Beggars Banquet remains my favorite Rolling Stone album, and I often think of Edie whenever I hear “Parachute Woman.” It sounds like it was written for her — even if she was only six at the time.

Edie was almost 30 and older than Amos herself when Little Earthquakes was released. It intrigued me that hte album had cross-generational appeal. The video for “Silent All These Years” was an unavoidable MTV “buzz clip” in spring of 1992. Tori didn’t register with me then, but I was hooked on her voice as soon as I listened to the album in full five years later. So, thanks, Edie.

My favorite Tori Amos song is actually not on Little Earthquakes, though. It’s a single she recorded with electronica artist BT called “Blue Skies.” It, along with “Parachute Woman,” has turned up on more than a few mix tapes/CDs I’ve made in the 15 years since that first conversation with Edie.

I lost touch with Edie a few years later (in those pre-Facebook days), but wherever she is, I’m sure she’s “laying a solid rhythm down.”

Here is a clip of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer — who conversed with a hologram on election night 2008 — asking an Oklahoma tornado survivor if she “thanks the Lord” for… well, I guess for randomly choosing not to kill her in the natural disaster that has killed two dozen people.

I’m impressed that this lady held her own and stood by her convictions. She’s an atheist, and she doesn’t “thank the Lord” for her decisions and actions. She maintains her own agency in the world. Well done.

I’ve always said that God has the best job ever — ultimate power and zero accountability. It’s like he’s CEO of Earth, LLC. If he’s truly omnipotent, then tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters that kill people indiscriminately are entirely within his power to control. If they’re not, then he’s not omnipotent. He’s more early 2000s Prince. I can probably get him some legal cover for school shootings and marathon bombings because of the whole “free will” conundrum, but tornadoes and hurricanes are as unjustifiable as The Rainbow Children.

“Cal Anderson really functions as the backyard for so many Capitol Hill residents,” said Michael Wells, executive director of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. “The last thing we want is for Cal Anderson to have a reputation as a place that’s not safe for people.”

This is a backyard with “at least 11 assaults and one robbery” within the past month, which is the kind of thing you can expect when you’re lax with your landscape maintenance.

Capitol Hill Community Council member Lisa Kothari walks her dog in Cal Anderson three or four times a day… Kothari said she’s been hearing from others in the community that the park is changing, that it’s not like it was even three years ago. She said she doesn’t feel comfortable walking her dog through the park after 7 p.m.

“It’s sad,” she said. “It’s staying light out later; I should feel comfortable walking my dog until 10 or 11.”

Cal Anderson was Washington’s first openly gay legislator. He died in 1995 and Lincoln Park was renamed in his honor. Pat Robertson or Michele Bachmann might see a connection between the name change and the park’s decline, but those with a foothold in reality link it to the recent light rail construction nearby and my arrival in the neighborhood.

And now, for no logical reason, I present a clip of Carl Anderson performing “Heaven on Their Minds” on The Today Show.

Also, is that a bullet bracelet? What is the fashion goal here?

Hofstra University student Andrea Rebello was killed by a police officer’s bullet after a masked intruder held a loaded gun to her head in a Long Island home and then took aim at the officer, Nassau County police said.

Rebello and the intruder were both killed after a split-second decision by the Nassau County police officer, authorities said. Police said Rebello was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder when the officer fired eight times, one shot hitting Rebello in the head.

Things can go horribly wrong even when a highly trained officer is involved. No civilian is as qualified to handle this type of situation, as that rather arrogantly implies that someone can accomplish in their spare time what a police officer dedicates his life to doing professionally.

The NRA would tell me that civilians have no choice but to arm themselves in response to armed criminals. However, the best response would be doing everything possible to limit the ridiculously easy access criminals have to guns in this country.

The combination of Yahoo and Tumblr creates an online powerhouse with roughly one billion users, which will draw in more advertisers and help Yahoo keep visitors on its properties for longer periods of time, (Marissa) Mayer told Reuters in an interview.

“Tumblr in terms of users and traffic is an immediate growth story for us,” she said.

Sounds like the sort of great idea a high-powered CEO such as Mayer would have.

But then…

Analysts say Yahoo appeared to be overpaying for a business that has never posted a profit, makes a fraction of Yahoo’s sales, and may not contribute significantly to revenue for years.

“Even if revenue was $100 million, it means Yahoo paid 10 times revenue,” said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. “Ten times is what you pay to date the belle of the ball. It’s on the outer bands of M&A.”

Actually, if you’re paying anything to date the “belle of the ball,” she’s actually a prostitute… of the ball.

One question Yahoo may have to address is Tumblr’s reputation as a home for pornographic blogs. At one point in 2009, about 80 percent of Tumblr’s top sites had something to do with adult content. Today that number is closer to 5 percent, according to Quantcast data, but the old image lingers.

Yahoo! can clean up Tumblr all it wants, just so long as it remains the ideal source for information about former Doctor Who star David Tennant’s hair.

If you are consuming a food item with a Universal-horror-film-inspired name, you shouldn’t expect to live long enough to have a son of your own.

This is marketed as a burger for “smaller appetites,” but the sandwich contains 700 calories and 1,760 mg of sodium. That is marginally better than its parent, which boasts 900 calories and 2,020 mg of sodium. Wendy’s modestly describes the Baconator as a “tasty treat.”

The Abbey Pub was my first “local” bar in New York. It was ten minutes away from my very Upper West Side apartment. It was demographically similar to The Globe in Athens, Georgia. It was where Columbia professors, grad students, and locals (to clarify, I was strictly the latter) hung out. There’s an assortment of great beers on tap, and cool pew-like booths if you’re with friends and comfortable seats at the bar if you’re me. It was the first bar I took my friends Kim and Beth to when they came to visit me at the end of 1996, and not coincidentally, it was the first time I sat at one of the booths.

I have no great stories related to the place, unfortunately. For about six years, it was a home from small cramped room. I tended to just soak in the atmosphere… and the beers. There was also a wonderful video rental store directly above the pub that had buy-one-get-one free specials over the weekend and picked up and delivered. Pretty much every old movie my friend Erin and I watched came from there. Sadly, it is long since gone now, and… well, I promised that’s not what these posts would be about.

Next time, I’ll be more loquacious.

My favorites in order:

Eurythmics, Winter Wonderland (no official video, just pictures of Annie Lennox, which is a Christmas gift in itself).

Madonna, Santa Baby

U2, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Oh and, of course…

I’m not as fond of its 1992 follow-up, A Very Special Christmas 2, but it does feature Frank Sinatra and Cyndi Lauper performing Santa Claus Is Coming to Town as a duet (it’s not written as one, by the way, and proper duets are a conversation, but I digress…)

“Dear, that’s a fabulous idea, as you can tell from my enthused expression.”

“Hey, did you notice that weird couple by the window? They’re eating breakfast fully dressed. I think they might have already showered and combed their hair.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they know how B&Bs work. They’re acting as though this isn’t their own home.”

“Sheesh, some people.”

This photo of Abigail’s Hotel is courtesy of TripAdvisor