Sad & British

Only yesterday was the time of our lives

2011-11-02T20:55:00.000-04:00

So I have a blog. Sometimes I forget. I swear SXSW just took it out of me. I know it's been almost a year, but let me sum things up really quickly:

It was amazing. Think of how you would have done spring break in college if you actually had money and knew how to drink without making (too much of) an idiot of yourself.
Everyone wants to go again. (See #1)
We ate a lot of barbecue.
I saw Adam Duritz and Michael Cera hanging out in bars, but never ran into Aziz Ansari despite my best efforts to Twitter stalk him.
I got my picture taken with my fave NPR dude Stephen Thompson (see below) and he was even nice enough to sing "Trey with an 'e' and Graham like the cracker" for me. If you don't know what that means you should be listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour.

Look, we have the same hair!

Living the good life, I left for dead the sorrowful Midwest

2011-03-30T08:44:00.001-04:00

After much napping and laundry, I've begun to recover from SXSW. There'll be more blogging to come but I wanted to post a couple updates. First, there are the bands that we saw on Friday and Saturday:

Friday

- 28 North
- Smith Westerns
- Electric Child
- OFF!
- The Vaccines
- OMD
- The Kills
- TV on the Radio
- Young the Giant
- Apex Manor
- Josh Ritter
- Twin Shadow
- Goldheart Assembly
- The Answering Machine

Saturday

- Man Man
- Middle Brother
- The Felice Brothers
- Bright Eyes
- The Rural Alberta Advantage
- Jukebox the Ghost (again)
- Army Navy

Second, I wrote a piece about my trip over on this blog, where they actually pay me to do such things. It even has a couple photos so go check it out.

So many Mike

2011-03-18T14:59:00.002-04:00

I've been pretty busy eating, sleeping and seeing bands and haven't had time to blog. I want to keep a list of bands I've seen so far so I don't forget:

Wednesday

- The Romany Rye
- Jessica Lea Mayfield
- Apache Relay
- Hayes Call
- Caitlin Rose
- Jason Isbell
- The Civil Wars
- Withered Hand
- Kid Canaveral
- Errors
- Twin Atlantic
- Admiral Fallow

Yes that was just Wednesday.

Thursday

- Colin Stetson
- Tuneyards
- Khaira Arby
- Wild Flag
- The Joy Formidable
- Noah and the Whale
- Jukebox the Ghost
- Emmylou Harris
- The Old 97s

I think that's it for those days. I'm already 3 bands into Friday so there is more to come!

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I guess I got just what I wanted and all I wanted was a glance

2011-03-16T12:27:00.001-04:00

Well our plans to take it easy at SXSW last night where thrown out after we got back from awesome barbecue at The Salt Lick. We stopped by the apartment for a few minutes but managed to avoid a meat coma and headed out on the town.

First stop was the Bat Bar where we caught Dry The River and the much-hyped shoegaze band Fences. They weren't our favorite band of the night, but we did see Michael Cera catching their show, too, so hipster bonus points for us!

Next up was a great set from The Boxer Rebellion and finally to a crowded Emo's for a funky dance set from Gold Panda. We made it home a little after 2 am and now we're gearing up for more!

When the sun goes down in Austin town that's when I know I'm home

2011-03-15T14:16:00.001-04:00

So I made to Austin with little trouble. Our apartment is all ready to go and I've managed to fortify myself with a chili dog and a margarita. Tonight might be about barbecue and catching up with friends than music but the SXSW adventure has begun.

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No one man should have all that power

2011-03-13T19:35:00.000-04:00

Well, it's (sorta) official if you believe the video below. Kanye will be playing a show at SXSW Saturday night. I still haven't heard about my VIP passes, though. Bummer!

My furs is Mongolian, my ice brought the goalies in

2011-03-07T20:00:00.004-05:00

So there's a rumor that Kanye West will play a surprise show in Austin during SXSW. He released this video at the beginning of March that started all the hubbub:

So now I have to decide if I dare treck over to the Seaholm Power Plant at midnight on Saturday to see if this is real. I'm tempted, but I've been burned by Kanye before so I'll probably pass unless, you know, he wants to give me a VIP pass. Call me, Yeezy!

The train is riding down to the station where I lived when I was a cool kid

2011-03-02T22:39:00.001-05:00

I've been sorting through the list of bands playing at SXSW for a couple months now. With more than 2,000 of them playing and a schedule that seems to be constantly shifting, it can be a big job. What I've noticed from the weeks of listening, though, is how great almost all the bands are. Maybe my experience vetting bands for the MidPoint Music Festival had me bracing for worse acts, but it seems like I'd be happy to hear almost any band playing at SXSW. I'm sure we'll see how I really feel about that in a couple weeks.

With that in mind, I present the 10 bands I'm most excited to see at SXSW. My main caveats were that I wanted to choose acts I'd never seen play live before and to try and focus on smaller, newer acts*. So here they are in no particular order:

Admiral Fallow - Scottish and sad, they sound a little like Frightened Rabbit. These guys are right in my musical wheelhouse. They're also playing a Tuesday night showcase so hopefully they'll be one of the first bands I see.
The Civil Wars - A bluesy couple from Alabama, much like my friends Jeff and Meggan who'll be hanging out with us in Austin. Maybe that's why I want to see these guys so much.
Apex Manor - Colin Meloy mentioned this band in a tweet so I checked out the album. That's what kind of a sucker I am. Nice stuff, though, but I've only seen one show scheduled so far so it might be difficult to actually see them.
Jukebox the Ghost - A poor man's Ben Folds? Perhaps. Jukebox the Ghost is from DC and I've been a fan for a few years so even though they don't fall into my "new act" rule I really want to check them out.
Okkervil River - An Austin band with a couple albums under their belt and a much anticipated new release just around the corner. This might be the hardest show for me to get to what with all the crowds. I guess it will make me decide how much I really want to see them.
The Vaccines - There is a ton of buzz from this British band. Are they the next Arctic Monkeys? Does it matter? All I know is they rock and since their big song is only 85 seconds long, they shouldn't have to play for too long anyway.
Lars and The Hands of Light - I know like three words in Danish (two of them are mildly offensive) but I figure I can try them out on a Danish band. I just typed in Denmark in the SXSW schedule and these guys popped up. Turns out they sound pretty good, too. Score! (That's Danish for "score".)
Young the Giant - Loud and melodic, they're another band with a lot of buzz. They also seem to be playing about every day party in town so I should be able to catch at least one of their shows.
Noah and the Whale - I'm really not sure why I haven't heard of these guys before. They're right there in the dictionary under "Sad & British." I'm actually worried they might be too sad for me. Too sad! Is that possible?
Childish Gambino - Do you know Donald Glover? The black guy from Community? The one who started a Twitter campaign to be cast as Spiderman in the new movie? It turns out he raps, too, under the name Childish Gambino. No, he does serious rapping, not jokey, jokey rapping. I'm in no position to tell you if he's actually a good rapper, I just know I find it oddly compelling. I can't promise that I'll make it to his showcase, but I kind of hope I do.

You can hear tracks from most of my list (and more) over there on the right on my SXSW music player.

*Bands that I still hope to see but haven't made my official top 10 include: Hayes Carll, Darren Hanlon, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Jessica Lea Mayfiled, The Answering Machine and The Head and The Heart.

Sometimes it's who, not what you do

2011-02-28T21:02:00.005-05:00

I know I'm meant to be constantly blogging about my preparations for SXSW, but it turns out that much of my time has been taken up by preparations for SXSW. Oh, the irony!

There are day parties, there are evening showcases, there are free shows and house parties and they all want you to RSVP. If you have cruise director tendencies like I do, it can be overwhelming. Nevertheless, I'll be heading to Austin a mere two weeks from tomorrow so the planning has to end sometime.

As I finish my planning, I'm trying to keep a few pointers in mind:

Have a lot of options - With dozens of bands playing shows at any one moment, you shouldn't waste your time waiting in line for a show. Bands often play more than one showcase so unless you just absolutely have to see them, move along and catch something else. Who know, maybe you'll find something new.
SXSW is for new bands - It's tempting for me to want to see The Strokes or Bright Eyes who are both playing shows this year. I've seen both of them in concert before so I'll try to use that time to see a new band instead. It'll be hard to pass on Bright Eyes, though, so that might be a game-day decision.
Wear comfortable shoes - I've been told there is a lot of walking. A lot.
There is never free food - Most of the parties advertise free food, but like the mysterious sasquatch, no one has ever seen it. Food goes early and I'm pretty sure it's just one guy with a burrito. Go find a food cart and keep your blood sugar up. This is a marathon not a sprint.

I'll have a list of the top 10 bands I hope to see at this year's SXSW later this week. That is unless I'm busy RSVPing for stuff.

It's well advised that you follow your own bag in the year of the chewable Ambien tab

2011-02-01T20:17:00.005-05:00

For almost three years I paid $15 a month for a subscription to the music download site, emusic.com, but last month I put my account on hold with the intention of quitting them for good. They went from being one of my favorite web services to my online nemesis through a path that is not unfamiliar to people who are early adopters of cool web services only to watch them crumble under a series of compromises (I'm looking at you lala.com.) but this one angers me the most.

The interwebs tell me that emusic was founded in 1998, but didn't really take off until the early 2000s. It was different from other music sites because a set amount of money got you credits for mp3 downloads each month. When I first signed up, my $15 got me 50 songs from a large library that consisted mostly of indie labels and old jazz and blues. It wasn't for everybody, but if emusic's selection matched up with your musical tastes it was an amazing bargain.

Things were going great until the summer of 2009. That's when emusic signed a deal with one of the "big four" labels (Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, EMI and Warner Music Group). Emusic would carry music from Sony artists that was two years old or older. So you couldn't get the new Kings of Leon, but you could download the Bruce Springsteen back catalog. In return, customers found out their $15 suddenly didn't buy as many credits. Sony wanted more money for their songs so now I was getting 37 songs a month for my money. It was annoying, but I was willing to take the hit for a larger selection of music. Besides, Michael Jackson had just died and now I could download all of his songs that I thought I already owned with minimal effort.

For me, November of 2010 was the beginning of the end. Emusic signed a deal with Universal to offer their entire catalog on the site, but along with the new music came some major changes. Suddenly my $15 didn't buy credits, it got me $15 worth of music with different songs being offered at different prices. Some songs were $.69 and others were $.99 album prices were all over the place but seemed to run $5 to $8. It was still cheaper than iTunes, but other things were lost along the way, too.

Several indie labels left the site shortly after the Universal deal was announced. Also emusic's customer service seemed defensive when customers voiced their concerns. They didn't seem to understand that I was more interested in the new Arcade Fire album than having access to hundreds of thousands of Justin Bieber and Black Eyed Peas tracks. After years of cultivating an indie audience, emusic seemed happy to let them fall by the wayside.

And I'm happy to oblige. Bieber fans don't pay for music anyway, and I hope emusic will discover that one day and change their tune. They're not the first web site to alienate their original customers in an effort to expand their audience, but few have done it quite as callously as emusic. I've decided to take my money and spend it on a Netflix subscription instead. So far, it's been worth it.

My private life is an inside joke

2011-01-14T21:45:00.005-05:00

I really must get back into this blogging thing if I'm going to be ready for SXSW. In fact, I leave for Austin exactly two months from tomorrow! I have a lot of homework to do, like figuring out which of the 2,000 bands I want to see. I'm thinking of picking of at least one band solely based on their name. A Norwegian band called, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson is an early front runner in that category.

But I still have a couple months to discover obscure bands. What I'm excited about right now are new songs from a couple of old favorites. Bright Eyes (who is also playing at SXSW!) has a new album coming out February 15th and if the first song from the album is any indication it's gonna be pretty good. You can listen to it over there in my music player on the right or go here and download an mp3 of your own.

Alas, The Decemberists aren't coming to SXSW this year, but I only have to wait until Tuesday to get their new album (or you can listen to it all right now at NPR Music). When I heard it the other day it gave me the warm fuzzies and a little tingle down my spine that I don't get too often these days. It sounds like a great new R.E.M. album that we'll never get from R.E.M.

Speaking of R.E.M., they have a new album coming out soon too and their new song "Discoverer" (it's over there on my music player again) is getting everyone excited and ready to say the band is finally back to its old form. I've been down this road before, people, and I'm not about to be fooled again. Their last album, Accelerate, was supposed to be their big comeback. While it was definitely better than anything they've done in the past decade, it was not as awesome as we all wanted it to be. I won't hold my breath for this new album either.

So that's all for now. Coming soon: Why I quit emusic, more SXSW planning and my addiction to Parks and Recreation

Lookin' like Saint Nick, so clean, so fresh

2010-11-30T21:51:00.002-05:00

I'm a sucker for Christmas music. Every November, I wrangle up all my holiday songs and create a Christmas playlist on my iPod. These days it's up to 721 songs. I'm not picky, I'll take every kind of Christmas music, especially if it's free.

Which brings me to today's awesome find. I heard this fun Christmas song that had all the twee tinkling and clever lyrics that makes a tune irresistible to me. The Shazam app on my Droid told me it was "You'll Never Find My Christmas" by Bishop Allen, one of my favorite indie bands. My searches on Amazon and iTunes failed to find the song, though. It wasn't until I used the power of Google that I solved the mystery.

That song and 13 others is part of a compilation from Target. I probably would have bought the album, but they're giving it away FREE on their website. So go download it and start rocking out to your hipster Christmas. I especially love "Toy Jackpot" by Blackalicious. It looks like I have a few more songs to add to my Christmas playlist.

Carol of the Meows

2010-11-14T17:14:00.004-05:00

Tippy and I had an exciting 30 minutes in the photo studio at work today. Much like any supermodel, even the power of tuna couldn't make him completely comfortable in front of the camera. Bil managed to get some really fun photos, though, which has actually motivated me to send out Christmas cards this year. Here are a couple you might enjoy:

So, which one should go on the Christmas cards?

What's Occurin'?

2010-11-09T21:39:00.017-05:00

Tap, tap, tap...

Is this thing on? *blows dust away*

It's true. I'm blogging again, for a couple reasons.

1. Lost is off the air so there's not much good on tv anymore.

2. I'm going to South by Southwest next March and I need some place to write about it all.

So, what have you missed? Let's see, I'm back in journalism, I moved to York, PA and Tippy is still awesome. In fact, we're getting our Christmas card photo taken this weekend. hopefully he'll be at his best that day.

While I sort through hundreds of songs and plan my SXSW adventure, I'll try and post updates about music and other stuff I enjoy. Here's a list of a few things I've been loving lately to get us started:

The Walking Dead - You're watching this new show on AMC aren't you? Aren't you? I know I said tv wasn't as good since Lost left, but I may be changing my mind. This past Sunday's episode went by so fast I couldn't believe an hour had passed. Now that I think of it, the show is a lot like the zombie season of Lost that Darlton always promised us.
Mumford & Sons - Sad, British folk rock meets early Wilco style alt-country? Sign me up! Start with "Little Lion Man" and go from there.
Looking in windows - The end of daylight saving time make this easier. I don't mean staring in windows in a creepy way, just that quick glimpse of others' lives you get as you drive by their lit up windows in the dark. All those other people going about their business on a chilly evening - I find it comforting.
Gavin & Stacey - You know how the British come up with all these funny, heartwarming sitcoms then the Americans remake them and ruin everything? I fear it's only a matter of time before that happens to this great show about an odd couple and all their friends. You can stream it on Netflix, or sometimes catch it on BBC America. Either way it's a sweet little show worth checking out.

Razzle Dazzle!

2010-01-31T17:41:00.011-05:00

I don't know if you've heard, but the sixth and final season of Lost starts on Tuesday. I know, I know it might help if there was an ad on TV every 5 seconds so we could be warned about these things.

Way back in season three (I think it was three, maybe it was two) Jeff and Meggan and I would meet every week to watch the show. Snacks and drinks were involved and soon our own informal drinking game developed. Mostly it was a way to deal with the constant bellowing from Michael about "My Boy!!!" but it adapted to new characters and themes as the seasons continued.

So in time for the season premiere, I give you the unofficial Lost drinking game. Since the writers keep promising the return of old characters, I'll include some suggestions for them as well. Feel free to offer your own pointers and be sure to have a beer or two on hand Tuesday night.

Take a drink whenever:

Jack

cries

Sawyer

calls someone by a nickname
gets beaten up
takes off his shirt

Locke

breaks his leg
acts crazy

Hurley

calls someone "dude"
talks to a dead character

Kate

joins an expedition even though they tell her not to come
makes out with Sawyer
makes out with Jack

Daniel Faraday

gives someone his "crazy eyes"
tells someone that it's too complicated/he doesn't have time to explain a theory

Desmond

calls someone "brother"

Miles

talks to a dead character

Charlie

sings "You All Everybody"
does heroin

Claire

mentions "My baby!"

Michael

mentions "My boy!"

Sun

mentions "My husband"

When any character

mentions any version of "we have to go back"
asks, "Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue?"
sees The Numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42)
sees Vincent

Finish your drink whenever

anyone actually leaves the island
a main character dies

Of course, there's always room for additions, especially as the sixth season continues. Let me know if I missed anything!

I remember when you were here and all the fun we had last year

2009-12-24T11:19:00.003-05:00

I guess I could write a long post and tell you all about the rest of my trip across the country in October. How I went to DC for an unsuccessful job interview (but a very successful visit with Melissa and Carrie and Melvin) then went to Michigan State to check out its business school. I could also go into great detail about my trip back to Tucson with Tippy and my parents and the fit Tippy threw one night in our hotel room in Roswell, New Mexico. I might mention the last couple of months that I've spent studying for the GMAT and working on MBA applications and how annoying it all is. Instead, I will just say Merry Christmas and post a picture of Tippy looking dandy in his new tie.

Fight Tigers, you will always win

2009-10-25T21:25:00.008-04:00

Except when you don't.

It was ugly last night, folks. The Tigers never looked like they stood a chance against Colt McCoy and his awesomeness. We did, however, get to sit behind a guy with a crazy hat. I can tell you from my trip to the campus bookstore that this bit of fashion can be yours for just $49.95.

Why yes, those are beads. Don't you really want one?

What we did have, however, was a great homecoming parade full of tractors, teeny marching bands from tiny mid-Missouri towns and more than one kid in their best tiger costume. The adorableness level was off the scale.

That kid is almost as cute as the photo of me in my Mizzou Snuggie. Just sayin'.

Truman did seem a little distracted during the parade. I should have seen this photo of him blowing off a little kid as a sign that things wouldn't go well Saturday night. His head just wasn't in the game.

So all I left Columbia with was a belly full of Shakespeare's Pizza and a cold. I spent today blowing my nose and chewing cough drops as I drove my way to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Tomorrow I'm checking out the Supply Chain Management program at the Arkansas business school (that would be the Sam M. Walton College of Business). Everything in this town seems to be named after a Walton or a Tyson. I should keep a tally.

So I'll go on about business school a little more in the future. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I've decided to stop waiting for the phone to ring. The future is mine, people! Mine! Of course, that might just be the Theraflu talking.

Have the guts, got the glory

2009-10-23T23:09:00.008-04:00

Why, you may ask, are those frat boys dressed like sheep? It's house decs night at Mizzou, of course!

I know not every school has house decs (short for decorations) as part of their homecoming festivities, but it's one of my favorite parts of homecoming weekend. In short, fraternities and sororities around campus team up and build a set for a skit in their front yard. Everything has to be pomped (covered with little wads of tissue paper) and a skit is written to match the homecoming theme. This year's theme was "New Fight, Same Bite" but it pretty much boiled down to "Beat the Longhorns." Then for four hours on Friday night tons of people show up as the Greek houses act out the skits over and over again for the mulling crowds. Confused yet? Don't worry, I have video!

See? Super hokey fun! Maybe you just have to be here.

So tomorrow's the big day. There's a parade in the morning then some sort of football game or something in the evening. My friend and fellow Mizzou alum Sarah is meeting up with me, so now all the Tigers have to do is win. Should be easy.

We will tramp, tramp, tramp around the columns with a cheer for old Mizzou

2009-10-22T23:21:00.003-04:00

I had another busy day today meeting with people and checking out the new convergence program at the journalism school. It sounds really interesting and they're new building is beautiful, but when did we collectively decide that banks of flat screen televisions tuned to muted news networks = convergence? Just because it looks like the future doesn't mean the future is here.

I just have a quick picture to post today. All the downtown business windows have been decorated by fraternities, sororities and residence halls, and while some suffered from the rain today, they've been really fun to check out. Of course, my favorite pizza place also had my favorite window. I don't remember which Greek organization did this one, but it's pretty cute.

You can't break out of a circle that you never knew you were in

2009-10-21T22:41:00.007-04:00

I had a long day of driving, so I won't write much today. I just offer a couple photos as proof that I made it to Columbia, Missouri:

No the white balance isn't off, Jesse Hall is lit up in gold for homecoming. They have the town done up real nice for the festivities (as they say in these parts).

Oh yes, it's a Snuggie! I can't tell you how excited I am about this purchase. Maybe I'll wear this exact outfit to the game on Saturday.

On the road, again.

2009-10-20T20:13:00.006-04:00

Well, it was close there for awhile. It was starting to look like I had a job lined up and then it didn't happen. As Melissa said, it was "Le Grande Suck." So I feel a little like I'm back to the starting board after 10 months of looking for a job and that can mean only one thing... a road trip!

Last year I got a hotel reservation for Mizzou's homecoming weekend. It's been ten years since I've been to a game and it's about time I got back to one. Plus, this one features hottie Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (insert "yee-haw, pew, pew, pew" here). Now that I have some time on my hands (again) I'm expanding my Missouri homecoming trip.

First, there will be a couple extra days in Columbia to learn about grad school programs there. Then it's on to Arkansas, Tennessee and Michigan (with a short swing through Cincinnati). All total, it looks to be a nice ten day, 2,400 mile little road trip. I'll try to blog as I go along and take a few pictures. Watch this space, dear readers, because I promise adventure awaits.

In the meantime, I give you a photo booth series of Melissa and me during my last road trip to Chicago. I bet you can't guess the point when we figured out the machine was actually working.

And I say your uncle was a crooked French Canadian and he was gut-shot running gin

2009-08-06T16:51:00.013-04:00

First off, the internets are no help in trying to find out if gut-shot is hyphenated or not. What about French Canadian? What say my copy editing peeps? Maybe I just should have picked a different quote.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you what Madison is all abuzz about today. The entire city is in a collective swoon from last night's Decemberists concert. Colin Meloy and his buds played their album, The Hazards Of Love, straight through then came back and played some more. But why let me tell you when you can read Josh's review here.

Josh also got a photo pass to take some pictures at the show. Since I was coming along, however, I snagged the pass and showed him how the professionals do it (or people who used to be

professionals and didn't get paid for the photos they took). There's a small photo gallery attached to his review, but I've added some extra pics exclusively here at Sad & British. Let's marvel together at Colin Meloy who was dressed (as Kelly said) "like an Amish kid on Rumspringa."

And now a plug about a plug

2009-07-29T16:55:00.003-04:00

Kelly (Lady Bear Kelly, not copy editor Kelly) wrote a lovely little plug for Tune Me Up today. You should go here and read it forthwith. Then you should become a Tune Me Up Facebook fan or follow our Twitter. Then you should tell all your friends about it.* Then you should spend all your money buying playlists. It's just that simple people!

*Seriously, though, it would be nice if you could tell all your friends about it.

I'm sick and tired of you setting me up

2009-07-29T12:26:00.003-04:00

It seems like every September I give a big plug for Coltrane Motion right before the MidPoint Music Festival. They play there every year and they're always one of my favorite shows. Well, this year, I'm giving them a surprise late July plug as well. Go here and check out their MySpace page where you can download two Bruce Springsteen covers they did. It's easy and free! That's becoming more important as an increasing number of my friends are finding themselves unemployed. **sigh**

When we get together there's no need to be clever

2009-07-16T14:42:00.004-04:00

First off, an update on the strawberry plants. They're all grown up now and looking lovely. Like expectant parents we are waiting anxiously for the first berries to be born (except unlike expectant parents we will then eat the children, so I guess that's a bad simile). We had one perfect berry the other night but some critter stole it before we got around to picking it. Tippy really needs to work on catching a rabbit or chipmunk or anything bigger than the tiny, tiny mice he seems so good at getting.

But the real news today is Harry Potter! I've been anxiously await my chance to go see the new movie and I even managed to quickly reread The Half-Blood Prince to get ready. That, of course, meant that I also had to reread The Deathly Hollows because I can't remember what happened in that book anymore either. I guess my stroll through the collected works of Alexander McCall Smith will have to be put on hold for a few days.

Shawn and I are going to see the movie tonight and early reviews are sounding pretty positive. Of course I would probably love it even if it was as stifled and awkward as the first movie. I'm probably most excited about just getting out of the house.

So that's all I have today blog readers. I'm considering getting back to listening to some albums if I can ever get through File Under Easy Listening by Sugar. We'll see.

It's business time

2009-07-10T21:36:00.003-04:00

In case you don't follow my Twitter (and why don't you?) or see me on Facebook you might not know what I've been doing for the months and months that have passed since I left journalism (or journalism left me).

Besides applying for tons of jobs and getting the odd phone call, I've decided to start up a business. It's called Tune Me Up and it takes advantage of all these years of my life I've spent listening to and reading about music. We create customized music playlists for people who are interested in having some new music, but don't have the time. All you have to do is fill out our fun questionnaire and tell us what you want to hear. A few days later, the playlist arrives at you door.

Things are just getting started, so I'm trying to get the word out. So tell your friends and become a fan on Facebook. I'll be starting a blog for Tune Me Up to share some iTunes tips and music updates, but I'm going to try and stay on top of Sad & British, too. I'll definitely be posting updates on how the business is going. I'd love to be able to do this full time, so lets hope it works!

Some photos

2009-06-30T12:52:00.008-04:00

I now present a series of random photos from recent days. Enjoy!

Have you fed the fish today?

2009-06-15T18:01:00.006-04:00

Let me tell you about life in Wisconsin so far. It's freaking cold. I've been told the rest of the country is experiencing a meteorological phenomenon known as summer. I have merely experienced a couple of days where it was warm enough to take my jacket off. My dad keeps assuring me that it has been unusually cold. Ten to twelve degrees below normal he says. I'll believe it when I see it, I say.

Yesterday was the first day that I began to believe. Temperatures were in the mid 70s so we headed out to the park for a picnic. That's the other thing I've learned about Wisconsin. They don't waste a minute of any warm weather they might get. All sunny days must be spent outside, preferably drinking.

Having just procured a Wisconsin fishing license, I was ready to bring the pain to the fish of the Wisconsin river. Now I've been told that the shallow, snag prone river is not the best place to fish, but just look at what I caught:

Behold the mighty catfish! It took hours of expert angling to reel in the sucker, but state regulations said I had to return it to the river. That's too bad, because I think it was the perfect size for a Tippy snack. He really likes fish.

In which my mom becomes addicted to Bananagrams

2009-06-13T13:04:00.006-04:00

It all started innocently enough. I went over to Madison to spend the weekend with Josh and Kelly and check out all the amazing cheeses and lakes the area has to offer. You can read all about it here because I was too busy eating milk products to blog about it.

Anyway, one night that weekend Kelly busted out the Bananagrams so we could play a game. Considering I've tried to live a Scrabble free life, I was really no competition for Kelly and her ruthless wordsmithing. I liked the game, though, and thought it might be something fun to play with my parents. I'm always trying to find activities for them these days. You know how it is. I don't want them out on the streets all day getting into trouble.

I found the game on sale at Target one day so that sealed the deal. That evening I showed my mom how to play and a Banagrams monster was created. Now we spend part of each evening locked in vicious competition and looking up obscure words (dui, anyone?). We're closely matched so it usually comes down to the last tile or two. I'm also pretty sure I could give Kelly a better run for her money these days. After all, I have a lot of practice.

I try not to contemplate that this is what my life has come to - sitting around all evening playing word games. I try to focus on all the good I'm doing ion the world, like keeping my parents out of gangs.

I should be able to make jam by Monday, right?

2009-05-30T19:49:00.007-04:00

Behold the best garden project ever! Why clutter up your back yard with flowers and other useless plants when you can create a strawberry pyramid? Yep, that's a three part dirt layer cake of 50 strawberry plants. My parents and I spent most of Friday and part of Saturday constructing and planting this beauty, complete with watering nozzle sticking right out of the top. I consider it a beautiful (and practical) piece of minimalist yard art.

The plants are teeny tiny so if we're lucky we'll have strawberries by August. That gives us about 2 weeks of harvesting before the Wisconsin winter sets in. But oh, what a two weeks!

You seem like a soldier who's lost his composure

2009-05-25T17:02:00.006-04:00

Two thoughts occurred to me pretty quickly upon seeing Gomez at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee last night:

1. Why have I not seen these guys in concert before?

2. This might be the only band that I've loved for 10 years, but don't know a single member's name*.

The show was really good (leading to question number one) and they played a set list that sounded like a greatest hits compilation. Three of their first six songs were tunes I've used in mix CDs over the years. It was just about the perfect set for a fan who's loved them for years but never seen them in concert.

So why have I avoided Gomez? I'm not sure. It's not like they've never played a show near me. I can think of two concerts they played in Cincinnati in just the last couple years. I think I just took them for granted. I thought they might be too much of a stoner jam band live and wasn't interested in watching a mob of dreadlocked white people noodle dance all night. Turns out I was wrong.

The show was tight (partly necessitated by a little too much reliance on prerecorded backing beats) and the fans were more like middle class thirty somethings than Phish phreaks. Did I mention the $3 pint cans of PBR? All in all it was a good time, and I vow to catch them again when I get the chance. Hopefully, it won't take another 10 years.

*Wikipedia tells me that the members of Gomez are: Ian Ball, Ben Ottewell, Tom Gray, Paul Blackburn and Olly Peacock. Sorry about that guys!

And what did you do today?

2009-05-24T23:43:00.000-04:00

Tippy caught a mouse (or a vole, the jury's still out on that). He may be old, but he's still got it!

Wilco (the stream)

2009-05-14T23:18:00.003-04:00

Wilco's new album isn't being released until June 30th, but it's being streamed on their website right now, if you're inclined to go check it out. I've listened to about half of it so far. While it seems to have some interesting moments, nothing's blown me away yet.

And as if to prove that my moving to Milwaukee automatically makes it 10% cooler, Wilco also shot their new album cover in The MKE (as I've now dubbed it). You don't see a lot of camels in town, so I'm glad they managed to capture such a rare occurrence.

In other news, I'm heading to Madison this weekend to hang out with Josh and his Lady Bear. I can only hope they have secured sufficient quantities of orange beer fixin's

I saw him scratch a rash and I had to grab an ax

2009-05-05T13:33:00.004-04:00

It was really only a matter of time until all the great artists of our generation made music that captured the wave of swine flu hysteria sweeping the planet. I'm sure Bruce Springsteen's swine flu tribute album will be hitting the record stores any day now, but until then I give you The Streets.

I follow Mike Skinner's Twitter (I know, how very 2009 of me) and he posted a link to his new swine flu song today. It's accompanied by a video featuring all your favorite zombie movie moments. I can't begin to tell you how happy this video makes me. Just remember when Springsteen's album wins all the accolades that The Streets did it first and did it best.

Yellow is the color of my true love's crossbow

2009-04-12T00:02:00.009-04:00

Once again I am heading on a giant road trip across the country, but this one is new and improved - now featuring parents!

What does the addition of parents bring? Well first off, there’s the authentic giant minivan filled with stuff. I’ve managed to carve out a niche for Tippy and me in the back, but that’s about it. I’m pretty sure that five years from now I’ll finally find the stash of ketchup packets I hid somewhere today. Parents also means extra stops for bathroom breaks. If we keep on this pace, I’m confident we will arrive in Milwaukee in time for Halloween, which means we’ll have a couple days before we have to turn around and head back to Tucson for the winter. On the plus side, I’ll have a deep knowledge of every gas station and rest stop West of the Mississippi. Really, it’s fine because what parents really mean is I can type blog posts while they drive, so at least that’s nice.

The iPod has been getting a heavy workout today. So here are a few one sentence reviews of albums I’ve listened to so far. Any of the artists mentioned to feel free to use them as pull quotes on their websites:

The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists - As close to prog rock as I’m comfortable getting yet fun and funky.

Asking for Flowers by Kathleen Edwards - I prefer my Kathleen Edwards with more Bourbon, please.

Changing Horses by Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller goes country and I’m OK with that.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland by Elvis Perkins - I’m really enjoying this new, slightly happier Elvis Perkins.

Almost You: The Songs of Elvis Costello by various artists - This album is an old favorite but Okkervil River's cover of "Riot Act" really stuck out for me today.

Which leads to...

The Stage Names by Okkervil River - I have two albums by this band so it's kind of late for me to name them my new favorite group, but that's what I'm going to do.

We went on a little side trip to the Very Large Array in New Mexico. It's a giant framework (or array) of radio telescopes and it's all very scientific. What's most important to me is it's picturesque. It's like I'm in a science fiction novel!

He forgot his bedside manners

2009-04-07T00:43:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to write about A.C. Newman for the last few days, but I think it's gonna have to wait. He's not that inspiring for me anyway. What I want to talk about today is social networking and etiquette.

Every article I read about this fancy new social network Twitter mentions the correct way one should "tweet." Should you pimp your business? Is it okay to actually post what you're doing when it asks "What are you doing?" My question is, what does it matter?

People can't seem to wait to set down a batch of rules whenever a new form of communication pops up. But isn't part of the fun of the interwebs making up rules as you go along? Sure it's annoying to get Twitter spam, but I really enjoy the diversity of posts from my fellow Twitterers. I get job listings from some, random musings from others and grocery lists from celebrities. If they were all forced to say interesting of informative things or only share links, Twitter would be a lot more boring.

So let's ignore all the advice and just do whatever we want with Twitter. Seriously, it's just 140 characters. How many rules can there possibly be for such a short message?

The one band NPR really wants me to love

2009-03-29T23:26:00.003-04:00

There are many ways to fill your days when you're unemployed. One way that's sort of a tradition in my family is to go for a long walk. It's a good way to eat up an hour or two and it gets you out of the house for free. So every day I go for a long walk in the Arizona sun and listen to podcasts. There's something about hearing stories about other people's lives that keeps your mind off yours.

Two of my favorite podcasts are music related, naturally. Sound Opinions and All Songs Considered provide music news, album reviews and enough constant SXSW updates to fill me with jealousy.

Most of the time, these two podcasts don't agree on much. Sound Opinions, which features two newspaper writers, takes more of a populist stance while All Songs Considered encompasses more of that liberal media elite snobbery that we're so accustomed to on NPR. Both podcasts find common ground on one topic, though. I should be listening to Ponytail.

What's Ponytail, you ask? Well, technically they're an art punk band from Baltimore, but to really understand what they're like, you need to think about Yoko Ono imitating a tiger while people play random instruments in the background. Mostly, it makes me think, "THIS is what you agree on?"

I'm sorry NPR gods, but I can't get behind this band. I'm a lyrics freak and there's a noticeable lack of lyrics in Ponytail's work (unless you count the odd Japanese schoolgirl yelp). I want to be hip, too, but this is where I put my foot down. I'm sure their show at SXSW was killer and it's great that the lead singer is this tiny ball of energy, but I am not going to listen to this music. I'm just not. Does this mean I'm kicked out of the NPR cool kids club?

I think they both agree on the new Decemberists album, too. I can get behind that. Maybe that will keep me in the club.

How not to do community journalism

2009-03-21T15:23:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to post a link to this terrible, terrible story for a while now. I just can't wrap my head around (1) why this is news (2) why ANYONE cares and (3) why each sentence needs its own paragraph. Just read it then consider a world without professional journalists.

Hey everyone, remember Shannon?

2009-03-13T13:17:00.005-04:00

When you are living with your parents, it's the little things that matter. Little things like the weekly showing of Lost that appears every Wednesday to break up the long stretch of days of not getting called about the resumes you sent out. It's 60 minutes (sometimes more) of thoroughly confusing drama that demands you focus on it and not the the strange set of circumstances that led you to this house, in this town with this amazingly large HDTV.

So I've been a little out of sorts this week because Lost was a rerun. To fill the gap, I've spent my time reading the wiki, the recap of last week's episode and just about everything else I can get my hands on. In that spirit, I give you a gallery presenting the 10 Most Worthless Characters on Lost. Oh Television Without Pity, you always know what I need, and it is usually more stuff about Lost. That, or a job.

**********

Today also marks the launch of Kelly's (aka, Ladybear) new blog. It's over there on the right and it's called Here's What's Happening. What is happening, you ask? Well Kelly and her husband Josh (the author of the Lost column I wrote about the other day) just moved to Madison, Wisconsin after years of living in New York City. The whole thing reads like the pilot of a new sitcom. Look for it on the CW this fall.

Yep, we still don't know about the smoke monster

2009-03-08T23:03:00.003-04:00

In the middle of all my travels and job hunting I missed an importnat development. Josh wrote a column about Lost! You can find it here, but I guess you can't talk to anyone about it.

I won't bore you with my theories about the new season (and it seems most of you haven't even seen it yet so it would just be a spoiler) but there are a whole new batch of querstions floating around. I have given up any hope of them being answered, but I would like them to get to the smoke monster at some point. Please? Can we at least answer the smoke monster question? Please?!

Whew!

2009-02-08T23:19:00.004-05:00

OK, I'm about blogged out, but I'm hanging in there to see who wins Album of the Year. I'm 90% sure that it's gonna be Coldplay, but you never know. Until then, I have a few hits and misses:

I can't get over Neil Diamond's terrible rendition of "Sweet Caroline." I'm a Neil Diamond fan from way back but he just talked his way through that song. It was a big yawn.
M.I.A. showed up all the boys during the Rap Pack segment. Here she is ready to have a baby at any moment and not only does she have a crazy/awesome outfit, she was the best performer out there. OK, Jay-Z was a close second.
I thought the Four Tops tribute was really nice. I usually cringe when they bring out the old guys but the whole performance seemed really fun and sweet.
What's up with Green Day wearing suits? Are they all grown up now?

Wow! The old people win again. That was a pretty lukewarm reception for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for album of the year. I guess everyone else was expecting Coldplay, too. Maybe it goes back to my original thought that "Viva La Vida" is a great song but the rest of Coldplay's album is just meh. Now, shut up Robert Plant and let us go home.

Fifteen steps, then a sheer drop

2009-02-08T22:09:00.007-05:00

The Grammys are constantly trying to create special moments. That's the point of all those silly duets. Most of them are cringe inducing or at least laughable. Then Radiohead comes along.

They performed the strangest song of the night, "15 Step" with the USC marching band and rocked the house. That's how it's done, Jonas Brothers. I kind of hope they release an mp3 of their performance so we can all buy it on iTunes. Or maybe we can just pay what we want for it.

She was just 17?

2009-02-08T21:54:00.004-05:00

Have you ever thought how creepy it is that Paul McCartney still sings "I Saw Her Standing There"? The dude is 66 now and he's still singing about 17 year-olds. The song is also slipping out of his range. I know the crowd likes it but maybe he should find a new tune.

I'm also against his dyed hair. Leave a little gray in their. Just For Men has a special product for that now.

A fool could read the signs

2009-02-08T21:44:00.003-05:00

So it looks like the infamous old Grammy voters finally reared their heads by giving Robert Plant and Alison Krauss the Grammy for Record of the Year. It's not a bad song, but it really looked like Coldplay was going to sweep everything tonight.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have to give them props for giving the Best New Artist award to Adele. She's like Amy Winehouse without the crack addiction. She's got a little more Dusty Springfield going on than Amy, and if you don't have her album you should go check it out.

What's my age again?

2009-02-08T21:06:00.004-05:00

Is Blink 182 really getting back together? If they are I'm kind of excited about that. I was just thinking the other day about how all of their solo projects have been pretty terrible and gone nowhere. I'll be interested to see what they can come up with. I'm not sure they can still do songs about getting in trouble with their parents since they're all like 35 now.

----------

I once read a review of Hanson (remember them?) where it was mentioned that they weren't terrible teen pop because there was an underlying musicality to their work. The idea was that young fans would be drawn to their bubblegum pop but then grow into different music as they discovered the band's influences. That's sort of the way I feel about the Jonas Brothers. They're nothing I would listen to, but a young fan might start with them then check out Stevie Wonder or Elvis Costello. They're like gateway rock.

'Cause when you're 15 and someone tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them

2009-02-08T20:52:00.007-05:00

I have to admit that I thought Taylor Swift was another Disney creation. I just read her Wikipedia entry, though, and she seems like someone who really worked her way up the ladder. I have to give her props for that.

What's up with Miley Cyrus' nasal singing? Is that her country voice? I've never heard her sing like that before - not that I hear a lot of Miley Cyrus.

----------

Two more things:

(1) Robert Plant always reminds me of a wet Labrador.

(2) T Bone Burnett is the secret genius of the music business. He has produced an album you love. Seriously, go look it up.

It was 1989 my thoughts were short, my hair was long

2009-02-08T20:33:00.004-05:00

Some more random thoughts from the Grammys so far:

I think we've established that "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is not Duffy's song.
I will give Coldplay props for admitting they ripped off the Sergeant Pepper's outfits, but I think the Paul McCartney shout-out count is already up to 4 and we've just started.
I would perfectly happy if Kid Rock never recorded another song again. Even if it's not really his song like the "Sweet Home Alabama" rip off he does. Also, who let him do a medley? Isn't one song from him enough?

I used to rule the world

2009-02-08T20:21:00.004-05:00

I have to say that Coldplay's new album is growing on me, I was an instant fan of "Viva La Vida" but the other songs were a little too dense for me (by dense read overproduced). I am really warming to "Lost" and I'm a sucker for the remix with Jay-Z. I think it's really become an anthem for me since I got laid off ("just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost.") and I loved the stripped down performance they did tonight.

They need to stop wearing those silly outfits they designed, though.

Liveblogging the Grammys

2009-02-08T20:06:00.007-05:00

I never mean to write about the Grammys. Heck, I never usually mean to watch the Grammys. It is a way for me to catch up on all the Top 40 music I never listen to so I guess it's good. A couple quick things:

I thought when they said U2 would be playing an all new song it would NOT be their single. Thanks guys but I've already heard that song.
Is Jennifer Hudson's win like how Heath Ledger is going to win an Oscar? I haven't heard the album but I'm wondering if there's a pity vote there.
From the quick glimpse we got of Paul McCartney, I'm worried that he might have gone crazy with the hair dye again. We'll have to keep an eye on that,

More to come...

Short days and afternoons spent puttering around in a dark house with the windows painted shut

2009-01-28T11:26:00.005-05:00

It's day two of an ice and snow storm here in The 'Nati, so it's day two of me just hanging around my apartment. Oh I guess there's cleaning I could do, but on days like this I prefer sitting around and drinking tea. The storm is supposed to wind down this afternoon which might give things a chance to clear up before Friday when I have to pick up Jeff at the airport. I hope he had fun in Miami. I'm sure it doens't look like this:

Lip service is all you'll ever get from me

2009-01-23T22:36:00.009-05:00

Kelly tagged me with one of those lists of 25 things about yourself so here it is for your reading pleasure:

1. I've lived in eight states and one foreign country if you county the summers from college I spent at my parents' house. I've actually lived in Texas, Kentucky and Missouri twice each.

2. If you add up the years I spent in Missouri and Kentucky I've lived in those states for nearly 21 years. That doesn't leave much time for all those other places.

3. My cat, Tippy, acts like a dog half the time and a giant baby the other half.

4. I make a conscious effort to not talk about Tippy too much (though I sometimes fail). I don't want to seem like a crazy cat lady, unless I'm talking to my friend Meggan then we geek out about our cats.

5. I refuse to live in Hyde Park because I don't want to be the stereotypical single woman with a cat who lives in Hyde Park. Instead I am the single woman with a cat who lives in Ft. Wright. See how that is completely different?

6. I regularly buy Frosted Flakes under the assumption that if I bought the more adult Corn Flakes I would just put suger on them anyway.

7. I will watch just about any televised sporting event. Often I don't even care who wins.

8. I'm pretty sure I watch more TV than almost anyone else I know. It doesn't bother me. I love my Tivo.

9. My favorite TV show is Lost or maybe 30 Rock.

10. I love to take a nap in the afternoon and do it whenever I can.

11. Now that I am looking for a new career I worry that I won't love anything as much as I love journalism.

12. Every time CNN has a story about new layoffs somewhere, I feel oddly happy. Then I feel bad for feeling happy.

13. I always wanted a Mini Cooper and now that I have one I can't believe how much I love it. I can think of no other car I'd rather have.

14. I worry that I don't listen to enough music. There's so much new stuff out there that I feel like I can't keep up, but I still try.

15. I have a small collection of photos of me kissing statues of Thomas Jefferson.

16. When I was 2 years old, I saw the St. Louis Arch and though it was a McDonalds. What can I say? I was hungry.

17. I read about two books a month, sometimes more if they're short. I've never read an entire romance novel but I am a sucker for chick lit.

18. I'd rather eat gummi worms than chocolate.

19. One of my earliest memories is of me in the kitchen watching my dad cook breakfast while he sang "Jeremiah was a bullfrog..."

20. I'm not a morning person. Never have been.

21. I don't drink a ton of coffee, but I've made a pot almost every morning since I was 13 years old.

22. My mom is pretty sure I'm going to write the great American novel. Instead I give her lists like this.

23. I don't like it when people have secret second plans that they don't tell you about. It's my pet peeve.

24. I hate the word "empowered." It makes me throw up a little every time I hear it. You either give people the ability to control things or you don't. Empowered just means lip service to me.

25. I always bet on number 9 when I play roulette. It has paid off more than once.

I hate to pass these things along, but if Josh and Shawn are so inclined, I would love to see their lists.

The District sleeps alone tonight after the bars turn out their lights

2009-01-15T01:22:00.005-05:00

After being back in Cincinnati for a whole week, I'm packing things up again to head east. This time I'm going to Washington DC for the inauguration. I've been thinking about going since before the election and now that I have so much free time on my hands....

I will probably be doing some Twittering, but I can't promise many blog posts. There are parties to go to and friends to meet. In the meantime I leave you with my very own version of the Obama poster. You can make your own here.

Do you feel inspired yet?

I can't tell you if I applied or not

2009-01-07T23:47:00.006-05:00

There was an ad on the front of the New York Times website for careers in the CIA. Being in need of a job and open to anything, I poked around the site. There were a lot of openings for people with specialized skills, but what struck me the most was this little tidbit:

Important Notice: Friends, family, individuals, or organizations may be interested to learn that you are an applicant for or an employee of the CIA. Their interest, however, may not be benign or in your best interest. You cannot control whom they would tell. We therefore ask you to exercise discretion and good judgment in disclosing your interest in a position with the Agency. You will receive further guidance on this topic as you proceed through your CIA employment processing.

Sounds super secret, doesn't it? I've been reading lots of job listings lately, but nothing quite like that.

I was a good job paid off with bad checks

2009-01-07T15:45:00.008-05:00

You'd think that being unemployed would mean that I can blog more than ever. It probably should, but it hasn't happened yet. I've spent a lot of time looking for jobs and sending our resumes. Oh yeah, I drove the 2,000 miles back to Cincinnati, too.

One of the jobs I applied for asked for a list of my ten favorite albums. Sounds cool, right? It was a fun application, plus it gave me a new blog post. So here is the list I sent. I didn't have a lot of time to think things over, but I think it's pretty reflective of my tastes. So take a look and tell me what I missed:

Revolver - The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s and Abbey Road used to always top lists of best albums of all time, but this one has been popping up more lately. Revolver has been at the top of my list for more than 10 years, though. It is the perfect apex of The Beatles’ work as they left pop behind but weren’t bogged down in psychedelia.

This Year’s Model - Elvis Costello and The Attractions: This album was released in 1978, but it sounds amazingly relevant. Listen to “Lipstick Vogue” and tell me The Killers wouldn’t love to have written that song.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco: It took some getting used to, but behind all the noise and feedback hides a beautiful, emotional album.

Reconstruction Site - The Weakerthans: I found this one at a record store in Indianapolis and a month after I picked it up I bought everything else the band had done. I’m a sucker for great lyrics and this album is full of them.

Fight Songs - Old 97s: Is it country? Is it pop? I don’t care. It’s catchy and I love it.

Howl, Howl, Gaff, Gaff - Shout Out Louds: I’ve really been into Swedish pop lately and this is the album that started it all for me. It’s a little on the sad side but all the funny Swedish pronunciations make up for it.

Alligator - The National: This is the album I put on when I want to drive around town late at night. It automatically makes me feel 10% cooler.

Achtung Baby - U2: Achtung Baby could quite possibly be the perfect album. Just the right mix of fast and slow songs and not one tune I ever feel compelled to skip.

Let My Burden Be - Golden Shoulders: I used to live in the same town at Golden Shoulders frontman Adam Kline so maybe I’m rooting for the home team here. It makes it easier when the home team produces such an honest work of indie pop.

Failer - Kathleen Edwards: This album made the list just recently after I went on a road trip through the Southwest. It is my favorite road trip album on the list, full of stories about a woman and the men who done her wrong.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T16:25:00.003-05:00

Tippy hopes you've had holidays as happy as he has. Also, if you haven't had a chance to just hang out under your Christmas tree, he reminds you that it's not too late.

Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line

2008-12-15T00:04:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to post a quick update and let everyone know I made it safely into Tucson this afternoon. In total, it was just a few miles over 2,000. I saw someone in New Mexico with North Dakota plates and thought, "Now they've come a REALLY long way," but google maps tells me that chances are they didn't drive any longer than I did. So there North Dakota!

I hit my first bad weather just south of town when it started to rain. Otherwise the weather was clear but windy. Sir Ranulph even had a run in with a giant tumbleweed. This is what was left of it when I stopped for gas.

So here's a view of my final destination. I'll post some updates later. In the meantime I hope everyone has a happy holidays.

I saw miles and miles of Texas

2008-12-13T23:17:00.010-05:00

If the Cincinnati band, 500 Miles to Memphis wanted to change their name, I might suggest 1500 Miles to Albuquerque. It's harder to spell, but also true. Today was all about getting some miles done. Tippy and I did 700 of them. I drove and he slept as is our agreement. How's Tippy today? Let's check:

See, he looks much better. He's getting to be an old hand at this.

As I was leaving Oklahoma I saw my first signs of T. Boone Pickens in the form of a bunch of giant windmills. They were oddly beautiful. Now we just need about five billion more of those things to make us energy independent.

My first stop of the day came after four hours of driving. All across I-40 the interstate is littered with signs advertising a free 72 ounce steak. The tiny writing you can't see as you blow by at 80 miles an hour is that it's only free if you eat it all (along with the sides) and you only have an hour. That's the rule that took Tippy out of the running.

Where does this beefy miracle exist? It's at Amarillo's own Big Texan Steak Ranch. I made sure to stop there for lunch for my own (much smaller) steak and to soak up the pure cheesiness of the place. Let's look at some photos:

It's just as crazy on the inside, too, with the obligatory animal heads mounted around the dining room. Alas, no one was going for the 72 ounce challenge so I had to content myself with just my meal and my very friendly server. It wasn't the best steak ever, but you don't really come here for the food. It's all about the big Texas spectacle. Look how they decorated for the holidays:

The rest of the day was just a bunch of driving through some very brown and very flat land. I suddenly remebered why I named the brown hamster I had as a kid, Texas. My only impression of the state as a child was of a vast expanse of browness, just as it looked today.

So after hours and hours of driving we made it south of Albuquerque to the wonderfully named Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (if you want to know how they got the name, read this). That leaves just a few more hours of driving tomorrow to get to Tucson. It's been a fun trip, but I'm ready to put my feet up for a couple days.

Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost

2008-12-12T23:23:00.010-05:00

Whew! After more than 950 miles of driving, I made it to Oklahoma City. I spent last night in St. Louis with my aunt and uncle and headed west again this morning. By late afternoon I had made it to Tulsa and made a short stop to visit with my friend Brandi and her husband Mike (and their cute daughters). As the evening wore on Tippy made it clear that he was tired and it was time to stop (though he never once offered to drive) so I found a hotel in Oklahoma City.

I do have a few shot from the trip so far to share with you. In case you were wondering how Tippy was doing, this is his usual look while in the car:

He'll survive, though. He acts like he doesn't enjoy an adventure, but he does.

On my way to St. Louis, I swung by Collinsville, Illinois to see the World's Largest Catsup Bottle! I don't agree with calling it catsup, but it has always been my favorite condiment and therefore deserving of a special side trip. When I stopped to take a photo I even got a visit from Collinville's finest. I guess the police aren't used to tourists actually visiting their tourism sites. Bask in its glory!

As I crossed into Oklahoma, I was greeted with a welcome sight. You don't see these signs just anywhere:

Why yes, that is a 75 mph speed limit. It almost makes driving through Oklahoma worth it.

I'll be up and early tomorrow so I can make it to Amarillo in time for lunch at a very special place. Can you eat a 72 ounce steak? I know I can't, but I hope someone tomorrow thinks they can.

I got a first in physics so I ought to know if your fries are for here or to go

2008-12-08T09:00:00.002-05:00

Loving journalism is a little like having a pet tiger. Sure it's different and exciting, but in the back of your head you know it's only a matter of time until that sucker bites your arm off. Often it's when you least expect it.

Well, last week I finally got my arm bitten off.

A little more than a month ago, the paper that I've worked at for more than five years announced it was having layoffs. As the weeks passed, names started to come out. I didn't feel entirely safe, but as the deadline got closer I was heartened by the fact that I hadn't heard my name bandied about. Then Tuesday it happened. A call into an office, a few minutes of discussion, a few hugs and a zombie-like drive home. The worst part is I didn't see it coming.

I've spent the last few days taking tons of calls from friends and meeting others for drinks and dinner. It's been nice having such support from my friends and family, but I don't think it's truly sunk in yet. It still feels like I'm just on vacation.

I know I'm not alone in getting laid off. Hundreds of thousands were unemplyed last month and more than 34,000 were laid off along with me last week. Newspapers have been hit particularly hard. There aren't many jobs out there for newspaper photo editors anymore. So it looks like I'm faced with not just finding a new job, but a new career.

I will admit that I find all of this a little exciting (just a little). I've always known that I'd probably have to leave journalism someday. I just didn't think it would be so soon or so sudden. Now I have a little time to figure out what else I can do. Who knows what the future holds?

In the short term, the future holds a road trip. I'm leaving late next week to drive down to see my parents in Tucson for the holidays. It'll be me and Tippy and the open road. I think it's just what I need to clear my head and start figuring out my future. I plan to post updates from the road so check back here to see how the trip is going. In the meantime, drop me a note if you have a job for me!

My Christmas present to you is free

2008-12-07T13:52:00.004-05:00

There's a reason it's free, too, which I'll get to another day. For the meantime, I wanted to spread some holiday cheer. In the past couple weeks I've stumbled upon some fun Christmas music that you can download for free. Did I mention, free?

Anyway, head over to the awesome Swedesplease blog for their Swedish Christmas Mix. There's a link to download the songs in the comments section. If nothing else, get it for the great song "A Christmas Duel" with The Hives and Cyndi Lauper. The mix as a whole is full of melancholy Swedes wishing they were at the beach, but it's a nice change of pace from the regular Christmas tunes.

Speaking of changes of pace, I found this set of holiday songs while trying to find out what song was playing during the new Palm Centro commercials. It turns out Palm is just giving it to everyone, plus a few other tunes. It, too, is free.

So dig that funky Christmas jam and if you feel chatty, let me know what your favorite holiday tune is.

And if a cat can't be a Wiccan, who can?

2008-11-27T16:17:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm heading over to Jeff's in a couple hours to enjoy some turkey and all the other awesome food. I will provide the cranberry salad and apple pie. I did not bake the pie. I'm not good at baking, and I'm lazy.

I can, however, provide some entertainment for all of you. Well, if by "provide" you mean to add a link to something entertaining. One of my favorite writers, Dave Eggers, has an odd but funny little piece in the New York Times today. It's a sort of play presented as a graphic. So click over here and take a few minutes to read. I suggest paying special attention to the cat, Robert Smith. He's probably the wisest character in the play.

By the way, did anyone see Rick Astley in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning? Blew my mind! It also reminded me of this YouTube video that you've all probably seen, but just in case:

Thank you Father Christmas. You got me just what I wanted most - the gift of not being digested by a bear.

2008-11-24T02:42:00.003-05:00

Elvis Costello has been doing a ton of press lately to promote his new show on Sundance all to varying degrees of success. The best moment of all this television exposure, by far, came tonight when he was on "A Colbert Christmas" and got attacked by a bear. It was surreal and hilarious and made up for that terrible interview on "The Today Show." Merry Christmas, Elvis!

Victory!

2008-11-21T12:32:00.003-05:00

I was watching CNN this morning and saw a commercial for the Obama commemorative "victory plate." The ad was just so cheesetastic that I couldn't believe it. Look how happy those kids are to have their very own plate!

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Note: Edited at 5 pm to add the original, more awesome version of the ad.

If I had a million dollars...

2008-11-12T19:59:00.005-05:00

Or even just an extra $1500 lying around, I would love to have spent it on dinner at Per Se last night. As The New York Times tells us, chefs Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz presented a 20 course tasting menu at Keller's New York restaurant for $1500. (Wine included!) It was part of a book release celebration, but mostly it was a chance for two great chefs to show off their skills. Want to see what you missed? Here's the menu:

I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush

2008-11-10T14:14:00.004-05:00

My college roommate used to tell me a story about her best friend who never had a regular hot dog until she was 13 years old. Her mom had always given her turkey dogs and one day she was at my roommate's house and had a beef hot dog. She suddenly realized what an inferior dog she had been eating her whole life. It rocked her world.

The same sort of thing happened to me last weekend in New York. Sure, Jeff ran the marathon and we got to hang out with a bunch of friends, but what really rocked my world was discovering orange beer.

Our lovely Midwest-bred hosts, Josh and Kelly, introduced me to this magical exilir. Fill a glass about one third full with orange juice and top it off the rest of the way with (preferably cheap) beer. Something like Miller Lite or Budweiser works well - Heineken not so much. I tried it yesterday with some Grain Belt beer I had hanging out in the fridge and that was great, too. I'm a big fan of Blue Moon and orange beer is a pretty good substitute and a great way to use up any cheap beer you have around.

So call it a poor man's mimosa or just an excuse to drink before noon and not feel like an alcoholic. Either way I suggest you give it a try. It might be just the kick of vitamin c you need to keep that cold away this winter.

The benefits of leaving in (or near) a swing state

2008-10-21T00:29:00.003-04:00

Cincinnati's own (by way of Brooklyn) The National played a free concert on Fountain Square last Thursday. I snuck away from the office on my dinner break just in time to catch their set. It was a beautiful night and we were surrounded by all the tall buildings downtown. It felt very cosmopolitan. I just wish I could have stuck around and hung out with the band at Rock Bottom afterwards.

I got a bookish look and you're all hot for teacher

2008-10-20T00:08:00.003-04:00

I made a point of watching SNL this week for the first time in years so I could see Sarah Palin's appearance. I thought it was mildly entertaining, but I was really hoping to see Tina Fey and her standing next to each other. They look so freakishly similar, I some time to actually compare them. I had changed the channel by the time Weekend Update came on so I missed Amy Poehler's rap. So here it is, in case you missed it, too.

You were just some silly girl taking in the sights of your empire's colony

2008-10-17T23:43:00.003-04:00

Just in time for election season The Decemberists bring us what we've always wanted - a love song to an exposed spy. The band has a series of singles coming out over the next few months and the first one was released Tuesday featuring the song "Valerie Plame." Yes, the song is about that Valerie Plame. The press release calls it a song from, "the point-of-view of one of Plame's inside contacts upon discovering her true identity, the song is an amorous tribute to the onetime CIA operative." Check it out:

Fear the hearts of men are failing

2008-10-12T18:20:00.004-04:00

Have you heard that the economy's in trouble? I know it's hardly on the news so you might have missed it. What the news tends to say all the time is things are bad. Even the analysis stories don't do a good job of explaining what the hell just happened or what it means. For that, I give you This American Life.

Back in may the NPR radio show did an episode called "The Giant Pool of Money" that did an amazing job explaining the mortgage crisis in terms I could really understand. I've been referring to it constantly as my starting base for everything that's happened in the economy since then. And last week This American Life did an episode called "Another Frightening Show About the Economy" that explains things like the bailout and credit default swaps.

So if you have any interest at all in what's going on in Wall Street or you just want to sound smart in front of your friends, there is no two hours of your life better spent than listening to these podcasts. The first show is archived so you'll have to pay 95 cents for it, but the second show is still free. You can find them in iTunes or here and here. Just think of the 95 cents as your way of helping the economy.

From a young age my two greatest loves were always Jews and Cuban food

2008-10-05T22:24:00.004-04:00

If you were one of the five people out there who missed the Vice Presidential Debate on Thursday, here's Saturday Night Live's take on it. This is pretty much how it went down. Sad, but true.

Writing in the glow of the TV's static

2008-10-01T01:36:00.003-04:00

Things are cooling down here in The 'Nati and fall is definitely in the air tonight, so I figured it was time to write about my next album the depressing and autumnal Figure 8 by Elliot Smith.

Figure 8 is a sad, sad album so I'll love it, right? Well, not exactly. I spent most of my time while I was listening to it trying to figure out why I love sad and British artists but not the sad and American ones. The only theory I could come up with is that the British singers are a little more self deprecating. They may sing sorrowful tunes, but I always get the feeling that it's just a phase. I know that they'll wake up one morning and their world will be better. I like that silver lining of hope.

I can't really find that hope in Elliot Smith's songs. Smith killed himself in 2003 (or his girlfriend killed him depending on which theory you believe) and had battled depression his whole life. He really was a pretty sad guy and the songs reflect that. They are sweet tunes but I'm rarely mellow and/or sad enough to truly appreciate them. I'll stick to the Brits, thank you very much.

And since there's no one else around, we let our hair grow long and forget all we used to know

2008-09-28T22:41:00.018-04:00

Last week I got back from Montreal, the most recent stop in the Sad & British 2008 world tour. I even busted out the panorama function on my new camera to actually take a picture. Most of the other shots were taken by Carrie who was always running around with her camera at the ready.

Carrie got a shot of Jeff, me and Melissa wandering around Old Montreal. Everything was in French but it didn't stop us from successfully ordering wine.

We did a few tourist things to pass the time between bottles of wine. The Notre Dame Basilica was particularly lovely.

Mostly, though, we were on the lookout for picturesque places to drink like this lovely courtyard where we had lunch.

One afternoon we went to Atwater Market which was also picturesque. In fact pretty much everything in Montreal can be described as picturesque.

We picked up a bunch of treats at the market (including more wine) and had a picnic lunch along the canal. That pate that Melissa is digging into is caribou. It had blueberries in it, too.

We also took a little boat trip and as you can see I'm always at work. Carrie got a shot of Jeff and I doing a little photo editing. The excitement never stops with us!

On our last night in town, we got to see James in concert. Carrie, being the multimedia journalist that she is even got some video of that. If you look closely at the beginning, you can see Jeff and me bouncing around.

So that's the nickel tour of Montreal. The next stop on the world tour is New York at the end of October for Jeff's New York Marathon run. I'm proud to announce that he has successfully raised the $2,500 he needed for charity, so we'll all be out there to cheer for him.

MidPoint Countdown

2008-09-25T01:16:00.004-04:00

The MidPoint Music Festival kicks off tomorrow night and I think I have my bands picked out for the weekend. If you're looking for some suggestions I can help you out.

Thursday night check out Coltrane Motion and The Turnbull AC's at the Inner Peace Holistic Center (708 Walnut) at 10 and 11 pm. Coltrane Motion is one of my favorite things about MidPoint every year and even though The Turnbull AC's are a local band, I've never seen them. I've heard nothing but good things, though, so I'm really looking forward to it.

At midnight on Thursday there's a dance set at the Lodge Bar (35 E. 7th) with Ruckus Roboticus. It's gonna be fun.

I'll be working at MidPoint Friday so I won't get to see much, but I can recommend Otter Petter (9:30 at Below Zero, 1122 Walnut) and Pomegranates (midnight at Blue Wisp, 318 E. 8th). They're both pop influenced indie bands.

If you have a three day wristband go see The Mocks at the Aronoff on Saturday (9 pm, 650 Walnut). They're from Mexico and have kind of a shoegaze sound but it would be a chill way to slip into the evening.

What I'm really looking forward to on Saturday are the bands at the Lodge Bar. Ha Ha Tonka plays at 10 with Backyard Tire Fire at 11. They both have an alt-country sound, but they're not afraid to rock. Ha Ha Tonka has great live harmonies, too.

So that's what I have so far. You can go here for a full schedule and links to bands' web sites so you can check out their music. Even if you have just one night, try to get out this weekend for some live music. Trust me, it'll be fun.

We all knew it was coming

2008-09-14T14:28:00.003-04:00

Finally! Everyone I know has been waiting for Tina Fey to play Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. Is it strange that she seems more like Palin than the real Palin does? I wonder if she's been working on that accent since McCain first introduced her.

Heard they'd do anything for a Klondike

2008-09-13T20:01:00.004-04:00

So I threw some stuff together from my trip to Vegas and made a video. It's not as great as puppies playing in the grass, but it can waste one and a half minutes of your life - if that's what you're into.

Gotta whole lot of money that's ready to burn so get those stakes up higher

2008-09-13T03:57:00.002-04:00

So I'm back from Vegas and have a week before heading north to Montreal. Yes folks, Sad & British takes you around the world! (That last part should be said with the enthusiasm of a '50s TV announcer.)

I'm hoping to get all multimedia on you tomorrow and post some stuff from Vegas before I leave again. So watch this space!

Life springs eternal on a gaudy neon street

2008-08-28T20:55:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post here. I'm heading out to Las Vegas for a few days in early September and I need some suggestions on stuff to do or places to eat. I haven't been to Vegas since I was six and all I remember from that trip is touring Hoover Dam.

Since I'm going to be at a conference I don't know how much time I'll have to get out and do stuff, but it never hurts to have suggestions. Hit me!

For a hefty fee I'm on your record like Bob Costas

2008-08-23T23:38:00.009-04:00

Oh Olympics, what will I ever do without you? Soon I will be back to watching "What Not To Wear" on my Tivo late at night instead of something awesome like the men's open water swim. (How do they eat and swim at the same time?) Besides, I was just starting to figure out the rules for field hockey.

So in tribute to my two weeks of sitting on the couch and not working out as I watched other people work out really hard, I give you my take on the Olympics:

I don't get the point of the showers the divers use when they're done. They're just going to jump right back into the water, right? The hot tubs I can get behind, though. If I were a diver, I would spend all my time there, preferably with a piña colada. That might make it easier to jump off the platform anyway.

Speaking of diving, thank god there's still one sport left where the men still wear those little speedos. Too bad all the divers were gay or 15 years old.

My award for best uniforms goes to men's field hockey. They're a little retro but I love the sleeveless shirts. Tight shirts and pulled up socks? Classy!

My award for the worst uniforms goes to the Australian women's basketball team. Running around for an hour wearing a skin tight leotard type basketball uniform does not sound like fun. It actually sounds like a good way to get a rash.

Did you know there was a boxer from Ghana named Prince Octopus Dzanie? The first time I saw him on my TV, I thought I was losing my mind. Who would name their kid that? Still, I have to give the best athlete name award to Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband. It's just so much fun to say!

I loved watching water polo, handball and (regular) volleyball. It's too bad we won't be seeing those on the TV for another four years.

BMX was awesome, too. I'm just bummed that NBC devoted about 15 minutes to covering it. I think it will garner more attention in the next Olympics.

Let's take a moment to think about the next Olympics. I can't wait for 2012. Sad & British covers the London Olympics? The possibilities are endless. The chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympics is Sebastian Coe, who also won the gold in the 1500 meters race in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. Why do I mention this? Because I once bought a globe for his daughter. It's a long story that I'm sure I'll share with you in 2012, but I swear I did.

Any sport that requires judges to constantly watch you to make sure you're doing it right is NOT a sport. Yes, I'm looking at you, race walking.

Did you see this Cuban taekwondo guy kick the ref? It was terrible sportsmanship, but I can't stop watching it.

I don't care what people say, I love Bob Costas. Always have, always will.

Don't touch me 'cause I'm on the dancefloor

2008-08-17T16:35:00.006-04:00

It's quickly approaching that time of year again, people - MidPoint Music Festival is next month. It's also known around these parts as Eileen's high holy days (and I take off work accordingly).

Citybeat is running MidPoint this year and it will feature some bigger bands and venues outside Over-The-Rhine. Robert Pollard and the Mates of State will be at The Southgate House and other bands will be at venues downtown. I don't know if they're planning on it, but I think it would be awesome to have a stage on Fountain Square.

Oh and Jeff, Coltrane Motion will be back again this year.

Anyway, I'm telling you all of these things because MidPoint runs on volunteers. It's really a fun time and you'll get free admission to the festival. If you're lucky, you might even get to work at the same venue as me! So go here and sign up to volunteer. I guarantee it will be worth it.

Found it!

2008-08-14T18:12:00.003-04:00

Here's the commercial I was talking about a few days ago. You know, the one featuring "The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists.

Oops, I did it again

2008-08-12T17:55:00.003-04:00

In an effort to not try to copy everything they do over there at the wine me, dine me blog, I've changed my template yet again. Maybe, like Goldilocks, this one will be just right.

Happy Birthday, Sir Ranulph!

2008-08-12T12:43:00.013-04:00

I'm a couple of days late, but August 9th marked one year since I brought home my beloved Mini Cooper. It's been 12,600 miles of fun and, aside from the odd scratch, nary a problem. Mini even sent me a cute little birthday email.

What they don't know is we've already made it to Graceland. I guess we'll have to come up with another road trip destination.

All under the boughs unbowed

2008-08-10T19:27:00.004-04:00

I've watched a TON of Olympics coverage this weekend. Seriously, I've seen swimming, water polo, boxing, fencing, beach volleyball, diving, weightlifting, rowing and gymnastics. It's been a nice way to spend the weekend actually, and I finally got around to cleaning my apartment some, too.

I've also liked some of the new commercials that have debuted during the coverage. I will admit to being a huge sucker for the new Nike commercial featuring The Killers' song "All These Things That I've Done." In case you missed it, here it is:

There's an AT&T commercial that's been bugging me all weekend. I can't find it on YouTube, but it showed different fans watching the Olympics on TV and reacting. It had been driving me crazy all weekend because the song on it sounded so familiar. Finally, with a lot of Googling and a guess that it was The Decemberists, I was able to figure out that the song on the commercial is "The Crane Wife 3" by the aforementioned band. I can't tell you how relieved I am to get to the bottom of this. Not being able to place a song is almost as annoying to me as having a song stuck in my head. I'll finally be able to sleep tonight! OK, it's not that bad, but I do feel better.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-08-09T23:11:00.001-04:00

So how about this template instead? I felt like the other one was maybe too boring, plus I love orange. What do you think?

I have acted the idiot more than once

2008-08-08T22:20:00.005-04:00

Man, I LOVE the Olympics. I'll usually watch about any sporting event on TV, so the Olympics are three weeks of sports goodness. It's also a chance to watch all those strange sports you usually never see on ESPN - handball, badminton, field hockey, water polo, etc. Did I mention I love it?

It's also a nice way to pass the time until football season starts. I'm just saying...

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As the countries march into the stadium during the opening ceremonies, I thought I'd update everyone on some of the new music I've been listening to lately.

Black Kids - I just got the new album from this group and I'm loving their song "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You." They're from Jacksonville, Florida but they definitely have a British sound to them. You can hear The Cure, Jarvis Cocker and The Go! Team in their music.

Conor Oberst - You may know him as Bright Eyes, but Conor released a new album under his own name just this week. It's kind of loose and jammy and it feels like Conor has relaxed just a little. May he'll cheer up some, too. I hope not too much, though. There's a short little tune on the album called "NYC-Gone, Gone" that I really like.

Girl Talk - Their (or really his, it's just one guy) new album, Feed The Animals, is track after relentless track of crazy mash-up tunes. It's big summer fun, and if you go to the Girl Talk website you can pay what you want for it. So go ahead and get it now.

Frightened Rabbit - If you've gotten one of my mix CDs lately, you might recognize that this isn't a new band for me. Their new album, The Midnight Organ Fight, is pretty great, though. It might at the most depressing thing you can handle in the summer. Just a warning. They're sad, Scottish and oddly funny.

Heart-Sick Groans - I found out about this group from the wonderful Swedesplease blog that you can find over there on your right. They're another of the recent batch of great Swedish bands like my favorite, The Shout Out Louds. You can't buy their album in the U.S. but you can download a few tunes from their MySpace page for free.

Tobias Froberg - Another great Swede who you should check out if you like Peter Bjorn and John. "Slipping Under The Radar" is quickly becoming my song of the summer. You can get his album on eMusic if you're so inclined.

So that's what I'm listening to this summer. Is there anything else I should be checking out? Let me know!

This is what you get when you mess with us

2008-08-06T18:22:00.006-04:00

I'm back from my Indianapolis concertacular weekend and I have many thoughts. The chief among them is why is Radiohead so popular?

I mean Radiohead has been at the top of my list of bands to see in concert for a couple years now, and I was excited to see them in Indy on Sunday. It was just strange to see about 10,000 other people just as (if not more) excited. They would play a couple discordant notes that barely sounded like anything and the crowd would go nuts like they'd played the opening slide guitar part to "Freebird." I love Radiohead, but they don't seem very rock an roll, you know? Someboday didn't tell this crowd.

About halfway through the show, I realized that Radiohead play the sort of music that the teenagers of the future listened to in '80s apocolypse movies. It's exactly the sort of stuff gutter punks would have blaring in the headphones (or ear implants or whatever) as they assaulted the fine citizens of a big city in the year 2030. It made me want to buy some parachute pants and get a barcode tattoo.

--------------------

This is all in contrast to Monday's Wilco concert. Wilco is a band that by all accounts should be mch more popular than Radiohead. They have a core of very approachable pop melodies surrounded in several layers of feedback and noise to give it that indie cred that the kids seem to like. However, there were nowhere near 10,000 fans at the Wilco show.

Wilco played at White River State Park just outside downtown Indianapolis. Jeff and I been through there earlier in the day on a Segway tour (yes, I just said Segway tour) and it was a lovely venue. Everyone in the city seems really proud of it, too.

The Wilco crowd was as devoted and knowledgeable as Radiohead's but they seemed less inclined to rock. Lead singer, Jeff Tweedy, even had to give everyone permission to dance like the way you might tell a dying relative it's okay to go to the light. I really think Radiohead wouldn't have minded if everyone had just swayed back and forth, while Wilco would have really liked a mosh pit. They should have swapped crowds.

I've seen Wilco a ton of times and at this point it's like catching up with an old friend. We laugh, we have fun and we know we'll see each other again soon.

So now I need a new band that I've always wanted to see in concert. That list is thinning in my old age, so I think my new number one is The Weakerthans. Yes, they did just play in backyard in March, but I, alas, was thousands of miles away.

I would wait for you to arrive with kibble and a box full of beer

2008-07-27T23:40:00.004-04:00

I got a new sofa at the beginning of the month, but I'm just now getting time to really enjoy it. It's awesome for naps, even when you didn't really plan on one. Tippy enjoys demonstrating his napping technique on it, too.

My mum says I look like Yul Brynner - too old for Hamlet, too young for Lear

2008-07-26T23:39:00.013-04:00

I finished my summer mix CD last month and most of the five of you who read this blog have copies. I have a few extras, though, so if you'd like your very own copy, just send your address to sadandbritish at gmail dot com and one will be on its way. For free! I haven't heard many reviews yet, but its full of tunes you might enjoy.

The photo above is the lovely cover image. It was taken by Meggan's husband Jeff (not to be confused with Cincinnati Jeff) when we down in Mobile. It was actually at the Flora-Bama Lounge - the home of many beers in a can. The Orjag story is kind of long on not as funny as it maybe should be so I won't explain. You should, however, check out Meggan and Jeff's website. They take lovely photos. At least that's my professional opinion.

I couldn't drink enough to make this make sense

2008-07-24T19:46:00.006-04:00

Hey guys! Do you like the new template? I think now that I'm over 30, I require a more refined blog template. None of those childish colors for me. Ha! Actually, I finally upgraded to the new Blogger template and for some reason the colors didn't drop all the way down on the new version of my old template. I'm taking an online HTML class, but I haven't gotten far enough to fix something like that yet so I just picked a new one.

I though in honor of the new template, I might actually review an album like I used to on the old one. I know, it's crazy!

Today's album is a great one, though. Fight Songs by the Old 97s is one of my all-time favorites. It's got great country pop, wistful lyrics and it reminds me of a specific time and place. Amazon says the album was released in 1999, but I'm pretty sure I didn't buy it until 2000 after hearing "Murder (Or A Heart Attack)" on the music station I used to listen to on my TV.

Soon after, though, the CD was a near permanent fixture in my car. When I listen to it now, it sounds like the soundtrack to my life in California. There are songs about friends, love, loneliness, drinking, road trips and even one that I'm pretty sure is about a cat. I guess it could be a soundtrack for any single girl in her 20s then, huh?

What matters is that I still like it these days. I'm sure nostalgia has something to do with it, but it's also just a good album. You can get it for 8 bucks from Amazon so if you're a fan of alt country or power pop, pick it up. It's an amazing mixture of both.

Marriage is when we admit are parents were right

2008-07-23T19:57:00.008-04:00

So another birthday has come and gone, this one not being nearly as big as the blast I had in San Francisco last year. Alas, it's hard to get people excited about 31.

I did buy a new camera for my birthday and it is already very good at taking pictures of Tippy. See?

Hmm, let's see... What else happened? Oh yeah, Josh got married! Here's a photo from the next morning when they graciously supplied us with coffee and pastries as we took our hung over butts home. What to see more pix from the actual festivities? They can be found here (along with photos of a really big fish). Seriously, though, it was an awesome wedding and a rockin' reception. We barely even noticed the storm that blew through. You guys should get married every year!

Another travelin' photo

2008-06-18T21:08:00.003-04:00

Here's a shot from my recent travels to the south. I just remembered I had it in my camera. After our night out in New Orleans, we went out for beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde. It was like having funnel cakes for breakfast, which was perfect.

What do you think? Does Jeff have a future as a hand model?

Running down a dream

2008-06-18T15:27:00.002-04:00

I have excellent news and a plea. First, the excellent news: Jeff (yes, the Jeff of so many adventures from this blog) is going to run the New York City Marathon! We went to New York last year just to watch it and I've been bugging him ever since to run it himself. I'm super excited to be able to go out there and cheer him on. My friend Nancy will be running, too, so I'm not sure I'll have any energy left to cheer for Lance Armstrong. Sorry, Lance.

And now my plea. In order to get a spot in the marathon, Jeff has to raise money for charity. He'll be running for the Tourette Syndrome Association and he needs to raise $2,500. Jeff and I both know people affected by Tourettes and it's not just a punchline for jokes. So if you can spare a few dollars, go here and make a donation. It will go to a worthwhile charity while giving Jeff a chance to run a world-class marathon. Those Kenyans better watch out!

I'm all photo'd up

2008-06-04T21:08:00.003-04:00

I've been out of the office for almost two weeks, but it's time to head back tomorrow. There was the trip to 'Bama and then I was at a photo editing workshop in Indiana. I know, sounds awesome, right?

Our trip to Mobile and New Orleans was professionally photographed by Jeff Haller but I don't have the photos yet. I promise they're great and I'll share some when I actually get them. I know Jeff has a real job and all so I'm willing to wait.

To keep you entertained in the meantime, I've provided a link to a story that I've been telling everyone to look at for the past few months. It's much easier to have them watch it if there's just a link, though, so here it is:

Now you must watch it. It may change your life.

I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow

2008-05-23T15:26:00.002-04:00

So, it's a three day weekend you say? Surely Eileen and Jeff aren't going to be hanging around at home, right? Well you are correct! In just a few hours Jeff and I are heading south, south, south to the great state of Alabama.

You may remember Meggan from such episodes as "St. Patrick's Day, 2007" amd "50 Things to do with you iPod." Well, she's married now and she and Jeff (her husband, not Jeff my traveling companion. It gets confusing.) live in Mobile. So we're heading down to take in all the Dirty South has to offer. If I'm on my game, there will be photos and stories. Regardless, it is sure to awesome.

That looks familiar

2008-05-05T00:03:00.002-04:00

So Jeff and I were watching "Lost" Thursday night (as we do) and I was flipping through the commercials on my Tivo (as I do) when something caught my eye. It was a giant wooden ice cream cone. It looked oddly familiar so I rewound and watched the whole thing. Turns out the commercial (for Sony) was shot in my old stomping grounds of Nevada City!

Now commercials aren't anything new around there, they filmed several when I lived in the area, but often it was made to look like some place else. You usually had to really look for stuff to recognize places. This commercial is more obvious. Also, there are a whole series of them filmed in Nevada City and Grass Valley and I saw a different one tonight. I guess I'll have to be more careful with my fast forwarding in the future. If you want to see one without all the tv watching, though, here you go.

"What is your destiny?" the policewoman said

2008-04-30T20:59:00.002-04:00

In exactly one week, Jeff and I will be in Louisville enjoying the dulcet tones of Elvis Costello in concert. Even better is that I have the entire day off so it's a vacation AND a concert!

So much has been going on besides waiting for Mr. Costello to appear. Jeff and I spent Sunday in Sir Ranulph driving in a road rally on the west side. It's sort of like a scavenger hunt while you drive a set route. Did I mention we won? Because we did!

Then this Sunday is the Flying Pig Marathon which Jeff is running (again). I'll do my part by helping him carb load and Saturday night then waking up early on Sunday to cheer him on. Mostly I'm in it for the pasta.

I never knew the charm of spring

2008-04-24T15:12:00.002-04:00

I can't tell you how happy I am that the sun is out and the flowers are blooming. I get to open the sunroof on Sir Ranulph again, too. Ahh, spring...

Have you ever wondered what my desk at work looks like?

2008-04-16T21:20:00.004-04:00

Well, now you'll get to see! I have to learn iMovie for a conference I'm going to so I made a little project tonight using video I shot at my desk and a bunch of photos that were still on my camera. It's far from polished, but at least it didn't take me very long. I also think you'll enjoy the creepy Billy Bragg soundtrack.

Oh, I miss you, Flatiron Lounge!

2008-04-11T21:25:00.003-04:00

There was a cool story in the New York Times this week about great bars for great martinis. They, too, bemoan the "tini" tag that has been slapped on everything these days. I love the Flatiron Lounge and Pegu Club so it looks like Death & Company might be on my list next time I make it to the big city.

Now I'm not one to sit and spin because living well's the best revenge

2008-04-10T20:32:00.003-04:00

I apologize for the long absence. There was work to be done and cats that just had to sit on my lap. I know, I know, I'm just spread too thin. Also, my laptop crapped out and for some reason I now find it impossible to actually sit at a desktop computer and work (unless I'm actually at work).

I actually think the biggest reason for not writing is that I'm starting to believe it's actually 1994 and no one had heard of blogs in 1994. Why 1994? Well, in the last couple of weeks I've purchased new albums by R.E.M. and Counting Crows. Meanwhile, Jeff has ordered the new James album and can't wait for the new release from Portishead. It's like high school (or for Jeff, college) all over again!

Want some short reviews on my new purchases? I knew you did!

R.E.M. - Really good but I'm sure it's great. I think people are just happy that they no longer suck. I'll give it a few more listens before a final verdict, though.

Counting Crows - I miss old drugged up and crazy Adam Duritz. He's doing all these interviews about how calm he is these days and that never makes good music. I want more emotion and less adult alternative easy listening.

Billy Bragg - Oh yes, he has a new album, too. The first word that comes to mind is overproduced. But I am also missing young and crazy Billy. He's sounding awful middle aged these days.

O.K., so I'm back on the bus. Photos, music and all those things that you can get on the interweb in 2008 are soon to follow.