LAST YEAR

My second post a year ago talked about how I had achieved my goal of 36 books read; I had even accomplished that goal a few weeks before the post (on November 11). I was also confindent that I would reach 40 books read by the end of the year; in reality, I only read 2 more books the rest of the way.

For comparison's sake, I am currently working on book #33 and have just under 100 pages to go. I am hoping to finish it today, though I will be distracted by football and the laundry (I suppose blogging counts too). If I manage to finish, I'll have 49 days left in the year to read 7 more books. The margins for falling behind just get worse and worse. Oh well. I'm enjoying the process anyway.

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #12

It's the golden birthday of Sunday Shuffle! Ha ha heh. Here's the music...

1. Little Round Mirrors/Harvey Danger (38)
2. Monday/Wilco (6)
3. El Otro Lado/Josh Rouse (7)
4. On a Freezing Chicago Street/Margot and the Nuclear So and So's (4)
5. 6 String Belief/Son Volt (3)
6. Sounds Better In The Song/Drive-By Truckers (1)
7. Ain't That Enough/Teenage Fanclub (1)
8. Little Lover's So Polite/Silversun Pickups (2)
9. Dinu Lipatti's Bones/The Mountain Goats (3)
10. Oxygen/Aux Send/Grandaddy (7)

Fun Fact: The totals plays for the last nine (34 combined) don't even add up to the Harvey Danger track (38)

ONE YEAR

Yep, it's been a year since I made my first post on my third blog. Today is my 153rd post, which means I've average one every 2.4 days or so. That's not too bad for me. Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings; I hope you continue to do so as I begin year 2.

To help me celebrate, go here and watch this spiffy new trailer for "Spider-Man 3." Can't wait!

eMUSIC ROUND NINE

Second month with a higher number of downloads and now that they're changing the pricing structure, I'm very happy that I upgraded. Anyway, here's what I grabbed...

Portastatic/Be Still Please - Lots of string and trumpet on this nine song set, which is very very good. I especially love "You Blanks."

Yo La Tengo/I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass - This is my first experience with Yo La Tengo and I'm glad I grabbed this album. Lots of jazzy touches. My only problem is that it's a bit too long; a few songs are disposable. But come one, how can you not love "Mr. Tough?"

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's/The Dust of Retreat - Huge indie band from Indianapolis that works both in the small and more epic musical styles. The more I hear it, the better it gets. Current favorite (it shifts with every listen) is "Jen Is Bringing the Drugs."

Okkervil River/Black Sheep Boy - Yes, I know I'm behind the times on this one. Their "The President's Dead" single is what made me finally grab it. So, so good. It's hard to go wrong with "For Real" or "Black" or "A Stone."

The Mountain Goats/We Shall All Be Healed - Since I can't stop playing the new one, I figured I should delve into the back catalogue. I've only listened twice so far but it's good.

The Decemberists/Picaresqueties - Same thing here, although I've already started grabbing their back catalogue. Nothing major here but it's solid.

GIDDY

Today's news that Donald Rumsfeld will no longer be the Secretary of Defense makes me very very very happy. In fact, it almost makes me happier than the election results do. Almost. Democratic control of the House and Senate (looks like); a woman as Speaker of the House; a black governor elected for only the second time; even a Muslim candidate winning. Wow. Makes me feel good about the country and goes a long way towards erasing the despair from a couple years ago. A good day.

GET OUT THE VOTE

I did this afternoon around 2:45. It was very quiet at the polling place, which meant a quick in and out. I was flabbergasted to learn that our method of voting has changed since the last time - we now have to fill in bubbles on paper! How does that happen? Sure, the punch hold method we used to have wasn't exactly state of the art but using a pen?!? Technology did come into play at the end of the process, as we fed our ballot into something that looked like a copier. Wha? Anyway, I hope I wake up tomorrow in a world where the Republicans took some serious losses.

I also made another vote this week, one with my purchasing power and palate. For a number of years, I would use Taco Bell brand taco mix - I always liked eating there and the taste was fine. However, it would give me pretty good heartburn and I've been going longer and longer between having them for dinner. Well, this week I decided to try Old El Paso, a package that included both hard and soft shells (a necessity in our family). I just finished eating dinner a short while ago and I quite enjoyed the taste. Plus, no heartburn (and their hard shells are pretty good). Sure, not as hard-hitting as an election but important to me nonetheless.

DVR DAYS

We added a DVR to our cable subscription at the end of September. We immediately loved being able to record something on the main TV without having to leave that channel on. I also started using the ability to pause and rewind live TV while watching football and baseball. Then we discovered you could record 2 things at once, which comes in very handy when no one is home to watch anything. It's been great.

Naturally, I took advantage of the opportunity and captured a lot of the new fall shows. My days would be spent trying to catch up on the previous nights' TV, albeit at a faster pace. I've noticed something, though. All that TV is starting to dwindle.

I gave up "The Nine" after only a few episodes. I tried and discarded "Help Me Help You." Just tonight I have given up on both "Heroes" (which started out so promisingly) and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." I've still been watching "Gilmore Girls" but I'm not really sure why, which means chances are good it will be gone soon.

There are still good shows to watch, of course. "The Wire" remains one of the best shows ever on television and this season has been fantastic so far (I watch it On Demand before it airs on Sunday night). My new favorite show is "Battlestar Galactica," which is just incredible. How did I ever live without it? And while "Veronica Mars" started out slow, it's still really good. Yes, I'm still watching "Lost." I'm having some frustrations with how the story is being told but part of that is having too many characters to focus on. The last drama I'm still watching is one of the new ones, "Friday Night Lights." I've always found Kyle Chandler interesting to watch, as well as Connie Britton (plus, she's hot). And the story has been good if not incredibly original.

And the comedy side, there are only 3 (at least until "Scrubs comes back in a few weeks) - "How I Met Your Mother," "My Name is Earl," and "The Office." All three still make me laugh several times a half hour but "The Office" is the cream of the crop ("Tuna!").

Oh yeah, still watching "The Amazing Race" too. The only reality show I still find worthwhile.

Hmm, 7 1/2 hours of TV a week not counting sports. Well, it was worse...

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #11

This feature doesn't feel quite so pointless now that I've posted some actual content this week. Your mileage may vary...

1. Them & Me/Brendan Benson (4) - Wonder if we'll get a new Brendan Benson solo album or a second Raconteurs album first?

2. Broom People/The Mountain Goats (3) - I really need to do a review of their latest album - it's so so good.

3. the sun fell on you (ps 119:82)/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (17) - They have an EP up at their website for free that is well worth grabbing.

4. Mother Mary/Eels (3) - I bet it's not too long before we start hearing talk of a new Eels album.

5. The Slow Decay of Some Radio Afterglows/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (4) - Long song title; long band name; long song (7 minutes plus).

6. Paper Kitten Nightmare/Margot and the Nuclear So and So's (4) - Second song of the year with "Meow meow meow" as a lyric, along with "Where I'm Anymore" by Grandaddy.

7. Might/Archers of Loaf (6) - I still haven't picked up Eric Bachmann's solo disc from a few months ago - anyone have it?

8. Oceans/The Format (5) - Check out TJ's site for a scary promotional e-mail he got from this band.

9. Questions?/Dramarama (1) - Is Dramarama one of the most underrated bands of the last 20 years? Yes.

10. Fireflies/The Drams (6) - These guys have been touring with Drive-By Truckers - that's a show I'd go see.

STREAMY

I've got plenty of music to listen to - albums I've barely had time to digest, all sorts of stuff on podcasts, lots of great music from earlier this year that I haven't played in a while, let alone all the great stuff from previous years. But is that enough? No. I'm listening to streams of Silversun Pickups (Oct. 27 at around 3 PM) and The Shins (yesterday at 1:20 or so) on KEXP and The Long Winters from the other day on NPR. There's also a Decemberists concert to get to, also from NPR. Now if I could only get paid for it...

FRIDAY NIGHT FOLLIES

Drove down to DeMotte tonight (about 25 miles away) to meet my wife and parents for dinner before an open mic at a local place. We ate at a Mexican place that makes great burritos (chicken and pork combo!) and it was good as usual, if a bit slow due to a large crowd. We were just finishing right before 7:00, so I ducked out early and went across the street to the open mic. Well, there was the opposite of a big crowd. The host was there by himself. We waited for a few minutes but no other performers came and the only potential audience members were supplied by me. So, we packed it in.

The good news is I finished a new song about 20 minutes before we left, the first one I've finished in a couple months and my 6th song overall (#5 has only been played once and won't really outside of a band setting). I did go to the open mic in Valpo last night for the first time in almost 2 months, which was nice. And now I have something new to play next week; I also have another song that just needs lyrics and should be done by Thursday.

What am I doing instead of performing? Having a beer and using up the rest of my current eMusic downloads while watching basketball on mute. Go Bulls!

BOOK BACKLOG

It's been a while since I mentioned books around here, so I thought I'd give an update. I have managed to get myself back on pace to read 40 books this year; the pace is actually a fast one since I still have 8 books left to go. The good news is that I hit September with 16 books left to go, so I know I can read 4 in a month. And it won't be the end of the world if I don't make it; I read 38 last year, so if I at least get to 39 I'll be happy. Anyway, here's what I've been reading the last two months...

25. Infoquake/David Louis Edelman - A different sort of SF novel, with an economy set up around Bio/logics (upgrades for the body, such as NiteFocus 49) and a possible revolutionary change in that business. The main character, Natch, is an ass but an interesting ass. I really liked the book and eagerly await the two sequels that are forthcoming.

26. The Book of Fate/Brad Meltzer - I picked this up because I read the first chapter in an issue of Justice League of America, the comic Meltzer is currently writing, and was intrigued. The book falls more in that John Grisham vein, though it's more concerned with power and the Presidency than the law. It was a page-turner but nothing that blew me away. Let's put it this way, I won't be picking up any of his other books (and his JLA is losing steam too but that's another post).

27. The Washington Story/Adam Langer - This contiunes the stories of many characters from Langer's debut, Crossing California. I really liked that book and this is more of the same. It is set in Chicago, so I recognize events from my childhood, and it deals with the college adventures of several characters. Art, sex, relationships, radicalism, loss, longing, and hope. And more, of course.

28. Fragile Things/Neil Gaiman - The new story and poetry collection from Gaiman, one of my favorite writers. As is the case with all collections, I liked some stories better than others but the overall quality is very high. I particularly enjoyed "A Study in Emerald," which involves both Lovecraft and Doyle, and "Sunbird," a story about an eating club with mythical aspects.

29. The World to Come/Dara Horn - This novel falls in the category of an "everything" novel for me, a book that concerns itself with multiple ideas and characters. It deals with Vietnam, the Soviet Union, art, stories, twins, relationships (both romantic and familial), theft, Jewish life, and more. It's very well-written and very very good.

30. Third Class Superhero/Charles Yu - This is a small story collection, the debut by Yu. The title story appealed to me the most, a look at a super-hero longing to join the big leagues. The stories are not the norm and have some math apsects to them as well. Yu reminds me of George Saunders in tone if not it content (though sometimes in content too). Solid.

31. The Ladies of Grace Adieu/Susanna Clarke - I loved Clarke's debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. This is a set of stories set in the same milieu with some of the same characters popping up. Most of them deal with the intersection of Faerie and "the real world" or with magic or sometimes both. Written in unusual dialects or structures, the stories are very rewarding. I'd still start with the novel but this is well worth your time.

32. Stardust/Neil Gaiman - Yeah, I'd never read this before. But one of the stories in the Clarke collection shares a setting with this book (Wall, where you step through a gap in a stone wall and into Faerie) so I thought I'd finally read it. Now I can't believe I put it off. It's full of whimsy and wonder, action and humor, wonderful ideas. I highly recommend it and can't wait to see how the movie turns out (coming out in early 2007, I believe).

DELAYED TRICKS

Outside of the cold tempartures for candy-hunting yesterday, the day was pretty much a treat. Sure, I could have done without the 45 minute break between classes but I can't blame the kindergarteners for not coming down to swim - they were in costume. Grant got compliments on his costume (Superman) and his fake black hair and filled his pumpkin to the brim with candy (then promptly rejected half of it, which isn't a bad thing). A good day overall.

Today has been a little different. The tip of a cotton swab fell off while I was cleaning my ear this morning. My attempts to get it out only lodged it in further. Jill was at work, of course, so I enlisted some of my co-workers to help (susbstitute wives, who are all married and therefore used to dealing with idiot men). Two of them couldn't see anything but after being in the pool I knew it was still in there - my ear was closing up and not immediately unclogging. After I was done for the day and my boss took a look, thinking she spotted it. I had brought some tweezers along in case that happened and she was able to successfully remove it. What a relief.

We've had a clogging kitchen sink drain the past few days, which periodically happens in our old house. Jill put some stuff down it to loosen things back up and then I heard her shout. The pipe was leaking under the sink, spraying nasty gunk all over. Turns out there was a crack. She went out to Menards and got some supplies and was able to fix it. Plus, the drain seems to be fine now.

Hmm, maybe the moral of this day is that the women in my life are awesome and I'm not so useful....or it was just a bad day made better by others. Either way, I'm hoping for a calmer tomorrow.

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #10

Wherein the only recurring feature reaches double digits and no extra chatter is necessary...

1. White Wave/Portastatic (8)
2. Exodus Damage/John Vanderslice (2)
3. My Sweet Annette/Drive-By Truckers (2)
4. Tame/Pixies (2)
5. What Happened.../Grandaddy (5)
6. Alec Eiffel/Pixies (1)
7. Moral Centralia/Harvey Danger (23)
8. Black Gown/The Lemonheads (6)
9. Eterna (concerning the end of the world) (ps 30:9)/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (17)
10. Last Days of My Bitter Heart/Eels (6)

GEEKED

Got a couple goodies in the mail today - Justice League Unlimited Season 1 and Jeff Tweedy: Live in the Pacific Northwest - and both make me very happy. Grant and I have already started on the first one, even though we're still in the middle of three animated box sets already (Simpsons, Superman, and Batman). We watched the first two episodes, "Initiation" (which sets up the new concept of many heroes and features Green Arrow, a personal fave) and "For the Man Who Has Everything" (an adaptation of the classic Alan Moore story). The second one I will get to as soon as I can because...well, come on. I'm such a Tweedy fanboy it's not even funny. This all came courtesy of a preorder at Circuit City online (we had a credit) - it's so cool it actually showed up today!

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #9

Number nine...number nine...number nine...

1. Bryte Side/Pernice Brothers (6) - Last played on Sept. 12

2. Neptune's Net/M. Ward (11) - Last played on Oct. 21 (yesterday!)

3. Marie Floating Over the Backyard/Eels (1) - Last played whenever I listened to Blinking Lights and Other Revelations on disc

4. The Bleeding Heart Show/The New Pornographers (1) - Last played whenever I listened to Twin Cinema on disc

5. El Otro Lado/Josh Rouse (6) - Last played on Oct. 8 (during Sunday Shuffle #7)

6. You Must Build A Fire/Crooked Fingers (3) - Last played on Aug. 19

7. [Untitled Track]/The Black Keys (7) - Last played on Aug. 2

8. These Are The Fables/The New Pornographers (4) - Last played on Sept. 28

9. Ballad of Big Nothing/Elliott Smith (12) - Last played on Aug. 21

10. Eterna (concerning the end of the world) (ps. 30:9)/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (16) - Last played on Oct. 7

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #8

I'm doing this a bit later in the day than usual...it's 5:00 CDT. We've had a busy weekend with a wedding we attended in Indianapolis yesterday and spending time with my family (my brother came in for the weekend and my dad's birthday was the other day). I also wanted to finish the book I was reading (#29, leaving me 3 more to try and get to in October and it's already the 15th!) before getting to my regular (and almost only these days) feature. So, here's the music...

1. Killer Parties/The Hold Steady (10) - I've listened to Almost Killed Me a few times directly on the iPod, so the relatively low number here shouldn't throw you. Craig Finn was talking about Charlemagne from the get-go...

2. This Isn't Farmlife/The Essex Green (10) - Wow, I've gotten 2 songs to double digits right from the start. I burned a hardcopy of Cannibal Sea and have listened to it many times that way. It still remains one of the pleasant surprises of the year for me.

3. The Concept/Teenage Fanclub (1) - "She wears denim wherever she goes/ So she's going to get some records by the Status Quo/ Oh yeah." Ah, good stuff.

4. Ammunition for a Bolt-Action Heart/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (3) - From The Mother of Love Emulates the Shapes of Cynthia. Long titles rock!

5. Magnetic Heaven/Slobberbone (11) - A nice instrumental from Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today and my third double digit song only halfway through.

6. The Thrilling of Claire/The National (7) - This is from the bonus disc that came with the reissue of Alligator earlier this year. I just downloaded it since I already had the disc. And you know, I keep forgetting I have it. I shouldn't because this song is just as good as the stuff on the album.

7. Sooner or Later/Marah (5) - I guess it's the day for the albums with long titles to be represented; If You Didn't Laugh You'd Cry fits the bill here. I thought I'd heard a few months back that there might be a new one from them again this year but I haven't heard anything since, so I guess it will be next year.

8. Per Second Second/The Wrens (1) - The Meadowlands is another album I loaded in for the mix I made a few weeks back. This is probably the weakest song of a fantastic set of music.

9. Box Full of Letters/Wilco (4) - This is the song that introduced me to Wilco, that made me like Wilco (even though I didn't buy A.M. at the time; Being There was my first Wilco record). Thank you, WXRT (why do you suck so much now?). And yes, this shuffle almost ended without a Wilco tune - can you believe it?

10. Heavy Metal Drummer (demo)/Wilco (8) - Obviously not. It's fated! Fated!

eMUSIC ROUND EIGHT

Before I talk about my most recent round of eMusic downloads, I need to mention something I left off last time. I forgot to note I grabbed Elliott Smith's "Division Day" and "No Name #6," which were originally released as a single. Not my favorite of his but still well worth owning.

I also need to note that I upgraded my subscription this time around, as there was just so much new music coming out. I'm now paying $14.99 for 65 downloads, which is still a great bargain. I would have had to pay that much for only one of these in the store, so I'm very happy with the bargain. Here's what I grabbed...

Ben Kweller/Ben Kweller - Sure, Ben's lyrics can be a little goofy but then they can also be really sharp too. He's in fine form musically (as usual) with some more piano-based songs this time around. It's a more mature album maybe and that's not a bad thing at all.

Joseph Arthur/Nuclear Daydream - I got his previous album, Our Shadows Will Remain, for Christmas a few years back and upon first listen I thought I had made a huge mistake in asking for it. Turned out I was wrong. I didn't have any such problem with his new album. It's a bit more stripped down musically but still fairly dark in the lyrics. It all sounds good.

The Hold Steady/Boys and Girls in America - I'm planning on doing a more in-depth review of this at some point, so let's just say I like it and leave it at that for now.

Pernice Brothers/Live A Little - My anticipation for this album sent into a huge Pernice kick that I'm still not over. I'd like to talk about this one more too but I will say this - you need to get it. Seriously.

The Lemonheads/The Lemonheads - Yeah, it's just Evan Dando and some new recruits (including J. Mascis...and did you see Dinosaur Jr. is coming out with a new album next year?) but it still sounds all Lemonhead and why wouldn't it? Not that album of the year but I'm enjoying listening to it.

The Brokedown/The Dutchman's Gold - I pay attention to press releases from Merge Records and one such mentioned they had signed this band and would put out their full-length debut in January. Well, I thought it they were good enough for Merge they would probably be good enough for me so I grabbed their debut EP. And I was right. By the way, they've now changed their name to The Broken West thanks to another band threatening legal action or some such. I'm sure that other band is nowhere near as good.

The Decemberists/The Tain - How cool is it to have one remaining dowload and then discover that eMusic has this whole EP as one download? Pretty cool. 18 plus minutes of goodness.

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #7

Let's see how many Wilco songs turn up today, shall we?

1. Smiley Faces/Gnarls Barkley (1) - Jill bought St. Elsewhere the other weekend and loaded it onto iTunes. But I like it too, so I'll count it under my music...at least for today.

2. El Otro Lado/Josh Rouse (5) - The closing track from Subtitulo. Man, that album so early in the year that I tend to forget about it. I shouldn't, because it's good. I burned myself a copy too, so I've listened to it a lot more than seems to be indicated here.

3. Via Chicago/Wilco (5) - Well, that didn't take long. From Summerteeth. I just put the live version of this one on a mix for one of the high schoolers I work with.

4. Jersey Clowns/Josh Rouse (7) - Well, who knew it would be a Josh Rouse two-fer? This one's from Subtitulo as well. Hmm, looks like the shuffle is staying in the "S" section of the albums today.

5. Hang On/Teenage Fanclub (2) - Here's 305 seconds off of Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds. Wonder if they'll put out a new album next year...

6. Strahan Has Corralled the Freaks/Centro-Matic (14) - I was running a shuffle yesterday while watching all the baseball games (some days you don't need to hear Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver) and this popped up; now here it is again. Proof that shuffling works or doesn't work? Anyway, this is from Love You Just the Same.

7. Song for Dennis Brown/The Mountain Goats (4) - If I didn't need to work on digesting a dozen new albums (or more) recently, I would be playing Get Lonely all the time. So, I'm pretty high on The Mountain Goats right now. This is from last year's The Sunset Tree.

8. The Other Shoe/Eels (1) - I loaded Blinking Lights and Other Revelations onto iTunes back in January and have just listened to the songs as they came up in shuffles. Obviously, this one hadn't made it until today.

9. Comes A Time/Nada Surf (3) - I don't think I like The Weight Is A Gift quite as much as Let Go but it's still a good album. I think they're akin to Harvey Danger, having that big hit early on and then being forgotten about while turning out good music.

10. Black Gown/The Lemonheads (3) - This is the 2006 version of the group, from the new self-titled album. I just grabbed this from eMusic earlier this week and have only managed a couple listens so far.

So, only one Wilco track. And I actually had something come up that was in double digits. What'll happen next week?

THE WEEK AHEAD

Big week.

First and foremost are this week's music releases. The Hold Steady. Pernice Brothers. The Decemberists. Beck. Hard to beat that for a new music day, isn't it?

Tuesday brings the season premiere of "Veronica Mars." I actually get to see episodes as they air this year! Wednesday has the season premiere of "Lost" and Friday brings "Battlestar Galactica" (Netflix was making me wait, so I went out and bought the 2 DVD sets for Season 2 and currently have 7 episodes left to watch - I will be caught up!). Plus, the baseball playoffs start this week. Even though my White Sox did not make it, I will watch as much as I can because I love the game.

I will attempt to finish book #28 on the year (Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things) and jump right into book #29 (no idea what that will be yet).

Tomorrow Grant and I have dentist appointments and he starts a drama class at our local community theater guild; Tuesday I have an appointment to talk about getting snipped (yep, we've made the decision). On Wednesday I have to stay a little bit extra at work to teach for a co-worker; another co-worker is in New Orleans on a mission trip all week, which means I'll have to be on top of things even more in the pool. Friday brings an open mic and I'd like to finish some songs and do some new material. And I'm working on Saturday morning again this week.

Big week. I'm looking forward to it.

SUNDAY SHUFFLE #6

Sans commentary today.

1. Looter's Follies/Destroyer (9)
2. Poor People/Marah (3)
3. Outtasite (Outta Mind)/Wilco (6)
4. Salesman at the Day of the Parade/Rogue Wave (4)
5. Muzzle of Bees (live)/Wilco (1)
6. August/John Vanderslice (2)
7. Sister Jack/Spoon (1)
8. Poor Places/Wilco (5)
9. Silver Plate Complaints/Centro-Matic (7)
10. Working Girls (Sunlight Shines)/Pernice Brothers (6)