With a handful of partially-written favorite song posts in my draft folder, I noticed that every one currently in the queue was a piece that is over fifteen years old.
To right that wrong is Bon Iver's Re: Stacks, from my favorite record of 2008. as well as one of my perfect Midwestern albums. Arguably the most beautiful and poignant song on an exceptional album, it's full of potent and obscure imagery. Re: Stacks also works as the perfect closing song to the album, ending it on a hopeful note.
Since there is no official video, I'll lean on this fan-produced slideshow put to the song.
I can (and do) play this song over and over again.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Calavera MTB: Dirt and Detritus
I'm pretty fortunate to have a nice trail network less than a mile from home. Carlsbad's Calavera Preserve has a decent network of flowy trails on decomposing trails. I've posted pix and words about the park in the past, but this time I went out to try to discover some new connectors and loops. While riding I came across an old weathered boot...
...which inspired me to take pix of some of the other interesting (to me anyway) old junk that is spread about the preserve. Since this was a ranch prior to the city obtaining it, and, until a few years ago populated with a few migrant camps it's no surprise that one comes across such items. So I dialed up the phone's Hipstamatic app and fired away on the subjects that captivated me.
charred fencepost
nopales
banana palms
John Deere disc harrow
steel w/holes
Corolla
Corolla plate
British roadster
trail, Encina power station and the Pacific
handy ladder bridge
more trail
fridge
cairn
1970s Japanese pickup
a-arm, shock absorber
pickup bed
pickup dashboard
graders, for construction of Carlsbad's new high school
pale painted peeling plywood
tagged chair, describing my mood as of late
shack, view
junkman, watching the trails
self-portrait
...which inspired me to take pix of some of the other interesting (to me anyway) old junk that is spread about the preserve. Since this was a ranch prior to the city obtaining it, and, until a few years ago populated with a few migrant camps it's no surprise that one comes across such items. So I dialed up the phone's Hipstamatic app and fired away on the subjects that captivated me.
charred fencepost
nopales
banana palms
John Deere disc harrow
steel w/holes
Corolla
Corolla plate
British roadster
trail, Encina power station and the Pacific
handy ladder bridge
more trail
fridge
cairn
1970s Japanese pickup
a-arm, shock absorber
pickup bed
pickup dashboard
graders, for construction of Carlsbad's new high school
pale painted peeling plywood
tagged chair, describing my mood as of late
shack, view
junkman, watching the trails
self-portraitFriday, November 12, 2010
Dean & Britta Perform Galaxie 500
Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips and band played Anthology in San Diego Wednesday night. Dean was the driving force behind both Galaxie 500 and Luna and has been one of my favorite musical artists for twenty years and on this tour he prominently featured the music of Galaxie 500.
Galaxie 500 split up in 1990, but their brand of dream pop made them one of the pivotal indie rock bands, with a unique sound has influenced others over the following decades.
My friend Jen and I were able to score some decent seats at Anthology in San Diego. More of a jazz club, this long-and-narrow contemporary venue offered surprisingly good sound, considering all of the reflective surfaces present.
Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the single condenser mic on my phone didn't capture the sound in all of its glory. Somewhat muddy and flat, the videos below sound as if they are coming from an AM radio.
Blue Thunder, from On Fire (1989), written about Dean's 1975 Dodge Dart:
Tugboat, Galaxie 500's 1988 debut single (as well as my favorite Galaxie 500 song):
Fourth of July, my second favorite Galaxie 500 song, from This Is Our Music (1990):
Tiger Lily, a fantastic Luna song from Bewitched (1994):
Ceremony, a Joy Division/New Order cover capped the night with sonic brilliance (sadly not captured by the crappy mic on the phone):
Galaxie 500 split up in 1990, but their brand of dream pop made them one of the pivotal indie rock bands, with a unique sound has influenced others over the following decades.
My friend Jen and I were able to score some decent seats at Anthology in San Diego. More of a jazz club, this long-and-narrow contemporary venue offered surprisingly good sound, considering all of the reflective surfaces present.
Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the single condenser mic on my phone didn't capture the sound in all of its glory. Somewhat muddy and flat, the videos below sound as if they are coming from an AM radio.
Blue Thunder, from On Fire (1989), written about Dean's 1975 Dodge Dart:
Tugboat, Galaxie 500's 1988 debut single (as well as my favorite Galaxie 500 song):
Fourth of July, my second favorite Galaxie 500 song, from This Is Our Music (1990):
Tiger Lily, a fantastic Luna song from Bewitched (1994):
Ceremony, a Joy Division/New Order cover capped the night with sonic brilliance (sadly not captured by the crappy mic on the phone):
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Storm The Beach CX
A few pix from the cyclocross race I "competed" (to use the term lightly) in on Sunday.
I'm on the left below, this other racer and I had a good battle going back and forth for a few laps. It all started when he tried to pass me in deep sand, deep enough to catch his front wheel and sending him over the bars into me. I didn't crash, but was just left with a greasy imprint of his chainring on my calf. We swapped positions a few times, but I finally succumbed to him on the fifth lap after tripping up in a sand pit. He pulled away and was able to put some distance on me.
I'm not in the image below, but it shows the stretch of Red Beach that was traversed. By the time my group went out, the tide was a bit lower, leaving us more real estate to race on.
In the end I paid $45 ($35 entry + $10 one-day UCI license) to suffer for 46 minutes and six seconds. At least it was less than a buck a minute. Still, I managed to finish in the top ten (well, 10th out of 14) in the Masters 35+ Cat 1/2/3. I thought the Masters category would be a bit easier than the open 1/2/3 that I raced last year. Not so, as I lined up against a few retired pro mountain bikers and a one-time national track champ.
Maybe I'll do better next year. Or not.
Second and third pix swiped from the SoCal Cross Flickr page.
Storm The Beach is held on Camp Pendleton's Red Beach. Not a very cyclocrossy venue, but beautiful nonetheless. I also did this race last year......
I'm on the left below, this other racer and I had a good battle going back and forth for a few laps. It all started when he tried to pass me in deep sand, deep enough to catch his front wheel and sending him over the bars into me. I didn't crash, but was just left with a greasy imprint of his chainring on my calf. We swapped positions a few times, but I finally succumbed to him on the fifth lap after tripping up in a sand pit. He pulled away and was able to put some distance on me.
I'm not in the image below, but it shows the stretch of Red Beach that was traversed. By the time my group went out, the tide was a bit lower, leaving us more real estate to race on.
In the end I paid $45 ($35 entry + $10 one-day UCI license) to suffer for 46 minutes and six seconds. At least it was less than a buck a minute. Still, I managed to finish in the top ten (well, 10th out of 14) in the Masters 35+ Cat 1/2/3. I thought the Masters category would be a bit easier than the open 1/2/3 that I raced last year. Not so, as I lined up against a few retired pro mountain bikers and a one-time national track champ.Maybe I'll do better next year. Or not.
Second and third pix swiped from the SoCal Cross Flickr page.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Five Perfect Things - Footwear
Converse All-Star slip-ons
Blundstone Original 500 boots
Reef flip-flops
Sock Guy socks
Nothing at all
Reef flip-flops
Sock Guy socks
Nothing at all
Monday, November 1, 2010
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