This is what I believe to be my final batch of mix tape track listings for quite a while:

A Religious Experience

A
If God Will Send his Angels -U2
One of Us -Joan Osborne
Friend of the Devil -Jerry Garcia
God Give me Strength -Elvis Costello
Sympathy for the Devil -Guns ‘n’ Roses
Jesus Loves You -Jewel
Hell is Around the Corner -Tricky
Jesus Says -Ash
The Universal -Blur
God is a DJ -Faithless
Hymn -Craig Armstrong
Hymn 2 -Craig Armstrong
My God -Gemma Hayes
Hallelujah -John Cale
As We Traveled Along -Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis
Peace in the Valley -Elvis Presley & Jerry Lee Lewis

B
Do You Believe in Heaven -Andreas Johnson
Heaven Knows -Squeeze
Heaven Sent -Heather Nova
The Great Beyond -REM
The Sweet Hereafter -Sarah Polley
If there is a God -Billy Corgan
My Lord -Horace Andy
Godspeed -Dixie Chicks
God -Tori Amos
Jesus to a Child -George Michael
Cute and Holy -Cast of ‘The Scarlet Letter’
Pagan Love Song -Virgin Prunes
God is a Bullet -Concrete Blonde
Silent Night -Lisa Hannigan


Dreams & Angels

A Kiss to Build a Dream On - Louis Armstrong
Dream On - Fisher
I’m a Dreamer - Olivia Hayman
Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty
Dream Girl - Frankie & Johnny
Dreams - The Cranberries
In Dreams - Roy Orbison
Nice Dream - Radiohead
Eyes Wide Open (I’m Dreaming) - Mandy Barnett
Young Dreams - Elvis Presley
If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley
Dream a Little Dream - The Mamas and Papas
Dance of the Dream Man - Angelo Badalamenti

B

She Talks to Angels - Black Crowes
Even Angels Fall - Jessica Riddle
Angel Eyes - Sting
Angels Collide - Amy Corriea
Angel - Elvis Presley
Maybe Angels - Sheryl Crow
Undercover Angel - JJ72
Angel of the Morning - The Pretenders
Angels - Joe Henry
Angel - Sarah McLachlan
Angels - Robbie Williams


Dreams and Angels was actually the first of my 'concept' mix tapes, and the idea was half stolen from Vic's Angel mix. Anyway...

Okay, so here's what's been happening lately in...

Books
I finished the wonderfully entertaining exploits of The Fuck Up. Arthur Nersesian has fashioned a tale of 80's New York, of a young man who is and does as the title suggests. Highly recommended. This novel is part of the MTV books collection, as were the novels of Louisa Luna. So far, this is a damn fine collection.
I also finished the formulaic but enjoyable Certain Prey by John Sandford and the brilliantly written but spiritually flawed Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams. God works in even more mysterious ways than usual in this baffling book.
As always, I am reading several other books concurrently, including an intriguing thriller by Frank Delaney - The Amethysts, Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones sequel - The Edge of Reason, yet another great novel set in Dublin - Love Like Hate Adore by Dierdre Purcell, and the sublime epic White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

Music
I continue to add to my Jazz collection (I have gone a little past the allotted budget for this but recouped the expenses by selling other now unwanted cds). I never thought I'd be considering selling the majority of my soundtracks. But now I do. Today I cleared half the soundtracks from my cd holder spindle thingy, and replaced them with Jazz cds. I'm going to make a list of those I wanna sell, let Vic peruse the list and suggest changes, and then spend some time selling at half.com or secondspin. I can't forsee listening to most of that music again. Of course, I'll keep the cooler collections (eg. Romeo & Juliet, Vanilla Sky), and those with sentimental value (eg. Stealing Beauty, Leaving Las Vegas), but a lot of it's gonna go (eg. Never Been Kissed, That Thing You Do). The beginning of an obsession heralds the end of another.

Movies
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is awesome. I spend most of the movie in awe of it. This must be the ultimate trilogy in the history of film. Wow. However, I'm not sure I enjoyed this one as much as the last. In the first movie, I looked at my watch once. This time, I had to check the time on several occasions. Too much war perhaps. Golem was amazing though, the creation and characterization. Methinks there should be an Oscar nomination for the people behind Golem. Hope we get to see more movies soon. This was our first trip to the cinema in 2 months.
Wanna see: Catch Me if You Can, Drumline, Gangs of New York, Maid in Manhattan, Star Trek Nemesis, Analyze That, Die Another Day, and Pinocchio. Wish Evelyn was showing here, and I'm very excited about seeing Narc, Max, Adaptation and The 25th Hour.
On video, the only film worth mentioning is Cherish, a little gem about love and stalking starring Tim Blake Nelson and Robin Tunney. Great soundtrack too.

Internet
Basically I rarely visit sites other than those listed on my main blog.

'A Sort of Homecoming' by Robert Cremins is so good I may have to re-read it every Christmas. I first read this book in June of 2001 on the drive to and from Pittsburgh for my INS interview. I loved it but had to return it to the library. Then, during our visit to Ireland in March of this year I found the book at Chapters and had to have it. And last week I decided to indulge. I now at last have a single answer to that 'favorite book' question.
A Sort of Homecoming is set in Dublin during the Christmas season as our protagonist Tom Iremonger returns from several months of heavy living and heavy spending around the world. Various conflicts with family, friends and ego ensue.
The plot is great, the writing is wonderful, but I think this book will mean even more to Irish people of my generation because of the cultural references to an Ireland that's changed immensely in the 5 years since this book was first published. That said, it remains the most realistic description of modern Ireland I've read.

I long for more Iremonger, but I'll have to settle for a different Irishman (in America!) in Cremins' second novel 'Send in the Devils' which I also recommend.