happy birthday

today is the 70th birthday of our favorite angelino, a&m records co-founder and over-exposed mexicana music man, herb alpert. so in honor of him i am listening to 'whipped cream and other delights'.

the ultimate south of the border swinger isn't about to let his age get in the way of celebrating this milestone. a little birdy let me know what he's going to be doing for his birthday tonight...check it out

the first step's a doosey

'first step' by Small Faces {Faces in the UK} is rockin the zenith today

starts out with an organ-infused, psycodelia laced cover of dylan's wicked messenger and just trucks on from there. this album is a sweet marriage of blues, funk, folk and stones-esque rock'n'roll. rod stewart shines like the evening star on this one.

my favorite track right now is 'devotion'{lyrics here}. you can listen to any of the tracks from this one here. just scroll down to the track list. windows media, or real player. or you could always come over, and i will spin it right here for you on wax.

2am

i tend to like things that are old. i am often wearing a tweed jacket i bought for a dime in oregon, one button long missing. to my left, on the lower shelf of my maple table is a box of square photo paper from my great grand father's photography business, still sealed in it's black paper wrapping. my house is riddled with trinkets and old junk requisitioned by my need for history. i am frequently looking for old records, ash trays and ephemera from decades i have never known personally. scraps of lives i've never touched, or had.

i do have some younger stuff. i am not posting this from a typewriter, although this guy figured out how to make that work. my wife is younger too, so that's cool.

im not really bothered by new stuff. i want to get a new power book, an ipod, one of those phone things like mb has, and some other cool new stuff. but there's just something about old stuff, from just about deco through the '70's that i am hardwired to seek out.

im almost done with kavalier and clay. it is amazing. you were all on the china clipper that is chabon, while i have been languishing with the dirty laundry here on this slow boat. but let me tell you, no matter how you get there, the china that is this book is amazing. i'm at that point where i can't wait to finish it, but i never want it to end. i kinda feel like rob gordon, when he's talking about jumping from rock to rock, but not entirely.

i think my desire to have old stuff, stuff that seems to have more permanence to it than newer stuff, is a lot like joe's desire in the book to kill nazi's. it's a bad analogy, but stick with me. joe wants to kill nazi's left and right in 'the escapist', and pick fights with the germans of new york because he is otherwise completely powerless to do anything to save his family stuck back in prague. maybe i desire to have a lot of old stuff around, besides the better design sensibilities, because i want to create family history that i feel like i haven't had, or has been lost. the stuff here seems to have a lot of history, and a lot of it does. the trouble is that most of that history is lost on me. there's no one left who knows.

i drink everyday from my papa's coffee cup. his camera is sitting on top of some old books on my maple table to my left. i wear his shirts, along with a couple from my dad. i have my mom's bowling towel in an old gutted silver ware case sitting on top of my dresser. then there's the endless pages of photo albums. events i have no idea of, pictures of people and places i can't remember the names of. sometimes it's just damn maddening.

i don't think i could ask for better though. this stuff feels right to me. it's light, and floats with me through my days. my white headphones are right where they should be. they were made to sit in front of my stereo. these records were pressed for this very living room. in the same way that my wife and i, born a thousand miles and more than a year apart, were made to become one flesh. at least sometimes, sitting here amongst the tossed about detritus of my relatives and other people lives, admiring the air of history about the place... it sure feels that way.

woohoo!

well for those who aren't around, or aren't too in tune to the porch, a couple of updates. first: my wife amanda was hired this last week to work for a company called mosaic. they do marketing stuff. i could totally explain it to you, but it would take a while, so im skipping it. anyway, she starts there on tuesday. we're both so thankful for the opportunity and for your prayers during the year or so since she's been looking!

i also started selling some of the crap load of vinyl that i have been picking up lately. i even picked up an album the other day for a dollar that's actually worth like four hundred! pretty exciting. anyway you can check out my store right here at Stereo Phonetica

that's about it for right now. we're heading north for easter, and we'll be back on mondy. right now i gotta get back to watchin oh brother where art thou.

then some dude wrecked a car in my drive way....

just smile all the time

there's something that i have really been wanting to do lately. i would actually go over and do this right now, but it's raining for one, dark for too {also}, and im probably already doing something else by the time you're reading this. {my wireless is out, so i am writing this at night, saving it, posting it when the wifi faerie alights once again}

i digress though. the thing i want to do is awesome. remember the cool '70's NovaPro headphones i was talking about? the white ones? well since i have like 20ft of cord, i wanna take the screen off my front window and listen to my headphones outside. maybe even lay down on my back in the grass {raybans & coffee accounted for sir} and have a nice little ciggy piggy while listening to something amazing. like 'how to fight loneliness' or perhaps 'nashville skyline'. this could be the makings of a perfect afternoon at my house.

i finally started getting my album info uploaded into my gemm store tonight, but i had to stop because my connection failed. i really need to get this done so i can actually start selling stuff. in the meantime i actually picked up some paper, a pen and designed a shelf i want to build for my living room. if an old sea shanty {the building type, not the song type} and an entertainment center could ever procreate, their offspring might look a little like what i want to build. lots of shelves for records and books, a nice little place to hide the tv and dvd player {im leaving room for a tivo, i cross my heart}. it'll have a solid back and sides, with the back of the interior painted white, the rest of it will be dark wood. and here's the kicker... the sides of the thing are going to be covered in cedar shingles. also the doors in front of the tv will be shingled too. it's a project i wanna start working on once amanda gets a job. it will probably have to wait until after my show though, because i am going to have to focus on that and school until the end of may.

ok wifi is back. im posting this now and going back to entering album info.

Stereo Phonetica

well i finally decided to start selling some records. i have a link to my store over on the right hand side of the page, underneath my picture. that's your one stop shop for any record that you want to buy from me... that i am selling. if you are interested in buying any other music that i'm not selling personally, scroll down and use the field to search gemm.com Anything you buy if you've clicked through my banner gives me a little extra into my account. help a brother out boys and girls. if you've got an itchin for some music, you know where to pick it out.

i should have my online store all fully stocked sometime tomorrow, but it's late and i'm too tired to create a spreadsheet to catologue the fifty or so records i am putting up for sale to start out with. i will let you know when everything is ready. thanks for shopping!

craftsmanship

im currently being cheered up by being brought down, thanks to a huggable hipster {you are aware of your own identity} and the mix he made. i thought about calling this post 'failure' but i opted out. i think i made a connection in my mind today about something, and i wanted to share it.

i have been thinking about art making a lot recently, aspecially in light of my upcoming solo show in may. i have been spending my quiet moments in the car, and while sitting here on my couch thinking through all of the details, the over arching themes, the name os the show, yada yada yada all that bullshit. yeah i have connected quite a few dots, but something more important was realized.

i like making things with my hands. this is not a trait that i often associate with myself. there's no good reason for me NOT to feel comfortable doing this however. irregardless of my childhood experience with my father, the yelling, or the repeated assurances that i couldn't build anything right or help in a correct manner, i can do these things. it only makes sense considering the obvious thing i realized today.

my dad is a structural steel iron worker. he builds dams, buildings, bridges, and notable casinos of egyptian style. he uses his hands to do this. my mother likewise was a painter, a crazy garden decorator, and a rigorous aesthetete. my grandfather was a millwright, building, creating and fixing anything wrong at the lumber mill. his father was a professional photographer.

sycz will tell you that going to oregon with me a month or two ago was enlightening as far as learning more about who i am. he got to see my home town of cottage grove, and most importantly see how i related to my friends and family. to be honest, sycz can probably explain this better than me, but my family doesn't understand me at all.{feel free to chime in in the comments mikey if you feel like it} i have never felt comfortable being myself with them, though i am whenever i am around. i think they have a hard time understanding me, and think that i am weird. i guess in ways i have ascribed that same understanding to the way that i think about myself sometimes. i am hard to understand, and weird. the more i think about it though, i am not weird, nor am i hard to understand. sure im not the fullest expression of my potential at this point, but Christ will complete that good work in me in His good time.

To bring it back around though, i never though it was natural that i should be an artist. the thought never even entered into my head until well into college. considering my forebearers though, it's no wonder the sort of things i gravitate to. it all clicked for me, and even though i have been perfectly content with what i have chosen to pursue, i feel sorta vindicated. sure my family will always think i am weird, but they are short sighted. i love them regardless, but i just wish we could connect. my mom understood, they treated her the same way. that's another reason why i miss her so much.

all that to say i guess, that thinking about my show has been good. maust has always said that art is what's inside of you, whether you admit it or not. i certainly hope that my art doesn't come out of most of the shit that's inside of me {and all of us} but hopefully just the nice bits. i'm really looking forward to sharing my show with you guys. up to this point i haven't ever really gotten to do anything that i have wanted to. i hope you guys enjoy it. i post details and stuff when i get them in {time, place etc.}

green-white-orange

well my friends, St. Paddy's day is upon us once again. somehow it always feels like st. paddy's in my heart, and i mean that. when i have tippled a few too many drams, my inner monologue has bit o' the irish in it. honestly. to be more plain: when i have had too much to drink my voice in my head has an irish accent.

a good way to begin st. paddy's is to wake up, go through your rosary, then have yourself a pint of guinness. nothing else but guinness will do, unless it is a pint of wiskey or something... but that should at least wait until after breakfast, maybe even lunch. after you have had your pre-food pint, it's time to have yourself a proper meal. black beans, some sausage, eggs over easy, a muffin (the same type as, though never to be referenced as 'english) some strong black coffee, and a shot of whisky to warm you up for your walk down to the pub. this is to be repeated each time you wake up on st paddy's day from your series of successive stupors. this will be a day to remember! (try your best)

ireland isn't in the greatest shape right now. tensions are high because of recent events that very well could de-rail the peace process. there was that huge-ass bank robbery a couple of months back, then on january 30th Robert McCartney was stabbed to death in a pub in Belfast. The IRA has been busy, and it's a sad sad thing.

there's no real way for us to identify with what's been going on over there since easter sunday,1916, it's so very foreign. it would be like the EV free church fire bombing the baptists or something. very understandable {though not condonable} and very crazy all at the same time. the whole thing has just snowballed out of control.

all that to say, i guess, that while you are celebrating st patrick's day this year, and herein on st paddy's, try to remember the struggles of the irish people. lots of innocent blood has been shed. say a prayer for the irish, they sure do need it.

been thinking about you {art}

i've been doing some thinking about you* {*art, refered to herein as 'you'} and i have come to realiaztion that i don't really know you like i thought i did. sure i still recogzine you when i see you around. sometimes you're there nicely on the wall, sometimes i hear you through my headphones, and other times you're just being talked about. i know you, or at least i think i used to. nowadays it seems you just hang out with all the kids with the weird haircuts, who think they know you, but can't seem to treat you right. not the way i treated you, not the way you deserve.

do you remember the times we used to spend together? lounging around talking about doing things someday? the way that we used to hang out, you would have thought we were married or something. i know that recent developments on my end may have thrown a wrench {arguably a small one, but with gorgeous eyes} into our plans. what i am wondering i guess, is whether or not this means the end of our relationship?

i miss all the little things that you used to wisper in my ears. the way you would get me to do something seemingly crazy that would make each piece just perfect. i bet you remember that time with the saw... man those were the good days.

i know what went on between us in the past was often rooted in sadness. everything we did was defined by sad things, people or places lost, times never to be had again. is there anyway to have what we had without that sadness? or a way to reconcile that sadness with this present happiness? i need to know, i need to hear from you. otherwise i don't know if i can go on like this.

i walk around during the day, thinking of things that would be perfect for us, but without you, and without throwing myself into those old things i just don't know how it can work now. you've got to know what this is doing to me, your absense. it's driving me plumb crazy. this could be a great thing, this craziness, if it weren't drowning in the mundane. i have bills to pay, work to do, and classes to sit through. what do you know about those things? is this some sort of perverse trick you are playing on me? do you really think it is better to have had you, and lost, than to have never had you at all? i need to know.

so i guess i am asking you something... will you please just come by so we can talk? will you wear that canvas that i bought for you, the one with the pretty colors, line and repitition? i need to see you, i need to know you again. please come back to me. i don't think i can be the same without you. i miss you so much.

i heard this song the other day, it reminded me of you

Come up to meet you
Tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you
Tell you I need you
And tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start
Running in circles
Coming up tails
Heads on a silence apart
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
I was just guessing
At numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science
Science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
And tell me you love me
Come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles
Chasing tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start
Aah oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh (x4)

no... autobiographical

i feel like i need to open up a record store some time soon. sycz, mb, lets do this thing. i hit up some more records today at the salvation army. seven records for seven dollars (some wise crack about a musical in there somwhere) i was able to find some info on five of them on gemm.com and priced those out to a total of $95 in the condition they are in. i've got to figure out some sort of way to start selling these things guys. my house is going to fill up really fast if this continues. ideas? thoughts? darren you can be jack black. who wants to be dick??? i might have a nomination...

the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef PART II !

i have been listening to the same song on repeat, via headphones, volumus MAXIMUS, for the last three hours. it is before 8am. thereisnothingwrongwithme

i imagine my headphone extension cord long enough stretching serpitine across the borders throughthe blood of christ mountains in new mexico criss-crossing lanes of the ten freeway(s!) eastward towards the red-stick town in the french state hooking a left and heading straight towards newyorkfuckingmegacity i will have a parade with an honor guard of nobelnewyork irish police to bear the twisty twirly cord trailing behind me their linear plaidpainted kilts willNOT clash with the twisty cord and everyone will understand it will be perfectly clear to anymotherf-erwatching exactly why there is some dashingdaringdo appearing before them as i ride the bouyant wave of sonic goodness down fifthave trailed by the guinnesssoakedguardkilts

it does not matter that i am wearing headphones and no one else can hear the perfect twominutethirtysecondsong by declanmacmanus because i am going to buy eveyrone of them a round. i am beyond belief

the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies the same defeats
Keep your finger on important issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

I'm just the oily slick
On the windup world of the nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel

I hang around dying to be tortured
You'll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel

So, in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice

You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense she still smiles very sweetly

Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous

And now you find you fit this identity completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly

I might make it California's fault
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief

My hands were clammy and cunning
She's been suitably stunning
But I know there's not a hope in Hades
All the laddies cat call and wolf whistle
So called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle

I've got a feeling
I'm going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief

'beyond belief'
elvis costello and the attractions

motivation sickness

remember the other night at bible study, when i was talking about motivation? well i think i finally found it. click this link, but be prepared to feel like doing one of two things after words:

1.) get off your lazy ass and work hard, so very hard friend, that you lose so much weight, you weigh as much as our lightest friend... a cigarette

2.) lose weight the easy way, skip the first part of #1. and go straight to the elipses section

ps. the link has nothing to do with weight loss

avast ye starbuck!

so i picked up some more records yesterday and i think that i did fairly well.

I was waiting and waiting, what would have probably have been in vain, for my copy of the Arcade Fire's new album 'funeral' to arrive at lovells. i had ordered it about a month ago, so that i could make sure that it would come in and be in my greedy little hands the day that it came out (which was last week sometime). Apperntly though my album was now on backorder, and by the best estimations of a kid named andy at lovells, it could be a couple of MONTHS before it arrived. My greedy little hands, i must confess to you, began to sweat and slowly curl into large block shaped meats.

thankfully andy, noticing my meat-fisted distress, quietly let me know that he had seen a copy of the very vinyl i sought on-sale at penny lane records just down the street. he then graciously refunded my five dollar deposit on said album, and wished me good luck. good luck was to be mine that day indeed, as evidenced by the albums i subsequently found resting quietly (as albums do when not spinning) in the used racks, back and to the right, in the store.

i picked up a copy of Big Country's album 'crossing time' from it's original 1983 release. many of you may think me the fool for picking up, and actually buying this album, but you would be mistaken. this album kicks double double ass, even earning the distinction of this little number of an article by you-know-who. this was a personal pick for me. i have big country tracks on my itunes, and i really wanted this one. it's worth about a dollar more than i paid for it, so that's cool too. but here comes really good stuff.

i picked up a copy of yves montand's album 'one man show' recorded live at the theater de l'etoile, paris, 1958. the vinyl is in M- condition. plays perfectly, very little noise, and the cover shows super little wear, mainly at the corners as to be expected. i think i piad two dollars for this guy, and it's selling at an average of $45 on the couple of high-end record collector sites i checked. not too shabby!

i guess i am a francophile because after i found the montand album i spied a little number by a french singer named mireille mathieu. i thought the cover looked nice, though it's a little different from the one above. the picture is cropped a little bit tighter, and the text is absent from the lower right hand corner. this particular copy was released on Capitol in france and the logo is really sweet. the album and sleeve are in awesome shape. i paid a dollar, and the sites are selling it for about $63, give or take a couple bucks. awesome!

the sad thing, or the good thing i suppose, is that i wont be selling these. i like em too much. so maybe someday in ten years if i get hard up for cash or something, maybe they will make their way to ebay or something, but not for the time being.