29 in DC

(tourist)

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks. I mean, we went to DC the day after my birthday. My birthday was two weeks ago. Still, it was a memorable trip. Therefore, I still remember it.

We went to the Natural History Museum.

That's an elephant's butt.

Got to see tons of dinosaurs, plus some giant sloths.

Also saw the Hope Diamond and a giant squid. I really wanted to see the giant squid.

We went to the Holocaust Museum and the American History Museum too. Everything was so packed. We didn't even get into the main displays at the Holocaust Museum. We did get to see the Star Spangled Banner flag at the American History Museum though, along with some cool Abraham Lincoln stuff too. Oh and the Stephen Colbert portrait.

Man everything was busy though. It was a Saturday in July. Also the weather was perfect.

As in, absolutely perfect. Not at all hot.

We finished everything off with a Nats game.

It was our first trip to the new stadium in DC. Pretty nice overall. Not a terribly unique stadium, but very comfortable.

Overall, a perfect day. Well actually not quite perfect. The Nats did lose to the stupid Cubs. That sucked. Everything else was great.

Wilco (The Album)

Okay, I'm ready to review the new Wilco album. I've listened to it about five times now (and another half standing in line at Starbucks the other day).

I'll just say it. It's not that great. It's not terribly disappointing, or just terrible, but it's not that thrilling either.

Now I won't call it Sky Blue Sky. That album just didn't have a great feel too it. This album has a nice feel all-around. However, it just doesn't have many memorable moments. Wilco, man. This is my favorite band in the world. And I'm saying stuff like this. Is it them? Or is it me?

I'm thinking them.

Now there are a few really good songs on here. It starts off great. "Deeper Down" and "One Wing" are fantastic. "Bull Black Nova" reminds me of Spiders (Kidsmoke). That's great. "You and I" has a duet with Feist. Better on paper than in the song, but still sweet. That's when things take a turn for the bad.

There are two songs on this album I really don't like: "You Never Know" (the harmonies piss me off) and "Sonny Feeling" (it's called "Sonny Feeling"). Any momentum during the first half of this album comes crashing to a halt during "You Never Know." It takes several songs to recover. "Country Disappeared" is good enough. "Solitaire" is very nice. Then "I'll Fight" is fantastic. Then it's "Sonny Feeling." Again, terrible.

That's the story with this album, and really Wilco as a whole right now. If I compare this album with Wilco's highest points, it's very disappointing. As a stand alone album, it's pretty good. Above average. It just lacks the experimentation of previous albums. The writing has become very pedestrian. However, I still like this album okay. It's worth picking up. It is just very difficult to judge within the whole Wilco catalogue.