from In The Days... to Inbetweener

Day 903, Session 148:
When/Where: Tuesday December 16th - Music to shovel snow by.
First song: In The Days Of The Caveman by Crash Test Dummies
Last full song: Inbetweener by Sleeper
Progress: 2090-2103 of 6082
Total Songs Heard: 1927

There's a reason the tag i got nothin' exists. Good songs today, but nothing that jarred loose a particularly strong sentiment to write on.

I heard this particular group while shoveling the first substantial snowfall of the season. It was the perfect snow. About 5 inches of dry light powder. It brushed easily off the car and really wasn't much of a big deal to shovel. It probably took me all of 15 minutes to shovel. Sure it wouldn't have made very good snowballs, but it was exactly the sort of snow that is wonderful to look at assuming you don't hate everything winter. We're supposed to be getting the first 'big one' of the season tonight from the same storm that left 3 inches of snow in Vegas (hope the snow's still there when I get to Vegas next week.)

I like snowfall because it means I finally get to be a contributing member of our "condo association." It gets quotes because there's only three units in our association, so all of the grounds maintenance is the responsibility of everyone who lives here. The upstairs neighbors do all of the planting and gardening, the back yard neighbor did most of the lawn mowing, and I generally avoid outside all spring/summer/fall so I don't feel guilty seeing them work. Once winter rolls around it's a different story! I like the cold! I like shoveling! I contribute!

The bad news: despite the ease with which the shoveling went, I woke up the next morning to the unpleasant surprise of a sore lower back. Like, really sore. Sore to the point where I actually broke out the heating pad to try to get the damned thing to loosen up. I am 1000 years old. (<-- hidden song lyric.) So yeah, I've got nothing here, outside of the standard "my body is breaking down at an alarming rate" complaints. Instead of dragging us both through my lack of creative process I instead leave you with this flashback to 1995. If you were around college age and listened to the station in your town that was called "The Edge" or "The X" surely you'll be magically transported. If you're like me, you'll also wonder... Whatever happened to Spacehog?

In The Meantime - Spacehog

from In A Future Age to In the Curve

Day 895, Session 147:
When/Where: Monday December 8th - Hanging around the house
First song: In A Future Age by Wilco
Last full song: In the Curve by The Avett Brothers
Progress: 2053-2072 of 6037
Total Songs Heard: 1913

Haven't deleted anything in a while, so let's do that now. Goodbye, In Deux Time by Deux Process. I just couldn't get over their constant pronunciation of the world deux like it was the word dew. It was one of those iTunes free singles of the week, so it's not like I had any real attachment to the thing.

The Wife has recently given up the coaching of the basketball dance team at her high school to concentrate full-time (well, you know, full-time after her day full of teaching) on the school flag team. For those of you who weren't nerds in high school and thus didn't spend much time around the marching band, in the fall, the flag team performs with the band at football games, but apparently in the winter, the flag team performs on their own at competitions. (I would like to note here that The Wife's school didn't even have a winter flag team until last year when she started the program by volunteering to coach it. The Wife is pretty awesome.)

Since there's no band playing with the winter team, they have to choose a piece of music to perform with. Monday night The Wife asked if I had any suggestions for songs they could use. Asking me for a musical suggestion is no simple feat. What I'm sure she was hoping would be a 10-minute conversation became a 2-hour effort to find the perfect song.

There were 2 primary criteria, the song had to be 3-4 minutes long and not too slow, and one secondary, it helped if the song told a story. Here was my tertiary criteria, the song should be pretty awesome.

After much deliberation, here are the two suggestions I came up with:
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
When I heard this song earlier in the day I just took note of how much I love it. When the flag team discussion came up I immediately thought of it. It's fast AND I'm pretty sure it's in 6/8 time. How many other flag teams are going to be performing in 6/8? Musically it's a great jumble of buzzing bass, trumpet, AND people playing SAWS! It tells an interpretive version of the journey of life. It weighs in nicely at 3:22.

Underground - Ben Folds Five
Tempo-rific, plus there are shifts that could be used to break up different sections of the routine. The song itself is about the alienation of high school and finding a place where that alienated feeling goes away. What could be more perfect for a high school flag team?!? Just slightly long at 4:11, but the last 15 seconds or so are vampy piano bits which could be faded on.

Here is what the girls decided to go with:
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
Don't get me wrong, I love Billy Joel and while this particular song isn't a favorite of mine, it did help him score Christy Brinkley, so it can't be all bad. But really? This is the song they wanted to go with over the other two? Bah, kids today! I just don't understand them. (Confession time: Part of the reason this picks disturbs me is because I think high schoolers today would pick this song because they find it campy and amusing. Granted, this particular song probably is, but campy and amusing aren't two words I use to describe Billy Joel in general. I fear Billy Joel is to kids today what my enjoyment of say, ELO or Styx is to me. Yeah, I like them, but I kind of view them as relics of a bygone era (as opposed to say The Beatles whose music is timeless.) Just another sign of how out of touch I am with the young.)

There's a chance I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so. Please consider all three songs and vote for which one would be best for a high school flag routine. If you've got something that will work even better, leave it in the comments.

In The Curve from The Avett Brothers was also in the ears today. This is currently my favorite sing-along-with-really-loudly-every-time-I-hear-it song. It's one of those songs that makes me think, "If I could just figure out how to play guitar, I could actually perform this one." It also speaks to the self destructive streak that runs through me. Sure I haven't finished a bottle of bourbon and then gone out for a drive, but I have finished a bottle of bourbon, which is a terrible idea by itself. I do stupid things. I make bad decisions (*cough*quitting my job with nothing else lined up*cough*) but I will walk away. Sure, right now it feels like I've been hitchhiking along the road forever, but I'm sure I'll make it Concord. Hope to see you there.

And now for something not quite completely different

I've been a Matthew Sweet fan since his 1991 cd "Girlfriend." The title track still has one of my favorite song openings ever. So when the opportunity came along to take a listen to the new Matthew Sweet release "Sunshine Lies" I thought I'd take it.

"Sunshine Lies" features all the goodness you'd expect from a Matthew Sweet effort. The layered vocals, slide guitar and cool pop are all present. His voice is just as distinctive now as it was in 1991.

Now pardon me for a moment while I realize that 1991 was literally half a lifetime ago....

To self: Actually it was more than half a life ago, not only are you old, but your math is apparently failing you. Sweet jeebus.

This is the thought that was going through my head as I listened to the opening track Time Machine. Yes the title contributed to the realization of how much time had passed, but the other thought that popped was, "This sounds like something that I would have enjoyed back then." Which isn't to say "Sunshine Lies" sounds dated... for me "Girlfriend" still stands up. "Sunshine Lies" stands up with it, but they're also not the same. "Sunshine Lies" has a harder edge to it. Of course I also have a harder edge now at 32 than I did at 15, so I suppose it makes sense.

My favorite songs are the first (Time Machine) and last (Back Of My Mind, the closest to a classic Matthew Sweet style ballad on this cd.) The moral of the story is if you like Matthew Sweet, you'll like "Sunshine Lies."

Edited the next day to add: The more I've thought about this, the more I think this is more applicable: If you love "Girlfriend" and "100% Fun" you'll probably like "Sunshine Lies" but you'll miss the slower stuff. If you liked "Altered Beast" you'll enjoy "Sunshine Lies."

"Sunshine Lies" was released 8/26 is is currently available in stores, or online at all the usual places (like Amazon.) A special edition 2-LP release (complete with bonus tracks) is also available.

With an new album also comes a tour:
10/20 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
10/22 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
10/23 Chicago, IL – Park West
10/24 Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls
10/25 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
10/27 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10/28 NY, NY – Webster Hall
10/29 Falls Church, VA – State Theatre
10/30 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse

Time Machine - Matthew Sweet
Daisychain - Matthew Sweet (audio stream)
Byrdgirl - Matthew Sweet (video stream)

from How Do You Sleep to How Nothing Feels

Day 685, Session 126:
When/Where: Monday May 5th - Running to the post office and back.
First song: How Do You Sleep? by The Magnificent Bastards
Last full song: How Nothing Feels by The Promise Ring
Progress: 2030-2035 of 5908
Total Songs Heard: 1619

Oh those Magnificent Bastards. How Do You Sleep? they ask. How do I sleep?

When I was a kid I slept on my stomach. My right arm was away from my body and bent at the elbow so that head would have been lying on my right hand except for the pillow in between. My face always turned right. My left arm stayed in close to my body. Every night was the same. As a kid sleeping on my back was out of the question, I couldn't grasp how anyone could do it. One of the side benefits to sleeping this way was whenever I slept on the floor (at sleepovers for example) my right arm would end up completely numb. When I woke up with a numb arm and tried to move it, it always felt like the arm had pushed through the floor into the ceiling of the room below. It was cool feeling.

As I hit my teens I added sleeping on my side to my repertoire. This was made necessary by the awesome family legacy of sinus fun. Sleeping became a balancing act... too much time spent turned on one side meant that nostril was no longer good for breathing and it was time to turn to the other side so that all the head gunk could slide over. If I didn't fall asleep by the time the sliding was complete, it was time to roll back over and try again.

The other reason sleeping on the side became a necessary option around this time... sleeping with other people. Seeing as how most initial forays into this exciting new world took place on a twin sized bed, sleeping side by side was the only practical choice. Side sleeping still leads to an arm usually ending up under my pillow. Years from now I'm going to have circulation problems in my arms and I'm going to have to confess that I've spent about 1/3 of my life cutting off the blood to my arm. But hey, who needs arms right?

Eventually I did learn to sleep on my back, and with it, much to The Wife's amusement has come the snoring. I hate the fact that I snore. I see it as another in the ever growing list of symptoms that point to oldness. For a while I told The Wife that she must be imagining things, but then one night as I was drifting off to sleep I was awoken by the most awful sound. Yep, it was me snoring.

Currently, I don't sleep very well. Lots of nights with way too much time between when I get in bed and when I actually fall asleep. If I don't fall asleep within 5 minutes of hitting the pillow I know something isn't right. Two nights ago it took me 90 minutes. Stupid brain.

So how do you sleep?

ETA: The previous poll asking which was the hotter Sandy in Grease (good girl or bad girl) ended up being decided by Mike's vote for "ha ha you watch musicals" (he was going to vote for bad girl.) Good girl Sandy was victorious 3 to 2 (bad girl) to 1 (ha ha.) That reminds me of the time I voted for the third party candidate in the 8th grade elections and Rami Dakko ended up beating Kim Donahue by one vote.

from Hidden Place to High Council Meeting

Day 653, Session 120:
When/Where: Thursday April 3rd - Running around the neighborhood, again.
First song: Hidden Place by Bjork
Last full song: High Council Meeting by John Williams
Progress: 1921-1926 of 5833
Total Songs Heard: 1536

Here is what I forgot about running (or really exercise in general:) the next day's soreness. It wasn't awful, but I did notice it any time I was going down stairs and by notice it, I mean I was saying "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" every time stairs happened.

This run went faster, but it seemed harder. I covered the same distance in less time but the third running portion of my run walk alternating was aborted early. I realize I'm just starting out here, but I'm still waiting for the part where the actual running makes me feel good instead of shitty. I know the last entry said I was pleased with how things went, but I just meant I'm glad I didn't die, and I'm glad I didn't immediately notice a body part straining or breaking. As far as why someone would enjoy running... I still don't get it. I've heard about that thing called a runner's high but I'm pretty sure that's only for people that are going real distances for an extended period, so what is the point for short distance pavement pounders?

I also noticed today that when the running is harder, I hardly hear the music. I know 6 songs played while I was out today, but I hardly remember hearing them. It seems I heard both James Blunt's High and Travis' High As A Kite, so one of those seems like a good idea to apply to today. I'm just not sure if I'll find the high that runner's get, or if I may as well be high (as a kite) for even attempting this experiment. (I sure seem ready to give up quick, eh?)

High As A Kite - Travis

One more thing about this day. I realized as I was running that when I threw a date on this session it was going to be the 16th anniversary of this story. That was 16 years ago. I was 16 at the time. That officially took place half a lifetime ago. Fuck that makes me feel old. Older than sucking wind after a mile run/walk.

from Grey Ice Water to Gypsy In The Mood

Day 594, Session 109:
When/Where: Monday February 4th - Sitting around the house trying to figure out how there can be a thunderstorm at the beginning of February and whether that's a metaphor for something grander.
First song: Grey Ice Water by Modest Mouse
Last full song: Gypsy In The Mood by The Jayhawks
Progress: 1709-1733 of 5700 (one skipped podcast)
Total Songs Heard: 1385

Grim Heart/Black Rose by Converge has been deleted. It was from a 2006 mixtape from some trendy music site. Obviously I do not have trendy taste in music.

One thing today: A Bruce Springsteen performance from exactly 33 years ago today... which also happened to be 364 days before I was born.

If I had tried to draw up exactly when I would hear Growin' Up, could I have timed it any better than hear it on my birthday? Probably not. And seeing as how the whole aversion to growing up thing is kind of a recurring theme around here don't I have to share it? I found this recording over at Fuel Friends and the first time I listened to it I was struck by the fact that voices of this bootleg recording were younger than me when this recording was made... and now they are old. Not just Springsteen either... during the intro you can clearly hear voices in the crowd. The contradiction between the life and energy in the recording (and really, I could feel it bursting from the headphones) and the vast distance of time (my entire life!) that has passed since is kind of messing with my head. Combine that with the fact that recording was made in Bryn Mawr, PA (the next town over from where I grew up) and now I'm faced with the thought that the crowd voices in this recording could be people I grew up around. It just makes it all so very real.

Of course I realize that every recording ever made is exactly the same. It was made on someone's birthday in someone's hometown and so we are left to think... What kind of mark am I leaving here? Will someone come back here in 30 years and find this and think... "Wow, this guy is sitting in his house in Chicago, listening to music, sharing his thoughts...thoughts that are older than I am and yet they still seem so immediate, so real."

I hope so.

Growin' Up - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (recorded Feb. 5th, 1975 @ The Point in Bryn Mawr, PA)

from Friday The 13th to Frustrated Poet

Day 533, Session 101:
When/Where: Wednesday December 5th - Out in front of the house shoveling the first snow of the year, then back inside warming up and having lunch.
First song: Friday The 13th by Royal Crown Revue
Last full song: Frustrated Poet by Clem Snide
Progress: 1499-1513 of 5568
Total Songs Heard: 1202

The first snow of the season led me into another in a series of depressing realizations of adulthood. As I was shoveling the snow from our steps and small portion of sidewalk I remembered the days when shoveling snow was something that led directly to some form of payment (allowance from the parents or some small payoff from the neighbors.) Now, it's something I have to do because I own that small stretch of sidewalk. Ok, technically, I only own 1/3rd of that stretch of sidewalk, but I can hardly expect the neighbors to pay me for shoveling it seeing as how they do most of the yard work. Shoveling your own sidewalk... just one more "grown-up thing to do."

Previously I've had this same thought while mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, and writing a huge check for the kitchen remodel. I don't even know why it surprises me anymore. Although, I guess it's a good thing. When I get to the point where it no longer occurs to me how "grown-up" some of the things I'm doing are... well, that's probably when I will actually be a grown-up. And I'm certainly not ready for that.

I did feel good that I was shoveling snow as the song Frosty The Snowman came on. It's hardly the traditional arrangement. It's more like Frosty got sideswiped by Tequila (the song, not the drink) but it still counts. Just imagine a snowman on a Hawaiian island and you'll be all set.

Frosty The Snowman - The Ventures

from Dragonfly to Dreams

Day 215, Session 75:
When/Where: Tuesday January 23rd - On the train and in the office.
First song: Dragonfly by The Thorns
Last full song: Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
Progress: 1024-1031 of 4814
Total Songs Heard: 877

With three versions of Jeff Buckley's Dream Brother and two versions Dreams (both the original and a Corrs cover) out of the 8 songs it wasn't the most varied listening session I've ever had. Let's take a look at the shortest "song" of the day, which was actually a clip from Dream Police by Cheap Trick. It was only a clip from the song because it was being used as part of a high school dance routine. I can't really go into all the details as to why I had a song from a high school dance routine in my music library but at one point this year I went to go see this high school dance team perform.

It was... uncomfortable. I had a perfectly good reason to be there watching this team but I still couldn't shake the dirty old man feeling I had while watching. I mean, I knew why I was there, and the girls on the team knew why I was there, but I couldn't shake the feeling that other people in the crowd were wondering what the hell I was doing there. I thought about pretending I had a kid there, but, while I am obviously much older than a high school student, I don't look old enough to be mistaken for a high school parent. In fact, compounding the problem, I tend to look younger than I actually am... which in this case meant I still looked too old for high school, but not old enough to completely dismiss the thought that I might be the type of creepy guy who hangs around high schools watching the dance team perform.

The whole time I attempted to awkwardly straddle the line between watching carefully (since that's what I was there to see) and making it look like I wasn't watching at all. It made my brain hurt.

In the end, of course, I'm sure no one thought twice about my presence. The parents were too busy video taping their kids or yelling at the refs to notice me. And even if the high school kids couldn't tell that I was much older (which they could,) they would instinctively know that I wasn't cool enough to talk to.

So, is there a proper way to watch a high school dance team as a 30-year old guy? Probably not... and I should probably delete the track to stop reminding myself.