participated in the Shining Heads Poll 2006! Here are the highlights:

The Departed was the movie that the most people found to be the best of 2006, with Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Borat, Inside Man, and The World’s Fastest Indian on its heels. Other honorable mentions include:
Stranger Than Fiction
Babel
World Trade Center
I Know I’m Not Alone
Heart of Gold

As for the candy to go with the movies, I was proud to discover that the greatest number of us share my love for Raisinets. Next most popular was popcorn, which is everybody’s favorite movie snack, but alas, not a candy. Junior Mints, Milk Duds, M&Ms, beer, wine, and Jim Beam also got multiple votes. And our favorite answer was “the kind that I snuck in.”

U2 KILLED in the category of “greatest living live rock band.” The Rolling Stones also got tons of votes, although there is some question as to whether Keith Richards is actually living. My Morning Jacket came in next, with Wilco, Los Lobos, Pearl Jam, the Drive-By Truckers, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and the Allman Brothers also garnering multiple votes. Other choices of note include the Fray, the Mekons, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Mission of Burma, Radiohead, and the Flaming Lips.

In sports, we appear to be well-versed. We felt that the San Diego Chargers were most likely to win the Super Bowl, followed by the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots. Two of the three teams are headed to the conference championships. We didn’t fare as well in the BCS, as Florida steamrolled over Ohio State (much to Sean’s dismay!) last Monday night. We have yet to find out if we’ll get it right in the NBA; the LA Lakers, the Detroit Pistons, and the Cleveland Cavaliers topped that list. And in ba$eball, as in life, the New York Yankees won in a landslide, with the Boston Red Sox hot on their heels.

We prefer New York to LA, Sinatra to Bennett, It’s a Wonderful Life to A Christmas Story, Obama to Hillary, The Sopranos to American Idol, Lewis Black to Dane Cook, The Daily Show to The Colbert Report, and LeBron to Kobe. Most of us can’t stand either of the Manning Brothers, and Jesus Christ and Mastercard landed in a near dead heat.

According to our voters, Yo La Tengo came up with the most creative album title this year, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. More than one voter also chose Fox Confessor Brings the Flood from Neko Case, Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs from Hamell on Trial, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not from the Arctic Monkeys, and One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This by the New York Dolls. Brevity, it appears, is not what we’re looking for.

Lots of potential best-dressed musicians got multiple votes, including David Bowie, Alejandro Escovedo, Emmylou Harris, David Gray, David Byrne, James Hunter, Lyle Lovett, Beck, Bono, and Jim Lauderdale. Other interesting choices were Prince, Marty Stuart, Chris Isaak, Elvis Costello, Michael Stipe, Lenny Kravitz, Lizz Wright, Yo-Yo Ma, and Tom Jones. And to the respondents who chose Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, we say to you: “Get a girlfriend!”

As to the Statute of Limitations question (”What artist or band should quit making records?), lots of us are sick of U2, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Neil Young, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ani Difranco, Sting, and Coldplay. Other hilarious answers included “Clive Davis,” “2Pac,” “That’s just mean!” and “Too many to answer.” And one anonymous person, who is apparently sick of AAA radio, said “Dave Matthews, Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Black Crowes, Wallflowers, Billy Joel, Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, and Trey Anastasio.”

The best unsigned acts voters noted are: The Hiders, Will Hoge, the Glass Family, Devotchka, Rocky Votolato, Phil Roy, Modern Skirts, Midlake, Jesse de Natale, Spoiler NYC, Sweet Sunny South, Mieka Pauley, Jonelle Mosser, Tack, Cavalier King, Years from the Sun, Will Kimbrough, Kami Lyle, Plow Drivers, Lander, Mila Drumke, the Starlings, the Priests of Love, Keith Varon, Needfire, Drunk Stuntmen, Gregory Douglass, Red Molly, Val Emmich, Matt Nathanson, Buttercup, Ludo, Ghostland Observatory, Devin David, Matt Hopper, MacJackson, Tom Catmull & the Clerics, the Sweetback Sisters, Alexis P. Suter, Holiday and the Adventure Pop Collective, Alela Diane, Jonny Hahn, Kathy Phillips, and Gandalph Murphy.

Many of us would love to see Bill Clinton return to the Oval Office–he won this poll question by a landslide. Jimmy Carter, FDR, and JFK were tied for second place. Teddy Roosevelt was next-most-voted, and Millard Fillmore (?), Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln also got more than one vote.

Our own Louise Coogan and Sean Coakley topped the list for best-dressed in AAA. Nick Bedding, Melanie Shrawder, Brian Corona, Julie Muncy, Lisa Sonkin, Sara Willis, and Bob Laul also had more than one supporter. Several voters weren’t embarrassed to state the truth, but one said it best: “Since every one of us wears cargo shorts, T-shirts, sandals, and shades to hide what Visine can’t help, I’d say we all win this one.”

As for who needs the most help from the Queer Eye fellows, it seems that almost all of you boys do, so we won’t embarrass you by naming names. The most popular answer, incidentally, was “me.”

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley was the song that the most voters (11) tired of hearing too many times this year, followed by “that fucking Fray song” (7), “that fucking Daniel Powter nursery rhyme bullshit ‘Had a Bad Day.’ If I ever see him in person I’ll beat the crap out of him!” (4). KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree,” John Mellencamp’s “Our Country,” “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira, and “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt could also use a rest, say our voters.

Most of us are convinced that if Kurt Cobain were still alive, his new project would be a vegan cookbook co-written with Courtney Love.

If you are on this list, at least one person you know wants to sleep with you: Louise Coogan, Sean Coakley, Shawn Stewart, Haley Jones, Melanie Shrawder, Randy Wynne, Biff Kennedy, Lin Brehmer, Lori Kampa, Norm Winer, Bruce Warren, Lisa Sonkin, and Rene Magellon. A few ladies pointed out that they kind of preferred men under the age of 50.

Collectively, we’d host one hell of of a house concert for our closest friends. Maybe we should join together to book Bonnaroo next year. If we did, U2 would headline, as they got the most votes (9) for this question. Bob Dylan and Robert Randolph & the Family Band were the next most-popular choices (6 each). Gomez came in fourth. My Morning Jacket, Elvis Costello, Prince, Wilco, and Neil Young tied for next place, with Tom Waits, Patty Griffin, and the Allman Brothers following them. Michael Franti & Spearhead, the Drive-By Truckers, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Todd Snider, Mike Doughty, Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Ozomatli, Sting, Jem, Young Dubliners, John Hiatt, the Flaming Lips, Emmylou Harris, and Neko Case all got multiple mentions. And our opening acts would be: Ice Cube, James McMurtry, Gang Starr, Old 97s, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Death Cab for Cutie, David Ford, Maceo Parker, the Roots, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dire Straits, Nanci Griffith, Holiday and the Adventure Pop Collective, Sonic Youth, Teddy Thompson, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads, M. Ward, Kasey Chambers, the Who, LCD Soundsystem, Fall Out Boy, Will Hoge, Gary Burton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Aimee Mann, Neil Diamond, Parliament, the Cure, Jackie Greene, Savion Glover, Lucinda Williams, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Dar Williams, NRBQ, Daniel Johnston, Eric Clapton, Rosanne Cash, Doves, Guster, La India, Bruce Cockburn, Black Sabbath, Suzanne Vega, Slayer, Louis XIV, and Lily Allen. (We eliminated artists who are dead and bands who have lost essential members to the netherworld. You guys are morbid!)

Amoeba in LA appears to be the most-loved record store by AAA, followed by Ear X-Tacy in Louisville and Waterloo in Austin. Those who answered “iTunes” or “Hmmmm, they still make those?” might be pleased to discover, as were we, that 29 different independent stores and only 2 chains (Tower and Virgin Megastore) were mentioned in the responses.

We had interesting predictions for bands that would break in 2007, with the Hiders topping the list. Lily Allen, Paolo Nutini, and Ryan Shaw were also popular choices. Centro-Matic, Sonya Kitchell, Brett Dennen, Katharine McPhee, the Kooks, Anne McCue, Guggenheim Grotto, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Ghostland Observatory, Willy Mason, Martin Sexton, Etienne de Rocher, Nada Surf, Winterpills, the Little Ones, and Gran Bel Fisher were also mentioned.

Nearly all of us, it appears, are still in the music business because our houses’ shifting foundations need constant supplies of jewel cases.

25% of us would go “for sure” if we were offered tickets to a Bob Seger show, but the next-most-plentiful group (11%) would only go if they had front row seats, a limo, a quarter ounce of blow, and a hottie.

If our voters could go back in time, more of us would want to see the Beatles in concert than any other band. We’d also be scrambling to catch Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Sam Cooke, the Clash, Robert Johnson, Billie Holliday, and Johnny Cash. Other acts we’d like to have another crack at include: Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, WAR, the Doors, John Hartford, GG Allin, Mozart, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Elvis Presley, Talking Heads, Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Fats Waller, the Byrds, the Jam, Gram Parsons, the Zombies, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Bob Wills, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and the Plasmatics. Specific shows that some of us would like to have time machines to travel to are: James Brown at the Apollo 1962, the Beatles at Shea Stadium, Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore, the Concert for Bangladesh, and the Rolling Stones on the Exile on Main St. tour with Stevie Wonder opening.

The best shows that voters mentioned seeing in 2006 were: Gomez, My Morning Jacket, Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, Black Keys, Centro-Matic, Bobby Bare Jr., Seu Jorge, Ice Cube, Buzzcocks, David Ford, Balkan Beat Box, Paolo Nutini, World Party, Los Lonely Boys, Jamie Cullum, Drive-By Truckers, Death Cab for Cutie, the Raconteurs, Cream, Charlie Musselwhite, Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, the Who, Eric Clapton, mew, the Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Taj Mahal Trio, Rolling Stones, Avett Brothers, the Elected, Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Session Band, KT Tunstall, Neko Case, Regina Spektor, Joan Osborne, Gnarls Barkley, Ani DiFranco, the Meat Purveyors, Wilco, Alejandro Escovedo, Richard Thompson, Bela Fleck, the Duhks, and the Hold Steady.

Most people finally became convinced that SXSW has jumped the shark when it was featured on The Real World.

The Fray and Coldplay tied for making the most money sounding like Coldplay in 2006.

According to our voters, if Matisyahu and Yusuf adopted a child, it would spend lots of its energies searching for a last name, but once it settled on one, it would be head of the U.N.

One thing that we couldn’t resist printing in full was the set of answers to the question “What book did you read this year that you’d love to recommend?” If you’re looking for some great books to pick up this winter, look no further than this list of titles from your very well-read colleagues. The first four got multiple votes:

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Neffenegger
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Triksta: Life and Death and New Orleans Rap by Nik Cohn
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s by Joe Boyd
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter and Rennard Strickland
Listening in: Radio and American Imagination by Susan J. Douglas
Weegee’s New York: Photographs, 1935-1960 by John Coplans, Weegee, and Arthur ‘Weegee’ Fellig
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York by Luc Sante
Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs
The Year I Owned the Yankees: A Baseball Fantasy by Sparky Lyle
Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo
The March by E.L. Doctorow
Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds
The Buddha in Daily Life: An Introduction to the Buddhism of Nichiren by Richard Causton
Hotel California: The True-life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends by Barney Hoskyns
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
Sex in History by Reay Tannahill
The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina by Frank Rich
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Phd Estes
Sperm Are from Men, Eggs Are from Women: The Real Reason Men And Women Are Different by Joe Quirk
Honky Tonk Hero by Billy Joe Shaver
Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws: America’s Search for a New Foreign Policy by Michael T. Klare
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh
The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: A Toltec Wisdom Book by Miguel Ruiz
The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza
Horton Hears a Who! by Doctor Seuss

The top records of 2006, according to Shining Heads voters, were (in order):
Bob Dylan, Modern Times
Gomez, How We Operate
Michael Franti & Spearhead, Yell Fire!
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Cat Power, The Greatest
KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, All the Roadrunning
Solomon Burke, Nashville
James Hunter, People Gonna Talk
The Hold Steady, Boys & Girls in America
Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way
The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
The Beatles, Love
The Wood Brothers, Ways Not to Lose
Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
The Hiders, Valentine
Gov’t Mule, High and Mighty
Rosanne Cash, Black Cadillac
Jerry Lee Lewis, Last Man Standing
Richard Buckner, Meadow
Gran Bel Fisher, Full Moon Cigarette
Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
(All albums above were mentioned more than once. If you’re interested in seeing a complete list of albums, put in a request by making a comment below.)

–Melanie Shrawder

The results from the Shining Heads Poll 2006 are being tabulated, and will be posted soon!