The Obligatory

My fat, fat income tax refund should be arriving electronically any day now, and I don't think I'm going to have a difficult time spending it.

The gods of the music industry have conspired against me by re-issuing and releasing exciting new albums from several of my favorites, all within a period of a few weeks. And of course, steadfast reviewers AllMusic have given them all highly favorable ratings.

I've still got to pick up Ray Davies' "Other People's Lives," which is, shockingly, his first true solo album since the Kinks. And I should probably snag the new Howe Gelb and Neko Case discs, too, to get my twisted alt-country groove on.

Then I've got the new Flaming Lips this Tuesday, and the new Calexico the following week, both of which sound amazing. And then I just read today that David Byrne and Brian Eno are releasing a remastered and expanded disc of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," which I'll probably end up getting, too.

I wish I didn't like music so much.

Or, realistically, I wish music wasn't so expensive to like so much.

I'm pretty sure I can muster the self-restraint to not buy all of these things at the same time ... pretty sure. But if I do, it's OK. 'Cause hey, it's tax refund money. And I've already used it for something good.

TerraPass is a nifty little program I read about over on TreeHugger. It's basically a way for your average consumers to get in on that whole carbon-credit thing ... you know, the one that pretty much stopped the acid rain in the Adirondacks?

Anyway, you figure out how much CO2 your car is probably gonna spew out this year, and then you can buy in to the TerraPass credits, which ultimately go to fund renewable energy projects and industrial efficiency programs.

And it's pretty cheap. My Honda only cost $40 for the year, which is way, way cheaper than buying a new hybrid. And you get a window decal, which you can use to guilt other drivers. Awesome.

So hey, if you want to spend a lil' ol' fraction of your refund on something that'll make you feel good, head on over to the fine folks at TerraPass.

And if you want to get scared shitless about global warming, read the latest Time.