The lethargic pace with which I’m working through this list has little to do with the minimal attention I’ve given this site. It has everything to do with public taste catching up to my eclectic ear.

Kidding, of course.

Although, I do continue to believe there will be a day when the world understands the brilliance that is Brother Ali.

I remember coming across him for the first time. It was at a live show in a tiny club in Toronto. Al and I – stained by sweat and soaked in beer – left the club and spent a long walk home trying to figure out not who the unknown opening act was but why he sang so passionately about being a minority.

Sure we were young and drunk. But a white male singing about the struggles of a minority? “Maybe he was doing an Ani Difranco cover song?” Maybe. For the entire concert? “Meh, maybe he’s that artistic.”

Turns out he’s albino.

His second full length album on RSE released this year. It’s stellar.

Here’s my favorite song on the album and my 6th favorite song of 2007.

Remember when this blog was relevant? Me either.

I do remember when it was fun. And alive. What happened? Life. Sadly the asset that was DisruptiveThoughts has slowly eroded. Gone. I want to invest into it – to build it up while enjoying a hectic life.

What to do?

Follow the advice a Nobel Laureate gives to dieters: donate to the Nazi party.

Commitment contracts, a constructed incentive to promote task completion. To this end, I’ve written and signed a contract to donate to Kiva every week that I don’t post 4 times.

Relevance isn’t the goal. It’s always been about thinking. See you tomorrow.

Here are some recent posts that are excellent reads.

1) Influentials On The Web Are People With The Power To Link. With keen interest I’ve been reading the content that has erupted around Clive Thompson’s latest article in Fast Company. I’m not convinced that Watts’ theory is mutually exclusive from Gladwell’s.

2)  The Big Lie About Free. “Spot the error? It’s that the only way to measure value is with money.” To which I wonder, what if the best way to measure value is to make it free?

3) Sweet Home Chicago. Return on four month’s investment? A lifetime of clarity. Nicely done Eric.

4) Where’s the Money and Start-up Business Models. These echo a point in my Ignite presentation from Toronto DemoCamp late last year. The point was oddly received by Toronto’s tech community, yet it shouldn’t be a debated point.

Forever this song will be linked to some memorable runs through Westdale in early fall. Classes were starting at McMaster and the village was alive with frosh week action supported by the warm Indian summer.

Gotta Get Myself Into It by The Rapture is my 7th favorite song of 2007. If you’ve been following the transition of my music taste over the past two years you’ll understand just how perfect of a fit this song is for me. Here’s the video for the song.

If I was to tell you that MGMT – Kids was a song of the year and you were to respond “but Fraser, you only discovered that song two short days ago” you would be correct.

I share that song for a few reasons: (i) I’m totally addicted to it right now; (ii) Ken sent me an email saying “always appreciate the exposure to new tunes” and I don’t want to let him down with this entry; and, (iii) there’s a part of me that feels I should be embarrassed about the number 8 song of the year.

Do you ever get guilty pleasures that bubble up from unexpected places? I do. And the number 8 song is definitely one of them.

Follow along with me: I was listening to Stern and Duran Duran played Hungry Like the Wolf, a song I love, to promote their new song (album?). I picked up a copy of their greatest hits to listen to an old guilty pleasure and in the process discovered this song, a new guilty pleasure.

Oh, and Ken, check out MGMT. Their album is superb.