"Gonna Take 'Em Down To The Cadillac Ranch"

Graduation yesterday was good, aside from the commencement speaker's oratory turning into a recruitment speech for the military industrial complex. The school seems rather empty today, what with those eight seniors gone and a handful of underclassmen absent. Seems the end of the year apathy has gripped the student body in its icy, careless hand.

I woke up feeling vaguely ill today. For most of my drive to work, I fought the urge to throw up. I've improved in condition since then, but I still feel kinda funky and clammy (though that could be from the high humidity we're experiencing in the wake of yesterday's massive storms). Hopefully I'm not coming down with something.

I am sad to see this school year come to a close. We're losing some good teachers (and some good friends, coincidentally) and students. The character of this place will change subtly between now and September, I'm sure: we're getting a new director, several new employees, and a batch of new students and returning students who have to deal with all the changes. It's probably rather overwhelming for them; hell, it's almost overwhelming for me. But it's the nature of life for things to change, for circumstances to shift and alter as time passes. Change is the human condition, for better or worse.

Anyway, tomorrow is the last Friday of the year. Monday is a half-day. Tuesday is (aside from my education course that night) freedom.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bruce Springsteen, "One Step Up"

"This Establishment Sells Intoxicating Beverages!"

We're down to one week of school. Wednesday is graduation, and the students are basically done learning as far as I can tell. A week from now, I'll finally be free...for a couple of weeks, anyway.

Michelle and I have been watching the Bruce Campbell series Jack of All Trades. We really don't know why the show didn't last longer than it did (about a season and a half). Sad, really.

I also recently watched the second volume of Justice League Unlimited. I have to say, i wasn't nearly as impressed with the second season as I was with the first.

Spent a lot of time last week digging the new Paul McCartney and the live Bruce Springsteen CDs. I know a lot of people rip on Macca for being too poppy and too melodic and saccharine, but the man still crafts a pop song better than just about anybody out there. I may try to post reviews of those two albums later this week.

I've fallen way behind in comicking. I hate that. Time was, I'd have comics cranked out and drawn weeks in advance. I thought nothing of creating storyline after storyline, random joke after random joke. Those were the halcyon days of '03 or '04, as I recall, back when Dim Bulb was more than just me posting a comic whenever I could get around to it.

It's now after 11.00 pm. I've had to stop several times for various interruptions. There was a time when a post like this would have taken a scant five minutes to write; now, the words don't flow as freely as they once did. Nothing does, really: comics, writing, songs...none of it is as easy and effortless as it was only a few years ago. What's changed? Is it that my work is more demanding? That I have more claims on my time? Have I just hit my creative peak and now I'm on the decline? Probably a little early for that; I'm only 27, after all. But it's frustrating none the less. I used to be much more prolific in virtually everything.

I also used to be unmarried and very single. Dunno if there's a connection there yet or not.

Anyway, I am ready for a bit of a break. I've got some ideas for an academic paper, actually, that I really want to pursue. It's gonna require some odd research, though, to make it work like I want. We'll see what a couple of weeks of solo work time offer up.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bruce Springsteen, "Open All Night (Live)"

"Who Drove The Red Sports Car?"

Things that have happened today:

1. My in-laws' planned visit was pushed from this evening to tomorrow afternoon, which gives us more time to prepare the apartment for their arrival.

2. I finally went to to the eye doctor and got contacts and new glasses. I'd almost forgotten what it was like having peripheral vision and not having to clean my damn glasses every ten minutes.

3. My knee (the one I hyper-extended a few weeks ago playing kickball with my students) is really hurting today. Michelle thinks I have fluid in there that needs to be drained off, but I figure that it would've been a problem long before now if that were the case. I have limited bending and full-but-painful rotation on the knee, it supports my weight, and it's a little inflamed around the offending joint. Also, it mostly hurts just above the knee and along the outside of the kneecap. Dunno if this is just part of the hyper-extension still healing up or something else, but it got so bad that I could barely get in and out of my car after my eye appointment.

Only a little over two weeks left of school. I have to say I'm glad it's reaching the end of the year, though I'd love to get farther in the curriculum for U.S. History and I'd love to have more time to cover music in Humanities. World History II ought to fit just about right, though I'm gonna have to rush the post-WWII stuff a bit (that's mostly just the collapse of imperialism, as far as the curriculum is concerned, so it shouldn't be that tough).

I will be sad to see some of the seniors leaving, I'll admit. They've been a good crop, and though I only have a few of them in my classes, I've enjoyed it.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neko Case, "Timber"

Open Letter

Dear Reality,

Please stop dumping storms of shit on my friends now, 'kay? I'm married to a woman with mob connections, and I will not hesitate to have them take out your kneecaps. Thanks.

~chuck

Misadventures Abound

So much happens in 24 hours.

The barbecue at the in-laws' place was good. Friends, family, and food are always a great combination as far as I'm concerned. We had Michelle and her sisters, Emily, Lauren, and myself all crammed around the dining room table with Michelle's parents. Good times.

Chad was supposed to have joined us, but someone decided to steal his car, so that became problematic. We're still trying to figure out why someone decided to steal his car out of the parking lot, since Dodge Neons are not really high up on the list of cars likely to get jacked (especially when there are some really nice cars and such in the parking lot of his complex. Strange but true). We spent a good part of last night cheering Chad up and getting him really, really drunk (3/4 of a bottle of decent white wine did the trick).

Didn't get much sleep last night. Maybe two and a half hours. I'd blame Michelle, but it's probably my fault for responding when she asks a question instead of pretending I've already fallen asleep. We talked until about 3:00 or so about all sorts of stuff, and then I nodded off for a couple of hours before dragging myself out of bed to face the 14 hour day I now get to go through (I hate the Tuesday night classes, I really do). Michelle apparently didn't get any sleep at all, which is just peachy.

Anyway, off to class. If I don't post again for awhile, it's because I got tired of the asshole who's teaching the course and killed him. Let me know if you're privy to any good places to bury a body.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neko Case, "Star Witness"

"Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon"

Three-day weekends are arguably the best weekends.

It's been hectic around here, what with trying to get all the end-of-the-school-year stuff crammed into students who have already checked out mentally, Michelle getting sick every other week, and the dozen or so other commitments we have placed on our meager free time.

That, and we've been watching a heckuva mess of Scrubs. All five season sets, in fact, in the past three or four weeks. We sorta went a little Scrubs-happy. Also got all four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster on DVD. Damn you, clever British comedy based on the works of P.G. Wodehouse!

We've been trying to get the apartment in order this weekend. Things tend to fall apart rather quickly around here, mostly due to the fact that Michelle and I both have busy schedules and don't really want to do much in the evenings after we come home from work (well, except watch Scrubs). We're also kinda lazy.

Found out yesterday my father is getting remarried, this time to his current girlfriend (Vivian, who came up with dad to visit me back in early April). Part of me is surprised by this move, but part of me saw it coming ages ago. Still not really sure how I feel about it, but I do know this: I definitely have to remember that her name isn't Vicky now (this was a problem I was having for awhile, mind you).

I've been teaching the students in my Humanities class about music history the past few weeks. It's been very successful, I feel. Most of them are really enjoying it, and the ones who aren't will enjoy the project we're starting at the end of next week (they'll be presenting their own favorite music to the class). I've been making mix CDs for them every few days, which they love, but it's a bit of a hassle on my part and something I want to make simpler if I do this again next year.

The idea I had for next year, actually, is to make these things available as podcasts. I figure, mostly (if not all) of my students have some sort of MP3 player and computer access. The students could go access the podcast playlist and have all the stuff I'm going to talk about.

I could even take it one step further: record all of my class lectures and make those available as podcasts. It'd be great: if a student didn't catch everything in a lecture of was absent one day, they could just go download the lecture and listen to it. I've already started talking with Shirley, the school's tech person, about the feasibility of getting a Blackboard site or something similar set up so we could do this.

Granted, I'm also going to have to make my lessons more structured and I'm going to have to plan ahead more for all of this. I'm thinking of taking some time this summer to plan out the entire school year for each class I'm teaching and get things put together ahead of time so I can get through my material at a better pace. Lord knows I've struggled with pacing stuff the past couple of years, especially in American History.

Barbecue tomorrow at Michelle's parents' place. I love me some hamburgers from the grill, that's for sure.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Rufus Wainwright, "Tulsa"

"Gone Fishin'"

Michelle decided she wanted fish.

So now we've got fish. Lots of fish. Though they do seem to be dying quite quickly.

See, we started out yesterday just buying a betta (kinda like the Greek letter, only spelt differently) and stuff for that, but she decided she wanted more. We found a 30 gallon aquarium on Craigslist for less than $100, so this afternoon we drove out, picked up all the stuff (the folks gave us everything for it, including all the fish), and we've spent the evening getting it all set up and getting the fish in there. About half of them didn't survive the transfer to our place since they spent the trip over in a juice jug. But we've still got a fair crop of them left (about half). We'll see how they're doing come morning.

I've never really been partial to fish. Really never cared much for pets in general, mind you. They just never really mattered all that much, I guess. I mean, I like dogs and cats and everything, and they certainly like me (I'm convinced that animals can recognize who is and who is not an animal person and home in on them with alarming accuracy to punish, pester, and otherwise annoy), but I didn't have pets growing up and never really wanted them all that much.

We'll probably end up getting a cat this summer at some point, mostly because Michelle really misses having cats around. Exciting, yes?

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Hem, "Not California"

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Sky Blue Sky is an album of dichotomy and tension, it's just all buried underneath some of the mellowest music Jeff Tweedy and company have ever put to record.

The music, which blends the sonic template of A Ghost is Born with tunes that sound as though they could have been written during Being There, is straight-forward and eschews the arch artiness of the band's more recent work. The songs are generally mid-tempo, the instrumentation is basic (guitars, bass, drums, piano, organ, etc.), and the melodies hint at something which could've come from their work on the Mermaid Avenue project. The sound and feel of Ghost remains with this record, even if the experimentalism is gone. Gone also are the odd sonic elements from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the band's other watershed album. In their place we find clean, open production that takes a bit of the sonic palette from Ghost and applies it to the most direct batch of songs Tweedy has written since the band's first two albums.

There is an air of calm to these songs, a pop songcraft that finds the band playing as a genuine band instead of a collection of hired gun musicians chasing Tweedy's muse of the minute down the road. The record feels like the work of a cohesive group pulling together and putting to tape exactly what each song demands. Tracks like "Shake it Off" and "Hate it Here" sound like the sort of effortless pop song that Paul McCartney's made a career out of churning out. There are elements of the Band in these songs, too, especially in the organ that pops up occasionally (courtesy of Pat Sansone), the folky guitar strumming (from Tweedy and guitar hero Nels Cline), and the backing vocals on tunes like "What Light" (easily the best track on the record).

The dichotomy of the album becomes clear when you examine the lyrics. While the music sounds as though it comes from a place of peace, the lyrics often deal with issues of isolation, loneliness, and desperation. The themes of separation and removal (from society, from another person, from one's self) are repeated again and again across the lyrics, lending a bizarre sort of sadness to many of the songs. You feel as though Tweedy went through hell and came out the other side with these words, then married them to a collection of tunes that bely that darkness on purpose. This is music from beyond the despair, music about the redemption of the lost individual and the return from the wasteland with a kind of enlightenment.

That said, the record has an ebb and flow to it and a few weaker spots. I've read several reviews that call "Side With the Seeds" a standout track, but it really just sort of bores me with it's faux blue-eyed soul rhythm and vocal delivery. "Please be Patient with Me" is too slight to have much impact. But tracks like "Impossible Germany," the folky title track, the aforementioned "What Light" and "Hate it Here," the jauntily bouncing "Walken," and the elegiac closer "On and On and On" are all on par with anything the band's done.

Sky Blue Sky is a solid effort from a band that's still functioning in peak condition. While it may not be the go-to Wilco album (that still remains Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or SummerTeeth), it's certainly a worthy addition to their catalog and a record that's sure to grow on you with each repeated listen.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Wilco, "Walken"

"Happiness Is A Warm Gun"

Virginia is officially off it's damn nut.

The thing started when New York City started prosecuting several gun shops (six of which are in Virginia) over illegal and shady sales of guns later used in crimes in New York City. A sting operation in Virginia revealed that there's are plenty of ways to get around gun restrictions, and that Virginia's lax laws are especially easy to circumvent.

So the City of New York decides to prosecute a few of these gun shops for this, and now this gun-rights organization, the Virginia Citizens Defense League (whom the Washington Post referred to as a group that thinks the NRA is spineless and soft on gun laws) decides to hold a raffle to give away guns to help pay for the legal fees for the prosecuted gun shops.

Seriously, what the fuck?

What gets me is that this is still happening despite the tragedy at Virginia Tech last month. Even worse, the gun who heads up this collection of nuts thinks that if there'd been someone with a gun at Virginia Tech that day, they could've stopped Cho.

Again, what the fuck? How is arming college students while they are in class a good idea? How will that not lead to more tragedy?

I get awful sick of how these people hide behind supposed 2nd Amendment rights and use it to justify giving access to weapons to convicted felons and unstable personalities. A little history lesson, people: the emphasis of the Second Amendment is not on the right to bare arms, but on the right to form and maintain a militia for the "security of a free state." That means we can form volunteer armies, not that we can carry a high-powered assault rifle to class or down the street. The Founding Fathers didn't wear guns on their hips at all times. There was a time for war and for weapons; when that time passed, the weapons were hung back over the mantle and left to gather dust.

I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I hear about a gun-rights group advocating for their "Second Amendment right" to protect themselves. Bullshit. You have a right to form a volunteer army if we're invaded, not to sell guns to people who turn around and commit crimes with them. I swear, I thought I left this idiot mentality when I left Oklahoma.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Ryan Adams, "Easy Plateau"

What The Hell, Pitchfork?

I am, as I'll be the first to admit, a pretentious, elitist ass. Mostly it's that I think my taste or choice is superior to someone else's: music, movies, books, comics...I'm under the impression that my choices have more weight or validity than another person's.

But even I balk at Pitchfork.

Their recent review of the new Wilco album (out tomorrow!) is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. They basically take the band to task for making mellow, content, straight-forward music. The reviewer is savage and seems to take glee in hammering at Jeff Tweedy and Co. for creating an album that isn't as self-consciously arty or experimental as either Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or A Ghost is Born.

Since when did experimentalism for the sake of experimentalism become something to value in and of itself? It's really part of my whole complaint against indie music as a genre and an aesthetic. Sure, a lot of mainstream music is crap. But the whole "anything that anyone else might possibly like is automatically crap" hipster shtick is tired and ridiculous. It's apparently cool to hate things, or so you'd think from reading Pitchfork.

What's ironic, though, is that Pitchfork tends to perpetrate the same sort of sins of conformity that their non-indie rock-crit kin commit. There's this notion of hating things that everyone else likes, yes, but there's also an element of "this band is the Next Big Thing," said in such a way that you can hear the capital letters. They're just as guilty of being bandwagoners as anyone else, it's just that they pride themselves on loving the obscure and the weird. And they love it not because they actually genuinely like the music, but because it's obscure and weird and experimental and no one else not in the little indie club has ever heard it. There's this aesthetic that prizes non-listenability over music that's actually enjoyable.

I think that's where my main gripe is: the indie aesthetic is focused on out-pretensing the next guy rather than on music that they actually like. You get the sense that the indie kids listen to stuff not because they like the way it sounds, but because they feel they're supposed to. It's really just as bad as liking flavor of the week mainstream band, and it drives me freakin' nuts.

I guess it's stuff like this that's the reason I can never really stand most of the other people who listen to the music I ever listen to.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Blind Lemon Jefferson, "One Dime Blues"

"And You Want To Sing Along"

Things of note:

1) I hyperextended my left knee on Friday playing kickball with the students at field day after our camping trip. It hurts like all get-out, and kneeling is currently almost as painful as listening to an Avril Lavigne song (zing!).

2) Speaking of painful musical experiences, who in the hell let Green Day cover a John Lennon song? And why oh why did it have to be "Working Class Hero?" That's a brilliant, understated song that they bludgeoned to death with their power-pop chords and heavy instrumental passage. Subtlety is dead and its killers stand before you, I guess.

3) New Wilco and new Rufus Wainwright out tomorrow. I'm sorely tempted to call in late to work so I can go pick them up, but I'll probably just run out after my class and snag them.

4) Final Portfolio (the follow-up to the dreaded Midpoint Portfolio that was the bane of my existence all last fall) starts tomorrow. It's taught by the same overbearing, drunk on her own minuscule power professor that taught it last time. Round two shall go to me, I swear it.

5) My wife still rocks more than anyone else in the world, and we've officially been married four months as of yesterday. That's a third of a year, and she still hasn't suddenly decided I'm too dorky to be married to. This is a good sign.

6) I'm currently doing a music unit in the Humanities class. It is totally awesome that I'm getting paid to make Mix CDs (for the students) and listen to/discuss music. This is why I love teaching.

7) The Elliott Smith compilation that came out last week, New Moon, is amazing. As good as anything he actually released on record, and that's really saying something. He's one of those guys whose leftovers are better than most bands' best efforts.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Elliott Smith, "Either/Or"

Is it really all that "New" anymore?

Well, looks like New Hampshire is going to allow broad same-sex civil unions, making New England (as the Washington Post article points out) the first region in the U.S. to have every state grant some measure of the right to gays and lesbians.

I really hope the New England tourist board (if there is such an organization) makes New England's new slogan "New England: it's okay to be gay."

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The White Stripes, "Blue Orchid"

Last Thoughts on News Radio

So Michelle and I have been watching Season 5 of News Radio this past week or so, and I've reached several conclusions (spoilers below, but I figure a TV show that ended almost 10 years ago is beyond the statute of limitations at this point).

1) The lose of Phil Hartman hangs over the final season like a tangible thing. Honestly, every time Jon Lovitz opened his mouth, I found myself thinking, "Phil Hartman would've delivered that so much better." The first few episodes of the season were noticeably awkward because they were heavy on the Lovitz character, but as the season progressed they pulled it away from him and focused on other characters. The show benefited from this. After all, Phil Hartman's character may have been funny as hell, but he wasn't the main focus on the show. Regardless, his absence really affected the tone of the show and sort of killed the joy in it from the very beginning.

2) This season seems really heavy on Andy Dick's Matthew instead. And while Matthew is fine as the weird character, he really can't sustain an entire episode very easily. Honestly, the main character of the show seemed to me to be Dave. He was certainly the character you were usually meant to identify with. The fourth season did the whole long storyarch on Matthew (the whole firing and rehiring thing), but the focus always seemed to be less about poor Matthew and more about how Dave was doing his best to get Matthew back at the station. The shift in focus hurt several episodes.

3) The writing, while still strong, just...wasn't as good as previous seasons. Dialogue wasn't as snappy or smart, plots weren't as interesting, and characterization didn't jive with previous seasons as well. New characters, such as Lovitz's Max Lewis or Patric Warburton's Johnny Johnson, weren't very developed. And familiar characters didn't behave in ways that made sense. Lisa deciding to marry Johnny was mere plot contrivance, not something the character would have probably done.

4) The season--and series--didn't end convincingly or satisfyingly. Everyone but Dave decides to head off to New Hampshire? Well, everyone but Dave and Matthew...it was a funny throw-away joke, since Matthew was the only character Dave really wanted leaving, but to end the series that way? No satisfaction in that sort of sadism at all.

Anyway, there were some fun moments. The exchanges between Jimmy and Johnny were great; the storyline about Jimmy allegedly being D.B. Cooper (the infamous plane hijacker who jumped from a plane with $200,000 and was never seen again) but ultimately proving that it was Adam West? Stroke of brilliance. The elements were still there, but everything seemed just the slightest bit off. As a completest, I was glad to add it to my collection, but when I reach for a season of News Radio to watch at random, it won't be this one.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Hem, "It's Not California"

"These Hippies Sound Like You Guys"

It's been a crazy week and some. Lots of interesting things to share:

1) Michelle is totally alive still. She's still a little weak and gets worn out easily, but she's on the mend and went back to work today.

2) I found out I'm teaching summer school, so that's groovy. Extra income, hurray!

3) I caught a mouse at the school Saturday night while Shirley and I were working on a project for class. I felt very manly.

4) My tablet arrived in the mail today. Chuck is a happy monkey.

That really sums up the cool stuff. I'm totally gonna have some comics drawn this week.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Rufus Wainwright, "Chelsea Hotel #2"

Ode To Gallager

My home state is just freakin' weird.

Granted, Oklahoma is the state where the state bird is migratory, the state song is a show tune, the state plant is a parasite, and the state fruit won't even grow there.

Now that I think of it, the watermelon as state vegetable makes perfect sense (though I always assumed the state vegetable was your average OU Sooners football fan).

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Hem, "You Came To Meet Me"

"Sailors Sailin' Off In The Morning"

Michelle's came down ill this morning, feeling dizzy and faint and feverish with a sore throat and tightness in the chest. She went home immediately after reaching her office, and I came home after second period to take her to the doctor's office. Turns out she's got tonsillitis and bronchitis, which is loads of fun. So we both took the rest of the day off, her to rest and me to take care of her. Dunno how she'll be feeling tomorrow, but she's on antibiotics and is currently napping.

Our taking the day off meant we were home to watch the news about the shootings at Virginia Tech that took place today. It's just mind-blowing, thinking about the thirty-odd college kids who were killed today.

It's looking like the authorities in charge of the whole situation are under heavy fire from all sides for their handling of the murder investigations. The fact that there were two separate incidents--a double-homicide at 7.15 and the larger group massacre around 9.30--but that the administration did not lock down campus after the first incident is just bizarre. As the details of this case become clearer in the coming weeks, I hope it all starts to make sense...well, as much sense as something like this can make.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Charlie Sexton, "Regular Grind"

"Is There Just A Little Room?"

So the Great Music Exchange of '07 (pronounced "Aught Seven") was fantastic. We ended up with over 3700 new songs from Chad and Emily, which is a hell of a lot of music to now try to assimilate. We got everything from Morrissey and the Smiths to David Bowie, Jesse Malin, and everything in between. Sooo much music.

We also discovered I'd been charged for an extra month on eMusic, so I had 75 more downloads to use there. Burned through those in about five minutes this morning.

So yeah, lots of new music. Chuck a very happy monkey.

Yesterday we had a leak in the ceiling in the kitchen. Apparently the bathtub upstairs decided to leak into the kitchen after three of us took showers yesterday morning. They sent a guy out to fix it, so we'll have to see how that went.

Coincidentally, the ceiling of the breakfast nook at Michelle's parents' house apparently caved in this morning for similar reasons (though I think it was the toilet leaking there that did the deed). So that's rather odd timing.

Beyond that, it's a dreary gray day here in Northern Virginia. It started raining yesterday afternoon, but it's just continued virtually unabated since then. That's the thing about Virginia weather compared to Oklahoma weather: in Oklahoma, it comes bursts, beginning and ending so fast you hardly noticed it happened. Here in Virginia, weather hangs around, reads your newspaper, asks if there's any pie left that it could have. Things like that.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Clash, "Rudy Can't Fail"

"If You Wanna Ramble"

Yesterday was Soap Box Night, the annual school talent show. It went pretty well: there weren't any glaring technological issues, most of the acts went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves pretty well. I did three acts: a song with my co-teacher, Jeremy, another song with a couple of students and a couple of teachers (the song was in Turkish; luckily for everyone involved, I was only playing rhythm guitar there), and a skit with a couple of other teachers. The second act I was in--the one with the students and teachers--went a little awry, mostly because the student playing drums got a little over-enthusiastic. You couldn't hear the rest of us very well. It wouldn't have been as much of a problem if he'd played the right beat, but he was playing something completely unrelated from the actual song, so I was off-tempo, the student playing lead was off-tempo, and the two teachers singing had no clue where they were. It was rather awkward, I'm afraid.

Tonight is the night of the Great Music Exchange. We've got Chad, Lauren, Emily, and Lauren's brother gathered here, ready to trade music back and forth across computers. It's very exciting.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Flaming Lips, "Knives Out (Live)"

Looking For A Black Cat...

Happy Friday the 13th, folks. It's pretty quiet here at school, despite the impending Soap Box Night tonight (our annual talent show). I'm participating in a couple of acts, mostly playing my guitar (once for myself, once for a fellow teacher). The students are excited, but it's still pretty low-key.

Weekend's gonna be full of stuff and goings-on. We're helping Michelle's father set up an awning thing on his deck tomorrow during the day, and we're doing the Great Music Exchange of '07 tomorrow night with Emily (the idea being that we've all got really great stuff that the others want to hear, so we're gonna do a little trading. Good times). Sunday is possibly given over to visiting with one of Michelle's friends who is in town this weekend from Boston.

Had a busy but rewarding Spring Break. Car ended up costing about $2100 overall for all the various repairs effected to it. Dad's visit went well, but it was exhausting. I saw a great concert--Sean Lennon--last Saturday and another great show--Jesse Malin--on Monday. Rock.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Camera Obscura, "If Looks Could Kill"

"'Cause I'm The Taxman"

So my federal income tax refund this year is going to be a little over $900.

This is, I should say, rather groovy.

And almost makes up for all the money I've had to spend on my car since last week.

Almost.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Traveling Wilburys, "Nobody's Child"

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

I only started listening to the Decemberists a couple of months ago. I started with their first record, Castaways and Cutouts, I've started kinda working my way forward.

'Cept I kinda skipped ahead a bit and picked up their latest record, The Crane Wife, last week.

Sometime between that first record and the latest one, the Decemberists discovered a couple of things: 1) an electric guitar, and 2) the work of Styx circa "Lady."

This isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Their 1870s meets 1970s aesthetic actually works for the most part on this record. Thematically, it's a loose song cycle based on a Japanese folk tale involving a man who takes a crane woman as his wife. The album includes two lengthy multipart songs: "The Crane Wife," which is broken up into "Part 3" (which opens the album) and "Part 1 & 2" (which comes near the end of the record), and "The Island," a track that sounds something like a prog rock epic about immigration, class struggle, dueling, and drowning. "The Island" features a section that nicks the warblely synth line from "Band on the Run," with the twist that it's performed by a string quartet. Part of "Come and See," the first section of "The Island," sound like something out of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer or post-Tommy Shaw Styx.

But lest you think it's all epic-length story songs, fear not: the Decemberists can knock together a folky, poppy song in the 3-4 minute range with ease and poise. "Yankee Bayonet" is an effortless, sprightly tune about...well, a Civil War soldier and his lady love. "The Perfect Crime No. 2" races along breathlessly. "Shankill Butchers" is a creepy, old-fashioned "keep the kids in line" lullaby with a slow, stuttered rhythm. "Sons and Daughters" closes the record with a sweet, folky surge and a note of hope.

The album really holds together well as a whole, though "The Island" does drag after awhile and "The Crane Wife" could've been condensed to one part rather than three. But really, it's a solid collection. The songs are strong and evidence a growth and a great sense of songcraft. It's not for everyone--not everyone is gonna groove on subject matter mostly drawn from the 19th century--but for those that can dig into it, it's a very rewarding listen.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Decemberists, "The Perfect Crime No. 2"

"All Winterlong"

So apparently someone didn't get the memo that it's spring now, 'cause it was snowing in Kansas yesterday.

My car is once again in my possession. Let's see if we can't maybe keep it there and running for awhile now, shall we?

Time is fast running out on the remainder of my spring break. Seems like it used to last longer when I was a child.

Got the new Kings of Leon CD yesterday. Thoughts on that and the latest album by The Decemberists later.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neil Young, "Tell Me Why (Live)"

Corporate Love Breakdown - The Radiohead Bluegrass Tribute

I'm wary of tribute albums, regardless of their nature or genre. I'm especially wary of the ones made in tribute to bands that've only been around for a few years or put out just a couple of albums. Seriously, do we need a Pickin' on John Mayer CD? Especially when it doesn't sound all that different from how he played anyway (the one advantage of that CD is that it does remove one of the most annoying aspect of John Mayer's music: his singing. Now if we could just remove the rest of the music and replace it with something interesting)?

I remember when the tribute album trend started. It began with symphonic tributes to 60s and 70s acts: the Beatles, Yes, the Moody Blues (distinctly lacking the spoken-word poem crap), etc. It was fairly tasteful if kinda bland. There didn't seem to be a point to it, unless you happened to own a grocery store and needed some new muzak.

But we've broadened our horizons since then. It's not all string quartets and philharmonic orchestral tributes (though those are still in ample evidence, I fear). No, now we're bending genres and styles even further.

Which is why when Michelle and I found a CD that referred to itself as a bluegrass tribute to Radiohead, the British-guitar-rock-turned-electronica-experimenters-turned-general-badasses, we were curious. Off-puttingly curious. "It can't possibly work," we said; and "we have to have it! Just for the kitsch value!"

And thus it came as a shock when, upon hearing the CD, it turns out this stuff is actually really good.

The album itself is actually a really interesting exercise in blending slight electronica touches to bluegrass instruments (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo). The results are definitely listenable and recognizable, but the musicians responsible for this record have made each song their own. incorporating the fuzzed-out bassline from "The National Anthem" into a bluegrass version of the song is unsettling at first, but it ultimately works. The folks playing this songs have not only a firm grasp of their instruments, but a real reverence and understanding of the source material. "2+2=5" comes across as just as sinister when the vocals are played by a fiddle as they do when Thom Yorke sings them. "Fake Plastic Trees" is touching and sad as the original. "Knives Out" comes across as a plaintive dirge rather than a sinister threat. "Myxomatosis" is just as bizarre and creepy as the Radiohead version, and the heavy exhalation thing that one of the musicians does ups the weirdness factor in just the right way.

This collection isn't for everyone or for listening to all the time. It is worth a listen, but it's probably not of interest to anyone except those who really like Radiohead and bluegrass and wondered what the two would sound like together. Despite being aimed at such a small niche population, it's an interesting and almost fun collection.

"Hello Cowgirl In The Sand"

Dad and Vivian left this morning to head back home. Their visit went well, despite a few setbacks:

(1) No parking available at the Springfield Metro Monday, so we couldn't go to DC then. We decided to head to Shenandoah National Park instead. Which led us to

(2) My car decided leaking all of the coolant out all over the pavement again would be a good idea. Turns out my car needs new radiator.

So we went to DC yesterday instead (Dad drove), my car is in the shop again getting repaired, and I'm going to be out another $500. Good thing Michelle's paycheck cleared overnight.

Dad's visit was good beyond that, though. We had dinner with Michelle's family last night, and her father and mine seemed to get along pretty well.

The presents Michelle bought for my birthday finally arrived in the mail yesterday. She got me some cool stuff: the first two volumes of Warren Eliis's Transmetropolitan, the two new Neil Young live archival releases (from Massey Hall and Fillmore East), and the bluegrass tribute to Radiohead (much cooler than you'd think). Dad got me a toolbox chock-full o' useful tools, such as wrenches and pliers and a hammer and screwdrivers and a cordless power drill (which is gonna be lots of fun). So that was pretty groovy.

Anyway, the day so far has been spent doing a whole lot of nothing. I think I'm going to work on organizing the bedroom this afternoon. We'll just have to see.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neil Young, "Old Man (Live)"

"You are certainly doomed by my math!"

Getting ready to have a Meeting of the Parents (TM) dinner. It should be...interesting, to say the least, what with Michelle's very New York parents and my very Midwestern father and his girlfriend (whom I keep accidentally calling "Vicky" instead of "Vivian." She seems to find it funny, at least).

We spent the day in DC doing the tourist thing. Dad and Vivian seemed to enjoy themselves, and we walked a good 4 miles.

Bizarre moment of the day: explaining to my father how iTunes worked and why it was important to have almost 30 days' worth of music on my computer.

In case I, y'know, want to sit in a room for a month straight and never sleep and do nothing but listen to music. Yeah.

We're off! Wish me luck.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: White Stripes, "Hotel Yorba (Live)"

"Don't Know Much About History"

I'm in the middle of figuring my grades for the third quarter, which is technically supposed to be completed by midnight tonight (yeah, that ain't happening). I've got all the classes completed except Humanities, and then I have to write personal blurbs for all of the students. Wee.

Dad's coming in tomorrow. I'm excited to get to see him and nervous about he and Michelle finally meeting. I'm sure it'll go fine, but I'm a worrier (like my mother). Apartment still needs a lot of cleaning between now and then.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Decemberists, "Shiny"

Snakes On A Plane

Just finished watching Snakes on a Plane. It falls squarely into that category of movies called "Awesomely Bad." The plot is so patently ridiculous--I mean, c'mon, using snakes to do the dirty work?--that you can't help but sit back and enjoy the conceit of the film.

I think it really only works at all because of the awesomeness that is Samuel L. Jackson. Seriously, no one else could've pulled off that role. I think it's the power of his mustache.

Seriously, it's a groovy mustache that would've fit into a 1970s cop flick.

So yeah, Snakes on a Plane. What can you really say? There were snakes. They were on a plane. Samuel L. Jackson killed them with various weapons, including a depressurized cabin in the airplane. And he had some great one liners.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: totally not the stupid-ass song they played at the end of the movie. God, that song sucked.

"I'm In Love With My Car"

My car is fixed and back in my possession. Final damage: roughly $1660, which is rather less than I'd feared it would be. Considering they replaced a gasket in the engine, did a coolant system flush, replaced some leaking oil hoses, and patched the radiator, I think it wasn't too terribly bad.

I'm finally on Spring Break now. A week and a half of mostly relaxing. Dad's coming into town Sunday night to visit for a couple of days. Should be a good time.

Michelle and I are currently watching Snakes on a Plane. It's too early to see if this is as horribly funny a film as I think it can be. Time will tell.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: White Stripes, "Offend in Every Way"

Son Volt - The Search

I'm rather interested in the different paths the careers of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy have taken. If, in 1994, you'd asked me to pick which of the two Uncle Tupelo musicians would have the most successful post-Tupelo career, I'd have said "wha? Who the hell are you talking about?" But, if you'd sat me down and played me some of their stuff, I'd have guessed that Jay Farrar was going to be more successful. He was the stronger writer of the two, had the better songs, and seemed like he could sing better.

The first albums by Son Volt and Wilco would seem to bear out this prediction: Trace is a much stronger collection that AM. Both pick up right where their leading songwriters left off on Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne, but Farrar's compositions are just stronger. More interesting. More literate, I guess you could say. There are more shades and variations to Trace than to AM.

The problem, if you can call it that, is the direction each musician took after that first post-Tupelo album. Farrar continued to mine the same mostly-acoustic alt-country vibe on Wide Swing Tremelo and Straightaways, while Tweedy veered off into new sonic territory with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Americana of Being There, the sunny pop of Summerteeth, and the experimentation of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. Farrar seemed to be working himself into a rut and a corner, digging further into his key themes (love lost, social decay, and cryptic who-knows-what) but not coming up with anything new or different to say about them. His lyrics got harder and harder to understand, his music sparser and more understated.

Then came Okemah and the Melody of Riot. A damn fine album, I say. Farrar plugged his electric guitar back in and cranked everything up. The new Son Volt was a tight, expert rock band with slight country feel to it (think Crazy Horse, but much tighter and more precise). Farrar also brought his best batch of songs to the table since Trace. The results were fantastic, even if he wasn't doing anything he hadn't done before in either Uncle Tupelo or Son Volt.

The Search picks up right where Okemah left off, but that's not a bad thing. Farrar kept the same roster of musicians from Okemah for The Search, and the band's had some time on the road to get even stronger and to really contribute some great stuff to the record. And it feels like more of a band effort rather than a Jay Farrar and some other guys record. Each musician has added a distinct flavor or style to the music, dispelling Farrar's tendency for monochromatic songscapes in favor of punchy guitars, pulsing bass, tub-thumping drums, and the occasional hint of slide guitar, piano, or even horns (!) to brighten things up and add extra flavor to the mix.

Farrar's songs are even better than on Okemah. "Slow Hearse" is a dirge-like opener that could've fit right alongside Farrar's work on the Gob Iron side project. "The Picture" is horn-driven country rock, which works significantly better than you'd think. "Satellite" rocks harder than anything Farrar's done since No Depression. This is an album where the ambition to expand the sonic palette meets an excellent clutch of songs, and the results are exceptional.

The Search is a great follow-up to the return to form that was Okemah. Farrar's managed to keep himself busy the past few years, both with Son Volt and side projects (like Gob Iron), and the activity has clearly done him a world of good. Let's hope he keeps up the streak and the level of production.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Son Volt, "The Picture"

"Beep Beep, Beep Beep, Yeah!"

So a conversation with the service department at the local GM dealership indicates that the problem with my car is probably not the head gasket. The guy says the intake gasket right above the head gasket seems to be our likely culprit: a repair that isn't quite as expensive as the head gasket, at least, but is still more than I'm really wanting to shell out for my car.

But it's good to know that whatever's wrong with this can be fixed. The guy is supposed to call me back and let me know exactly where we stand and give me an estimate this afternoon. We'll see how it goes from there.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

"The Continuing Story Of Chuck's Damn Car"

So the drama becomes grander and the plot thicker: to fix the car is going to cost about $1800. Eighteen-hundred dollars we really don't have, I should add.

To say that this frightens and sickens me is to grossly understate the case.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "I'm So Tired"

"Baby You Can't Drive My Car"

The never-ending saga of car troubles has a new chapter today. Last night, we discovered that my car was once again leaking coolant. In fact, we discovered that the car was completely empty of coolant last night, possibly because it'd all ended up in a puddle on my father-in-law's driveway earlier that afternoon. So we dumped some more coolant into the car and drove it to the service station, where I left it to be worked on today. My father-in-law loaned me his van, which I proceeded to drive without any sort of iPod or CD accompaniment. This, I thought to myself, is what primitive man must have felt like, driving back and forth between his home and work with nothing but the strains of Bad Company drifting across the AM/FM waves to comfort him. It was a sobering thought.

Today we discovered that the likely culprit in the coolant leak is probably the head gasket. In theory, this is a relatively straightforward part to replace. In theory. Unfortunately, due to some bizarre way the engine is designed and set up in a GMC Jimmy, the head gasket replacement is an involved, difficult procedure that takes about 18 hours of labor to accomplish (or so claims the dealership service department guy. I still have my doubts that it could take longer than a few hours to do). At about $100 per hour of labor, this is not a cheap part to replace.

So I face a dilemma: do I pay the large short-term cost and get my car repaired, that it might continue to serve me for another year or so? Or do I say "to hell with this," trade in the car for what little I can get, and purchase a new vehicle? Admittedly, I won't be able to get much for my car if it is a head gasket. The overall cost of the new car will be a strain. But the one-time cost of the head gasket replacement is rather steep. It'll put a much more immediate strain on finances.

I honestly don't know what the right answer here is (aside from, possibly, "learn how to replace a head gasket yourself"). This whole affair is frustrating as all hell, I can tell you that much.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "Drive My Car"

The Autumn Defense - The Autumn Defense

I admit to a weakness for mellow, sunny pop of the lovelorn, strummy acoustic variety. I can’t help it. There’s something about the warmth, the harmonies, and the joy that seems to radiate from the music that’s just hard for me to ignore. The folky, singer-songwriter stuff is just about my bread and butter (and would be, if it weren’t for the fact that I dig a kick ass electric guitar solo every so often).

I also really like Wilco and any band or side project even remotely connected to them.

So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I really like the new album by the Autumn Defense. I mean, sunny, folky pop with great harmonies and strummed acoustic guitars? Wilco musician John Stirratt? What’s not to like?

And really, the strength of the tunes here means this music would stand on its own even without those prior endorsements and caveats. The Autumn Defense has had three albums to perfect their craft, and perfect it they have. It seamlessly blends folk, pop, jazz, bossa nova, ‘70s singer-songwriter, and a little bit of whatever else was lying around to create a tasty blend of acoustic guitars, delicate piano, subtle percussion, a touch of slide guitar once in awhile, and a hint of strings, horns, and synthesized woodwinds.

This record is more up-tempo than the Autumn Defense’s previous effort, Circles. The jazz and world beat influences are also more obvious on this record. “Canyon Arrow” has an insistent groove that wouldn’t be out of place on an old-school Latin dance album from the 1970s. "Estate Remains" and "Simple Explanation" rock in a folksy, Byrds sort of way. "City Bells" is a gorgeous piano-led ballad that sits at the heart of the record, both literally and metaphorically.

The album is really all about harmony and interconnection, especially between the dual voices and guitars of John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. These two guys can harmonize like nobody's business, and their guitars (Sansone usually sports a 3/4-size classical guitar while Stirratt sticks to the more standard full-size acoustic) bounce off of each other, trading lines and leads and riffs as though the two men shared a brain. Their backing band seems to share the brainwave, too, because they follow Stirratt and Sansone down the garden path and discover some beautiful and melodic music there.

The Autumn Defense is easily one of the prettiest albums I've heard in ages and definitely worth picking up if you like mellow California pop. If you can find it (which is tricky; I had to attend one of their live shows to get my hands on it), grab it. You won't be disappointed.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Autumn Defense, "Simple Explanation"

"She's The Second-Best Killer That I've Ever Seen"

The household's conversion to Macs continues to please. This week, I got the scanner and printer set up on the network (so we can print from the laptops even if we're not directly connected to the printer). I tried doing some comics, but the programs I had on the Mac didn't work the way I wanted them to. I'm going to have to see what I can work out.

A good part of the weekend was given over to getting the cars cleaned up from all the nasty weather we've had in the past few weeks. I got my car washed on Saturday and Michelle's washed on Sunday. Both efforts took well over an hour each. I was not happy about sitting in a line for that long, but after all the snow storms and ice and all the sand and salt they put down to deal with that, we really needed to clean the cars.

Michelle spent a good part of yesterday afternoon cleaning the downstairs of the apartment. It looks fantastic down there now. Next stop: the office and the bedroom closet, both of which need a serious overhaul.

Next weekend, the plan is to get some furniture we're in need of (a futon for the office/guest room, possibly some more bookcases). This probably means another trip to Ikea, which is never a bad thing.

In other news, the new Arcade Fire CD, Neon Bible, is fantastic. I listened to it several times yesterday while running errands and waiting to get Michelle's car washed.

More stuff to talk about later, but it's time to earn my pay.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Arcade Fire, "Keep the Car Running"

The Great Mac/PC Switch Over

So we finally did it: we finally switched from PCs to Macs.

Michelle and I have been talking about it for awhile now. We were both rather dreading having to switch to Windows Vista, which I'm pretty sure is a craptastic operating system that isn't anywhere near as intuitive as previous iterations of Windows were. It was also trying too hard to be like a Mac. We figured, why settle for OS X lite when you can buy a Mac and get the real thing? So we did.

And God, did we go big.

We each grabbed a laptop--she got the 13" MacBook, I got the 15" MacBook Pro--and we got a Mac Mini to set up as our network hub and to have all of our stuff (scanner, printer, etc.) hooked up to it. Total damages are estimated around $4500. But hey, that's for three brand-new computers, all the software, and a couple of other odds and ends (laptop bag for Michelle, keyboard for the Mini, etc.).

So far, I'm really pleased with the new computers. the Mini is really easy to use, and once I figured out how to make the cable modem work with it, I haven't had any problems. Sometime tonight, I'll get the scanner up and running on this bad boy. There are also so many applications and programs on here that I want to try out, it's not even funny.

Anyway, I'm awfully happy with the whole setup. We've finally got the wireless network up and running the way we want it (which is something we never really accomplished with the PCs), we're selling our old computers to Michelle's sister for a pitance, and all is groovy in the land of Cottrell.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: XTC, "Scarecrow People"

"Your Famous Blue Raincoat"

So the week since our trip to New York City has been a busy one. Getting the students back on track after 6 1/2 days off was tricky, but I pulled it off...just in time to go on a school ski trip Thursday and Friday. The ski trip itself was quite fun; I haven't been skiing since I was a freshman in high school (way back in the Spring of 1995), but I was surprised at how quickly it all came back to me.

Granted, going down that black diamond run at the end was still a stupid decision, but I like to think that the five years it shaved off my life expectancy were probably gonna be boring years anyway.

We also went tubing during the trip, and honestly I think we all enjoyed that more than the actual skiing. There's something about linking up a half dozen tubes and sliding down a hill at 30 or so miles per hour that's just a hell of a lot of fun.

Saturday and Sunday were days spent hanging out with friends. Lauren, her brother Evan, and Chad came over Saturday evening for food and general merriment. Lauren ended up crashing on the couch, only to discover upon waking Sunday morning that it'd snowed four or five inches and she was stuck with us for awhile (she eventually got out around mid-afternoon). I ended up spending a good part of the early afternoon shoveling snow so we could all get to our cars. So between the skiing and the shoveling, I definitely got my exercise in for the past few days.

The snow also caused a two-hour delayed opening this morning for school, so I don't have to be at work for another couple of hours. This works out well, since we have to get new parking passes for our cars here at the apartment complex. I'm going to go do that before I head to work.

Tomorrow's the last day of another damn education course. I'll be glad to see the back of this one. Haven't really learned much of use from it, to be honest. Of course, that's not a huge deviation from all the rest of these courses so far.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan and the Band, "This Wheel's On Fire"

"The Best Thing About New York City Is You And Me"

So our trip to New York City was a success. I got to meet Michelle's grandparents, a couple of aunts and uncles, and some cousins. We did a quick, down-n-dirty trip through downtown NYC to see the Statue of Liberty and Times Square, both of which were nifty. Here's a rundown of the weekend:

Saturday morning: the four-hour drive up to The City isn't too bad. New Jersey isn't as disgusting as I thought it would be, though honestly I only saw whatever's along the Jersey Turnpike and was really just making an effort to get through the state as fast as possible.

Saturday afternoon: we arrive at Michelle's grandparents' place near Yonkers (possibly in Yonkers? I have no idea. I know that we got lost in Yonkers on the way there). They proceed to feed us. All those stereotypes about Italian women trying to feed you until you burst? They're true.

Saturday evening: various family members arrive to partake of a traditional take-out meal of pizza (called simply "pie"), calzones, and submarine sandwiches (called "wedges"). Many instances of "the poor Midwesterner doesn't know what the hell we're talking about" occur, most notably with my confusion about what the hell a wedge is. Turns out Michelle's grandfather is a storyteller like my grandfathers. This promises to be entertaining.

Sunday morning: a trip out to Uncle Jim's dental office, and Michelle gets some dental work done that she needed. I do a crossword puzzle and fiddle with Michelle's iPod, succeeding in compiling an entire playlist of stuff her uncle doesn't like.

Sunday afternoon: we head to Westchester, go to a dinner for a late lunch, then do a whirlwind tour of downtown NYC. I get to see the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. Sadly, it has been cleaned up. I didn't see a single hooker or wino. I feel somehow...cheated of an experience.

Sunday evening: we return to Michelle's grandparents' house to pick up said grandparents and head into the Bronx. We eat at a restaurant called Rigoletto's, which apparently is owned by the Mob (the guy who owns the place is currently in jail, apparently). While there, we are treated to an entertaining diversion by the guy at the table next to us who apparently watched The Sopranos too much. Phrases such as "I shot 'im, but I didn't mean to kill 'im" and "she shot him dead when he showed back up with the food" kept us amused for the duration of our meal. Michelle also happened to catch his enthusiastic reenactment of a stabbing with his fork and napkin. The food at this place is among the best food I have ever eaten. Period. Say what you want about the Mafia, they know how good food's supposed to taste, and they make damn sure you get it at their restaurants. Michelle's grandfather keeps talking about how the parking was better when the Mob guy ran things.

Sunday night: we stayed up until the wee hours listening to Michelle's grandfather tell stories of the old days. The man loves having an audience. Michelle and I finally give in around 1.30, but Michelle's grandparents apparently stayed up significantly later.

Monday morning: we planned on leaving at 10.00, but Michelle's grandfather kept making us take more food. Final count: four sandwiches, 1 gallon of olive oil, two olive jars of orange juice, four sodas, a bottle of wine, some glass servingware, some champagne glasses, and our leftovers from the previous night. I think he'd have given us more if we'd stayed longer.

Monday afternoon: the drive back from NYC took longer than the drive up there. More traffic. Headwind. Jersey is still a strange place. You're not allowed to pump your own gas there. S'truth. It's a state law. All the service stations are full-service, but gas prices were about thirty cents cheaper in Jersey than in New York. Cheaper than Virginia, too. But we made it back eventually and just sorta collapsed all evening.

Overall, it was a great trip. Michelle's grandfather told me at the end of the trip that I'd "passed the test." He didn't say what the test was, though he did mention that I'd "cheated" (presumably by marrying his granddaughter before I came up to visit). But they all seemed to like me pretty well, and I managed to avoid saying anything terribly stupid.

Also, they gave us a hell of a lot of money for the wedding. We're also gonna get the Bose iPod sound dock. To say that I'm excited is to grossly undersell the sentiment.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: My Morning Jacket, "It Makes No Difference"

"Turn Up Your Stereo"

So we're heading up to New York tomorrow. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous about meeting her family. Should be an interesting visit, though, and I've never had the opportunity to visit New York before.

Granted, we're gonna have to go through Jersey to get there, and I'm not sure I'm up for that.

I mean, c'mon, Jersey. It's where the big hair and acid-wash jeans of the '80s went to die.

Now to prepare a playlist for the iPod of songs relating to New York, 'cause I'm a huge geek.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Hard Times In New York Town"

"School's Out Forever"

So there won't be any school tomorrow, either, meaning we had a grand total of a day and a half of school this week. Something about icy sidewalks and side streets making it tough for kids to get to school or unsafe or whatever. Bah. I say let 'em walk to school through the nasty ice and crap. Builds character. The kids around here are too damn spoiled, if you ask me.

Granted, you didn't ask me, but that's what they pay me for (or don't pay me for, as the case may be) around here: unsolicited thoughts on whatever.

Anyway, gotta go pick up the wife from work. My car is technically stuck in ice right now, but that's more the asshole who parked next to me's fault than the weather or mine.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Here Comes My Girl"

"Fingertips Have Memories"

It's been a nasty day, weather-wise. We had early dismissal at school due to snow/sleet/freezing rain/random precipitation, so I got to go home at 12.30 and my evening class was canceled. Michelle ended up leaving at 3.30 from her place of business, so we got to spend the afternoon and evening just hanging around. I made an effort to get the router working again, but failed. I'll try again later, I guess.

I've been staying up, hoping that we'd get a notification from Fairfax County that school is closed tomorrow as well, but nothing's come down the pipe yet. It's 1.00 am, so it's time to crash and hope that there's an email from FCPS in the morning telling me I don't have to drag my sorry carcass out of bed.

In other news, we're probably going to New York this weekend, weather permitting (which it should by Saturday). I'm excited and nervous all at once.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Harvey Danger, "Flagpole Sitta"

"'Cause I've Stopped Listening"

So this article fills me with rage.

I waited several days to talk about it. I hoped my anger, my righteous indignation, would lessen with the passage of time. But no, there it is, still boiling the blood and turning my thoughts to crimes against humanity.

I've mentioned this before, I'm sure, but I think John Mayer is a freakin' hack. He's played with Clapton, Buddy Guy, and B. B. King. So what? He's got decent technical chops, but anyone who wants to practice a bit can do what he's doing. The man thinks he's Stevie Ray Vaughn reincarnate; but sorry, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughn had genius to go with the skill. The Guitar Gods were greats not because of their technical abilities--hell, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix are among the sloppiest guitar players in rock history--but because they took the basic elements of guitar solos and guitar leads and twisted them into something new and different. Page and Hendrix made guitars do things people hadn't ever dreamed of. Stevie Ray took Hendrix's style, planted it in Texas boogie, cleaned it up, and came up with a twist on it that revitalized blues guitar in the 1980s. John Mayer just apes Stevie Ray Vaughn's style, even down to the vocal affectation he does to try to sound like Stevie Ray. It's absurd.

Technical ability does not equal greatness. While I'll admit that Mayer's grasp of the mechanics of blues guitar are excellent--he's obviously studied this stuff and worked hard at it, and I don't want to take that away from him--he's not a "guitar god." There's nothing original about what he's doing, there's no twist of his own (except that his lyrics are still facile and trite sugar pop, and I don't know that I'd call that a "twist"). And that's really all I want to say about it. The other two guys on the cover are good. I could see giving the label of guitar god to them, but that's because they've put their own particular stamp on the genres of their choice. Plus, Derek Trucks is playing guitar with the Allman Bros. Band. You know that requires some damn fine chops.

Took Michelle shopping for clothes yesterday. It was like some sort of stereotypical marital rite of passage, sitting in Lane Bryant while she tried on lots of clothes for her new job (which she starts on Monday!). Then she took me shopping and made me buy some new shirts and a new pair of jeans (apparently she's sick of me wearing the same half dozen shirts to work all the time). We then proceeded to go grocery shopping for the first time in about three weeks. I think we spent close to $1000 yesterday, when it's all said and done.

Earlier this week, I bought Michelle a new wedding band. The ring she had before was...inadequate, I felt, because it was the 10K loaner ring we got from the jewelry store until her real ring arrived. Since the real ring never arrived, I got fed up and decided to get her a better ring. So she got a band with some channel-set diamonds (about a quarter karat in total weight). I'm much happier, and I think she is as well.

Well, gotta go get ready to go out with the in-laws. Woo.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "Chains"

"Or Would I Smile And Watch It Slowly Fall?"

Snow days rock. 'Nuff said.

Didn't have to go to work today on account of the fact that people around here apparently don't know how to drive if there's more than an inch or two of snow on the ground. The fact that the roads were completely clear by the time I took Michelle to a job interview at 11 this morning (clear like totally dry, no sign that there was ever snow on them clear) really just makes me worry about these people. It's not like it was even ice or anything.

We spent most of the afternoon after her interview napping. God, I love a good afternoon nap. Then we worked on getting the apartment in order (well, she worked on that mostly. I spent a lot of time doing stuff for school tomorrow and finishing up the comic I should have done last night). The downstairs looks great now. The office is really coming together upstairs. The bedroom still needs a hell of a lot of work, but the plan is that we're going to clear out the closet, Michelle's going to sort through her clothes, and we're basically gonna make the place respectable.

I must now away to bed. School is gonna come awful early in the morning.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: John Mellencamp, "Human Wheels (Acoustic)"

"The Earth Died Screaming"

We've been without internet at the apartment all week. I managed to get the cable modem working again this afternoon after I moved the desk and computer into the spare room (now known as "The Office") today. We were originally going to have my dad bring out my old bed to put in here so as to create a guest bedroom, but we're now thinking of just getting a futon to put in here (my bed wouldn't fit in here, especially not with a desk). So I might see about just having dad sell the old bed instead.

Michelle's got a couple of great job prospects lined up. Hopefully she'll hear from them within the next few days and have a new job by the end of the week. That would be groovy.

We did a David Thewlis Hall of Shame movie night last night at Chad's. The new version of The Omen (in which he plays a photographer who can apparently take pictures of individuals related to the plot and see in the pictures how those individuals will die) was painful, and Dragonheart wasn't nearly as cool as my 15 year old self remembered it.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The White Stripes, "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine"

"So Much To Say"

A hell of a lot's been going on. The internet at home doesn't work currently (damned cable modem), we have a new queen-size bed that rocks hard, and I left my cellphone at home this morning. Yeah, life's full of fun and adventure.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The White Stripes, "The Hardest Button to Button"

Snow Delay

Well, it's not a whole day off, but I don't have to be at work until 10.00, so that was a nice extra couple of hours' sleep.

Plus, each class is only gonna be thirty minutes long. That's all sorts groovy.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Young Fresh Fellows, "Barkey's Spiritual Store"

"Like A Paper Tiger"

It snowed today, reminding us here in Northern Virginia that, despite the fact that December was a month of temperatures in the mid-60s, it is in fact still winter.

We only got a few inches of snow (maybe two or three accumulated), but now it's switched to freezing rain.

I don't think I'll be having to go to work tomorrow.

We spent the day helping Michelle's sister buy a car. We found a nice Hyundai (yes, Hyundai (does anyone else remember that old slogan? At the end of their commercials, the announcer would say, "Hyundai. Yes, Hyundai." I say that all the time when we're talking about cars, and folks just look at me like I'm from Mars or somethin')) for a really good price. They made me test drive the car (since it was already snowing pretty good), and it seems like it'll be a great car for her. Michelle's father has put out a tentative offer for Michelle to buy her sister's old car (the reason for this turn of events is a long story that isn't mine to tell), which would be great since Michelle's car isn't all that good anymore (it would also mean we could sell Michelle's old car to her sister's boyfriend).

Word from the folks back home in Oklahoma is pretty consistent: make it stop snowing. Apparently dad's been without power since last weekend and living in his office (which does have power). Clif, who lives in Austin, Texas (a place usually known for heat and dryness), has been experiencing flood-like conditions and didn't have classes last week because of ice and snow. I think Oklahoma's received more precipitation in the past two weeks than it got in the previous year. Wacky.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "Long Tall Sally"

"Music On The Radio"

So I suffered a serious iPod issue on Friday. Since I have more music in iTunes than will fit on my iPod, iTunes created a special playlist of my selections that it would update to the iPod (rather than, y'know, trying to cram all the songs on there when they won't fit). Friday morning, I accidentally deleted this playlist. Subsequent plugging in of the iPod resulted in everything on the iPod being deleted and the system refusing to update the iPod again 'cause that playlist was missing.

Then it started saying something about corrupted files, and I feared my iPod was dead.

However! I was able to restore factory settings on the iPod, which fixed whatever was causing all the difficulty. I've got the iPod and iTunes set up to only update selected items now, and I've got everything I wanted on there now. All is groovy.

Unfortunately, it also means I can't carry all of my music with me at once. This is...unfortunate.

In other news, Michelle managed to get the wireless network up and running finally, even making my printer available on our network. So that's groovy.

Speaking of my wife, we've been married a week. Go Team Cottrell!

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Tom Petty, "Casa Dega"

"We Got Married"

So, how was everyone's weekend? Enjoying the fact that, for many, it's a three-day weekend?

That's good.

Me? Oh, I didn't do a whole lot. Went to a Bed & Breakfast with Michelle. Lounged around. Got married.

Yeah, you read right.

As of January 13, 2007, Michelle Branco is my lawfully-wedded wife. So while the rest of you slackers were under a couple of inches of ice or just lolly-gagging around doing jack squat, I was tying the knot with the woman I love.

The ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point. With pictures, champagne, cake, and the whole she-bang, it took 45 minutes. That includes the ten minutes we wandered from spot to spot in the yard of the B&B to take various pictures and all that (the weather was fantastic; mid-60s, just enough light for everything to be even but not so much that we had to squint, and the rain held off until after we'd said the "I do's"). The vows were nice (we got to keep a copy), the cake was tasty, and my woman looked gorgeous. I'll have pictures for ya later this week.

This whole thing might seem kinda sudden, but it just felt like the right time. I honestly can't imagine not having this woman in my life, and marrying her seemed like such a no-brainer that I'd've been mentally deficient not to have done it. We didn't see any reason to wait around when all we were gonna do in a few months was what we did this weekend anyway. Honestly, why wait the extra two months when (1) you know this is it, (2) there's less difficulty with scheduling 'cause she didn't have to ask off for work, and (3) it's not like we were gonna decide to have a big blowout wedding between now and the end of March anyway. And now I can get her on my health and car insurances, which is a big plus.

So yeah, that was my weekend. I'm currently working on today's comic (just need to scan and upload), a program for MLK Day for school tomorrow (more on that later), and putzin' around with the iPod. Michelle's over at her folks' place doing something, but I'll be joining her over there soon enough I'm sure.

In other news, I have the world's coolest wedding ring. It's titanium. If I ever get my finger caught in something, they'll have to cut the finger off 'cause the ring can't be cut. Oh yeah.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Sting, "The Secret Marriage"

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

If anyone wants to get me this, I wouldn't say no.

In fact, I'd probably say a definite "yes."

Seriously, who wouldn't want the handwritten first draft of one of George Harrison's masterworks? Hell, I'd settle for something penned by Ringo.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

"Thinkin' About My Doorbell"

We're still trying to find Michelle a job. She's applied to dozens of places in the past week, but hasn't heard back from anything yet. I'm not worried, though: I'm sure she'll get something soon.

However, we're facing a conundrum: since she doesn't have any health insurance, what if (as often happens to her) she gets sick? We're currently pursuing possible ways to maybe get her on my health insurance, though that'll be expensive (at least she'll have it, though).

We also want to try to get her on my car insurance, as that would save over a hundred dollars a month for us (about $120, actually, which is a pretty sizable chunk of cash by the end of the year).

I got a subscription to eMusic over the weekend. I burned through my 25 free downloads in a heartbeat, and I've only got 5 of my 75 monthly subscription downloads left for this month. Curse you, eMusic, for having stuff by Jay Farrar, My Morning Jacket, the Autumn Defense, and Moxy Fruvous!

Okay, so maybe curse is a strong word. Bless you, perhaps, or maybe even may your praises always be sung.

In somewhat related news, the iPod is almost completely full. I have lots of kick ass stuff on there, though, including some Blind Willie McTell (more eMusic). Mmm, acoustic delta blues...

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Blind Willie McTell, "Statesboro Blues"

"Found A Flat, After That..."

So 2006 decided to smack us with a parting shot on Friday: Michelle was laid off from her job. This has made her (understandably) upset and frustrated, but we're doing our best to tighten the belts and work around the issue. She's already started applying for other jobs, gotten in touch with her headhunter, and applied for unemployment so she at least has some money coming in (it's actually pretty good, too: about $300 a week for 22 weeks). It'll be rough for a month or so, but we'll get through this. We don't think it will take her long to get a new job, possibly one that pays better.

We spent New Year's Eve just hanging out at the apartment. Her sisters and a friend of ours came over and relaxed with us. We played some Trivial Pursuit, chatted, ate junk food, watched Seinfeld, and I played quite a bit of Final Fantasy XII (as I have over the past week...like 10 or 11 hours' worth this week alone). It was a low-key, laid-back New Year's...which is fine by me. I don't really like big parties or large crowds.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Also have to return to education classes. To say that I'm not happy about that is to grossly understate the case. However, I can, tomorrow, sign up for the Fairfax County Public Schools Teacher Fair. I fully intend to do this, because an extra $10,000 a year would do wonders for securing our finances and making it possible for us to do what we want to do (like buy a new car in the next year or so).

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "All I Really Want To Do"

So Long 2006

The year 2006 is wanning like nobody's business, and that means it's time to recollect my ten favorite albums from the year. There was actually quite a lot of music this year that caught my fancy. In no particular order, my favorite ten are:

1. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat: I really got into Rilo Kiley this year, which in turn led me to this. And damn if this isn't some of the best music I've ever heard. Seriously. She's figured out how to make 21st century old-school country (of the Patsy Cline variety) and make it sound freakin' fantastic. Plus, they do a cover of the Traveling Wilbury's "Handle with Care." That takes balls, man...metaphorically speaking.

2. The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics: Maybe it's not as earth-shattering a stylistic leap forward as The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi were, but it's still a damn fine album. "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" and "Free Radicals" are possibly the best one-two opening pair you could hope for, and the sonic textures rival their best work here.

3. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers: I didn't used to care much for the White Stripes, but listening to Jack White's other band made me change my mind. This disc just rocks, period. The guitar interplay, the variation between Jack White's voice and Brendan Benson's voice, and a solid set of rock songs make this a must-have.

4. Bob Dylan, Modern Times: Hands down my favorite album of the year (it's a Dylan album. What did you expect, hmm?). Dylan digs even deeper into Americana and drags up some juke joint blues, vaudevillian song-and-dance, jazz-inflected pop standard, and anything and everything else he decided would be fun to play that day. His backing band is as sharp as ever (though I really miss Charlie Sexton's presence at the guitar post), and Dylan's lyrics are sharper still.

5. Tom Waits, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards: Because an odds'n'sods collection is pretty damn lame, Waits scrapped the idea, recorded like 40 new songs, and released it as the three-disc sprawl of Orphans. The three loosely-thematic discs consolidate and reinvent all of Waits's standard styles, hitting the hipster beat poet, boozy crooner, dimestore madman and musichall piano man (and everything in-between).

6. Ray LaMontagne, Till The Sun Goes Black: His first album, Trouble, is a brilliant CS&N-style folk rock collection; for this follow-up, he trimmed all the fat off the arrangements and created a sparse, almost harrowing atmosphere of forlorn lovers, alcohol haze, and gorgeous, delicate vocals.

7. Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions: Holy. Crap. I didn't know the Boss had it in him. This is one of the most startling sets I've ever heard. The Boss, usually such a perfectionist, abandons his bombastic wall of sound for a bombastic New Orleans/Dixieland Jazz band, horn section, banjo, and all. He takes songs that are decades (or even centuries) old, shouts out chords as they come up to the band, and just tears through these songs like a man half his age with something to prove. In the process, he reinvigorates the songs and himself. If Springsteen decides to pursue this sort of stuff more often, I'm in favor of it.

8. Butch Walker & The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites, The Rise and Fall of...: I know he writes songs for Avril Lavigne and all that, but the man can churn out a catchy song like nobody's business. His new backing band, the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites, keep the songs supple, tight, and energetic. Easily his best work since the end of the Marvelous 3.

9. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam: Who knew the veteran grunge rockers had it in them to be this straight-forward and badass? They do, and this is their best record in years (and also their most accessible).

10. Tom Petty, Highway Companion: Speaking of "best album in years," this is probably Petty's strongest collection since the mellow perfection of Wildflowers. Sure, The Last DJ had a couple of minor gems tucked away amidst all the angst and rage, and Echo is a better album than I originally gave it credit for (how I hated that album when it came out on the heels of Wildflowers), but neither album felt like he was really putting that much effort into the proceedings (or worse, that he was trying much too hard to make the themes work and make the songs tell stories instead of just letting the stories tell themselves). They lacked the seeming effortless grace of Wildflowers, felt forced and sometimes heavy-handed, and just didn't work as well as Wildflowers. Highway Companion, while not as good as Wildflowers, is still a worthy descendant of that masterwork.

There were a lot of other excellent records put out this year, and honorable mention goes to Sean Lennon, Thom Yorke, Barenaked Ladies, Gob Iron (Jay Farrar of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fame), Robyn Hitchcock, Golden Smog, Van Morrison, and The Who. All of their albums were excellent and worth a listen. Go check 'em out.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Ain't Talkin'"

"Dorothy Mantooth Is A Saint!"

Hope everyone's had a happy Christmas/Solstice/Hannukah/Kwanza/Festivus. Things here at Casa de Chuck y Michelle have been busy as all hell, as you can imagine. We still don't have internet for some reason. I tried setting the cable and internet up on Saturday, but nothing was registering. It's either something with the outlets, the apartment complex, or something we don't know about. Should be able to find out tomorrow.

Thankfully, someone in the area has wireless and we're able to get access with Michelle's laptop. Don't really want to do this for long, mind, but it gives us a temporary solution until we can get our own internet working.

Michelle and I ended up staying here in Fairfax for Christmas this weekend. She fell ill Friday, so we decided to let her family go without us. We've spent the weekend relaxing and doing...well, pretty much nothing. It's been nice, honestly. We haven't really had any time off since before we moved, so we needed a weekend of doing absolutely nothing.

Christmas turned out pretty good for me. Got an iPod, several DVDs (the original Star Wars trilogy, volume four of Family Guy, the That's My Bush! DVD collection, Arrested Development Season 1, and a Jeff Tweedy live set), a Leadbelly CD collection ('cause Michelle rocks), Soul Calibur III (which is hellacool), and various other things (including a harmonica). Also got quite a bit of money, most of which will be socked away for a later date (like buying Michelle's wedding ring).


Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get a thing installed in my car that will allow me to play my iPod through the car stereo. Also gonna get the oil changed and do a bunch of other stuff with Michelle that needs to be done. The rest of the week is devoted to finishing up the unpacking upstairs that we might finally have a bedroom that looks liveable.

Yes, we have noble dreams and aspirations. Probably unrelastic ones as well.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Leadbelly, "Rock Island Line"

"There'll Be A Knock On Your Back Door"

Well, tomorrow's the day of the Big Move. Well, Day 1 of the Big Move (hey, allow me this one use of gratuitous capitols. It doesn't happen often). We should be able to completely clear out my stuff from this apartment tomorrow, assuming I can get the rest of it packed up tonight (considering I've run out of boxes, this could pose a problem).

Went into DC today on a field trip with the school. We went to DC Central Kitchen, which is a community kitchen that provides food for those in need in the DC metro area. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to do some community service at a time of the year when a lot of people need help. Unfortunately, I got to spend the entire field trip sitting with the bus. We didn't have a real parking spot, so someone had to be there in case the bus needed to be moved. Since I was the one who'd driven the damn thing, I volunteered to stay with it. Not the most exciting way to spend the day, but it beats a swift kick in the pants (of course, most things do).

It's strange to think that I'm moving out tomorrow. I'd kinda settled into this apartment, even if it always felt like I was just visiting Wendy and Tim. Wonder how long it'll take me to get used to living in the new place and with my fiancee...

~chuck

Song of the Moment: My Morning Jacket, "Strangulation"

"The Folk Singers Sit On Their Front Porch"

One of the upshots of having listened to the old-school Yeti stuff earlier today is that now I really just want to sit and play Yeti songs all night long instead of packing. Thus far, I've managed to resist the keening urge to pick up the Martin and just strum out a dozen of our songs. I've packed lots of boxes. The closet is mostly packed. All of the CDs are packed. I'm working on the last of the books and the stuff in the desk, which is something of a beast. I fear to see what resides under the bed.

But I've been good. I've been packing. I should be able to finish whatever I don't get packed tomorrow.

Granted, I've been wasting time sitting here typing this. Dammit.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Ben Folds, "The Ascent of Stan"

"Hear It In These Lines"

So, although my car heater was fixed Saturday, it's still at the shop. See, the car developed a nasty coolant leak (though "leak" is a rather small term to describe the torrential flood of coolant that exited the underside of my car with amazing rapidity on Sunday afternoon). I took it back to the service station Sunday afternoon and left it there so they could work on it Monday. Unfortunately, issues with their equipment meant they didn't have a chance to work on it until today. The car is ready now, but I haven't been able to go pick it up quite yet.

On the positive side, though, Michelle's father was kind enough to loan me his van until my car is fixed and back in my possession. So I've been cruisin' in the Plymouth Voyager van since Sunday. Lemme tell ya, I'm ready to be back in my car.

One positive aspect to the whole I'm having to drive a freakin' mini-van thing is that I've had the opportunity to listen to an old tape I found in the bottom of my pit of a closet last night. It's the tape Clif and I recorded back in the summer of 2002 of the original Cross-Eyed Yeti tunes. It's interesting listening to the songs we'd picked out to record back then (a lot of them ended up on the CD we made the summer of 2003 in Norman), hearing how the songs had changed (man, some of those have been sped up from their original recording version) and what songs we've stopped playing (I can't remember the last time we did "I Dig Chicks"). We actually had some good stuff (I really wish we'd do a proper recording of "Folk Singer's Blues," 'cause that song actually kicks a significant amount of ass) that is just sitting in the "vault," as it were. The Clyde and I really just need to get together and record some of this stuff properly somewhere (there's a place down in Fredericksburg I still want to try out at some point).

The first half of that cassette was the original "album," about 14 songs (including the two "bonus" tracks, "Country Joe" and the "Hummingbird Version" of "Lord, Take Me Home WHere I Belong"). The second half was a "show" we played at the Mammoth Hot Springs employee pub that summer with mom and dad in attendance. The live show was pretty interesting (we could tear up when we wanted to), though dear God, what were we thinking letting Clif sing? And where did I get it in my head that I could sing the Beatles' "All My Loving?" Ah well. Many of the original tunes had an energy and a fire that impresses me. I also rather liked the poor sound quality on the tape. It had an old-fashioned, homemade feel to that I really dig. Worked especially well on "Folk Singer's Blues." My biggest complaint about the CD we made is that it sounds too cold, too sterile and small. There really is something to be said for recording with analog equipment, I guess.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Cross-Eyed Yeti, "Folk Singer's Blues"

"Sonny, Move Out To The Country"

Today, I spent over $1100 on furniture. For this rather large expenditure of money, Michelle and I have a sofa and love seat (worth at least $1500-$2000 on their own), a dresser, a kitchen table, six chairs for said table, three really nice bookcases, and some odds and ends. Ikea, it turns out, is your friend. Overall, we ended up spending about $1600 on furniture and necessities (vacuum cleaner, dish drainer, cleaning supplies, etc.) for the new apartment, which is pretty damn good when you think about how expensive it can be to totally outfit an entire apartment.

Friday is the big moving day. Michelle and I decided it makes more sense to get all my stuff moved on that day, since it can all be moved by the two of us, and then move all the stuff at her place (everything that she and her sister have) on Saturday. It's more efficient that way, really. So we'll spend Friday moving all my stuff, putting together all that modular furniture we bought at Ikea, and basically getting everything started. Saturday will be the heavy, bulky stuff (entertainment center, couches, etc.) and all of Michelle and Allison's stuff. Seems like a good plan.

Admittedly, the plan relies rather heavily on me having everything packed by Friday morning. We'll see how that goes.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "The Long and Winding Road"

"I Go To My Hollow"

As you can probably imagine, I've been rather busy this week. I've packed about a dozen boxes, mostly of books and DVDs and papers and such. It should all come together by early next week, I hope. Then we have to get Michelle packed up and ready. We've got enough people helping that, if we can have everything packed and ready by next Saturday, the move should go remarkably fast.

I learned a My Morning Jacket song ("Dondante") and a Raconteurs song ("Blue Veins") this week. I was rather proud of myself. Also found Dad's Christmas presents, so that was groovy. I need to mail the family presents to Oklahoma this week, or they won't make it by Christmas.

The heater in my car is being fixed as I type this. Should only run about $200, which is fantastic compared to what I feared it'd cost.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Moonshiner (Live)"

"As I Reach For A Peach"

Despite the fact that we move in two weeks, I still haven't started to pack anything. In my defense, I've been rather busy and still don't have boxes to pack things in; I need to go to the local liquor stores and see if I can finagle some boxes out of them.

My assignment for today: create the image for a Christmas card. Michelle and I are sending out a joint Christmas card this year, and I was commissioned to design the front of it. Then we'll go to Kinko's and make lots and lots of copies to send out. Should be fun.

Tonight is Michelle's office party. We're attending, apparently. She says I should enjoy it quite a bit, what with the good food and the interesting people (so says she; I'm not convinced there are all that many interesting accountants in the world, and I don't see how a concentration of them could have ended up all working for the same company). Ah well: such are the things we do for those we love. 'Sides, I've never said no to a free meal yet.

Tomorrow night: Tenacious D. Oh yes, the house shall be rockin'.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan and the Band, "Like a Rolling Stone (Live)"