VAGUE SPACE

Welcome, Ghosts

New Explosions in the Sky!  New Explosions in the Sky!  New Explosions in the Sky!  The new album isn't out until February and I don't know how I'm gonna last until then, but here's a new Explosions in the Sky track!  And it's late and I'm tired and yes, this is all I'm posting today.  F Switsky.  Oh, and The Decemberists totally rocked Letterman last night for anyone who missed the performance (they played O Valencia!).  I think it might be on YouTube now.

• Download Explosions in the Sky - "Welcome, Ghosts".mp3

And here's some classic EITS, including a couple rare tracks from the Travels in Constants series CD.

• Download Explosions in the Sky - "Day One".mp3
• Download Explosions in the Sky - "Day Two".mp3
• Download Explosions in the Sky - "Remember me as a Time of Day".mp3
• Download Explosions in the Sky - "Once More to the Afterlife (live)".mp3

Growing Pains

After experiencing tremendous growth in the site that has seen readership pretty much double since April of this year, November has suddenly seen a sharp and consistent decrease in readers, back to nearly April's level.  I'm hoping that this is the result of some sort of miscounting/site error with the stat service I use, which has been experiencing a lot of software troubles lately.  I don't know what else it could be, as it's been both "unique" visitors and "total" visitors that have dropped, while the content has largely remained the same as in every other month.  I also may have unknowingly dropped down Google's databases somehow, but since I don't know how I moved up in those rankings in the first place, I certainly don't know how I've dropped.  But I do have a theory or two.  Read on for a list of the TOP 15 REASONS MY READERSHIP HAS DROPPED...

The Cuse

Syracuse beat undefeated Holy Cross last night to start the season at 7-0 and a #14 ranking in the nation, yet another great start for a team that seems to go through every November with at most 1 loss.  Now some might point to a schedule that usually includes only home games, or at worst, away games in the state of New York, but the truth is that the Cuse always has some tough early season games on their schedule, usually in the form of a tournament that will wind up in Madison Square Garden, and a typical battle with a mid-level major conference team.  They aren't scheduling Duke and Florida, but that doesn't mean they're facing walkovers, and Holy Cross is certainly a well regarded mid-major from Bucknell's conference, who came in undefeated, and was handled pretty easily by the Orange.  Other wins this season have included games against perennial Ivy League power Pennsylvania, Conference USA member UTEP, and usual A-10 stalwart Charlotte.  They face #22 Wichita State on Saturday (at the Carrier Dome), Big 12 power Oklahoma State next week, and supposedly strong (although struggling) mid-major Hofstra at the end of the month.  And that's before an opening week of Big East play that includes #3 Pitt and #9 Marquette.  Not exactly a walk in the park.  And so far, so good.  Which is pretty damn shocking, at least to me.

Ys

Joanna Newsom: Ys
Rating:  8.8 (out of 10)

Breathtaking in its lyrical quality and depth of emotion, this follow-up to 2004's critically lauded Milk-Eyed Mender finds singer/songwriter Joanna Newsom expanding her sound and improving her vocals to a point that will land this album on many year-end best of lists for 2006, including my own.  The CD (pronounced "Ees") is only a catalog of five tracks, but each expands to nearly ten minutes in length, putting the entire effort at nearly 56 minutes of running length, which require a patience in the listener unlike any you will find in commercial radio, or even in almost all of the indie rock world.  But Ms. Newsom rewards the dedicated with just an abundance of beautiful verses, building upon and playing off each other to create a true musical masterpiece.  And it is not an album that can be appreciated while playing in the background of another more pressing activity.  It demands to be heard to be loved, but the rewards are worth it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's wishing all my readers a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.  Eat up, drink up, be merry.  Oh wait, that's wrong, don't be merry for another month.  And don't drink too much.  Or eat too much.  In fact, just calmly sit there and watch television.  Or better yet, read a book.  Ah fuck it, do whatever the hell you want.  At least a-hole Jeter didn't win MVP.  I need a drink.

Oh and I'd like to add a special thanks to the person who was the subject of yesterday's post, for being such a good sport about the completely undeserved ribbing.

• Download The Microphones - "Thanksgiving".mp3
• Download Eef Barzelay - "Thanksgiving Waves".mp3

And this track has nothing whatsoever to do with Thanksgiving, but those were the only 2 songs  in my collection with even the word "Thank" in the title and not too many people (besides Adam Sandler) sing about the joys of turkey, so my last song of the day is another one by Eef Barzelay (lead singer of indie folk act Clem Snide), which is notable mostly because of his rap-tinged lyrics that juxtapose quite dramatically with his lazy country drawl as he sings his protaganist's pleas.  It's quite funny actually, and maybe even quite moving.  Enjoy.  And have a good weekend.

• Download Eef Barzelay - "Ballad of Bitter Honey".mp3

    That was my ass you saw bouncing next to Ludacris.
    It was only on screen for a second, but it's kind of hard to miss.
    And all those other hoochie skanks, they ain't got shit on me.
    And one of Nelly's bodyguards, he totally agreed.

Vague Space Contest #2

On the heels of the highly successful first Vague Space contest, we are conducting a second contest today, and here are the rules:  The first person to enter into the comments the numbers of the items on the following list that are FICTIONAL, wins the contest.  Most of the items on the list are true, and happened in real life, even though they do seem outrageously ridiculous.  But a few of the items are not true.  Just indicate which items are FAKE, and you win the contest. 

Contest prize:  A 2006 Super Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers DVD, free of charge, from me!

Click forward to read the list, in all its glorious detail...

Stanley's Cup

I think they were calling this the 10th season finale of South Park, but it's certainly been hard to keep track.  Let's just say I remember discussing the first season with my little cousins because not too many people watching it were my age at the time.  Those cousins have long since graduated from college at this point.  But unlike The Simpsons, which has aged horribly and is truly unwatchable now, South Park has actually improved through the years, mixing the gross-out shock value of early seasons with biting social commentary, which peaked with the movie but has continued apace in the years following it.  And that made this 10-episode mini-season all the more disappointing, since it did not come close to matching previous heights.  The final episode, though, was at least pretty good.  So here's hoping that it's the sign of things to come.

• Pee Wee hockey player:  "Coach, please don't let us lose to Adams County.  My dad will beat me again."

Austin City Limits

PBS has a long running show titled Austin City Limits, featuring live performances by musicians and they sometimes put on some of the bands I like.  Last weekend, they played a combined show featuring Sufjan Stevens and Calexico.  Sufjan's show was disappointing - they only showed four songs, none of which were among my favorites, and plus, he and all his bandmates were wearing butterfly wings.  So it was a little unsettling.  Calexico was a little better, but not that great.  But I got to wondering while watching it (which shows I was a little bored)... how do these bands make money?  The concert venue was small, maybe 1000 people, and I'm sure PBS doesn't pay much, if anything, for the rights to show it.  At maybe $20 a ticket (tops), they'd make $20K for the night, right?  I can't imagine a regular Calexico concert sells out anything more than a 1000-seat venue, right?  Maybe Sufjan.  But not Calexico.  Is $20K a concert enough to make any money?

Conference Proceedings

Hey, I've been published (on the Internet, at least) and I didn't even know it... I wrote this paper (with Rob's help) back in 2000 or 2001, and we spoke at the IIE Conference in Dallas about this topic.  We were supposed to do the same in May at the Institute of Supply Management conference in Minnesota, but then Rob left the company and I never wanted to do the talk in the first place, so my boss went out there instead.  But apparently, the paper was already submitted, with me and Rob's names on it.  Woo hoo! 

Here's the link.
Here's the paper (in PDF format).  Don't read it.  It's really boring.  Unless you're looking for help designing your warehouse.

On a related note, I've been asked to write an article for the IIE magazine, which will presumably come out some time next year.  So the writing class is already paying off with publications.  Does this matter to fiction editors?  No.  But it's something at least.

At right, my NFL best bet for the week (favored by 6 1/2 on the road at the Packers). F(or) Lenny.

Wowee Zowee Contest

Vague Space is offering an unopened limited edition copy of Pavement's newly released Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels edition CD, which features 50 Pavement songs!  50!  For free!  The album is on 2 CDs and features the original 1995 release Wowee Zowee, along with a bunch of songs recorded around that time, some featured on the Pacific Trim EP, some on other collections, some never released.  There's also a few BBC session takes, live takes from a tour stop in Australia, and a thick booklet of liner notes from each of the band members reflecting on the seminal album. 

So how do you win?  It's easy.  Just write in the comment section which famous New Yorker is thanked by name in my favorite song from the album.  If you're a Pavement fan it should be obvious which song I'm referring to.  The first person to leave the correct name in the comments will win the double CD.  Please leave your real e-mail address when you sign in to comment so that I can contact you for your address information.  Good luck!

Editor's Note:  The contest has ended.  But continue to enjoy the mp3s.

• Download Pavement - "Kennel District".mp3
• Download Pavement - "Mussle Rock (Is a Horse in Transition)".mp3
• Download Pavement - "Give it a Day".mp3