Chuck is getting all the attention right now, but let us now praise these other famous men who share his big day:
D.B. Sweeney!
Star of the classic romantic ice skating dramedy, The Cutting Edge
Yanni!
Joe McCarthy!
Red-baiter and Michelle Bachmann's inspiration
...and...
Boutros Boutros-Gali!
(Click here for all the Star Wars U.N. Secretary General action figures!)
One of our group home customers, who is usually in search of wrestling DVDs, Julia Child cooking videos, or gospel CDs, has taken to giving us pictures he's colored when he comes in for his regular visits. I like the one I got last Sunday much better than the one from early October, which I suspect might not be by his own hand!
First time the line's been out the door! Most were on the youngish side and waiting to register. I'm feeling hopeful...
I've got a new obsession, and it's Frightened Rabbit's Midnight Organ Fight. I liked the record right off the bat, but the lead's strong Scottish accent (they're from Selkirk) took a little getting used to. But after the third or fourth listen, I was hooked.
I hate the name Frightened Rabbit because it so says "I'm fragile", but luckily the name doesn't match the sound at all. It's full of bright guitar; emotive, desperate vocals; and big interesting beats. All of which are infused with passion and just make sense together. It's definitely indie rock, but has got lots of folksy and at times bluegrassy undertones, especially in Good Arms vs. Bad Arms and Old Old-Fashioned
Being about a big breakup, the record's not treading any new thematic ground, but the honesty of songwriter Scott Hutchinson's lyrics and his passionate delivery totally sell it. From Floating in the Forth:
So you just stepped out/of the front of my house/and I'll never see you again.
I closed my eyes for a second/and when they opened/you weren't there.
And the door shut, shut/I was vacuum-packed/shrink-wrapped, out of air
And the spine collapsed/and the eyes rolled back/to stare at my starving brain
You might mistake Fast Blood or I Feel Better for a National song before the vocals come in, with it's soaring guitars and beats. The guitars on this one and several others, especially Head Rolls Off, will also likely remind you of what you first liked about the Edge.
The song that seems to be getting the most attention is Keep Yourself Warm, with it's line "It takes more than fucking someone you don't know to keep warm." "Well duh," I first thought, but it is a pretty amazing song and heartbreaking in its' desperation. "I'm drunk, I'm drunk, and you're probably on pills. If we've both got the same dieseses, it's irrelevent, girl."
There are so many good tracks on this disc that my favorites have been changing, but here's what's topping the list right now:
Best of all, it all sounded even better LIVE at the Entry last Saturday. Again, they are one of those bands that pours everything they've got into the show. Even the guitar player and backup singer who was nursing a hangover from a 2-day long birthday booze-a-thon sounded awesome. The drummer kicked ass. I couldn't capture it on film, but this picture I found says more than anything I could write about him.
Incidentally, Midnight Organ Fight refers not to something in the vein of dueling banjos as first came to my mind (Does the idea of Dueling Banjos played on church organs crack anyone up half as much as it does me?), but is a clever addition to the long list of slang for the sexual act.
I always say I'm going to start a blog dedicated to the bizarro world of library graphic design, but since I have enough trouble keeping up with one blog, I'll just have to start another irregular feature in this one. Like nutball remarks from Michelle Bachmann, there is just too much good material. It would be a crime to let it go unsnarked. Exhibit A:
Library journal covers are a regular source of unintended amusement. October's American Libraries cover looks like it is supposed to cleverly illustrate Cruel to Be Kind: What to Do About Dysfuntional Staff (the content of library lit would be the subject of a whole nother blog...), but it raises many questions. Are these sweaty, constipated folks on the cover supposed to be dysfunctional staff? Are they being cruel to be kind? Or are they just frustrated by the sympathetic menopause they are experiencing from working around so many middle-aged, empty-nested women? You decide.
A copy of Newsweek arrives in my mailbox each week (MPR Membership perk), and I was so happy when I saw their first Palin cover: she looked small and crazy, with a rifle and a tumorous-looking nest of hair on the side of her head. Go liberal media elite!
I was disappointed when this issue arrived. Much more flattering and larger than life. I thought that Newsweek might have received a ton of complaints about the first cover from the McCain campaign and other dopey conservatives, and tried to make some sort amends.
So imagine my surprise when I came across this Atlantic article about the politics of portraiture and Fox News' indignation over the fact that Newsweek didn't retouch the second cover. Jesus! What do they want? Glamour Shots or beauty pageant pics? (Actually, that would be awesome, but you get the idea...)
I skidived (skydove?) for the the first time yesterday, and it was wild! I'm trying to figure out how to get the video up, but in the meantime...
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