Monday, August 29, 2005

Departure

Suddenly, here it is. Tomorrow's the big day. The wife and I are off at 8am for a couple weeks' vacation in Europe. As ever, the planning has been going on so long that it's hard to believe the trip is actually here.

Our first week will be spent in Paris, taking in the sights and eating untold amounts of amazing food. The bulk of our research for this trip has been spent on where to eat in Paris, so you can bet that most blog entries will center around food.

After Paris, we head to Amsterdam to connect with Gerry and Christina, whose wedding provides the reason for this trip. They'll be tying the knot in Christina's home town of Groningen, on September 10th, but we'll spend a couple days in Amsterdam with them before heading northward.

In Amsterdam, we'll spend Christina's birthday in a pub watching a World Cup qualifying match between Ireland and France, which promises to be a hell of a time. That's Wednesday 9/7, and Thursday I hope to drag someone down to The Paradiso to see Four Tet play a show. Never seen the dude spin live before, but I've had a few of his records on a short leash to my ear for a couple months now, and I can't get enough. We'll see.

One thing's for certain, though: I will be catching Wilco at The Paradiso on Monday 9/12. Gerry and Christina leave for their Tanzanian honeymoon the Sunday after their wedding, but we'll be spending a couple extra days at their place on Bloemgracht before we go home on Wednesday 9/14. How cool, to pretend we live there for a couple days and to just get to hang out like that for a while before coming home.

Sounds like there are some big plans for the wedding days, but I've yet to be privy to those. So, if you're interested, read along over at the other blog, CHess Travel Blog, and see what we're up to.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Morr, American Analog Set, and the Joys of Free Access to New Music

There's no shortage of free music floating around. That we all know. But still, it's always such a great surprise, a happy bonanza, to come across a site where you can get access to loads of music without having to pay for it. Matador's web site is one such place, as is the free downloads section of Pitchfork. And there are tons more.

But as I said, it still gives me a smug version of the warm and fuzzies when I find one that allows me to hear a bunch of stuff I can't otherwise hear. This happened to me today, at the Morr Music site. Morr, for those who may not know, is a German record label responsible for putting out a considerable amount of great electronic and avant garde and experimental music from the likes of Tarwater, Styrofoam, Lali Puna, Masha Qrella, The Notwist, and a mess more.

Now, American Analog Set has joined the Morr roster. I don't know the sequence of events that led me to the Morr site, but somehow I ended up there and was reading that AmAnSet has a new record coming out in September. Sweet! This band has come a long way, from a really enjoyable rock-at-a-snail's-pace outfit of kids in Austin to a well respected and critically lauded rock band. They still assemble the slow narco-jams like few others around, but they've upped the pace and the tone fairly often, and their live show has benefitted greatly from the change.

Right now, you can listen to the whole of the new record, Set Free, on the Morr site. It's a player window, and you can't download any of it, but so what? You can hear the whole thing, one track at a time, front to back, for nothing, while sitting next to your computer. Pretty cool.

While I'm on about it, there are some great tracks up for your downloading pleasure at the Pitchfork page right now. Jump on over and get ya some Bob Mould, Kallakak Family, and Paul Weller to chew on.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Dry Creek

Sunday, not knowing the mercury would rise over 100F by the end of the day, Will and I headed out to ride up Hard Guy to the Ridge Road and then to descend Dry Creek.

4+ hours in the saddle. 27 water crossings.

27.

A great ride. I'm ready for fall.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

March of the Racoons


They came at dusk to the roof of our neighbor's shop, out at the rear of his yard, on the alley. They came masked and ready for action.



First there was a single older racoon.



Then there were four.



They were brazen, stealthy, and hungry. They made a feast of the plums in our neighbor's tree.



There were 6, actually. Old and very young, both. They moved freely from the tree branches to the roof to the steps.






Apparently, they live under his porch and have some sort of agreement with the cats. Plenty of food for all, so no one bothers anyone else.




Well, they all bother Henry. But that's to be expected.




March of the Penguins

If you haven't seen this movie yet, go see it. I caught it last night at The Flicks, by myself even, and I have to say that I loved it. I'm a total sucker for nature docs anyway, but even so, the work that went into getting the footage in this film alone is staggering, to say nothing of the beautiful piece of art they turned it into.

There were flaws, of course: I wasn't wild about Morgan Freeman's narration, nor the script that was given him to read, and I thought the end of the film very rushed compared to the cadence of the rest of it. But really, that's it. The saga laid out long form presented a whole nother side to these freaky birds, painting them as worthy of the highest respect for their strength of body and commitment and their fortitude for making this incredible journey over and over again, all for the sake of a single chick that may or may not even survive.

Check it out. I think it's pretty great when the big summer film is something like this, rather than the newest SchwarzeCruise Crapfest.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Tangents

I'm trying, in my radio show, to explore the tangents of what I like to call indie rock. (Defining indie rock will have to wait for another post: for now, let's just think of it as my own little aesthetic world.) It's in the transitions and contexts that these tangents live. Putting Slint/Paul Newman/Schneider TM in a row; letting a Wilco breakdown lead into a John Fahey exploration; letting Four Tet, Matmos, The Velvet Underground and Isotope 217 bounce around off each other for a while. That's what gets me excited; that's what lets it all fit together in my head.

I do wonder, though, what context people are in while listening to the show. I assume everyone else is sitting at their desk working and listening to it low on crap speakers. Or maybe not. I want your attention, but I'm not going singalong. I want you to hear something that catches your ear and makes you check the player window to see what it is so you can write it down. I want you to have to close your door and turn it way up at least a couple times during the set.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Bridgebuilding

This past weekend I and a few friends hooked up with a trail maintenance effort along Bear River, up in the Boise NF. A volunteer effort headed up by SWIMBA and run through the Trail Crew segment of the Forest Service, the goal of the day was to build a bridge across the Bear River about 2 miles in from the trailhead.

The day went well. We headed out about 10am, hiking to the work site with water and lunch on our backs. It soon became apparent that we'd build two bridges, not one, the first being through a runoff and mud pit just shy of the bridge site.

There were 10 of us total, including 3 pros and 7 volunteers. While logs were sawed and stripped, some of us gathered rocks and began work on the secondary bridge. We cut the banks out and lined them with large rocks, then set 3 cut logs across them. We filled the gaps in with small rocks, then decided it'd be brilliant to pack the center with mud and turf. It worked beautifully. It looks like 2 logs with a strip of grassy earth down the middle. If that thing lasts for some years, it'll be an engineering masterpiece. (If not, well...)

The main bridge was a larger task, two very big logs spanning two other fat logs running parallel to the river. These were anchored at both ends after they were dragged into place by resident mules John and Tony. Holes were drilled, bolts pulled through to secure the two logs, and then handrails went on. We cut it low enough to accommodate a handlebar, of course. Again we filled it in with rocks and stuff, closing the gaps between logs, smoothing things out. By the time we were done the thing came together, solid as a rock, sturdier than I could have imagined. A job well done.

Saturday night, John, Tony, Tim and I stayed at the Whispering Pines yurt up there. It was great, except for the fact that we never got inside the yurt. We didn't have the combo to the door lock, due to a misunderstanding on my part, so we spent the night out on the deck. It was gorgeous, a cool night under a starry sky. Next time, though, I'll get the combination for the lock first.

Sunday we did a mountain bike ride, a short trip out Beaver Creek and Crooked River with an extra loop on the Valley Trail thrown in. It was good, if not long enough, as those trails are fun and have great views but are still fairly primitive.

So, a great weekend, and I hope to have photos of the fruits of our backbusting efforts to post soon.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Look what I got!


A birthday present from my lovely wife.


Isn't she purdy?

Dialed In

Looks like we've sort of mostly got this internet radio thing running solid. The hiccups in the stream are fewer and farther between, the transitions between shows are a bit smoother, and the schedule is slowly filling up. Range Life is still running like 6 times a week (that's two shows, three times each), but repetition is still unavoidable for us. Hopefully, that will change soon.

So far I'm pretty pleased with how the show is going. I don't really want to get too comfy with the playlist-only format we're using now, because the whole deal with radio, or at least with my enthusiasm for it, is to be there, in the studio, slapping the records down (or sliding the CDs in), spinning them, and making it all fit together on the fly. While it would seem easier to assemble a show at home in front of my computer, with the ability to change and add things or rework a setlist to meet time constraints, really, I think it's a handicap. The thing that's missing is real time. When you're playing one song after another, no matter how many tracks out you've lined up, it's still the song that triggers the next song, and so on. Connections are made in those 3.5 minutes you're sitting there listening to the track you just put on, and that's how a show gains personality.

Still, though, it's going well. I'm finding it easier to transition between pretty different types of music and to bring in the freaky alongside the stalwart. I'm trying to take the "Indie rock and all its tangents" description to heart, using standard indie rock bands and tracks as the foundation, but being sure to depart from that foundation often, when appropriate or intriguing. I'm working in the old stuff and trying to keep up with the new stuff. Operating largely on mp3 and m4a files makes it a bit easier, as trading music is filling the gaps until we get some content rolling in.

So, take a listen. Gimme some feedback. Make some requests. It's nice to know I'm not broadcasting into the void.