Best Pals, From Now On

This evening, Theo asked Josie a very important question. He stood up, walked around to look her in the eyes, held her face, and asked, "Josie will you keep the Bad Bad Wolf away?" Felt like a pivotal moment in this budding partnership. 

She said yes, she would.  

Happy Winter

Enjoy every moment you can.

Grief and Anger

Nothing of meaning to say today. But having something funny here is inappropriate. And this is what I'm listening to as I work today, or try to work or think today, and it feels like a good thing to be listening to, so I thought I'd share it, in case anyone stopped by.

I am sick about what happened in Connecticut this morning. Full of anger and dangerous feelings and just disappointed once again by humans. I feel punched in the gut and I have nothing intelligent to say today. I'll leave that to Mr. Basinski.

Kids Songs With Cat Power from Cat Power

If you've ever seen Cat Power live, especially back in the late-90s, you will know why this is so incredibly funny. Hats off to Chan for this one.

Sea of Rock

SEA OF ROCK from infinite trails on Vimeo.

I think we need to change the name of our "Hard Guy" trail...

PFork's Year In Photos

The year-end collection of photography over at Pitchfork is worth a perusal. Above, my favorite, one Ms. Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

Thankful.

The Disintegration Loops

This is all I want for Christmas.

Temporary Residence has reissued William Basinski's otherworldly masterpiece The Disintegration Loops across 9 heavy slabs of virgin vinyl, 5 CDs, 1 DVD, and a 144-page book.

The mind boggles.

This is a haunting piece of work that gets under your skin and into your brain and does not leave you alone. The story behind the music is fascinating and compels you to listen on its own, but the background doesn't explain the almost overwhelming pull these sounds have once they get into you.

I recommend this music to anyone and everyone. I believe there is something to be found in it by any human who listens, if you open up to the experience and don't get caught up waiting for a beat or hook. This goes beyond ambient or minimalism or even high-concept composition to something more visceral and fundamental than that. It's the sound of decay, of death, extended in tone and preserved for reimagining. It's really something.

Burma

This is just such a fantastic photo. These two, as Secretary of State and President, in Burma meeting not only with the government but openly with opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is something I never thought I'd see. Full article here. 

Octopus Project: Music Is Happiness

TONIGHT at the Neurolux!!!

The Weekend

Me and Theo did a lot of hanging out this weekend. Even though he started it a bit under the weather, and I caught his cold on Sunday morning, we still had a blast. Lego cities, blanket forts, leaf piles, dog park, and endless hot wheels. 

Voted

We took Theo to the polls this morning. It felt right, seems important to introduce him to the processes behind Democracy at an early age.

He was good and patient, but we can't help but think he was also a bit disappointed. There was a line, and it took a little while to get in, which was fine. "Lotta people in line for the boat!" he said, excitedly.

"No, Vote. With a V."

Blank stare.

"Gonna get on a boat!"

Yeah, he was disappointed. 

Polica

Vote

“If you are bored and disgusted by politics and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched Establishments of the two major parties, who please rest assured are not dumb, and who are keenly aware that it is in their interests to keep you disgusted and bored and cynical and to give you every possible reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day. By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.”

― David Foster Wallace, Up, Simbal!: 7 Days on the Trail of an Anticandidate

RADIOTHON!!!

Hey y'all, it's that time again.

RadioBoise takes to the airwaves for 8 days of support-seeking, self-promoting, absolutely necessary begging so that we can keep bringing you the community-programmed music and issues that you deserve.

I'm on Tuesday 8-11pm. Call and say hi. And pledge a few bucks. We need it.

You can go here, too: www.radioboise.org.

Happy Halloween

The Route

Sure, a bit of the gleam is off. But it's going to be an amazing race next year.

Lunch

Great day for an afternoon ride.

Anniversary Ride

Cathy's gift to me on our 11th wedding anniversary was that I could go on a mountain bike ride, for as long as I wanted to, guilt-free.

She knows me so well.

So I headed for the Ridge Road for the first time this year, taking a circuitous route up the Aldape Pass side, and am I glad I did. I took routes I don't usually, saw some new things and felt really good. Started in the Reserve, up the road/trail by the gun club, past the dumpy shack, over Shane's, out to Rocky Canyon Road, up to the Ridge, up up up up and over to where 5 Mile Gulch hits the Ridge, and down down down.

I'd forgotten what a beautiful grind that ride up and over the summit on the Ridge Road was. I went a bit beyond my turnoff just to ride up there some more before coming back and turning downward.

I'd also forgotten how fun the descent of the top of the 5-Mile trail is. When I hit the intersection, I felt ambitious, so I turned and went back up at the Watchman Trail, which hurt a bit but was fantastic. Then I bombed it, half exhausted, all the way to town on singletrack via 3 Bears and the Reserve.

It's been a while since I've been out on the mountain bike for that long. A bit under 4 hours with stops and photos. The perfect fall ride. Thanks honey!

Big Fall

Sheezus. Is it just me, or is there more amazing new music dropping all around us over these past few weeks than we should have a right to expect?

Grizzly Bear, Flying Lotus, Sera Cahoone, The xx, Balmorhea, Matthew Dear, Tame Impala, Ty Segall, The Sea and Cake... Just take a look at that rapidly expanding Heavy Rotation list here. It's tough to keep up, but it's very exciting. And it's just the shove I need to start paying attention again.

Anything I'm missing?