Just a question

I have been wondering a good bit lately about the place of social networking and blogs in our current culture. It seems to me that more and more everyone is becoming more self involved. Though I don't really think self involved is the best way to put it. It seems like people feel this weird compulsion to document nearly everything they do in one place or another, as if everything we do is important and some how urgent.

Now I am not arguing against the poetry of day to day life or how beauty can be found in the smallest thing. Far from it. In fact I am not exactly arguing against anything per se. What I am wondering about is whether all of this documentation of every single moment of ones life is really a good thing. I mean see people constantly breaking out their smart phones and checking face book for status updates. Stuff like this has really kind of been an on going problem since mobile communication came along. I call it the, "Always looking for the better party syndrome." In the past you were just out with who you were out with and that was kind of it. I mean you may run into your friends out somewhere and forum a larger group or switch to a different group, but I just believe that had to be more rare then it is now.

I dunno...maybe I am crazy. After what is a blog if not a rambling of my thoughts as if they are important.*

I'll save you the time. They are not important in the slightest

Was in which I am idiot

That 3 miles into a semi long bike I realize that I have forgotten my water bottle at home and that it is in fact 96 degrees outside and that the thermometer in the car was not lying.

Quote of the day/Quick review

Today's funny emotive quote comes from La Dispute off the album Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair. Might I just say this a great record that I have been enjoying a great deal. It gets a bit close to metal at times, but it doesn't bother me. The vocal style is pretty unique (think Me With Out You), but rocking way harder. The lyrics are over all pretty good. They are filled with a bit more hope then the stuff I tend to go for, but I enjoy them.

However let's focus on what brings us here today. There is one part in the album on the song Sad Prayers For Guilty Bodies
"Now, I am thinking of the past and how we both said vows and lied and
I am wondering how we trust ourselves to say a second time:
To have and to hold,
From this day and onward,
For better and for worse,
For richer and for poorer,
In sickness or in health,
To love and to cherish
Till death do us part? "

I mean that is comedy. Imagine that screamed in a very serious manner. It was great. Check out the album. It truly is a great listen. Really tech instrumentation throughout the whole record with lots of great tempo and time shifts.

Quote of the day

And the over the top emotive quote of the day that for some reason like goes to Lemuria for the line, "When I lost everything, you offered Jesus. Didn't seem like a fair trade at all."

Thoughts on Cultivating A Sports Fan

Every so often when I allow myself I wonder what it would be like to have kids. I have no real interest in having them, but it's fun to think about sometimes. I think about what books I would like them to read, what films would be interesting, how it would feel when they achieve something that they care about and worked for. This are simple harmless idle thoughts. The thought that seems to come up the most to me though is what sports and teams would I try and convince them to watch and enjoy.*

I have always felt like my sports fandom was missing something because I never had a team that my family carried about. Both my dad and my brother are sports polygamist. I find this idea to be disgusting. I have long said that you pick a team and that's it. You root for that team forever not matter what.**

Most kids inherit their teams from their parents, or at least that is how it has always seemed to me. But, I often wonder about the kids who grew up in families that didn't really watch sports or who were fans of the ilk of my dad and brother. How do these kids go about connecting with a sport or a team?

I remember when I was growing up that Wimbledon use to be on HBO. My parents both worked and so I had tons and tons of free time during the days of summer to myself. Wimbledon became appointment viewing for the majority of my youth. Even today I can't help but watch if Wimbledon is on, and I don't mean watch a few minutes, I mean watch hours of it.

How do you get that sort of brand loyalty out of someone exactly? I often hear about how baseball is not getting new fans and such. I think there are a TON of reasons for this, but maybe one of them is that it isn't on enough. I know that sounds a bit crazy. You have the ESPN Monday night game, the ESPN Wednesday Night Game, The MLB Network Thursday Night Game, The Fox Saturday Day Game**, The MLB Nework Saturday Night Game, The TBS Sunday Day Game, and last (but certainly not least) The ESPN Sunday night baseball game. And of course you have whatever game is on your local RSN, possible a cubs or white sox game on WGN, and in the past a Braves game on TBS.***

However I really don't think that's enough games on. I mean it's a TON of games, there is no doubt about it, but half of the games are fairly uninteresting and b/c of national start times tend to lead to an East Coast bias of what games are shown. I have found that with baseball the announcers do a fairly poor job of actually explaining the game. I mean not the high level stuff of throw ball, hit ball, catch ball. I mean the more subtle stuff of why a pitcher choose to throw which pitch there, why the defense is aligned the way it is. More of the game with in a game stuff. I think to do that and to really drive it home you need to show more games.

Now, I know there is a ZERO chance of what I am suggesting happening, but why not have more day games? I know the big money for the teams is games at night, but if you truly want the sport to grow, why not show the games during the day and really suck in the younger audience who is at home doing nothing all summer? I think if baseball could some how get that demographic then they would be set. The younger you suck a fan in the better.

In the past baseball was able to do this with stuff like baseball cards, but those have essentially gone the way of the Dodo. So I am wondering if MLB could work out some sort of deal to have all day games televised in all every market. It would be costly and odds are they would lose some money, but it could create some life long fans. I dunno, the idea is pretty damn pie in the sky, but all I know is that I still watch tennis, and I am not even what you would call a tennis fan.

*And by try I mean force.

**Baring them moving or doing something truly unforgivable like signing A-Roid

***Not really sure if they do that anymore or not. My gut says no, but I wonder if they are on a different channel b/c I live in their "region"...

Lemuria: Get Better

Lemuria's Get Better is a great pop record. It is a no frills power pop record. This is the type of record I don't spend nearly enough time with. It's the kind of record that when one of the songs comes up on shuffle you can't help but think, "Why don't I listen to this all the time?" I think the main reason I don't spend enough time with records of this ilk is simply because so much of it seems boring, but this band is anything but boring. Almost all the songs are up beat and catchy with very simple lyrics*. If your looking for a fun sing along record, then I highly suggest Lemuria's 2008 release Get Better.*


*When I say simple i don't mean simplistic. I mean often repeated. The lyrics deal with the usual themes. Love, Love Lost, Friends, Day to Day life, and so forth.

*Don't worry by the way, a slew of emo and hardcore reviews are coming. I have by no means forgotten my roots.

Owen: At Home With Own

Let's try something new. See I have not bothered to write words at all in so long that I fear that I may lose the skill. So, with that crippling fear driving us forward, how about some record reviews? I have recently gotten into buying and listening to music again* So the first batch of new records arrived on my door Saturday. First up Owen - At Home With Owen

Some quick background on the Owen. Owen is a group out of Chicago IL. The members have done a zillion other bands that they would probably prefer people not to mention in reviews.* Plus framing bands in the context of all their former bands often times give you the wrong impression and sets expectations in the wrong direction.

Owen play soft indie twee pop. The songs usually center around intricate acoustic guitar playing. There are occasional elements of rock, but over all the band is a soothing listen. The vocals have that classic mid west somewhat off key and yet right in there feel that so many bands from the region have mastered. The lyrical content is great. If you are older guy who has spent anytime on tour, you will be able to relate to a great many songs. Some of my personal favorite lyrics include:

"The free beer and basement shows don't mean what they did.
It's what you do, not who you were,
What you wear, where you've been.
So do something."
This one sums up so many people I have known through the years who are attempting trading on their past glory in bands that almost no one has ever heard of. Trust me, I get how they feel. I sure as hell miss basement shows with bands rocking and screaming. Instead I live in a world where because I have a job where I get up in the morning it means I can't go to rock shows. It sucks and it's painful, but living in the past isn't the answer.

Bad backs and hardwood floors.
I'm so sick of waking up sore and not knowing where I am.
And this was a lot more fun when the music meant something to someone.
And I didn't have a girlfriend.
Basically this one makes me miss everything about tour. Mostly because I have not been touring constantly for a decade plus like the singer.


Over all At Home With Owen is a solid B+ album. It will be in heavy rotation on long night drives for a good while.


And might I just say, that I had no idea how much I missed it.

Let's just say they were in some supper influential indie bands and just move on.