Here's an idea I gave to Waful. You'd be surprised how many ideas I give to Waful, some of them profoundly lame, some of them eminently adequate (I'll also let you in on a secret, you'd be surprised at how many profoundly lame, eminently adequate, and even dizzyingly scintillant ideas he arrives at himself). Anyhow, this one is a recipe for an instant column- load up the site on your browser, look back exactly one year and reflect upon the time that has passed. Easy right? Adequate, no? And speaking of recipes, next month I absolutely pledge that my cooking column will appear. I've been holding back for a few months but I'm good to go.

What's that? I'm blathering, you say? Well, frankly, you're right. Why? Well the fundamental reason is I did take a look back at the site, and I am amazed at how it has evolved. Daily news, daily setlists, polls, chat, eye candy, doofy games (more in April) and many CD reviews (20 this month!) One of the beautiful things though is how many of our writers and editors are still on board, people who have remained committed to our vision and given of themselves each month to make this an inspiring, exhaustive place to visit. My biggest regret? Without question the gradual departure of my crappy comic Mikey, of course. Remember the good old days, I used to write a cartoon and boy was it eminently adequate. Here's one below in case you don't recall

I could also go on and tell you how amazing it has been over the past year sharing sights and sounds with my daughter (born 2/27/99). I'll refrain ,although I am threatening to offer up a photo feature in the days to come- Caroline Barrett Budnick and some of her dad's favorite musicians (I have nifty shots of her with Oteil Burbridge, John Scofield, The Slip, Butch Trucks and more).

Okay, okay on to this month's business, here's what we have coming up in March.Our radio station will launch later this week (no really it, will). We also have added Real Audio capabilities and some bands have promised to offer some rather cool stuff. We also have a big announcement about an event that we are putting together. I could tell you more, but I have promised our weekly email list that the news will break there first. You should sign up for the list, btw. We give away tickets, shirts, discs, and occasionally offer a nugget or two of info. I will be breaking this story there before the new issue arrives in April. Speaking of April, when I yap with you again from here, I hope to be able to tell you more about free Kind.com email. Of course there is quite a bit of music for all of us between now and then.