Robyn Hitchcock - One Long Pair of Eyes: Fine song from Robyn to start the morning.

The Flaming Lips - Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles: Towards the last of the very, very crazy Lips releases.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Dang: Another pretty crazy track...just a different kind of crazy.

Yo La Tengo - Daphnia: Mellow piano track with just a dash of distortion.

Pixies - Hey: A song that I always think will blow up into a wall of noise, but it never quite does.

Frequencies - Untitled: One of a number of Mick Harris noisy soundscapes that made its way onto the iPod during a phase years ago. Good stuff, but I tend to always forget about it unless it pops up on the Random Eight (so, good for the Random Eight).

Radio Thailand - Blow-Dried Pop Collage: Another fun, if not a little goofy, radio broadcast collection.

Nirvana - Here She Comes Now: From an old Velvet Underground tribute album, I think this was released long before most people knew who Nirvana was. I've never been much of a Nirvana fan, but this is a fun version of the song and, unlike most tracks on the CD, one that doesn't ramble on twice as long as the original tune.

Everly Brothers - All We Really Want To Do: A safe way to start the morning.

Genesis - Broadway Melody of 1974: Moving within 30 years of the present.

Dreadnots - Known Friends: Hey, a song written this century. The Pittsburgh-based band hits another strong tune with this one from Money Machine Music

The Kinks - Set Me Free: Eh, okay Kinks song.

Grifters - Blood Thirsty Lovers: Always full of fun, this band is.

Archers of Loaf - Underdogs of Nipomo: From a very manic Vee Vee album, my first real exposure to the band and seemingly very reflective of the 90's "indie" trend.

Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap: Once again, a band who as aged very well for me.

Amon Tobin - Ownage: A final saving grace that I don't live completely in the past.

Motorhead - Kingdom of the Worm: Fairly mean track from Lemmy's metalheads.

The Kinks - 20th Century Man: Really, a song that works for any century.

Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay To me, this is Yo La Tengo at their peak.

The Dead Milkmen - Conspiracy Song: Well, that's less serious.

Philemon Arthur & The Dung - Goddag Gosta: Short vocal weirdness.

Chainsaw Kittens - She Gets: From back in the Tyson Meade loud days.

Marillion - Fugazi: I've always considered this a trademark song of the band.

Pigalle - En Bas, En Haut: French punk and punk and punk

I seem to be finding conflicting info as to the type of eggs they are, but Stink Bugs seem to be a common guess.

Of course.

Stinky or not, they sure are pretty.

Alone on tree leaves, tiny white specks kept catching my eye during a hike last week. It was simply an accident that I was looking closely enough to see one moving. I figured it was either an insect or mobile bird poo - either way, it warranted further investigation.

It wasn't until I was able to zoom in on the shot that I realized I was looking at a tiny creature carrying eggs on her back. I'm still unclear as to what species this is, but she certainly is remarkable.

The Paper Chase - I Did a Terrible Thing: They usually do.

Talking Heads - Electric Guitar: I'm not sure I ever thought better of a Heads album than Fear of Music

Deerhoof - Eaguru Guru: Good to hear another one of my favorite current bands this morning.

Gang of Four - To Hell with Poverty: This band ages very well I think.

Clint Mansell - Stay With Me: From the very emotional The Fountain soundtrack.

Robyn Hitchcock - Listening to the Higsons: Whoa-oh-owa.

Thuja - Track 3: Again from The Deer Lay Down Their Bones, a fine collection of creepy ambient noise.

Deerhoof - My Purple Past: I think I'm going to be inspired to listen to Deerhoof all day now.

Because it has been a while.

Lately, Monty has enjoyed taking over the sleeping spots of his brother and sisters. Sasha has enjoyed the old couch, so naturally Monty moved in. Fortunately, it is big enough for both of them.

And it is too hot to goof around, says Sasha.

But never too hot for Ozzy to roll, especially by the AC vent.

Coco, wary as ever.

Bored now.

While on a walk this morning, I realized I was being watched. This is pretty remarkable for me; usually when I see a fox, by time I get the camera up to my eye, she is about two counties away. This one kept a long distance from me (this shot is a significant crop from a long zoom), but she watched and watched until doggie-ing away.

It made for a fine morning.

Jesus Lizard - Then Comes Dudley: Always a fun, crazy band.

The Beta Band - Needles In My Eyes: And yet, they play on.

Skinny Puppy - pedafly: Not quite as vicious as tunes from The Process which I know I always rave about, but this one still has a good rip to it.

Tom Waits - Long Way Home: Quiet Tom from the Orphans triple disk release.

Sebadoh - Temptation Tide: Softer song from Bakesale.

The Boomtown Rats - Talking in Code: Going further and further back in time.

Jeff Buckley - Jewel Box: Lesser known, but great track from the second disk of the posthumous Sketches release.

The dB's - Soul Kiss (Part Two): In a world awash in crummy outtake and b-sides releases, Ride the Wild Tom Tom is probably one of my favorites, being a fun history of the band. This, however, is just a silly outtake of the real version of the song.

The day may come when I see an ant and don't blurt out "Blaaah, Ants" the way Homer did "Deep Space Homer."

But that day is not today.

Glad I missed him.