Even in trying times, life is not a thankless task -- at least it should not be. So here to share with all of my Huffington Post friends is my personal Thanksgiving playlist, designed to help put us all in the proper mindset for Thursday's holiday, and arguably for every...

I will be rushing out to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon, just as soon as I finish seeing every other film ever made first -- and Zombieland twice.

Fortunately, as the father of two sons, absolutely no one is asking me to see New Moon, which I consider...

I know Johnny Depp a little. He is a lovely guy. We met many years ago when I went to do a Rolling Stone cover story on Winona Ryder, and I lost an interview tape in the beanbag chair of the house they were living in then. Johnny generously offered...

Love and hate can be blind, and to date, I've mainly turned a blind eye to news on the very important Carrie Prejean front. This is, after all, a story so full of shallow characters that at one point, I actually seem to recall finding myself on the same side...

I grew up in Northern New Jersey, which last time I looked is slightly north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Yet thanks to my late great dad -- an early and vocal proponent of Jewgrass -- my first ever concert was seeing the still brilliant Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Carnegie...

I just read here that Representative Michele Bachmann is hosting a very special tea party at the Capitol today. I'm sure it will be a lovely affair, so I wanted to do my part and send along this playlist for Congress' hostess with the mostest.

TEA & THEATRE - The...

Rome wasn't built in a day, and apparently the United States won't be completely rebuilt in a year either. But here's to things at least "Getting Better."

GETTING BETTER - The Beatles
THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR - The Zombies
LET'S WAIT AWHILE - Janet Jackson
WISHIN'...

True baseball confession: I'm a recovering New York Yankees fan, now living in Los Angeles, but working for the next week or so in Nashville, Tennessee. In other words, I was on the verge of not even watching the World Series at all after that first lousy game. But then,...

Here are some tunes meant to encourage the Senator from the fine state of Aetna to change his mind about a public option and actually act independently of his insurance donors when it comes to fixing health care.

SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE - Roger Daltrey
POLITICAL WORLD...

Birth.

Marriage.

Parenthood.

Sure, those can all be fairly nice occasions, but when you come right down to it, does any other rite of passage in this Tweet life compare to the joy of getting your 1000th follower on Twitter? Thanks to Mr. Brad Paisley -- or...

Prosperity is not simply just around the corner; it's all over this playlist.

Here's to sticking around for the rising.

MOVE ON UP - Curtis Mayfield
NO DEPRESSION - Uncle Tupelo
IT'S MONEY THAT I LOVE - Randy Newman
WALL STREET SHUFFLE - 10CC

Take Jon & Kate Plus 8, then add aliens, reality TV and vomit. A recipe for disaster? Or another marginal reason for me to mention some good tunes?

WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY - The Ramones
LEARN TO FLY - Foo Fighters
FAMILY AFFAIR - Sly & The Family...

1) Don't crucify me, but sometimes it takes a Jew to make truly great Christmas music. Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" poolside at the Arizona Biltmore, and let's not forget about the classic A Christmas Gift For You by Phil Spector who won't be poolside anytime soon. This phenomenon is...

Congratulations, Mr. President. Seriously. Big fan. Big Prize. Still, here's a celebratory playlist that I really hope will inspire you to keep earning this glittering prize in the days and years to come.

EYES ON THE PRIZE - Bruce Springsteen
PEACE ON EARTH - U2
WAR...

I have always greatly admired David Letterman, and I consider him to be one of the most enduring and defining wits of our times. And no, I won't stop watching a TV show because consenting adults were having sex -- in fact, that's why I watch HBO. That said, David...

I like "Rosemary's Baby" as much as the next aging cineaste, but as a parent I must confess that I like actual babies even more. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe that kids should not be taken advantage of sexually -- even by a significant filmmaker. And so...

Kirk Cameron seems like a really nice guy. Unfortunately, the Artist Formerly Known as Mike Seaver seems like a really nice guy who's evolved into a willfully ignorant idiot. If you haven't seen the new and improved edition of Charles Darwin's "On The Origin of The Species" that Alan...

I love Kanye West. Seriously, I think Kanye West is one of the great popular artists of our times. So does Kanye West. That sort of supreme self-confidence -- and a certain careless genius for self-promotion -- helps explain why Kanye manages to get himself in high-profile trouble at award...

As a general rule of procedure, I don't waste much time making playlists for fools on the federal payroll. In the case of Representative Joe Wilson, I'll make an exception -- if only to try and shut up this loudmouth for at least a little while.

"Disorder in the House"...

The following is a series of increasingly desperate tweets for help this parent was forced to make during this frightening Labor Day weekend:

Help, an employed Harvard graduate and family man is trying to inspire my children!

Officer, I think I just spotted a former community organizer loitering near my...