death of a great songwriter

Songwriters are often the unsung heroes of music. All of us know the names Johnny Cash and Joan Baez, but very few of us would recognize the name Marijohn Wilkin. However, Ms. Wilkin penned several great songs over the years, including my very favorite Johnny Cash recording of all time - Long Black Veil.

Well, Marijohn Wilkin died today and I just thought she should be remembered in my blog.

She walks these hills in a long black veil

She visits my grave when the night winds wail

Nobody knows, nobody sees

Nobody knows but me

new theories on the music business

I recently downloaded Derek Webb's new album, Mockingbird, for free. AND I did it legally. "How?" you ask. Well, he was giving it away here.

Check out this article from the Tennessean about how this might just end up financially benefitting Derek (and his label) in the long run. Perhaps other music business folks should pay attention.

On Wisconsin...

ESPN.com recently posted a great article about an activity I participate in quite often during the fall months - Wisconsin Badger football games. The caption on ESPN.com read "A Perfect College Sports Weekend," and referred to last weekend's Homecoming route of rival Minnesota (where my brother goes to school). The article does a great job of describing what football weekends in Madison are like and made me appreciate how lucky I am to get student tickets for around $20.

While you're at ESPN.com, check out this article about Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill.

Burnside articles

Burnside Writers Collective has recently posted two extraordinary pieces.

The first is an excerpt from the book "Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation." It basically says things that I've been thinking for quite a long time.

The second is an article on the church's role in taking care of the environment. I realize this issue has been hashed over a lot already, but it struck a chord with me because I am currently working on an environmental law piece for the Wisconsin Law Review.

Both pieces are by Sarah Cunningham, who I had not heard of until today, but already like.