Since we last spoke I judged the election, which Obama won. It wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be. I was at my old precinct, so I saw tons of people I knew. It was awesome to see so many young people vote. Do people my age still count as young? Not really, but young-ish I guess.
I also listened to my complete Beck collection. I used to look up to Beck immensely. Mutations was the first album I woke up early for and showed up at the local record shop to buy the day it came out before the store opened. Also their shipments didn't come in until later in the day, so I just waited around the store until he opened the box. One Foot In The Grave and Stereopathic Soul Manure are both essential listening. I lament the fact that he seems to be so stale lately. Modern Guilt seemed to be a spark of something to look forward to, but I think his stupid religion is the main problem.
Halloween. I was a gut-shot, field-dressed moose and Darcy was a hunting Sarah Palin. Unfortunately we have no other pictures from later in the night. Fortunately, the camera made it home.
I'm going to bed early, since I have to get up at 5 am tomorrow to judge the election. In the words of Puff Daddy, "Vote or Die."
It's that time of year again! This weekend we carved up a new batch of pumpkins. I think we put last year to shame. A gratuitous action shot.
Our friend Scott picked out and carved pumpkins with us. I like how straight I made all of my cuts, but his turned out scariest. "And Darcy took home the "Too cool for school" prize with the sunglasses and cigarette.
Then we put the pumpkins out on the steps to guard our front door during the Halloween week. You can see Darcy's pumpkin better in this one too.
We also coerced Candice to carve a pumpkin later that night. She put us all to shame by completely finishing in 15 minutes, while we each spent about 40 minutes on ours.
And finally it got dark enough to light the candles and let the pumpkins shine. They look awesome. We also used Martha Stewart's tip about carving out the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top. It works way better, plus, the top is the coolest part of the jack-o-lantern, so why hack it up just to pull the guts out?
I didn't even try to cook the seeds this year. I should have, but neglected my culinary duties. Last year I didn't come close to finishing my batch. I think it will only make me that much more dedicated to cooking them next year.
The past few days have seen me listening to my collection of Beach Boys albums. The Beach Boys may be my favorite "rock and roll" band. By which I mean my favorite band from the 50's and 60's. Why?
-They were a surf rock band that didn't actually surf. -Their vocal harmonies are spot on. -Every song is either super fun or hauntingly beautiful.
Their story is also one of the most fantastic in music history. Dennis, the drummer, had ties to the Manson Family, Brian used to put his piano in a sandbox to get an authentic "beach sound" and stopped touring with the band early on to write the music for Pet Sounds, the song Good Vibrations is (allegedly) about animals being able to psychically detect vibrations from humans and distinguish between good and bad vibrations, and on and on.
As a final note, anyone that's into music should own Pet Sounds and Sunflower/Surf's Up - my two favorite albums. (I don't count Smile because it is truly a Brian Wilson solo effort.)
Last Wednesday, when I came home for my dinner break, I saw a curious brown paper bag on our doorstep. Written on the outside were the words, "For you." I was a teenager once, so I was immediately a little concerned about what the contents of the package might be. I gingerly opened it up, and found a Steel Reserve tall boy with a note attached.
The note reads, "To the folks who leave cans on the dumpster - Thank you. Today, while walking on the trail and picking up trash this Brown Bag was spotted, and ho - A large unopened can of Beer. Thought of you. Enjoy."
Pretty cool. We always leave our used cans on the side of the dumpster, so people who pick through the trash for cans don't have to get dirty and crawl through our other trash. I mean, they are recycling it, so everybody wins. And even though Steel Reserve is far from my drink of choice, when the weekend came enjoy we did. What's the saying, "Don't look a gift beer in the mouth?" Something like that.
Both Darcy and I seem very hesitant in the pictures; the beer was not very good. But I finished the whole thing, and then completed the circle of life by leaving it out on the dumpster with a thank you note.
Also, don't worry, I've been diligently listening to the B's in my iTunes. One regret? The Bacon Brothers album is already in the past. Oh well, maybe in a few years. Here's a list of the albums I've listened to since my last post:
Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (meh) The Bambi Molesters - Dumb Loud Hollow Twang (awesome Croatian surf rock band recommended and loaned to me by my co-worker Sasa) Band Of Bees - Free the Bees (good) Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time (not as good as Band of Bees) Basil Poledouris - The Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (epic) Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold (how is this not Tori Amos?) Battles - Mirrored (even epic-er) Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside, Gotham, and Mask (Bauhausian)
Remember B&Bs? I do, and it was one of my very favorite stores while I was growing up. I bought a majority of my CDs there before I thought to go to an independent record store. In retrospect I would recommended an independent music store, as they would have most likely steered me away from the first Hootie and the Blowfish album and the No Doubt "I'm Just a Girl" Single. And yes, I'm a guy and bought the "I'm Just a Girl" single. Lay into me if you want to, but I was young and thought Gwen Steffani was a little bit cute. Now, however, I wouldn't really even consider touching her with a ten foot pool. Either way, support your local record shop. I assume most of you are Missoula folk, so check out Ear Candy, my favorite and unbiased best place to buy music in town. If anyone reads this and buys music anywhere else, you're off base, make some changes. Seriously.
Listening to the Bs started with the B-52s, but ended up with a few favorite albums. First up Babyshambles. Say what you want about Pete Doherty, I know I have, but he comes up with some pretty solid tracks. I only have "Down in Albion" but it still rocks. When the Libertines first came out I was one of the first to naysay, but the Babyshamble project gives me hope. I'm a real sucker for drug-addicted, so-called geniuses. Even if they aren't geniuses, and I would never, ever, call Pete Doherty a genius, I'm always captivated by the press and story that follows them, Brittney Spears, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G. (to be fair), and all others. There may be a few others, but I couldn't list everyone for obvious reasons.
Next was the Bad Livers. I love Bad Livers. They have a great name, and they also love a great pun. I've always heard that the band started out as a punk band and then turned to bluegrass so they could play faster. Bad Livers rule. I recommend the album "Industry and Thrift."
Up next was a personal favorite Bad Neighbors (link is a joke, have a sense of humor). Bad Neighbors are possibly my very favorite hip hop group. Don't make me choose. If you really want to experience real hip hop, Buy their album here. Like Hip-hop? You don't if you haven't heard Bad Neighbors. Bad Neighbors are part of the Sandpeople. Sleep at your own risk. Seriously, they are so much better than any other hip hop group that exists. Check the bottom of the post for a track they posted on their myspace page. BUY THEIR ALBUM. I won't say more.
Check the link down below, and also check it for a Bad Livers track.
I've finally made it to the Bs in my iTunes collection. Only three months after starting.
The As were survived by Avril Lavinge, who I have to say is somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine. Each album (I have all three) has one or two good songs. But listening to them straight was a bit of a challenge, which is why it took so long to finish.
The Bs started off with a couple of B-52s tracks from their new album, which sound just like the old B-52 albums. I'm glad, because I'm not sure if I could take them coming out with some new concept album that critics adored. Some people need to stick to catchy pop songs.
Now I'm off to celebrate at Brooks and Brown, the Holiday Inn bar, right next to my house. It may be my newest favorite happy hour in town. 4-6. $4 domestic pitchers, $6 microbrew pitchers, $4 Martinis and $3 Wells.
I still haven't gotten out of the A's. Anyone with me till the end? It'll be a long haul. But fun.
So this picture is me playing music at one of my good friend's weddings. All you need to know about that is that I was coerced into playing "The Chicken Dance," "Greased Lightning," and countless other songs that made me want to die. Plus, I spent the last hour just getting onto the Children Theater's WiFi and playing the audio from YouTube. But, I did have a lot of fun. People danced more than they ever did at the Palace, so I should feel like a real DJ.
I've been slacking on my music listening, I blame politics. I spent the last two weeks watching the Republican and Democratic conventions. Some of you may know that I'm an election judge; others may not. So I feel like I should pretend that I'm politically unbiased. That wouldn't be true though, so if you want to know what I think about this election so far take a look at this...
That said, I would rather vote for any third party. Since Montana has little to no sway in the electoral college, I would rather vote for a viable 3rd party to get them equal federal campaign funding. Obviously a two party system doesn't work, so let's make a real change. No offense to Obama, but he doesn't represent the change I'm gunning for. Whoops! Let's not talk politics on this blog. Anymore.
In music news, I'm just starting Atmosphere's "Strictly Leakage" (download here, scroll down a bit and download from one of their two options) after listening to a lot of their old stuff. Strictly Leakage is hella dope. Yes, I said hella. The new album ("When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold") doesn't compare to this fun, funky, old-schoolish, party album. Cop it for free and see why Slug is one of the dopest rhymers in the game today, not to mention Ant's banging beats.
Speaking of people hating on Slug...wait, that was mainly me a couple of years ago, and totally out of line. I was convinced that Slug had fallen off in the years right after "Seven's Travels," but still wouldn't miss his show at the Other Side. I showed up after imbibing a few too many and proceeded to drink way too many black russians, especially considering the state I showed up in. To make a long story short, Slug killed it and I ended up finding him at the bar since Missoula is a tiny town with tiny towns that don't have green rooms or backstage areas. I told him that I showed up ready to heckle and that I thought he'd fallen off, but he totally proved me wrong. I'm sure that was slurred and didn't come out eloquent at all, but he looked at me from under his hooded sweatshirt and simply said, "Yeah, whatever." Even then I knew it was a great response. If I was in his place I would have wanted to punch me in the face. Great restraint Slug.
After listening to "Strictly Leakage" while writing this, I would again stress that you should download this album. It's a straight up classic. Plus it's free, so what's your prob, son? Or should I say, "dun?" They'll be at the Wilma on September 16th, so cop a ticket.
Since we last spoke I judged the election, which Obama won. It wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be. I was at my old precinct, so I saw tons of people I knew. It was awesome to see so many young people vote. Do people my age still count as young? Not really, but young-ish I guess.
