Cardinology Is A Terrible Title To a Pretty Good Album

I kind of like this Ryan Adams and The Cardinals new album, Cardinology. It doesn't have that overall twangy country sound that a lot of Jacksonville City Nights and Easy Tiger has. And I have really grown to enjoy that sound. Five years ago I would have found it a bore, but I guess as I get on in years I like good old roots country tunes. This album sounds more pop like than some of his other, and thats alright. In a time where I am sincerely struggling to like any music at all, I find this record to be pretty good.
I like Ryan Adams because he pukes out songs, and not in a bad way either. He is a songwriter and for the most part a very good one. Here is one of my favorite songs on the album.


Ryan Adams and The Cardinals [mp3] Crossed Out Name

NBA Basketball is Back

NBA basketball is back. It is imperative, for professional sports leagues to be successful, that big name teams contend for Conference and World Championships. For the NBA to be truly successful and back in the living rooms of sports fans then the Celtics and the Lakers have to be successful. The Knicks need to be successful. It would be great for the Pistons and the Bulls to be successful. Right now the Lakers and Celtics are a combined 15-1 coming off their Finals showdown last year. The Knicks have found a way to get to 5-3 and the Pistons are a half game out of first in the Central. There are more guys I would pay money to see (Lebron, Kobe, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Troy Paul, Amare Stoudemire, Pierce, Allen, Garnett). The Trail Blazers are a fun team to watch, as are the Suns.
I am looking forward to watching the Celtics on Friday night basketball for the first time since watching Bird, McHale, Parish on those Friday nights before Church League Basketball. Shooting phantom jump shots in my basement during timeouts imagining that I was probably as good as Bird was at this age. Ha!
It seems that guys are playing harder. Playing with enthusiasm. The Celtics winning the championship last year was a great thing for the sport. No one cares if San Antonio or Utah or Miami wins it. We all want to see Boston or Detroit or Chicago or Clevland. With that being said. I would rather see Oklahoma City win the Finals Championship than the Hollywood Lakers.

The Unanticipation of Thanksgiving Makes it the Greatest Holiday since my Birthday

-Turkey, you are probably not alive anymore, and if you are you are on death row-

Thanksgiving is the most underrated Holiday in our country. Easily overlooked for obvious reasons and taken advantage of, as simply an extended weekend of discount shopping. I believe that I like it more than Christmas. Thanksgiving holds all the fun that Christmas does...getting together to eat lots of food over and over again, to drink alcoholic beverages over and over again, watch sports and movies and take naps intermittently throughout the day. You don't have the presents and of course, the birth of Christ and all, but most importantly, you don't have the pressure. Every year you get so hyped up for Christmas. More excited than anything. With overexcitement comes the dread of it ending. I dread Christmas ending more than I look forward to it.
With Thanksgiving you don't count down the days on a calender pulling out a piece of candy as you get closer to the big day. You don't prepare long lists of things you don't really need and you don't hang lights and torture trees...the day comes without a ton of overdone anticipation. You wake up when you wake up. Drink, eat, and watch football. Nap and eat and nap and drink.

5 great things about Thanksgiving
1. I don't love turkey. I don't request it for birthday meals or for special occasions, but on Thanksgiving eating plates and plates of turkey sounds better than meatballs during the Super Bowl.
2. Sleeping through the 3rd and maybe 4th quarter of the Lions game.
3. The Friday after Thanksgiving might be the busiest shopping day of the year, but it is irrelevant if you spend that entire day in your basement.
4. Saying, "The Thanksgiving Day Parade is on!!!" and then watching Sportscenter.
5. After the dishes are done and it has just gotten dark getting the turkey out and making the greatest turkey sandwich ever assembled.

I think that the best bands to listen to today are as follows--
Fleet Foxes
Sun Kil Moon
My Morning Jacket
Bod Dylan (just Blood on the Tracks)

A Wilco Song Written Just for Colbert

I thought the last Wilco album sucked. I know people said you have to let it grow on you, but it didn't grow on me and I didn't like it.
I have hope that their next album will be great and I will like this band again...as I liked them before. This song has been on plenty of other machines and that is what I do. Take someone else's orignial material on someone else's original machine and put it on my unoriginal machine for my two friends, who visit this daily, to view.

Happy Halloween (a reissue)

Was Charles Schulz an atheist? Is it evident in his 1966 Halloween television show It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown? On the surface, an innocent cartoon, shown in late October, depicting children participating in the age old tradition of going to Halloween parties and trick or treating...but as you dig a little deeper it is much more.
Linus, a seemingly faithful gentile, full of naive wonder and optimism, stands out in a pumpkin patch all night waiting for The Great Pumpkin. While all the others dress up in costume for a Halloween party and trick or treats, Linus remains blindly faithful. Stubborn and hopeful, he waits for this deity of his to appear. He does not care that he is the only one who believes in “the Great Pumpkin”. He does know that he will be rewarded for his patience and faith. While the others go out enjoying life, going to parties, trick or treating; Linus waits. Please pay attention to the similarities here. The similarities between this story and in our beliefs today that there is a God...something bigger controlling our destinies.
Linus is a believer. He wants desperately to believe in this thing that he has not seen, that he can not prove, that everyone doubts. He wants to be good and faithful so that he will be rewarded in the end. He tries to pursuade others to join (Sally), all the while attempting to hide the perpetual doubt.
“Hey, aren’t you going to stay to greet the Great Pumpkin? It won’t be long now. If the Great Pumpkin comes, I’ll still put in a good word for you...Good Grief! I said “if”! I meant “when” he comes! I’m doomed. One little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by.”
All the others are out tearing it up...living it up. Lucy and Pigpen, Shroeder and Frieda...even Charlie Brown. Chewing it up and spitting it out...living with reckless abandon. They are dressing up and going to parties and going trick or treating. They dont want to regret missing such a time. You don’t get to do such things forever, you know.
Linus stands behind his convictions, spending the evening waiting in a pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin. As his hope begins to fade they are brought back with a vision he sees in the night. You see, deep down he is trying to convince himself that this hope is real, that there is something beyond his visible, and concrete world. Out of the patch comes an apparition...a vision...THERE IS HOPE!...Linus faints and wakes up to find that “the Great Pumkin vision” was merely Snoopy trying to scare them. (a similarity to visions of Mary in Oak Trees or Jesus in a crumpled Coke can)
So in the end Linus is left with sleep. Thats it. Deep peaceful sleep. He is not rewarded for his penetance. There are no gifts, no prizes. Only sleep. He just realizes everything that he missed. All the fun. The parties. The people.

I love this show and curse myself for thinking of it this way. If you think about it Atheists are just as confused as the believers.

Where Have You Been? You Haven't Called, You Don't Write, It Seems Like You Have Forgotten About Us.

Too much time away from the machine here. I have been spending 95% of my music listening time playing The Mountain Goats and OK Computer. Somehow I forgot the OK Computer is one of the greatest albums in the history of music making and The Mountain Goats are always great.

Its pretty amazing that a band can come up with an album as great as OK Computer and then follow it up with Kid A, which is an album so good I have a hard time believing that human beings made it.
On to the Mountain Goats. They have two EPs out. I tried to post some of the songs earlier, but I did something wrong and I did not feel like persevering so I quit and never posted it. One EP is Satanic Messiah and it has 5 really great songs on it. Below is Sarcofago Live and it is great. The other EP they/he did with Kaki King and the name escapes me. Pear Tree EP or something like that. The song I have heard from that is the Mario song, which Mitchell reminded me of. Great, great song. I tried to post it down there but something went wrong and I have, ironically, terrible problem solving skills.

A couple things that have been on my mind lately.
Rick Riley is one of the worst people posing as a sports personality I have ever heard/read in my entire life. If you like Rick Riley then I don't like you. He is self-righteous and he thinks he is witty, yet he has no wit at all. I hated him as a "last page" Sports Illustrated writer and now I hate him as an ESPN "personality". He is a moron. I hope you all notice this.

The Phillies are about to win the World Series and no one, outside of the Pennsylvania area, cares at all.

Here are some songs. Lets start enjoying the fall a little bit. Its going to be 11 degrees before you know it and we will all be shivering and wishing our lives away.


The Mountain Goats [mp3]Sarcofago Live

The Mountain Goats [mp3]Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Live At Fox Theater

Ryan Adams' shows are great for a couple of reasons. First, the music is great and he is a very good entertainer. Secondly, and maybe more intriguing is the fact that there is always a chance that he completely loses it on stage, jumps into the crowd and beats some smart ass rockabilly hipster into a mess. That tension and possibility makes for an enjoyable, but uneasy evening.
This last show would mark the third time I have seen him. The first time was unbelievable because he played his songs chronologically and played everything from Heartbreaker and Demolition and Gold. Very great show. The second time was after Cold Roses came out and I was bored by the show as much as I was bored by that entire album. I wanted the show to end and it never did.
The show on Saturday at Fox Theater made up for the previous one. He played new songs that I think are great along with a lot of songs from Heartbreaker and Love is Hell and Jacksonville City Nights. The songs off the new album have a little more of a pop music thing to them which I am sure certain critics will hate, but secretly enjoy because its just good music.
Ryan Adams went on about people sitting or standing, but this was just because the wishy washy people of St. Louis couldn't make up there mind. Some stood when they thought he wanted them to stand and then they sat down when they thought he was making fun of them. But then they just went back to standing again. And when I say stand I mean stand. They did not sway back and forth or bob their head...they just stood there like they were waiting in line to buy roast beef at the deli. Rediculous. People would yell at them but they stood strong like they were protesting animal furs being worn for scarfs. Utterly rediculous. We call it the Mike Shoemaker, after a one time friend of ours who would spontaneously get out of his seat during his favorite songs at a concert. He just stood. Straight legged and motionless. (Usually they were Neil Young covers.) Anyway, these were all confused concert goers. It made me laugh only because you could tell how uncomfortable the standers were when they were yelled at. Ha. I am an old man and hate people more and more as the days go by.
Concert ettiquette is a funny thing. It takes a little common sense and a little awareness for what is going on around you. Honestly...they just stood there...like zombie cows in a field. unreal. (except for the two girls R&B dancing a couple rows in front...I swear they had headphones on).
So the show was great and I am looking forward to the new album coming out soon. I don't know exactly when and I am not going to look it up right now, but when it comes out we should all buy it and listen to it on a jam box.