Well, I'm SteveAudio, and it's time for my last jam session here. I want to thank Mike, Nicole, bluegal, and especially Il Maestro, John. It's been fun this week, and I look forward to doing it again sometime.

When the wind blows. . . Fall-out shelters? Nuclear war with David Bowie as the soundtrack?

I will let you down, I will make you hurt. . . waterboarding is controlled drowning in which fluid enters the lungs, and it carries with it the risk of brain damage, internal trauma and death. But that's not important right now. I faxed my Senator, DiFi; here is the letter and her addresses.

Oh, you're so down home girl. . . Did Hillary play the "gender card", or is she, you know, a girl? And has Hillary forgotten the "Vast Right-wing Conspiracy?"

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime. . . Do Evangelicals see Africa as the path to theocracy? And speaking about Africa, is Obama Black enough, or intolerant? Is he tough enough?

If I were a king, if I had everything . . . Only one word to say. Rudy. Oh, and what about Bin-Laden. Wasn't that him I saw over there?

Eat me, drink me, this is only a game. . . Some dietary advice: Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!!! And a heck of a good film.

It's been a blast, hope everyone had some fun, I know I did. Stop by my place when you get a chance, we (my co-bloggers and I) try to inform and entertain, and hopefully don't step on our tongues too often. Oh, and have someone walk you to your car when you leave tonight. Some guy with a saxophone has been wandering the parking lot muttering to himself.

Macon Telegraph:

James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died Monday, his agent said. He was 73.

[..]Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, he was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.

If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.

"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close." Read on...