I hustled over to the quad leg extension machine at Lifetime Fitness, trying to wrap (rap?) up my workout as quickly as possible. That’s when I looked in the mirror in front of me, and spotted Snoop Dogg walking on a treadmill just behind me. He wasn’t sweating. He wasn’t really dressed for working out. But I mean, if it really were Snoop Dogg, I am confident that he would be way too cool to do something like run. That’s not his style. He’s going to stroll … and look cool doing it.
I saw Snoop Dogg at Lifetime Fitness, my local gym. More on this tomorrow.
I’ve been looking for good music for the Christmas holiday. Christmas music is not always easy to find. Guess what I accidentally stumbled across? The Regis Philbin Christmas Album. Whaaaat? Given the musical careers of Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan, I should not be surprised that one only needs achievements in acting in order to record tremendously average music. Listening to the samples of this album was not a pleasant experience: imagine impeccable production mixed with the most stunningly mediocre, digitally corrected ‘singing’ you have ever heard. One review:
I just heard this cool song “Men of Station” by a band called 13 & God on our sweet awesome local indie station The Current. Whilst googling to find the name of this band, I ran across a review with a great, albeit complicated, turn of phrase:
I can’t remember what piano piece this was - not one I have played lately.
Gary Benchley, Rock Star - Paul Ford of the impeccable FTrain writes a novel! Looks good to me.
Fall: the time of year when the green life in trees explodes, painting the roads and rivers the brightest, most intense colors that deciduous life knows. It is with this exclamation point of yellow, orange, and red that the life of summer finally yields to oncoming winter. The annual metamorphosis of long days to short, leafy green to snow white, and blue skies to dirty gray is always a time of reflection for me. This year, though, as I watch the throbbing of life in the outdoor world turn a corner to a dormant state, I come upon a realization that is nothing earth-shattering, but nevertheless intensely personal: everything has its Fall.
This is the coolest record I have ever seen. Frameable. Also, “trains and sewing machines” (from the song “Hide and Seek”) march around the outside.
Trains and sewing machines! Lordy this was a good concert. My First Time at the Ascot Room the past Friday at the Quest, and certainly that room did not disappoint, except for the morons who were talking. They were really annoying and should have stopped talking. Seriously, they had an entire lounge area to yell about pointless things but they chose the back of the Ascot Room. Ridiculous. Anyhow. I was expecting Imogen Heap to have the delicate voice of Dido (who, from the cuts I have heard, sounds horrible live), but Ms. Heap (can I call her that?) is anything but weak live. Her voice is smooth as silk, effortlessly running up and down her catchy melodies, and dropping down from high notes with a signature and distinctive sound.
Tom’s Diner - Do do do do do do do do … you know that song? Really addicting hook? It’s actually a 1990 remix of an earlier song. The story is one where illegal usage turns out well: the artists who remixed it illegally, sold it to the recording company, who then distributed it. This makes sense, and would never happen today (consider DJ Danger Mouse and his hugely successful mash of Jay-Z and the Beatles’ albums …)
Rolling Stones in St. Paul - These guys are still rockin’ after all this time? Amazing. I did not have the financial means to attend this concert, but I am quite impressed with the review:
“The Stones played with the energy and drive of a band about to say farewell — even though the band members have never confirmed this is their last tour. Indeed, the band’s new album ‘A Bigger Bang’ is the best Stones disc in decades, and they’ve hinted that it’s just the start of a creative revival in the studio.”
Why this picture? This is the first album I have purchased in three years. What was the last album? Ah yes, Intuition. That said, this album is getting better and better the more I listen to it. Please buy it.
Today, I would like to present two musical artists. First. I have only heard one song by Dave Barnes, and that is “On a Night Like This.” That said, it made me want to hear all of his album, Brother, Bring the Sun to soak in what he was selling. Sure, Barnes might be “just another” in the batch of acoustic crooners we are inundated with these days (lead, it would seem, by John Mayer). However, his ‘sound’ is really quite pleasant (from the 1:59 of it that I have heard), and would be lovely to have around for these coming crisp Autumn days that beg for wandering acoustic backdrops. Unfortunately, my money that was going to buy this has recently found another outlet. Read on.
Control iTunes with Global Hotkeys - The lack of global hotkeys is a massive hole in iTunes. It’s good to see a program like this fill it. Personally, I use iTunesKeys: both are still being updated frequently.
Most people who know me quickly learn I am a great fan of physical comedy: the bus rolls through the camera view, a crash is heard from screen left. Minister of Silly Walks. That stuff makes me laugh. In a departure from that usual style, I would like to formally recommend the following scene be added to whatever Stiller/Wilson/Vaugn/Ferrel movie approacheth from Hollywood’s ever-predictable jukebox stuck on repeat.
5 Browns - The 5 Browns sound incredible: 5 siblings, all students of Juliard, play 5 pianos simultaneously. I wish I could have made this concert.
Why did I join the facebook? (For a quick definition of facebook: it’s like an interactive yearbook spanning your high school and college careers). Anyhow, the above question sprang into my mind today as I looked at my “confirm friends” page and realized that the two people listed on it are not people I would call friends and are either (a) insecure folk who simply are trying to increase the number of people listed under their “is friends with” column; or are (b) random celebrities listed by people too bored to do something constructive and original with their spare time. I joined facebook because everyone else did, I admit it. Sometimes I wish there were bandwagons for reading good books or learning to paint or something. Just think of the thousands of hours wasted by people clicking around on facebook when they could have been learning something. People are crazy.
Oh, indeed firsts are what make our lives. Nobody really remembers the second man who walked on the moon or the second place in elections. Who wants to be Vice President, or get the silver medal? Lance Armstrong isn’t saying “I’m going to get second in my last Tour de France.”
So this is the last day of 2004. Incidentally, tomorrow I get to see if the code I wrote for showing how many days ago posts occur works across years … considering the amount of time I spent on that, I sure hope so. But honestly, the flip to 2005 is more exciting than that. It’s another run at the four seasons, school, and life. While any day can be a fresh start, it is always nice to think of a fresh year. At the very least, one slows down to think more deeply about the passage of time … what really has happened this past year, how fast did it really go, were we the people we see ourselves as, the people we want to be? I think about tonight and the high winds outside, how cozy I feel in my own room, safe from the gales and crosswinds of the unpredictable world. But it’s when I hear those winds, know how turbulent it is outside my haven, that I really value the four walls around me. I want to avoid taking anything, anybody for granted.
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