It's easy to look back on a year like 2008 and reflect it wasn't a good year. When I compare where I was last year on NYE and where I am now, it's easy to see things have not worked out the way I thought it would. My projection was certainly different than where things ended up. Still it was a good year.
It was good because good things happened this year. A certain Hawaiian was elected President, I shed 50 pounds of unneeded weight and I took a fully-funded trip out West. I saw both AL and NL baseball games, pro basketball games and my favorite band Radiohead with my brother at the south end of Grant Park as fireworks exploded in the panorama behind them. I also walked away unscathed from a car crash which could've easily killed me and I met a lot of new people I can see being good friends in the years to come.
There were bad things to happen too and I won't reflect on them here. The truth is they, like this year, are now in the past. As a friend told me once by paraphrasing someone else, "Everything I've done has lead me to here. And I am better for it."
Happy 2008 everyone and I'll see you again soon in 2009.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Oh, Eight Songs
I was combing through the last year in music and I'm going to do something a little different. The thing to do usually is to make a list of the year's best albums. But let's be honest. Not only are you unlikely to go out and buy those albums, most people don't even consume music via the album anymore. It's all about single songs.
So these are eight songs I chose to represent the music which turned me on in the last year. These were bands and/or songs a regular person wouldn't have stumbled into just by listening to the radio. (Sorry Kanye and Coldplay.) At the same time I also wanted to highlight music that most people could enjoy too. (Sorry Battles and TV On The Radio.) Most of all though these were eight songs I listed to often during the year. When I think back on 2008, these songs will be the soundtrack.
And just for added difficulty, let's make them appear in the same slot as they do on the album from which they come (our first song is first on its respective album, the second song comes second on its album, etc.) and do it in under thirty minutes.
1.) Colin Meloy "Devil's Elbow" - When I think of 2008, I will think of being in Chicago. When I think of being in Chicago, I will think of three things. The first one is obvious. The second is the good times. The third will be riding the train. I rode the CTA everywhere and on the nights when I didn't have a companion I was plugged into my MP3 player.
Colin Meloy's live solo album got a lot of spins on my way to work, going to baseball games, going out to shows and most often when I was going home. I will hear this song or any from this album and forever think of the Clark and Division stop, the stretch between Sheridan and Howard and standing at Main in the morning. Add in that it's a great song and "Devil's Elbow" spells 2008.
2.) Vampire Weekend "Oxford Comma" - Have you ever heard a buzz band that everyone seems to love and they really are that great? It's not hype. It's actually music journalism fulfilling its purpose and bringing good music to light. I had a few of those this year.
Vampire Weekend was one of them. Maybe it's because all of my musical taste is calibrated to The Clash but I always love music that isn't familiar. I like weird sounds and sounds that are presented in a different way than I've heard. Being able to do that within a three minute pop song though is a real feat.
There's something that sounds very close to Jamaican reggae about Vampire Weekend's music. Their influences are actually West African and I think that's something Joe Strummer would be way into if he were still alive. I think that because it's stuff I'm way into myself.
3.) Kings of Leon "Sex On Fire" - One of the great quotes I like to pull from my life is by Gregg Allman. He was talking about the term "Southern rock." He said (and I'm paraphrasing) "All rock comes from The South. So saying 'Southern rock' is a little bit like saying 'rock rock'." Normally when we think of music that rocks, we think of the music which followed and drew influence Led Zepplin with shredding guitars, bombastic drums and soaring vocals. Allman is right though. Even the almighty Zepplin sound draws its roots in The South.
That would mean the purest form of rock made today is the "rock rock" being made by bands like My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon. I mean what's more sex and drugs and rock and roll than a song called "Sex on Fire"? All the more to the point when you dive into the lyrics about the visceral and raw elements of making sweet love. Wrap it all up in a melody and a beat that makes you want to drive very fast down the open road and you'll be wrapping yourself in the American flag in no time.
4.) MGMT "Electric Feel" - MGMT was another buzz band that lived up to their billing. A lot of music played on synthesizers ends up sounding like its been run through a computer and filtered into bleak dystopia. It's just what happened because Bowie and Eno and their ilk were the first guys to get there and start using these new tools and that's the type of music they make.
What makes MGMT so weird and interesting is they make music about a psychedelic world without technology. They present a conundrum when they use a syntesizer to sound like a "4000 year old Peruvian flute" as Andrew VanWyngarden says in the behind the scenes video to this song. For forever the idea of more authentic and earthy music is that which is played on instruments made of wood. (See: any coffee shop this Friday or Saturday) Yet here are these two guys working with The Flaming Lips' producer to make a song about a girl from The Amazon who can create electricity from her hands. It's the type of music which appeals to your head, your heart and of course your ears.
5.) Broken Social Scene "Churches Under The Stairs" - When I think about concerts I saw this last year I'll think of the peak performances. From Pitchfork Music Festival to Lollapalooza to Rocktober to a set of shows on either side of Snelling on University to a few more great shows at First Ave, I saw a lot of really great live music this year.
Broken Social Scene contributed a large part of that great live music. I saw them not once, not twice but three times this year and each time my love for them deepened even further. Each concert was like a date. On the first date at Lollapalooza I got a quick brush-up on their sound and an introduction to some of the songs I didn't know. The second date later that evening at The Metro was confirmation that first blush wasn't a misread on my part. Then by the excellent concert of a third date at First Ave during Rocktober I had made my decision and I was wearing my good underwear. I fell for this band the way you're supposed to; by seeing them in their peak moment and being rewarded as you do.
6.) Flobots "Handlebars" - This song gives me an opportunity to give shoutouts and for wildly different reasons. First I have to shoutout Willibuster, Ghost and Emily Osby. When I was visiting home during August, we were hanging out with one of Will's high school friends and the night devolved into what most parties usually do with all of us sitting around looking up stuff on YouTube. It was even Will himself who pulled up the video for this song and every time I hear this song or watch the video I think of chilling with those three.
The other person I get to shoutout is K10. Eight years younger than me and full of opinions, K10 is more than willing to tell me my musical taste sucks and that I've gone soft in my older age. Which is exactly the thing I love about him. Ever said that if you had the opportunity to talk to yourself at a younger age you'd probably just argue about stuff? I don't have to imagine what that would be like to argue music with my younger self because of this guy. Except my younger self really likes The Flobots. "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens his friend."
Additional shoutouts for additional and different reasons to Dan, Patrick, Noha, Luke, Pete, Peder, Jim, Abby, Stensby, Christian, Nicky, SayRock Brian, Ed, TK and all the people that were at Doomtree Blowout. Thanks for making "going to shows" the new black in '08. Let's go get them swimming pools in '09.
7.) The Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend To Dance With You" - Guess "What?". Yet another buzz band that lived up to their billing was The Black Kids. I got this CD during the month I was subletting in Evanston and it was just a matter of having heard about them a lot on the periphery and finally taking the whole CD plunge. It really is amazing doing that worked out so well for me this year.
Okay, what do The Black Kids sound like? It's like The Cure was brought to the 21st Century and decided to write in the "Just Like Heaven" mode. That mournful quality is still there as are the crazy good synth lines. The difference is Robert Smith is playing with The Revolution and that means really danceable sped-up songs underneath the heartache and loss. It literally is the type of music which can be called 1980s retro and not have that be a derisive term.
8.) The Hold Steady "Stay Positive" - Is there any greater summation of the year of Our Lord two thousand and eight than "You gotta stay positive!"? Yeah, things went into the trash this year. At the same time a new era is dawning. Things are always darkest before the dawn and sometimes things are so bad the only place we have to go is up. In 2008, we all had to stay positive or else we'd lose our minds. But by staying positive we'll see ourselves through.
Now pour that over the type of big anthemic hooks that Springsteen and U2 only stumble upon anymore and you have a song you actually can listen to and come out feeling positive and part of something larger. The song isn't suggesting that we stay positive and then leaving us to figure out how to do that. It is infused with the raw energy and mass needed to sustain and to even see the way through to thriving. It doesn't move you in the usual way of touching your heart. It should swell in you the defiant walking-into-the-wind attitude needed to tough things out. Because, as I said before, this year more than ever you gotta stay positive.
So these are eight songs I chose to represent the music which turned me on in the last year. These were bands and/or songs a regular person wouldn't have stumbled into just by listening to the radio. (Sorry Kanye and Coldplay.) At the same time I also wanted to highlight music that most people could enjoy too. (Sorry Battles and TV On The Radio.) Most of all though these were eight songs I listed to often during the year. When I think back on 2008, these songs will be the soundtrack.
And just for added difficulty, let's make them appear in the same slot as they do on the album from which they come (our first song is first on its respective album, the second song comes second on its album, etc.) and do it in under thirty minutes.
1.) Colin Meloy "Devil's Elbow" - When I think of 2008, I will think of being in Chicago. When I think of being in Chicago, I will think of three things. The first one is obvious. The second is the good times. The third will be riding the train. I rode the CTA everywhere and on the nights when I didn't have a companion I was plugged into my MP3 player.
Colin Meloy's live solo album got a lot of spins on my way to work, going to baseball games, going out to shows and most often when I was going home. I will hear this song or any from this album and forever think of the Clark and Division stop, the stretch between Sheridan and Howard and standing at Main in the morning. Add in that it's a great song and "Devil's Elbow" spells 2008.
2.) Vampire Weekend "Oxford Comma" - Have you ever heard a buzz band that everyone seems to love and they really are that great? It's not hype. It's actually music journalism fulfilling its purpose and bringing good music to light. I had a few of those this year.
Vampire Weekend was one of them. Maybe it's because all of my musical taste is calibrated to The Clash but I always love music that isn't familiar. I like weird sounds and sounds that are presented in a different way than I've heard. Being able to do that within a three minute pop song though is a real feat.
There's something that sounds very close to Jamaican reggae about Vampire Weekend's music. Their influences are actually West African and I think that's something Joe Strummer would be way into if he were still alive. I think that because it's stuff I'm way into myself.
3.) Kings of Leon "Sex On Fire" - One of the great quotes I like to pull from my life is by Gregg Allman. He was talking about the term "Southern rock." He said (and I'm paraphrasing) "All rock comes from The South. So saying 'Southern rock' is a little bit like saying 'rock rock'." Normally when we think of music that rocks, we think of the music which followed and drew influence Led Zepplin with shredding guitars, bombastic drums and soaring vocals. Allman is right though. Even the almighty Zepplin sound draws its roots in The South.
That would mean the purest form of rock made today is the "rock rock" being made by bands like My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon. I mean what's more sex and drugs and rock and roll than a song called "Sex on Fire"? All the more to the point when you dive into the lyrics about the visceral and raw elements of making sweet love. Wrap it all up in a melody and a beat that makes you want to drive very fast down the open road and you'll be wrapping yourself in the American flag in no time.
4.) MGMT "Electric Feel" - MGMT was another buzz band that lived up to their billing. A lot of music played on synthesizers ends up sounding like its been run through a computer and filtered into bleak dystopia. It's just what happened because Bowie and Eno and their ilk were the first guys to get there and start using these new tools and that's the type of music they make.
What makes MGMT so weird and interesting is they make music about a psychedelic world without technology. They present a conundrum when they use a syntesizer to sound like a "4000 year old Peruvian flute" as Andrew VanWyngarden says in the behind the scenes video to this song. For forever the idea of more authentic and earthy music is that which is played on instruments made of wood. (See: any coffee shop this Friday or Saturday) Yet here are these two guys working with The Flaming Lips' producer to make a song about a girl from The Amazon who can create electricity from her hands. It's the type of music which appeals to your head, your heart and of course your ears.
5.) Broken Social Scene "Churches Under The Stairs" - When I think about concerts I saw this last year I'll think of the peak performances. From Pitchfork Music Festival to Lollapalooza to Rocktober to a set of shows on either side of Snelling on University to a few more great shows at First Ave, I saw a lot of really great live music this year.
Broken Social Scene contributed a large part of that great live music. I saw them not once, not twice but three times this year and each time my love for them deepened even further. Each concert was like a date. On the first date at Lollapalooza I got a quick brush-up on their sound and an introduction to some of the songs I didn't know. The second date later that evening at The Metro was confirmation that first blush wasn't a misread on my part. Then by the excellent concert of a third date at First Ave during Rocktober I had made my decision and I was wearing my good underwear. I fell for this band the way you're supposed to; by seeing them in their peak moment and being rewarded as you do.
6.) Flobots "Handlebars" - This song gives me an opportunity to give shoutouts and for wildly different reasons. First I have to shoutout Willibuster, Ghost and Emily Osby. When I was visiting home during August, we were hanging out with one of Will's high school friends and the night devolved into what most parties usually do with all of us sitting around looking up stuff on YouTube. It was even Will himself who pulled up the video for this song and every time I hear this song or watch the video I think of chilling with those three.
The other person I get to shoutout is K10. Eight years younger than me and full of opinions, K10 is more than willing to tell me my musical taste sucks and that I've gone soft in my older age. Which is exactly the thing I love about him. Ever said that if you had the opportunity to talk to yourself at a younger age you'd probably just argue about stuff? I don't have to imagine what that would be like to argue music with my younger self because of this guy. Except my younger self really likes The Flobots. "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens his friend."
Additional shoutouts for additional and different reasons to Dan, Patrick, Noha, Luke, Pete, Peder, Jim, Abby, Stensby, Christian, Nicky, SayRock Brian, Ed, TK and all the people that were at Doomtree Blowout. Thanks for making "going to shows" the new black in '08. Let's go get them swimming pools in '09.
7.) The Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend To Dance With You" - Guess "What?". Yet another buzz band that lived up to their billing was The Black Kids. I got this CD during the month I was subletting in Evanston and it was just a matter of having heard about them a lot on the periphery and finally taking the whole CD plunge. It really is amazing doing that worked out so well for me this year.
Okay, what do The Black Kids sound like? It's like The Cure was brought to the 21st Century and decided to write in the "Just Like Heaven" mode. That mournful quality is still there as are the crazy good synth lines. The difference is Robert Smith is playing with The Revolution and that means really danceable sped-up songs underneath the heartache and loss. It literally is the type of music which can be called 1980s retro and not have that be a derisive term.
8.) The Hold Steady "Stay Positive" - Is there any greater summation of the year of Our Lord two thousand and eight than "You gotta stay positive!"? Yeah, things went into the trash this year. At the same time a new era is dawning. Things are always darkest before the dawn and sometimes things are so bad the only place we have to go is up. In 2008, we all had to stay positive or else we'd lose our minds. But by staying positive we'll see ourselves through.
Now pour that over the type of big anthemic hooks that Springsteen and U2 only stumble upon anymore and you have a song you actually can listen to and come out feeling positive and part of something larger. The song isn't suggesting that we stay positive and then leaving us to figure out how to do that. It is infused with the raw energy and mass needed to sustain and to even see the way through to thriving. It doesn't move you in the usual way of touching your heart. It should swell in you the defiant walking-into-the-wind attitude needed to tough things out. Because, as I said before, this year more than ever you gotta stay positive.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Take It Off And Keep It Off
This time last year I weighed over 300 pounds. Not a lot over but over. I was having difficulty with my back and my feet. Even climbing the three flights of stairs into our apartment would wind me. Want some photographic evidence? Okay, here's me on NYE last year.
Now compare to this picture taken at my sister's wedding in September. Much better right?
When I stepped on the scale today I weighed 260 pounds and I've been as low as 252. That means in the last year I've lost 40-some pounds and more importantly have been able to keep it off. My back and feet are feeling better, I can feel the additional muscle I've picked up (the key to weight loss) and I don't get winded anymore. Even when I'm on the treadmill at the gym I'm chugging along breathing naturally.
The key to my plan is pretty simple. I plan to do much more than I need to do. Then when I do it is in excess and does even more good than I need it to and when I don't do as much as I planned I still have done enough to do what I need to do. If I plan to go five times a week and I only go three times, it isn't the end of the world nor do I lose ground.
The most important element though is getting to brag about losing a lot of weight. Listen, I'm probably never going to summit Everest or hit a major league curveball and chances are neither are you. That's just life. It's the little challenges you take upon yourself to complete which end up defining your life. Being able to tell people you took on something like this and triumphed makes its own gravy. It becomes a loop of success and praise which reinforces itself over and over.
The easy way out on my personal health would be to do what I did for most of my twenties and just act like it didn't matter. What did I give a fuck for? It's the little challenges though and succeeding on something like this can only pay off in other situations down the line. All in all, it's about changing your ethic. Once you do that you can make bigger changes in your life, changes that will make losing 40 pounds into no big deal.
Now compare to this picture taken at my sister's wedding in September. Much better right?
When I stepped on the scale today I weighed 260 pounds and I've been as low as 252. That means in the last year I've lost 40-some pounds and more importantly have been able to keep it off. My back and feet are feeling better, I can feel the additional muscle I've picked up (the key to weight loss) and I don't get winded anymore. Even when I'm on the treadmill at the gym I'm chugging along breathing naturally.
The key to my plan is pretty simple. I plan to do much more than I need to do. Then when I do it is in excess and does even more good than I need it to and when I don't do as much as I planned I still have done enough to do what I need to do. If I plan to go five times a week and I only go three times, it isn't the end of the world nor do I lose ground.
The most important element though is getting to brag about losing a lot of weight. Listen, I'm probably never going to summit Everest or hit a major league curveball and chances are neither are you. That's just life. It's the little challenges you take upon yourself to complete which end up defining your life. Being able to tell people you took on something like this and triumphed makes its own gravy. It becomes a loop of success and praise which reinforces itself over and over.
The easy way out on my personal health would be to do what I did for most of my twenties and just act like it didn't matter. What did I give a fuck for? It's the little challenges though and succeeding on something like this can only pay off in other situations down the line. All in all, it's about changing your ethic. Once you do that you can make bigger changes in your life, changes that will make losing 40 pounds into no big deal.
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Life of Pi
I often refer to Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" as the best book I ever read. My favorite novel is F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" while the most difficult book I've read is "The Sound and The Fury" by William Faulkner. (It only took me three tries.) Still I consider "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" the best book because of what it stirred in me.
It was more than just a simple appreciation for the method by which the author told the story or an affinity for the characters. It was a deep connection between myself and the ideas of the book on a spiritual level. I found it encapsulated not only the world I lived in or the world I wanted to live in but both at the same time.
Since I finished "Unbearable Lightness" at the end of summer 2003, I've read a lot of really good books like "Ender's Game", "Good Omens" and "A Long Way Down." But there have only been two books which approached the incredibly high level of "Unbearable Lightness."
The first was a Spanish book called "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Set in Barcelona during the years after the war, it tells a Gothic story of a young boy whose father owns a used bookstore. His father takes him to The Cemetary of Forgotten Books where he discovers a book by Julian Carax. However when he goes searching for other works by Carax, he finds that someone has been systematically destroying all copies of Carax's work. It enthralled me to the point that I was very upset when I went to Amazon and found Zafon had not written any other books.
The other book up to "Unbearable Lightness" standards is the one I just finished, "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Telling the story of a young Indian boy who finds him tossed from the proverbial pan of a shipwreck into the fire of a lifeboat inhabited by a Bengal tiger, it's more a novel about the place of Man in the world.
When the action is taking place in Pondicherry, India the emphasis is on the relation of God to Man. It specifically explores religious pluralism as the main character simultaneously adopts Christianity and Islam while retaining his Hindu beliefs. Multiculturalism is still a relatively new idea so it's interesting to watch it seep from the Ivory Tower of academia into the mainstream via books like "Life of Pi."
Still the hook of the book is the section taking place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As great as it is to read about this kid following many paths to the top of the same mountain, my constant thought was "This was really great AND there's a part coming up involving this boy and a tiger in a lifeboat." It's interesting to watch the story slide quickly down Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Where the Indian boy was interested in God and self-actualization in the first section, his focus slides quickly into pure survival. Man's place in the world is re-framed as he has to take on a direct (the tiger) and indirect (the sea) threat to his life from Nature.
Finally the way it all wraps up is beautiful. Like its predecessors before it, the ending was everything I could've expected while reading the book. It encapsulates the ideas I have as well as the ideas I'm moving towards and that meant the book carried a lot of weight for me. It's definitely a book which requires a lot of consideration and that's the best thing you can say about a book. Quite simply put it's the best book I've read since at least "The Shadow of the Wind" and maybe even "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
It was more than just a simple appreciation for the method by which the author told the story or an affinity for the characters. It was a deep connection between myself and the ideas of the book on a spiritual level. I found it encapsulated not only the world I lived in or the world I wanted to live in but both at the same time.
Since I finished "Unbearable Lightness" at the end of summer 2003, I've read a lot of really good books like "Ender's Game", "Good Omens" and "A Long Way Down." But there have only been two books which approached the incredibly high level of "Unbearable Lightness."
The first was a Spanish book called "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Set in Barcelona during the years after the war, it tells a Gothic story of a young boy whose father owns a used bookstore. His father takes him to The Cemetary of Forgotten Books where he discovers a book by Julian Carax. However when he goes searching for other works by Carax, he finds that someone has been systematically destroying all copies of Carax's work. It enthralled me to the point that I was very upset when I went to Amazon and found Zafon had not written any other books.
The other book up to "Unbearable Lightness" standards is the one I just finished, "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Telling the story of a young Indian boy who finds him tossed from the proverbial pan of a shipwreck into the fire of a lifeboat inhabited by a Bengal tiger, it's more a novel about the place of Man in the world.
When the action is taking place in Pondicherry, India the emphasis is on the relation of God to Man. It specifically explores religious pluralism as the main character simultaneously adopts Christianity and Islam while retaining his Hindu beliefs. Multiculturalism is still a relatively new idea so it's interesting to watch it seep from the Ivory Tower of academia into the mainstream via books like "Life of Pi."
Still the hook of the book is the section taking place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As great as it is to read about this kid following many paths to the top of the same mountain, my constant thought was "This was really great AND there's a part coming up involving this boy and a tiger in a lifeboat." It's interesting to watch the story slide quickly down Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Where the Indian boy was interested in God and self-actualization in the first section, his focus slides quickly into pure survival. Man's place in the world is re-framed as he has to take on a direct (the tiger) and indirect (the sea) threat to his life from Nature.
Finally the way it all wraps up is beautiful. Like its predecessors before it, the ending was everything I could've expected while reading the book. It encapsulates the ideas I have as well as the ideas I'm moving towards and that meant the book carried a lot of weight for me. It's definitely a book which requires a lot of consideration and that's the best thing you can say about a book. Quite simply put it's the best book I've read since at least "The Shadow of the Wind" and maybe even "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
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