OR and BSP

Way to corrupt your kid, man. I will say that I'm jealous about you being able to go see OR. Bring back some good stories. I wish I could see them but what with them playing on Sunday here, I don't see that happening. So, when you go, at least sing along to the end of John Smyth Allen Sails. At least go that far. If you don't, you'll know you're a tired old man awaiting retirement and valium pills to sleep through the pain.

As for me, I believe I'm going to learn about British Sea Power. Yes, they are coming to America to a small club in DC. Should be fantastic. 13 bucks. That's worth it just to see Please Stand Up, which I will most graciously do when they play the song (I plan on sitting on the fetid floor up until they sing the lyric "Please Stand Up" and then I'll leap to my feet).

I mentioned this to you before, but what Conor Oberst is to others, Will Sheff is to me. Will's such a storyteller. Look at those lyrics. I think I thought this as I was listening to Down the River of Golden Dreams and then it was reinforced with a day of listening to The Stage Names. There are some songs I can't get over, namely the one track that no one, not the blogs, not the message boards talks about, that track being Savannah Smiles. It rips me apart every time I hear it. It's difficult to listen to. This is why Sheff excels, singing from the perspective of a middle-aged woman whose daughter has either become estranged or committed suicide (it's not quite clear). But it breaks you apart. There's something so sad about her husband going and watching TV with the lights out, and her turning off the radio.

Which brings me to the List of Tough Songs to Listen To That Are Great:
I don't have them in any order yet, but they exist. You could really put anything here...like Lord Anthony is a tough song on a day when you're remembering junior high.
John Wayne Gacy Jr - Sufjan Stevens.
The Chalet Lines - Belle and Sebastian
Savannah Smiles - Okkervil River
Black - Okkervil River

I forgot the other one I was thinking about! How awful.

My Cool Kid

I watched this video a few minutes ago:

Emily (who's playing Wii at the time) says, "Who sings that song, Dad?"

"Their name is Okkervil River. Do you like this song?"

"Yeah!"

The video finished and Emily paused the game and looked over at me. "Can you play another song by that band, Dad?"

I smiled. "Sure thing, Em." I played this:

"Thanks, Dad," she smiled and said.


On a similar note, I'm buying my OR ticket tomorrow. I'm pumped, man. I'm really pumped.

On the New Blog Name and Sundry

Awesome new blog name. Definitely my favorite so far.

So my last post where I talked about my lost "One" t-shirt drove me to listen to Achtung Baby today. Man what an album. One of my favorite parts on that album is on "Zoo Station" where Bono sings, "Alright. Alright. Alright, alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright. Hey Babe. Hey Babe. Hey Baby, hey baby, hey baby, it's alright, it's alright." I don't know why I like it so much. Bono just sings like such a bad dude.

Other listening today:

Depeche Mode--Songs of Faith and Devotion
Mates of State--Bring It Back

I fell asleep to Portishead last night. Usually that means "I was listening to music when I fell asleep last night." But last night it meant "They put me to sleep." Nice one, Dummy.

Post Mission Fury

Here's what my mission president told me in my final interview:

--Stay busy when you get home. Get a job, go to school--something.
--Get married. "Three months after getting home is too soon. Three years is too late."
--Go to the temple often (i.e. monthly).
--Serve in the church.

And that's it. Nothing about the RM re-acclimatization into society. Nothing about real life. Nothing about what's going to happen and what to look for. Nothing about not selling off or giving away the awesome things you had before your mission. (I had this really great U2 "One" t-shirt...

...and I gave it to my ex-girlfriend's roommate. I flipping kick myself for that one. MY EX-GIRLFRIEND'S ROOMMATE! AAGGHHHH! And I had that awesome R.E.M. t-shirt from the Monster tour like the one Stipe's wearing in the "What's the Frequency Kenneth?" video:

That one went to DI. D freakin I. AAGGHHHH! All in all I dumped about 15 really great band t-shirts. Damn you, 1997 Josh. Damn you to hell.) Nothing about not thinking spiritual things were pretty much going to stay the same as they were on the mission. Nothing about not selling your music collection for pittance. Pittance!

I may have told you this but I dated a sister from my mission for awhile after I got home. I had actually been her zone leader. I saw her out of the blue one day at UVSC and then she called me up asking for a ride the next day and then it's like we were on the fast track to marriage. I even went to the freakin opera with her. Ugh. The things I did in that first year. Except getting married to Dana. That was great, obviously. I mean the stuff I did under the skewed mission vision is what kills me.

MGs

I tried listening to Get Lonely yesterday and it felt like a rehash of Tallahassee. I was so disappointed. Even the lyrics sounded the same. Maybe this is because Darnielle was coming off of Sunset Tree which is a perfect album. Maybe it's because I will compare all of his new work to Sunset Tree. I'm not sure. I'll have to listen to it again. Maybe I can make a compilation album "Tallahassee Lonely" that combines the best versions of the same songs on the two albums.

I am absolutely eagerly awaiting any moment I have to listen to new Okkervil River. And to think that you can just drive up north to see them play at Kilby. Incredible.

I'm still baffled that you lived 21 years and never EVER heard one story about a man returning from his mission and selling all his CDs only to regret it three days later. I thought that was a given. Wasn't that the subject of one of the devotionals in the MTC? Didn't your mission president give you two pieces of advice...1) Get married ASAP and 2) Don't sell your CDs"?

Okay, I Finally Have My Five

After very much thought and deliberation I finally have my albums narrowed down. Not that I wasn't thinking about it but there were hundreds of discs I sold so it was hard to narrow it down. I could've even made the list based on discographies instead of single discs. Here they are:

1) The Cure Disintegration. Everyone knows Disintegration is great but I was so eager to get away from goth I fire sold it and everything else Cure I had.

2) Depeche Mode Violator. Perfect album.

3) INXS Kick. What a great album. I thought I was too cool for it. I was wrong. Warning: the stupid skateboard on the cover is totally deceiving.

4) Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream. I was trying to decide between this and Nirvana Nevermind which I also sold. It was really, really close but SP won out. "Cherub Rock." Cherub freakin Rock.

5) Crash Test Dummies The Ghosts That Haunt Me. I know, I know, "CTD?" This album was great. So different. So strange and awesome. CTD should go down as the progenitors of The Decemberists and Arcade Fire.

Some notable discography* sells: The Cure, Nirvana, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Violent Femmes discography save Why Do Birds Sing?, Pearl Jam, The Doors, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and more.

*Discographies as of 1995

Tegan and Sara eat at Teriyaki Bowl

I only listened to the first three tracks, and I thought tracks 2 and 3 were excellent. Track 1 was a throw away track. I mean, who puts time and effort into making a 1:30 minute track? Should we list the great sub 2:30 minutes songs? I can think of one: Song 2 by Blur (2:02 I believe).

Worst CD sales you ever made

What were the 5 best CDs that you sold for 2 bucks at a place like Disc-Go-Round?
My list:

1) Definitely Maybe - Oasis. Seriously, I cannot believe I sold this. I ended up buying it back

2) Superunknown - Soundgarden. I sold my teenage years when I sold this album

3) Dookie - Green Day. Okay, so it had a lot of cursing in it. But the cursing on certain songs that I didn't listen to doesn't compare to the joys of She, Welcome to Paradise and When I Come Around. I can't believe I don't have Welcome to Paradise any more. It should be my theme song out here. Once again, I sold my teenage memories by selling this.

4) Throwing Copper - Live. I want to hear Pillars of Davidson again. I want to hear White, Discussion again. What was I thinking?

5) Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band. This was actually a decent album. I really liked it. But I hated how popular they had become by the third album, that I wanted nothing to do with them. There was nothing worse than hearing Emily Howe singing the wrong lyrics to Ants Marching during Channel One in Health class in 10th grade. Maybe that's why I sold it

I'm Taking a Sick Day Today

I've had a head cold brewing all week that finally took over last night so I'm home for the day. But I was wondering if you listened to the Tegan and Sara album and what you thought. I had a dream last night I was working at Teriyaki Bowl thanks to our conversation yesterday. Stupid TB.