On the Urban Frontier

Year End Mix - Two Zero One One :: Has the Change Begun?

2011-12-20T23:01:00.012-06:00

So...I have this tradition... Being too lazy to come up with good gift ideas, I like to share music. Here is the annual compilation of great tracks from the year about to pass. Pay no mind to the absence of a cute kid on the cover---there will be a supplemental mix in the New Year. 'Til then, enjoy the stream below, or head to http://8tracks.com/jmogs/untitled-mix

Here's the track list:

Ponytail :: Easy Peasy
Mike Watt :: arrow-pierced-egg-man
Disappears :: Guider
tUnE-yArDs :: Powa
Thao & Mirah :: Rubies and Rocks
Anika :: Yang Yang
Battles :: Ice Cream
TV on the Radio :: Repetition
Royal Bangs :: Grass Helmet
JEFF the Brotherhood :: Mellow Out
Ringo Deathstarr :: Do It Everytime
Iceage :: White Rune
Thee Oh Sees :: Heavy Doctor
Obits :: You Gotta Lose
Lykke Li :: Youth Knows No Pain
Icebird :: Please, Don't
Atlas Sound :: Mona Lisa
G-Side :: Came Up
WU LYF :: L Y F
Timber Timbre :: Creep on Creepin' On
Radiohead :: Codex

As you will hear, its a pretty hard-rockin' set of songs this year with all the issues noted in my favorite album list clearly on display...sigh. Still, there is some great stuff on here. And I love how this thing begins and ends.

Best of 2011

2011-12-14T14:18:00.009-06:00

Man, I am getting old. I don’t know how else to interpret my favorite albums of the year. As I look at the list, there are a lot of repeat performers, a noticeable slide in hip hop representation and a bunch of acts that might just be included solely for nostalgia’s sake. Sigh.

Nonetheless, it was a a tuneful year. So, I've dashed off a list of the albums that made me happy in the year soon to pass (Jeez, I am even still saying "albums") :

Ponytail :: Do Whatever You Want All the Time
Filled to the gills with intertwined, hooky, soaring guitar textures, the kids from Baltimore have crafted an album that got a little less spazzy, but no less thrilling. The hair stands up on the back of my neck on some of the songs when they get the grooves really cooking. Dustin Wong has the opportunity to be this generation’s guitar god. If they could intersperse a couple honest-to-goodness real songs, they might get over with a big audience, though I hope it doesn’t happen.

tUnE-yArDs :: W H O K I L L
Waiting expectedly in the pews of a big Austin church, I didn’t really know what to expect when they/she were set to play SXSW this year. I liked the previous album, but sensed there was something more exuberant to come as the musical palette expanded on a new album---and oh boy, no disappointment. The set that followed was heavy on weird, quirky looped vocal snippets, Afrobeat codas, hip hop and reggae references for all to see (though the songs don’t really sound like the genres they are giving tips to) and it is all built around the husky, gorgeous voice of Merrill Garbus. The performance was great. This album is better. Really a triumph.

And this bit from WBEZ's Sound Opinions is an interesting look at the songwriting process (Powa is among my favorite tracks of the year):

Disappears :: Guider
Think of Neu! running through an angrier, louder reverb filter. Each song sets up its own little sonic world, gets to the groove fast, ending long before the welcome is worn---that includes a 15+ minute track that whizzes by in seemingly a third of the time. A wall of guitars that I am happy to slam headlong into repeatedly.

Battles :: Gloss Drop
These frickin’ guys can play. Lots of instrumentals (or songs with vocals that are meant to be another percussive instrument) that come out of left field. It is all over the board, but distinct. Really, they just make very interesting sounds. I love this stuff.

Mike Watt :: hyphenated-man
The Feelies :: Here Before
This is the best thing the grand bass man has done since fIREHOSE. No, that is not saying much... Yes, this is pure nostalgia... What of it? I’ve always loved Mike Watt’s econo schtick, now he has some good tunes to go along with it for the first time in a loooooong while. The Feelies do not have the same massive sucking hole in their discography---everything they have put out has been great. This is no exception. Tight. Engaging. But it doesn’t feel new or different. That is OK for me…like I said, I am nostalgic.

TV on the Radio :: Nine Types of Light
Truth be told, this album is actually a disappointment. The letdown after their previous release (Dear Science stands as one of my favorites in the last decade) was impossible to avoid. Still the solid songwriting makes up for a loss of the wall of sound that marked previous efforts.

Thee Oh Sees :: Carrion Crawler
They put out an album earlier in the year that got a ton of hype and I just didn’t get it. Then I stumbled onto this, more guitar focused effort. Wow, wow, wow. The hooks! The glorious chewy guitar hooks that grab you and hold on through each of these spectacularly engaging garage jams that channelling The Cramps and King Kahn without the schtick and tighter rhythm sections! Oh, this is a classic for me.

Icebird :: The Abandoned Lullaby
RJD2 had been a pretty sad sack in recent years. His Def Jux big beat turntablist stuff rose to amazing heights, but he’s crashed to earth with spectacularly boring compositions of late. This new partnership with vocalist Aaron Livingston brings great classic rock-R&B songs to the table for people who don’t really like classic rock or R& B (the R. Kelly kind). Livingston's vocals are really fantastic---he has pretty interesting range of delivery and a unique voice. I will be watching these two and hope they stick together to let this grow.

The Roots :: Undun
The Roots are not done. They are unDONE. In fact, these guys just get better with every album. Hip hop tied with a Sufjan Stevens instrumental suite? Huh. Think about that!

Others worthy of note:

Royal Bangs :: Flux Outside (they found Ponytail's lost spazziness and hooked it up to pop song structures)
Obits :: Moody, Standard and Poorer (I've always liked Rick Froberg, now that Hot Snakes is dead, more straight ahead rock from his new project).
Timber Timbre :: Creep On Creepin’ On (moody torch songs from Canada, very unique sound)
Anika :: Anika (Remember Nico? Monotone delivery vocals for Velvet Underground? Same thing here, but with heavy, creepy reggae)
Russian Circles :: Empros (intelligent, instrumental metal from Chicago---bounces from baroque to broken ears quickly)
White Denim :: D (drugs pulled away their spazz too---they've gone waayyy psychedelic and it works for now)
WU LYF :: L Y F (I cannot understand a word the singer utters, but they have a very interesting, expansive sound that uses empty space to their advantage)
Ringo Deathstarr :: Ringo Deathstarr (speaking of nostalgia, everything about these guys---from their name to their prototypical shoe-gazer sound---screams of the late-90's. I liked the late-90's.)

Disappiontments:

Gorillaz :: The Fall (aptly named and a sad way for one of the most entertaining bands in recent years to go out)
My Morning Jacket :: Circuital (should be called “Unlistenable”)
Wolves in the Throne Room :: Celestial Linneage (enviro metal heads? Oh I so want to love these guys, but this is a horrid combo of Enya and gutteral screams, the plaudits from reviewers are shocking to me)
Decemberists :: The King is Dead (it is OK, sort of boring. Frankly, I just expect a lot more from these guys)

Watch your mailboxes and this blog for my year end mix.

We have a singer on our hands...

2011-10-26T20:48:00.003-05:00

On the way to day care this morning, we noticed Isaiah really focused on a particular song in the car this morning. He only knows one word in it..."OH!" But Jo-Elle caught him patiently trying to sing along again later today and he had apparently learned a couple more words. Fascinating.

Getting out

2011-07-06T20:44:00.003-05:00

It's summer...finally...get out and have fun.

We have been trying. And some of our nature exploits have me plotting my next writing gig.

Last month, we packed Isaiah up and headed out to Starved Rock State Park. And when I say packed up, I mean it. He was bundled into a pack and strapped to my shoulders. They say our troops in Iraq carry 60 pounds on their back all the time---cripes, Isaiah is just shy of 30 pounds and I was ready to fall out after a few miles of hiking.

Still, worthwhile. The Illinois River was way up over its banks, so I was robbed of the opportunity to take an Asian carp cruise. But the views of the river valley from the actual Starved Rock and other elevated perches were stunning and the canyons (as close as we get to them in flat prairie that is) are just cool---plus this is my favorite photo in a while.

We also ventured west in the city to Sherman Park, home to mysterious invasive fresh water jelly fish and a nearby melting church.

Both trips were reminders that we needn't stare tired and bleary-eyed at Isaiah on weekend mornings. Farmer's markets, parks, fests, and nature await if I coffee-up quickly enough to meet the day. And its good writing fodder. The Sherman Park visit was good for a weekend of Chicagoist posts. And the search for invasive species has me charged up about a book or long-form article idea that I am running past some folks.

Zay Laugh Riot

2011-05-25T21:32:00.002-05:00

Our friend Erika was nice enough to grab Isaiah from day care the other day. Her kids love Zay. And apparently, they think he's really funny...

Cayman Islands

2011-05-14T20:22:00.004-05:00

Wow, I have been lazy about posting. Sorry. We did a week-long trip visiting our friends in the Cayman Islands. Great, as always. Just as this was the first trip Jo-Elle and I took together, it is Isaiah's first trip out of the country too. You should see his passport photo---hilarious, because he hates cameras. You wouldn't know it from the photos on this trip though. Nice shots of us and a bonus shot of Mark and Cindy's younger daughter Erika.

:30 of Isaiah Eating to an RL Burnsides Soundtrack...

2011-04-10T19:39:00.003-05:00

Less anchored to a musical theme. Just uneventful video of a cute kid eating...

:30 of Isaiah Eating to an Apache Soundtrack...

2011-04-10T19:26:00.007-05:00

Zay eating spaghetti to a pseudo-spaghetti western song in the background. Apache, one of the all-time greatest songs recorded...ever...so turn it up.

Lost in Austin - Saturday

2011-03-31T20:04:00.006-05:00

I officially love the Wednesday morning to Saturday afternoon schedule. It always feels like Saturday night at SXSW is a complete let down---the 6th Street crowd gets unruly and pathetic, while everyone tries too hard to make the last night of the Fest memorable. Its like everything bad about New Year's Eve...just more intense. So, flying out before all that ugliness afforded us a chance to see a few more bands, soak up a tad more sun, and then get the heck out of there.

Here's a rundown from the morning (which began with a great Argentinian brunch!) bands:

Gentleman Jesse and His Men – It is weird that I have seen this guy three times in the last six months given how few shows I have seen. He sounds like early Elvis Costello without the good songs. Kind of catchy power pop. If he matures as a songwriter, he could be really good.
The Growlers - Country inflected slacking guys with a keen Walkmen sheen. I am buying up their catalog now.
Computer Logic – Forgettable way to end the festivities…

There you have it. If my math is right, 43 bands. And my count was probably lower than the rest of the crew. Speaking of them, here are pictures of Pete and Ashley in front of one of the real disappointments of the Fest for me. We spent a ton of time sitting next to a Japanese street food van that looked fantastic but never opened to sell us balls of stuff fried rice...though it was a classy photo backdrop:

Lost in Austin - Friday

2011-03-31T19:43:00.011-05:00

Here is the band run down:

Eli Paperboy Reed – I am a sucker for the Dap-Tone sound. He is trite, but the bad is tight.
House of Broken Promises - Riffriffic metal. Looked like a stereotype
Kopeckie Family Band - pleasant...in all the worst ways.
Cave Singers - roots with energy. I have checked out some recordings and like the live show better.
Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – forgettable twee. Plus I never forgave them for stringing Tim along on the promise to include a Crispus Attucks song on their mixed tapes...
Sea of Bees – I wrote down “country idle Ted harmonies” and don’t know what that means… But if I remember right, they had a quirky vocalist with an interesting voice that I grew tired of and chose to sit by a stinky trash can to fiddle with my email…
Smoking Feathers - Austin metal band that melded Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and theramins.
Invincible Czars – This is really what prevents Zoobombs from walking away with Best of Show and illustrates part of what makes SXSW soooooo great. We were walking down the street and just happened to stumble onto a motley looking group of folks in choir robes just as they started in a Styx classic. They pulled out all the stops. I mean…look at these guys. Chops. Antlers. Violins. This is what happens when marching band geeks get into drugs. Greatness. See for yourself, video from a couple minutes in for a taste of something that needed to be seen to be believed. Serendipity often provides the most memorable performers in Austin.
Pontiac – Good, loud hard rock at Emo’s.
Delorean - booooring
Hunx and his Punx – a 50’s style girl band fronted by a guy playing up what I assume is a cartoonish gay character (in a see through shirt). Fun.
Ringo Deathstar – Oh, this was sad. Despite the name, they started off super strong…and then everything crashed in, including the ceiling, which dropped in pieces while all of the bands’ equipment began to fail. Painful to watch which is too bad because I think I would have liked them a lot.
Esbin and the Witch – I don’t get it. This was another Sound Opinions fave. English combo of driving keyboards and tribal rhythms. They made super cool sounds, but they didn’t congeal into anything for me. Others loved ‘em.
Okerrville River – I don’t get the hype here either. Boring. Slow. Plodding. Self-important. Yuck. Every bit as self-important and wankerous as The Decemberists but less fun, interesting, or good at playing their instruments. I left early, surprise...
Appleseed Cast – Now this is more like it. Trotted a long way to catch their last two long, reverb, drone feedback assault. GREAT. On the way back, I saw a guy so drunk he just fell face first into the concrete. Yup, downtown, its that sort of scene outside of the music venues. Sixth Street was a giant Bourbon Street-esque mess.

Lost in Austin - Thursday

2011-03-29T21:29:00.008-05:00

So here's the band rundown:

Lord Huron – Big acoustic set to kick off a long morning at the Mess with Texas showcase outside. We had scored tables and free drinks, so all was good.
Weekend – One of my takeaway bands. Great big guitar sound out of San Francisco. Catchy and angry: two great tastes that taste great together. Woke me up fast, which is great because they took the coffee I had waited in line 30 minutes for when I tried to enter the venue. Everything takes longer in Texas…
Shabazz Palaces - I believe I was the only one that liked this show. It is Doodlebug or Butterfly from Digable Planets acting hard and militant. But there is something cool and spooky in his spare beats and staccato flow that really works for me. Everyone else hated him and his goofy bongo player…
Fresh and Onlys – Pal Pete says, “I love this band. Others not impressed. This did nothing to change my mind.” Consider me in the other category. I don’t get the hype.
Las Robertas – Energetic gals from Chile. Didn’t see enough to make up my mind.
Lollita #18 – There is something in the Japanese DNA that pumps out super-cute, hyper, poppy-punky girl bands. It always works. Partially because of the willingness to really make a show of it. Never works with local bands.
Suck Piggie - The formula doesn't translate to Japanese girl thrash. Less energetic, fun or novel. But singer had pipes!
Shapes have Fangs – Forgettable local garage band.
Foster People – Apparently these guys are getting Top-40 radio play? They packed the giant Stubb’s stage and really sucked.
Glasser – Shifted venue to the Central Presbyterian Church where the soaring vocals of this Bjork clone really filled the space. The performance is available on iTunes. Worth grabbing!
tUnE YaRds – Really interesting. I had heard some tracks off the 2009 album. Good stuff, but this album is going to be great. Some more spectacularly great vocals that were literally built up with sequencer into spectacularly dense catchy sound poems.
Batwing Catwing – forgettable high-energy pop-punk out of LA.
Zoobombs – Umm. Wow. In a day full of high energy acts, these guys took the cake. Japanese straight up in your face rock. My ears rang for hours, but I was smiling anyway. One of the top shows of the fest for me. Video below, though it was so loud the music is pretty hard to discern...worth a glimpse nonetheless:

Lost in Austin - Wednesday

2011-03-29T21:19:00.006-05:00

So, here is the band rundown:

Lo-Pan – see previous post
Dark Castle – We were walking out and heard their sound check and stayed. No need. The guttural death metal throat singing from the tiny, tattoo-festooned lady leading the two-piece wore out its welcome 30 seconds later…
Bobby – Pleasant pop. Seemed like we liked them at the time, but I have kind of forgotten everything about them except that they locked into a groove at the end that felt quite summery.
Allyssi – boring woman with an acoustic guitar
Smith Westerns – I was geared up to hate them because they are 12 and the flavor of the month…but they were really good. I’ve picked up their new album since.
Tristen and the Ringers – they have escaped my memory. I guess that says it all.
Dale Earnhardt jr jr – I wish they had escaped my memory. One of the worst, most disappointing performances in SXSW history. It did not have to be---they had all the makings of great schtick: pit crew outfits, giant JR JR lights (a la Elvis), a clever name. But alas, they did not play off of any of that and sounded like a bad Chromeo cover band. Ouch.
Guadalupe Plata – Spaniards playing raucous Chicago blues. Not as good as the real thing…
The Bewitched Hands – Our first DeRogatis sighting, so I should have known I was wrong to dismiss them as “rock school” early in the set. They won me over as the French alternative to Broken Social Scene. Catchy stuff. A real find. And we were there to see the next band…
Yeti Lane…who were not very good. We left early. More proof that a cool name masks a blah band…
X-ray Eyes – Fun, but not so great, garage band
Surfer Blood – I don’t get it. They should be good. Second time I have seen them live and second time I have been underwhelmed and surprised that they were not louder. Catchy songs that go limp live.

Lost in Austin - 2011

2011-03-23T21:39:00.015-05:00

Back from another sojourn in Austin. After happily missing last year to welcome young Isaiah into the world, I was eager to get back into the sun and fields of guitar drone so loud that the hairs on your arm vibrate. Yup, its SXSW time. If you don’t like music or tales of the town that let’s its freak flag fly higher than any other in this great land, you needn’t read any further. But, why on Earth would you be looking at this blog?

Great, now that the squares are out of the way, we can get to it. Flying in on Wednesday morning and leaving Saturday afternoon afforded my brave companions and I time to walk a bazillion miles, drink a lot of beer, and see more than 40 bands. I’ll detail the tune slingers later in the week (technical difficulties with my camera are slowing the posts), but some quick thoughts:

Austin, TX is growing like gangbusters. We stayed in a neighborhood on the East Side that I am sure would have been written off as an uninhabitable ghetto just a few years ago. Tucked in among light industry and recycling facilities, hipsters are taking over vast sections of town. The transition leaves crumbling shacks next to brand-spanking new modern homes that left the area east of Caesar Chavez incongruous... In the two years since I was last there, they have added a light rail line and the 6th Avenue music scene has shifted west of I-35 by a couple miles. For most that is meaningless, I know. Let’s just say, that burgh is changing for the better fast---and I already loved the place.
iPhones are bad for the music scene. Yes, I took photos at lots of shows…sometimes with my phone. But, cripes, you can’t see the stage over all the tiny glowing screens held aloft in all those skinny arms. And the video features have every stupid Scorsese panning and trying cinematic tricks throughout every set. I stood next to an idiot who shot the Cave Singers’ entire performance in small 1-minute increments all ending with a pan to the sky---what can you do with that footage? Nothing. Except irritate the aging guy standing next to you.
SXSW is too big. That is not a complaint. In fact, it’s probably a good thing. Understand that this thing takes place in most every bar, restaurant, house of worship and grass patch within five clicks of downtown. There are seemingly hundreds of venues day and night. As it has grown, it has gotten easier to move around between venues again---just like in the old days when 10,000 people were squeezing in to see 1,000 bands. I think it’s more than twice both of those figures now. Its so big that the New York Times chose to write a huge article about the Fader Fort, an unofficial venue that is like a SXSW alterna-world near everything else...
I am old. Wow. I know fewer and fewer bands going in. And the days of starting to see bands at noon, ending around 2:00 a.m. with only an hour for a sit-down dinner to break it up really take a toll. Not that I am complaining about this either.

I’ll describe some of the bands in the posts that follow, but here’s a taste: video of the first band we caught below:

That is Lo-Pan. A stoner thrash band from Ohio that one could not help but love because:

They were really loud.
Their name seems to be a reference to the villain in “Big Trouble in Little China,” one of the greatest guilty pleasure movies of all time.
Notice the massive lead singer standing in the shadows behind the rest of the band. Not sure if that was because of nerves or because he would blot out the drummer, bassist and guitarist. Either way, the guy had pipes!
The guitarist looks to be Manny “Sharkman” Puig, reality show star and free diving hero…
There was a half-pipe with a gaggle of skaters ranging widely in age and talent just outside the door…

And that's just the first band. Buckle up.

More Good Stuff Made in 2010

2011-02-27T21:31:00.004-06:00

Sheesh. Is it March already!?!? Yikes. I am still thinking about 2010. A lot of good stuff was made last year---besides Isaiah---I am talking tunes here. So, here's an alternate version of my year end mix: http://ge.tt/6O2DeXv

Shabazz Palaces :: A Mess
Efterklang :: Modern Drift
Broken Social Scene :: Texico Bitches
Surfer Blood :: Take It Easy
No Age :: Chem Trails
Spoon :: Got Nuffin
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti :: Hot Body Rub
Sufjan Stevens :: Too Much
Janelle Monae :: Wondaland
Big Boi :: Turns Me On
The Ponys :: Deathbed
Deerhunter :: Fountain Stairs
The Futureheads :: Struck Dumb
Holy F*ck :: Latin America
Local Natives :: Warning Signs

Like Father; Like Son

2011-02-27T20:30:00.003-06:00

Soul patches all around.

Jo, you are next...

Well, no, bad idea. Scratch that please...

Happy Zay Day

2011-02-14T22:48:00.004-06:00

Isaiah celebrated 365 days on the planet. A good time was had by all... But especially his Grandmothers and mom, friend MacKenzie and Grandfather. The cupcake didn't fair as well---though the little guy didn't get the concept right away. Not surprising as Cheerios are the sweetest baked good he's tasted to this point...

Chicago. Today.

2011-02-02T21:24:00.009-06:00

Yup, that is in front of my house. And only a small part of what I excavated as we dug out from the third worst blizzard in the City's history.

UPDATE: As a mysterious commenter noted, the weight of all that snow must have tipped the City of Chicago on its side... No idea why that image was sideways... Fixed now, despite the fact that it showed correctly on some of my devices.

Breakfast in the Seventies

2011-01-19T20:27:00.005-06:00

What would it look like if Isaiah was born the same year as me and we took his picture in our modern-day kitchen? Something like this I guess...fun with Hipstamatic...

And afterwards, it is fun with the family:

Girl Talk in NYT Magazine

2011-01-18T20:23:00.003-06:00

This makes me smile...

...and has me excited about a return to Austin in March, where even the hipster-est rock geeks lost it when Gregg Gillis hit play on his laptop...

Mirrors are fun!

2011-01-16T21:09:00.008-06:00

Hey, it isn't easy being an only child. But Isaiah is pretty friendly and manages to make friends wherever he goes. He met this good looking fella at our house. (Keep in mind, that mirror is the better part of 100 years old and pretty hacked up---Zay's skin looks better in real life than in the reflections...)

Zay Meets Che

2011-01-02T22:38:00.003-06:00

Yup, this is Isaiah and his new pal Che "Rhymefest" Smith. Sorry, for the crappy, grainy pics---but the two took a liking to one another and became fast friends...

Isaiah - Destroyer

2010-12-30T23:03:00.004-06:00

This is pretty much just fanboy video. If you really like the little guy, you might be entertained by footage of him in a sweet, lime green Barsky hand-me-down track suit, destroying our magazines and then, eventually, climbing up to gloat (or look cute, I can't tell the difference).

Year End Mix - 2010: That Was Now, This is Then

2010-12-21T20:15:00.007-06:00

The year is coming to a close. It is a time for reflection. And for competitive one-upsmanship amongst music geeks and snobs. You, fair reader, may or may not fit into one of those categories. If you do, then you are likely aware of my traditional year-end mix...a renowned collection of the finest songs crafted in the waning year.

With much pride, I present to you 2010: That Was Now, This is Then, a collection of 15 diverse tracks, unrivaled in their sheer awesome kick-assedness. The mix is available for download---including cover art with a track listing---at: http://ge.tt/36Cae3L. Or, if you prefer, a zipped version at http://ge.tt/5hkDeUX

What? You want to know the songlist before you click?

Fair enough:

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
Broken Bells - The Mall & Misery
Here We Go Magic - Collector
Efterklang - Scandinavian Love
Galactic - Boe Money
The Roots - G-d 2.0 (featuring Jim James)
Big Boi - Shutterbug
Janelle Monae - Tightrope
LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
Ty Segall - Girlfriend
Deerhunter - Desire Lines
Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars
Gorillaz - Superfast Jellyfish
Spoon - Trouble Comes Running
The Walkmen - Stranded

What? You don't know all these bands? Get out of the house a bit more...or just read my previous posting on the best albums of 2010.

Best of 2010

2010-12-19T16:14:00.010-06:00

OK, most of you are coming here to see cute baby pictures...so sorry to intrude...but here are my picks for best albums of the year that is just about to pass, kinda sorta in order...

Galactic – Ya Ka May
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Maybe work is creeping into my life just a bit too much…but I think it is coincidental that my two favorite albums of the year have interesting ties to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. To be clear, I am pretty sure that both albums came out before the spill, and neither is directly related to that mess.

Disasters have been good for Galactic. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always liked them, but when Hurricane Katrina forced them out of New Orleans they shed their acid jazz/jam band tendencies and put out a phenomenally great album with all my favorite MCs from the Bay Area. Now they are back and refocused on their home vibe. That resulted in THE best “New Orleans” album since the glory days of the Neville Brothers and Dr. John. But let’s be clear, these guys are the new face of New Orleans. Sure, they capture the horns and hop that have made the town great by working with some of the all-time greats like Allen Toussaint and Erma Thomas. But they also capture the now in NOLA with some of the uniquely local hip hop voices. From the vids below, you can see it’s a grimy, satisfying and disparate mix; a reminder of how great the town is even as it deals with the next disaster.

Call me a blasphemer, but I think Damon Albarn’s best work has been fronted by cartoons. Blur was fine, but the hooky mix he puts together as Gorillaz is far more satisfying for me, despite the “Tank Girl” artist collaboration that I could frankly do without. Plastic Beach is darker than the previous offerings with a focus on pollution concerns and fast food culture that was biting even before the Deep Water Horizon crapped up the Gulf---but it has seemed astoundingly in the moment and prescient ever since. Sure, I can do without those cartoons, but the deep, catchy sound and incredible depth to these songs has almost as much staying power as the slop on the sea floor.

Janelle Monae – ArchAndroid
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dusty
It was a good year for freaky folks in Atlanta. Big Boi’s release sounds every bit as good as anything he has done with Outkast. It is not as thoughtful…there is no meat to his simplistic lyrics…which is too bad because with a bit of meaning this would have had a shot to be in the all-time great hip hop pantheon. It sounds THAT good. And Janelle Monae’s album sounds even better. She steps out into the spotlight from her roll as backing vocalist for Outkast and takes more musical risks than anybody this year…or the last 5 years for that matter…maybe longer. Almost all of them pay off in this sprawling pseudo sci-fi concept album with tales of self-aware robots told movingly in salsa, punk, hip hop, torch songs, and classical overtures.

Spoon – Transference
Best band of our generation? Maybe. This is not their top release, but it is in the top 3. And given their incredible track record, that is saying a lot.

The Roots – How I Got Over
They play their own instruments. They sample Jim James. The songs on the end of the album would be headlining singles for most other hip hop albums---except that most are too smart for anyone else to even think of… All that while being the house band for a crappy late night show. These guys are incredible.

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
An album about the famed Civil War ironclad? I am listening. Ongoing references and comparisons to Bruce Springstein aside, The Monitor is as ballsy as anything released this year. These guys wear it on their sleeves in a way that reminds me of a New Jersey version of The Pogues rather than the easy Garden State godfather of rock comparison.

LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
I honestly cannot fathom why half of my friends hate this. Truly. Just don’t get why they don’t get it. They complain nothing happens, but revel in shoe gazer guitar drone…this is the same thing with keyboards, dancey beats, and lots of heart. The recent Sound Opinions interview will make you love James Murphy, though the music itself has already done that for me. Moreover, it confirmed what I already knew...this is the guy that I wanted to be when I was playing music...heck, half of my friends ARE him and don't know it. Sounds like this is the last LCD album. sniff...sniff...

Efterklang – Magic Chairs
We wandered into Imo’s at SXSW a couple years ago and were shocked by the subtle and intricate sounds coming from a gaggle of awkward-looking Swedes on stage. Pretty. Subtle. Edging on poppy, but despite being a very straight-laced, hooky sound, there was too much in the way of empty space and oddly tribal rhythms to cross the line. I had grabbed a couple albums since and was disappointed that their big sound and patiently developing live songs were not adequately captured. Until now. I am not sure how to describe this stuff aside from saying it is infinitely pleasant and approachable in a very good way…weak, I know…just buy it.

Other stuff I loved:

Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest. They just keep making the most satisfying rock out there right now. I love this band. They already rock. Now they ache.
The Walkmen – Lisbon. Ditto here. They do an incredible amount with a very limited palette, but keep getting better and better. This album is packed with songs that sound like updated standards…they all sound vaguely remembered and beloved…but this is all new---its just timeless.
Here We Go Magic – Pigeons. One of the best sets I saw at Pitchfork this year. Quirky. Interesting. Textured grooves. Takes a bit of time to warm up, but work the investment.
Girl Talk – All Day. The opposite. Dance music for smart folks with ADD. Mashups that will keep your head bouncing---and your brain occupied trying to figure out what that last 5 second sample was… And Black Sabbath/Ludacris together is genius.
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy. Technically, this came out last year, but a return to form from one of my all-time favorites must be noted---even if I came to it late.
Sleigh Bells – Treats. Wanna be a hater? Go ahead. But the riffs and hooks on this album are a lot of fun.
Broken Bells – Broken Bells. Danger Mouse and James Mercer create something entirely unlike The Shins or Gnarls Barkley. It’s mellow, ragged, and worth your time.
Ty Segall - Melted. I guess I am late to the party on this one...but wow, can you get any more fuzzed out and sludgy sounding than this without being dumped in the stoner rock ghetto? Poppy stuff if you can hear it through the distortion. The title might as well describe the style. I love this!
Four Tet - There is Love in You and Caribou - Swim. If only all dance music was this interesting and joyous.

Worth noting, despite the plaudits, the new Arcade Fire album, The Suburbs, is BORING. And I have not yet listened to the new Kanye album…

What are you doing?

2010-12-12T19:37:00.004-06:00

I stupidly re-waterproofed a pair of boots in our upstairs guest bathroom. The fumes forced Isaiah's his evening tub session down into the kitchen for the night, where he had a bath in the kitchen sink for the first time in months after a particularly sloppy dinner. Wackiness ensued... I particularly like this toothbrushing photo because he has the look of a Hollywood B-lister caught in the act of doing something despicable realizing that the wrong kind of celebrity is coming their way...

Dinner Time

2010-12-08T19:51:00.004-06:00

I defy you to try to sit around with a cute baby and not talk like an idiot. Here's an example. Me and Isaiah. Dinner tonight.

Bottled Intensity:

Great Mashed Potatoes:

Trying to Stay Awake:

More coming

2010-12-05T22:01:00.005-06:00

Yeah, I've been lazy. And busy. And completely overwhelmed by work and lack of sleep.

None are good excuses.

I have been posting a lot on Chicagoist: http://chicagoist.com/profile/JoshMogerman/posts

I'll be better. I promise. More regular postings and cute Zay photos on this blog starting now...

This kid looks good in hats...

2010-12-05T21:54:00.008-06:00

Comparative Shoe Size

2010-06-28T22:54:00.001-05:00

Growing

2010-06-27T22:11:00.013-05:00

All is well in Isaiah Land.

His weight is back on track.

As you can see from the pics, he's fleshing out fast with rolls all over the place.

And at a robust 14+ pounds, he is now moving past the 50th weight percentile and growing at a 2 ounce/day clip!

He had a nice visit with his Grandparents this week and was delightfully jolly all weekend.

Isaiah Prepping for the World Cup

2010-06-13T22:42:00.003-05:00

Isaiah was jazzed up for the World Cup yesterday. Or maybe it was just all the noise from the vuvuzelas...

Slobbersaurus

2010-06-07T23:18:00.007-05:00

Isaiah has had a big couple of weeks.

While I was out of town, Jo-Elle transitioned him out of the bassinet in our room and into the crib in his nursery. He has dealt with it admirably, without complaint or crying.

The move was brought about by another big change for the little guy---he can turn over. He prefers to sleep on his chest with is butt tooted up. It's pretty cute, but requires a lot of space to move, hence the change of address. Its still quite a production, taking many tries and he still hasn't figured out how to get his arm out of the way...

...But he has figured out how to grab things. Toys, glasses, necklaces. And his grasp is pretty strong, despite his hand being completely coated in slobber.

As you can see in the sun-dappled photo here, in the last couple of days it has seemed as though he is putting on the chub. His face looks a lot rounder. It is a quick and positive change as he is light for his age (four months next week...).

This weekend we went to the 57th Street Art Fair in Hyde Park where Isaiah aquired his first piece of art (to go along with my show prints on his nursery walls).

I am blanking on the young artist's name, but her bold colors and simple lines drew my Zay's attention. Of course, the fact that her tent had blown down overnight, forcing the art to be displayed on a fence made it pop out a bit more on the sunny day.

We Isaiah got the big piece with the fox, hawk and squirrels in the lower left hand corner.

I think he's got pretty good taste...I like the piece a lot too.

Queen of All She Surveys

2010-06-07T23:17:00.001-05:00

Sad and Scared

2010-06-01T22:04:00.005-05:00

We had a wedding this weekend.

Isaiah did really well for much of the event.

Hours of cocktails and he smiled affably or slept looking angelic while I played the plant stand holdinging him in a car seat for all to see. People came from across the room to ogle him. Its truly amazing to see. After endless cooing, petting, holding, and prodding from family and strangers alike, the little man was holding up strong...

...until we went in for dinner where a DJ was kicking out the jams...

He did not like that. Not one bit.

Up until that point, I had not really seen him scared. There were a couple dozen people at the house waiting the day that he came home, so he is used to crowds. And we've taken pains to let others hold him so that he would get would be comfortable around other people. But a room full of people with music blaring proved to be a stumbling block for him. I sat outside with him looking out the MidAmerica Club windows in the Aon Center (which is a breath-taking view, BTW, especially looking down on the Prudential Towers...wow). Normally Isaiah is transfixed by lights, but even the glittering city before him was not enough to calm the poor little guy. That's him utterly destroying my tie to the right. Between the sucking on it and his using it as some sort of safety lifeline, the silk did not have a chance.

And as you can guess, I don't really want to see that look anymore...

Eye-saiah

2010-06-01T22:02:00.001-05:00

Other News...

2010-05-23T20:46:00.002-05:00

Just back from Montana where I chased bison around west of Yellowstone. Here's the pics. Pretty fantastic and depressing. More on that later...

Other stuff to read:

Great pics from Jo-Elle's exhibit opening posted on Chicagoist.
Speaking of Chicagoist:

More Isaiah pics and a writeup of the Montana bison roust later this week.

This is why I am becoming more of a morning person...

2010-05-20T22:37:00.002-05:00

Despite my at times debilitating lack of sleep, I am finding that I like mornings a lot these days. Isaiah is very happy in the 7 a.m. hour. This is from a couple weeks ago...

Isaiah Update

2010-04-25T22:14:00.006-05:00

Wassup peeps? I have been harrassed left and right for not sharing more Isaiah photos. So, here's a fix for y'all.

BTW, he is doing well. Smiling a lot. Starting to try to roll over. He has a bad habit of shouting when he gets fussy...which can be alarming... But he's a pretty even kid so far. Fingers crossed.

I shoot photos of him pretty much all the time now. So there are plenty of images. Here are a few taken today and in the last two weeks that I like:

You can see he is getting bigger fast...but he's still pretty wee (in every sense of the word, he still looks tiny in my lap and he peed all over me today... sigh). But he's clearly got a future in modeling. Check out the cool lighting and fresh NRDC gear.

And I love the whole series of shots that these pics came from... The tight shot on his face and partial lighting...cool stuff. He looks happy and thoughtful, eh?

Most of these shots are taken in my lap, hence plenty oriented seemingly oddly to the side.

But he can't be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all the time, right?

Sometimes he just sleeps the day away, bundled.

And others, he needs a little help getting by. No pacifiers, but sometimes dad has what the little guy needs.

Isaiah Smiles

2010-04-04T22:04:00.002-05:00

This week the little guy has started smiling.

Oh sure, I have pictures where it looks like he is smiling previously...but he makes all sorts of faces when he is filling his diaper...they don't really count. This is a straight up jolly grin.

And while that doesn't seem like a big deal, it is incredibly powerful. I just melt when I see it.

Thoughtful...

2010-04-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

Boobies!

2010-03-24T21:52:00.007-05:00

So...this whole parenthood thing is one awkward fascinating bit of learning after another, but Isaiah's most recent doctor's appointment takes the cake.

In preparation for his one month visit with the pediatrician, Jo-Elle asked me for a list of questions for the doc. Among the things I wanted to know about was the seemingly odd shape of his rib cage. I had noticed it had changed, flaring slightly. The answer was not what I expected...

At one month of age, babies are awash in hormones that are being offloaded from their mother through breast milk. And the most abundant hormone, not surprisingly, is estrogen. But there is so much estrogen flowing that even little boys are feminized. So feminized that their bone structure temporarily changes...

And they develop breasts...

And they lactate...

Yup. Baby boys eating only mother's milk have so much estrogen in their diet that they themselves also produce milk. To prove the point, the doctor squeezed one of Isaiah's little boobies and got a drop of white! Its normal. And it passes quickly. In fact, the photo above is a couple weeks old (and not that cute, but it shows his bumps---which are now less prominent).

The human body is fascinating.

This all makes the frightening research around endocrine disruptors and chemicals like pthalates, BPA, and atrazine all the more scary---if boys are already squirting milk and this stuff puts them further over the gender-bending edge...yikes...

And it brings the issue of depuration (chemical offloading through lactation) in nonhumans, like dolphins, even more clearly into focus.

Other stuff...

2010-03-15T21:34:00.003-05:00

What? You are not enamored with the new addition to our family? Not interested in baby stories and pictures? WTF...?

Well, that's OK, you can find interesting and witty stuff from me in other places too.

Since I will have a lot of sit-around time on the weekends for a while, I though it would be fun to be a weekend blogger for Chicagoist. They ran my first piece over the weekend...I guess it is a tryout...hopefully they will run more soon:

Will Celebrity Apprentice Decide Most Embarrassing Political State? - The title pretty much says it all. Which is worse these days, Springfield or Albany? Sadly, TV will decide...

On NRDC's Switchboard:

Federal Ocean and Great Lakes Policy - Are My Boogie Boarding Rights at Risk? (no.) - Did ya hear that Obama is going to outlaw fishing? No? Then you clearly don't read right wing blogs or listen to Rush. Good for you... If you did hear that silly rumor, let me set the record straight.
The Crude in Syncrude: Ugliness at the tar sands duck trial - This is more for our friends to the north, but if you are interested in just how yucky the Canadian oil industry is...check out this disaster (I am talking about their PR actually, though the environmental mess is startling too).
Gefilte Fish: The solution to world peace and Asian carp - Passover is coming and the most polarizing of its traditional foods was in the spotlight recently when Secretary of State Clinton promised to break a trade impasse that would allow containers of Asian carp fished out of the Illinois River to be shipped to Israel for ground fish cakes... Problems solved? No...
Of Carp and Kingfishers: Chicago and Guam are not so far apart - What happens when you don't take care of invasive species quickly? Some of the critters at Brookfield Zoo are a lesson on what inaction over Asian carp could eventually lead to...
Poisoning Flipper: Chemicals Flushed in Chicago Wreak Havoc on Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico - Another zoo-related post. It turns out that I know a guy who can explain some of the ugly impacts of the chemicals getting flushed into Chicago's water by the local metal plating industry. He's a marine biologist in Florida...ugh...
Asian Carp: "I feel like I was in a [bleeping] prize fight” - You don't even need to read this one---just check out the embedded video. Its worth your time...

Well, you can expect a more steady diet of Isaiah stuff---but I will try to keep things diversified to keep it fun for everyone.

The Cut Off

2010-03-14T14:39:00.003-05:00

It's been a month already for Isaiah. A month of firsts. His first trip in a car. His first time outside. His first time meeting an array of folks. His first time to a restaurant. His first walk in the park. Its all firsts for a while...but in the grand scheme, they get less momentous. There haven't been a lot of big benchmarks yet.

Though there was a biggee eight days after his birth.

His bris.

I have to admit, I was more than a little unsure of this thing. I've never been to a bris, ever. So I wasn't sure how comfortable I would be forcing my newborn son to undergo ritual genital mutilation on my dining room table---no matter how socially acceptable it is in this case.

Oh, a step back for those who don't know---a bris, or Brit milah, is the short ceremony in which a Jewish boy is circumcised. Yeah. Minor penile surgery in our house; you can add that to the list of firsts. Hopefully its the only one.

Aside from the whole thing of watching my son's penis getting cut up, it was actually quite pleasant. We had a couple dozen friends and family at the house (that's a happy grandfather and great uncle in the picture). The men all seemed to make a B line for the bar. I myself had quite a few gin and tonics to prep myself... And, in lieu of anesthesia, Isaiah was given the corner of a towel which had been soaked in kosher wine to suck on. It did the trick. The service was short and thoughtful---a celebration actually, as it signified Isaiah (and me) fulfilling the Biblical covenant between G-d and the Jews. It did not feel celebratory while watching those first quick jabs with the scalpel---but the guy wielding the knife was not only good at the religious service, he was a pediatric surgeon who had done this a million times and it was (thankfully for all present) over quickly.

Why on Earth do it at home rather than the hospital? Well...good question. Most everyone I know did it at the hospital. Heck, mine was done at the hospital. But given the interesting set of culture and identity issues that Jo-Elle and I bring to the table, I thought it important to embrace the tradition and engage our friends and family. Raising the little guy Jewish in our neighborhood won't be the easiest thing, but this ensured we got started in the right way.

Plus, everyone likes a good party, right? Its never too early to instill that spirit in Isaiah...

That's a mess of names...

2010-03-14T14:21:00.005-05:00

Names. Funny how folks get worked up about them. Jo-Elle and I have been talking about Isaiah's for months, but I did not know what it would be until after he arrived---in fact, we did not finalize the name and fill out the birth certificate stuff until just before we left the hospital. Most of the paperwork simply says "Boy Mogerman" which is kinda cool...

In the end, Jo-Elle chose Isaiah---which was also on my much shorter top names list. It works nicely for what we want, bridging Jewish and African American traditions. And I like the idea of having a prophet for a son... For all of you hoops heads out there, Isaiah is NOT named after one of Chicago's most well-known basketball heroes, Isaiah Thomas. Nor is he named for the less accomplished but similarly infamous Isaiah Rider. Admittedly, I'd be thrilled to see him have either of their games, but given the genetic pool from which he comes, it is unlikely. And we will work hard to ensure that he does not share either of their dubious off-court antics.

As for the middle names---in order to represent both families strongly, we followed the Caribbean tradition of two middle names. Joseph was Jo-Elle's father. We miss him and are very proud to honor him. And Shai (pronounced "shy") is Hebrew for "gift" or "Gift from G-d." We thought it fitting---and love the fact that it allowed me to honor both my grandfather Sol and grandmother Sylvia. Triple duty from the middle names, how cool is that?

Its pretty amazing how this first decision made by Jo-Elle and I will dog Isaiah for the rest of his life. That's a tough one. You are pretty shaky those first hours after the birth and you are immediately asked to make a pretty momentous call. I think we did OK. Time will tell.

Meet Isaiah

2010-03-10T21:10:00.004-06:00

OK, OK, I know I haven't blogged in a while, but this time I have a very good excuse.

Isaiah Joseph Shai Mogerman. That's him above. Pretty cute, eh?

He's been keeping me pretty busy for almost a month now. It doesn't seem like he does all that much, but that is deceiving. In fact, he has excelled at everything he has tried so far. Granted, that's pretty much just peeing, pooping, crying, and eating---but he is pretty world class at those. But I am getting ahead of myself. You are probably wondering how a schmo like me came into possession of a gorgeous little booger like this one.

Well, it started about 10 months ago... But we will fast forward to Thursday, February 11. That evening, my family was in town to hit the big Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library fundraiser event at the Four Seasons. We never made it... My brother and Jo-Elle headed to the event together and I took a cab from work. Before I got to the hotel, frenzied calls started coming in from my brother and as the cab arrived, I could see him outside with eyes as big as saucers.

"mumble, mumble...water broke..."

Apparently as they pulled up to the hotel, Jo-Elle stepped out of the car and felt a gush. And, being 8.5 months pregnant, that gush could mean one thing... So as she dashed into the hotel to find me or my parents, she shouted back to Rob to "make sure they don't park my car..." which he did. And to his clear relief, my arrival meant that he was spared the speedy trip to the hospital.

I drove. Since Jo-Elle was grossed out by the bodily fluids coursing down her pantlegs...and being in labor and all...

I'll spare you the details of the labor and birthing process except to say that a typical birth takes 13 hours. This was much less, but it was still a mind-numbing amount of time sitting around and waiting for something to happen. When it did happen, I was surprisingly in the mix. Holding legs. Pushing and supporting. Getting an up close and personal view that I had neither bargained for nor particularly wanted. Still it was fascinating and I'd not change a thing.

Towards the end, this greasy head popped out and looked right at me. It was perhaps the weirdest moment of my life. This little head sticking out of my wife's most personal spot giving me the stink eye... Surreal. And then like that, he's out and being cleaned off.

He was skinny. Very long. Sadly, with my long, spindly feet that seemed way too big for his body. Jo-Elle and I liked how he looked and carried himself, so we decided to keep him...

Ironically, he was born at 3:39 a.m. on Friday, which was Lincoln's Birthday. Its the sort of weird little coincidence that makes you wonder about fate as he had come three weeks early, but perfect timing to allow his uncle and grandparents to be at the hospital later that morning. And given my home town and the family business...the Lincoln thing is just too weird. Oh, and there's the fact that he held off two days after Jo-Elle successfully defended her PhD thesis... Its the sort of wondrous cosmic coincidence that makes you wonder who is pulling the strings out there...

More on Isaiah and mom soon.

Clearly not playing possum...

2010-01-19T20:39:00.008-06:00

I had MLK Day off. The long weekend was nice, but weird.

I stepped out of the house yesterday morning and had the odd feeling that something was amiss. So I stood in the dinky, snow-covered weed patch that his my front "yard" and looked around. There was a weird guy in a car parked in front of my house. My car looked oddly askew. And as I glanced behind me, most alarmingly, I saw this:

Yeah...that would be a large, unmoving opossum butt sticking out of my neighbors stairs.

After hissing and tossing something at the critter to see if it would move, I figured it best to leave the area to give the wild animal a chance to vacate the area without conflict. Plus, there was the weird guy in the car parked in front of my house, maybe he would leave too if I vacated the premises for a few minutes. I walked to my car and found that someone had broken in and rifled through my glove box. Not really anything to steal there, so nothing really to be done...

...so I visited the neighborhood Godsend, Zelewski & Horvath Market. Grabbed coffee. Chatted with folks behind the counter and headed back.

One out of two ain't bad, I guess. This was still the scene:

But at least the weird guy in the car was gone.

Since it was a holiday, there was nobody at Streets and San or Animal Control to remove the possum parts outside. But, it was cold, so nothing stank. I sent a photo to my neighbor so she would not be alarmed by the corpse in her entryway. And went inside to have some popcorn...

It is worth noting that earlier in the weekend, I was driving down 47th Street and saw a full-grown, 250+ pound man decked out in full regalia to look like The Flash. Yes, the DC comic book character who wears bright red tights with yellow lightning bolts. Sadly, I did not get a photo to document the momentous sighting, but take my word for it, he did not fill out the costume very well.

Nom de Ginger

2010-01-17T20:33:00.008-06:00

This fantastically weird image is not, as some had thought, a rhizome of ginger. Look closer.

That is Cletus the Fetus at 31 weeks, inside Jo-Elle's belly. Its the most recent sonogram. Congrats to us, he has a face! Pretty serious-looking, huh?

What do you see when you look at that face? What name comes to mind?

That's the discussion that Jo-Elle and I am embroiled in right now. And its a doozy. Think about it. Are there more consequential decisions? Sure, people can move beyond a bad name---have you heard about the Marijuana Pepsi Foundation? But its a pretty big deal.

Many of you have heard about the epic negotiation sessions that Jo-Elle and I went through before we were married. We are both folks who think that identity matters---and, well, we've got pretty different identities. We figured it best not to leave many questions up to chance or the emotional vagaries of last-second debates around the birth of a child. One of the agreements that we came to was that our offspring would be taking my last name and therefore, she should be able to choose the first name. Reasonable, especially since her friends all forced her to allow me the power to reject anything weird after Jo-Elle jokingly (or not) floated a couple of suspect naming concepts.

Given our disparate backgrounds and my somewhat difficult last name, there are plenty of perfectly good names that just won't work. Ideally, we will find something that reflects both my Jewish and her African American heritage. Since I'm an Old Testament kinda guy, I have been advocating for Isaac, Isaiah, and Elijah. I've got a longer, and weirder, list of names that might be cool middle names (not first names!), like Seneca---which I think is cool, would honor grandparents on both sides of my family with the letter S and would also be a tip of the hat to the Native American part of Jo-Elle's family.

Jo has a much bigger list of names---almost two dozen---on her list. Recently, I went through the list and eliminated a few that are probably not appropriate as they are the kids of first cousins. I also gave her feedback in terms of up, down, or sideways arrows on my thoughts. All the names I had on my short first name list are on hers (though some of my middle name selections like Seneca I think are long gone).

She won’t really go into where her head is, but I am hoping that Elijah and Isaiah are still towards the top of her list. In a preview of how this is going to go, we had a fascinating talk about the other name on my list...Isaac. Sadly, she said that she’s not liking Isaac of late because it “could go either way” as a name for either “a great poet or a great gangbanger.” That’s why I like the name, frankly. And I hope the chances of our son being a gangbanger would be low, despite the prevalence in our current neighborhood. Still, if he is a gangbanger, he should excel and be a great gangbanger, right? But alas, these are the issues that all couples must work through...well...maybe not all...

In looking more closely, her list is fascinating. Lots of great stuff, but she does have a bunch that I think are, frankly, horrible. This won't come as a surprise and I hope she isn't bugged by me writing about it. But I just don't think that this is the time for a black Jewish kid to get strongly Arabic-sounding names like Omari, Shafir, or Nadaav. I know that they are Hebraic in origin, but man, this kid is already going to have to work a bit to figure out who he is---why throw a WTF layer on top, eh? Still, some others are out of left field but interesting like Joachim, Xavier, and Laden. And there's some hard-core Old Testament names like Ezekiel (yikes, I know, but Zeke is pretty cool) and Zachary.

So, everyone wants to know, when will we have the name worked out. Well, if you look at the image above, it is clear that Cletus needs more time to cook---and we need more time to make this momentous decision, but hopefully those processes will coincide. In the meantime, let's hear your feedback. Leave comments with your suggestions. Milo came up in conversation last night...who knows!

In Other News...

2010-01-10T14:45:00.004-06:00

Preparing the house for Cletus the Fetus hasn't just kept me from keeping up this blog. I've been shirking on my work blog too. But now that the basement is largely finished and the nursery is close to done, I've had more time to write. I've got some personal anecdotes to post this week here---but I've posted some fun stuff on NRDC's Switchboard too. Check it out:

Wolf Litigation...a snowball's chance - The fight over legal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies is contentious and, well, at times unbelievably weird. A story told by an NRA member in recent filings around NRDC's suit to return wolves to the Endangered Species list is pretty over the top. It involves snowballs and elk...
Big Win for Bees: judge pulls bee toxic pesticide - The title says it all. This one is pretty straight forward. The win occurred the day before Christmas Eve, so not much press coverage---but I think the fight will continue this week before the chemicals are due to be pulled from store shelves.
Eat 'Em All: "Silverfin" cannot save the Great Lakes - If you haven't talked to me about work lately, this is the story I've been working on for the last six weeks solid. The imminent invasion of the Great Lakes by Asian carp. Its a pretty amazing story. If you haven't been following it, these fish can get to 100 pounds and literally take over ecosystems that they enter by out-eating and out-breeding native fish. Oh, and they freak out when they hear things like motor boat engines, causing them to launch themselves out of the water ("missiles with fins!"). They are making their way through the canal system used to reverse the Chicago River a century ago and there is a massive legal fight over what to do to prevent the carp from getting into Lake Michigan. Of late, there has been a growing chorus saying we just need to start eating these critters. While there's no doubt that the American appetite can put a dent in any animal population it is set upon, relying on gluttony to fix the problem is just a horrible idea on so many levels...

Keep an eye out here and on Switchboard for more content this week!

You Oughtta Hear This Stuff!

2010-01-09T14:24:00.009-06:00

So, you probably know that my music geek friends and I exchange compilation CDs at the end of the year. Its a chance to revisit all the great tunes that have buoyed our spirits in the previous 12 months.

This year also offered the opportunity for the same treatment of the decade now-past. On New Years, Scott Barsky and I thought this would be an interesting challenge and set a single ground rule: one CD or download (80 minutes of music or less).

That's a kicker. I was able to get my list down to 40ish songs pretty quick. With a bit more thought, it was down to 30 songs. And from there, with the exception of 10 songs that clearly would HAVE to be on the compilation, it was a function of making sure all 10 years were represented (and a bit of swapping to get the most songs represented). The results are pretty great, 21 songs, 1:19:58 minutes of music---I am proud to present the decade in review:

You Oughtta Hear This Stuff! The Best of the Aughts as compiled by DJ Joshie Josh

Ms. Jackson - Outkast (Stankonia, 2000)
Cherry Chapstick - Yo La Tengo (And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, 2000)
The Modern Age - The Strokes (Is This It?, 2001)
Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground - The White Stripes (White Blood Cells, 2001)
Blazing Arrow - Blackilicious (Blazing Arrow, 2002)
I Was Born (A Unicorn) - The Unicorns (Who Will Cut Our Hair When We Are Dead, 2003)
Neighborhoods 1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire (Funeral, 2004)
I am the Alphabet - Black Moth Super Rainbow (Start a People, 2004)
Romantic Rights - Death From Above 1979 (You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, 2004)
Jesus Walks - Kanye West (College Dropout, 2004)
Let's Kill Ourselves - The Ponys (Laced with Romance, 2004)
Feel Good, Inc. - Gorillaz (Demon Days, 2005)
Daft Punk is Playing at My House - LCD Soundsystem (LCD Soundsystem, 2005)
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens (Come on Feel the Illinoise!, 2005)
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (St. Elsewhere, 2006)
Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn & John (Writer's Block, 2006)
Transparent Things - Fujiya & Miyagi (Transparent Things, 2007)
The Underdog - Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, 2007)
Nothing Ever Happened - Deerhunter (Microcastle, 2008)
Dancing Choose - TV on the Radio (Dear Science, 2008)
Armistice - Phoenix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, 2009)

Hey, I am hardly the only one doing this. Check out nice lists from the Sound Opinions gents too. Looking back, wow, what was going on in 2004 and 2005? Incredible.

What? It's 2010? Well, here's the best of 2009

2010-01-04T22:00:00.007-06:00

Before we get too far into 2010, I thought I'd pause and take note of my favorite music from the year that has just passed. If you care, these are my favorite albums from 2009:

The xx – XX
Out of nowhere comes a classic. How on Earth do a bunch of 19 year old Londoners come up with this fantastic sound? It’s a sexy he-said, she-said panoply of breathy vocals and “Heart-shaped Box” reverb-laden guitar that, despite relying on a drum machine, has a timeless sound to it. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Really, who wouldn’t like this album? It is a pop gem. Catchy. Fun. Happy, but not sappy. They sounds so good even Rush Limbaugh would give up his Freedom Fries to embrace these brilliant guys from Versailles. And really, you've already heard it. There's gotta be three different songs of theirs currently featured on car commercials in heavy rotation.

Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Its always hard to pin down Mos Def. And this album is even more all over the place than usual. Afrobeat. Madlib’s jazzy throwback beats. Oh No’s international crate digging. Spanish crooning. But through it all, there is an intense calmness to the album that is kind of breath-taking. That calm masks the fact that he is taking chances all over the place… Almost all pay off, especially the aforementioned Spanish crooning and letting others take over the spotlight. That includes the best moment of the entire album with Slick Rick in the role of a new American Soldier in Iraq on Auditorium; “I don’t understand it, on another planet? Fifteen months of this stuff, how’m I gonna manage?” These are the hallmarks of a mature MC at the top of his craft.

Let’s Wrestle – In the Court of The Wrestling Let’s
I’m a sucker for the English lovable loser pop sops…but these guys kick out a gaggle of simple songs with hooks and lyrics that grab and don’t let go. “We’re the Guys You Will Grow to Love Soon” is about settling, but I’ve already fallen for this group of English teens.

Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic
There’s a lot going on at the periphery of this music. Sure, its built along these really comforting fuzzy mood pieces that settle in and carry you along. But before you can get too settled in the headphones, you start to hear stuff at the edges. That’s what keep these longer songs fresh listen after listen.

Real Estate – Real Estate
I am sick of the Yo La Tengo and Feelies comparisons for these low-fi New Jersey shore natives. Yeah, they share a home state…and great drawn out guitar grooves that leave you wanting more even after they have played them into the ground…oh…wait. Well, nonetheless, they sound totally different. These guys are slow, hazy, summer songs that bring a little sunlight onto the couch that they seem to never get off of…

Atlas Sound – Logos
Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Did you read what I said about Brandon Cox last year? Same thing this year…except that the full-length Atlas Sound is better than the shorter, but very punchy, Deerhunter EP (and that’s likely because last year’s full-length Deerhunter album will probably stand as one of my favorites for the entire decade)… He just gets better and better.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Frankly, not a big Animal Collective fan... The Beach Boys meet Eurotrash Ibiza DJ club tunes. The formula has just never worked for me… Thankfully, they’ve tweaked it enough on this album with more concrete song structures and vocal harmonies that just burrow deep into your brain. Listen to "Summer Clothes." It all comes together...

The Octopus Project – Golden Beds EP
They are quirky. They are weird. They are great.

Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another
These guys are angry. In a good way...

Fool’s Gold – Fool’s Gold
Foreign Born – Person to Person
There’s been an interesting embrace of African music in indie circles recently. Most notably, on the East coast it’s the sheen on Vampire Weekend’s songs, but that’s really not particularly deep. African guitar riffs seem to run a lot deeper on the West coast in San Francisco and LA, home music scenes awash with pasty white guys drunk on a global music slurpy. Foreign Born plays those melodic picked string lines against percussive acoustic guitar to color an otherwise poppy sound. I don’t know much of anything about Fool’s Gold---but they move beyond serpentine high life guitar lines, embracing Congotronics-esque electrified mbira to great effect.

Doom – Born Like This
Have you heard Doom previously? Or one of his alter egos: Madvillain, MF Doom, Metal Fingers…? He’s eerie. He’s weird. He’s funny. And he has a crazy, lazy cadence that makes it really hard to stop listening. Madlib takes that infrastructure and overlays it with a quirky throwback facade that draws you in…where Doom is waiting…woo ha ha ha!

Kurt Vile - God is Saying This to You
I am not much for singer songwriters. I find a guy yowling with his acoustic guitar to be boring, limited, and depressing. Unless his name is Kurt Vile, Philly's favorite freak... He is a machine, spitting out quirky, weird and engaging little ditties that are likely saying something I am not perceptive enough to catch, but unlike other’s of the genre, he doesn’t hit me with the lyrics over and over until I catch up---I appreciate that.

The secret is out...

2009-11-29T22:08:00.002-06:00

Rob seems to know that Cletus is a boy...he wouldn't tell me who slipped up with the news...wasn't me.

So, anyway, male pronouns are now acceptable in conversation and correspondence with my brother should you cross his path. Sorry Rob... We all tried.

Thankful for a Productive Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T21:34:00.007-06:00

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

I had intended to relax with family and stuff my face, like most of the rest of America...

...but no. My brother, who was staying at Fort Mogerman (near Kitchenistan), decided to get all responsible and uncle-y on me. Rather than sit back and watch a meaningless Detroit Lions game, he forced me to clean the basement and lay the carpet tile floor I had purchased the week before. Talk about ruining the holiday!

All kidding aside, project Livable Basement was a true family success story. Rob's project management kept the whole thing moving along quickly while the entire family pitched in (my parents were in town too). After a few days of cleaning, organizing, and sucking in a lot of fine particulate matter, conditions were right to put down the checkerboard Flor tiles (we went with the recycled felt of their Fedora model). And with a couple days' work, the basement has been completely transformed from a cold dusty concrete hoarding zone with a low ceiling that I crack my head on, into a clean inviting soon-to-be office space with a low ceiling that I will crack my head on. Pretty amazing what a coat of lighter paint, new flooring, and the removal of tons of junk will do.

So now it will feel less like I have been banished when I move my computer and office stuff into the now livable lowest level of the house to make way for Cletus' nursery. That will also require some painting and decorating. I have some great Jay Ryan silk screened poster art that I have been saving since the mid-90s that I will be getting framed---cool kid-friendly designs (astronaut, animals, toys) that will brain wash him to slavishly love indie rock early in life. (Gooble gobble, one of us!)

So thanks Rob. Thanks a lot mom and dad. You too Jo-Elle. Argh. A productive holiday weekend. Blech.

Not much to report...

2009-11-15T19:49:00.004-06:00

No big Cletus news this week. He or she is doing good (remember, my brother wants to be surprised). Kicking a lot. I can feel those feet pumping regularly.

And Cletus is sitting squarely on Jo's bladder. She's never really been known to be able to put a lot of liquids away---her bladder seems to be a tiny fraction of my own on a good day. But now that Cletus is starting to squeeze everything in her abdomen, my wife can hold less and less in the way of liquids. And of course that means more and more trips to the bathroom. If you are out with Jo and I, factor that into your plans---it takes time...

I started painting the basement today so that I can move my office to make room for the nursery upstairs. The basement is very dirty and has lots of spiders. More spiders than I expected... I don't like spiders.

Now that Cletus' arrival is starting to get closer, its been interesting to see how he affects plans. Up until now, my benefits enrollment at work has been quick and easy---obviously, we've been talking about the issue a lot at home and comparing packages between our work places. And in talking about a press tour in Montana next year, suddenly I am needing to factor in this whole paternity thing. Weird. Cool. Interesting. Its all coming together I guess...

Pictures Painted by Sound

2009-11-10T22:50:00.003-06:00

We had another sonogram this morning. It was a bit of a letdown... Previously we were getting our first glimpse of Cletus. Or finding out the baby's gender. Today...just more black and white blotches on the monitor.

"There's the femur." OK.

"There's the head." OK.

"See the abdomen?" Ummm...no.

"See the heart?" Ummm, the black blotch that is moving?

Jo-Elle's mom joined us for the hospital visit and she was actually far more interesting to watch. The technology boggled her mind.

"How does that thing work?"

"That picture is painted by sound?"

"Does it get loud in there? Will the sound hurt the baby's ears?"

"Wait...where is the head? The white spot or dark blur?"

Its kinda funny to think that this technology that has become so ubiquitous that it is in most every hospital in America wasn't even around when Jo and I were born. What do you suppose Cletus will be looking at when viewing the next generation of Mogerpeople in utero?

The good news is that Cletus is growing. And weighing in at one pound 12 ounces, is exhibiting all the proper signs of development.

Biblical B-Listers: would you use that name...really?

2009-11-01T21:37:00.007-06:00

So, often of late, this conversation pops up between Jo and me:

"Hey, have you given any thought to names lately?"

"Yup."

"Any front runners?"

"eh...not sure..."

I've been keeping a list. Up until today, its been short. Only three or so names that have struck me so far. But this morning while having brunch, Jo-Elle mentioned that she had a list with 20+ names on it. Twenty!?! That was a shocker given the conversations on the topic.

So, I gave the name book another spin tonight. Clearly I had been a bit too picky---so to try to catch up with Jo-Elle, I let my guard down a little. Did not make it all the way through before reviewing the updated list and finding stuff like Atlas, Studs, Seneca, and Ulysses on there. Yeah, I know, horrible. While Studs Terkel will always be a hero of mine, I need to look elsewhere for namesakes and probably need to get back to being picky again, eh?

...Atlas Mogerman...hee hee... I am back to the original three...

Got thoughts on a proper name? Leave 'em as a comment on the blog. But try to be helpful. It seems everyone has a suggestion, but they tend to be sub-Studs quality level. In fact, most of the time, folks seem to suggest names that they would clearly NEVER use themselves. It seems that most of the suggested names come from trolling deep into the Old Testament, like there is something cool about digging for Biblical cameo characters or holy book b-listers...

For example, a friend came by with one of his kids over to Trick-or-Treat last night. While we were talking he suggested, with a straight face, "Jehoshaphat" and "Jedediah." He has two young sons, so I asked him why he had not used those plum names when he had the opportunity. He simply said that he would have used one or the other if he had had another kid. I asked his son, "if you met a kid named Jehoshaphat, would you feel the need to beat him up?" He giggled and nodded. "And what if you met a kid named Jedediah?" He busted out laughing and said that everyone would pound that poor kid... I don't know what Jehoshaphat and Jebediah did in the Bible, but I'll bet they had a rough time of it, getting beat up for having names that sounded stupid even Before the Common Era...

Another friend, who recently welcomed children into his home, suggested "Aloysius" (which he also chose not to employ in his own family). Is that helpful? Really?

Please allow me to make something clear. While I did grow up in central Illinois not far from a gaggle of farm towns, I do not expect to be raising the Children of the Corn...

Belly Bucking Bouts

2009-10-27T21:36:00.005-05:00

Thankfully, the plague has passed. Aside from some persistent coughing, Jo-Elle and I have shed the last of the virus. For me, it sounds like H1N1. Thankfully, for Jo, something less...mean...so she and Cletus were unscathed.

The only good thing in the week that I lost to the flu was a chance to get a little closer to Cletus. I've felt him.

He has bucking bouts in the belly---seems like rollicking good times inside Jo-Elle. And the other night as I sat by her, she grabbed my hand and put it on her stomach.

"What is wrong with your muscles? Are you having some sort of spasm?"

"My muscles aren't moving. Not a twitch."

It felt like a muscle contraction, but upon further visual inspection, she was right. Nothing was moving. It was Cletus kickin' it. Litterally.

cool.

Flu Fear

2009-10-21T16:59:00.006-05:00

So, I've had a pretty good run of things and have been very lucky throughout my life. And as a result, I haven't had to confront tons of fear in my personal life.

But yikes. This has been a scary week. On Monday afternoon I started coughing. By the time I got home something was clearly wrong. And yesterday I felt beset by the plague. Its continued on that way today as I have bounced between sweating, freezing, aching, and hacking up chunks of goodness knows what...

Admittedly, this is another area that I have been pretty darn lucky. This is the first time I have gotten the flu in at least a decade.

And I am freaked out.

Not because I am concerned about my health.

Its Jo-Elle and Cletus. She has been coughing but clearly is much healthier than me at the moment. We've split the house in half. I have existed solely on the second floor for days. While she is spending most of her time on the first. We've both talked to our doctors. I am on Tamiflu. Jo-Elle's doctor did not feel the need to prescribe anything.

But its crazy. I am worried about this little creature that I have never seen...who is in some way an abstraction (clearly its a ton more real for Jo-Elle). I am feeling guilty for endangering them both.

I guess I am getting my first taste of parenthood. Wow.

Nattily Knocked Up

2009-10-19T21:07:00.005-05:00

Speaking of pre-baby consumerism... Jo-Elle has been struck by how awful maternity clothes are...

...and how much you apparently have to pay for that awful stuff...

I had to listen to a very long angry soliloquy on baby belly fashion, or the lack thereof, the other day...and I don't blame her one bit. Just cuz you are a momma to be doesn't mean you desperately want to look all girly, does it? Yet it seems baby momma clothes are festooned with flowers, ribbons, and tend to be pink. However, some of the seemingly odd trends make sense. Take, for example, the seeming over-representation of 3/4 sleeved open sweaters. They are everywhere. And apparently its because she will be getting hot and sweaty as Cletus grows.

(As an aside, we saw the YOU! exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry the other day, which includes Make Room for Baby, a fantastic interactive graphic that shows what happens to a woman's internal organs as the fetus inside her grows...skrunch!... Yikes.)

Oh, its not all pink flowers---there's nice stuff out there too. But for ungodly sums of cash. Its not cheap to look pregnant and professional.

Thankfully, it seems that pregnancy clothes are a bit like baby books. Families have a lot of that stuff sitting around and collecting dust and will happily move it on to the next hot and growing momma. And so, the wardrobe grows as quick as the belly...

Do you really need a name book?

2009-10-11T22:10:00.004-05:00

So, over the weekend we grabbed the ubiquitous baby name book.

Actually, there's a whole section of them at your average Borders...a shocking array screaming an ever expanding vernacular of names. Its like an arms race: The 600 Best Baby Names; 1,000 Names for Your Baby; The Coolest 10,000 Baby Names on the Planet!

I highly doubt that anyone needs a book of 100,000 names. Or 10,000 names. Or...probably even 1,000 names. Most parents digging that deep are likely to just make something stupid up anyway. Like Blanket. It reminds me of some of the names that teacher friends have had in class...Lenore Lemmons...Notorious Quintangelo Jones...Courvoisier Jones... Do you think those came from a baby book?

Or Marijuana Pepsi Jackson? Did her parents grab that out of an expanded edition of the Million Worst Names to Give Your Kids, volume 3? (And that is not meant to be a diss on Ms. Jackson who is clearly doing incredibly well!)

We ended up dropping $20 on The Best Baby Names Treasury. It was the last one standing as we went back and forth about whether we should get the book with popularity graphs, or just keep it simple with the name, language and definition as is more common... But no matter, it was a stupid purchase because half the people reading this blog right now have an equally useless name book sitting around their house that we could have borrowed---or that they would have happily given us just to clean up the bookshelves a bit...but whatever. The book boasts over 100,001 names and 250+ "fresh lists."

But really...how fresh can the names be?

Judging from the vast majority of names in play for us...a list of, say, 500 names would likely have sufficed.

But it is interesting to see the most popular names of the last 100 years, broken down by decades (and state!). Michael's been pretty popular...whodda guessed? Or a list of first names based on baseball parks for the fanatic fan dad (Camden and Turner, sure---but Kauffman and Wrigley are pushing it I'd say). Or the rocker names (in case you want to name your kid after Lars Ullrich).

Come March...this is an open invitation to any of you to save your cash and borrow our tome...

Rob, Don't Read This!

2009-10-07T22:03:00.005-05:00

Not long ago, I accompanied Jo-Elle to the hospital for another sonogram.

Lemme tell you. Those are creepy. Not to sound like a Luddite or Neanderthal or a centenarian who is just hearing about the Interwebs for the first time, but it is really weird looking at grainy video from inside your wife's belly. The videos are black and white and you can't really see anything clearly yet, so they are vaguely reminiscent of those weird twitchy Japanese horror movies or the Blair Witch Project... The only things we could see clearly were the spine and the head which looked pretty skull-y (reminded us both of the Nightmare Before Christmas). Yikes, all these horror references make me sound petrified...not the case...its pretty cool!

Anyway, this last sonogram being done in the 16th week meant that there was something else that would be visible for the first time...naughty bits. Yup, in the 4th month you can determine gender.

After the appointment, we called my parents who were excited by the news. And then I called my brother. He was excited, but asked me not to tell him Cletus' gender. He wants to be surprised.

So, if you, dear reader, talk to my brother, please do not tell him Cletus' sex.

And if you, dear reader, happen to be my brother, fair warning---stop reading now.

How we are going to keep this a secret from Rob...I just don't know...

Anyway, back to the doc's office. And an interesting aside... The first time Jo got a sonogram, the nurse kept the gel in a heater. And it apparently felt nice on Jo-Elle's belly. Since then, they've just been squirting that stuff on cold...there's an audible oh and an uncomfortable squirm each time as Jo gets acclimated to the cold goo...

So back to the gender thing... The doc is moving the wand around in the jelly puddle on Jo's belly, looking around at the screen...looking around at the screen...when he says:

Oh, there they are.

What?

He points to a fuzzy dark spot in the middle of a fuzzy white spot.

Can't you see? It's a boy. Those are testicles (actually, I don't think that he used that word, but he did not say naughty bits or boy parts...so I don't know what word was chosen).

Jo-Elle claimed she saw nuts later...but I don't believe her. But I do believe the doc. And so we will start to find a mutually acceptable masculine name!

Since we've found out, we've had some horrible name suggestions tossed our way, including Nunavut and Aloysius. So feel free to leave suggestions as a comment on the blog...

Cletus the Fetus...

2009-10-06T21:40:00.003-05:00

...yup, we've taken to using that in conversation. As in the following situation:

I was in New York last week for work. Walking back to my hotel in Midtown and my phone rang, it was Jo-Elle.

"I think Cletus just moved."

"Woah."

It was a big deal since we are just getting to the point where Cletus starts to move around (around 16 or 17 weeks). Apparently, at this point the feeling could be confused for gas, except that Cletus seems to hang out on Jo's right side.

Back to the name, I know what you are thinking...and don't worry...its just temporary. We do not plan to use it in the real world, ex utero. Cletus Mogerman doesn't have any sort of ring or panache to it.

And I am not worried about the name impairing the baby. After all, this is really Cletus, Jr. My parents called me Cletus the Fetus too. And I turned out OK...oh...wait...maybe this IS a bad idea...

In Case You Haven't Heard...We Have News...

2009-10-04T22:10:00.006-05:00

EEEAAAYAAAYYYYYYYAAAYYYY!

That was the sound that my mother made.

I've never heard it before.

A primal expression of happiness, hope, and most of all, I assume, relief... I am sure my parents have wondered if they'd ever get this news.

We played it cool. Talking about a doctor's appointment I had had during the week...before noting that Jo-Elle also had been to the doctor. You could actually hear them holding their breath on the other end of the line.

She's pregnant.

We had to move the receiver as the cacaphony on the phone was so darn loud.

That was a lot different from how I found out 17ish weeks ago.

We were lounging. Jo-Elle had been acting a bit cagey that late morning. She got up unceremoniously and headed into the bathroom. She was there so long, I started drifting back off to sleep before the rattling of the old bathroom doorknob startled me (its loose and I need to do something about that...).

Out of nowhere, "Well, I'm pregnant."

No lead up. There it is.

It was a shock. I probably concerned her by responding slowly. I was happy. Still am.

We didn't tell anyone for a while. The whole Jewish tradition of not counting your chickens on this stuff seemed pretty appropriate and we sorta followed the whole "don't say anything until the second trimester" thing. Some of you already knew. Some of you didn't... But I've been looking for something interesting to write about for a while and this would certainly qualify, so tune into this here blog. I'll be writing a lot from here on. Partially to calm my nerves...partially to keep y'all in the loop...but mostly to ensure that we always remember the wonderous stuff that is now starting to take shape (litterally and figuratively, I suppose).

Its important to be important at a concert?

2009-08-10T23:07:00.004-05:00

For the second year in a row, I somehow managed to glom onto VIP tickets for Lollapalooza. This year it was Kyle who scored the VIP tix and let me tag along on Sunday.

Frankly, I remain uncomfortable with the luxury concert concept…

...but, my goodness it’s nice to see a show in a fenced off area with ice-cold free beer and air conditioned bathrooms on a 100 degree day when you would otherwise be surrounded by 30,000 smelly, sweaty people. Instead, it’s a hundred or so well-behaved d-bags who are largely just there to talk business and swill the comped liquor. Still...that's a pretty easy choice. Keeping it real...less so these days I guess.

So, whilst braving the heat and corporate onslaught, we managed to see:

Kaiser Chiefs (I am not a big fan, but they are the perfect band for a festival setting)
Part of Dan Deacon's set (Great fun. Hard to imagine that just two years ago he was on his own with a laptop and how he's on stage with a 20 piece band that included three tuba players!)
Neko Case (undoubtedly the most mellow set of the weekend)
Part of the Deerhunter set (I continue to be enamored and awestruck by what they do. This was very, very good)
Part of Snoop Dogg's set (this was very, very not good---I basically got disinterested and went off to hang out with my cousin. Really, how much waving my hands in the air can I be asked to do? How much east side vs. west side silliness must I deal with---particularly when the folks on the ground that Snoop deemed as west siders were on the east side of the field? I know that's reading a bit too much into it, but whatever. In Chris Anderson's photo over there, Snoop was pretending to hide from the police...the act is getting old)
Band of Horses (Pretty good. And, ballsy---something got messed up with the schedule and they were playing head to head against Jane’s Addiction---both at the same time, and clearly Band of Horses chose to play an extra pair of songs to extend the conflict---they sorta yelled at Perry from across the field)
Jane’s Addiction (You forget how amazingly great they were…when you get past how annoying they become…once they started playing, they were shockingly good!)

But the two most memorable things were not really music related.

First of all, the entire southern section of the Fest (the sunken ball diamond area) smelled like and ugly and acrid combo of vomit and boiling porta-potties. The whole area seemed to have been strewn with Tidy-kat to soak up some sort of nastiness, but it needed more odor absorbtion---honest to goodness, I gagged a couple times from the stink… And as a Chicagoan I find it utterly embarrassing.

And on the way home, Kyle and I saw an extremely tall guy who may or may not have been Joakim Noah . Someone with his inimitable height, frame, and bad hair seemed to be dancing shirtless in a (maybe) intoxicated state...in a parking garage... Props, the guy can party. Still, his moves don't compare to these guys at Pitchfork, which I still believe is the vastly superior festival atmosphere to Lolla...even if I did have to pay for beer...

Snoop .. Creeping image by Higher Speed Dub via Flickr

Wesley Willis Tower: Chicago Finally Honors an Icon

2009-07-16T09:04:00.012-05:00

Let's face it, Sears has been gone from the city and their former headquarters for decades. So what's the big deal about changing the Sears Tower name?

Today, despite the naysayers, the former "tallest building in the world" gets a new name. I say, its about time.

It's about time that we here in Chicago honor a brilliant artist, musician, and favorite son.

Well...one of the quirkiest figures in a city known for quirky figures might be more apt.

Whatever. I am thrilled that the Sears Tower will now be known as the Wesley Willis Tower to honor the most iconic and, at times, intimidating figure of Chicago's arts community in the 90s...

...what? Not WESLEY Willis?

...really?

...a random London insurance company that consolidated their offices and got naming rights for one of the most recognizable architectural landmarks in the world simply for renting? Yikes...

Ummm, ignore the previous part of the post. And lets's get to the heart of this. If the building name is changing for the better, let's really change it for the better.

Not the Sears Tower anymore?

OK.

But it will never be the Willis Tower for me either.

I call on all 6 of you who occasionally read this blog...and the dozens who might accidentally stumble upon it in the coming months and years...to join me in referring to the building exclusively as The Wesley Willis Tower. Rock over London. Rock over Chicago. Its the best way to remember Wesley and his demon mullets---and the sort of symbol this city needs and deserves. It will stand as a giant and unmistakable reminder that there is great joy and terror in us all---and frankly, that's what the giant dark tower says to me all the time...or maybe those are my demon mullets...

NOTE: Aww shucks, it was just pointed out to me that I am a tad late on this idea... Great minds? Or reminiscing former hipsters? Whatever, let's give Wesley his due. Rawf!

Minnesota Road Trip and the Triumph of Marketing Over Substance...

2009-07-06T21:38:00.009-05:00

Not long ago Jo-Elle and I took a long road trip to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. We drove. Listened only to FM radio (no iPod). Relived some of her glory days in St. Paul at Macalester College (and University of Minnesota, where she oddly took mostly bio classes at the Ag school, also in St. Paul---in fact, she seemed completely unaware of what the heck was going on in Minneapolis). Relived her early zoo career at Minnesota Zoo (where, oddly, I noticed a sign with a huge photo of a former co-worker). Ate VERY well in Minneapolis (less so in St. Paul). Saw some cool public art. And enjoyed a town that seems pretty great---at least for the four months/year when your nose will not freeze solid and chains are not necessary when driving to the store. I liked it.

The drive was interesting for a couple of reasons:

Listening to FM radio meant a steady diet of classic rock the WHOLE way...except that 20 miles out of Minneapolis, it was confirmed that Michael Jackson had died. At that point we were able to spin the dial and hear "Billy Jean" on literally every station. It was amazing. Throughout the weekend, there was no shortage of spontaneous MJ choreography (mostly moves done by hordes of zombies). And on the way home, we only heard "Thriller." On every station. Over and over again. Weird. You'd never have guessed that the guy was the biggest selling artist of all time with a cajllion #1 hits... Enough Michael Jackson...for all of us...forever.

The more substantially thought-provoking event occurred at the end of the trip. It is something that will likely have me scratching my head for some time to come. And maybe spark me to do some writing...

When we originally talked about this drive, Jo had mentioned an interest in revisiting an attraction she remembered stopping at as a kid---the House on the Rock. We missed the turnoff for it on the way north, so I found a map to ensure we could stop there on the way back. No surprise we missed it---this place is an hour off the interstate from the Dells, on a state road in rural southern Wisconsin. As I looked at the map, I noticed a second architectural point of interest just a few miles from our destination---Taliesin.

Taliesin. Somewhere I've always wanted to check out, but thought it was out in the middle of nowhere (well, actually it is I guess). Somewhere I found intriguing after gaining an appreciation for Frank Lloyd Wright as a kid touring the Dana Thomas house in Springfield---and gained a morbid curiosity over after learning the lurid details of the unfortunate ending to a sordid chapter of Wright's life in that house involving a mistress and arson. A masterwork of one of architecture's greatest genius...

...and we passed it to go to see the whimsical creations of a rich, unfocused, Orientalist... A goofy place with robot musicians (not nearly as cool as it sounds) and a collection of cheap knickknacks perched on an outcropping... People say that life in one of Wright's homes was uncomfortable, but as near as I could tell life in the House on the Rock would be unlivable with its low, shag-carpeted ceilings and narrow meandering floor plan. You can't even see the house's facade (I could see much of Taliesin in the distance from the road---beautiful).

We left with no time to double back, scratching our heads quizzically, wondering what the heck that had been about...and frankly, feeling litterally sick to our stomachs at having passed up the work of a genius for what seemed to be a somewhat elaborate roadside attraction.

And why had we done this?

Marketing.

Signs and brochures ply unsuspecting fools like us with words of brilliance. They litter the road side and racks from Chicago to Canada. And they don't live up to the flowery prose.

Wright's home has no such outreach. Its a tiny dot on the map, with small staid signage that you don't see until you are right on top of the area. You have to want to get there. You have to know.

Style over substance. And as a sometimes marketer, I should not be surprised. Somehow, I think it works out a bit as Wright would have liked...snob.

Veggie Delivery...

2009-06-07T21:16:00.007-05:00

So, after a week of delays due to the deluge that has swamped the state of Michigan...we got our second CSA delivery this week. Thankfully, nothing with neurotoxins this time. But an interesting array of stuff:

Radishes: three kinds, including a really long one that looks like a red carrot. Can't discern a difference in taste though... They also included an extra bunch of radish tops---the greens at the top, which I have not tried to cook up yet...

Green garlic: As noted before, yummy.

Baby Swish chard

Sage

Well, this is definitely going to push me to expand as a cook.

I made a radish and almond pesto with about half of the radishes and green garlic. Considering it was my first pesto---not bad. Much better when I diluted it down tonight with more olive oil. And the green garlic made a yummy stuffing with shallots and a little more of the radish for barbecued chicken thighs.

The sage will be good in a brown butter sauce on pasta this week.

No idea what to do with the Swiss chard. One of those things I should have tried ages ago, but just never got around to it. That is the value of this whole experiment---forcing us to try new stuff...

...and it makes having a copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything really, really helpful...

Cut Out the Middle Man: Fresh Fruit from the Farm...

2009-05-27T21:03:00.007-05:00

Jo-Elle and I recently signed on to a community supported agriculture program (CSA).

Not familiar? Its a "farm share," where you buy a subscription for produce deliveries from a regional farmer every week. So, we have started getting organic fruits and veggies from Videnovich Farms in Bridger, MI.

I know, I know...

...but before you think I've gone hippy on you, hear me out. I think its a good deal. We signed on for a 20-week subscription for $300. That's $15/week for fresh produce. Not bad.

And as a cook, I am kinda geeked about it.

Let's be honest...we all kinda have a grocery store routine. Out of habit, I'll bet that there can't be more than a dozen or so kinds of vegetables that I buy throughout the year. I don't experiment with a bunch of different kinds of lettuce or root vegetables. And I think that is probably pretty common.

But this forces us to try out whatever is fresh. They literally pluck our delivery from the ground right before driving it to Chicago, so the offerings will change from week to week.

And even the familiar stuff, like tomatoes, will not be what we expect (they've planted 23 different varieties of toms, with an array of colors and flavors). Sure, I buy okra when I make jambalaya every January...but that's about it... So I am pretty excited to be forced to experiment a bit more with the stubby, sticky green pods when they are fresh.

But it has started a tad slow.

Apparently, there has been a lot of rain in Michigan this spring. And that has slowed growth to the point that in this, the second week of our CSA experiment, the delivery is canceled (which is disappointing, but dandy---we are extended by a week and the late summer/fall stuff is way better). The first week was novel, but the farmers admitted a bit skimpy. It included:

asparagus purchased from the neighbor's farm (tasty!)
green garlic, which was a revelation and incredibly tasty with salmon, chicken, and in rice
lemon balm...which was novel, but I did not feel like making into tea---but was tasty mulled with sugar in a glass of iced bourbon
stinging nettles...pictured above with the protective gloves that came along to ensure "safe" handling of the green leaves...ummm, we have not eaten those yet as I am a bit put off by plants with neurotoxins...

While we appreciate the interesting stuff, I am hoping for fewer poison plants and more tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and the like in the coming weeks. Pretty fun stuff though!

The other blog...

2009-05-27T20:51:00.003-05:00

Just cuz I haven't been active here, doesn't mean I have not been writing. Check out what I've posted on Switchboard of late:

Honey Laundering: mystery bee malady may broaden an international crime wave - No. I did not make this up. Yes. It is a real crime. Yes. It involves honey. And yes, sadly, yet another ugly smudge on Chicago...

Running from a Lie: Halt Horse Butte Hazing of Bison - Here in the Midwest we don't really care much about how the animals are treated around Yellowstone National Park. We should. As taxpayers that is our land and those are our critters. And both are being grossly mismanaged right now...

Canadian Author Gets a Look at Expanding Canadian Mess: Tar Sands in Indiana and Illinois - If you did not read this one yet, clock it. I like the entry a lot. It is fun to apply colorful language to the industrial landscape of northwest Indiana...

Bikers are indifferent to Saddle Champ...

2009-05-11T21:59:00.006-05:00

I've been hitting some of Chicagoland's cushiest locales of late...

Saturday the ragtag country rock experiment that is Saddle Champ rose from the grave to perform in Aurora, IL.

This was not exactly a typical audience for us.

We were playing at a big outdoor party thrown by a custom motorcycle builder with quite a diverse clientele...if by diverse you mean a whole bunch of hard-looking guys in leather and chains. While I've never been around more guys in leather chaps, I do not think there were alternative lifestyles being embraced at this gathering.

And apparently bands returning from a six-month hiatus playing semi-high energy sets with sparkling execution were also not embraced at the gathering (though it should be noted that we got way more applause than the stereotypical looking Grateful Dead cover band, Fungi, that followed us).

Nonetheless, it was worth the haul west. Besides being a fun set, with great people watching, the custom bikes were pretty incredible.

I posted some shots on Flickr from the show.

Get an eyeful of Gary

2009-05-03T22:18:00.007-05:00

I had the opportunity to take Canadian journalist and author Andrew Nikiforuk to Northwest Indiana last week.

The region is kinda like a slow car wreck you cannot take your eye off of---beautiful beaches and dunes that look like Cape Cod, surrounded by industrial properties of such incredible scale one cannot help but be agog. I am amazed and a little scared every time I cross the border...

Andrew was speaking at the Aquatorium, an old bath house on the beach near the Miller section of Gary. It is either a part of the national lakeshore or Gary Park District, and therefore part of a stretch of the lake that does not have any industry on it. But it is omnipresent in the area---so looking west US Steel looms.

And to the east, is the Acelor Metal mill.

I blogged a bit on the road trip...the fuel source...and concerns about its expansion...on Switchboard.

What to plant?

2009-04-22T21:26:00.007-05:00

So, the saga of Kitchenistan is long over... But as Spring approaches, there is still one aspect of our home project that requires some choices.

The new elevated patio ends with elevated planter boxes and a tall screen. Currently, as you can see from the photos, the planter boxes are just steel walls with a maze of supports and leftover construction refuse. But in the next week or so, they will have real planter box liners that will be ready for dirt and seeds.

And this is where you come in... What should we plant?

Here are some of my thoughts:

We have native prairie plants in front. A mess of columbine, compass plants, purple cone flowers (the official flower of Cook County!), and prairie blazing stars. I like them. They are colorful, attract wildlife (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds...feral cats) and require no work to speak of---and therein lies a bit of a problem as our plantings in front look a tad...disheveled? Wild? We spent a lot to build a glass wall that looks back on these planter boxes, they should look nice---can we make that happen in back?

I like the idea of raising some easy vegetables back there---particularly something like heirloom tomatoes... But I am concerned about critters having their way with the garden.

There is verticality to the back wall---I'd like something that will grow upward, but not like ivy as Jo-Elle is creeped out by creeping plants.

And there are space limitations---the entire planting area is probably two feet deep by maybe twelve feet wide (which will be broken up by 6 or so planter box inserts that go down 12 to 36 inches).

The screen is basically wood slats. There are gaps, but I do not know what light will be like. The patio in general gets a lot of light. It is on the east end of our house (with the screen at the furthest east point). So it will get some eastern light and a fair amount of southern light. But it will be in the shadow of the house for a decent chunk of the day.

The architect wanted us to plant bamboo. I liked the idea at first, but worry about our ability to manage a quickly growing plant that can overrun its containers.

I'd like something visually interesting with color and verticality.

So...all you green thumbs out there...this is what the comment feature is for...let me know what I should be planting!

Switch on Switchboard

2009-04-22T21:08:00.007-05:00

OK, some of you probably are not monitoring such hotbeds of environmental thought as NRDC's Switchboard... You are missing out. If nothing else, you are missing out on some fine writing from yours truly... I have not been blogging much here of late (I'll fix that soon, I promise)---and sadly, not as much as I would like there either.

But I have posted a few things of late:

The Money Boat: Coins, Climate Change, and the Caribbean - dispose of your pennies, or the low-lying island paradises get it...

Snotty Tunnels of Love: tidewater gobies deserve protected territory - Not all of our endangered species work revolves around charismatic carnivores. This little fish has little going for it, aside from being fascinating and finding novel uses for mucous.

Wyoming Wolves: frustration on all sides...and one guy with serious guts - OK, I guess lots of the work is around charismatic carnivores... I wrote this before wolves were "de-listed" last month out of frustration with the way the rhetoric on this issue plays out from both sides. This is admittedly "inside baseball..."

Dam Those Mussels: Great Lakes invasive species now threatening Lake Mead - One of the less sexy issues I help with is reform of water ballast laws in the Great Lakes; but the impacts are astounding. Water from freighters have been bringing an average of one new species into the ecosystem every six months. Lake Michigan's ecosystem has been completely changed in the last couple of years by introduced mussels, algae, and fish. And now that stuff is moving west...

Nine Cents photo by Jonathan Pobre via Flickr

SXSW - Saturday 2009

2009-03-29T16:26:00.007-05:00

Good take on the changes at the festival from MBV.

We started our last day of music nirvana with a hoof out to Jovitos near South Congress. The TexMex restaurant was venue for Twangfest, a sorta alt-countryish gathering of Bloodshot-esque bands being hosted by a St. Louis radio station, which explained the strongly Midwestern lineup. Gorgeous day…so even though I was unenthusiastic about the acts, it was a joy to be at this event:

Romantica (38) - Pleasant alt-country from Minnesota.

Waco Brothers (39) - When they are on, as they were, they are great fun.  Unfortunately, more often than not they are off, so I tend to avoid them. Still, GREAT set. They stuck to the shuffles and higher energy material that plays to their strengths as a band.

Steve Dawson from Dolly Varden (40) - Boring. 

Excene Servenko (41) – Sadly, the legendary punker from X is now living in Jeff City, Mo and has also gotten boring. 

Magnolia Summer (42) – Blah St. Louis guys playing rootsy stuff with aspirations to do more.

So, the Twangfest run wasn’t so great. But it woke us up, got us appropriately prepped with beer, so we wandered over to South Congress, poking our heads in Yard Dog to be reminded that The Silos are immensely boring, before walking the packed sidewalks of Austin’s most hyped street. We stopped in to an outdoor pizza stand and caught:

Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band (43) – Another blogosphere hype band and another example of folks trying hard to do something different, but ending up with a convoluted sound. They had interesting songs with quick, quirky time changes that threw things off balance. Instead of the intended “keep ‘em guessing” aesthetic, the songs just felt like a bunch of semi-interesting clips glued together in slipshod fashion. I will definitely steal the sleigh bell/tamborine stick idea for percussion and live stuff…  

Saturday nights have often been incredibly unsatisfying at SXSW. What should feel like a crescendo is often just disappointing with a mad dash to find interesting bands while an extremely early morning flight looms, limiting beer consumption… Every year, there are discussions of leaving Austin on Saturday in the future. That would have been a shame this year, as I felt that this evening had some of the highest notes of the weekend, largely at Emo’s which is a dump that happens to have great sound both inside and out:

Funeral Party (44) - Great great great. Tons of frenetic energy from this young LA band. Angry guitar riffs over one of the strongest rhythm sections of the weekend, with a charismatic lead singer who barely avoids being annoying with his stage theatrics---he had the crowd in the palm of his hands… I’ve since downloaded a strong EP and will be watching these guys for something good in the coming months.

Efterklang (45) – Danes who brought a very different, albeit just as affecting energy to the stage. Where Funeral Party was aggressive, Efterklang was just happy… Sounds lame, I know, but it worked. They were just geeked to be on stage, beaming out at the crowd. And their dense quirky music, complete with four part harmonies, magnified that joy into an intense happy ray that had its way on the crowd. Not sure how to describe the music other than to note that they played long, cyclical songs built around very dense soundscapes that featured electronics and an array of multi-instrumental layers. Cleverly, the built up sound was augmented by very simple percussion parts that were highlighted by the murk below and prevented the songs from ever even edging on boring.

Yelle (46) – Out in Emos Main, we joined a capacity crowd for France’s gold lame body suit clad dance queen. The crowd loved her. We did not…

An Horse (47) - New Zealand twosome guy girl rock combo. Earnest indie. Just ok. A bad slot following two great energy bands---though apparently DeRo loved them (along with Yelle). Huh…
 
Clipd Beaks (48) - Uh oh. A mess of feedback in nothing but the worst way…
 
fiasco (49) - NYC skate punks with a bit of an Yngvei Malmstein fetish.  Very interesting. Should have stayed for more.

The Knux (50) – I felt bad dragging Pete to a show that highlighted everything bad about live hip hop: stupid “put your hands in the air” stuff and horrible booming sound that obscured the cool samples that make these guys interesting. VERY disappointing.

To end the night, Pete and I walked past the massive line for one of Kanye’s unannounced sets (we had no idea---though I imagine it would have been impossible to convince Pete to stand in line for Kanye, particularly after the previous mess of a set) and into a random UK showcase…
 
Friends Electric (51) - Random Welsh dance group with a random Ibiza sound. 

Sons of Albion (52) – We were ready to go, but saw some fascinating looking characters hanging around in the bar. A Robert Smith-looking guy in a marching band suit? A middle aged woman in a sparkle-y gold dress that she probably should not have left the house… And an oily cartoon English pimp. So we stuck around hoping they would take the stage. They did not. Instead, so lame guys in leather jackets played half a metal song before we wandered out in search of a cab and a three hour nap before flying home.

Thanks to Pete, Steve, Kyle, and Steven for a ton of fun! Nate and Jeremy, sorry we missed ya.

Z-O-U!

2009-03-26T23:29:00.002-05:00

Wow, wow, wow.

If you had told me that the Tigers would give up 90 points to Memphis, I would have assumed they had been whooped.

If you had told me that the Tigers would score 100 on Memphis I would have laughed.

If you had told me that the Tigers would be in the elite 8 at the beginning of the season I would have been incredulous.

Please stay Mike Anderson! This has been a very fun ride.

M-I-Z

2009-03-26T21:03:00.001-05:00

No blogging tonight. Bigger fish to fry...

SXSW - Friday 2009

2009-03-25T23:16:00.012-05:00

You can’t really go anywhere in Austin during the fest without taking in a show. Friday we got up and had brunch at the semi-famous local eatery, Threadgills. With my King Chicken casserole, okra, and grits, the restaurant also served up a tasty blues performance that was being recorded for live broadcast somewhere on the Web (22).

The blissful afternoon began at French Legation, sort of a consulate for the French during the short days of the Republic of Texas. What remains is a gorgeous grassy expanse far removed from the bustle of the festival that is a delight for both shows and relaxing.

HERE WE GO MAGIC (23) – The first revelatory band of the weekend. We came in on a long jangly instrumental with a great Feelies vibe (and you know I like me some Feelies). What followed were more airy and bright sonic landscapes that motivated me to download their music as soon as I got home. The recordings are a bit different from the live show, but I like both.

Asa (24) - Airy acoustic pop from a lovely French singer with a tight backing band.
 
BLK JKS (25) – This South African group was very high on my list of bands to see and were a bit disappointing---after all, some of the hyperbole in the reviews for their music have them creating their own genre. I did not hear that at all, in fact their mix of jazz, soka, metal, reggae and more was so full of unmet aspirations and convoluted sound that I was reminded of Living Colour (and not just because they are black). Both bands were stacked with talented players trying to do something heavy and transcendent. It is early for the young guys; they could grow to be great.

Micah P. Hinson (26) – Chill singer songwriter. Nice atmosphere.  

From there we shifted to Aunt Bea’s, a tired little shack on the other side of the highway with a tiny lean-to stage but an intriguing bill, brimming with uber-hyped east coast indie artists. The most hyped of the crew were New Yorkers (Brooklyn, top of the food chain!) and they, by and large, sucked---interestingly showing the danger of a "scene" these days. Big difference between NYC and elsewhere. The crowd looked as awkward and music nerdy as it could get---which was also reflected in the performers:

These Are Powers (27) – This is the sound of suck. This is the opposite of the sound of power…like Kryptonite. New York has some splainin’ to do exporting this crap outside Metropolis.

Deertick (28) – They sucked playing electric last year. They sucked acoustic this year.  

Vivian Girls (29) – Goodness…what is going on in NYC? This is a perfect example of why the music industry is so unfair. Pitchfork faves and critical darlings who sound like the Juno soundtrack singer, Kimia Dawson, playing blah blah punk. Whatever.      

TITUS ANDRONICUS (30) – They sound like The Pogues minus Irish folk veneer. Great fun. I hope Vivian Girls were watching and felt bad...maybe they should move to Jersey with these guys.

PONYTAIL (31) – They were my favorite new act last year. And despite a crushingly bad mix that made me want to strangle the sound guy for just completely botching things, it was still a great show. Check out the tiny lead singer bouncing in her Ray Lewis jersey (they are from Baltimore after all).

We bounced around throughout the evening and caught:

The Drones (32) – Australian power pop. They started late and seemed furious with the sound guy (threw a glass at somebody). Pretty intense show, lots of energy, but in the end, I thought just OK

Warmer Milks (33) - It only took 30ish seconds to see that it was not my...or anyone's judging by the crowd...scene.  

Keys N Crates (34) – Toronto hip hop rules! No. Actually, if this is all they have, they do not really have any hip hop at all… This was a band playing the musical accompaniment to samples from Talib Kwali and Tribe Called Quest… WTF? 

Kurt Vile (35) - Really disappointing, because I like his new album a lot. But the show was boring…we left early.

Wolves in the Throne Room (36) – Our friend Scott, the intelligent metal king, texted to say he was jealous that we were witnessing the dawning of avant-garde black metal at this show. They had the smoke machines, the double bass drum crunch and the candelabras that said, “something interesting might happen here.” Unfortunately they also had the stereotypical screaming vocals and over amplified guitar onslaught. We made it through a song...barely.  
 
The Willowz (37) – OK skater pop-rock, sounded like Red Cross.    

From there we attempted to get into a few shows, eventually getting in for Asobi Seksu. However the delays were insanely long and age was catching up with the group…so we slunk out before the set started.

In the grand scheme this might have been wise. The battle for a cab back to the squished apartment was long and hard, taking us at least a mile away before we could track down a driver and crash.

SXSW - Thursday 2009

2009-03-24T21:07:00.021-05:00

Nothing like a 6:00 a.m. flight to get you in the mood for rock…

But after a stopover in Dallas, I was energized by my annual Austin kickoff routine with an incomparable bbq brisket sandwich from the Salt Lick’s airport outpost. Once Kyle, Pete and I rendezvoused, we were ready to rock.

One of the most amazing things about SXSW has been the rise of the day party. You can actually see more music in the light of day than during the official evening showcases now.

We kicked off with NPR’s showcase that had a promising lineup where we caught a pedestrian band called Blind Pilot (1). They were pleasant---which is not a compliment in these terms…

Off to Club DeVille where we caught:

WAVVES (2) - a Pitchfork hype band with a low-fi surf/punk/pop sound that reminded me of another SXSW fave, No Age. I had downloaded the Wavves disc and was not sure where it stood with me---the couple of songs we caught live pushed them over quite positively.

School of the Seven Belles (3) – Pete rightly referenced the Cocteau Twins’ sound for this highly programmed, keyboard-heavy group with the cutest singer of the weekend.

Glasvegas (4) – There’s a lot of talk about these Glasgow natives, but I found their sound to be fairly generic and, much like the previous band, not particularly well-suited style for an outdoor daytime setting.

We scrammed and headed to a Mint Records showcase in the delightfully tiki-themed Headhunters Club to catch:

Immaculate Machines (5) – We bailed on Trail of the Dead (who followed Glasvegas) for this? A nerdy, nothing special, off-key band that Pete stingingly referred to as "very similar to the Stamen Convention." Though that was one of our early bands, I do not think it was meant as a compliment to us or to Immaculate Machines…
Goblins (6) – I only caught one song, but it made an impression. Keyboards and drums; played by guys in purple and yellow keyboards with “ghostly” sheets over their heads. Lots of exuberance and fun. No talent.
Pack AD (7) – Vancouver twosome of Black Keys wannabes; though to be fair the singer/guitarist had chops and pipes. If she can get away from Led Zeppelin blues jams, and lose her drummer, she could be special.
Handsome Family (8) – The formerly-Chicago alt-country staples were a complete mess. Out of tune. Out of sorts. Bad…though their very dark songs and banter are always hilarious, with intros like, “This song is about a shipwreck with just a teeny bit of cannibalism…”

Wandering a bit, we stumbled into:

Red Cortez (9) - I like The Walkmen a lot better than this bad LA band aping them…

THE THERMALS (10) – Really strong power/punk pop songs. Very energetic, though you only need about half the set because their songs start to sound very similar after that---but I really enjoyed what we saw (plus “The Ice Cream Man” was there---a marketing outfit that gives away free Good Humor and Blue Bunny products!)

Vikings Times (11) – Not sure I got the name of this acoustic combo right, but it matters not as they were hooorrible.

We took a break for the bad bbq I noted yesterday before heading out for the evening sets. We started at “The Musical Gym” which is a dump that houses cooperative practice spaces for bands on the other side of the highway from downtown. We went to see:

Chikita Violenta (12) – A promising-sounding Mexico City band that completely sucked, sounding desperate to get onto Q-101. The long walk was not a loss though, as we went inside to check the tiny side stage, where we found:

OUTER SPACIST (13) – A fantastically entertaining Columbus, OH punk band with a husky and hilarious lead singer whose banter and songs generally fell in line with something like: “My motherfucking scarf is from motherfucking space and that is no joke, bay-bee!” As I type, I am realizing it was way better than it sounds here. Count me as a big fan.

From there we started wandering and bumped into:

Rosie and The Goldbug (14) – Actually we were trying to catch Vivian Girls, but the showcase was running late and we caught this annoying English pop outfit with a lead singer who did have the impressive ability to occasionally play the keyboards with her high heels (still on the feet). They also had an unfortunate “superfan” who wore a homemade gold body suit that someone really should tell her not to wear… It was a bit…snug…
Red Red Meat (15) – They quickly reminded me of why I did not like them all that much in the 90’s… They are boring… The Chicago indie vets look ancient, but the “Sound Opinion” guys Kot and DeRogatis looked to be in ecstasy. DeRo looked pissed when I said “hi” and “I like your show.” I say it every year…
Sebastian Grainger (16) – The former drummer of Death from Above 1979 makes it clear where the genius of that duo resided...he made a big mistake breaking that band up. This one sucks.
LET'S WRESTLE  (17) - These little Londoners look to be about 15, but they sounded great. Like a real-live 90’s “college rock” band. Tons of energy and fun, with a great theme song.
FLOWER TRAVELIN' BAND  (18) - So I don’t know anything about these guys but apparently they are legend… The founders of the Japanese psychedelic sound, they had not played together in decades but sounded great for the one extended jam we caught. And they look pretty striking; the lead singer has zero body fat and dreadlocks; the instrumental lead plays a sitlar (guitar/sitar hybrid) that looks like something Prince would kill for…
Abe Vigoda (19) – Fish would be disappointed by the use of his name by these posers. Absolutely the wrong thing for us to see at that point. Pointlessly boring noise.
KING KAHN AND THE SHRINES (20) – Consistently one of the most entertaining acts out there. Even in a horrible room with shockingly bad acoustics and a huge void between the stage and crowd, the energy of their stage show is infectious. Hilarious stuff---and props to Kahn for being ballsy enough to take his shirt off (video), as his body is way worse than the Outerspacers guy or the Goldbug super fan…
MIKA MIKO (21) – I really liked these New York sorta punker gals---particularly the fact that one vocalist only sang through a red telephone receiver, fun stuff, though a bit limited.

We struggled out from there, seeking a cab to take us back to our very crowded little apartment. At that point, I had been up for over 22 hours and was ready to collapse. Normally in that situation, I would look forward to sleeping in and doing nothing the next day...

But we were in Austin. And this was SXSW.

So I readied myself to repeat it all again in just a few hours.

Note 1: I told you my camera sucks.

Note 2: I am linking to the SXSW band profiles as most have a downloadable MP3 if you are interested in hearing the bands.

SXSW - Lost in Austin Again

2009-03-23T21:59:00.016-05:00

Back from the annual sojourn in Austin, TX for the ever-expanding SXSW festival and a much needed treatment to stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder from Chicago’s exasperatingly drawn-out winter season.

Despite our strongest efforts, at it more than 12 hours per day (pausing only to reinforce ourselves with beer to stave off dehydration), we only saw a tiny fraction of the 1900 bands that appeared this year.

50 bands. 3 days. No hangovers. An expanded group of co-conspirators.

What’s not to like?

Well, besides squeezing four aging guys into a one-room apartment for one thing…but why quibble?

As always, Austin was a fanciful wonderland that showed us incredible extremes:

Great music. Crap music.
Some of the funniest cabbies I have ever encountered; and one who tried his hardest to kill us and run his car into the ground…
Great barbecue (Iron Works). And slop (can’t remember the name, but it was reminiscent of R. Kelly’s so we should have known better).

On the slop thing… Sadly, we went in to visit what had been a jewel in the town’s bbq crown, Ben’s (home of the greatest mutton plates in Texas, says me). Ben was out of business and had given way to the other R&B freaky-sound alike. You would think we would have better sense than to eat food from a place seemingly named after a guy who pees on…well, with a sordid past. We did not and we paid for it… But we did have an interesting pseudo-celebrity sighting there with John Wesley Harding popping in with a chunk of the bit-part cast from Flight of the Conchords in the shape of comedians Todd Berry (Todd the Bongo Player—Ruff! Ruff!) and Eugene Mirman (the landlord). Apparently JWH and Mirman have a show of their own they are touring with… The sighting did not make the food go down any better though…

Some important lessons learned over the weekend…

Craigslist is populated by idiots. We tried a new housing option this year. Rather than stay at one of the overpriced, overbooked downtown hotels, Pete lined up two nice apartments that we could split between the four of us. The writeups on both were great---and one of them lived up to it. We never saw the other one because the owner had mistakenly double-booked it; not realizing he had been talking to two different Petes. The other Pete got there first...so we got the floor...

Place matters. Friday, we spent a chunk of the day at The French Legation. Blissful. Not so much for the quality of acts as the quality of setting. A gorgeous, sun-dappled grassy oasis. Quite the contrast to evening venues like The Radio Room, a cavernous crushed rock-floored tent that stinks of sour beer. Guess which is better to watch a show...

My camera sucks. I should have known this, afterall I have seen the other photos it has taken… The image above of my co-conspirators Pete, Steve and Kyle (Stephen B was there too, but not for the photo) is about the only clear shot I’ve got from the weekend. That does not mean I will not foist the blurry shots on you in my rundown anyway.

I am still old…and sleeping on the floor does not help. It is amazing I forget this every year, but 14 hours a day of walking, standing, and walking is starting to do funny things to me; like making my ankles swell and back ache. I sound like a Jewish grandma; but clearly I am not the only one as the only other clear shot from my camera is of Pete and Kyle clearly looking uncomfortable and stretching their spines...

And since Jo-Elle put me to work as soon as the plane landed yesterday (helping with PhD stuff at the zoo straight from the airport; and cooking for a small dinner party soon after), I am still beat. So you’ll have to wait for me to post dark and blurry photos from my crappy camera over the next few nights with a rundown of the bands we saw...

Sorry for the lack of posts---I've been busy peeling sunburned skin...

2009-03-10T22:22:00.009-05:00

Jo-Elle and I recently did a quick trip to Jamaica.

Easily the least interesting foreign destination we've visited; not surprising given the sort of faded glory hippie resort nature of the place we stayed. That was fine as we were just looking for sun and relaxation. We got both, along with friendly drug dealer visits every 8 or so minutes. You have to look harder for pot in Amsterdam...which was very off putting for Jo-Elle who would probably be considered straight edge if she was a young white suburban boy...

Thankfully, she is not.

While we did not take the peddlers up on their wares, I did drink a fair amount of Appleton and Red Stripe. We had great jerked chicken and ox tails---though we were bummed when the first restaurant we hit foisted fried chicken on us in place of jerked. Clearly there is a joke there. We stayed in Negril, which is a tourist town built around a long stretch of lovely beach. We went into the town proper (crossing over the Negril River pictured below) which was less picturesque, as you can imagine. Normally, I'd have some thoughtful (well...) commentary on the economics and class issues in the country---but nothing that hasn't been said already about North American tourists. (Although I was shocked how willing American and Canadian women are to wear bikinis in the Caribbean when they clearly should not.)

I managed to nuke my legs the first day we were there.

I put on sun screen, but forgot to re-apply after coming out of the water. I was trying to be good and sit still for Jo-Elle. As you probably know, that is hard for me---I am not the sunbathing sort. And what did I get for the effort? Pink legs that eventually looked like they had been through a meat grinder.

Nasty burns.

The skin is finally healing underneath. And so it is peeling off in great sheets on top. The soft sound of Saran Wrap as it effortlessly separates.

So gross. So satisfying...

Is there something wrong with me?

A Room with a View...

2009-02-22T23:31:00.012-06:00

So, I have a new office.

All to myself.

And, it kinda has a view.

Our new, and vastly improved office space is in the old Daily News Building at 2 North Riverside Plaza. Pretty cool 20s deco-style building---the first to really embrace the Chicago River as an amenity, which makes it perfect for NRDC.

We are in the tower, taking up half of one floor, so we have pretty great views. On the East side, there is a gorgeous view of the river and the skyline. To the south you can look down Canal at Union Station...

...but I face east.

Directly at the less glamorous Ogilvie Transportation Center.

If you know Chicago, you've seen the building. It is curvy with blue glass and an undeniably 80s "sensibility" to it. But I am not complaining. The view is quite interesting actually. On either side of the big building, a lane opens up that allows me to see into Greek Town to the southeast and the Eisenhower and West side to the northwest.

But the most interesting views are in the fun house mirror reflections on the neighboring building itself. These are a couple of quick shots I took out my office window---the first one just shows the neighboring building and the skybridge that connects the Metra station in its basement to my building (that is the intersection of Canal and Madison).

The second shot is more interesting closest is the reflection of my building (stone facade) with the top of the Lyric Opera House looming over from across the river, topped off by the Boeing HQ towering above. You also can see the temporary lighting in my office reflected---our real fixtures will be installed in March, but in the meantime, you can see we practice what we preach with CFLs.

The light lanes move across my building throughout the day, exposing some of the great deco detail that adorns the building. I have a great view of the somewhat creepy crucified-looking hooded dude for about an hour in the morning before the light moves and his reflection disappears.

At about 3:45, the light shoots directly into my office, blinding anyone who tries to sneak up on me.

Because I know how much y'all love to hear me talk about tar sands...

2009-02-19T22:19:00.005-06:00

So, Obama went to Canada today...and guess what was discussed! We did really well in the media today, but of course, I am all about pimpin' my own stuff:

But just so you don't think I am a one trick pony... I also picked on the State of Indiana (Hoosier Regulator: Feds and local governments wonder just what is going on in Indiana), as well as vegetarians and Mark Bittman (Food Guru and Global Warming: Meat and Mark Bittman on NPR).

Photo courtesy of honus and Flickrr

I win...sort of...

2009-01-25T22:33:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago I was shocked to find a summary judgement announcement in the mail stating that I had been found guilty on four parking tickets and was now "boot eligible." As I had not gotten any tickets recently, this was a shock. As I looked closer, things were even more surprising.

This first ticket was apparently a citation for an expired meter on December 1st. I had not gotten the notice, so this was odd...

...of course the fact that the address of the infraction was in front of my house made it all the more bizarre.

As you can see from the photo, there are no meters in front of my house.

So, a couple weeks ago, I spent my lunch hour fighting the ticket. I've not had a lot of luck in traffic court, but as you can imagine, I was a bit steamed about this one and sauntered into the court confidently with photos in hand (that is Exhibit A to the left). And I triumphed. The judge ruled in my favor and I was told by the attendant outside that I should "frame judgement" as I was the only person who had come away from that particular courtroom smiling all week. I guess all that time at work around lawyers has rubbed off...

Of course, the other three tickets were another galling story.

All three were for expired city stickers...

...in 1997...

WTF? I honestly have no idea if I was guilty of those infractions or not. But how do tickets disappear for more than a decade? The city is pretty prompt about sending out those summary judgement documents. Admittedly, I get a couple tickets a year---its part of the cost of living in the city. But in 10 years, these tickets have not shown up on any of the documents from the city. When the city announced ticket amnesty a couple years back, I even searched to make sure that there was nothing outstanding---and these did not show up.

So, my traffic court triumph was muted by having to pay of the potentially bogus fines. Whether real or not, I have no way to prove that I had a city sticker at the time, so I sucked it up and paid the hundreds of dollars in fines. I know the city is in desperate financial straits, but this seems a pretty slimy way to get back into solvency.

Sounds like a job for The Parking Ticket Geek and his/her excellent Expired Meter blog...

We Can All Learn a Lot from Stephen...

2009-01-21T19:57:00.008-06:00

As a loyal member of the Colbert Nation, I am not sure how I missed this clip...but it illustrates his genius in tackling ugly subjects. In a tad over 4 minutes he explains a huge swath of the work I do; far better than I have figured out in a year at NRDC:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Priceless

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Sights that made me smile on my commute home on Inauguration Night

2009-01-20T21:14:00.009-06:00

It wasn't my wedding.

Not a family holiday.

Not even my Bar Mitzvah.

But today probably ranked up there as one of the happier and more memorable days I've had.

Folks on the El were oddly quiet this evening. I thought there would be boisterous crowds---but instead everyone seemed to be sitting quietly, seemingly thoughtful, aside from the big cartoonish grins on everybody's faces.

The banners have been up in front of City Hall and in Hyde Park since the day after the election---but they take on a different meaning today. The city seemed a little more glittery this evening, even if all the stars were in DC. But the spirit is undeniable. And there's a sense that this man can make a difference...fix this hole we have gotten into morally and financially...locally, nationally, and apparently at the retail level...

Relief.

In the end, today just felt as though the constellations somehow came back into alignment. Something just sorta fixed itself. Hopefully it will take, but I am thankful for even this momentarily reprieve from the ever-more-crushing sense that things were moving in an irredeemably bad direction.

I am sure that the new administration will irk me fast, but I appreciate this odd new sensation that maybe we can make things right.

Your New Favorite Album

2009-01-12T21:55:00.007-06:00

I used to be in a band called Crispus Attucks.

Now I am in a band called Lesser Royalty.

They sound a bit like Crispus Attucks, but better!

Don't believe me?

Go to http://lesserroyalty.com/ to find out for yourself.

On the newly minted site you can listen to your soon-to-be favorite album. It is called Flip the Perfect Switch. We wrote and recorded it in February. Mastered it more recently. And are now unveiling it to the world, which will undoubtedly adore it.

After you've given it an initial spin to ascertain the album's sheer genius, download the masterpiece and listen to it over and over and over again. Let the infectious, finely-crafted songs burrow into your brain, where they will live for perpetuity making you smile randomly as one of many clever turns of phrase or guitar hooks snake through your cerebral cortex...

Heck, it is even available in a lossless format for those of you non-suckers who do not rely on tinny little iPods (oh, you must be smug with your swanky hi-fi).

Enjoy the rock.

And the ab fab vocals...

Other blog stuff...

2009-01-04T22:14:00.004-06:00

Hey, if you haven't been clocking Switchboard lately...you have not missed much from me since I have been lazy---but I did post a few things in December:

I took issue with a pro-tar sand Op Ed in the Rocky Mountain News...
Expressed concerns over last second rule changes from the Bush Administration around the Endangered Species Act and some stupid stuff around the polar bear ESA designation. The completely humorless Pacific Legal Foundation took exception to this entry---admittedly not my best or funniest...but really...they need to get a grip. (The Fredo line is great though. I'd give them props if they would take comments on their blog...)
I posted some thoughts on our petition to add the whitebark pine tree to the endangered species list. Actually, this sounds dry, but there are some really fascinating elements to this. I will likely blog more on the topic later.
And around Thanksgiving, I wrote about the millions of dollars spent on an elite killing force that our federal government uses to take out wildlife as part of NRDC's blog storm outlining transition requests made to the Obama administration.

Holidays are over and a lot of stupid stuff went down while I was away---so plenty more here and on Switchboard.

Channukah - The Energy Efficiency Holiday?

2009-01-04T22:06:00.005-06:00

Over the holidays, I was thinking about Channukah... A holiday celebrating, among other things, one day's worth of oil lasting for eight days. Not to belittle the miracle, but that sounds like a pretty contemporary need too. All the talk of dwindling supplies and nonconventional petroleums point to the need to take something from the Maccabee play book and figure out how to make what we have go further...in today's version, that better not take a miracle.

Best of 2008?

2008-12-31T11:41:00.009-06:00

Wow. I have been really bad about posting of late... For the two of you who visit every week, my apologies... I am getting refocused on blogging and will be doing more in the new year. But before this year passes, here are my favorite albums of 2008:

Deerhunter - Microcastle
Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead...

This has been a big year for Brandon Cox.

He's a young guy from Atlanta, but he might not have a lot of time left. Marfan Syndrome saps his body. I've seen conjecture that this is why he is kicking out music at a fantastically frenetic pace. Last year, the debut of his band Deerhunter blew me away, with its intensively expansive reverb-laden sound. This year's Atlas Sound album showed Cox was able to work magic with a clearly less talented cast around him, as he expanded the atmospheric Deerhunter palette into something more fragile and structured. He rejoined his old band mates to put out two Deerhunter albums. Of the two, Microcastle is much stronger, a masterpiece. The pleasurable Deerhunter guitar sound and crunching pace is still there, combined with a new sense of structure and lyrical hooks. This is, at its heart, a pop album. And among the best I've heard in a long time. I think there is credence to some of the reviewers' claims that Cox's health is forcing him to push out as much music as he can, while he still can. You can hear the urgency in the songs and lyrics about time---"Too get older still," and "I was saved by old times," are both repeated over and over hauntingly, and lovingly. I just cannot get past how catchy this album is. How thoughtful it is. I hope Brandon can stick around to give us more.

Rhymefest and Mark Ronson - Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson Tribute album

For VERY DIFFERENT REASONS, I love this album as much as Microcastle. At their heart, there is a sense of joi d'vivre in both. But Rhymefest really is all about fun. This album is a true celebration; of life, of the time we are in, the folks he sees here on the South Side getting beyond their rough circumstances. But most of all, it celebrates the weird genius of Michael Jackson and how he has helped people escape into pop bliss for three minutes at a time. Rhymefest and Ronson are true fans. And while they spend a lot of time poking fun at MJ, it is clearly not with spite. The album is built entirely around samples spanning Jackson's career, and as Greg Kot (or was it DeRogatis?) wrote, it is the best thing Jackson has been associated with in more than a decade. The beats and Rhymefest's flow are brilliant---showing once again how he stands as Chicago's most underappreciated MCs, due largely to his willingness to be funny even when tackling difficult subjects. It is easy not to take the album seriously when it is peppered liberally with "conversations" that Rhymefest has interjected himself into with archival Jackson interviews. In some ways, the skits are the best part of the album; some looking to the pop star as a mentor, others with curiosity at the freaky genius' quirks. All hilarious and worth the download even if you don't dig the grooves---I cannot stress this enough, the album is FREE, download it now from Rhymefest's MySpace page.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Though there's little doubt about the heft and growing brilliance of their discography, much of their work has left me cold. But this album has clearly been a step towards human warmth. Horns pepper the tracks and open the door to hearing something other than the electronic production. The songs seem more open too. Less focused on dystopia and onto actual human relationships. Oddly, they actually sound like they are having fun, even occasionally channeling Prince circa Sign o' the Times. It is still a dense sound, but one that draws the listener in, rather than keeping them at arms' distance. And that's change we can believe in.

The Walkmen - You and I

This one clicked on the first listen. Timeless. The Walkmen have a style unto themselves, and while this release doesn't have the standout heights of songs like "The Rat" (one of the best singles of this decade), they are back on track after a pair of bad releases. The dark, brooding guitar and haunting vocals create the mood. And the sorrowful ballads of loss and regret are oddly the tinged with hope and wonder that manage to ward off the morose. The combo of amazing performances and thoughtful songwriting will keep me returning to this album for years to come.

Russian Circles - Station

I seem to be fairly Chicago heavy again this year. It's not boosterism, really...

Russian Circles do something that is very hard to pull off---smart, instrumental, metal. Wh-wha-what? I know, it sounds unlikely. And while my friend Scott is a connoisseur, always pushing "intelligent metal" my way, the formula rarely works out. I have a weakness for instrumental rock, and in this case I think that the lack of vocals is part of what opened the door for me here. There is no throaty call for Satan or opera-esque high-pitched howl for violence. Sure that paints with a broad brush, but this is what has kept me away from bands like Isis and High on Fire in the past. What is left are intricate guitar interplays that engage, and at times hammer. But that is tempered by instrumental tension that buoys and brings out moments of surprising classical beauty. These guys can really play! And that brings me back to Chicago, where a burgeoning metal scene has brought this formula to the fore with the Circles and the, perhaps superior, pummeling of Pelican.

Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual

The real find in Austin this year. My spirit was flagging at SXSW until I witnessed a scene of youthful exuberance so fantastic, I was unphased by the clear reminder that I am getting old. Onstage, two guitarists with chops that belied their twelve-year-old looks played spiraling interlaced licks that sent my spirit soaring. I think I described it as "serpentine spazz pop" at the time and that summarizes the album too, though they tend to rely heavily on a Feelies-esque guitar groove that never gets old. For most listeners, the vocals will be the make or break (probably "break" would be the majority opinion). In Austin, the stage was ruled by Ponytail's vocalist, an energetic four-foot monchichi with shocking red hair. I choose vocalist, purposefully. She does not sing. Instead, focusing on a vocal palette of purrs, coos, happy screams, and a variety of other guttural noises. I find it endearing. Jo-Elle has deemed it annoying. She might be right.

Heliocentrics - Out There

The album title is dead-on. Madlib, one of the most gifted production geniuses in hip hop today, has built the sci-fi instrumental soundtrack for the space age bachelor pad. Funk, jazz, Afrobeat, 50's space movie clips. It is all in there, but despite the kitsch description, he's come up with something oddly compelling and most of the time, serious.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

So, I play (or used to?) in this band with a coupla guys. Tim and Pete. They are indie rockers. Which means that shoe gazing is about as hyped as you will see them in a concert. I had never, ever, seen them dance until I talked them into closing out SXSW with Girl Talk last year. The pastiche of classic rock, hip hop, indie rock, and dance clips is impossible to resist and within a minute they were pogo-ing and running man-ing with the best of 'em. This year's release---the second Web download available for free online---is more of the same. A parade of unlikely samples that careen into one another creating something entirely new and broadly inclusive. It is great for hip hop heads. It is great for rockers. Jo-Elle doesn't like when I play this one at home, as it pulls heavily from some pretty nasty Dirty South samples. But if you don't mind getting your eagle on...and you aren't scared off by laughy taffy...and you don't mind the bootie bootie droppin' or games about trains---this is the best dance music you will find. Download it now, for whatever price you want to pay...

King Kahn and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Kahn and the Shrines

Speaking of dirty. Everything about this album is dirty. The songs. The scruffy low-fi sound. It is so scratchy and rough that the recordings feel like you have found ancient, pure gold at the bottom of a cutout bin---a forgotten gem from one of those soul bands you must have heard before, but cannot place their name. King Kahn was nowhere near my radar until his performance at the Pitchfork Festival this summer. He won the weekend hands-down. Best show of the fest---here's a taste.

Gnarls Barkley - Odd Couple

I wish I had their costume wardrobe. And their uncanny knack for writing amazing songs with a retro sensibility with "in the now" sound. Who's Gonna Save My Soul? could have been written in 1968, but sounds so appropriate now.

Q-Tip - The Renaissance

Ahh, the 90's. Hip Hop's halcyon era. Q-Tip reminds us why it was so good.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One

Gone are her jazz chanteuse songs. Apparently her days hooked up with half of OutKast and being the root of Ms. Jackson left a lasting impression. She still has an amazing voice, but now it is pitted against tough hip hop beats and disarming Funkadelic grooves.

White Denim - Exposion

The first full-length from Austin's best freaky blues funk weirdness trio. And incidentally, the second band with a member who looks like a monchichi. If the White Denim bassist coupled with the Ponytail vocalist, you'd have some freakishly small and ugly babies.

Also of Note:

Black Mountain - In the Future
Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On
Santogold - Santogold
Fujiya and Miyagi - Lightbulbs
No Age - Nouns
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves
El Guincho
The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...

Oh, and, by the way, the worst and most disappointing album of the year:

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

It kills me to write that... I love, Love, LOVE these guys, but the new album is painful to listen to and includes the worst song so far recorded in this decade in Evil Urges. Blech.

So Long Studs

2008-11-01T12:30:00.008-05:00

Sad news from the Chi today.

One of my heroes is gone.

Studs Terkel died yesterday at the ripe old age of 96. You know anyone who went 40+ years with the title "free spirit" on their business card is someone I'd be drawn to...but the Trib's remembrance title was right on target, "He Gave Voice to the Voiceless."

He will be remembered as a genius not so much for his own writing---but for what he was able to get others to say. Voices you'd never hear otherwise, recorded for the ages.

That said, his joy in life came out in everything he did, no matter how grim the topic. One of my favorite quotes attributed to him sums up his world view and gives a glimpse at how this brilliant man lived his rich life:

"With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven."

How could you not love this guy?

Despite the passing of time, his work still rings true today. Division Street: America still informs my understanding of this city. I think of Working often as I am commuting downtown.

On the verge of a hopefully historic day for Chicago, we have lost much this week.

Walking in the hood...

2008-10-19T22:19:00.007-05:00

Gorgeous weather in the Chi this weekend.

Had an opportunity to check out my neighbor's new market and wander the cityscape with camera in hand. For those of you who do not venture to our little slice of heaven on the South Side, thought I'd post a couple of images of the city scape on the formerly bustling retail strip that we call 47th Street.

I passed what looks a lot like a do-it-yourself altar to Barack the other day on the way to work.

Fantastic image.

The GoTellMama downloaded images are posted over an old soul food restaurant sign in an alley near 47th and Martin Luther King Drive. BTW, the GTM artist has a small show now at the Little Black Pearl Work Shop down the street...will need to check that out before the election.

East on 47th, same side of the street, there is the abandoned bar, The New Bonanza.

Seems pretty spot on with the current news.

All things come to pass, and the Bonanza's over... Windows barred and bashed. Door padlocked. But note the sign. Even in tough times, there's always opportunities for the deal makers.

Sounds like a Paulson pub, eh?

Table No Longer Tabled

2008-10-01T22:10:00.003-05:00

Ahh, Kitchenistan's fine woodworking tradition is exemplified in the new dinner table now on display.

Found this for a shockingly reasonable price at Intaglia.

No idea how long it will last, but the lines look great at the moment!

Busy Blogging...just not here...

2008-09-27T17:38:00.006-05:00

Howdy---

Been a while, eh? Well, now that the house is largely done, I need to slightly retool the blog and get back into the habit of writing about other stuff. That is gonna happen, I promise.

But that does not mean I have not been busy online.

I've been posting a lot on NRDC's switchboard, covering a wide array of topics:

The Chicago Climate Action Plan: Keeping me in the Windy City
The interesting electric car company detailed in Wired Magazine, Better Place
Scary mutant fish found near Canada's tar sands mining operations in Alberta
The total buzz kill that is NRDC's suit over bee documents with the EPA
Invasive species in Lake Michigam---this is actually a pretty cool post

And just today, I posted about my trip to Wyoming to investigate global warming impacts on the Wind River Mountain chain near Yellowstone National Park (it has a great title: Zombie Trees and Bear Attacks, Halloween must be coming soon...

Oh, and if you have not seen them yet---I posted some cool shots from my recent Wyoming and Montana trips on my Flickr page---some cool moose photos!

Concert Contrasts

2008-08-04T22:29:00.004-05:00

OK...on with non-house stuff. I lucked into some semi-VIP tix to Lollapalooza this weekend (many thanks Sally!). Believe it or not, my first time since the fest has taken up residence in Grant Park.

Pretty interesting to compare it to the other weekend-long, all-day music festival I attended this summer: the Pitchfork Music Festival. Aside from being dusty, the two had little in common.

While both cater to a pretty obvious young, white, male audience both tried to at least seem eclectic. Pitchfork is far more focused on emerging "indie" bands but managed to squeeze a pair of African groups into the mix of rock, electonic, and hip hop (and truth be told, I really enjoyed both Extra Golden and the Occidental Dance Band). Lolla was a bit more white bread despite the Kanye headlining show.

In scale, Lolla dwarfed Pitchfork. 75,000 to about 10,000. Not sure that is a good thing. In fact, it is not. Perhaps I am old, but I am sort of sick of being a part of the sweaty masses and don't want to be surrounded by 74,999 smelly shirtless yokels screaming and stomping.

And that leads to the most conflicting part...accommodations for privileged rich folks... I got hooked up with a wristband that got me into the "artists area," a fenced off area where I shared free drinks and slightly less smelly porta-potties with various roadies and aging industry execs. And on Saturday, I was able to sneak into the Shangri-lollapalooza that was the "Lolla-Lounge." Another fenced off area with free drinks, wine tasting, free food, and an entire private hillside with unobstructed views. As I looked out onto the vast concert ground before us, the Lolla-Lounge felt elitist and horrible. It felt like I was looking out at Soweto in front of the stage. Or was on some private third world beach walled off from the local population. I did not feel very comfortable...

...and then the music started...

Rage Against the Machine thundered into action and in less than 10 minutes the vast plains surged with testosterone below us as the unfortunate concertgoers in front of the stage were slowly having their lives squeezed out of them...

...and it did not seem so bad in the Lolla Lounge...

The shaggy guy pictured to the left was shaking the fence to the pulsing beat. It seemed like a protest---Tear this wall down!---until he shook it so hard he actually flipped onto "our side." I jumped around to the music with him until he accidentally punched me in the eye.

Maybe the Lolla fence was not so bad...but I kept thinking of this King Khan performance at Pitchfork:

So, umm, class issues at both fests. Not necessarily healthy in either case, but despite the lesser production value and "no name" artists---the folks who take things less seriously always have more fun.

Independence Day

2008-07-08T21:09:00.006-05:00

This weekend, we celebrated not only the independence of America, but also the long-awaited arrival of the world's newest pseudo-democratic state---Kitchenistan.

Dignitaries, celebrities, and scalawags from many nations were on-hand for the state dinner...errr, barbecue...that signified the emergence of the new superpower.

What a whirlwind it has been since those dark winter days of a cold war, with the Great Wall of Kitchenistan looming over our homeland and threatening our prosperous and happy way of life. Today, the borders are open, relations have been normalized, and more and more people are visiting the new land every day.

As you can see, there is some nationalism developing in Kitchenistan---something that is being greeted with a bit of concern and skepticism in neighboring states. The new national flag is emblamatic of a people proud of their heritage and light fixtures. The beloved visionary Anthony Rubano, has been elevated to near omnipotent status by a grateful nation basking in the glow of the national flag he has offered.

Ahh, the salad days are here...literally!

This week the Kitchenistani tourism board is expected to begin the work of promoting this new nation to western travelers. Expect laudatory photos and videos on this site to expose you to the delights of the new nation and to lure you to the Kitchenistani shores.

Important Policy Decision Tabled

2008-06-29T21:33:00.004-05:00

The Supreme Council of Kitchenistan has been grappling with a number of important policy decisions of late. With the Minister of Construction nearly finished with most of the significant work progress efforts, the council is fighting over usage of the new infrastructure...

...namely a table and art...

...we are nowhere near any kind of art discussion...

But we have been talking a lot about tables. We've talked to Jeremy about making one. We've talked to my good friend Zev about constructing something. And we have found some things we have liked elsewhere.

It is actually not an easy space to fill. Wood tops will be difficult due to the spectacular nature of the wood coloration and grain in the floor and cabinets---tough not to compete with that stuff. And of course, we are poor having dumped all of our cash into the everything you've already seen on the blog...

So, for now, we have brought Jo-Elle's old dining room table into the space to see how glass works for us and to get a better sense of the dimensions we would like in the space. The greenest thing would be to re-use what we have, but frankly the lines don't work and the green color is all wrong...

But in the short-term it will be nice for the barbecue we will hold next weekend as an impromptu celebration of the project's completion.

Is it done? Well, not entirely, but I expect Jeremy to finish out everything on his punch list, Jose the electrician to fix the issues that have popped up (like the moon light not lighting in this photo), and the plumber to finish all of his work (anchor the dishwasher, fix some supply lines, put the showers back into place, etc.). And, that about wraps it up. There are some things outside the original scope that Jeremy will be working on after this point (the rain barrel, an additional chunk of seating to name a pair), but we've just about come to a conclusion on the grand renaissance of Kitchenistan. What a rebirth...

So, if you are reading this, feel free to pop over Saturday (I will be sending out emails) to see a true Kitchenistani traditional celebration. Not to be missed...

Ummm...what's the deal here?

2008-06-24T23:40:00.009-05:00

WTF?!

If you had any question, any inkling, that you weren't sure what way the tiles were supposed to be oriented...

...wouldn't you ask?

Well, Kitchenistani laborers are used to doing it the Kitchenistani way. And that is not what they look for in the Republic of Bathroomvaria...

So the poor guys had to rip it down and do it over again... Looks nice now.

And below? The brand-new ceiling...

Is that...is that...Ugh, it is water damage on the new ceiling.

Yeah, its not the Iowa floods, but it is a bummer.

As noted previously, I think we have the problem under control---but it still sucks.

And though it does not look bad in the picture, it is a bit more noticable in the house (particularly if you happen to be the one who recently shelled out the cash to put the new ceiling in).

The Brilliance of the Kitchenistani Plan is Clear as Glass

2008-06-18T20:41:00.008-05:00

Kitchenistani oligarchs made an interesting move this week.

They dumped a level of bureaucrats---and by dumping the paper pushers, they dumped the paper. Most notably, the paperwork that had piled up to obscure the border to the east...

That change has, for the first time, made plain the fantastic designs of the government...

...ugh, whatever...sometimes keeping the Kitchenistan thing going is a drag...

Surprisingly big doings this week. Our shades were installed. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it allowed us to remove the crappy paper blinds that have been pasted to the glass wall that is basically the centerpiece of the entire kitchen. With the paper gone, you get one of the first clear views of what the architect was going for in the blurring of inside and out. Two things strike me:

* Its gonna be a pain in the butt to keep the patio clean

* We are going to be spending a lot of time cleaning the glass

But despite that, I think these shots from inside and out really give a sense of how great the space is---even despite the dirty glass and decking covered in helicopter seeds and mung... The wood partition wall creates an intimate space without cutting out a sense of the natural... And it will feel even more cohesive when the deck and stone benches are sealed.

The shades look quite nice too. They are woven with a 1% reveal, so you can kind of see outside without losing any privacy.

One problem... As you can probably surmise from the picture, the benches were not in place when the vendor measured for the install. Ugh. So, as you can see, at the moment there is an 18" opening at the base of the widest portion of the window wall. Not sure how we are going to address that...

A few other frustrations this week.

* Tile going into the bathrooms---to bad they put them in totally wrong upstairs, oddly laying them tall instead of wide... They will be doing it over tomorrow.

* And our new roof...it has a leak.

Lots and lots and lots of rain this month. Some of it got in and buckled the smooth ceiling inside. Jeremy did some work to change the enclosure for the tall window. And I re-caulked around the upstairs bedroom window where large gaps may have ushered the rainwater in. Not a huge deal, but hugely frustrating.

Still...so close I can taste it.

And it tastes good!

(BTW, note the new water barrel. Not sure yet where it is going to sit...so it is just sitting on the patio at the moment until we figure how to tie it into the drainage system on the roof later. It will be important to allow us the water the plants in the big flower box at the end of the patio, under the privacy screen.)

I was pimped by CNN

2008-06-18T20:31:00.002-05:00

So cool, CNN linked to my Switchboard blog post on the Iowa floods today. For much of the day it was the top link in the "from the blogs" section of their flood coverage! If you are not checking Switchboard, you really should. Some great stuff there these days (way more intelligent folks then me...I am the token midwesterner...) if you are interested in all things green---but especially a deeper understanding of the battles beginning to rage over our country's energy future.