VAGUE SPACE

Stories for Boys

Back in March, as I was loading the final songs on my Top 200 list, I found that I was missing a couple of tracks from my iTunes collection, namely the tracks by U2 on the latter half of my list.  I actually had "A Sort of Homecoming" via a rights-protected iTunes file, but not "The Unforgettable Fire."  Which was pretty shocking to me.  The album The Unforgettable Fire used to be one of my favorites of all-time and was probably my favorite album of the '80s, at least when the '80s ended.   But I don't have a CD copy of it, hence the lack of an iTunes copy of the songs from the album.  I currently have 7370 songs in my computer collection and the only U2 tracks I had were those from The Joshua Tree (which is the only U2 album I own on CD) and a handful of other songs.  Again, this was shocking to me.  But back in March, I found a Bit Torrent of every single U2 CD ever released and I downloaded everything from Boy through Achtung Baby, their last good album (from 1991).  This was over 2 months ago.  Then I forgot all about it.  I was downloading a movie off of Pirate Bay tonight and I saw the U2 collection sitting in the directory.  I cared so little about the band that was once my favorite that I didn't even bother to put it into my iTunes for 2 months.  So anyway, I finally did, and you know what, those songs from Boy and War and October and, of course, The Unforgettable Fire, hold up fairly nicely.  Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but even Achtung Baby wasn't bad -- including "One," which maintains a particularly vivid memory for me that involved New Year's, a girl named Jen, New York City, a hangover, and the end of 1993.  But I digress.  This post is not about nostalgia.  It's about music.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Starring:  Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett
Rating:  3 stars (out of 4)

Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are two of my favorite movies of all-time, both of them making my top 5 movies of the '80s.  I actually liked the sequel better than the original when I first saw it in the theaters, but over time the original held up better.  In either case, it's fairly obvious that I was and am a big fan of Indy and have been looking forward to the fourth movie in the series for far longer than it should have taken.  But while George Lucas was screwing up the Star Wars movies for a new generation and Stephen Spielberg was becoming a "serious director" and Harrison Ford was doing Calista Flockhart, we all waited and waited and a full decade came and went and there was still no sign of a new Indy.  Then, the rumors increased, and the three legends finally came together and someone (David Koepp) came up with a script (which I'll get to) and lo and behold, a new movie in the series got made.  But somewhere along the way, I lost a little interest and while I might have been absolutely thrilled if this movie came out a decade ago (and I would have definitely gone to the midnight premiere to watch it), a little too much time has passed.  And Harrison Ford got really old.  On its own merits, the film is an exciting adventure filled with some excellent action sequences, witty banter, and the characters we know and love.  But it does feel just a little dated, and the movie obviously cannot compare with the first two, or even the third one, which itself took a little too long before release. 

Summer

After a miserably cold and wet April and a chilly cold and wet May here in New Jersey, we finally saw the sun on this weekend's Memorial Day, with temperatures rising into the 70s and 80s.  Finally.  And as all the Bennies rushed down to the Jersey Shore, I went up to New York for a couple relaxing days and I can't wait for the hot summer heat to really bear down on us.  I hate the fucking cold and I'm so glad it's finally over.  Bring on summer!

• Download Saxon Shore - "May 26".mp3
• Download Mogwai - "Summer (live)".mp3
  
  • From the new remastered double disc edition of Mogwai's classic Young Team!
• Download Yo La Tengo - "The Summer".mp3
• Download Wax Fang - "Cannibal Summer".mp3
• Download A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "The Best Summer Ever".mp3
• Download The Decemberists - "Summersong".mp3
• Download Super Furry Animals - "Hello Sunshine".mp3
• Download Jesu - "Sun Down".mp3
• Download Pavement - "Summer Babe (Live)".mp3
• Download Pavement - "Summer Baby (7" version)".mp3
• Download Built to Spill - "Kicked it in the Sun".mp3
• Download Hello, Blue Roses - "Sunny Skies".mp3
• Download Modest Mouse - "Summer".mp3
• Download Modest Mouse - "Sunspots in the House of the Late Scapegoat".mp3
• Download Belle and Sebastian - "Another Sunny Day".mp3
• Download Belle and Sebastian - "Song for Sunshine".mp3
• Download Lambchop - "Your Fucking Sunny Day".mp3
• Download Superchunk - "Sunshine State".mp3
• Download Portastatic - "Sour Shores".mp3
• Download Dirty Three - "Distant Shore".mp3
• Download Broken Social Scene - "7/4 (Shoreline)".mp3
• Download M83 - "Fields, Shorelines, and Hunters".mp3
• Download Luna - "Sideshow by the Seashore".mp3
• Download Red House Painters - "New Jersey".mp3
• Download The Angels of Light - "Sunset Park".mp3
  
  • "She'll bring sun, she brings sun.  She brings water, she'll bring water."

Right Wing Memorial Day

Through the use of an awesome new website Red Lasso, I can get clips of any television or radio program anywhere in the country and post them here.  Seriously.  That's pretty cool.  I'm not sure how or why this works, but my first post is to honor our troops on this Memorial Day Weekend the only way I know how, by spotlighting the complete and utter hypocrisy of the right wing and the Bush administration, who continue to claim that they honor our troops by keeping them in Iraq, dying for an illegal war that has no purpose whatsoever, other than making Halliburton and Blackwater as rich as Exxon Mobil.  In this clip, Keith Olbermann responds to claims by the right winger nutjobs that his call for Bush and his cronies to be tried for war crimes was somehow diminishing the efforts of our troops.  Watch him explain the truth below.

2007-08 Season in Review

An abbreviated disaster of a television season is receiving an abbreviated disaster of a blog post from me, due mostly to the fact that there was basically one good prime time show on television and a bunch of massive disappointments.  The writer's strike was obviously a factor and most of the returning shows -- really, all except one -- did not return to anything close to their previous heights.  The Office was probably the biggest disappointment for me.  After shooting from nowhere to my #1 favorite series in last year's season review, the show seemed to be decidedly less funny, with decidedly less memorable lines than last year.  It was still my #2 favorite show of the year, which kind of gives you an idea of how disappointing the season was overall.  But I guess it is what it is.  Read on to see the full list.  And believe me, a top 10 was a difficult number to reach.  Even with a 50" plasma screen television.

New Music Tuesday

Between the trip to Virginia and the bar mitzvah and the Phillies game in the rain on Sunday, I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep and still unable to post at my new place of employment.  So this will be a quick voyage down NMT, without any accompanying pithy responses.  All I can say is this music is good and support the artists who made it.  Enjoy.

• Download Wolf Parade - "Language City".mp3
• Download Cut Copy - "Midnight Runner".mp3
• Download Mates 0f State - "My Only Offer".mp3
• Download Pomegranates - "Whom/Who".mp3
• Download Oxford Collapse - "Amongst Friends".mp3
• Download Shearwater - "Century Eyes".mp3
• Download The Futureheads - "Broke Up Time".mp3
• And one older song, by Conor Oberst's other band, featuring a little rip-roaring anti-Capitalism.  I kind of like it right now.
  • Download Desaparecidos - "Survival of the Fittest".mp3

He hides in his suit like
Like a snake in the grass
his sales pitch fork tongue hissed
The wolves wear their name tags, they're hunting in packs
herding their prey up the aisles and back, they're smiling
their teeth are showing
And the doctors and lawyers like vultures descend
swoop down to the scene of the car accident
to pick the victims to pieces
then there's the sly silver fox makes his money
tele-scamming notch babies
he says the end is near, buy my policy
I'll make you young again
I'll make you young again

Go and charge full-circle
so we can't experience pain

take the cash from my hand, hear the register sing
and the roar of the lion logo on the screen
he's hungry, I should buy some popcorn
so I exit the dark feeling blind in the sun
and the bobcats look tired, they ate their fill of asphalt
'cause we need more parking
with so many rams and bugs
the news cameras capture guerilla warfare, eagles into buildings
crash landed despair is all that there is now
in a cubical cage that smells like a rat
whose smile gets bigger along with your debt
don't take it personal, it's just business

Bar Mitzvah

I attended my first ever bar mitzvah experience this weekend and for the first time in my life, I found a real reason to hate the Jews.  Just kidding.  But the service was long.  And about as exciting as my drive between Altavista, VA and Greensboro, NC on Friday.  There was a lot of Hebrew being spoken, which wasn't really translated, but I think the gist of most of the phrases was "We hate Jesus, let's kill some Christians."  I could be mistaken of course.  The event took place in a Presbyterian church which doubles as a temple when they remove the crosses and any sign of holiness and replace them with dollar signs and a stock ticker.  Not exactly, but the readings from the Bible (or the first half of the Bible -- they don't really use that pesky little "New Testament" at all) featured portions on raising crops, trading shares, and other tenets of economics in the middle Ages.  I feel like I learned more about finance at the bar mitzvah than the Accounting for Managers course I took back in college in the early '90s.  So that was helpful.  The service also featured an inspiring portion in which the young bar mitzvah walked around with a big rug that housed some holy scrolls or something and let everyone in the congregation touch it with their "bible".  I think I saw some of the older Jewish women weep, although perhaps that was because there was a huge sale at Nordstrom's that they were missing for the event.

Unlike every Catholic service I've ever attended, no collection plates were passed around, which was a relief.  I guess the Jews don't need to beg for cash in the middle of their important events.  Either they've found a more discreet way to pay for their religion, or they don't have to buy off nearly as many victims of priest abuse.  Either way, that was nice.  It was also refreshing to see a female rabbi and cantor lead the service, especially since the Catholics don't let women anywhere near such positions of importance.  Very enlightened religion, if you ask me, and the rabbi started channeling Al Gore at the end, with talk about the importance of saving our environment.  I'm not sure exactly what she said, because I was half asleep at the time, but I think she passed around coupons for compact fluorescents.  The Jews do not pay retail.

Oasis

So my day went something like this.  Softball game last night, doubleheader, we blow the 2nd game after winning 19-4 in the first, and the game ended when I hit one of my only hard hit balls of the whole night right up the middle, but the shortstop converted it into a double play with the bases loaded and the tying run on second.  I get home at 11 pm.  Pack.  In bed by midnight.  Up at 4 am.  Drive to the Philly airport.  Fly to Greensboro, NC.  Drive 2 hours into Virginia.  Spend 7 hours walking around a warehouse on my injured knees and aching ankle (from the softball game and just general longstanding injuries).  Contemplate killing everyone in sight and wondering whether or not there are any cops in the general area.  Make plans to be at the warehouse for the 3rd shift Friday morning, at 3 am.  After being there during the 2nd shift until at least 8 pm tomorrow.  Contemplate killing myself or at least hijacking a car and driving back to NJ.  Can't get my laptop to actually, you know, work.  Sending emails from my stupid Blackberry-lite phone like I'm Rudnick or something.  Watching the Phillies get killed on ESPN and actually turning on American Idol for a few moments because I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere Virginia and there's nothing to do and nothing on TV and I have to go to sleep but I'm dreading the fuck out of the rest of this fucking week and then I try the laptop again and -- success!!  I'm on, and thanks to the beautiful Comfort Inn and their joyous wi-fi connection, I can access the Internet!  Woo hoo!  Freedom!  And for the first time in the 2 weeks since I've had this corporate laptop, I'm able to actually, you know, use the actual Internet as if this were America and not the fucking Soviet fucking Union.  And you know what freedom smells like?  Of course you do.  Stephen Colbert.  I found this video on You Tube and it made me smile.  And really, I seriously was contemplating a lot of bad shit until I saw this video.  I am calm now.  I will go to sleep.  I'm sure my English is really bad in this post, but I am sleepy.  Thank you, Stephen!!!!!

Job Fair

Jim: "I am about to do something very bold at this job, that I've never done before... try."

Jim takes his job somewhat seriously for the first time, taking a potential client out for a golf outing/sales effort as a way to get himself off his Ryan-imposed "probation" (due mostly to Jim telling Ryan's boss that Ryan's website effort went horribly wrong, which it did).  As a result, we see an unflattering image of (a) Jim groveling for a sale, (b) Andy's blisters from a day of driving range practice, and (c) a dick of a business owner ignoring Jim's requests for his business, even though he's getting a free day of golf out of it.  Fucker.  I hate the business world.  Did I mention that before?  Anyway, in the meantime, Michael, Pam, Oscar, and Darryl go to Pam's old high school to try to attract an unpaid intern for the summer at their annual Job Fair.  Not surprisingly, no one is all that excited at working for free at a paper company.  Michael refuses to give up though.

Michael:  "Yes, I'm trying to lure kids into my booth, but kids are very wary of being lured these days.  Thank you, Dateline."

New Music Tuesday

New Death Cab for Cutie coming out today, their - I don't know, 7th? album... let's do the math:  Something about Airplanes (excellent), We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes (their best), The Forbidden Love EP (another best), The Photo Album (excellent), Stability EP (excellent), You Can Play These Songs with Chords (B-sides and extras, excellent), Transatlanticism (merely ok), The John Byrd EP (live tracks, eh), Plans (not very good).  So that's like 10 albums, although new release Narrow Stairs is only their 6th full-length.  Obviously, I've lost some interest in the band in recent years, disappointed by their last couple efforts.  Of course, they've become mainstream popular with those last couple efforts, which I'm sure is not a coincidence.  Anyway, I haven't even bothered to find and download anything from Narrow Stairs, so I can't judge how good and/or disappointing it is.  I've heard it's very similar to Plans, which would not be good (for me).  But hey, maybe it will surprise me.  For what it's worth, I really like "Long Division."

• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "Cath...".mp3
• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "Long Division".mp3
• Purchase Narrow Stairs at Amazon
• More Death Cab from better days...
• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "A Movie Script Ending".mp3
• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "Blacking Out the Friction".mp3
• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "Song for Kelly Huckaby".mp3
• Download Death Cab for Cutie - "Company Calls".mp3