two.points.collapsing

it’s been a hell of a year for radio in LA. i had honestly not turned on any radio of mine the entire duration of my college education. then they put up an indie-rock station and my hope was renewed. i’ve posted enough about them in the past to leave that station alone by now though. they seem to be doing okay and i check in with them frequently.

now we’ve got perhaps an even more valuable addition: air america radio. i heard the chatter about this station starting up around the web pre-launch, and fortunately remembered the station frequency while in my car during the first week. already i’m hopelessly addicted to this station. it has taken over my drive times and i put it on over weekends when i’m running errands. i even put on headphones for the first time ever in 9 months at my job to listen to john kerry on al franken’s show this morning (which was a bit brief and generic, but i’m still 100% on his side come election time).

i think i’m intrigued at the idea of being intellectually stimulated while driving, which is entirely new to me outside of the odd road-trip philosophizing with my friends. i’ve never tried an audio book because it seemed weird to me, but being too busy at work to read news sites and not having cable to catch the daily show at home has left me with a dearth of liberal political satire lately, and god it feels good to have it back. not coincidentally i’m sure, steven colbert was a guest co-host on the evening show last week, and jon stewart was a guest on the afternoon show this wednesday.

‘morning sedition’ and ‘the o’franken factor’ are especially good for those in their cars during the morning commute or around town grabbing lunch, respectively. admittedly, it could be novelty that’s making me tune in so compulsively for the inaugural few weeks and it could be right back to ipod country come may. but at least for now part of me is looking forward to drive times and a little sad when i get to work in less time than normal. that’s a pretty strong endorsement, so i recommend you check it out (1580 AM or streamed live on their site).

it’s a true testament to someone’s strength of spirit that in five years of acquaintence you would never even guess they were facing a life-threatening illness. for the same reasons i imagine the loss is all the greater to everyone who knew her, and my heart and thoughts are with the wakerlys this week and in the future.

i wish that just driving up to show our support at a service could better reflect how much we enjoyed knowing her. if it’s any comfort to mike or the rest of his family, there was one thing i thought while listening to her friends and family speak of kate: that she really lived life well and made a mark on the world around her. she will absolutely be missed.

friday night while meg and i were enjoying delicious hamburgers at the hamlet, our waiter commented on my cursive shirt and then launched into how the new mars volta album was the best record in five years. it was funny how suddenly he felt comfortable pouring out his musical obsession to us; but i enjoyed it. more people should just put themselves out in front like that.

nevermind that i disagreed with him and think he’s awfully generous to an album of mainly screaming and racket-making…but you can’t blame a lonely music geek for trying to liven up his menial job delivering burgers. in fact, i commend him.

the rest of the weekend has been great; or rather had been up until having to come in to work on a sunday afternoon — damn busy season. i saw ladykillers which could not even leverage my coen fascination into making me fully like it, and also hellboy which surprised me by being cooler than expected. so i’d say pass on ladykillers because it’s okay but missable, but check out hellboy if you’re into comic movies because this one does a nice job of it.

now, back to work. at 5pm. on sunday. all i say is i better get me some free food and be outta here well before arrested development comes on…

the mountain goats – we shall all be healed – 5 stars

i know the mountain goats are still new to me, having never heard them until the amazing previous record tallahassee. so it could be that i’m still floating in the realm of infatuation and not thinking long term here (see yesterday). however, i do know how i feel about this cd right now, and that comes in two parts.

one, this is not tallahassee. that was a remarkable cd in every way i could think of, and still one of my favorites almost two years later. the new cd may get a five star rating just like the prior, but that’s because i love them both, not because they are equal.

so, two, is the fact that this cd still blows me away in a lot of the same ways. fantastic writing. that same endearing, unique, almost-but-not-quite annoying vocal style. the same simplicity of a man and his words and his guitar, even when that core is embellished with strings or percussion or keys (and might i say, well done in this go-round). i want to cry or snarl or reflect with him, i’m drawn into the strange world of each song — perhaps more by standouts like ‘mole’ or ‘against pollution’ — and i honestly can’t get enough of this cd. half the time i go from track 13 back to track 1 for another trip around.

it’s definitely not quite as beautiful as its predecessor, which was softer and more tender. i also miss the bittersweet tone that ran through all of the last album and held it together tighter than this one. but you can’t write multiple concept albums based around the failing marriage of a fictional couple, can you? probably not, even if i wished he did. with we shall all be healed, though, he did put together another piece of work which has me convinced he’s brilliant, so i suppose i shouldn’t ask for much more.

and if you’re curious yourself, try not to cry as you fall in love with another especially good track, ‘linda blair was born innocent‘. not that i’m saying i cried or anything — it’s just really good, okay?

i didn’t even get to mention in my get up kids reverie that recover played a really solid set and i continue to think they’re underrated. when the new cd comes out this summer hopefully more people will see it my way. their new song ‘simple’ is choice. but moving on…

the get up kids show sunday night made me realize how bands are like girls. you’ll come across thousands in your life, and a lot of them you’ll never even really hear, just pass by. maybe a few hundred you’ll have meaningful interactions with, but only a few dozen will have a real impact on your life.

i’d say the get up kids are to me today a lot like the girlfriend i had in college when i started listening to them is to me today too. something i loved fiercely at one point, and will always have a tender spot for, but something that i’ll never feel as excited about again. i’ll prefer to remember the best memories i have of them instead of expecting anything in the future to be quite as good, even though i’ll always be nice to them, think of them fondly, and consider them great in my book.

see, the get up kids and i are just friends now. i realize there are only going to be a handful of bands i ever come across that i could possibly love for the rest of my life, and although we did have an amazing relationship, it just wasn’t meant to be with us. sure, it could have worked out if the time was right, but we can’t control the when and the how, just be grateful for what we had together while we had it.

don’t get me wrong, it was really nice to see them again, the night together really just cemented what i already knew — that we’re just not the same people we used to be. but you know what, that’s okay. they were still one of the good ones; one of the ones that i shared a special part of my life with. one of the serious, enduring relationships that i have to admit helped formed who i am. for that, i’ll always have a place in my heart for them. it’s important though to realize when it’s time to move on.

besides, they’re getting fat anyway.

must apologize for the hiatus. the days have been spent working pretty hard, meaning a bit less time for writing. and the nights have been spent steadily falling for the special lady more and more, interspersed with nights trying to spend time with the friends i may have been neglecting while wanting to spend all my free time with the girl. have to make a point to try to combine the two more often and make everyone a little more involved.

so i started the trend this weekend and everyone had a good time — friday night we stopped by a few party spots and got to enjoy the company of friends and drinks. then saturday we joined mike and dan and others for a picnic where we got to enjoy the company of friends and frisbees. i think the whole girl + friends + fun formula may be my new favorite recipe for weekends. not that just she and i don’t have enough fun alone; even things like going grocery shopping or watching carrie last night have a bit more laughter and excitement with someone that cool to accompany me. needless to say then, being non-single now is working out fantastically.

tonight i’m off to see the get up kids and recover. let’s see if the old favorite of my early college years can still hold up, shall we? i heard guilt show was pretty decent at least. and i do love recover to death either way, so i’m excited. i’ll let you know how it goes.

excellent weekend — screener thursday, half-day friday, road trip to san fran to see dom and drink, then back sunday night early enough to see my lady. all great, except having slept on the floor and being bleary in the monday morning fog.

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind – 5 stars

i was oh so lucky enough to get free screener passes to see this thursday (thanks jen!), but i didn’t get a chance to write about it friday and scoop everyone who doesn’t have such cool friends. now all the hip kids have probably seen it already, but the important thing is that if you haven’t you DO. as soon as you can. as far as films go, this is the complete package. i’d love to go on and on about it, but i don’t want to spoil it for anyone. maybe when i inevitably go to see it a second time in a few weeks, i’ll let go the floodgates. but you had better have seen it by then or you’re only hurting yourself.

starsky & hutch – 2 stars

it’s weird. i love the cast, i know they’re all comedically talented, but maybe the remake/spoof aspect just didn’t offer up enough opportunity. they had a cool look down with the moustaches and costumes and all that, and i wasn’t bored at any point, it was enjoyable at least — the film as a whole just seemed uneventful. cool ass car though. and i’ll still go to see the next stiller/wilson quasi-sexually-ambiguous duo comedy all the same, as well as insist that vince vaughn can consistently make boring dialogue really funny.

over this weekend i have learned a few new things and relearned a few old ones. for example, terminator 2 is definitely NOT as good an action movie as die hard — that i am more sure of than ever. additionally, i miss too many shots at pool for it to be very fun, but certainly do enjoy four dollar pints. the lighting and leather booths at formosa cafe go perfectly with a single drink and a beautiful girl, more so when they’re playing death cab for cutie in the background. i love buying new books more than most things i ever do. and one of the only things better is having someone wonderful with you for two straight days and not getting tired of them at all, even once, even for a minute.

we are lucky to live in the top corner of our apartment building. although this means we have a slightly skewed floor plan, the benefits are having windows on two sides instead of just one, and the lack of neighbors. the whole southern side borders a hallway, the eastern and northern side border no one, and only my roommate’s bedroom is directly touching the neighbor’s room (he’s only complained once so far). plus we never hear anyone’s footsteps above us. so for the most part, making noise is not really of any concern to me and i would go so far as to say doesn’t cross my mind at all while i’m kicking out the jams in my room.

then last week i finally figured out the name of that white stripes song i kept hearing on indie 103 — ‘ball and biscuit’. i couldn’t believe that it took a radio station to introduce me to a song i liked this much. where were you with that tip, indie rock blogger world? oh right, i guess i should have just bought the cd like everyone said to 8 months ago. in fact i probably would have if i had heard this sooner, but it’s way too 2003 to buy now; i’d look like some guy who’s buying cd’s the radio station told him to. how tacky.

but back to the point. once i finally pinned down the song, i started listening to it like ten times a day because those solos are crazy and it’s like seven minutes of rock and suddenly i started to wonder. can whoever lives beneath me hear my music? having never pinpointed which resident is our neighbor below, i only picture some helpless timid guy living down there, who normally can’t complain about my impeccable music tastes which range gracefully from mellow indie pop to more aggressive rock with enough hip hop and electronic music mixed in to keep things fresh. then one day he hears this great song coming muffled down through the ceiling. but then he hears it a dozen more times over the weekend, and it doesn’t stop there. and while i keep turning it up louder to squeeze every last drop of squealing rock and roll energy from this great song, this poor guy passive-aggressivly imagines figuring out which car in the garage is mine so he can accidentally scrape the shit out of it with the new filing cabinet he’s unloading when no one’s around. so should i maybe try to temper the rotation on this one?

yeah, sorry about that, guy, but this air guitar isn’t going to play itself, now is it.

[now hearing this: actually, something else. i haven’t downloaded that tune to my imac here yet, so i only play it at home — when i can unapologetically crank it up.]