songs from buffy tvs

IMDB's FAQ of the Week is one about one of my all time favorite TV shows, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

It's not the eternal story of the beautiful undead that drew me in and kept me there each week for seven seasons, though I admit to being a fan of the genre, from newcomers Sherrilyn Kenyon and Darren Shan all the way to Anne Rice and even good old Bram Stoker, ages and ages ago.

I'm actually a fan of creator Joss Whedon, and followed his ear for dialogue and deft handling of plot and pacing to his space-western Firefly and sit here waiting for him to strike again.

Whedon, a Hollywood brat, began working on scripts that crossed his father's desk at the age of 14. You notice his touches in such classics as Toy Story and Rosanne. Basically if the dialogue made you laugh, that was Whedon.

So aside from notably notable quotable lines and a story line that rivals some of the best in the craft, what else can one glean from this list of Frequently Asked Questions about Buffy? Why where to download the music, of course.

The Eisenhower Connection

Not so many years ago when I first moved here, there was a beautiful turreted brick store on the northwest corner of the courthouse square. It was destroyed by a fire only a few months later, and while covering the event for the newspaper, I learned a little about the building's history.

A few decades earlier it had been the offices of one Charles Halleck, former U.S. House Majority Leader, and a close personal friend to President Eisenhower. In 1962, ex-pres Ike came to this little town to personally endorse Halleck for re-election. The speech he delivered on the courthouse steps had all the pomp and fanfare that normally surrounds a presidential visit, and still has locals talking like it happened yesterday.

Browsing links recently, I came across the full text of that speech via the Eisenhower Memorial Commission. Love what you can find online these days.

Speaking of online resources, have you seen our own Gen. Robert H. Milroy Civil War Collection?

Also, check out this front page pdf of a special section from the Sept. 12, 1962 issue of the Rensselaer Republican (local paper). If you want the whole issue, it's 38M in size, but you can download it here. (Love our new microfilm scanner!)

Election 08 on YouTube

With street savvy reminiscent of when Bill Clinton took to the Aresenio Hall Show playing sax back in '92, Republican presidential contender John McCain has launched a YouTube site to bring his words to the masses.

Check out YouTube's News and Politics page to see responses to McCain's question, or other comments about the upcoming election.

Pop Culture

Just a few websites for things to listen to and do:

Whitney Matheson's Pop Candy for USA Today
Links to podcast and downloadable music, shows, events, celebrity trivia, etc. From her site, links to the following:

AOL Full CD Listening Parties Streaming full CDs. I've been listening to Tori Amos's American Doll Posse.

All Songs Considered from NPR
Sample songs from a vast array of genres: Bjork to Blonde Redhead this week.

SpiderMan Personality Quiz from Liquid Generation
Have fun with it. If you come up as Aunt May, well, at least you didn't come up as Doc Oc.

New York Magazine gives us Five Short Films from Tribeca Film Festival
In its last week in charming NYC. My friend Patrick is there doing it live. He has watched more movies in the past two weeks than most Americans will watch all year, but he does than even when it's not Tribeca season.