Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 20 - 16

Sorry for the hiatus. Christmas happened. I'm also moving into a new house, so that will delay things further. Also, I'm a terrific procrastinator.

I'm not getting paid for this anyway, so really I am not at all obliged to finish this list.

Onward!

20: Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine

Hat nod to Beth who a few months ago got me hyped for the new Florence album. Ceremonials met and exceeded (and continues to meet, and continues to exceed) expectations. Though there is a brooding undercurrent flowing throughout the album, Florence maintains the balance between pop and eclecticism like fellow countrywoman Kate Bush. Bush, however, never had pipes like these. Also, REDHEAD ALERT.





19: Faces by Chris Staples

The songs of Faces are soft, mellow, catchy, and, like everything Chris Staples has recorded, solidly written. Listening to these five songs is like drifting down a quiet creek. It's just NICE, you know? Simple without being dumb, and sad for no discernible reason.

Go to Staples' Bandcamp site to stream or download these songs for free.



18: På Engelska by Säkert!

Annika Norlin is, lyrically and musically, a clever little thing. Listening to her is like eating candy. Check out her English-singing project Hello Saferide for proof. But until now language barriers have prevented me from enjoying the lyrical nuances of her Swedish project Säkert! På Engelska is Säkert! songs redone with English lyrics. Even though I'm sure amusing Swedish subtleties were likely lost in translation, the resulting work is still a lot of fun.

"Weak Is The Flesh"

"Can I"



17: Color The Trees by Firefox AK

More female-fronted Swedish goodness. And if it's Swedish, and it's not metal or meatballs, then it's smooth and chill and a little desolate. Maybe you could label this electropop, though it's not electro enough to be called electro and not pop enough to file under straight pop. Whatever. It's stuff like this that makes me forgo labels and just enjoy the jams. Recommended for cruising through empty cities at three in the morning.

"Boom Boom Boom"




16: Metals by Feist

It has been four years since The Reminder came out, so IT'S ABOUT DANG TIME. Despite the darker tone and the lower accessibility of the album (nothing here for iTunes to commandeer for their boppy commercials) you will still feel ultracool if you spin this disc while hosting an ultracool party or while sitting on an ultracool porch drinking some ultracool lemonade. Even if you don't dig it at first trust me when I say Metals is a grower not a show-er.

"How Come You Never Go There"



25 - 21
30 - 26
33 - 31

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 25 - 21

I wanted to include Lady Gaga somewhere in this countdown because I thought it would make me cool in an ironic sort of way, like how Pitchfork always rates crappy pseudo-hip-hop way higher than deserved. But I couldn't make it all the way through Born This Way. Don't get me wrong. I like The Fame and The Fame Monster. But by the time I got to "Hair" I realized I wasn't enjoying this anymore. Maybe the album just wasn't dark enough. Maybe everything was too poppy. Maybe I'm old enough to remember when Madonna sang these songs twenty years ago.

That being said, "Judas" is freaking awesome and one of my favorite songs of the year.

On with the countdown!

25: Gravity The Seducer by Ladytron

Do you know how fun it is to wait three years for a new album? Not that fun. But with Ladytron the payoff is always fantastic. Not as explosive or dynamic as Witching Hour or Velocifero, the songs of Gravity are instead more in tune with the atmospheric concept of the album. What do I mean by this? I mean you get a good steady vibe. I mean you get sweet consistency. I mean the music takes you by the hand and guides you places instead of shooting you over the moon. Under "genres" Wikipedia has labeled this album synthpop, dream pop, chillwave, baroque pop, and new wave. All apply equally.




24: Lives and Treasure by Acrylics

It is always somewhat interesting when a guy/girl duo split time at lead vocals. What you sometimes end up with is two different albums mingled into one. In Lives and Treasure the chick tracks are groovy and positive, while the dude tracks are more grounded and folksy. In fact, dude does his best to channel his inner Conor Oberst, and when I was first giving this a spin I thought I had stumbled across another Conor side-project. Anyway, despite the variation between the songs you can still hear and feel Acrylics' overarching sound. It is a very good sound.

"Nightwatch"

"Tortoise Shell Shades"



23: Street Of The Love Of Days by Amor de Días

Another awesome guy/girl turn-taking band. This one is a supergroup of sorts (as super as two people can get) featuring Alasdair MacLean from The Clientele and Lupe Núñez-Fernández from Pipas. The music is gentle, slight, a little bit dreamy, and meanders along with a faint Iberian vibe. Lupe's voice is hushed and perfect and occasionally comes at you en Español. With MacLean at the vocal helm some songs do sound like Clientele tracks that never came to be, but that's not even close to being a bad thing. Street of the Love of Days pairs well with a cool quiet evening, a back patio, and a bottle of wine.

"Bunhill Fields"




22: The World Is Just A Shape To Fill The Night by Case Studies

Case Studies is Jesse Lortz, and maybe some other people, but sometimes not. A lot of these songs were recorded in a cabin in Washington state and there is a good rustic vibe that permeates these songs. The lyrics are honest, a little bit clever, and delivered like a resurrected and nearly-sober Townes Van Zandt. These are the kind of songs you should learn and sing around a dying campfire, even if there is nobody else around.

"The Eagle or the Serpent"



21: Wild One by North Highlands

Wild One is an album full of contradictions. Brenda Malvini's vocals are brittle and ethereal, but they hold everything together. The music itself is lazy but not boring. Several songs are uptempo, but none of them feel very fast. And the album as a whole is unassuming yet will still hold your attention. File under 'late-night driving.' The song "Benefits" alone is worth the price of admission.



"Steady Steady"

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 30 - 26

From here to the top I'm going to post these in increments of five. Sweet goodness, this is going to take forever. Hopefully I can finish up by next Christmas.

Things to note about this set:
- Trail of Dead's cover art is comically bad
- I hate it when music videos have children in them
- I don't hate children
- Yokola is so perfectly out of place
- Austin, Texas, doubly represented

Enjoy, and if you don't, remember that things will only get better. I mean, it IS a countdown.

30: Bandcamper by Yokola

I don't know who or what Yokola is. There is precious little information about Yokola out there in Internetland, save for Bandcamp where a handful of outstanding tracks are free to download. I don't even know if Bandcamper can be classified as a proper release as it was obviously made exclusively for the purpose of existing on Bandcamp. I WANT ANSWERS. I do know Yokola is based in Sweden and the chill Nordic ambiance and attitude that permeates the work of so many other Swedish musicians also does so here. And chill is a good way to describe the music. Dude is so chill it sounds like he doesn't care about life's problems (even as he acknowledges them), and this is so completely at odds with the jangly jazzy music. Yet it works, and it works well. In addition to downloading Bandcamper, I highly recommend downloading the six-song Hello, especially if you're looking for a good summer jam.

Yokola on Bandcamp.


29: The King Is Dead by The Decemberists

I am so glad the Decemberists have moved away from the proggyness of The Hazards of Love and put together an album full of nice hooky folkish rock music. It is what they do best, and, upon my strongest recommendation, they shouldn't do anything else. There is a lot to like about The King is Dead, such as the ample use of accordion, the backing vocals of Gillian Welch, and Peter Buck lending some instrumental support. And of course there is Colin Meloy's thin warbling voice that gives each song a nuanced delicateness.




28: The Tao Of The Dead by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

The curse of creating one of the best rock albums of all time is that every follow-up release, no matter how awesome it is, will be somewhat disappointing. And while nothing Trail of Dead can do will ever compare with Source Tags & Codes, the band is still capable of delivering solid rock and roll. Tao of the Dead is, from start to finish, nice and consistent. The tracks, in fact, flow right into each other and this album, more so than most others, forms a complete and cohesive body. When you pop in Tao of the Dead you must be ready for an extended listening experience. Recommended as the soundtrack to a long aggravated drive.




27: I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

I Am Very Far is different than prior Okkervil River projects. It is noisier, busier, more in-your-face, and if it is louder it is because I am cranking the volume up up up. There are quieter tracks to be sure, and nothing squeezes the soul quite like a soft Okkervil River song, but the album was meant to be an experimental departure and that's where the focus lies. But even all the studio mish-mash can't detract from the fact that Will Sheff is one of music's best songwriters and every track -- be it loud, soft, frantic, or grounded -- sounds like a personal note scribbled directly for you.

Okkervil River - "Wake And Be Fine" via Jagjaguwar Records
"Your Past Life As A Blast" video.



26: Minnesota by Mason Jennings

Just over half-an-hour long, Minnesota is short and sweet. Jennings still touches on his familiar topics of love, religion, and booze -- and does so with that smooth crooning voice of his -- but he does well not to duplicate past releases. More piano-centric than his previous albums, each song tells an individual story, some more abstract than others, some more resolved than others. Jennings mood feels a little more dour than usual, and the very last track is a lyrical killjoy, but ultimately he can't restrain the optimist within himself. Minnesota, through its mini-journeys full of downward twists and turns, is a feel-good album, but only in the way that existence, despite its wretched plot-twists, is ultimately a feel-good experience.

#33 - #31

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 33 - 31

I don't have a lot to say about the past twelve months' worth of music as a whole. It was overwhelming in capacity, underwhelming in quality. Still, there was a substantial amount of music I did (and continue to) thoroughly enjoy. What follows for the next several days is a large slab of that music.

It will appear as though I'm omitting a lot of good stuff, and I am, but only because I never got around to listening to it all. There was that Social Distortion album released in January, Cold War Kids, Get Up Kids (!!), another self-released Radiohead album (forgive me, Thom Yorke), Lykke Li (who I've grown quite fond of, but not fond enough apparently), Foo Fighters, Death Cab For Cutie, Britney Spears, etc. Goodness, it seems like I didn't listen to anything this year.

Anyway, here are my top thirty-three albums of 2011 fed to you in bite-sized chunks. Why thirty-three? No reason, honestly. I could say it was chosen as an homage to the 33⅓ rpm full-length record, but then I would be lying to your face.

33: The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home by Gates

I recently decided that 2001 was my favorite musical year. This was a decision based mostly on nostalgia, but the soundtrack to my life that year was exquisite. The Sun Will Rise, in all of its six-song'd glory, reminds me of those tracks. Maybe we would have called this "emo" back then (only after a six-hour argument over what does and does not constitute emoness). And maybe this is proof that rock music, in the stagnant state it is in, has not come so far in ten years. But Gates connects, and they hit all the right notes, and sometimes that's all I really ask for. The Sun Will Rise is for fans of Appleseed Cast, which should be everybody.

OH BY THE WAY, you can freely stream/download a digital copy of The Sun Will Rise over at their bandcamp site.
http://gates.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-will-rise-and-lead-me-home


32: Fluorescence by Asobi Seksu

Speaking of sub-genres popular a semi-long while ago... shoegaze! There is something comforting about all of that chaotic fuzz and distortion, especially if the barely audible wispy vocals are sung by a female. And Asobi Seksu, once again, churns out the smaze. Fluorescence is reminiscent of late-80s/early-90s dreampop, and some songs are triumphant while others are seductive. Some are just genre-huggingly dreampoppy. But there is just enough pop and just enough rock (and maybe just a touch of weirdness) in each tune to keep things interesting.




31: Deerhoof Vs. Evil by Deerhoof

Hey, guys, Deerhoof is back! And they're glitchier than ever! D vs. E is the band's first full-length release since 2008 and, like everything they've recorded, the album is full of short, punchy, calculatedly insane music. Deerhoof is an acquired taste, and if you're checking them out for the first time this album may not be the way to go. But for longtime fans and/or those with an open mind, D vs. E is a whimsical adventure that will bend the way you approach music.

OH BY THE WAY, Polyvinyl Records is letting you download the entire album as a .zip file.
So get on that.

Christmas Music Is Just Awful

But here are a handful of Christmas songs I find less awful than others. Some may even be quite good.

Yes, a couple of these are really very depressing. That is just my own musical preference and not a reflection of my attitude towards the holiday season in general.

Enjoy while I continue putting together my list of best 2011 albums.

Low - "Just Like Christmas"
The Evaluation - "Full Beards, Angel Wings, Car Doors and Department Stores"
Starflyer 59 - "A Holiday Song (Happy Holidays)"
Grandaddy - "Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland"
Sufjan Stevens - "Sister Winter"
The Civil Wars - "O Come O Come Emmanuel"
Over the Rhine - "All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue"
Rosie Thomas - "Christmas Don't Be Late"
Saint Etienne - "No Cure For the Common Christmas"
Blitzen Trapper - "Christmas is Coming Soon"

Other People's Forthcoming Music

Damien Jurado has a new song out, and it is surprisingly groovacious.
"Nothing is the News" by Damien Jurado

(Click that down-arrow on the far right to download the song.)

The new album, Maraqopa, will be released in February.
It's Jurado, so it's going to be automatically awesome. Since it's Jurado and Richard Swift, it's going to be doubly awesome. And if all the tracks are as good as this one, it's going to be my 2012 album of the year.

More info:
http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2011/11/new-damien-jurado-album-maraqopa-february-21st-download-nothing-is-the-news-mp3/


Speaking of new albums I'm tremendously looking forward to, Chris Staples is working on a new full-length project. But he needs YOUR help. Check out his Kickstarter page and see what goodies you can pick up by funding his new album.

And download Faces, his mellow five-track EP released on Bandcamp back in June.
http://chrisstaples.bandcamp.com/album/faces

Punk Never Dies, It Just Gets Compilated

IndieVision.com released a fatty punk sampler way back at the beginning of the month called Punk Never Dies, but it has taken me this long to sift through the songs to determine if this compilation is in fact worth your bandwidth. It is, at least for my own ears.

As subjective as punk rock (RAWK) is, tolerances will vary. But there are so many songs (75!) everybody should be able to pick out something they like. There is a lot of new stuff, some stuff from ten years ago, and a couple songs from Lord knows when.

This is a Christian-themed comp, and unfortunately Christian-themed comps of any genre tend to feature low-grade watered-down music. There are a couple songs here I can't bring myself to listen to more than once (and have since deleted), but for the most part the tunes are of good-to-great quality and, generally speaking, good-to-great songs.

The old old-schoolers will appreciate the tracks by Ballydowse, Headnoise, The Altar Billies (featuring that guy from the Altar Boys), and a forgotten but awesome band called Empty Tomb (featuring members from Crux).

The old new-schoolers will appreciate the tracks by MxPx, Dogwood, Craig's Brother, Value Pac (!!), and Watashi Wa.

And the tots will appreciate all those new bands I've never heard of.

Other highlights include Hanover Saints, Man Alive (your favorite Israeli punk band), and a Twotimer demo. PLUS somebody covered "Bombs Over Broadway" just for fun. PLUS somebody covered a Saviour Machine track, possibly also for fun.

You will find a lot of good screamy stuff and some skate and some post and some pop and some things that are not punk in the slightest... and so on. Like I said, something for everybody.

So if you've got a speedy connection and four hours of your life to kill, download Punk Never Dies. You will, at the very least, discover a sweet new band you've never heard of. I'm currently taking mental notes on A Hope For Tomorrow (despite their terrifically generic name) and From The Eyes Of Servants (who are screaming the book of Psalms at me).

http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2011/10/31/punk-never-dies-vol-1/

That's Just Great

Most common Google search that leads to this particular blog:

"old milwaukee pin up girls"

And I'm sure mentioning this will just perpetuate things.




What Made Milwaukee Famous

"Sweet Lady"

Scant Thoughts On MWY's Weird Nirvana Cover

Mewithoutyou recently covered "In Bloom" for a Nirvana tribute album.

You can stream that dandy at MWY's website:
http://mewithoutyou.com/?p=213

A lot of tribute albums are ultimately unsatisfying. Bands either try to sound too much like the original artist (and fail because they are not) or they try to do their own thing and butcher everything to crap. And also Nirvana, for whatever reason, is a very finicky band to cover.

Mewithoutyou's take on "In Bloom" is... different. It's like listening to a MWY song but with Cobain lyrics. I didn't like the tune at first but warmed up to it before the song ended. I'm still not crazy about Aaron's post-Brother, Sister ball-less vocal style, but whatever. He can do what he wants.

The band reduces the lyrics to their poetic essence by removing all that distracting guitar-riffic fuzz. Filtering "In Bloom" through a MWY-shaped prism may not yield rainbows, but the results are still interesting.

I will probably never listen to the rest of this particular tribute album (titled Come As You Are, if you're interested), but I'm happy at least one of the songs is listenable.

That's Super

I woke up today with a sharp headache. I never wake up with sharp headaches. I've woken up with plenty of dull ones, but never one that felt like a tiny black hole was tearing apart the very center of my brain. It turned out rain was a-comin', and as my body adjusted to the relatively rapid drop in air pressure the headache eased.

So that's great. My skull is a painful barometer.


Do you know what's super? Bands that have the word "super" in their name. That's super. Here are the super bands I came up with.

Supertramp
Did you know Supertramp was formed when a Dutch millionaire told Rich Davies to start a band and do whatever he wanted with it? And it would all be funded? So Davies gathered some instrumentalists, formed the band, and produced a crappy prog album. Mr. Dutch Millionaire pulled his funding. Band members left. Nobody liked Supertramp. So Davies re-gathered some other musicians and wrote bouncier poppier music. Eventually Supertramp became world famous. This just goes to show that prog music is an awful thing.


Superchunk
Superchunk has been around for over twenty years, which is kind of awesome. What's more awesome is the fact that their music continues to be quite excellent. Also, every music video needs David Cross in it.


Superdrag
You won't recognize this band until you see the video for "Sucked Out," and then it will all instantly come back to you in a heaping tide of 90s radio rock. Singer John Davis, who is not the lead singer of Korn, decided he would rather be a Christian than an alcoholic and turned to Jesus-inspired rock and roll. I've seen him live before. He's good. Apparently Superdrag reunited in 2007 and released an album in 2009. But I have no idea what they're up to right now.


Supergrass
I have a Supergrass CD. I never listen to it. I really should.


Supertones
First the O.C. Supertones were cool, at least with the youth group kiddies. Then, as people realized ska was lame, they became not cool. They even dropped the Orange County from their name. But now, as the twenty-to-thirty-somethings reconnect with their 90s childhood, the Supertones are becoming cool again, but in an ironic kind of way. I still have at least three Supertones CDs. No, I will never sell them.


Superchick
You may have heard a Superchick song and not even realized it as they have a way of sneaking themselves onto TV and movie soundtracks. I may verbally deny ever rocking out to Superchick, but the gigantic Superchick sticker on my old stereo says otherwise. How embarrassing.


Superfamily
I've only discovered this Norwegian band within the past couple years. I like 'em.



EDIT:
I totally forgot about Super Furry Animals. This is probably because I don't listen to Super Furry Animals.

Mariano Saves, Rodriguez Kills

Monday, just seconds before I dashed out the door for work, I watched Mariano Rivera record his 602nd save. Like, watched it on the TV. I was standing there in my work clothes, my wife was sitting on the couch in complete disinterest, and my child was clinging to my pants trying to get my attention. It was a magical moment.

I understand my wife's apathy, actually. The "save," in my opinion (and hers, but for different reasons) is overrated as a statistic. There are a very specific set of circumstances that must be met before a pitcher can be credited with a save. It's somewhat farcical and mostly unnecessary. The last pitcher pitches his inning or two. If the score is close enough he "saves" the game. Good job. If he blows the lead he may be credited with the loss. Bad job. If the score is not close then he gets nothing at all. Good game butt pat.

But there's no questioning Mariano's dominance. He's not there to close the door. He is there to slam the door. So watching Mr. Rivera do his job Monday was less a celebration of him setting the all-time saves record and more a celebration of Mariano's tremendous pitching career.

I remember when Jeff Reardon set the all-time saves mark in 1992. I was staying the night in a motel in Cooperstown, New York. I was 10-years-old. The next day was super awesome Hall of Fame museum day. But that night, after a long day of traveling, my family and I crashed at the motel and watched whatever game was on the TV. There was Reardon. There were his final pitches. He had won the saves record formerly held by Rollie Fingers. Reardon smiled his big beardy smile. I fell asleep.

Jeff Reardon held the all-time saves record for one season. I have no recollection of what I was doing when Lee Smith became the all-time saves leader in 1993.

I have no recollection of what I was doing when Trevor Hoffman became the all-time saves leader in 2006.

But, by golly, I was standing there in my living room at 4:30 pm Monday, September 19, 2011, when Mariano Rivera became the all-time saves leader. Documented history.

The active player second on the saves list? Francisco Cordero. He's got 323 saves. He is also 36 years old. This record will stick around for a while.

I can tell my child that she was there in front of the TV as well, even if she was wasn't paying any sort of attention to it.

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

Speaking of baseball (and I usually do), I was at a game this past Sunday in Toronto. Blue Jays versus Yankees. I wanted to get a picture of Alex Rodriguez hitting a baseball because I thought that would be pretty cool. I wanted the precise moment the ball came in contact with his bat. And so I chose the pitch I would snap the shot. As the pitcher wound up I steadied my camera, but I was having trouble zooming in and focusing. The pitch was thrown and I snapped my shot late. But holy cow! A-Rod had lost grip of the bat and helicoptered it into the seats. And then I looked back down at my camera and holy cow! I took a picture of this...



Nice.
Everybody in the seats where the bat landed was okay. I think. Actually I hadn't heard anything at all about anybody in the bat-landing area. People might've died. There might still be a baseball bat impaled in the abdomen of a Toronto Blue Jays fan. Who knows?

Yankees lost, 3-0. Mariano Rivera did not record his record-breaking save that day.

Use ample pine tar, please. It will save lives.

Back. Or Front.

Two months.
Hiatus or laziness?
Or distractedness?
Who cares.

Currently I am sitting here sippin' my sippin' whiskey and listening to a handful of recommended tunes via hand-delivered memory stick. This is what I need sometimes, people to tell me the good new stuff.

My new music lag used to be one year. Something new to me would've already been out for one year. That was okay, especially when bands and singers took two years between albums. But now my lag is, like, three or four years. Unacceptable.

Does anybody else want to play the memory stick game? You give me a stick full of songs you think are the best, and I'll empty it and return it full of songs I think are the best, plus new music that's actually three or four years old.

Seriously, drop me a message. We'll do it postal. And I promise not to steal your stick and sell it on eBay.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

The first few seconds of "Spanish Bombs" by the Clash sound very very similar to the first few seconds of Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again." Whether or not this was done on purpose, I have no idea.

Compare. Contrast.




I'd never noticed before. Now the two songs are inseparable in my head. Christmas in July.

Also, the first few seconds of "Sowing Seeds" by The Jesus and Mary Chain sound just like the first few seconds of one of their other songs, "Just Like Honey." Both are from the same album, so maybe this shouldn't be as surprising.

But you will notice that both songs sound similar to the beginning of "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes. This was probably done intentionally as the J&MC were going for that dense atmospheric Spector-esque wall of sound.

Boom. Ba-boom. BAP.





I've got a ton of 'em. I'm sure you do too.

Whether done purposefully as inspiration (as above with these Psychocandy songs), purposefully as an I-hope-nobody-notices rip-off (as with Oasis' "Cigarettes and Alcohol," stolen from T-Rex's "Get It On"), or unintentionally (as with George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," unconsciously zapped from the Chiffons' "He's So Fine"), there are only so many notes and chords and rhythms and noises. Somebody somewhere is going to double up, and it's going to temporarily cause me to wonder what a Tom Petty Christmas song is doing in the middle of a Clash album.

My iPodding Habits

I am very particular with my iPod.


I don't mind repeating tracks, but I can't stand the idea of there being tracks I never get around to hearing. As a result I almost never do a random play. Sometimes I'll run a Genius playlist for consistency's sake, but for the most part everything is organized for optimal listening efficiency.

I pull my tracks from my computer's library. It's a robust library, and I'm always adding to it. Obviously it's not all going to fit on my 4 gig iPod. So I organize my library chronologically and, starting from the earliest year, fit as many whole years onto the iPod as possible.

On the iPod I then play the tracks alphabetically by song title. This prevents the monotony of hearing the same artist fifteen times in a row while also providing a little bit of musical diversity. It's like a controlled randomness. And if I stop the iPod it's easy enough to remember what song I left off on.

I only ever listen to my iPod in the car, and only on drives that are 15+ minutes long. It's just what I do. As a result it takes several months to go from one end of my iPod to the other. Often times if I hop in the car, push play, and find I'm midway through a song already, I'll back it up and play it from the beginning. I'll rarely outright skip a song. Each tune gets the attention it does (or does not) deserve.

Sometimes I'll get on a radio kick and not listen to the iPod for weeks. That always sets things back a bit.

I get from the mid-50's to the late-70's in one 4 gig clump of files because there wasn't a whole lot of music during that era. Also, the music that did exist tended to be very short in length.

Clear iPod, reload.

I'm currently listening to songs spanning from the late-70's to the early-90's. Despite my love for 80's music there's not actually a whole lot of 80's music represented in my library. I suppose I relegate my 80's listening to the radio.

Clear iPod, reload.

As I progress to the current year the spans will shorten. More music made. Longer songs. By the time I get to the 2000's I'll be filling up the iPod one year at a time.

It takes over a year to go through my entire library, and by that point I've already added a truckload of new songs. And we begin again.

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

Hey, Niels Nielsen just added a ton of new tracks. They're actually old tracks, and I haven't actually taken the time to listen to them yet, but they're probably good by virtue of the fact that they're Niels Nielsen tunes.

http://nielsnielsen.net/site/2011/06/29/sounds-from-the-past/

Moneyball: The Theatrical Trailer

Further proof that an actual Moneyball movie is being made, here is the official trailer.

Once again, for those who don't know, Moneyball: The Movie is based upon Moneyball, a book written by Michael Lewis about the Oakland Athletics' statistics-minded approach to baseball in the 1990s. You wouldn't think something like that would translate well to feature-length film, but lo!

And look! It stars Brad Pitt (who is all the reason you need to see a movie anyway), that fat guy who cusses a lot, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as an old baseball guy who apparently has no lines.

So make sure you line up early for the midnight screening! And wear your Moneyball-related costumes. I'm going as Miguel Tejada.

Here, Eat Some Free Music

Noisetrade, in their continuing efforts to exude awesomeness, have these two noteworthy things up for download:

Josh Rouse - Summertime
A 25-song sampler covering bits from several albums as well as live material and unreleased stuff.

The Civil Wars - Live at Eddy's Attic
It's the Civil Wars! Live! At Eddy's Attic!

Both are good for mellow late night listens, which is precisely what I'm doing now. Ignore the timestamp, it's 4:30 in the morning here.

There's scads of great material scattered throughout Noisetrade, and one day you should spend some time to do some musical perusing.

Your Favorite Forgotten Team

To help out a friend I've started a series about the Seattle Mariners. I completely understand if this is the most uninteresting topic in the world, but it's there if, you know, you need to read about the Mariners for some reason.

The team is as irrelevant to me as it is to you, so I'll try to keep the posts somewhat interesting.

I'll gloss over the history of the M's (mostly with regard to my growing-up years), cover some key players and key moments, and armchair analyze this season's team.

http://reallyquitemanic.blogspot.com/search/label/Mariners

Check it periodically as I intend to update it with semi-regularity (i.e. whenever the Spirit moves me).

Unwed Sailor - Oaxaca

Unwed Sailor has posted a new song. It is called "Oaxaca" and, like every Unwed Sailor song ever made, it is good and nice.



The band is also currently touring (with Owl City, of all things). I've seen them perform a couple times. Tremendous show every time.
http://www.last.fm/music/Unwed+Sailor/+events

They also added a Columbia, Missouri, date, so be sure to catch them at Mojo's on July 2nd.

If Only Dover Was A Bend

Sometimes, either because she loves me or she's trying to kill me, my wife comes home with a bag of Blair's Death Rain chips. They're kettle cooked habanero chips, and they are delicious. They will also mess you up. I've been hacking and sputtering and sneezing my way through this bag, but I can't stop eating them. Clearly they are good for me because A) zero trans fats, and B) apparently habaneros help reduce high blood pressure. Seeing as there's steam shooting out of my ears right now I would have thought blood pressure would have increased instead.

Just so you know, if you find you've accidentally put something extremely spicy in your mouth, a slice of bread works wonders. A glass of fruit punch does nothing.

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Friday the wife, baby, and I will visit Port Dover for a bit. According to Wikipedia, Port Dover was the site of an American raid. This was during the War of 1812. The raid occurred in 1814. I'm inclined to believe this war was somewhat misnamed.

Port Dover is also the site of massive motorcycle gatherings every Friday the 13th. These things attract, like, a hundred thousand people. That is not an exaggeration. Thankfully this Friday is not the 13th, so hopefully we will enjoy a nice peaceful day at the beach. I don't want to be a part of any ritualistic hippy-stompings or anything.

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Sometimes I write terrible reviews for movies that may or may not be themselves terrible. Read, if you're inclined to, May's reviews, which are The New World, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and, uh, Beauty and the Beast. I'd like to say a review of Road to Perdition is forthcoming, but I haven't even started it yet. Maybe this weekend. Probably not.

And read the other reviews by the other contributors. We're an unmotivated bunch, and maybe some site hits will get us going again.

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Chris Staples just released a five-song EP on bandcamp.
It's free to download, free to listen, and free to enjoy.
http://chrisstaples.bandcamp.com/album/faces

Splitt

1946 - 2011

All Over The Map

I'm tapping away at the laptop with my right hand, checking my cell with my left hand, and watching the latest hour-old updates on CNN. I am my own weather headquarters, and I am fully prepared for tornadic Missouri weather. Except I don't live in Missouri (or even the United States, for that matter). Nonetheless, when mid-west atmosphere gets turbulent, be assured that I'm on top of it... a thousand miles away.

I used to know people who lived in Joplin. I don't anymore. Maybe I still do. I don't know, I've lost touch with so many people. But the Joplin people I knew years ago were still in school, and kids from Missouri towns tend to take off after finishing school.

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David Bazan's new album is good. It's available to stream in its entirety in a couple places so I've spent the past couple days getting familiar with it.

http://www.davidbazan.com/2011/listen-to-strange-negotiations/

I like the title track.

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Tuesday, after dropping my mom off at the airport, my wife, daughter, and I went to the Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo. We went for no other reason than it being featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The restaurant itself is in an old sleek boxcar like the ones you'd find in Grand Theft Auto IV. Despite the 50's aura, the music they were pumping closely mirrored my own music library. Modest Mouse and Shins and Wilco and Eels and etc. As for the food, I had a pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, fries, and a root beer milkshake. All of it was delicious. If (for whatever God-awful reason) you find yourself with a couple hours to kill in Buffalo, I recommend eating a meal here.

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Speaking of Buffalo and root beer, between the airport and dinner I picked up four bottles of "Draft Root Beer" made by Natural Brew. Very good, very flavorful. I don't know if using natural ingredients makes it taste better by default, but somewhere somebody discovered that mashing together sarsaparilla, anise, licorice root, birch oil, wintergreen oil, and bourbon vanilla extract (whatever that is -- though it sounds delicious) makes a dang fine beverage.

Find a store that sells it, then buy it. Then drink it.
http://www.natural-brew.com/where_to_buy

The Killer

1936 - 2011

Living in Houses That Aren't Mine

The great thing about house-sitting is that it's sort of like staying at a multi-star hotel. No bills to pay, free cable, a fridge full of food, drinks, etc. Maybe you have to feed a cat, but the only thing you really have to do is ensure the house doesn't burn down. And if it does... who cares? It's not your house.

I like to pretend I'm Robin Williams' creepy character in One Hour Photo. I'll sit on your couch, I'll watch your TV, I'll use your toilet... I'll do these things as if everything had always been mine. Except instead of kidnapping you and locking you in a hotel room I'll simply give you back your house when you come home. I might be creepy, but I try to avoid being awful.

I'm currently in Woodstock, Ontario.
Facts about Woodstock, Ontario:
- population of 35,480 (as of 2006... we're still waiting on the results of this year's census)
- "Dairy Capital of Canada"
- first settled in 1800.
- site of the "Woodstock Wood Show" held every October
- there's a life-sized statue of a cow downtown named the Springbank Snow Countess
- on Wikipedia the "Notable Natives" section features a list of Woodstockians who aren't very notable.

There are also a lot of old buildings, some new houses, and a place that will sell me habanero chipnuts.

Also, and this may be most important, there is a sushi restaurant that is surprisingly good. Surprising because it's a sushi restaurant... in Woodstock, Ontario... that's good. It's like finding a gold nugget in the pocket of a two-hundred year-old pair of pants.

But I don't live here. I'm pretending to, but later I'll go back to my real home and watch my own dumb TV and eat my own dumb food. I'll have to feed my own dumb cat. Of course, anybody house-sitting for me will find it all luxurious -- in a I'm-not-paying-for-this-multi-star-hotel sort of way.

Thoughts: The 80's, North Americans, Music, Homosexuality, and Popularity

Something was recently brought to my attention regarding 80's music and homosexuality.

The question was posed: how many gay North American 80's chart-toppers can you name? That is, how many musicians are there from the United States or Canada who had a top-10 North American hit in the 1980's and who were also openly gay.

The first names that come to mind -- Elton John, Boy George, George Michael -- are all British (or is "English" the proper nomenclature?). We'll even open up the doors to switch-hitters. David Bowie, Freddy Mercury... British, British.

The most obvious flamboyant American contender, Prince, is straight as an arrow.

Supposedly Luther Vandross was gay. If he was he kept it in his closet.

The only one that comes to mind is Michael Stipe of R.E.M., but even he won't outright say that he is, by his own definition, gay (although he will freely admit past relationships with men which makes him, by everybody else's definition, gay).

Maybe we can include Bob Mould from Husker Du as everybody knew he was sort of gay in the 80's (he finally came out for real in the 90's). But as far as charts were concerned the band never held much mainstream success. In the States, Warehouse: Songs and Stories made it to 117 on the Billboard 200. Candy Apple Grey went to 140.

And that's pretty much it.

Strike that. I just discovered (or kind of already figured, but never really confirmed) that the founding male members of The B-52s, Fred Schneider included, were gay. I don't think the American mainstream ever really accepted the B-52, but "Love Shack" was too irresistible. Tin roof, rusted.

North America's reluctance to embrace gay culture is not shocking, but it is curious that gay acts from England were welcomed with open arms. I have no explanation for this, only speculation.

Theory 1: With all of the resistance against homosexual lifestyles in America, it would be difficult for any openly gay musician to develop a successful career. They may thrive within small scenes, but a wider listening audience was reluctant to accept them. On the other hand, gay musicians across the pond were allowed to develop and flourish.

Theory 2: Gay Brits made better music than Gay Americans. I don't personally believe this is true, but someone once said the simplest explanation is often the one that's correct.

Theory 3: Americans couldn't tell the difference between English gays and English straights. It's difficult to be prejudice against one group when they're not so obviously different from the other group.

In the decades since the 1980's North America has become a little bit more open to gay musicians. It's mostly the men we have problems with. Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Joan Osbourne, most of the Lilith Fair... all have done well. Shoot, when Madonna smooches Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears the video gets played over and over. But when Adam Lambert smooches a dude on stage, America cringes. That's not to say the men haven't done well. Lance Bass, Clay Aiken, Lambert, even Billie Joe Armstrong have all admitted their gay-ity, although they all waited until they were famous before making it official.

Rufus Wainwright seems to be the unquestionable quintessential popular North American gay poster boy. He was born in New York, spent most of his youth in Montreal, let everybody know he was gay before he was famous, and despite this he still makes an occasional appearance on the Billboard charts (his latest album reached number 4 on the Top Canadian Albums chart).

I suspect this is the stuff theses are made of. Or books. Or cultural movements. Maybe someday, when I've got large quantities of free time instead of minimal amounts, I'll do the research and flesh these things out.

Phil Phridays! -- I Missed Again

I feel like the conversation went like this:
"Phil, your album cost so much to produce that we dipped substantially into the music video fund. Also your backing band all quit at once. Also the record company wants to see the finished video in about thirty minutes. But don't worry, it's the 1980's, so we're going to figure this out."

Gravity Or Levity: I'm Probably Just A Downer

I like to sit on things.

After seeing a movie, I like to push it out of the forefront of my mind for a day or two before bringing it back and developing an opinion about it.

Same with pieces of art.

Same with sudden events of large cultural significance.


So now that I've had some time to chew on the concept of dead Osamas...

Like hearing about the events of September 11th for the first time, this will be one of those things where you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the initial reports. I was watching the end of "The Borgias." The Pope was trying to form an alliance with Naples. My wife was on the laptop and saw something on somebody's status update. I flipped to CNN for confirmation, then, because I wanted to see how my silly TV show ended, I flipped back. For the next several minutes I flipped between the two channels until "The Borgias" ended. I'm probably the worst person to watch TV with.

After that I mostly kept it on CNN. The Canadian news stations seemed uncharacteristically inept, CBS's graphics couldn't compete, and nobody else had a host named Wolf. I also stuck to Twitter and Facebook for instant updates and unthoughtful reactionary drivel.

My feelings on the whole "shoot Osama in the face" incident are mixed. Initially I was happy and relieved. Happy that we finally smoked the bastard. Relieved that he won't oversee and fund any more blow-up missions. But as I thought about it I became more uncomfortable with the celebratory reaction of our US nation.

I remember 10 years ago seeing footage of foreign America-haters stomping on our flaming flag, joyous about our 3,000 dead. I couldn't understand how one human being could feel that way about another human being. Those people are still jerks, but I now understand their misguided national pride. I know it's not the same thing, 3,000 civilian dead compared to one evil man, and I agree that we have the better reason to celebrate a killing, but I finally get it. I get it and I'm not going to reduce myself to that level of hate.

Osama Bin Laden--
I don't want to defile his body.
I don't want to kill his family.
I don't even want him dead.
I don't want to hate anymore.
These are things he would have wanted.
I'm bigger than that.

So we can still celebrate. His terror network has been hindered. He personally isn't going to hurt anybody anymore. (Even in his last seconds he used one of his wives as a human shield.) Some form of earthly justice has been served. The prospect of peace, at least temporarily, is shining in our faces. But I'm not going to celebrate death. That's religious extremism's business.

Do we mourn him? We can mourn a life lived so twistedly that he felt justified in murdering thousands all over the world. We can mourn the fact that he seized opportunities to do evil rather than doing good. We can mourn the wretched past, but, more importantly, we should celebrate a hopeful future.

Why I Would Make A Great Ambassador

I recently told somebody that "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was the Canadian national anthem.

I proceeded to tell them that Gordon Lightfoot was the president of Canada.

And that Gordon Lightfoot appears on the Canadian one-dollar bill.


I am the reason everybody hates America.

That is all.

Phil Phridays! -- Separate Lives

First, the video to "Separate Lives" from the 1985 film White Nights. Look for Mikhail Baryshnikov and the late Gregory Hines as they appear very sad about something.


And now for... whatever this is.

Poly Styrene

1957 - 2011

Bathroom Etiquette: You, Me, and Public Facilities

I have very specific rules regarding behavior in public bathrooms. (Or "washrooms" as they call them here in Canada. "Washrooms" and "behaviour".) I'm not quite so thorough at home as I know where I've been, but out among the masses I take the necessary steps to ensure the most ideal bathroom situations possible.



We'll start with the urinals.
If there are three unoccupied urinals in a row, never take the middle one.
If possible, always leave an open urinal between you and the guy next to you.
Always keep your eyes on the road (and never EVER on anybody else's road).
Other suitable places to affix your eyes:
- The wall in front of you.
- The small TV mounted atop the urinal (if you are in a fancy hotel).
- The ceiling.
- Any debris/insects/cigarette butts (aka TARGETS) floating in the water.
- (Some urinals in Europe feature strategically placed artificial targets to help you reduce splash.)
- The blinking red sensor on automatic urinals.
- Anywhere, really, except left or right.

Some guys, when doing business at a urinal, are content to let it all hang out. That's fine, I suppose, as nobody is supposed to be watching anyway. I choose to be more discreet, utilizing my hands and particular articles of clothing as blinders.

Some guys snuggle right up to the urinal. All urinals, in my mind, are dripping with urine. Sometimes we don't have the best aim, and I'm not going to come in contact with anything more than I have to. As a result I actually stand a bit further away than the normal person does. I'm not way back trying to score three-pointers or anything, but I'm going to ensure I'll never get foreign pee on my pants.

As far as flushing a urinal, if I must press a lever or a button (and you should always flush), I'll make a fist and give it a quick bash. Then I'll wash my hands, paying particular attention to that small contact area on my now-tainted skin. You may flush using a disposable tissue or paper towel if you absolutely must avoid skin contact.



Troughs are essentially the same business except there's a lot more cuddling with your fellow peer. Usually found at older stadiums, depending how crowded the event is you may find yourself trying to get the job done while standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Concentrate on the task at hand and remember that the guys on either side of you want to get out of there just as quickly as you do. But, in your haste, don't forget to tuck and zip BEFORE you spin around and face the throng of antsy men behind you.

You may experience some stage fright. This is normal and is nothing to be ashamed of. Should it impede your flow just go to the back of the line and try again.
Tips to get you going:
- Take deep breaths. Ease it out on the exhale.
- Close your eyes. This will help block out distractions. Just make sure you're pointed in the right direction.
- Wait until you're about to explode. Painful, but effective.
- Mentally countdown. Personally, I say "On your mark, get set, go." It works 90% of the time. But don't say it out loud, otherwise people will think you're weird.



On stalls...
First of all, before anything else, ensure ample toilet paper is present.
Next, make sure the stall door latches. At the very least, make sure you can hold it shut.
A good clean seldom-used stall is a rare find. Check the far corners of a large shopping mall or the infrequently-visited floors of your local government building. Airports have public restrooms in the strangest nooks and crannies, so don't simply go to the first (and most heavily populated) bathroom you see when you need to spend quality time dropping some travel weight.

Sometimes you can't have a pristine virgin stall, so you have to do some quick cleaning. I don't use paper toilet covers because they're a hassle and they make me slide all over the place. I don't lay down squares of toilet paper on the seat for the same reason. Instead I rub down the seat with toilet paper, making sure it's dry and speck-free. I even do this at home, though not as vigorously. Be sure to flush before sitting down. Splash back can be a scary thing.

How long is too long to stay in the stall? In my opinion, unless you can tell somebody is waiting on you, you can spend all day in there. It's quiet, it's private, and the toilets are far more powerful than anything you've got at home. But if somebody is meandering around out there don't be a potty hog.

Generally I try to avoid conversations with strangers while doing my business. You might be a more talkative individual, but keep in mind you may be making somebody else's life a living Hell. Personally I'm very uncomfortable with speaking to somebody a few inches away from me while we're both holding our respective junks. The sink is a far better (and cleaner) place to converse.

Back when I worked at a bookstore, I was at a urinal and an older gentleman pulled in beside me. We were both quietly doing our own thing for a while, and then he suddenly said somewhat leeringly, "Are you hiring young boys?" I was in a physically vulnerable position, and my first thought was to get out of there as soon as possible. However, 50% of the world's population knows you can't just stop mid-stream. But he then went on to explain that his teenage son was looking for a job, and I was able to relax again. THIS is why I don't talk to people while watering the flowers.

These aren't things I even have to think about anymore. I do them by instinct and muscle memory. It's a lifestyle. Public bathrooms are different worlds, and my domain is peaceful, organized, and, most importantly, relatively sanitary.

Phil Phridays! -- The Musical Box

Recorded in 1972 for Belgian television.
Peter Gabriel on vocals, looking like a chick I know at work.
Phil Collins tearing up the drums, growing as much hair as he can before it all falls out.

Getting Rippled

That disaster in Japan -- the quake + tsunami one-two punch -- has, one month later, caused a significant reduction of work hours at my job here on the other side of the planet. The physical shockwaves move quickly but also dissipate quickly. The intangible shockwaves (economic disruptions, supplier line gaps, the vacancies realized by the mass loss of human life, etc.) move across the world more slowly, but their effects are felt that much longer.

Factories are running out of Japanese-made parts. Workers have nothing to build. Companies are cutting back production. Auto manufacturers around the world have reduced production to 30%. Not BY 30%... production is reduced TO 30%.

This will go on until parts production plants in Japan are either rebuilt or companies find new suppliers. Who knows how long that will take.

And I try not to complain because A) I still have a job and B) I still have a beating heart. Many can't say the same.

Optimistically speaking this means I have more family time, although I now also have less money to spend on said family. Lots of trips to parks and Taco Bell!

But anyway, I want Japan to heal up. Not for my pithy sake (not to be confused with my pithy saké) or even for the sake of the corporate landscape, but for the Japanese themselves. I try to empathize: what if the ocean, covered with flaming debris, ate my city? Followed by swamped reactors radiating my vegetables? Then the want of a cozy job takes a back seat to much more essential tasks like rebuilding and survival.

So heal up, Japan. Take care of yourself first. We can get by on limited inventory for a while. Just make sure your citizens are provided for.

And for goodness sakes stop building your nuclear facilities so close to the shore.

Signed,
One good-hearted (yet still too often ignorant) Americano.


Oneida - "Doin Business In Japan"

Cheap Links Are Less Time-Consuming Than The Alternative

Suddenly I found myself typing up a blog post about the women's liberation movement as reflected (or, as I'm finding, UNreflected) by 1960s girl-group pop music. It's going to take a few days. I totally meant to write about something else, but now it is what it is and I'll have to finish it.

But not right now because I'm sleepy.

In the meantime, check out my review of Jurassic Park (timely, I know) as well as all the other wonderful reviews written by our ragtag club of amateur film reviewers.
"Jurassic Park: Ah, Ah, Ahh."

NoiseTrade is offering up Storyboards, the 11-song 2009 album by Sleeping At Last, for the cheap price of FREE. But only for a short time. It's a good collection of weepy songs. Check it out.
https://www.noisetrade.com/sleepingatlast

In fact there's a lot of good stuff dangling around at NoiseTrade.com, so if you've got some time you should explore the site.


I feel like there's something else.

I ate all the cookies.

Goodnight.

The MP3.com Vault: Acoustic Versions

Over ten years ago, in the glory days of MP3.com, several bands (even those signed to -- gasp! -- labels) posted material to MP3.com that was otherwise unavailable. Sometimes they would share acoustic versions of their songs, and sometimes they were actually good. Here are four of those good (and now rare) acoustic tracks.

Sky's The Limit was an ambitious do-it-yourself band that greatly benefited from MP3.com exposure. Despite never signing to a label (though The Neverending Sessions would be re-released through Spark Recordings) the band gained word-of-mouth popularity and garnered a lot of recommendations on the website. They endeared themselves to their fans by posting virtually every song from their lone full-length album. For good measure they tacked on some non-album acoustic tracks. These were good songs, too. If they sound familiar it is because co-founder Dave Gimenez later changed his name to Dave Elkins and co-founded the band Mae, who were signed to Tooth & Nail Records. It's those Big Bird vocals. You can't miss it.
Sky's The Limit - Neverending Like The Sky (acoustic)

Speaking of Mae, shortly before MP3.com dissolved into something lame, the band managed to post a couple free tracks (surprising, since Tooth & Nail was not in the habit of giving away anything for free). One of those free tracks was an acoustic version of "This Time Is The Last Time," apparently recorded at MP3.com studios (studios I didn't even know existed until I heard the spoken intro to the song). Personally I like it better than the album version.
Mae - This Time Is The Last Time (acoustic)

Though Ozma already had a dedicated fan base, it expanded when they got themselves an MP3.com account and shared all sorts of boppy nerd-rock goodness. Like a good band appreciative of their fans, they posted some hard-to-get tracks and some available-nowhere-else acoustic tracks. Here are two acoustic tracks that will get stuck in your head for days. The original versions are good, but these are top-notch.
Ozma - Reign Of The Golden Gorilla (acoustic)
Ozma - Gameover (acoustic)

Phil Phridays!

Just a link this time.

http://leitch.tumblr.com/post/4327141328/phil-collins-hopes-you-had-a-nice-weekend

But you are absolutely mandatorily required to click on it.

Bore Alert: Briefly, My TV Viewing Habits

I may say that I don't watch a lot of TV, but I actually do watch a lot of TV. I just don't watch any sitcoms or dramas. But then sometimes I do.

It's usually baseball, and if not baseball then football, and if not football then basketball. Not often basketball. But then sometimes often basketball.

A lot of nature docs, too. Nature and space are so mesmerizing on an HD television.

A lot more history docs. I find myself oddly compelled by urban development from centuries ago.

The only non-sports fictional-storyline programing I watch with any sort of regularity is "The Simpsons." I don't even watch "The Simpsons" that often anymore because episodes from recent seasons make me frown. If a fifteen-year-old episode that I've seen eighty-seven times comes on... yeah, I'll still watch that and probably laugh obnoxiously at the jokes I already know are coming.

I used to watch "The Daily Show" every night and Conan ("Late Night With" or otherwise) every other night. But then I got a new job, and now those time slots are reserved for working or sleeping.

I used to watch a lot of "C.S.I." But then I stopped. I don't know why.

I can't get into the routine of reserving one night of the week for a particular show. I like "30 Rock," but I don't know what time or day it comes on. Frankly, I don't even care. I've liked the three episodes of "Community" I've seen, but again, it's not a part of my personal schedule and, consequently, I won't watch it. That's fine. I don't feel like I'm missing out.

I can't get into serials, either. No "Heroes," no "Fringe," definitely no "Lost." I can't tell you why. It's not the dedication necessary to watch the whole series (although that does play a part). I know the shows are put together well. People tell me I would like them. But they don't tickle my interest bone at all. Not in the slightest.

And this is why my attempt to try out "The Borgias" is surprising (to me, anyway). I normally don't care about historical dramas. I'll probably never watch an episode of "The Tudors." But here we have a story that is a bit different than others. This one is about POPES. How many TV shows are there about popes? I'm sure there is some obscure BBC comedy from the 1980s about a pope who owns a bicycle shop in Leeds or something, but since it doesn't appear on North American television it doesn't count.

The first episode of "The Borgias" was good, but I felt compelled to fact-check every character and every detail. I kept making mental notes, and this kept distracting me from the story. This is probably why I don't watch historical dramas in the first place.

Also there was more nakedity than necessary. But no swears, so kids'll love it!

It took me a couple of days to decide whether or not I'll take in the second episode. I'll do it, but no promises for the third.

[This is why I primarily just watch sports. I don't over-think it. Did you notice how quickly I glossed over my sports-viewing habits? Did you see how complicated I made everything else?]


I could go into much greater detail about every aspect of every show I do and don't watch, but this is already the most boring combination of letters and words I've ever typed.


Irrelevant to all of the above, snag Insound's April sampler before it's no longer available. It'll be up until the end of this week, but I don't know if that means Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I'm listening to the tracks now. It's a good one.
http://www.insound.com/promos/mixtape?from=99933