Disparate Mischief

Standing Desk, Six Weeks In

2011-04-16T17:54:00.001-05:00

The standing was a distraction from work when I started doing it. I could stand for an hour or two before my body would fight it and I'd need to sit to keep focused on what I was doing. (Luckily, my setup allowed for this: Laptop in sitting position, desktop in standing position. Remoting from laptop to desktop or vice versa.)

Now, it's rarely a distraction, aside from folks asking about it from time to time. I've been in the zone for hours at a time, completely forgetting that I'm standing up. I'll still sit during lunch, and maybe for thirty minutes here or there. I'll often sit if I'm reading something lengthy, for instance.

A few other observations:

Coming home after a day on your feet and crashing on the couch (or making a nice dinner and sitting down to eat it) feels good. Satisfying.
Come the weekend, if I sit all day or sleep too long, I'll feel like crap. Restless, and sometimes achy in the upper back or head.
I've been finding it easier to get to sleep at night, and easier to get out of bed in the morning. Also been finding myself a bit more energetic throughout the day.
I've been drinking regular soda instead of diet soda every now and then. Mountain Dew cravings. This could be unrelated.
One of my knees has been bothering me a bit. I'd started doing Couch to 5K again for a while, and this may be because of a tweak during that, or a combination of the standing and the running after months of virtually no activity. Not sure. But I should point it out, 'cause it definitely could be because of the standing.

Things I Wish I Did More Of

2011-03-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

Longer-form writing
Longer-form reading
Making things
Cooking
Biking
Editing

Best of 2010: Albums

2011-01-04T11:58:00.003-06:00

(or: A Collection of Highly Enjoyable Albums from 2010, Roughly Ordered By My Estimation of Their Quality)

Rogue Wave: Permalight
The National: High Violet
Frightened Rabbit: The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Phosphorescent: Here's to Taking It Easy
The Tallest Man On Earth: The Wild Hunt
Slow Club: Yeah, So
Broken Bells: Broken Bells
The Black Keys: Brothers
Steel Train: Steel Train
Freelance Whales: Weathervanes
Harlan T. Bobo: Sucker
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
Frontier Ruckus: Deadmalls and Nightfalls
The Morning Benders: Big Echo
Delta Spirit: History From Below
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: Let It Sway
Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More

LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening

The Futureheads: The Chaos
Kings Go Forth: The Outsiders Are Back
Titus Andronicus: The Monitor
Roky Erickson & Okkervil River: True Love Cast Out All Evil
Horse Feathers: Thistled Spring
Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
Futurebirds: Hampton's Lullaby
Damien Jurado: Saint Bartlett
Venice is Sinking: Sand & Lines
Hot Chip: One Life Stand
Typhoon: Hunger and Thirst
The New Pornographers: Together
Matt Pond, PA: The Dark Leaves
Josh Ritter: So Runs the World Away
Yeasayer: Odd Blood
Call Me Lightning: When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
Fran Healy: Wreckorder
Belle and Sebastian: Write About Love
The Rescues: Let Loose the Horses
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Fang Island: Fang Island
Vampire Weekend: Contra
Suckers: Wild Smile
Beach House: Teen Dream

Also, off the top of my head...
Disappointments: Gorillaz, Ryan Adams, Spoon
Overrated: Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast

Best Albums of 2010 So Far

2010-08-16T14:59:00.000-05:00

I've been working on my list of the best albums of 2010 all year long this year. So far, here's the shortlist:

Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
The National: High Violet
Josh Ritter: So Runs the World Away
Frightened Rabbit: The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings: I Learned the Hard Way
Broken Bells: Broken Bells
Phosphorescent: Here's To Taking It Easy
The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt
Good Old War: Good Old War
Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can
Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
Free Energy: Stuck on Nothing
Avi Buffalo: Avi Buffalo
Dum Dum Girls: I Will Be
Hot Chip: One Life Stand
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Revord
LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening
Steel Train: Steel Train
Peter Wolf Crier: Inter-Be
The Roots: How I Got Over
Anais Mitchell: Hadestown
Laura Veirs: July Flame
Call Me Lightning: When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
The Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Jesca Hoop: Hunting My Dress
Futurebirds: Hampton's Lullaby
Best Coast: Crazy For You

You can view the live list here: http://schultzy.tadalist.com/lists/1352872/public. I'm moving things above the first dashed line as I decide they'll make the list, and checking them off as I decide they're not making the list.

Staggering Resolutions: Weekday Veg

2010-06-02T13:08:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I introduced "Staggering Resolutions," my plan to do a new mini-resolution every month. The first one of those resolutions was to quit smoking, and I've had serious trouble sticking to that one. But now I've got several months of not smoking under my belt again, and I want to move on to the next thing.

So I'm trying a new one this month: weekday vegetarianism. This means exactly what it sounds like: Monday through Friday, I'm not eating meat. On the weekends, I'm reverting to my natural, carnivorous state.

I've found it a bit difficult to explain precisely why I'm compelled to do this. It's mostly for health reasons, I think, but it's also kind of interesting to change up my routine. And already, I've found one meal near the office that's absolutely delicious, and which I probably never would've tried without the constraint of vegetarianism. (The meal: Alterra Foundry's grilled veggie burrito.)

Anyway, this is happening. And I might blog about it some more. We'll see.

Lala Web Albums

2010-05-06T10:10:00.000-05:00

No, I don't really expect you to care, but I wanted to make a list of the web albums I bought from Lala.com, to make sure I don't forget any of them, and I figured making it public might not be a bad idea.

Most of them are pretty good.

The Airborne Toxic Event: The Airborne Toxic Event
April Smith and the Great Picture Show: Songs For a Sinking Ship
Blind Pilot: 3 Rounds and a Sound
Broken Bells: Broken Bells
Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig
The Futureheads: The Chaos
The Futureheads: The Futureheads
Goldheart Assembly: Wolves and Thieves
Great Lake Swimmers: Lost Channels
Horse Feathers: Thistled Spring
Horse Feathers: Words Are Dead
JS Poppe: Sleep Therapy
Juniper Tar - The Howl Street EP
Laura Veirs - July Flame
The Low Anthem - Oh My God Charlie Darwin
The Low Anthen - What The Crow Brings
Matt Pond, PA - Several Arrows Later
Matt Pond, PA - Winter Songs EP
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
The National - Cherry Tree EP
Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Passion Pit - Manners
Say Hi - The Wishes and the Glitch
The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks

Best of 2009: Movies

2010-02-13T22:08:00.000-06:00

I spent quite a bit of energy on my music best-of lists, so this list comes with no commentary. For now, at least:

1. Up

2. The Road

3. Up In The Air

4. Avatar

5. Drag Me To Hell

6. The Hurt Locker

7. Inglourious Basterds

8. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

9. Coraline

10. Duplicity

11. District 9

12. An Education

13. The Brothers Bloom

14. (500) Days of Summer

15. Funny People

I will say that, while Drag Me To Hell isn't for everyone, it does a terrific job at what it's trying to do. Highly recommended.

Best of 2009: Songs

2010-02-13T21:43:00.000-06:00

1. Strand of Oaks: "Lawns Breed Songs"
2. Strand of Oaks: "End In Flames"
3. Strand of Oaks: "Two Kids"
4. Strand of Oaks: "Do You Like To Read?"
5. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons: "Tennessee"
6. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson: "Relator"
7. Death Cab for Cutie: "Little Bribes"
8. Phoenix: "Girlfriend"
9. Gomez: "Airstream Driver"
10. Joshua James: "Lawn Full Of Marigolds"
11. Frightened Rabbit: "Swim Until You Can't See Land"
12. A.C. Newman: "Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer"
13. Strand of Oaks: "Dogs of War"
14. Say Hi: "Elouise"
15. Say Hi: "Hallie and Henry"
16. Bowerbirds: "Northern Lights"
17. The Avett Brothers: "Ten Thousand Words"
18. We Were Promised Jetpacks: "Quiet Little Voices"
19. Phoenix: "1901"
20. The XX: "VCR"
21. Say Hi: "November Was White, December was Grey"
22. Say Hi: "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh"
23. Pezzettino: "You Never Know"
24. Joshua James: "Coal War"
25. Megafaun: "The Longest Day"
26. The XX: "Heart Skipped a Beat"
27. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes: "Home"
28. Jay-Z: "Run This Town"
29. Joshua James: "Weeds"
30. Phoenix: "Lisztomania"
31. Say Hi: "The Stars Just Blink For Us"
32. Say Hi: "Maurine"
33. A.C. Newman: "You've Got To Be Kidding Me"
34. Bell X1: "The Great Defector"
35. Fruit Bats: "Tegucigalpa"
36. Lucero: "Mom"
37. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers: "Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts"
38. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers: "Wagon Wheel"
39. A.C. Newman: "There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve..."
40. Joshua James: "In The Middle"
41. Andrew Bird: "Fitz and the Dizzyspells"
42. Mike Doughty: "Nectarine, Part Two"
43. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons: "Born Again"
44. A.C. Newman: "Prophets"
45. Grizzly Bear: "Two Weeks"
46. Eels: "Prizefighter"
47. Fruit Bats: "The Ruminant Band"

48. Clem Snide: "Born A Man"

49. Deer Tick: "Little White Lies"
50. Fruit Bats: "Feather Bed"

Best of 2009: Albums

2010-02-13T20:22:00.004-06:00

Back in June, the topic of best music of the year came up. I think someone asked me what I'd been into so far in '09. I didn't have an answer. I'd bought a few albums, but didn't really get into them. And so I went around for months, talking about how 2009 was a weak year for music.

Now, in compiling my list of the best albums of '09, I'm reconsidering that notion. I don't think it was a strong year, but there's plenty to point at in its defense. Some of those early albums grew on me, and a couple of great ones came along later.

These are them.

1. Strand of Oaks: Leave Ruin
When I post my list of best tracks of the year, it's going to be hard to not include half of this record. A sort of coming-of-middle-age album, with simple folk instrumentation, gorgeous vocals, and memorable, haunting lyrics, Leave Ruin is a head above every album on this list and a terrific reminder of why I constantly search for new music - I'd never have heard of this if not for a note from a friend.

2. Say Hi: Oohs & Aahs
This was a fluke. If you follow my Twitter account, you'll know that I often post potential band names, generally just to be clever or silly. I posted "Say Hi To Your Mom For Me" as a potential name one day, was told that a band already existed with that name, and checked them out. They've since shortened their name to "Say Hi," and they recorded the best pop album of 2009.

This is the same kind of indie-pop stuff people gush about when it comes from Phoenix or The XX. And while Oohs & Aahs may offer anything quite as danceable as some of the songs on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix or as pretty as some of the stuff on xx, it manages to be, by turns, gorgeous, danceable, and consistently good. There's not a weak moment on this album.

3. A.C. Newman: Get Guilty
A.C. Newman has eclipsed The New Pornographers, in my estimation. If you're familiar with him or with that band, Get Guilty should offer few surprises, but it's some of his best work. If you're not familiar: This is what power pop sounds like in the 00's: power chords, crisp production, relentlessly catchy.

4. (tie) Cory Chisel and the Wandering Songs: Death Won't Send A Letter, Joshua James: Build Me This
Highly appropriate to group these albums together. Both were initially disappointing, but grew on me. And they're still not as good as the albums that preceded them. But that doesn't keep me from recognizing them as good collections of songs from two of my favorite artists. (Hopes were unreasonably high, I think.)

I think part of my initial disappointment stemmed from my predilection for spare instrumentation. Both Death and Build Me This find the artist exploring a more full-band sound, and it generally works, but it's not what I wanted. But it does work in many cases. And some of the best quiet folk songs of the year are mixed in, as well.

6. Lucero: 1372 Overton Park
You wouldn't think that adding a horn section would help Lucero. This is a band that's been endearing to me largely because of its rough edges, the tossed-off quality of its sound. But it works. They (admirably) used some restraint, and produced what might be their most end-to-end listenable album since Tennessee, mixing in some of the waltzy bar-room country sound of their early records and the driving, Springsteen-style rock of their more recent work. There aren't any stand-out tracks, unfortunately but it's an excellent album.

7. Fruit Bats: The Ruminant Band
Shins-ish indie pop with fewer twee moments than there were on Chutes Too Narrow. And way better than the last Shins album, now that I think about it.

8. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
No question, Phoenix put out two of the catchiest singles of 2009 in "Lisztomania" and "1901." Unfortunately for them, both tracks were massively overplayed (which is saying something, since I don't listen to the radio), and the rest of the album, while good, isn't strong enough to warrant placement at the top of my list. It's at the top of plenty of other best-of-09 lists, though, and it is a damn good album. And a big step forward for the band.

9. The XX: xx
A lot of the reviews I read about this raved about how well The XX "create space." It's kind of a confusing concept, I think. From what I gather, it means they're not afraid to leave empty moments in their music. Let everything stop for a moment or two. Let just the bass play for a few moments. That sort of thing. And it's a neat trick, but it didn't jump out at me when I listened to xx. What did was the intimacy. This is a sexy album. The combination of breathy, sort of slurry vocals with spare, synthy production and some exquisite bass easily make it the make-out album of '09.

10. The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love
I want The Decemberists to go back to writing singles. In an era in which the album, as an art form, appears to be losing its relevance (as opposed to singles, which are gaining ground), The Decemberists could give a shit. There are no singles on Hazards of Love. It's a prog-folk epic, not unlike their earlier EP, The Tain, and it's an amazing hourlong piece of music. It ebbs and flows and bobs and weaves, getting catchy in parts, revisiting pieces of itself, and telling a lovely story. But I miss being able to put Decemberists songs on mixes. They'd probably be higher on this list if they'd help me out.

Honorable Mentions (with some notes):

A.A. Bondy: When the Devil's Loose
A few good tracks, but plenty of dry, unmemorable stuff. Disappointing after his stellar first album.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast
Might just not have listened to this one enough. I definitely liked a couple tracks, but most of the rest blended together. It's all pretty and intricate, though, and I'd go see Andrew Bird live any day.

The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You
Definitely didn't listen to this enough. I have a feeling I'm going to regret not placing it in the top ten, when I do give it some more attention.

Bowerbirds: Upper Air
"Northern Lights" is one of my favorite tracks of the year, and the rest of the album sounds great, but I haven't spent enough time with it to love it. (Yes, that's a theme.)

Cass McCombs: Catacombs
Love the sound. Barely missed the top ten.

Clem Snide: Hungry Bird
First half is gorgeous, ethereal pop. Second half is kind of boring ethereal pop.

Deer Tick: Born On Flag Day
Love the sound. Barely missed the top ten.

Megafaun: Gather, Form & Fly
Love the sound. Barely missed the top ten.

Mike Doughty: Sad Man Happy Man
Includes a couple of great songs that just happen to sound like every other Mike Doughty song. That's not really a bad thing to me, though. Also, some charming goofy stuff and some stupid goofy stuff. Worth ten bucks, especially if you're a fan of his previous solo work. (If you're not familiar, go get Haughty Melodic first.)

Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk
Didn't give this enough attention.

Pezzettino: Lion
Local band, of whom I'm a big fan.

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers: The Bear
Good guitar-based pop-rock. It's a crime that Stephen Kellogg isn't on the radio.

We Were Promised Jetpacks: These Four Walls
Just barely missed the top ten.

Wilco: Wilco (The Album)
Disappointing, but still decent.

2010 Checklist

2010-01-05T00:17:00.007-06:00

Learn how to drive a stick shift
Make schnitzel & spaetzle
Make the Chicken Mac recipe from The Chancery
Learn basic piano chords & scales
Get an electric guitar
~~Move into a new, nicer apartment~~
Take my sisters to a baseball game
Cancel cable
~~Buy a new car~~
~~Leave the country~~
~~Ride my bike to work~~
Eat at JJ's Fish & Chicken
Have Sam Dodge take my picture
Eat at Lake Park Bistro
Eat at a new German restaurant
Go to the Boundary Waters
Make best-of-the 00's lists
Run a 10k
~~Watch a baseball game at a stadium I've never been to~~
Make oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips
Close Wolski's
~~Go bowling~~
Pull an all-nighter
~~Go on a working vacation~~
Take a tour of Miller Park
Brew some beer
~~Make a new friend~~
Make a website that's actually useful for people
Write a song
~~Go camping~~
Wear a bowtie
Throw a party
Take a weekend trip on my scooter
Make an iPhone or Android app
Get Kevin (Conway) drunk
Get Kevin (Ciesielski) drunk

How to Watch Battlestar Galactica

2009-05-25T20:43:00.005-05:00

From the comment thread of a blog post requesting the proper order in which to view BSG stuffs:

1. Watch the mini-series
2. Watch seasons 2 and 3, preferably in chunks of several episodes at a time so you don’t get bored out of your skull when a writer starts writing about his divorce.
3. Watch "Razor"
4. Watch season 4 to the end of "Daybreak, Part 2"
5. Instead of watching the final hour ("Daybreak, Part 3"), put the DVD in the microwave on max power.

I whole-heartedly endorse this plan.

Things My iPhone Is

2009-04-02T11:24:00.003-05:00

- phone

- walkie talkie

- walkman

- radio

- alarm clock

- camera

- photo album

- pocketwatch

- calculator

- calendar

- rolodex

- notebook

- newspaper

- dictionary

- encyclopedia

- tv

- web browser

- rss client

- im client

- email client

- crossword puzzle

- map

- book

- musical instrument

- flashlight

Vegas

2009-02-04T00:10:00.003-06:00

I'll be in Las Vegas, NV for the MIX 09 conference March 18-20 (and POSSIBLY a day or two after that).

(Just putting that out there, in case anyone I know will randomly also be there.)

As Seen on TV

2009-01-03T01:40:00.005-06:00

You know, even if something being sold via 1-800 number in a TV commercial starts to seem like a good idea, the fact that it's being marketed that way virtually guarantees that I'm not going to buy it.

This is, I think, a general rule in the minds of most of my generation: 1-800 NUMBER TV AD = SCAM.

(Or maybe not scam, but at least sleazy.)

Scrapbook

2009-01-01T12:16:00.003-06:00

I started a tumblelog for bullshit stuff of the type that I used to share here and still share from time to time via Google Reader. It's a little experiment for me. Tumblr is nice because it lets me share music.

Check it out. Subscribe, if you're into the whole RSS thing. I will be sharing less stuff in Google Reader as a result of this. At least for as long as it lasts.

2009 Checklist

2008-12-31T18:15:00.015-06:00

Learn how to drive with a stick shift
Make schnitzel & spaetzle (mmm...)
~~Go camping~~
~~Finish paying off student loans~~
~~Go to a baseball game~~
~~Wear a suit~~
Pull an all-nighter
Learn basic piano chords & scales
~~Go out on a date~~
Get all my music files in one place, back 'em up, and ditch the physical media
Ring someone's doorbell and run away
~~Do a freelance project~~
High-five a stranger
Get off the grid for a solid week
~~Ask a stupid question~~
Host a poker night
Cancel cable
Kill a bee
~~Spend a whole day at the movies~~
~~Make a mix cd for someone~~
Sell my car & buy a new vehicle
Leave the country
Invest in a green company
Ride my bike to work
~~Drink absinthe~~
Read Infinite Jest
Run a 10k
~~Get a a new laptop~~
Be a vegetarian for a week
Make oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips
Build something useful with F#
Close Wolski's
~~Save $X (I know what X is, but I don't want the world to know)~~
~~Make a presentation~~
Take a tour of Miller Park
Go downhill skiing
~~Go to American Science & Surplus~~
Add to this list

:-)

Staggering Resolutions: Constitution

2008-12-31T17:48:00.005-06:00

(I've decided to resurrect the monthly resolution scheme I tried back in 2007.)

I have a feeling that there's little that will improve my quality of life more than getting back in shape. To that end, since I'm not really in jogging shape at this point, I'm starting small and setting a goal for January of 90 miles walked.

That's a 3-mile walk, 30 times. Roughly daily. Seems like a good baseline.

I plan to run in February.

2008 - Albums

2008-12-20T13:53:00.007-06:00

This was done with some haste. I intend to revisit the question in a few months, when I've spent some more time with these and a few other records.

Top Ten Albums of 2008

1. Frightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ Fight

2. Horse Feathers: House With No Home

3. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

4. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

5. A.A. Bondy: American Hearts

6. Girl Talk: Feed The Animals

7. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: Cardinology

8. Okkervil River: The Stand-ins

9. TV on the Radio: Dear Science

10. The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale

Honorable Mention:

Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs

Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP

Drive-by Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Mates of State: Re-Arrange Us

The Weepies: Hideaway

R.E.M.: Accelerate

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

She & Him: Volume One

Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion

The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride

Coldplay: Viva La Vida

Eef Barzelay: Lose Big

Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue

Big Disappointment: Kanye West: 808's and Heartbreak

Mission: Impossible 3

2008-12-07T20:41:00.003-06:00

J.J. Abrams appears to have taken the sliding-toward-then-off-of-a-cliff thing, which I believe he used twice in M:I3, and recycled it for the trailer for his new Star Trek movie. Luckily, I saw the Star Trek trailer first. I thought it was cool there.
While Philip Seymour Hoffman showed here that he makes a pretty bad-ass action movie villian, I thought he was underused. I vaguely recall a teaser trailer in which Hoffman is talking to a captive Cruise, telling him all the terrible things he's going to do to him. That seemed really promising, and the film kinda failed to deliver.
Reflecting on the previous two bullet points, it occurs to me that maybe J.J. Abrams should stick to making trailers.

The China Syndrome

2008-12-07T20:28:00.003-06:00

Movies from the 70's always seem to have to work harder for my attention, but The China Syndrome won me over. Jane Fonda was terrific, showing admirable restraint in a role that would be overacted to death by anyone I could imagine playing it today. And Jack Lemmon, of course, was great.

One problem I had with it: Horrible, horrible title.

The Pelican Brief

2008-12-07T20:21:00.002-06:00

Watched The Pelican Brief this afternoon. Maybe it's because I've watched a number of mid-nineties thrillers lately, but I found it really dry and unrewarding. The only thought I have to share is this: Julie Roberts was way cuter in 1993. (One might attribute this to the oversized t-shirts. Hawt.)

Road House

2008-12-07T20:10:00.004-06:00

Road House is a widely used example of a shitty movie. I decided to watch it, hoping to be amused, banking on the ridicule factor. There really wasn't much of that. It's terrible, with, unfortunately, not a bang, but a whimper.

Obamanomics

2008-08-21T19:06:00.003-05:00

"I think I can tell a pretty simple story. Ronald Reagan ushered in an era that reasserted the marketplace and freedom. He made people aware of the cost involved of government regulation or at least a command-and-control-style regulation regime. Bill Clinton to some extent continued that pattern, although he may have smoothed out the edges of it. And George Bush took Ronald Reagan's insight and ran it over a cliff. And so I think the simple way of telling the story is that when Bill Clinton said the era of big government is over, he wasn't arguing for an era of no government. So what we need to bring about is the end of the era of unresponsive and inefficient government and short-term thinking in government, so that the government is laying the groundwork, the framework, the foundation for the market to operate effectively and for every single individual to be able to be connected with that market and to succeed in that market. And it's now a global marketplace."

This article is long, but it's well worth a look.

New Apartment

2008-07-20T17:45:00.000-05:00

It is nice.

Pictures!

2008-07-20T15:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Russia (incl. Dan Jakubowski's wedding)

Pictures from Angie Kern & Adam Genet's wedding

Russia Trip 2008

2008-06-16T18:05:00.003-05:00

I'm going to Russia tomorrow morning, for my buddy Dan's wedding. Well, not just tomorrow. Leaving tomorrow, returning Monday.

A couple of notes on this:

- I'm pretty sure I need to bring a suit, for the wedding and all. Thank heavens I'm bringing a suitcase. (Ha!)

- After some internal debate about (among other things) whether I'd feel comfortable bringing it to Russia, I bought a DSLR camera today. I will be bringing it. If all goes well, you'll be seeing some pictures in a week or two.

- This trip will require a day of travel on both ends. I'm not bringing the ipod (or my phone), so I'll need entertainment. My reading list: Persepolis, Generation Kill, and The End of Faith. I might decide to bring more than that. (I wanted to go to the comic book store today to get some reading material, but they were closed. :-/)

- I'm not looking forward to the number of new items that will have accumulated in my Google Reader when I return.

Google Reader Stats

2008-06-15T00:43:00.002-05:00

I subscribe to my own feed in Google Reader, which lets me look at a couple of feed stats. (I also use FeedBurner, but I never check that.)

Looking today, I have five subscribers, including myself, which is unsurprising. (Welcome!)

What is surprising is that Google Reader is telling people that I make 2.8 posts per week. That hasn't been true for like six months, and it goes to show just how uneven my blogging can be. Or how Google should rethink its method for calculating that sort of thing. Or at least include some measure of variance.

New Muxtape: It's A Good Refrain

2008-06-14T03:54:00.003-05:00

Five-song mini-mix this time. See if you can pick up the theme.

Tracks:
"Born to Hum," by Erin McKeown
"From Blown Speakers," by The New Pornographers
"On the Radio," by Regina Spektor
"Radio King," by Golden Smog
"When I Go Deaf," by Low

Cheers.

Muxtape

2008-05-27T00:11:00.002-05:00

So there's this thing called Muxtape. It's a simple little web application which lets you upload up to 11 MP3 files and arrange them, and then lets people listen to your mix.

I made a mix there a few months ago, and I just updated it. It's now a collection of some of my favorite (happy) love songs. In the future, though -- and maybe when you're reading this post, if you're doing so in the future (are there hoverboards yet?) -- it might be something else. I see it becoming a vehicle for future music recommendations to my small but loyal group of blog readers.

Tracks:
"The Only Answer," by Mike Doughty
"Fresh Feeling," by Eels
"First Day of My Life," by Bright Eyes
"The Book of Love," by The Magnetic Fields
"Walking After You," by Foo Fighters
"Easy Silence," by Dan Wilson
"Waste," by Phish (Yes, Phish.)
"Somebody," by Depeche Mode
"Til Kingdom Come," by Coldplay
"The Luckiest," by Ben Folds
"In Your Eyes," by Peter Gabriel

Electoral Conjecture

2008-04-28T21:57:00.004-05:00

An argument I keep hearing from Hillary Clinton and her people is this: While Obama is winning primaries (and caucuses) in states that haven't been won by Democrats in a general election in ages, Clinton has been winning in the states that "a Democrat can win" in the general.

Presumably, this is a plea to the superdelegates, whose overwhelming support Clinton needs to gain the party's nomination. There's really no other way she can get it at this point.

But Obama is still a Democrat. Why would we not expect him to win traditionally Democratic states? And wouldn't we want the candidate who has a chance at winning some states Democrats don't usually win in addition to the mainstays?

Not only does this line of thinking require an incredible leap of logic to entertain, its promotion by the Clinton campaign underlines the difference between the divisive, them-vs-us approach that Clinton seems to want to take and the "new kind of politics," that of listening, of compromise, of civility, of unity, that Obama is trying to promote.

I'll take the latter, thank you.

Test Post

2008-03-20T01:11:00.002-05:00

These are not the droids you're looking for.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tropic Thunder

2008-03-17T22:27:00.004-05:00

I was laughing at this trailer within five seconds. The whole thing isn't that funny, but I think the movies has all the ingredients it needs to be one of the best comedies of the year.

Musical Recommendations

2008-02-28T21:33:00.005-06:00

Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
This may be the sad-bastard-music record of the year. It's fantastic.

The Wailin' Jennys: Firecracker
I've developed a soft spot for bluegrassy, harmonizing chicks. Lots of good stuff here, if you're into that.

Old Crow Medicine Show: O.C.M.S.
More country/bluegrass. This album includes "Wagon Wheel," which I first heard (and immediately loved) performed in concert by Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. So thanks for that, Eric.

Stars: "Your Ex-Lover is Dead"
I'm not sure yet if I like the band, or even the album, but this song is terrific. Check it out, especially if you're a Death Cab for Cutie fan.

Chris O'Brien: Lighthouse
Pretty straightforward songs in a singer-songwriter style, with clean, crisp mixes. Highly recommended for fans of Joe Purdy or maybe Paul Simon.

Redbird: "Buckets of Rain"
This is a Dylan cover. I haven't heard the original, but I like this one. There's a pretty cool cover of R.E.M.'s "You Are the Everything" on the same album.

Starring Jimmy Smits as Barack Obama

2008-02-21T19:16:00.002-06:00

Fans of The West Wing should appreciate this article, which describes how Smits's character from the show was based on none other than the Barackster hisself.

(I'm guessing fans of the show tend to be fans of Obama.)

The discussion of McCain toward the end reminds me of I was kind of hoping for from an Obama/McCain general election, but it sounds like the real-life version of that won't hold a candle to what the show did.

Ah, well.

Why Leno Still Wins

2008-02-08T23:48:00.000-06:00

This post presents an answer to the question of why, even during the writers' strike, Jay Leno has consistently beaten David Letterman in the ratings, and, in so doing, it summarizes the difference between those two hosts.

I've always preferred David Letterman, and seen Dave as sort of a kindred spirit. I certainly won't defend his ability to deliver a monologue (which, the post suggests, he appears to consider beneath him), but he's a better interviewer, and projects an intelligence that Jay never has (at least when I've watched him).

It has me thinking about how Conan O'Brien compares, and about whether Johnny Carson, whose monologues were apparently phenomenal (but unfortunately before my time), was as good as they say.

(Off to YouTube, I suppose.)

Obama's and Clinton's Weak Points

2008-02-07T22:30:00.001-06:00

This post by Slate's Timothy Noah gets close to describing why I still feel anxious about Obama.

With McCain having all but tied up the Republican nomination, though, I think it'll take an Obama nomination for the Democrats to take the White House. And I'd really look forward to a general election with those two candidates. I have a ton of respect for each.

Yes, We Can

2008-02-03T15:57:00.000-06:00

Look: It's Senator Obama, with a bunch of Hollywood types.

The Four Horsemen

2008-02-03T07:08:00.000-06:00

Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens in the same room.

I think Hitchens may be drunk. If not (and if so, I guess), he's kind of an ass.

Mailbag: E-mail vs. Telephone, The Meaning of Life

2008-01-24T12:21:00.000-06:00

"J" asks:

Why do I prefer emailing to phone calls, whereas [my friend] prefers phone calls to emailing?

Personally, I tend to prefer e-mail and other electronic, typed forms of communication to verbal mediums. This is primarily because of the ability, while writing an e-mail or an instant message, to self edit. I can review what I'm writing to make sure it's a true and well-formed thought before clicking "send."

On the other hand, the big advantage of phone calls or an in-person conversation over written and electronic communication is the ability to add inflection (and body language, if not over the phone). I suspect your friend often reads things in e-mails and can't tell whether the author is being sarcastic, is angry, is kidding, etc.

Perhaps your friend is more focused on input, and you're more focused on output. Being more focused on the input, on the information she's taking in, she'd be more likely to miss certain helpful facets, like inflection. And being more focused on output, on what's coming out of your mouth/pen/keyboard, you're more likely to enjoy the ability to be deliberate with your communication.

J, do you agree? Do you listen or do you wait to speak?

"EFL" asks:

So what is the Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything?

I'm actually going to try to answer this question, EFL, but I'm going to address the first of the three. So the question I'm answering would better read: "What is the meaning of life?" I hope you don't mind.

There are two rules. Rule number one: Do what makes you happy. Rule number two: Don't keep other people from attempting to follow rule number one.

I should offer a couple of extra notes to this:

Addendum to rule number one: You don't know what's going to make you happy. You only know what has made you happy in the past. That will tend to make you happy in the future as well, but not always. In any case, the best way to find things you're likely to enjoy in the future is to try new things.
Addendum to addendum to rule number one: Don't try things that have a high chance of getting you killed or imprisoned. Either of those outcomes will severely inhibit your ability to follow rule number one.
Your really rough moments in life are going to be when rule number one comes into direct conflict with rule number two.
You may end up spending lots of time following rule number one and not finding things that make you happy. But there's no better way to spend your time.

Alright? That's it. Lather, rinse, repeat. 42.

Thank you for the questions. I will happily continue doing mailbag posts as long as people send questions (to joshjs at gmail.com).

PowerThirst

2008-01-04T17:53:00.001-06:00

"When God gives you lemons, you FIND A NEW GOD."

Ways In Which I Would Prefer Not To Die

2008-01-03T22:25:00.001-06:00

- Drowning
- Hanging
- Guillotine
- Riot trampling
- Cap pop
- Having my throat slit while tied, naked, to a chair
- Penis fish
- Cancer of the prick
- Malaria

Disparate Mischief Mailbag

2008-01-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

Dear readers, I've decided to do a mailbag post (if I get a handful of submissions). Please send any questions about life, the universe and everything, to joshjs__at__gmail__dot__com, and I'll answer them here on the blog.

The Wire

2008-01-03T21:19:00.000-06:00

I've started watching The Wire again. I'm two episodes into season two, and am pleased with the decision.

While there's an amount of hyperbole out there regarding The Wire's quality, there is a reason for that. It's very well done - an epic story with many rich characters that rewards multiple viewings (I'm finding). People have said there's a literary, even Dickensian, aspect to it, and I agree. It's very much like a novel, or a series of five novels.

(I wish I had more well-formed thoughts on it than that, but I don't. Maybe down the road.)

If you're a fan, you should know that episode one of season five is now available on HBO OnDemand. And if you're a pirate fan, the first two episodes are floating around on BitTorrent.

Also, I've come across some good reading on the show tonight:

- An overview, on PBS's NewsHour
- A lengthy piece on David Simon, one of the show's creators, in The Atlantic Monthly
- A reaction to that piece, at The American Scene (which looks like a quality blog)
- Nick Hornby interviewing Simon in The Believer (the full text of which was previously unavailable)

I Love My Sister

2008-01-03T21:09:00.000-06:00

We had this conversation via e-mail today:

Her: Okay, I need an explanation on this whole caucus thing. I get how it works, but what I don't understand is how the voting goes in the other states. Why do they say that if someone wins Iowa and New Hampshire they are probably going to win it if Iowa only has 7 electoral votes and New Hampshire has 15 (maybe) votes. I don't get it! Can you explain this process to me?

Me: It's all about attention. If somebody wins in Iowa, they get a lot of media coverage. Then comes New Hampshire, and if somebody does well there, they get a lot of attention. Those have historically been the first two states, and if you made a splash in either one of them, it set you up well to get more national coverage and more donations, which helps you keep your campaign running.

In the recent past, there's been this thing called "Super Tuesday," which was one day where a lot of states had primaries. The number of delegates you could get from Super Tuesday was and is a lot higher than the number you'd get from the Iowa Caucus or the New Hampshire primary. This year, a lot of states moved up the dates of their primaries, so Super Tuesday is even more important, which would arguably make Iowa and New Hampshire that much more important in terms of getting national attention.

And by the way, I'm happy you care.

Holy Leaked Albums!

2008-01-02T19:00:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Johnny K, I've suddenly come into the following leaked/pirated releases:

The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride
The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Ask Forgiveness EP
Wilco: Sky Blue Sky Tour EP
Nada Surf: Lucky
Radiohead: In Rainbows (Disc Two)

Still digging into this stuff now, but, man, it seems unlikely that I won't be net pleased with the lot.

My 2007: Feeds

2007-12-29T14:41:00.000-06:00

2007 was the year I embraced Google Reader for feed reading. It's ahead above my previous readers, in terms of organization and especially of mobile access. If I was making a site- or web-based-tools-of-the-year list, it would probably consist of only Google Reader and Twitter (with a shout out to the Scrabble application on Facebook, of course).

So feeds are important. Here are my favorites from the past year:

1. kottke.org
Jason Kottke posts links and terse commentary on a wide range of topics, almost always interesting. His is the first feed I check in the morning. And at lunch. And in the evening.

2. Coding Horror
I'm not including several good programming blogs on this list, because I have a separate blog for that sort of thing. But Jeff Atwood's blog is just too good to leave off. He consistently writes thoughtfully on many, many topics related to computers and computer programming: software design, interface design, hardware configuration, security issues, internet trends, even basic computer science concepts, explained simply and effectively. A must read for any software professional, and possibly often a good read for a non-developer.

3. The mental_floss Blogs
Reading mental_floss is like reading Wikipedia, but having somebody there to point at the interesting bits. One of the highlights is their "Morning Cup O' Links," which tends to point to couple of good articles, most every day.

4. What's Alan Watching?
I've mentioned Alan Sepinwall here before. He likes almost all the TV shows I do, and writes interesting stuff about 'em. Love the guy. Check him out in HBO's recent retrospective of The Wire.

5. External Internal Monologue
Eric's good for interesting commentary on almost any movie he sees, and tends to post amusing anecdotes in line with my sense of humor and pictures of cute little kids.

6. ShysterBall
The best baseball blog out there, and it's written by a lawyer. How odd.

7. Read/Write Web
The signal-to-noise ratio on Read/Write is middling, but it might be the best place to keep informed about new and exciting web applications.

8. Brew Crew Ball
Jeff Sackman's Milwaukee Brewers blog seldom fails to have the most thoughtful commentary on Brewer-related news items.

9. FirstShowing.net
This is the only real movie news blog I read, and it's where I tend to see trailers for the first time.

10. MLB Trade Rumors
It's very helpful to have a single blog aggregating baseball trade and transaction news, especially in the first few months of the off-season, when I get frustrated at the lack of baseball, but there's still a lot of activity in terms of free agency and potential trading. This feed could be replaced by adding about 50 others, but I certainly don't want to do that. The distillation is nice.

My 2007: Songs

2007-12-29T14:31:00.000-06:00

No commentary with these. Just a good old-fashioned list.

1. Ryan Adams: "Pearls on a String"
2. Ryan Adams: "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc."
3. Kings of Leon: "Fans"
4. Feist: "1234"
5. Kings of Leon: "Ragoo"
6. Spoon: "Black Like Me"
7. Kings of Leon: "Knocked Up"
8. Dan Wilson: "Sugar"
9. Dan Wilson: "Easy Silence"
10. Ryan Adams: "Goodnight Rose"
11. Elvis Perkins: "While You Were Sleeping"
12. MIKA: "Grace Kelly"
13. Ryan Adams: "Two"
14. Wilco: "Hate It Here"
15. Rocky Votolato: "Before You Were Born"
16. Joe Purdy: "Good Days"
17. Feist: "Brandy Alexander"
18. The Arcade Fire: "Keep the Car Running"
19. Ryan Adams: "Follow the Lights"
20. Josh Ritter: "The Temptation of Adam"
21. Joe Purdy: "Isabel and the King"
22. Ryan Adams: "These Girls"
23. Rocky Votolato: "Whiskey Straight"
24. Radiohead: "Videotape"
25. The New Pornographers: "My Rights Versus Yours"
26. Okkervil River: "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe"
27. Wilco: "What Light"
28. Iron & Wine: "The Devil Never Sleeps"
29. Andrew Bird: "Heretics"
30. Ryan Adams: "Everybody Knows"
31. Modest Mouse: "Missed the Boat"
32. Spoon: "The Underdog"
33. The White Stripes: "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)"
34. The National: "Fake Empire"
35. Paolo Nutini: "These Streets"
36. Paolo Nutini: "Last Request"
37. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: "Please Read The Letter"
38. The Shins: "Sea Legs"
39. Tegan and Sara: "Soil, Soil"

Again, I'll refer you to Seeqpod if you want to hear any of this stuff.

How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense

2007-12-29T00:14:00.000-06:00

You people need to join Twitter and start using it, dammit. Here's an excellent argument for why.

(Need some incentive? You can add Woot and get a text every time there's a new product on their site.)

My 2007: Albums

2007-12-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

1. Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger
My initial reaction to Easy Tiger, an album I was very excited to get my hands on, was slight disappointment. "Pearls on a String" was awesome, but the rest was underwhelming. It sounded vanilla, and it sounded unlike Heartbreaker (which is what I always hope for from an Adams release). And "Halloweenhead" was just awful.

But time passed, and somewhere in there I fell for nearly every track. It's becoming clear to me that Ryan Adams is my favorite musician by a wide margin, and it makes me very happy that he's still young and energetic. There looks to be plenty more to come from the guy.

2. Kings of Leon: Because of the Times
Because of the Times is for driving. Driving cross country. Driving home from the bars. Driving fast on the freeway with the windows down and a cigarette in your mouth.

Three tracks made me come back to this album again and again this year: "Knocked Up" (which pulled me in initially), "Ragoo" and "Fans." But the rest is solid gold. The album has the kind of youthful energy that feels manic and relaxed at the same time.

I really regret not seeing these guys at Bonnaroo.

3. Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I discovered Spoon back in 2003, when I was working out a lot and spending a lot of time by myself. Most days, I'd run a few miles with Semisonic's Great Divide, then listen to Kill the Moonlight while doing my push-ups and sit-ups and showering the grime off. Moonlight drove. It pushed me to pound out those last few push-ups.

Eventually, I discovered Girls Can Tell, which sounded the first time like I'd heard it a hundred times. No complaints.

But then Spoon released Gimme Fiction. And I was like: WTF? Fiction, while not so different on the surface, just didn't grab me. "I Turn My Camera On" was a great tune, but the rest of the album was flat, unmemorable, uninteresting. It still had the pulse of their previous stuff, but something was missing.

(Maybe it's because I don't work out much these days.)

So I'd sort of given up hope that Spoon was going to continue being one of my favorite bands. And I was disappointed that any opportunity I'd get to see them live would feature primarily songs I didn't like. (However, I actually did see them live this year, at Bonnaroo, and that theory was proven wrong.)

When they released Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, I bought it, but I wasn't that excited. And when I listened to it, I wasn't surprised. It sounded like more of the same. But, of course, it grew on me. It found its way into my regular rotation, and now it's among the first few albums I'll put on while I'm working, trying to get down to business.

Not only that, but it caused me to reconsider Gimme Fiction and realize that, somewhere along the line, I grew to like most of that album, too. Spoon has fully regained my affections.

4. Rocky Votolato: The Brag and Cuss
The iTunes recommendation system thought I'd like Makers, by Rocky Votolato. It was so, so right. Makers is the kind of music I wish I could make. Rocky Votolato fits the sad-white-dude-with-an-acoustic-guitar profile that seems to call to me. His sense of melody is strong, and his production is straightforward.

The Brag and Cuss is the same sort of thing, and while it doesn't have as many mix-worthy tracks as its predecessor, it's a pleasant little album, all the way through.

5. Feist: The Reminder
Speaking of albums that are strong end to end, Feist's new one is a pleasant surprise. Her previous album, Let It Die had some good singles, but the low points were low. Reminder has more stand-out tracks ("1234" in particular), but it ups the ante by being hummable throughout.

6. Dan Wilson: Free Life
Dan Wilson, I knew you still had it in you.

I was a huge Semisonic fan, just as I was getting into music. And while my musical tastes have become a bit more mature, I am, as I mentioned earlier in this piece, still drawn to crisp production and strong melodies, and nobody does it better.

7. Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
After their deconstruction and experimentation on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, what was the logical next step for Wilco? Were they going to continue down that road or move back toward straightforward alternative country?

A Ghost Is Born didn't quite answer that question. It kept some elements of YHF, but introduced periods of jammy solo guitar and repetitive nonsense. But the nonsense was usually followed by huge payoffs, rocking hard.

Ghost showed me Jeff Tweedy changing from being depressive to being content. There's little joy in YHF. Only on "Heavy Metal Drummer" is there a sense of optimism, of pleasant reflection. Ghost's payoff jams embraced that feeling, and its lyrics sounded more and more like the work of a mature, confident adult. And Wilco's live shows after Ghost were phenomenal. They had the same youthful energy that I praised so unreservedly in my notes on Because of the Times, above.

And then came Sky Blue Sky, which, to my mind, shows what's essentially the completion of Tweedy's maturation. It has more of the jammy interludes followed by monstrous high points, more lyrics with content and perspective, and while it's not chock full of tracks I want to put on a mix tape, it's a quality listen, even beyond the fact that it makes me happy to hear one of my heroes coming to terms with everything dark in his life.

8. The Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
I don't have much new to say about Neon Bible. The critics loved it, and rightfully so. I liked it a lot for a while, but got sort of sick of it later in the year. Regardless, I recognize that it's a good album, and I'll be listening to it for years to come.

9. The National: Boxer
This is another challenging album, like their last one. None of The National's songs makes you think you want to become a fan of The National. But their albums evoke a feeling that I can't quite put into words. I suppose I'll leave it at that.

10. Iron & Wine: The Shepherd's Dog
More of the same from Iron & Wine, but that's far from a bad thing. Sam Beam has released only one mind-blowingly good track ("The Trapeze Swinger"), but almost the entire rest of his output has been well above average. Shepherd's Dog is no different.

11. Ryan Adams: Follow the Lights EP
On the strength of a few awesome tracks ("Follow the Lights" and "Blue Hotel") and a few retreads, this EP was a pleasant surprise. Ryan Adams could fart on a snare drum and it might just be good.

12. The White Stripes: Icky Thump
Another band I'd sort of given up on, The White Stripes are on their way, here, to a return to higher status. Icky Thump is far closer to what I expected of them after White Blood Cells and Elephant than Get Behind Me Satan was. I expect them to rock, to get stuck in my head, and to be fun, and Satan did none of those things to satisfaction. Icky Thump does.

13. Radiohead: In Rainbows
Good, but not great. I was a bit worried, but ended up pleased.

14. Okkervil River: The Stage Names
This album is about how pop culture doesn't adequately reflect our lives. Love the concept. Like the music.

15. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Some Loud Thunder
Massively disappointing at first, but I learned to like several tracks.

16. Joe Purdy: Take My Blanket and Go
A huge improvement on the meandering mess of his previous album. Perhaps Joe Purdy is back on his way up.

17. Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
This wasn't what I wanted, but it's hard to deny that it contains some keepers.

18. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha
Despite a grating live performance (which I attribute to the venue more than to Mr. Bird), Andrew Bird has improved on his previous work, both in terms of the quality of his melody and his consistency.

19. MIKA: Life in Cartoon Motion
Not normally my cup of tea, this album is a bit bubble-gum. But "Grace Kelly" is one of the best pop songs I've heard in a while. The rest of the album is

20. Travis: The Boy With No Name
Only on the strength of Eric's recommendation did I listen to this. It's very good.

21. Jens Lekman: Night Falls Over Kortelada
Swedish pop is strangely affecting.

22. Paolo Nutini: These Streets
Paolo Nutini sounds like Rod Stewart. That's neither good nor bad. What's good is many of the songs on this album.

23. Elvis Perkins: Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday makes the list mostly because of the awesomeness of "While You Were Sleeping." I haven't listened to the album enough to determine whether it should be higher on the list.

24. The Shins: Wincing The Night Away
Another let-down. It feels like the made-for-TV-movie version of The Shins. But even that is decent.

Ancient History

2007-12-27T13:26:00.001-06:00

In the near future, I'm going to use the Internet Wayback Machine to dig up content from my old blogs, back-date it, and put it on this blog.

Unfortunately, my first website, a Bruce Campbell fan site, back in the mid nineties, appears to be completely lost. :(

This is strangely exciting.

My 2007: Workspace

2007-12-27T12:21:00.000-06:00

What you see here is what I saw almost every day in 2007 while I was working.

Note the dual-monitor setup. It's awesome. I highly recommend it. Apparently we'll be getting laptops in the near future, at which point I expect to move to a two-monitors-and-a-laptop-screen setup, essentially having three monitors. I'm thinkin' you can't have enough desktop space.

Also note the open window. The blinds were closed for most of the year, but have been open since late November. The sunlight has been nice.

This is a more complete view of my workspace, replete with robo-raptor and case of beer (from our beer exchange last week).

As you can see, I'm sort of messy.

Congress: No More Inefficient Light Bulbs

2007-12-26T01:11:00.000-06:00

As of 2012, stores will no longer be allowed to sell inefficient incandescent bulbs.

I don't know how they're qualifying bulbs as "inefficient," but this sounds like a step in the right direction. Props.

George Bush's Reign of Terror is (Almost) Over

2007-12-26T00:17:00.000-06:00

I always get a bit sad in winter. Shitty weather, short days, frustrating holiday obligations, and no baseball. It's so much harder to get out of bed in the morning.

But perhaps a bit less so this year. This year, it looks like I'm in for a captivating few months of presidential primaries.

What's really interesting about these contests is that I'm so unsure of what to expect: I'm very curious whether one of Clinton, Obama or Edwards will drop out and where that person's supporters will end up; I'm curious whether Ron (Fucking) Paul will have any real support; I'm curious which of the major Republican candidates will be recognized as the sleazebags they seem to me to be.

I expect, as the season plays out, to be surprised (hopefully pleasantly) and engaged. I plan to endorse a candidate at some point, but so far I've just been in input mode, watching, gathering data and such.

I just reviewed the schedule, and - holy shit - the Iowa caucus is on Jan. 3. That's next Thursday. And many other states have moved their primaries up. There are several in January, and Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5, is going to include 22 states' primaries. Yikes.

And, of course, the Wisconsin primaries are on Feb. 19. Be sure to vote.

If you want to read more about the 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections, check out Wikipedia's wonderfully thorough entries.

Helvetica

2007-12-21T18:45:00.000-06:00

I finally get to watch the movie, so I'm switching the some of the blog's design elements over to Helvetica for a while. :)!

Fever Marlene

2007-12-21T17:55:00.001-06:00

I went to high school with one of these guys, and while we weren't friends, I think his band sounds better than most local outfits, so I'll plug 'em here.

$0.24

2007-12-20T19:43:00.000-06:00

...is my blog's share price on this imaginary blog stock market.

I am trying this new...

2007-12-16T22:14:00.001-06:00

I am trying this new service called Jott which allows me to call a phone number, speak into the phone and transcribes that message and posts it on my blog. It's pretty fucking sweet. listen

Powered by Jott

Fuck This: JoshSchultz.com

2007-12-16T18:45:00.001-06:00

Go to joshschultz.com.

I am not pleased with this. Not one bit.

Bill Moyers Interviews Keith Olbermann

2007-12-16T15:20:00.001-06:00

Here.

Olbermann continues to climb my list of favorite media personalities.

Oh, and here he is making an appearance on the Simpsons.

My 2007: Comics

2007-12-16T14:35:00.000-06:00

This is a short list, because I only read one comic in 2007. Also, the parts of that comic that I read weren't released in 2007. But it's worth mentioning.

1. Powers
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Powers exists in a universe in which super powers are relatively common and generally accepted as a fact of life by everyone. They're even regulated. The story follows two non-powered detectives, fighting crime. It's not phenomenal, but the first two stories (which were available online here, though that server looks to be down at the moment) held my interest enough that I finished them.

BEARD CRUMBS

2007-12-15T19:01:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure I've mentioned it yet, but I'm a contributor to another blog, called BEARD CRUMBS. Its intent is to share interesting stuff related to design, music and comedy. (And beards.)

I'm probably not going to write here about many of my posts over there, so you'll just have to start reading BEARD CRUMBS if you want to experience the full range of my internet-acquired awesomeness.

Smirking Chimp: Imagine a Campaign that Called for Slashing Military Spending by 75%

2007-12-14T23:43:00.000-06:00

I like the thrust of this, if not all of the specifics.

My 2007: Music from the Past

2007-12-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

This one's about music that wasn't released in 2007, but which I discovered and/or came to appreciate this year.

If you'd like to hear any of these tracks, I recommend going over to SeeqPod and searching for them. It usually returns decent results for most stuff.

(! denotes something I particularly highly recommend.)

Tracks:

Ani DiFranco: "Garden of Simple"
Ani DiFranco: "Little Plastic Castle"
Anna Nalick: "Breathe (2AM)"
Andrew Bird: "Masterfade"
The Be Good Tanyas: "The Littlest Birds" !
Ben Folds Five: "Evaporated" !
Belle & Sebastian: "Dress Up In You" !
Bert Jansch: "The Old Triangle"
Bill Withers: "Grandma's Hands"
Bob Dylan (w/ Johnny Cash): "Girl From the North Country"
Brett Dennen: "There Is So Much More"
Brett Dennen: "Darlin' Do Not Fear"
Bright Eyes: "Lover I Don't Have To Love"
Cansei De Ser Sexy: "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex"
Death Cab For Cutie: "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" !
The Decemberists: "Sons and Daughters"
Emiliana Torrini: "Sunny Road"
Erin McKeown: "Born to Hum" !
The Format: "Dog Problems"
The Format: "If Work Permits"
The Format: "Inches and Falling"
The Format: "Oceans"
The Format: "On Your Porch"
The Format: "She Doesn't Get It"
The Format: "Snails" !
The Format: "The Lottery Song"
The Format: "Time Bomb"
Gillian Welch: "Look At Miss Ohio" !
I'm From Barcelona: "Treehouse"
I'm From Barcelona: "Jenny"
I'm From Barcelona: "Secret Track"
Jaymay: "Gray or Blue" !
Jeffrey Foucault: "Ghost Repeater"
Joe Purdy: "You Don't Like Me Anymore" !
Joseph Arthur: "Black Lexus"
Joseph Arthur: "Electrical Storm"
Josh Ritter: "Blame It On the Tetons" (Modest Mouse cover)
Josh Rouse: "Sparrows Over Birmingham"
Josh Rouse: "Jersey Clowns"
Joshua Radin: "The Fear You Won't Fall"
The Killers: "All These Things That I've Done"
The Killers: "Read My Mind"
Kings of Convenience: "Homesick"
Kings of Convenience: "Misread"
Kings of Convenience: "Know How"
Kings of Leon: "Taper Jean Girl"
Leonard Cohen: "So Long, Marianne"
M. Ward: "Requiem"
Marcella: "Living"
The Mountain Goats: "Riches and Wonders"
My Morning Jacket: "Wordless Chorus"
My Morning Jacket: "Gideon"
My Morning Jacket: "Off the Record"
Nada Surf: "Fools"
The National: "Friend of Mine"
Neil Young: "Birds" !
Pearl Jam: "Around The Bend"
Pete Yorn: "All At Once"
Peter, Bjorn and John: "Young Folks"
Peter, Bjorn and John: "Amsterdam"
Peter, Bjorn and John: "Paris 2004"
Phish: "Waste" !
Regina Spektor: "Summer In The City"
Rocky Votolato: "White Daisy Passing" !
Rocky Votolato: "Portland Is Leaving" !
Rocky Votolato: "Tennessee Train Tracks"
Ryan Adams: "Blue Sky Blues" !
Ryan Adams: "Chin Up, Cheer Up"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: "Dance All Night"
Sean Lennon: "Parachute"
Spoon: "The Delicate Place"
Spoon: "My Mathematical Mind"
Spoon: "I Summon You"
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers: "See You Later, See You Soon"
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers: "Such A Way" !
Tarkio: "Neapolitan Bridesmaid"
Tarkio: "Weight Of The World"
Tegan and Sara: "Where Do The Good Go"
Tom Waits: "Bottom of the World"
Tori Amos: "Ireland"
The Weepies: "Nobody Knows Me At All"

Albums:

Bert Jansch: The Black Swan
Brett Dennen: So Much More
Emiliana Torrini: Fisherman's Woman
Erin McKeown: Grand
The Format: Dog Problems !
The Format: Interventions and Lullabies
I'm From Barcelona: Let Me Introduce My Friends
Jaymay: Sea Green, See Blue [EP] !
Jeffrey Foucault: Ghost Repeater
Josh Ritter: Girl In The War [EP] !
Kings of Convenience: Riot On An Empty Street
My Morning Jacket: Z
Neil Young: After the Goldrush
Peter, Bjorn and John: Writer's Block
Rocky Votolato: Makers !
Ryan Adams: 29
Tarkio: I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More
Tarkio: Sea Songs For Landlocked Sailors

Obviously, I have all this stuff, so if you like it, I might be convinced to barter for it, or even just share it with you.

Also obvious: My favorite music of 2007 is forthcoming. I need a bit more time to digest a few things.

My 2007: TV

2007-12-12T20:22:00.001-06:00

Try as I might to do things I consider more productive, I can't help but watch a ton of TV. Here's some info about what I watched this past year.

Top Ten Television Programs in 2007:
1. The Office
2. The Daily Show
3. The Colbert Report
4. Battlestar Galactica
5. Lost
6. Weeds
7. 30 Rock
8. Heroes
9. Dexter
10. 24

Honorable Mention - Best New Shows:
Chuck
Pushing Daisies

Honorable Mention - Best New-To-Me Shows (some of which were watched on DVD this year):
Dead Like Me
Freaks and Geeks
Grey's Anatomy
House
Hustle
Survivorman
The Shield
The Unit
Undeclared

Most Disappointing New Show:
John From Cincinnatti

Oops (Shows I Haven't Watched Yet):
Veronica Mars
The Sopranos

If I'm forgetting anything, I hope you'll let me know.

It Takes a Genius

2007-12-05T14:23:00.000-06:00

(via)

Wedding Video

2007-11-19T17:46:00.001-06:00

Cute.

Science!

2007-11-19T17:21:00.001-06:00

This is on a t-shirt in the xkcd store. I kinda want one.

23andMe: the World's First Personal Genome Service

2007-11-19T17:12:00.000-06:00

For a thousand dollars (and spitting in a tube and mailing it to them), 23andMe will give you the skinny on your genetic makeup.

That's really expensive, but I have to admit I honestly did consider it, if only for a moment. I'd think I might pay up to $200 for this, though. So let me know if you see any coupons floating around.

Thanksgiving TV Marathons

2007-11-18T22:39:00.001-06:00

Some guy posted a list. I can't vouch for the list, but I figure I'll pass it along.

My Radio Station

2007-11-18T14:58:00.000-06:00

Just noticed that Last.FM will let you listen to a "radio station" comprised of the tracks I listen to a lot.

Check it out on my profile page there.

Last.FM is the only "social" site I use other than Facebook (unless Digg and reddit count). I'm finding it somewhat useful right now, because it's letting me find new artists based on the preferences of those with similar tastes (an idea Eric W. and I had long ago (damn it!)), and I expect to find it useful in the future as a way to look at my history of music listening.

Bill Watterson Commencement Speech

2007-11-08T18:13:00.000-06:00

Mr. Watterson (the creator of Calvin and Hobbes) gave a wonderful commencement speech at his alma mater, Kenyon College, in 1990. Here's my favorite bit:

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

"You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them.

"To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble."

More.

Pink Ribbons, Everywhere

2007-11-08T16:40:00.000-06:00

While Jenny and I were shopping for some dinner ingredients the other day, she pointed out the vast number of products that have little pink breast cancer awareness ribbons on them right now. I'd like to think I would've noticed this eventually, because, shit, there are a lot.

She sent this link over today, too, which includes some examples.

Take a look around next time you're at the grocery store. It's really kind of impressive.

Amusing Wedding Photos

2007-11-05T17:25:00.001-06:00

These made me smile more than once.

Here.

The Four Day Work Week

2007-11-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

Currently, I make more money than I need, and I want more free time than I have.

One's course of action in that situation should be simple, right? But it's not. Most people either work for a company, which expects 40 hours a week, or for themselves, which usually requires even more time.

I, however, have stumbled into a rather enviable position. I'll spare you the details of how this has come to be, but beginning on November 19th, I'll be working Tuesday through Friday every week, with Monday off to do as I please.

I probably don't need to tell you how excited I am.

The Poop Report

2007-10-31T18:15:00.000-05:00

"Your #1 source for your #2 business."

Subscribed.

(I'll let you know if I come across anything entertaining.)

Note to self:

2007-10-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

Read this later.

Update: I read it. Ryan Adams is kind of a douche sometimes, but I just can't stay mad at him.

The Nation: Corporations Vs. Democracy

2007-10-24T18:48:00.000-05:00

A snippet:

Public financing of campaigns is also a central part of reducing corporate power in America. While public financing's detractors argue that it is fundamentally undemocratic, it will in fact bring America closer to the democratic ideal we purport to hold so dear.

There is much about the current campaign model that is fundamentally undemocratic, but nowhere is that more true than in the field of campaign finance. It is virtually impossible to run for Congress or the White House without becoming a corporate-sponsored candidate, and corporate-sponsored candidates act more on behalf of the corporations that pay to put them in office than the actual human beings that vote for them.

Public campaign finance will fix this by leveling the playing field and ensuring that candidates are selected based on their ability to present their case, not how much money they can raise from GE or Bechtel.

More.

New Ryan Adams EP!?

2007-10-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Holy potatoes!

I like this new announcing-the-album-a-week-before-you-release-it thing.

How Are We Celebrating?

2007-10-22T01:52:00.001-05:00

Just because Google Trends is fun to play with when you're up too late: Here.

Gobbledegook

2007-10-15T17:01:00.001-05:00

Innovation Zen has a list they claim is "All the Business Acronyms You Need to Know." These are good, but there are some of my favorite softwarey ones missing, like RTFM, KISS and YAGNI. But maybe I'm biased because of my domain. Good list.

IM IN UR ___ _ING UR ___

2007-10-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/9505/

I don't own many (any?) novelty t-shirts, but I can appreciate a good one every now and then.

One for Mrs. Hermes

2007-10-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books is a blog for, well, smart bitches who, um, love trashy books.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

2007-10-13T02:23:00.000-05:00

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html

I'm not sure I buy it, but it took me a couple of minutes to figure out the trick, and now I can switch back and forth. Sort of freaky.

(It was clockwise first.)

Required Reading

2007-10-04T16:58:00.000-05:00

To your right, below the Twitter widget, you'll find a new site feature (and one that doesn't require much work, so it just might get updated): Required Reading. All this is is the most recent few items from my Google Reader account that I've marked as "Shared."

Will you care? Well, my categories in Google Reader are as follows:

Baseball
Computer Science (includes lots of more software engineering stuff than actual comp. sci., but hey...)
Friends
Music
Productivity
TV

And there are a few other, non-categorized feeds, too. So if any of that sounds like it might be of interest, check back. Or subscribe to my full Shared Items feed in your own reader. The internet will eat itself!

Microblogging with Twitter

2007-09-17T13:22:00.000-05:00

I've started using Twitter. You may have noticed this, as there's a new status block at the top of the right column, which'll give you my last three tweets.

Why have I started using Twitter? Well, I'll admit, at first I didn't see the point. But I've grown attracted to the idea that I can post with my cell phone. So now you get to see random thoughts from me, even when I don't have a computer. My page is here.

I find myself wishing, though, that more of my friends used Twitter. Most of my contacts are coworkers right now. If I had some friends in there, I'd be happy to turn on the text notifications (although I'm aware that might increase my text message traffic pretty drastically).

Let the Fall TV Season Begin!

2007-09-05T17:04:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I'm five days into September already, and I have no idea when my favorite TV shows will ramp back up. So I looked it up.

Here are the premiere dates of the shows I'll definitely be watching this Fall:

09/24 - Heroes
09/27 - The Office

Here are the dates for shows I might watch this Fall:

09/17 - K-Ville
09/19 - Kid Nation
09/24 - Chuck, Journeyman
09/25 - The Unit, Reaper
09/26 - Bionic Woman
09/27 - My Name is Earl
10/02 - Carpoolers
10/04 - 30 Rock
10/25 - Scrubs

So it looks like Mondays and Thursdays will probably be TV nights. I have a feeling I'll like the Chuck-Heroes-Journeyman sequence on Monday nights, and I know I'll love the 30 Rock-Office-Scrubs sequence on Thursdays. NBC seems to know what they're doing. Me likey.

Finally, here are tentative dates for three other shows I'll be waiting a few months more for:

01/06/2008 - The Wire
01/2008 - 24
02/2008 - Lost

These'll be well worth the wait, too.

(Oh, and Weeds has already started. I've been watching that.)

Quiet Times, Good Times

2007-09-05T16:42:00.000-05:00

So what have I been up to lately?

Well, as mentioned earlier, I got my Bachelor of Science degree in the mail recently. I went about celebrating this the only way I know how: drinking copious amounts of beer in the parking lot at Miller Park. We managed 15 people for a pre-game tailgate Saturday, and somehow had more like 20 after the game. And these groups included Danny Jakubowski and Allen Robinson, whom I seldom see, and Mr. Michael Hermes, who continues to prove that we need to hang out with him more.

Good times.

Sunday was a lazy day, as Sundays are meant to be. Jenny drove to Janesville for a family thing, while I stayed at home and watched Grindhouse and some Futurama. She came back around 8:00 and we fell asleep watching March of the Penguins, which was entertaining to a degree, but moved altogether too slowly for me. Hence the sleeping.

Monday, Labor Day, we drove into Wauwatosa and had lunch at City Market, which I'm not sure I'd ever heard of. It was good, though. I had the BLT pasta, which was as tasty as it sounds. She had the Greek salad, a Jenny staple. Then we went to a little Indian grocery store and bought a whole bunch of food I didn't understand, which we brought back to her place. She made dinner while I watched the baseball game (what a sweetheart, no?). We ate, then went for a stroll down by the lake.

Monday, by the way, marked six months since our first date. I didn't make a big deal of the occasion, but it certainly makes me smile.

Tuesday was the first day back at work after a long weekend (I was out sick Friday, too). I ended up spending a lot of time in the morning just getting a grip on all the things I need to get done over the next two weeks. I also spent a big chunk of time logging all my time from last week. I spent the rest of the workday cutting images in Photoshop and writing HTML and CSS, which is quiet, somewhat relaxing work - the kind of thing that allows me to put some tunes on and enjoy 'em. (Yesterday, it was Ryan Adams' four or five most recent albums.) At night, I worked out a little, then went over to Jenny's house again. We watched some TV and played with the cats till around midnight.

Today I decided to join the office football pool. If you're reading this, you probably know I don't like football, so it might come as something of a surprise that I joined the pool. But the buy-in is $55, and there are like 20 people involved, so that shit could net me a lot of dough. I don't want to give too much away regarding my strategy, but I will say that I have some confidence I will at least make my money back, and I'm slightly bouyed in this belief by my success in fantasy baseball this year. (More on that later, perhaps.)

Got an invite to Jenny Diehl's birthday get-together this Saturday night, which I think I'll attend at least part of. Thing is, there's a festival about two blocks from my house that day, at which the Gufs will be playing, and I can't resist the novelty of a concert in my neighborhood, so I have to go to that, at least for a little while. Diehl's thing (dinner, then ComedySportz, then more ComedySportz) is later, though, so I should have no problem doing both.

And this Friday night, there's potential for hanging out with the afore mentioned Mr. Jakubowski and Mr. Robinson. We'll see how that comes together. If it does, I'm sure it'll be memorable.

So that's where I'm at. How you doin'?

Stockpilin'

2007-09-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

Not long ago, I opened a new checking account and a new savings account at UW Credit Union. The savings account is empty. I want to see how much money I can get in there by the end of 2007, through my paychecks as well as through any other means I can think of (selling shit, extra work on the side, selling my body, etc.).

Why? Mostly because I want to pay off my student loans. But also because I want to simplify a little bit (hence the selling shit).

I'll keep you good folks posted on my progress. I intend to make a spreadsheet.

Graduation

2007-08-28T22:10:00.000-05:00

This summer was my last semester at UW-Milwaukee. I took three courses and finished my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. I will not be attending the commencement ceremony (which happened in May, I believe) and have little desire to celebrate this formally, but I am proud that I followed through with it, and I'm glad to be done.

Staggering Resolutions: Laugh if you must.

2007-08-28T22:03:00.001-05:00

First of all, I want to say that giving up diet soda has been a piece of cake. I had one diet soda in August, and currently have no desire for another. Ever. Fuck 'em.

Now, then. On to cigarettes. Yes, cigarettes.

I could feel myself getting a cold yesterday. To a regular tobacco smoker, a cold is at least twice as bad as it is to a non-smoker. So I jumped the gun on the September resolution, which is (you guessed it) to quit smoking. I've gone for about 26 hours without nicotine at this point, which means I'm about halfway through two-day, cold-turkey hell. It gets better from there, though.

Thanks in advance for wishing me luck. It's going to happen this time.

RexCon?

2007-08-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

I've received a significant number of posts from the network at RexCon. WTF? Whoever's visiting from there, I demand you explain yourself. :)

Thoughts on Four Years at Fullhouse

2007-08-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

As of today, I've been at Fullhouse for four years. That's about twice as long as I've ever worked anywhere else.

To kick off those four years, I was asked if I'd like to "take the red pill," becoming a part-time student and a full-time web developer. I was an intern at the time, and was taken aback at the offer. I'll admit that I didn't think it over much at the time and took the offer more for the money than anything else, but it did end up being a good decision. Fullhouse is a wonderful place to work.

My biggest fear in becoming a computer programmer was that I'd end up in a lonely, drab environment, writing printer drivers or doing paperwork, and not getting to work on anything that made me feel productive and engaged. At Fullhouse, my workspace is awesome, and I've had some incredibly cool projects come my way.

Five Albums

2007-08-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

Semisonic: Great Divide
I listened to Great Divide while jogging every night for months. Even if it sucked (it doesn't), I'd love it (I do). "Falling" is the can't-miss track here.

John Mayer: Room for Squares
Back when John Mayer was good, he was really good. I wonder if the stand-outs here, "No Such Thing" and "Your Body is a Wonderland," will stand up over time. Will I hear them on the oldies station when I'm an old man? That'd be fine with me.

U2: Pop
U2's forgotten album, Pop is still worth a listen. Multiple listens. My favorite track is "Gone."

The New Pornographers: Electric Version
My first New Pornos album, and probably still my favorite. "From Blown Speakers" is the best song here, but the first seven tracks are all outstanding.

The White Stripes: The White Stripes
I thought this album was a lot better before I imported it and tagged the tracks. The only songs here I'd seek out are "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" and "Stop Breaking Down."

Five Pop Albums

2007-08-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
Everybody likes this more than me. Well, everybody who's into indie music. I liked Seven Swans a whole lot more. But that doesn't mean Illinois isn't good. It is. The only track on it I can call out at this point is "Chicago," though.

The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
Lots of good stuff here. Three albums worth of terrific pop in nearly all its forms. Favorites include "The Book of Love," "All My Little Words," "Asleep and Dreaming," and "Busby Berkeley Dreams."

The Beatles: Revolver
Having heard over and over that lots of what I like is Beatles-inspired, I went out and bought a Beatles record. I think I bought one that was ranked highly by some magazine or other. If you've heard all these tricks before, they don't blow you away, but that doesn't mean there aren't some good songs on here.

Brian Wilson: Smile
At this point, I've found Smile to be pretty disappointing. The production is great, and the music works in the background, but I don't get much of a vibe from anything but "Good Vibrations," which is a retread.

The Bens: The Bens
Ben Folds, Ben Kweller and Ben Lee's four-song EP is bookended by strong, single-worthy tracks ("Just Pretend" and "Bruised"), but its innards aren't worth much.

Five Neglected Albums

2007-08-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

More imports. This time, it's five albums I haven't given enough attention to, but which I expect to like when I do.

Blur: Think Tank
I am a fan of Blur. And not just of "Song 2" (though I love "Song 2"). But my Blur phase ended right around when I purchased this album, so I never gave it a chance.

R.E.M.: Murmur
A lot of people in my generation associate R.E.M. with their mid-career stuff, like Monster, Out of Time and Automatic for the People. My favorites were Automatic for the People and Up, so I can't say I'm much different. But a lot of folks swear by R.E.M.'s earlier work, like Murmur, and I've been meaning to investigate it for some time.

Spoon: Gimme Fiction
Spoon's Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight were incredible. Gimme Fiction cannot compare. So not listening to this album much has been a result of (at least initial) disappointment. It deserves a chance, though.

Nada Surf: The Weight is a Gift
Did you know Nada Surf was actually a decent band? They are. The Proximity Effect was a great album. The Weight is a Gift is an album I bought and forgot about, because something else was getting my attention at the time.

Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
Eric loved this one, and cursory listening makes it feel more like Nebraska than like Born in the USA. That's promising. We'll see.

Five Albums

2007-08-04T14:06:00.001-05:00

I've decided to begin transferring all my CD albums onto one hard drive, then boxing them up and sticking them in storage. The goal is to get all my music in one place (and de-DRMed, in the case of stuff I got via the iTunes store). That place will be my new Dell PC ("Toby").

I'll be doing transfers of five discs at a time, and, at the moment, it feels like a good idea to blog about the albums I'm transferring. Sharing is fun.

Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
"First Day of My Life" and "Land Locked Blues" are two of my favorite songs. Like, top fifty, let's say. So when I caught a glimpse of this while looking through the pile for the first five, I couldn't pass it up.

Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose
I couldn't pass this one up, either. I loved it when it came out, but managed to forget about it. It's been years. Highlights include "Portland, Oregon" and "High on a Mountain Top."

Ryan Adams: Demolition
Probably Adams' weakest album, it still includes some good stuff, like "Cry On Demand" and "She Wants to Play Hearts."

Beck: Guero
"Girl" is the highlight here, though pretty much every song on the album is at least a little catchy. Beck is impressive like that. The Information is the same way.

Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine
The album proper isn't as good as the bootlegs of it that were floating around before its release. It's not. To me. Because I like underproduced music. This is slick. That's all I'm sayin'. Recommended: "Oh Well" and "Waltz (Better Than Fine)."

Illinois Bans Smoking in Public Places

2007-08-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

Fuck this.

(I think Chicago already had a ban, though, so perhaps it's not a huge deal to me.)

Staggering Resolutions: Bye-bye, Diet Cola

2007-07-31T23:49:00.000-05:00

I've given up diet cola, due to shit like this. If that shit's bad for you, I'm due to have three forms of cancer by age 30, but better 30 than 29.

I've been replacing it with V8, orange juice, and one Pepsi a day for almost two weeks now, so I figured it'd be an easy resolution for August.

September's resolution will begin late, but will be worth the wait.

BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

2007-07-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

Fuck this.

I'll be avoiding BP in the future.

Iron & Wine Covers Radiohead's "No Surprises"

2007-07-20T12:37:00.001-05:00

Pretty neat.