be my baby

we're having a potluck thing on monday and the kicker is, as part of a team building experience, we have to give an interesting fact about ourselves that the others didn't know.

i was talking to demitria and i said my interesting fact is that i used to be a baby. i don't think i've ever said anything as funny as that before in my life. i am still laughing about that.

another thing that's funny. tanner and i used to have this routine where we would quote lyrics from mungo jerry's "in the summertime" and how inappropriate some of the lyrics are. "if her daddy's rich, take her out for meal, if her daddy's poor, just do what you feel." and we were like what is that? "do what you feel" because she's poor. that's suggestive.

anyway, it was great fun. so i'm watching jimmy fallon last night, a very underrated late-night talk show, and he was doing the same thing with "splish splash". he's like, "what's going on here? this guy is taking a bath and has no idea there is a party going on?" it was awesome.

dancing on the ceiling

is anybody else getting the feeling that obama really wants to cut entitlement programs and is using this situation as a means to get the cuts while blaming the republicans for it who have always wanted it? i'm not on the side of the republicans, don't misread that. i just wonder who really wants what.

or are we seriously trying to default on purpose under the guise of some sort of back and forth ideological argument that doesn't really exist? i mean, the two parties are the same. both are bankrolled by the same global corporations. is there an advantage to defaulting? i mean, is this a response to all the money printing of QE1 and QE2 that didn't work? defaulting will make interest rates go up by the natural downgrade of our debt courtesy of the rating agencies. is this a means of forcing rates up by blaming the ratings agencies? i don't know. but something seems off here. ignore the rhetoric. ignore the back and forth. people, they're on the same team. what do they have to gain by a default? i guess we'll wait and find out.

strawberry fields forever

is there anything better on earth than berries? blueberries. strawberries. blackberries. raspberries. they are awesome!!!!

the day is coming

there is an update to the most memorable moment in KC. it seems as though my morning jacket is playing here in two weeks. and there are still tickets available. interesting.......

it's good to be king

i've had two moments in my life when true genius struck. there's probably been more, but i only remember two. they both involve food. that's probably why i remember them.

one night i was hanging out with pete and tanner and we went to the house of pies. i was really, really hungry that night. when our food came, i ate mine so fast that everybody else still had about 95% of their food left. for some reason, i put my plate on the table behind us. i have no idea why i did this. the waitress, who i noticed did not bring our food, came over to ask us how we were doing. i looked around and made a play. i told her that everybody else had received there food and my order didn't come. she said she was sorry and brought me another sandwich. i ate two sandwiches that night for the price of one. awesome move.

last night was another stroke of genius. as some of you know, i'm in kansas city. i had been out that evening and came back to my room, just laying around the room, watching television some time around 11 or midnight. my next door neighbors were being really loud. i thought about calling downstairs to the lobby or writing them a note telling them to shut the hell up. i thought there had to be a better way to get back at them. i had overheard them ordering a pizza on the phone. i thought, how awesome would it be if i jacked their pizza? that would teach them.

so i waited outside my room, by the elevators ready to intercept their pizza. i was pretty sure they had prepaid for it and all i had to do was pick it up. my wife called and i told her what i was doing. she did not agree with it, but she said i might as well do it right. she told me to go the lobby and meet the guy there. that way he would be glad not to have to come up to the room, we would not be close to the room if for some reason he needed to get in and it provided me with an escape if it backfired and they hadn't prepaid. so i did. i went downstairs and right as i was walking out of the elevator, the guy gets there. i hang up with my wife and approach him. i told him that miguel had called, which was the dude's name next door because i heard him say it, and that i was there to pick it for him. i tipped the guy and he gave me the pizza. i went back to my room and ate half of it laughing the whole time. i didn't hear them order another one, but someone did come to the room late, about forty-five minutes later. might have been another pizza, i'm not sure.

i heard them talking today. they're here for a wedding. so it's probably going to be a louder, later night than last night. if they order another item, i might go for it.

sheer genius. and the pizza was good too. really good. and big. that will probably be my highlight from my time in kansas city.

()

i used to work late nights sometimes in huntsville, texas. i used to work at a video production company called EVN, that stood for educational video network. we'd make horrible, horrible videos about not doing drugs and not using credit cards and making young people feel okay with who they were. but if they watched our videos, they'd probably be less okay with who they were and less okay with whoever, me, made these ridiculous videos. dave made great videos. i actually sought out his videos to watch. he would turn the ridiculous material into something visually stimulating and entertaining. i wonder what dave is doing now. no matter.

so i would work late, as indicated earlier in this post. working late at a young age has a way of detaching you with reality. i'm not sure why. now, it brings in reality. makes it more real. back then, it did the opposite. maybe i couldn't wrap my head around working that late. and i'm only talking about 9 or 10. it would dark of course. sometimes i'd take a break and sit outside in the dark. everybody was gone. most of us had class the next day, me included. but class was easy in huntsville, so i could do what i wanted. so i would. i would sit in my tiny office and blast sigur ros. blast it. i could hear it in every corner of that building. i would watch the videos too.

this was one of those videos. obviously the music grabbed my attention. it's an amazing, beautiful song. totally captivating you at every turn and twist. but the visuals were amazing. i was graduating with a degree in radio/tv so visuals were what i was about. i was also developing a keen photographer eye.

but i wondered. was this the story of the fallen titans? did their hubris finally get the best of them? did they wonder what it would be like to finally tag the other? the music was hopeful, while the visuals told of happiness staunched with patient trepidation. masks. ash. a playground. was this something i would experience? would my children? was fortune transformed to fleeting moments chasing normality?

the song has always leveled me. every time i hear it. i heard this band live. in houston, texas, of all places.

houston, texas. my old grounds.

if you have time, seek out other sigur ros videos. you won't be disappointed. i wish i knew the future. but what would i do with this information? saddled right on my back? were things really easier back then? probably not. it sure felt like it.

here we are, face to face....

we are halfway, HALFWAY, through 2011. hasn't it been something so far? i know right. the previews did not do it justice. things have been good in the music field.

you've got some great albums this year. here are some:

elbow- build a rocket boys
kurt vile- smoke ring for my halo
the strokes- angles
fleet foxes- helplessness blues
bon iver- bon iver
my morning jacket- circuital
radiohead- king of limbs
pains of being pure at heart- belong
wye oak- civilian
tennis- cape dory
cut copy- zonoscope
peter bjorn and john- gimme some
the dodos- no color
black lips- arabia mountain
panda bear- tomboy
the low anthem- smart flesh

two albums i missed somehow:
cults- cults
wu lyf- go tell fire to the mountain

two best albums so far:
destroyer- kaputt
thurston moore- demolished thoughts

that's the year so far. i know we have an album from wilco on the way. i think we might have an album from girls coming. good year. good year.

and how about those new ape movies? looking pretty wild!

ocean breathes salty

alan chang caught this crab in the waters of galveston, texas. the crab is now driving a bus in houston.

wrap your trouble in dreams

i have a cici's pizza shirt hanging in the window of my hilton hotel room. that, my friends, is class.

kansas city

kansas city is hot. and humid. and that was at 7:33 as i was walking to work. i have to walk about four blocks north and then four blocks west. i was soaking wet when i got to work. soaking. yuck.

i haven't done anything right now besides work and try to sleep. i'm having a hard time sleeping in a hotel again. in atlanta, i was miserable. i slept about 3-4 hours a night. i'm not sure why. if i missed my wife? my cat? my bed? or was worried/nervous? i have no idea. maybe just the bed sucked, which it did. last night i fell asleep quick, but woke up at four in the morning for some reason.

they do have a nice menu here. i had these awesome lumpy crabby spring rolls last night. and i'll have them again tonight. that's right. two nights in a row.

i wish i could be done with cpa. it won't let me go. it's my own fault. i've done as little as i can to pass and it shows. i guess that speaks to something to say that i've done so little and come so close. i know people who sequestered themselves for months. literally. and they passed. i didn't do that. now i'm doing that. in KC. i'm sequestered. and i'm going to study. and eat lumpy crabby spring rolls. and i'm going to pass. and be done. it's going to take longer than i thought, but i'm going to finish it.

the beehive state

fooling around the house this morning and this song came on the stereo. wait for the end. harry singing with himself is better than a butter shave.

Quantitative Easing Explained

velvet underground game cont.

i was able to connect the beach boys to the velvet underground. however, it took many steps:

1. follow the same path i made to get to the beatles in a previous blog
2. john lennon played in the beatles with george harrison
3. harry nilsson's 'pussycats' was produced by john lennon
4. van dyke parks collorated with harry nilsson on the 'popeye' soundtrack
5. brian wilson/the beach boys collaborated with van dyke on 'smile'

so that's more like 12/13 steps. but i was able to do it. it was a great moment. i was in atlanta at training and when i did it, i wanted to show everyone in the room. show them my handy work. but i was confident/complete sure that everyone in the room had no idea who the velvet underground are. pretty sure.

inside job

i've seen it twice now. everyone should take some time and watch this documentary. and eat some cheetos while you're doing it. i love cheetos.

my drunk kitchen

as someone who likes to drink, this might be the greatest idea/video i've ever seen.

the vampire squid continues

rolling stone's matt taibbi continues to amaze me with his sharp pen/keyboard. the dude eviscerates andrew ross sorkin's take on goldman's massive short. check it out.

halcyon digest

i bought the halcyon digest album by deerhunter some time ago. i was living in denver, so it wasn't too long ago. i bought it with a couple scott walker albums and maybe a used lou reed record. for a while, i never really listened to it, just off and on. i have finally been listening to it regularly and it is a fantastic record. the lyrics are obscure, but simple and somewhat related to each other it seems. there is melancholy, but the music surrounding it is beautiful. the music is incredible. i highly suggest listening to helicopter, probably my favorite song on the album. this record will stay with you. it's a great late night record, as most of the great ones are. check it out.

btw, happy fourth of july. we planted petunias and bought a new mattress. great day! i also ate cheesesticks from sonic. they don't have them in the immediate city, but we drove out to a different home depot at 34th and quebec and there is one out there. oh yes.

tangled up in blue

what in the world is bob talking about in this song? he changes from first person storytelling to third person halfway through. in the original version, he makes references to living with "them" and watching how things fell through and how he became "withdrawn" because of these personal accounts and this is right after running into what the listener believes is his long lost love.

i always thought this song captured the lost love of two people trying hard to make life work, but work took over their lives/spirits, and they ended up losing love in the process. they go their separate ways. they continue working jobs that require all their spirit/attention again and when the singer leaves his job, he travels down south and runs into his lost love. but then after smoking a pipe with her, the story seems to change and suddenly we're talking about someone else. "i lived with them on montague street." who is "them"? how have the number of people in this song expanded to three or more? the next few lines deal with "he" and "she" and finally "i became withdrawn." what is happening there? who is "he" and who is "she"?

then the next stanza deals with "getting back to her." i thought he was with her! where is he? who's he hanging out with at this critical juncture?

bob, what are you talking about?

the whole love

wilco's new album is called 'the whole love' and it is due to come out on sept. 27. check out the first single in a non-live format.

born alone/dawned on me

wilco's got two new songs filtering through their live shows. check them out here: and here.