The snow is too loud

April 28, 2006

Oh god — there were sooo many good “Random YouTube” findings this week that I didn’t even know what to choose — so it came down to this and an old McDonalds ad. And this wins, because Wes Anderson rules.

It’s in heavy rotation now (I saw it during The Office, last night) but the full 2:00 version is obviously more developed.

“Cut! Not enough smoke and the snow was too loud.”

Tags: Random YouTube, Advertising/Marketing |

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Pets

April 26, 2006

Think about your pets. Think about what they add to your life. Think about all that you do to keep them happy – to keep them safe, and healthy, and in good spirits. Think of all of the idiosyncrasies you’ve grown to love, from the way your dog sprawls out on the arm of the chair in what looks like the most uncomfortable position you’ve ever witnessed to the things your cat piles around the house in little groups like a snow-plow delivering snow to the outskirts of the city.

Today one of my co-workers lost her dog. It ran onto 57th street and was killed.

It happened this morning before work. She came in, though I’m not sure how she managed it. I couldn’t imagine doing that – I’d be a mess. I kept thinking about Becket. About how much of a pain he can be at times, but how I love him all the same – a little fuzz ball that eats, barks and shows unconditional love. With his conditions only.

Isn’t funny how attached we can get to our pets? We consider them subservient, fit to stick into a kennel and keep confined to a fence. We don’t give them any choice in anything they do, and we get mad at them when they follow their natural instincts.

But we do it for their own safety, a classic case of “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” We do it because we really can’t bear to be without them – to the point where vacations can be ruined by the prospect of a lost pet and hours will be wasted looking for a dog that will probably return home on his own.

We love our pets. And we don’t want anything to happen to them.

Think about that. Think about how you care about your pet. Think about how you would feel if one day, out of nowhere, he or she was gone. Think of all the pets that have come and gone. And then think of all the love that was given, and shown by, those pets.

Then think about yours. And remember what he or she means to you.

Tags: On... |

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Earth bound

April 24, 2006

The work is never done. But the feel of the dirt and the smell of foliage fuel a desire to plant. To dig. To grow. The thrill of the release – the sudden slack of a weed pulled completely from the Earth, ready for the garbage, where it won’t get a chance to crowd out the intended flowers and vegetables.

Gardening is a summer long job. Yet, it’s an enjoyable one. Something about grubbing around and working in the sun just to produce a single tomato or solitary flowering plant is insanely rewarding. It could be the feeling of accomplishment. Or, it could be the cold beer and promise of exhausted rest that comes once the job is finished.

For me, it’s a bit of this mixed with a bit of competitive drive. I want my yard to garner praise, to be looked at with admiration as the bevy of walkers trot past our house. I just want it to look nice, really, but it turns into a sort of competition as I struggle to produce a yard with a group of gardens that put the rest of the block to shame. It’s this way in the beginning of the summer.

Every year, however, I realize that I’m fighting a losing battle. I’m working against one of the more beautiful neighborhoods in the city, the McKennan Park district, and I’m going head to head with older, retired couples that have nothing but time or wealthy families who have gardeners. As a DINC family (Double Income, No Children – thank you Kerrie for introducing that term into our lives) we have only the afternoons and weekends to work, and it’s unusual that we do. It’s a hobby, not a way of life. I don’t need to worry about our gardens, or our lawn, as much as I try to in March and April.

Sure, I should probably realize this earlier in the year. To tell you the truth, I am. Each year, earlier and earlier, I let the garden do what it’s going to do without personal worry. There’s no need to lose sleep over it. Things that grow on their own will never be as perfect as I would like, and the earlier I realize this every year, the earlier I can start having fun.

I realized it last night, as I was thinking of everything we needed to do. And now gardening can be fun. It’s only April, and I’ve finally given the Earth a chance to do what it’s supposed to do.

But don’t think I’m going to stop worrying about it. I just won’t let it take over my thoughts while I’m digging around in the dirt.

See? I’m becoming more and more civilized every day.

So let’s hear it for summer – late spring, actually – and everything that it brings. Let’s hear it for nice days, for the patio furniture and for the Weber grill. Let’s hear it for bug spray, for peat moss and for lawn mowers. There’s nothing better than being outside when it’s nice – camping, grilling, reading in the patio chair. Whatever.

Too bad it’s raining outside, eh?

Tags: Outdoors |

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Steinbeck on Random — 4.21.06

April 23, 2006

Let’s get right to it. Steinbeck, take it away.

- - -

1. “Lucky” – Radiohead
OK Computer

Though it’s difficult to pick a favorite from OK Computer, I guess I’d consider this one as mine. I think it has a lot to do with knowing all of the words. All of them. And I understand them, which for this album is usually harder than it sounds.

This is the “plane crashing into the water, please save me Sarah” song, if that helps. I can never tell Radiohead songs from the title, unless it’s something obvious like “Paranoid Android” or “Fake Plastic Trees.” Or “Creep.”

2. “I’m Dancing in the Show Tonight” – Ween
The Mollusk

A throwaway track from Ween’s best album. It seemed to be more of a “look at all the effects we can pull off” – a preview of the album as a whole.

The album, however, is wonderful. Imagine hearing a CD from a band that you marginally cared for and having it completely rework all of your feelings. With The Mollusk, I discovered the brilliance of Ween – their ability to mimic nearly any style, their subtle humor. I was hooked. Doug then had to hold my hand as he guided me through the world of the Boognish.

3. “Hag Seed” – Thirty Ought Six
Hag Seed

I got a promo copy of Hag Seed for Christmas, from Eric. I got it because Jeremy Enigk, of Sunny Day Real Estate, was featured on one of the songs. I rarely listened to anything outside of the two good songs, and I’m really quite curious how this ended up on the iPod. A one hit emo wonder, like The Casket Lottery and Forstella Ford. Another “what is this song doing on here” pick is coming up in a few songs.

4. “Rhyme the Rhyme Well” – Beastie Boys
To The 5 Boroughs

Beastie Boys, retro style. It’s one of the few songs off of the new album that I’ve actually heard a lot – it keeps coming up on random. But I don’t know much about it, so that’s all I can say.

5. “Page” – Farside
Rigged

I find it really surprising that I know any of Farside’s songs. They were the “most normal” of all the old Revelation Records bands – the one band that you wouldn’t be surprised to see opening for the Foo Fighters, but you wouldn’t blink an eye if they opened for Earth Crisis either. Not hardcore, not emo – just rock.

They were really good. And I can never remember a single one of their songs until I hear it. I saw this come up and said to myself “What the hell is this?” Then I listened to it, and I remembered that it was good.

Farside: underappreciated and unknown.

6. “Once In A Blue Moon” – Unwed Sailor
Firecracker

A band that had lots of potential. This may be the third time I’ve listened to this song: the first is when I downloaded it from Napster in college and the second was when I put it on the iPod. Why did I put it on?

I think my original idea in getting an iPod was to create a constant retrospective of every piece of music I’ve ever liked. So, naturally, I put a lot of the random emo stuff that I had picked up here and there (thank you, illicit college file sharing) and when it comes up I find myself confused, as if I never even knew it existed.

7. “Closer to Fine” – Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls

A classic Indigo Girls song. One of the few I recognize. Kerrie and I both have CDs that we push onto the other person – though we share everything, we each have specific tastes, obviously. I would never pull this CD out, just as Kerrie would never bother with The Arcade Fire.

So with that, I’ll admit: I’m not the biggest fan of the Indigo Girls. But some songs have been so imbedded into my mind that I can’t help but like them. This is one, “Galileo” is another. They are good songs. There’s a chance I’d put them on my iPod even if Kerrie wasn’t around.

8. “E. Texas Ave” – The Promise Ring
The Horse Latitudes

The best of all of the 7” singles Promise Ring put out, “E. Texas Ave,” is either #2 or #3 on my all time “Favorite Promise Ring Songs” list. Not to be confused with “Nothing Feels Good,” which starts out “I don’t know East Texas/From Louisiana…”

9. “Spinal Meningitis Got Me Down (live)” – Ween
Live in Chicago

Two Ween songs? Awesome.

Ween is at their best live. This DVD shows it. Even the lame songs sound great live. In fact, some of their earlier stuff is only listenable when it’s live. It’s true – go try to listen to the original version of “Bumblebee.”

Spinal Meningitis has the distinction of being both one of the most uncomfortable songs to listen to and one of the most fun songs to listen to. There’s a skill in developing a song that’s fun, but makes you feel creepy at the same time. This is it. If anyone could do it, it’s Ween.

10. “We Got Pop!” – Patient 957
Blue Letter Band

My friends make it onto the iPod. And they are the only bands that I refuse to skip, regardless of the mood.

I always think about how good Patient 957, or the Blue Letter Band, or whatever they called themselves at a specific point in time, would have been if they kept going – if they recorded something and released it on Dill Records or whatever.

They would have been great. I miss them, often.

And in case you’re curious, the name of the song is from the old TNN tagline – “We’ve Got Pop!” That was when TNN went from The Nashville Network to The National Network. And then to Spike. One of many Patient 957 professional wrestling references.

Tags: Steinbeck on Random, Music |

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Nintendo sixty foooooouuuurrr!

April 21, 2006

Okay. This is it for now.

For now, I said. In the future, YouTube Friday will be a feature on — you guessed it! — Fridays. Every other Friday, that is. So now you’ll be guaranteed a post on Fridays — You Tube Friday one week, Steinbeck on Random the next!

Except for this week — Steinbeck on Random has been figured out, but won’t be posted until tomorrow.

Anyway, back to YouTube.

Chris showed me this when I still worked at CSD. My favorite part is the slow-motion, demon scream.

I was excited when I finally got a Super Nintendo — but this is out of hand. Though, I do love the fact that his sister mimics everything but the screams.

Tags: Random YouTube |