The December Photo is ready for captions.

The December desktop calendar is also ready. The square version works well on standard monitors. The oblong one is better suited for Apple displays on newer iMacs and powerbooks as well as cinema displays. Just save and install as you would any wallpaper. The calendars are available for a limted time so get them early! Enjoy.

Square Version

Oblong Version

I’ve started up another little gear store at Zazzle. Right now it just has the logo gear and the Plant Specialist design. The upside is that all of the items are customizable. You can change the background colors on the buttons for example. Or add your name to your shirt to make it yours. There are lots of different items there too, like keychains, tote bags, ties, color changing mugs and more.

The CafePress gear store now has black hoodies and zip hoodies. Check it all out for Christmas!

And remember, ALL proceeds from the gear stores go to pay website fees.

Monday Music offers a random Robert track for your listening happiness.

Today it’s Dark Moon. Originally a B-side from “Fate of Nations”, you can now find it in a crisp remastered version on “Nine Lives”. The cut features the late Rainer Ptacek on Steel guitar. Ptacek also co-wrote the song. The track I’m playing here is not the remastered version and is slightly longer than that one.

It’s a dark and brooding song. Ptacek’s guitar work gives it a bluesy, almost swampy air, dancing alongside Robert’s breathy delivery.

Click the triangle to start the player, click again to stop it.

Dark Moon

From time to time I post a list of the things people searched for and ended up on ManicNirvana.com. Here’s a new list.

How to scream like a screamo band
I don’t know your taste in cielings
Skinnydipping
Quotes on Red Dress
Noddy Holder vs Robert Plant
Lamb Chop sock puppet
Techno lyrics on you touch my lala
Limericks about maidens
Papers with chatspeak
Tonya Harding (eh?!)
Dreamland window blind
Is it good to have a chin dimple
When to plant canteloup
Jersey specialist

The funny search strings are still kind of sparse which is a good thing. Most people lately are finding the site by searching for information about Raising Sand: song lyrics, appearances, reviews, etc. I like to see lots of searches focused on Robert’s musical projects. It means the music is grabbing people’s attention and they want more!

Added items to various albums in the Members’ Area.

Monday Music presents a random Robert track for your listening glee.

I thought I’d start this Monday off with a gentle little number: Little Hands. This track really deserves more attention that it gets. Recorded in 1999 it’s an example of how Robert can be understated yet compelling in his singing.

This song is from More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander Skip Spence. A variety of artists, including Beck, Tom Waits and Robyn Hitchcock came together to record a tribute album for Skip Spence (Moby Grape). Spence died just a few days after the album was finished. The songs on it are more obscure Spence compositions.

Click the triange to start the player, click again to stop it.

Little Hands

I’ve added the option of getting email updates to the Town Hall! If you would like to receive an email alerting you to new posts in the Town Hall, check the subscription page. Or look in the sidebar under Informational and you’ll see a link to subscribe.

The emails are sent out on days when new posts are added. The email is sent at 11pm ET. If you are a registered member of the Town Hall, log in and you will see a link for Your Subscriptions. There you can turn the notifications on or off. If you are not a registered member add your email in the box provided and choose subscribe.

Subscribing to the email updates does NOT make you a registered member of the Town Hall. You must use the “Register” button and register there in order to be able to post comments in the Town Hall.

You may now also subscribe to the Robert Plant Newswire in the same way. Just visit the Newswire and scroll down a bit. In the sidebar in the “Meta” section you’ll see a link for the subscription page. The Newswire emails are sent out daily at 8pm ET. Emails will only be sent on days when new posts are added.

You must subscribe to the email alerts for Town Hall and Newswire separately. Subscribing you for one does not automatically subscribe to the other.

Alan Toussaint, who penned “Fortune Teller” from Raising Sand will be appearing at the Paramount Theater on November 15. The Charlottesville, VA has a nice little article that outlines some of Toussaint’s other hits as recorded by others.

DailyProgress.com article

The Mumbo Jumbo section has been overhauled and updated. Some miscreant hacker got into the old version so I wiped it out and started again. If you had the old Mumbo Jumbo bookmarked, change your bookmark to the link above.

As a reminder, the Mumbo Jumbo section is for fan reviews (as opposed to “commercial” reviews in magazines) of Robert’s shows, albums and even bootlegs. I’ve added a contact form right on the Mumbo Jumbo section to allow reviews to be submitted easily. You can also use the form just to contact me with questions.

The landing page has the guidelines for submissions to help you get your review in order. Reviews of any solo performance will be considered, no matter how old it is. If you can still remember all about that show in 1985, go for it.

Joseph Mehal took this picture of Robert enjoying a morning bike ride. Joseph says:

Took this picture of Robert Plant just after meeting him in Boulder CO on 7/21/08, the morning of his concert at Red Rocks with Alison Krauss (Raising Sand Tour). My Wife and I drove up to Boulder from Denver to go sightseeing (we were in from Georgia for the concert). My Wife stopped and asked him if he knew a good place to get breakfast…she had no clue who he was.

I think it’s cool that Robert can just blend in with his environment to such an extent that folks take him for a local and ask for recommendations. It’s probably restful for him as well.