I'm testing out the new Blog It iPhone web app--I have nothing much to occupy me on my 90 minute bus commute, so I might as well post blog updates that I never seem to have time for otherwise. Lately, I've noticed a distinct slowdown in my music acquisitions this year--I think I've only bought three albums this year, and one of them is Ted Leo's The Tyranny of Distance (2001). The current ones, for what it's worth, are DCFC's Narrow Stairs, and My Morning Jacket's new album (the title escapes me just now).
By this point last year, I had new albums from Feist, Of Montreal, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Deerhoof, Bright Eyes, and Apples In Stereo--and those are just the good ones. So why the slowdown? I have two explanations--the first is that early 2008 releases have been much lower key--sure, Bon Iver and Black Mountain have put out interesting albums, but few have been that compelling to me. The Hold Steady has an album release coming up, and I'm certain the back end of 2008 will see some great surprises, but I'm willing to assert that 2007 was just a remarkably good year for indie music releases.
My other theory is that I'm in the midst of a couple artist kicks, which I think everyone has once in a while. Lately, I've been getting a lot of rotation out of Stars, a band whom I've been aware of peripherally for a few years, and never cared for. When I was planning my excursion to Lollapalooza 2006, I acquired a significant amount of music from two bands I was generally uninterested in--Stars was one, Wilco the other. The night I was packing, in fact, I put A Ghost is Born on as my soundtrack, and had one of those rare and beautiful epiphanies about music--"Hummingbird" made me a fan, compelled me to rabidly consume every Wilco song I could get my hands on. Stars' Set Yourself On Fire sat neglected, and I missed their set at Lolla. Two years later, I had my epiphany about them while listening to "My Favorite Book," and since then I've just been digging deeper into their discography.
My other kick lately has been Ted Leo, a musician I've actually liked quite a bit for some time. What launched Ted Leo from a guy whose music I like to a guy I must see play before I die or get to old to be in mosh pits is a subtler process, but I think it was "Biomusicology" that really forced the shift. I really regret that it took me this long to appreciate Ted Leo, since I could have been listening to him (in Chisel) in high school. Then again, if I'd had my Sleater-Kinney epiphany before The Woods, I could have probably seen them more than just the one short show they played at Lollapalooza before their hiatus.
I've so far managed to avoid more than just snippets of the new Weezer album, which I think is damned lucky. I've heard enough though, that I have instead chosen to listen to Blue and reminisce about the album, which (along with Pinkerton) I would call "adolescence-defining." Blue in particular is one of those albums which serves as a cultural touchstone for people my age, and I think will live on for us in spite of its weaknesses. However, I'm starting to think of Rivers Cuomo with the same feeling of resentment I have for Michael Jackson--both are trouncing on my love for their earlier music with appallingly bad decisions.
Oh, if only .mac could do mobile posting.
I have class in 20, so I guess now is as good a time as any to dash off a quick note on Vox. So here goes--
Yup.
Okay, in a nutshell, I had pneumonia a couple weeks ago, work is still work, school is decidedly less challenging than I thought it would be, and my iphone is still awesome. Wes and I are going to try and get a dog soon, and we now own a PS3, which is also awesome.
"The iphone is a very slick phone"
~Rob Enderle, predicting the iPhone will kill children.
Kate
I know it's been quite a while since my last post, and there's really been one (maybe two) reason for it--my new phone of awesomeness. Since I joined the exclusive club of Apple iphone carriers, I've barely used my computer. After all, why read my news on my laptop, when it's on my phone? Why check my email there, when it's in my hand? In actuality, I'm writing this on my precious phone right now, thereby completing my descent into Apple fandom. I have drunk the Kool-Aid, and it's tasty.
The other reason I haven't been posting is because, well, my biggest challenge concerning where I work is keeping myself from engaging in punditry. Of course the old standby excuses of no time and no events of interest still apply, but there's also been an element of restraint in play as well.
Naturally, there's still nothing significant happening in my life, aside from my imminent attendance in graduate school. Class begins tomorrow, and so far I've been less than impressed with the quality of administration at the University of Hawaii. Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion the school is controlled by a secret shadow organization, since everyone from financial aid to admissions seems hellbent on keeping students from discovering some all-important Truth about their status in any of those areas. I'm actually beginning to miss MSU. On a more serious note, I'm regretting the decision to go to school here, and I have yet to set foot in a classroom. Thus, the power of a shitty infrastructure is demonstrated.
At least I've got a husband who will support me, although he's still recovering from an alarmingly serious bout of the flu. He lost 10 pounds and is still taking meds for it, and for the sinus infection and thrush he managed to get while sick. When the hospital doctors put him on codeine, he hallucinated that I was a bunny and started to pet my head. It's been a rough week.
I've had a somewhat hilarious week. I'll see if I can relate everything in order:
What was your worst hairstyle decision ever?
Hmmm...you know, I've done almost everything to my hair, and I've never actually disliked anything I did. Hair's just hair, after all.
This is probably the worst my hair ever looked--center part when you dye over your premature grays only once every couple months is a BAD, BAD idea. Also, you can't tell, but this also features what everyone I went to school with called the Old Maid Bun. Last, but not least, my hair becomes a nightmare when it grows over my collar--it pretty much always looks stringy, or dirty (I used to wash it twice a day in high school and kids would still say it was greasy-looking), or frizzy. I cut it all off, and all of a sudden people started complimenting my appearance for the first time in, um, ever.
Also, that shirt is so awesome Snoop Dogg wore it in a music video. No lie.
Nothing important, so those of you who read my blog for important, um, things, might as well skip on by.
Mike Gravel finally decided to explain his ad campaign (which also includes a 7 minute video of burning twigs), which I like to call "WTF?" Here's what he told MSNBC:
“What people like you don’t understand — which I think is hilarious — is this is a metaphor,” Gravel said Monday, lecturing guest host David Shuster during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Tucker.”
Um, actually Mike (I can call you Mike, right?), I do understand it's supposed to be a metaphor. The difficulty you've run into is that none of us can figure out what it's a metaphor for. And, honestly, if no one can figure out the metaphor, then it fails because your people executed it poorly--not because your potential voters are too stupid to get it. Golly gee whiz, that one's pretty easy to figure out, dontcha think?
I've been sort of drifting the last couple days--Wes is gone on his trip, and so I have about three weeks on my own. I intend to actually do some serious house work (especially in the kitchen), but between starting my actual job and a general feeling of lethargy, I've mostly been a lazy ass.
Today I went to Makaha beach for most of the day. Don't let the picture fool you, it was actually a lot less crowded
Ironically, I have a sunburn, but earned the majority of it while being productive and running errands Friday and yesterday. Moral of the story--I'm spending more time on the beach.
Also, I'm watching the Daily Show right now, and I am wholly in favor of a Produce Pete-inspired movie. Produce Pete rocks, and I'm a little sad that Steve Carrell didn't reprise his role for posterity when he was on tonight. I miss Steve Carrell, although I'll be honest and admit that I had a thing for Stephen Colbert since his days on Strangers with Candy. Even Stephen cracked my shit up (especially the one where they did a binge drinking episode for Spring Breakers and got Carrell totally "trashed").
Sigh. I'm going to drift my way towards bed, I think.
For those who might be behind the times, Mike Gravel is an also-ran for President on the Dems side--sort of like an angrier Kucinich, with approximately .005% of potential votes in the polls. So, if you're that far away from winning, why waste your precious ad money on "explaining your stance on issues" or "currying favor with certain demographics" when you can just hire an aspiring avant-garde director to film you?
Usually, if an old man comes up to me and stares at me like that, I'll tell them "no cash, sorry" and back the fuck away. Of course, even if I knew that old man was Mike Gravel, presidential candidate, I'd probably still do exactly that. I mean, that jacket looks pretty cheap, and he doesn't seem above panhandling. And really, would you be surprised if you pulled up to an intersection one day and Mike Gravel began washing your car windows to pick up some extra cash?
And then, there's the rock throwing. This might be the greatest piece of deep conditioning political advertising since "Morning in America," and the rock symbolizes American economic interests, while the water represents the world's resentment to our excesses (or maybe the rock is our presence in Iraq, and the water is terrorism...or the rock is HATE, and the water is LOVE, and the message is that love will conquer all...). It's so deep, I don't even get what the hell the message may be.
I would suggest for Mike Gravel's next ad, he film a worn down armchair left by the street for 5 minutes, then dump a bucket of water on it while a vinyl of Sonic Nurse plays from a nearby open window. I think it would be a great meditation on immigration reform policy.
Hurray for updated software.
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