reclining on an ocean swell

Night two--the Short of It.

And if last night was musically mesmerizing, tonight was SO MUCH FUN. OMG.

They opened semi-acoustic (accordion, stand-up bass, guitar, snare and banjo/mandolin/tambourine) in a small semi-circle in the center of the stage, and the first five songs? Easy to remember, as you may catch a pattern...

Oceanside
Shiny
My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist
Angel, Won't You Call Me?
I Don't Mind

*heh* No Apology Song, though. Colin totally failed on the lyrics to "Trapeze" at the end of the first verse (everything from "And there in the half-light..." till "fall of the Reich," which he did remember). Colin was pretty amusing all night, actually, but I'll get to more of that in a second, after I try to piece together as much of the rest of the setlist as I can remember...

O Valencia!
Billy Liar
The Soldiering Life
Eli, the Barrow Boy (w/ hurdy-gurdy)
Leslie Anne Levine
The Engine Driver
Yankee Bayonet (w/ Laura Veirs, as one would expect)
Culling of the Fold (OMG WTF)
The Perfect Crime #2
The Chimbley Sweep
***
A Cautionary Song
After the Bombs (!!!) / Ask (Smiths cover)

...yeah, I think that's about it. So, as you may note: two Crane Wife bonus tracks! Colin went NUTS during "Culling"--he wasn't playing a guitar, so he wandered up and down the front of the stage, wrapping the mic cord around and around himself and manhandling various audience members in the front row, entreating them to "Cut 'em up boy [or girl]"... Then, at the end of the song, he leapt up on the amp in front of John's drum kit but promptly lost his balance, so the song ended rather abruptly with his crashing down on the cymbals and winding up in John's lap. hee.

I was closer to the front tonight, which was very helpful during the audience "dance contest" that ensued during "Crime" (no winners--"Everybody wins at a Decemberists concert!" nyuk, nyuk) and the Colin/Chris "dance contest" during "Chimbley" after they ceded their respective guitars to two audience members they hauled up onstage. !!! This is why I need to practice guitar--you never know when you'll be forced to improvise--onstage--with one of your favorite bands. I would've thoroughly embarrassed myself with my meager chops.

"Cautionary" was fantastic, not just because John and Chris paraded past me twice, but also thanks to "an historical reenactment of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in the middle of the crowd, with various audience members as thugs and Chris/Capone meeting his demise not from the machine guns that killed Malone/John, nor the "meteor" that killed Capone's thugs, but rather an ingrown toenail infection. Oh, the humanity!

I just love this band. Seeing them = so much unabashed joy. I think they're the best bang for your concert buck touring these days, and trust me when I say I've seen a show or ten. I honestly think the only reason I'm NOT following them around is because my silly little law school responsibilities won't let me. (Oh, and because it would be wildly expensive, and because I don't have a car.) But still. GO TO THIS TOUR. Jaci, you may have awhile to wait, but oh, it will be worth it (I'll be curious to hear how they switch up the Short of It).

...and I'm not ashamed to admit that I may have sung snippets of the "Chimbley" chorus to myself all the way home from the Chicago brown line stop, which, STUPID RED LINE RUNNING ABOVE GROUND ARRGH. But not even that, nor my lack of jacket in 52-degree weather, could keep these spirits down. No sirree.

the tides all come and go

Just came from "The Long of It," the first night of the Decemberists' double-header here in Chicago--as well as the first night of their fall tour. And I was skeptical about this evening, because while I think every single one of their more epic songs sound better live, my very favorites are the shorter ones.

Boy oh boy, was I wrong. That was one HELL of a show.

For starters, it took them well over an hour to play 5 songs. !!! Here's the setlist (easy to remember):

The Crane Wife 1, 2 + 3
The Island
The Bagman's Gambit
California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade
The Tain
I Was Meant for the Stage
***
Echoes (Pink Floyd)
The Mariner's Revenge Song

I don't think I forgot anything... time limit cutoff for "long" was 8 minutes, but the average was probably 12-15 min per song. They didn't stop between the Crane Wife suite and the Island, and afterward Colin admitted, "Um, maybe that was a bad idea to open with those. I'm exhausted." He then proceeded to say that there wouldn't be much banter on the Long of It nights due to the excess of music, and that there wouldn't be much drinking, either. John chimed in that perhaps the shows should have been called "The Long of It and the Drunk of It!" heh. I'm eager to see how tomorrow evening goes.

But seriously, they tore it up tonight. Songs that once upon a time I didn't much care for (e.g., "Stage") were incredible. The Pink Floyd cover was unbelievable. And I closed my eyes during "California One" and imagined driving along both that eponymous highway as well as the western coast of Ireland, and no matter how stressed out I was about the loss of my wallet, the upcoming MPRE, the paper I'm behind on, tomorrow's presentation or the reading I'm not going to have time to do... it was worth it to spend a couple hours with some of my favorite musicians.

It'll be worth missing Ethics tomorrow, too. Everything I learned about professional responsibility (revenge, duplicity, theft...) I learned from the Decemberists? Hmm.

just a little strapped for cash

My wallet got stolen on the train today.

People suck. And I loathe the CTA even more now.

boola boola

Oh, the things you find amusing at 2:30am after editing for six straight hours (with probably another 15 hours of editing to go; thankfully, not all tonight):

I only just this moment realized that, in this issue, we are publishing authors with the last names Morse and Stiles. HA! I love it!

...yeah, I really have been at this too long. sigh.

smoke and mirror lockdown

R.E.M.'s first-ever live album and DVD came out yesterday. I can't speak for the DVD, but Paste is streaming the album, and ohh, it is good. Very, very good. Especially the newer stuff, which I have long attested sounds downright rocking in concert, even if it suffers from excessive production on the albums. I nearly got giddy when "Bad Day" came up, and when I say that hearing "So Fast, So Numb" performed live was a life-changing moment, I do not mean it lightly.

And though it might not be as life-changing for you on CD, the new album has a pretty darn good approximation thereof. Ohh, I hope they tour next year--and more importantly, I hope I can go...

It's odd--ten years ago, R.E.M. was not my favorite band. They probably weren't even my fifth-favorite band. I liked them, I liked them a lot, for sure--but now? It's like I'm caught in a musical feedback loop or something, because I love them more with each passing year. Old stuff, new stuff, popular stuff, used-cd-bargain-bin stuff (yes, Monster, I'm looking at you)--they can do no wrong in my book.

So maybe you shouldn't take my effusive praise of their live album at face value, since I'm admittedly a biased source--but that's why you should stream it for yourself! It's free--and who doesn't love free? With a song that "takes place in the beautiful state of Ohio"? (Yeah, yeah, it's about the Cuyahoga river on fire--a shoutout is a shoutout.)

be safe, be safe

I have Challengers, and it is good.

I haven't listened to it closely yet--just had it on in the background while I made scallops, but what I heard, I loved--especially the title track, which I keep listening to on repeat. Melancholy, gorgeous. And once more, I covet Neko's voice (and her hair, if we're being honest)--she can make so much noise with seeming effortlessness. I'm very much looking forward to seeing her and the rest of the New Pornographers on Thursday evening.

Till then, here's the video for "Challengers"--kind of a fill-in-the-blanks yourself deal, but I like the old-timey coloring. And the goo.

tiny giants made of tinier giants

Mostly a post for other people:

Bruce, thank you for the heroic link a little while back. I stayed up till 4:30 am watching episodes last night (can't... stop... am about to watch 1x13) and it's helping already with the plot for this season (though I will admit to being a little mixed up about what I remember happening from season 1 versus what's already happened in season 2).

And just as you win some, you lose some--I fear you and I will differ wildly in our reactions to Patrick Smith's latest column, but I for one am glad SOMEone out there is vocalizing the very complaints I have time and again with the present state of airport security, even if there's (sadly) little that can be done to rectify the system (no political incentive, as Mr. Smith points out). I've noticed myself that the security threat level is still "Orange!" over a year after the liquid terror of aught-six, which, what's the point? We will NEVER be at a state of blue or green or whatever on the silly little chart. We might never even see yellow again. It's fear-mongering, meaningless bullsh*t that should be eliminated. Spend your resources on improving high-level intelligence to catch terrorists BEFORE they arrive at the airport, please.

Also, I appreciate the browser recommendations--but Scott, you of all people should know that your fine company stopped supporting MSIE for Macs two versions ago. I actually wouldn't mind having a working version of MSIE 7--it would make my law school/Sharepoint symbiotic experience a lot easier. More pressingly, however, I would like a full updated version of the MS Office suite for Mac OS--they're still retailing the '04 edition, which is quaint, but a little ridiculous considering how often most applications are revamped. You may not have my OS loyalties, but you'll always be tops in my book when it comes to text documents and spreadsheets, so please--return the love?

my hat looks good on me

Ok, so maybe the last post wasn't so compelling. How about this one:

I am officially certified to mediate in Illinois through the Center for Conflict Resolution!

*raises roof*

This means I can take the Mediation Practicum next semester and actually help people with real disputes. Apparently the CCR model gets results about 50% of the time, which is still pretty impressive for half-hour short form mediations.

This also means I don't have to go to class next week. *raises roof some more*

So if you need someone to facilitate discussion of a disagreement, I'm your girl. (That having been said, I do not advocate picking fights just to give me something to do.)

tomorrow's gaining speed on you

Wow. Haven't blogged yet in October; sorry about that. I think one of the reasons I'm having such a hard time grasping that it's October already is that it doesn't feel like October. I mean, I wore shorts and a t-shirt for the last two days! That's simply unacceptable. It looks like it's starting to get colder, but I can't kick back and enjoy my pumpkin treats if it's above eighty degrees outside, you know?

Anyway. In other fairly insignificant-to-anyone-but-me news, after two years (we're coming up on the tawny gypsy mac's birthday in a couple weeks!) I think I'm ditching the Safari browser in favor of Firefox. Yeah, yeah. woo freaking hoo. I'm not a huge fan of the Firefox default font, but in the greater scheme of things, it's a lot more stable than Safari, and important websites (like LexisNexis) finally work correctly. Transferring my bookmarks is going to be a hassle... oh, wait, I can import them. heh. Me + technology = a fierce combination, for sure.

This may qualify as the lamest blog post ever. Sorry kids. I think I meant to write about music or something, possibly about hearing R.E.M.'s "Electron Blue" in the Apple Store today while the Boy bought a new Shuffle, an event which prompted a sudden, fierce desire to listen to Around the Sun (which is fairly notable, as I haven't given it much airtime since 2004). But now you know a) I'm still alive, b) I would like some colder weather, please, and c) I'm getting used to Firefox (...again; used it all the time on Ye Olde PCe Laptoppe in days of yore).

...except the links in the Bookmarks Bar at the top of my browser window just disappeared and are now refusing to come back. There really is no such thing as the perfect browser, is there? Alas.

i should listen to the broadcast

Holy crap, but my iPod is on a roll.

I've talked about it before, but the new TMBG album? SOLID. Seriously great, a return to form after the mixed results of "The Spine" (which, to be fair, hold up better with age than I expected). And as I walk in to my apartment, "Take Out the Trash" comes on, and seriously? I LOVE THE FLANS SONGS ON THIS ALBUM. This is a HUGE revelation from a Linnell girl. I *heart* It's Fun to Steal, but that was, like, ten years ago, and every song on The Else is at least as fun as "Hillbilly Drummer Girl," or "Night Security." And Linnell redeems himself with "The Mesopotamians," which is as great a way to end an album as I can come up with. I talked tonight about how they were my first tape, my first concert, and still my first musical love, over fifteen years after hearing them for the first time. I'm just grateful they're still around making music.

So anyway, then the iPod went to Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone," and now? "8675309!"

ok, so maybe I'm a little giddy after a great night of drinks and dinner out with friends. But my iPod is matching my mood step for step.

I've got it! I've got it! I've got it! For a good time--for a good time CAAAALLLLL!

*trundles off to watch Ugly Betty online*

(also, have I mentioned how much I love the Oppenheimer album? It's fantastic. You need to own it. Like, now. Go, I won't be offended.)

(also pt. 2, I do like the Linnell songs, too, as "Climbing the Walls" just reminded me. Now I'm done, chewing my nails, hanging my head, chasing my tail...)

edited to add: I also meant to gush a little bit about the new Fountains of Wayne. Because it, too, is awesome. And I won tickets to see the Pipettes next Tuesday night, so it really is my lucky day. Hooray!

travel down the road and back again

So, I've long maintained to the Boy that I can cook, I just choose not to cook. Because I get busy, or I get too hungry to take the time to do much, or it's uninspiring to cook for one person. But I found a recipe in one of the newspapers my 'rents sent me for Baked Scallops with Spicy Peanut Topping, and it sounded great. So I clipped it, and when I went to the store yesterday, decided to go for it, because I had a little spare time and wanted to eat something non-microwaved for a change. The recipe calls for a pound and a half of scallops, but I went with just a pound, which is about right for two people. I'm not much of a foodblogger, but these were easy and tasty, and quick to prepare for the impatient, so I'm sharing.

1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops
1/3 C unseasoned bread crumbs
1/3 C salted, roasted peanuts
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (WHY have I never purchased my own fresh ginger before? SO GOOD)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Coat bottom of a shallow 9-in round cake pan with olive oil. Arrange the scallops in a single layer in the pan. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine the breadcrumbs, peanuts, red pepper flakes, ginger and garlic. Process until they resemble coarse sand. Drizzle in the melted butter and pulse until combined. Use your fingers to sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the scallops. Bake until the scallops are cooked through and the topping is lightly browned, about 12-14 min.

I served them with couscous (again, the miracle side dish for the impatient) and fresh snow pea pods, and the result was DELICIOUS. And then we watched the Office premiere (ohh, poor Sprinkles--he had so much life left in him) and the Boy suffered through ER (which wasn't that great, honestly), and then we channel-surfed our way to some Frasier repeats and possibly an episode and a half of the Golden Girls. Possibly.

And now I have a kitchen to clean and a lot to do that I haven't even begun to accomplish yet today, PLUS a busy weekend (all day mediation certification tomorrow, the PAWS Run for Their Lives on Sunday--if only I could procure a Support the Rabid band by race time). blerg.

they've shown this on both screens

I've been bemoaning the lack of updates on my blogroll recently, thereby providing me with nothing but excessive refreshing of my Scrabulous profile to distract me from my antitrust reading. Then I realized that I haven't been doing much of the updating myself recently, so think of this as a little bit of good faith pump-priming. If you're reading this and you have a neglected blog, post something! (Or at the very least, challenge me to a game of Scrabble.)

Anyway. I'm pleased to report that the new season of television has not escaped me, and so far I've seen the premieres of the Simpsons (mostly for the intro because I enjoyed the movie so much; the rest of the episode was kind of hit or miss), Family Guy (HA to the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man shoutout), Reaper (funny, a lot of potential--but the female love interest's veneers are verrry distracting), Gossip Girl (it's clearly the OC but in NYC, and I doubt it will stay on my list for long, but I like the VMVOs), and Heroes. I'm taking Heroes with a grain of salt because I have not watched a single episode of season 1, despite meaning to do so all summer, and without Netflix, it's kind of hard. I know enough about the show that I'm not totally lost--but there are definitely people and things going on that are kind of context-less at the moment. I'm hoping either to a) join Netflix and work on my back catalog, especially since my local Blockbuster went belly-up, b) find this stuff online someplace, either streaming or not (help a sister out?), or c) just muddle through for now and get caught up later. You know, in all that infinite spare time of mine.

I'm most excited about tomorrow's shows, though--YAY for Office, Earl, Ugly Betty, Grey's (I'm not watching Private Practice, no matter how much I liked Addison). Oh, and I was excited to see Sammy Jankis in Heroes, mere days after making the Boy watch Memento (which he enjoyed, as I expected).

I could talk about other stuff (like how there's no good way to distinguish between rule of reason and per se standards in antitrust, or how I'm going for Illinois mediation certification so I can mediate in court through the practicum next semester), but TV is infinitely more interesting, right? Right. Now, to watch the Desperate Housewives premiere online...

edited to add: BOO, it's a recap episode of DH. Whatever. There are a bunch of LOST eps online that I never got around to watching last spring, I suppose...

alright already we'll all float on

you heard it here first (or possibly second)--I'm officially sailing on the good ship clerk.

Look out, Toledo--here comes Katty!

(...and don't call me Katty.)

put that cat in the bin

I have SO MUCH to do today.

But instead, I can't tear myself away from a really, really interesting Animal Planet program on big cats in the Serengeti. For instance, did you know that pairs or trios of cheetah males in coalition will flat out kill solitary cheetah males that wander through their territory? It's pretty savage. Cheetahs also prefer the Thompson gazelle to any other meal, and will pass up dead animals (even freshly killed animals) in favor of their own kills.

In fact, they're almost as ruthless as the firetruck...

tell me that you love me more

I have at least 10 things I could be doing right now, so I'll keep this short. I feel bad about my posts of late because there's a lot going on, but either a) it's really not interesting enough to blog about (we got the galley proofs back for journal issue 97-3! I'm reading them RIGHT NOW! I think I might have found an error in a footnote! OMG!!!), or b) it would be great blog fodder, but it's not something I can talk about--like clerkship interviewing. The clerkship stuff will all be over in a week, and I will either a) have a job with a judge or b) not. No stress, you know, whatever. Sigh.

edited to add: inspired by rj3, there is one Judge I CAN talk about...



Seriously, though. How is it nearly halfway through September? Wasn't it just July (July, Julyyyyy)?

Anyway, here's a plug for PAWS Chicago's Run For Their Lives 8K run / 4K walk on Sept. 30. The Boy is doing the run; I'm doing the walk, which makes me feel lame, but lately my left knee has been protesting after about 20 min of running, so I don't think 8K of running will make it any happier. If you have a free afternoon, check out their new facility at 1997 N. Clybourn--it's beautiful, and full of cute, loving animals who need a good home. And if you want to donate to the cause, you can do so here.

I told the Boy that if I got a clerkship, I would reward myself with a cat. And I mean it. Maybe not immediately, maybe not till I move to said clerkship locale, but I really, really want a cat. And seeing the cute little kitty faces at the facility last weekend only strengthened that desire. I just emailed about volunteering at the shelter; I'm sure if I'm around animals every week, then I'll be desensitized and will feel less like having a pet. I mean, that's totally the way it works, right?

everything under the sun

Crazy:

1) Saw a dude across the Southwest terminal at Midway today that I went to college with. It took about twenty minutes of staring at him and racking my brain to figure out who he was and why I recognized him, but eventually I did. And I verified it with a quick check in the yearbook just now. I may not be quick about it, but I'll be damned if I forget a face.

2) However, since I was messing with the yearbook anyway, I checked out what the Boy's ex looked like--nope, still no idea who she is. Huh.

3) While watching Dayton's ABC22 news this evening, I heard at the end of a story, "Reporting by Yunji Denise." And I thought, wasn't someone named Yunji the General Manager of WYBC the year before I was? And though I got the last name wrong (it's "de Nies"), I was right: it's the same person. Small freaking world.

Oh, and in case you were concerned--Foxy is still the cutest, softest, bestest kitty in the world. Yep.

give me a minute and i'll tell you the setup

I am so damn tired.

Back from South Carolina. Lovely wedding. Not so lovely weather for most of it. Lovely delays, first by plane, then by ferry. My bag got inspected by the TSA on the way home. Delta's check-in staff at Midway is horrible, but they still serve free food in flight (peanut butter crackers! hooray).

Tomorrow (er, later today) is the first day of 3L, and I feel woefully unprepared. Not for class, necessarily, but for the onslaught of stuff. I need more vacation. Sigh.

tell him not to come back again

I watched all 3 Bourne movies (for the first time) in less than 24 hours. Now I want to watch a fourth! Right NOW! *stamps foot*

As I was watching the first Bourne, I made some comment to the Boy about how they really found a very Euro-looking woman to play Marie, and kept thinking how much she looked like Lola from Run Lola Run. Then, as the second movie started, it occured to me that Franka Potente is a freaking actress, and that it very well may be and probably is her, and in fact, I was right. Sheesh. The Boy hasn't seen Lola, nor has he seen Memento, which would probably shock and disappoint Marj to no end.

In other news, I have not given up hope on creating a summer mix, and as I have over an hour and a half of iTunes playlist with possible suggestions for said mix, I think I can make this happen. Maybe tomorrow, while doing laundry. I'm finally listening to the new TMBG album, and "Take Out the Trash" (which was totally kick-ass live) suddenly reminded me of Fountains of Wayne's "Strapped for Cash," if only because they rhyme. And maybe they'll go next to each other on the mix. Or maybe they won't. But I'm listening to music again, which is a good start, since that random Mogwai stuff was up on my Last.fm listing for, like, two months. Sorry. I've been listening to a lot of music on my shuffle (like new Wilco and new White Stripes), and that doesn't register with iTunes.

Also, I'm thrilled to be able to read all the wizard-y stuff online now, and thanks for those of you who have already pointed me in the direction of such things. There's a rather lively HP discussion going on at That Other Blog, incredibly spoilery, of course, so if you're looking to air your theories and/or grievances, or just want to read Matt's lengthy take on how HP7 should have ended, check it out.

Anyway, I just spent $90 on a used textbook (blerg--but it was still $50 less than retail) and am feeling a little overwhelmed by all that needs to be done at the moment, so I'm going to retreat. I need more hours in my day. Can someone get to work on making that happen? As well as that fourth Bourne film? Thanks much.

something worth holding on to

oh, MAN. What a great, great concert.

I told you that you wouldn't hear from me till Monday, but I lied. I'm stuffing my apps bright and early tomorrow (er, later today), so everything had to be done, copied and collated by 8pm this evening so I could make my way over to the Dumbledore Double Door to see Fountains of Wayne.

And I am SO GLAD I did. Fun, poppy Chicago-based band Office opened, and they've become a lot tighter in the year since I last saw them. They've got a new album out now, or soon-to-be-out, so I should look into that. Not that I've had time to listen to any of the other seven albums I've gotten in the last six weeks, including the "new" FoW CD I picked up from the merch table this evening. Anyway. Apparently Adam Schlesinger is their label boss, or their mentor, or their harmony god or whatever, and I don't doubt that, because there is NOTHING that man can't do. He is grrrreat. No one sings "shoo-bap shoo-bap" or "sha-na-na-na-na yeah" with as much conviction as he does, and rightly so. Those earnest little pop backup moments are what kill me in FoW's music.

So there was a lot of rocking out to be had, for sure (they ended with a rather ripping rendition of "Go, Hippie," which isn't a song I was expecting to hear), but more importantly, there was some soft rocking-out, in the form of my favorite "Troubled Times," which, oh, my. After the anticlimax of the WTTW taping two years ago and the rather humdrum set from last year's Taste of Chicago, I honestly never expected to hear a deeper album cut like that at their live shows. But they played it, and it was amazing, and I could've died right there--possibly from the sheer loveliness of it all, or possibly because it was 120 degrees inside the venue and I'm back to the land where people SMOKE INDOORS making it even hotter and stuffier and ick. Still, it was absolutely worth it, for me and for the rest of the sold-out crowd--including a lot of older concert-goers, which was surprising and heartening. I mean, I drag my mom to concerts all the time, but it's nice to see other people's moms and dads at shows, even without children in tow.

It's going to be a crrrrazy concert-going autumn--we already have tickets to Wilco and the Decemberists (again! end of October! I love them and cannot possibly get enough), and need to get tix for Of Montreal, the New Pornographers, Nada Surf, Girlyman, possibly Voxtrot if I can swing it, and others I'm very reluctantly passing up for financial and/or scheduling reasons (Kaiser Chiefs, Interpol, Rilo Kiley, Flaming Lips). But this concert set a high bar for the next two months of live shows, no question.

FoW FTW, people. FT freaking W.

voldemort can't stop the rock

I am on vacation. You probably won't hear from me again till post-clerkship stuffing, which promises to be 100% debacle. (Er, that means after Monday, non-law-school folks.)

But I have, finally, only a month late, finished HP7. And yes, Justin, you were right--Harry is... a wizard.

Anyway, I'm ready to talk about it, even though everyone else is all talked out by now, I'm sure. So shoot me an email or make a note in the comments if you want to talk magicky things. And can I just say right now that I was so pleased with myself for calling a major plot point? Erica will back me up. woo! wizards!