Thursday, August 31, 2006

Ernesto

Tropical Storm Ernesto is coming in.....

.....and have to move into my new apartment tomorrow.

This is my first tropical storm. I figured I'd enjoy my first tropical storm because I like a good stormy day. Tomorrow is going to be hell though. I've got to be at work around 3:30 am and will probably have to work all freaking day. Then I get my new apartment.

This is really bad because it's been raining for a solid 27 hours before Ernesto creeping in. Richmond has been flooding from this system that has nothing to do with Ernesto. Not good.

The good thing is that I really don't have to be out of this apartment until Wednesday, but the storm really screws with my whole plan.
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Monday, August 28, 2006

Gary Bennett

My new favorite Cardinal.

I just hope Buzz Bissinger was in town to write 3 Nights in August 2: Electric Boogaloo.
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Friday, August 25, 2006

Goodbye

We'll miss you Siobhan! See you in DC!!
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Saturday, August 19, 2006

Ghost Car

Pretty weird video here.....

Ghost Car


I'm sure there's a logical reason, but it's still weird nonetheless.
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Friday, August 18, 2006

Why I Hate MTV

Yeah I could rant and rave about how Music Television doesn't show any music, but whatever. I've gotten over that during the last decade.

Or I could go off about the true shitty quality of their teeny shows.

Or how shows like TRL have ruined our musical culture.

However, there is a really strange example of double standards that I noticed several months ago that really bothers me.

The majority of their realty shows' characters are underage kids. In these shows they have no problem showing these kids partying and drinking. In fact, they seem to flaunt it. Rarely does the audience get to see any negative consequence, other than maybe a girl fights with her friend over a boy or something. I remember one episode of the Real World where some girl is going around looking for a fake ID so she can go drinking. The only bad thing that happens is a bouncer takes it away and she throws a fit.

Maybe I don't have a huge problem showing this, especially since I was probably worse than these kids when I was underage. However.......

Several months ago I was watching Subterranean and saw the video for "This Year" by the Mountain Goats.

The song contains this line:

I played video games in a drunken haze
I was seventeen years young.

However, when John Darnielle sings "seventeen years young," it is censored out.

Later in the song is the line:

I drove home in the california dusk.
I could feel the alcohol inside of me.

Here the word "alcohol" gets censored.

I thought it was pretty strange, but maybe it was just a glitch and a weird coincidence. A few weeks later, however, the video was on again and the same words were left out.

I really don't see a huge problem leaving these words out of the song. But when the same things described in the song are shown with no consequence in many of their shows, that is wrong.

Also, I saw the "This Year" video after 2am on a Monday morning on MTV2. That time of day isn't very friendly to the teenage demographic, and MTV2 is more adult-oriented than MTV. The shows on MTV that don't have a problem with underage drinking are marketed for their teenage audience and are shown in teenage-friendly timeslots.

You see the lousy double standard?
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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Hogeye

Of all the arrests on the Cincinnati Bengals this year, leave it to a former Iowa Hawkeye to get busted for the most redneck reason.

It doesn't matter where you are or what you do, if you get busted by a Fish and Wildlife Resources officer, you are from Iowa.
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Sunday, August 06, 2006

All Good People

Boy am I in a good mood right now. First, I'm finally getting some rest time. I got a nice little three hour nap today. Less of a nap than is normal on Sundays because I went out for breakfast and mimosas after work. I'm off tomorrow and don't have any plans. I can finally get a do-nothing day for the first time in weeks. Gotta go back in for a half-shift Tuesday, but at least I get one day off.

I also got my apartment yesterday! Nice giant 2BR townhouse in a nice area for a great price. Considering that real estate is unbelievably overpriced in Richmond, I got a steal. It's right next to where I do all my shopping and has easy access to work and highways. I'm moving sometime at the end of the month.

I'm really excited also because I finally found a song I had been hunting down for years. It was one of those songs I always heard in places, but nobody else knew what it was.

A couple of years ago, I was in the car with my old news director on a trip listening to the classic radio when it came on. I asked him what the song was, but he was sleeping.

I would ask my friends that knew their classic music, but since it was hard to describe they just looked at me like I was nuts. I could only say, "You know, it's got this big organ and he sings DO DO DO DO DO DO DO." Nothing. I even called a radio station that played it all the damn time and they had no clue. I wondered if the song even really existed.

Today when I woke from my nap, "Dick" was on Comedy Central. Awesome movie, by the way....seen it several times. Well, towards the end that damn song came on. I went to search out the soundtrack online, but the song wasn't on it. Okay, so I'd watch the credits but they were flying by. Quickly, I grabbed a blank tape and hit record. Guess what. I knew all the songs listed and it wasn't there.



Now I remembered that the song was on old trailers for that Tim Burton movie, "Big Fish." Again, I hunted out the soundtrack. No luck.



Come on, I was getting really frustrated again. How can I not find this stupid song that is obviously well-known? As much as I know about music, why did this seem impossible?

Mad as hell, I was perusing comments about the "Big Fish" soundtrack when I happened across somebody that mentions the song. He was angry that it was in the trailers, but not on the soundtrack......and he knew what the song was:

"I've Seen All Good People" by Yes



Hallelujah!!

I'm sure a bunch of people will just shrug me off with this find. "Yeah, you didn't know that song?" Dammit, this is an accomplishment to me. If you haven't heard it, check it out. Good song.

Excuse me while I put in my bid on eBay for The Yes Album.
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Friday, August 04, 2006

Tom Freaking Waits

I'm still buzzing pretty hard that I actually got to see Tom Waits two days ago in Asheville. That was one of those things that I never imagined having the opportunity to do in my life. There are now two shows that I'll always brag about: Johnny Cash and Tom Waits.

First Asheville....

Everybody I know kept telling me that I would love Asheville. It sounds great....a little hippy town hidden in the mountains. The drive was pretty long (six hours), but not bad. It was a beautiful drive, a nice tour of southern Appalachia.

I didn't actually get to see much of Asheville itself because we arrived right before doors openned and the venue was literally right off the exit. The first thing we saw was a parking attendent, big bearded dude in overalls, covered in dirt. I mean, completely covered in dirt, head to toe. I don't know how you get that damn dirty parking cars, but whatever. We went right to the waiting line, and stood right next a giant pile of dog poo. Actually it was so big I was a little suspicious that it may have been human.

Now, I like hippy towns. I'm no hippy, but I always like towns like that. Always plenty of culture and art and open-mindedness. However, the biggest drawback to a hippy town is the smell. There were many, many smelly people. Neeley and I didn't get to sit next to each other at the show, but we both had bad smells surrounding us. I sat two seats down from some kid that smelled like bologna.

Okay, enough ranting about Asheville. I'm sure I'd love it if I saw more of it. The show was too good to let some filth ruin it.

I was totally expecting Waits to phone in his performance. I was thinking that he didn't like performing, since he never does, and that he was just traveling around to show he was still alive. Thankfully, I was completely wrong. After the band emerged, Waits came out blowing kisses and waving and doing his scarecrow pose and immediately went into a very energetic version of "Singapore." He was bouncing around and posing like a champ.

He was mesmerizing. It was hard to look away. He was as enigmatic as I can ever remember. I'll be honest.....I haven't listened to him too much since high school, when he was as legendary in my eyes as anybody I've ever idolized. Once he hit the stage, however, every bit of love I ever had for him instantly returned. I was transported back to my old coffee shop days: drinking black coffee, reading Kerouac, not doing homework, and loving cold autumn days listening to Tom Waits.

He looked great. It was kind of hard to see from the balcony, but he seemed thin and fit. He sounded great.....well as great as Tom Waits can sound. His growl was as wicked as ever and his twisted falsetto was as strong as I've ever heard. He was pretty weak in speaking, but that's Tom Waits. He got some great lines out. One of the first things he said was very out of nowhere, but about the best line I can use to summorize my love for Tom Waits: "You know, it's getting harder and harder to find a really bad cup of coffee."

With my earlier complaints about Asheville, I'll have to give them this.....the acoustics at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium are second to none. Every line he sang and every note from the band was perfect.....and man did they sound great. Here's the full set list, shamelessly copied and pasted from the Eyeball Kid:

Singapore
Make it Rain
Hoist That Rag
Shore Leave
November
Gods Away on Business
'Til the money Runs out
All The World Is Green
Tango 'Til Their Sore
Invitation to the Blues
You Can Never Hold Back Spring
Clap Hands
Whistling Past The Graveyard
Heartattack and Vine
Who's Been Talkin'
What's He Building in There
Trampled Rose
Get Behind the Mule
Murder in the Red Barn
Goin' out West
Down In The Hole
Blue Valentine
Dont Go into that Barn

Obviously it was a long set and we got a great mix of songs ranging his whole career. I swear I was crying when he played "November." That was the song that got me to love Waits over a decade ago. It was cold autumn night in Jonathan's bedroom in either '95 or '96 and we were playing some card game. He just got into Waits with The Black Rider and was playing it for me. It was waaaaay over my head, until "November" came on. It instantly clicked, and I can still use that song and that album and that night for molding my musical tastes I still have today.

Other than "Singapore" and "November," the songs that really stood out were "God's Away on Business," his beautiful version of "Invitation to the Blues" (it was just him on piano and his bass player), "Clap Hands," his epic version of "Heartattack and Vine," "Goin' Out West," "Way Down in the Hole" (one of my favorite Waits songs), and "Don't Go into that Barn."

If you looked at the Eyeball Kid's comments section from the Asheville show, you'll notice that there were several people complaining about the lameness of the crowd. To me, the crowd was incredible. They were hot all night long. Everybody cheered after every line he sang. So what if everybody was sitting? It's a sit-down venue! Maybe I'm getting older and lamer, but I now would rather sit and watch a show than get right up front and dance all night. There was a great mix to the crowd......the young professionals, the goth kids, the hippies, the hipsters, the moms and dads. Talking with people, everybody was in the same mindset: I can't believe I'm getting to see Tom freaking Waits. There were even a couple of people in homemade t-shirts that said "Tom fucking Waits." I was very happy to be a part of that crowd, and Waits seemed very genuine in saying how great we were.

Okay, so the show would've been great in Waits just phoned it in. However, with as good as the show was, it was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen. I'm still buzzing after two days and I'll never forget a moment of that night. That show was another notch in my belt of life.

God, I saw Tom freaking Waits!!
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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

SuSh 08.01.06

Ahh, getting a couple of days off. Won't be very relaxing, but it'll be fun. Leave for Asheville around noon tomorrow for the Tom Waits show. That's about a six hour drive. We also won't be staying the night, rather will be driving back after the show. Yeah, it'll be a long day. Also I have to work a little on Thursday, but not until the afternoon and only for an hour. It'll be worth it though because we get to see freaking Tom Waits, for crying out loud!

Been pretty busy over the last week with apartment hunting. I HATE apartment hunting, and especially moving, but I'll be happy to be out of this place. I like it okay....it's big, it's cheap. However, I don't like being awoken by random gunfire in the middle of the night and being afraid to go to my car at 4am. Now, the occasional gunfire isn't here, but it's nearby enough to jolt me awake. Plus they're raising my rent...and there's a really bad smell in the hallway. I checked out a great 2BR townhouse today in a nice area at a great price. I've got one more place to see on Thursday, then I make the decision. Can't believe I've been here for almost a year.

The Cards game just finished up so I'm going to set a shuffle up and relax before sleepytime. By the way, I was pretty happy with the Cards' moves at the trade deadline. I like Jorge Sosa. May turn out to be another Jason Marquis, but we get a solid reliever this year and a likely starter for next year. Only gave up some prospect that I've never heard of. He was great tonight's game.

I'm a little uneasy with Belliard, but the deal makes sense. We get a stable 2B, better than anybody already on the roster. I don't know why everybody's up in arms about losing Luna. The dude never showed much more promise than a bench player. The only nice thing I'll miss is his speed. That guy could run. Plus he played about everywhere on the field. However, remember, he's not a good hitter.

The best thing about the Cards' deals is that with a thin market, they didn't find it necessary to break up the organization to get anyone. Abreu is nice, but he's not playing any better than Encarnacion. Soriano would've been nice, but they probably wouldn't have resigned him. Walt would've had to give up the bank just to get anybody big. I like Walt not only because he can pull off some sweet steals (McGwire, Edmonds, Rolen, etc.), but he also has patience and knows when not to trade. He's the best in the game, I don't care about anybody else.

Alright, on with the shuffle. I've been on such a tear buying up new albums that I haven't had much need for a shuffle. My frenzy includes:

Johnny Cash - American IV: A Hundred Highways
Built to Spill - You in Reverse
Islands - Return to the Sea
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Danielson - Brother is to Son
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Golden Smog - Another Fine Day
Spoon - Telephono/Soft Effects (reissues)
Cat Power - You Are Free

Yeah, time to take it easy and listen to what I have.

Oh yeah....and onward:



Current track count: 5001

1. Brian Wilson - "In Blue Hawaii" (SMiLE)

2. Johnny Cash - "Send a Picture of Mother" (At Madison Square Garden)

3. Soul Coughing - "Circles" (El Oso)

(Quick rant: I absolutely love this Soul Coughing album. I know that the album will always be known for this little college radio hit, but the album as a whole is about as complete as any I own. Every single song is a classic. "Circles" was a little overplayed when the album was released, but it's still a great song and it's great to hear it again. Too bad the band fizzled out after this release.)

4. Songs: Ohia - "The Body Burned Away" (Ghost Tropic)

5. Golden Smog - "Keys" (Weird Tales)

6. Golden Smog - "5-22-02" (Another Fine Day)

(Wow, that's weird.)

7. Ryan Adams - "Tennessee Sucks" (Demolition)

8. Spoon - "Me and the Bean" (Girls Can Tell)

9. Uncle Tupelo - "Blues Die Hard (demo)" (No Depression) (reissue)

10. John Vanderslice - "June July" (Cellar Door)

11. Weezer - "Buddy Holly" (blue album)

(Haven't listened to this album in a while. By the way, everybody know that Weezer broke up? Again? Oh and the Rentals are touring and have a new album coming out soon....maybe early 2007.)

12. Phosphorescent - "Not a Heel" (Aw Come Aw Wry)

13. Johnny Cash - "Give My Love to Rose" (At Folsom Prison)

14. Johnny Cash - "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" (At Madison Square Garden)

Wow, that was really strange. Two Golden Smog songs in a row from different albums and three live Johnny Cash songs from two different albums. Hey no complaints. Especially since I was thinking about listening to Johnny Cash's Madison Square Garden show anyways.

My player and I are becoming one!

(Edit: I decided to play one more song after I published this. Guess what I got. "Big Iron" by Johnny Cash from Unearthed. Johnny is speaking to me.)

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