"willow"

Priscilla Ahn tells us that autumn is here.

bon anniversaire

Rolling Stone is not my favorite media publication, but they have an interesting oral history of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which is now 10 years old.

Of course, 45 years ago, a young preacher from Alabama stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial, perhaps realizing his words would stir generations that would produce individuals as unique as a young senator from Illinois with a pastiche for background that reflects the diversity of the country he wishes to lead.

Here's the full text, which my AP kids will be oh so happy to learn that they'll be reading soon. McCain's too.

Obama's 2008 Democratic nomination speech:
To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin, and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation: With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest_ a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours — Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next first lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia, I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart, that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women, students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors, found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments, a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work, and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes, and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land: enough! This moment, this election is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On Nov. 4, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that, we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives, on health care and education and the economy, Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this president. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers, the man who wrote his economic plan, was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than 100 million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy — give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is, you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well, it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president, when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great, a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves, protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity, not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the startups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes — cut taxes for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stopgap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies retool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy; wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American — if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime, by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less because we cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility — that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell, but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice, but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America, they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This, too, is part of America's promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it, because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit that American promise that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours, a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead, people of every creed and color, from every walk of life, is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise, that American promise, and in the words of Scripture, hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

happy music christmas

Stereogum has posted a link to .zip files of Pitchfork's top 100 tracks of 2007. Woo!

buying lemonade instead of making it

Sox trade SP Jon Garland to the Angels for SS Orlando Cabrera + $1.5mm
Um, I know that Garland is a little overrated because his shiny stats are the "intangible" ones that dumb sportswriters and media types drool over (stuff like wins and being "playoff-tested"), but I didn't think that GMs were this smart. Considering the sort of contracts that guys like Ted Lilly, Jeff Suppan, and Gil Meche signed last offseason (all guys who don't have the youth, health, and track record that Garland have), it's a little tough to swallow that there wasn't a better deal available for the oh-so-coveted Starting Pitching.

That's not to say that the OC is terrible, because he isn't. He's an upgrade to Uribe's historically bad hacktastic-ness, although that's not saying a lot. He'll play good defense, he won't strike out too much, and he'll steal bases and play that grinder brand of baseball that made Darin Erstad and the White Sox promotions staff so rich. And he's 33 years old. Garland is 28.

The good thing is that both of them are in the last years of their contract, which means the Sox would have had to sign Garland to a long-term contract in his big-money years, which nobody really wanted to do, even if he did kind of earn it. Is he the guy you want to spend $13mm per? On the other hand, the OC costs only a $9 mm commitment for this year only. Which is a great move for a team that's trying to win right now, but not so great for a team like the Sox that has a lot of holes. The Sox are still the 4th best team in the division after this move. At best, I think adding OC and subtracting Garland is break-even, maybe less if Uribe ends up playing a lot of second base this year. The verdict ultimately depends on Kenny spends all the savings. Here's a hint: no Torii Hunter, although the Sun-Times is saying otherwise.

I'm not overly excited about it, because I don't think either of these guys is money well-spent, but there aren't really any better players out there (the Sox are not creative enough to get Miguel Cabrera). I think whether we can get a decent leadoff guy and the performance of Floyd and Danks will have more to do with success than Hunter or Cabrera. Yah, just to remind everybody, WE STILL HAVE JOSE CONTRERAS. Kenny's sure hit gold with all of those re-signings from the 2005 championship team.

Jill: #7 - "Heartbeats" Jose Gonzales (2:45)
#8 - "Fake Empire" The National (3:27)
#9 - "Is There a Ghost" Band of Horses (3:02)
#10 - "Summer in the City" Regina Spektor (3:50)

(I didn't forget 3-6, I just hid them somewhere else.)

Vote in Stereogum's Gummy Awards, win the best 50 albums of the year. Woo!

and then, I disappear

Kickin' it to:



Took in the V-Show at school, got to intro my bro to the coworkers, went to hit baseballs, fell asleep on the phone. Watching one of the last White Sox games of this forgettable season on Saturday, with aforementioned brother and dad. And bye to Ed on Sunday.

Welcome October. Welcome, new Radiohead album (?).

plotting out the madness

One of the OCD things I do when I have too many things jumbled in my mind is to make lists. It doesn't even help me organize, it just smooths my nerves. Here goes:

I keep finding mechanical flaws in my setter as she delivers the ball. She's slow with her hands prior to the ball arriving, which means she rushes and ends up "flicking" at the ball instead of making a steady, even push with both. Her feet are off-balance when she sets, also, so that she's often on one foot when she delivers, which throws off the timing. I don't want to overload her mind with too much information, but she needs to make a consistent set about 90% of the time.

Why are the Puritans so dreadful to read about? *I* even fall asleep trying to grasp it. Jonathan Edwards is fun, though. You don't really read anything close to "angry" in public school literature anymore.

On the end of the American Lit pool that I like to wade in is Edgar Allan Poe, and "The Cask of Amontillado," which my frosh get to read this week. Unless they tell me that they've read it before. I tell them, too bad, you haven't read it with me. Muhahaha. Bricks and mortar, anybody?

I can hear my mother grinding vegetables and fruits into the juicer upstairs, which takes me back to a childhood full of mornings with carrot juice, because, well... I don't why. They told me to drink it, so I did. The grinding juicer sound still heebs me out, as does vegetable juice in general, which my V8 drinking coworkers take advantage of.

I'm in a rut with music and movies. The last few purchases have been up and down (Feist? Up. Interpol? Down.), and the impending Kanye/50 sales peeing contest is unappealing. Somebody rescue me. A Place to Bury Strangers? The National? Liars? C'mon guys. Thankfully, two fave actors open this coming week, so... I've got weekend plans. Woo!

duh

Shouldn't I have known that Interpol's new album is coming out in July?



Will it be any good? Who cares! New music! Yay!

dulcet tones

I am digging my fav Canadian songstress, Feist.



Congrats, Todd and Kate.

new addiction

Finetune, for those of you who like making playlists for online radios and finding out about new music that matches your taste. Pandora is fun, also.

Warning: totally, hopelessly addictive for music lovers.

how i spent my friday

new bloc party

New track ("Prayer") off of Bloc Party's new album, coming out in February.

countdown to 30: last thirty...

music purchases.

1. Mew "And the Glass Handed Kites"
2. Joshua Radin "We Were Here"
3. Junior Boys "So This is Goodbye"
4. Sufjan Stevens "Avalanche"
5. Beirut "Gulag Orkestar"
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Fever to Tell"
7. Sleater-Kinney "The Woods"
8. Wolf Parade "Apologies to the Queen Mary"
9. The Walkmen "Bows + Arrows"
10. Lupe Fiasco "Food and Liquor"
11. Kanye West "Late Registration"
12. Common "Be"
13. Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere"
14. I'm From Barcelona "Let Me Introduce My Friends"
15. Rhymefest "Blue Collar"
16. The Hold Steady "Boys and Girls in America"
17. Beach House (self-titled)
18. Film School (self-titled)
19. Dirty Pretty Things "Waterloo to Anywhere"
20. Broken Social Scene (self-titled)
21. Jens Lekman "Oh You're So Silent Jens"
22. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan "Ballad of the Broken Seas"
23. The New Pornographers "Twin Cinema"
24. LCD Soundsystem (self-titled)
25. Camera Obscura "Let's Get Out of This Country"
26. Band of Horses "Everything All the Time"
27. Tapes 'n Tapes "The Loon"
28. Regina Spektor "Begin to Hope"
29. Pinback "Summer in Abaddon"
30. Yo La Tengo "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass"

potpourri

Played volleyball last week without damaging any major body parts. Only some of you have any idea how momentous that is. My brother and I were talking about how sad it is that our physical peak was, like, age 18-21. Not that we're professional athletes, but that seems way too small of a window.

If you ever had any doubt, don't ever, ever mess with the Madden Curse. As videogame savvy as most football players are, you'd think they'd eventually refuse to be on the cover. They can't MAKE you be on the cover of anything, can they?

I really like Canadian trance nerds the Junior Boys. I also really like the aptly named, Jet-but-better-guilty-pleasure Dirty Pretty Things. They make driving to and from work much easier to bear. And I am entranced by the soothing lilt of Priscilla Ahn, whose last name allows me to indulge in the idle fantasy of being married to a singer/songwriter, you know, the one who'll put you in the liner notes in the part where she thanks everyone, writing a cryptic line like "Thanks for warning me about the purple alligators" and only you know what the heck that means in the first place.

I've tried bringing in music to class, but the speakers are limited to small ones connected to the teacher's computer, and most of the kids bring their music players anyway. I'm curious as to what they listen to.

even his mother calls him, the Edge

Episcopalians rock out to U2 Eucharist.

unstop the day

Decided to celebrate Easter by taking in some pop music at the Metro. Hey, you and I both know that Jesus loves a good beat to dance to.

The Editors opened up with an energetic set, although I got a little nauseous with lead singer Tom Smith's ADD/migraine stage hysterics. I'd say they're Interpol, but more light side and not quite as good. Their set was almost as long as headliner Stellastarr*. Also, it simultaenously gave and took away Jill's hope of starting a band completely composed of editorial staff. Or they at least would have to get a different name.

Stellastarr* only stuck around for 55 minutes and played all the goldies and oldies that I was looking for. Was definitely disappointed that they didn't have any new stuff to try out. That's guitarist Michael Jurin (left) and lead singer Shawn Christensen in the picture. Christensen has a great, fluttery hiccup that cuts through all the noise; it's cool that it doesn't get overpowered by the amplifiers. Bassist Amanda Tannen's sweet hollabacks got caught up in the wash, sometimes, but it could be that I was fricking deaf from being too close to the stage/speakers.


I'll admit that the real treat was being right up against Tannen's stage side.

This might be the last show for awhile. Coachella is far away, Intonation and the Pitchfork Festival conflict with volunteer commitments, and... wait, I hate outdoor festivals. The oppressive heat, the unwashed masses, port-a-potties, long lines, standing all day... Call me crazy, but I happen to like air conditioning and uncrappy acoustics. (Lollapalooza looks tempting, though. Wilco? Secret Machines? the Shins? BSS? New Pornographers? Heck, Feist?) I'll probably poop out and just go see Band of Horses in June at Scooba'z.

this one is more fairytale, than barroom

I don't normally like the blues-tinged, folksy rock that Johnny Cash propagated, so I was surprised to find myself enjoying Isobel Campbell's (of Belle & Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan's (Screaming Trees) new one, "The Ballad of the Broken Seas." It's pretty much the aural version of sweet and sour pork, or Chubby Hubby ice cream, both of which blend together two opposing flavors to pleasing results. The constrasting sweet and sour (or sweet and salty) brings out and enhances the opposing taste. Lanegan is this great, rumbly, sunburnt, prickly cactus of a voice that is clear on the other end of the spectrum from Campbell's watery pixie murmur. And it works great.


Lanegan was not in the hizzouse at Schuba's last night, with Eugene Kelly (above) pinch-hitting. Isobel was thoroughly entertaining on her own, with her Scottish accent and Small/Cute (TM) mannerisms. Melody put it best: "I can totally imagine what she was like when she was six years old." I tend to like it when performers can laugh a little onstage, show some normal human emotion, which she did in light of some technical difficulty. I was tempted to get a picture with her after, but... I'm too cool for that. Beats watching the Oscars.

transitioning

As I get older, I realize how little fun I have in aging. The joints creak, muscles ache, ears clog, eyes dim. As the Rolling Stones testified during halftime, it's not always pretty either. (As an aside, I'm sick of hearing "wow, for 63 year olds, they sure do move well," as if seeing 63 yr olds wearing butt tight pants and prancing around is completely normal and ok.)

I've always feared that U2 would end up turning into the Rolling Stones, AKA another band turning the grindstone to sate the gluttony of shareholders and buying golden toilets. Lately, I feel like they swallow up market share just for kicks, just because they're in a position to do so without having to earn it with superior product. I still enjoyed going to the show back in the summer, but I'm through paying $100 to see them, unless I'm close enough for Bono to drip on me. The last few albums? Ok, but not great. The songwriting will never match the eloquence that Bono musters in his prepared remarks at Harvard commencements or DATA presentations or National Prayer Breakfasts or Barbara Walters interviews, and the music suffers because of it. If he cares about all of this Third World debt and AIDS stuff, why didn't it ever show up in the music? You're still a musician, an artist seeking expression, aren't you Mr. Hewson?

And the thing is, they've become so successful that it doesn't matter what anybody thinks of their work critically anymore. Their fanbase covers every continent, every major city, and the back catalog of brilliant stuff (headed by the pantheonic Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) distills the inevitable slide into mediocrity and insures that they'll always have fans long after they're gone. The songs have become authenticators of cool (iPod commercials), even if what they're selling has nothing to do with whatever artistic statement they try to make ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigators?").

It makes me wonder, why do I bother with keeping up with these guys? I've had to make a lot of room in the mansion of my musical universe since I stayed up in bed with Achtung blaring in my Walkman. I gave the upstairs rooms to Radiohead, the Dave Matthews Band, and the Velvet Underground. Interpol is staying in the downstairs rooms, along with Sufjan Stevens, Stellastarr*, Broken Social Scene, and the New Pornographers. Portishead, Wolf Parade, and Bloc Party are the rooms above the garage, and Feist, Fiona Apple, and Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan are in the guest rooms, for the time being, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. So, with the premium on space, should I kick U2 to the curb? Tell 'em to rent somewhere else?

And then Bono restores faith again in why I liked them so much to begin with, which is that they're a great band that makes great music but also cares about the Important Things. Whatever I may think of the music, reading his address at the National Prayer Breakfast reminds me that I still admire what he tries to do. The music might not be as great anymore, or you might hate the guy, but the message is important, and I'm glad that he's talking about it, because if he didn't, self-absorbed cretins like me would skim over it in favor of thinking up another iPod playlist or if I should ask that girl who pours my coffee... out to coffee. He makes me think of things outside of myself, which is good, because I get bogged down by my own selfishness and mediocrity way too often, when I promised that I'd try not to. So. Thanks Bono.

"A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In
countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing.
I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it... I have a family,
please look after them... I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing—because it's already blessed."

--Bono, Feb. 2, 2006

Now, for goodness sake, go work on some lyrics.

arcade fire and the weekend

Still sort of recovering from leading the retreat over the weekend, with a bunch (47) of Confirmation kids from a Polish parish. It always takes me at least two days afterwards to get right again, for whatever reason. I think being extroverted for that long is what does it.

I think the retreat went pretty well, from talking to my staff and seeing the kids. We had the kids interact with some intermediate and independent care residents at a hospice-type site, as a service project. It was great; they got play to bingo together, laugh, and talk (usually really loud, because many of them were hard of hearing). The point wasn't just to have fun, but to see that everyone, even people that many would consider at worst valueless, are beautiful and true treasures from God. It tied in nicely with the theme of the Magi coming to seek Jesus, that these elderly folks were simply Magi who were that much further on the journey than the kids were. The Magi brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and the kids, as modern-day Magi (as it were) bring the gift of their lives to Christ. So it follows, that if the gft of their lives holds value, then so does that of everyone else, including the residents. Anyway, the Pope develops that theme much better, it's worth reading in his words rather than mine.

That was all day Saturday. I was driving home from Adoration on Sunday night, and my iPod shuffled to the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)." I hadn't heard the song in a while, but it fit, perfectly what I'd seen. It was as if the residents I'd seen the day before were singing the song, especially with lyrics like:

Then, we tried to name our babies
But we forgot all the names that,

The names we used to know

But sometimes,

We remember our bedrooms and our parent's bedrooms and the bedrooms of our friends

Then we think of our parents...Well, whatever happened to
them?!

You change all the lead sleeping in my head to gold

As the day grows dim, I hear you sing a golden hymn

It's the song I've been trying to sing...

Then I thought about "Funeral," which the Arcade Fire recorded in the midst of losing members of their families, and I thought back to the residents, with their dwindling abilities, and it all tied together in my head. What I love about "Funeral" is that it acknowledges the sadness of losing someone, but the lingering remembrance isn't a sad one; it's rather hopeful in making the best of it. So. We may all "forget the names we used to know" but at least we had the moment that we did. It wasn't all for nothing.

Needless to say, the Arcade Fire has been in heavy rotation since then.

snow pants on a thursday

And I could take another hit for you
And I could take away the trips from you
And I could take away the salt from your eyes
Take away skin and salt in you
And I could give you my apologies
By handing over my neologies
And I could take away your shaky knees
And I could give you all the olive trees
And look at the trees and look at my face and look at a place far away from here

-- Wolf Parade, "I'll Believe in Anything"


Looky what Max got arrested at. Good for him. It's good to strike back at the darkness, let 'em know you're still there.

keeping it real

I was talking to Jill, and we both agree that it's weird not to have baseball to watch. But I guess I'll take that as long as we won the World Series. That's not going to get old anytime soon. By the way, totally fell asleep Monday night analyzing the Sox roster, which means none of you are as big of a nerd as I am.

Saw one hellacious set by Broken Social Scene on Friday. Crazy loud (who plays trumpets into microphones?). I tend to think of their songs as turning into chaotic sonic goo the further they go, but Durty thinks it goes the other way, from organic soup into a cohesive bang. You're deaf either way, but it's still great to listen to. I always think of BSS as perfect driving music for a sunny autumn afternoon. It has that dreamy, hammocky feel to it.

Ditched my civic duties of candy-distribution to minors by holing up in a bookstore and reading through Gabriel Garcia Marquez's latest, Memories of My Melancholy Whores. And the first line is:

"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin."

Priceless. Fortunately, he doesn't do, and finds himself re-living, and re-loving life, at the age of 90. It's good stuff, and got me to check out Of Love and Other Demons from the library.