Author Archives: Duff

I have no patience and I keep changing my mind.

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So I HATE having multiple “artist” entries for the same people on my iPod. For example, I don’t want to scroll down and see “Ryan Adams” followed by “Ryan Adams & the Cardinals”, especially considering there is also “Whiskeytown” which really itself could be called “Ryan Adams”. I find it terribly annoying.

So I lie to iTunes and say “Nope, that isn’t Ryan Adams & the Cardinals” that’s JUST “Ryan Adams.” But then a few days later, I change my mind, go back, and relabel it all (adding the Cardinals back in).

However, if it’s the same artist, but totally different band name, then I can live with that. I can live with “Bob Mould” “Husker Du” and “Sugar” all having their own artist entries…but I did have to create a “Bob Husker Sugar Mould” playlist in order to be able to shuffle between them.

Originally I did that with Ryan also (“Ryan Ryan Ryan”) but then he was pissing me off so I went back and relabeled (out) the Cardinals again. I’m so fickle.

Then there’s “DJ Dangermouse” “Dangermouse & Jemini” and “Gnarls Barkley”. Ugh. I left them all as artists and then made a “Danger Danger Danger” playlist. But the playlists can really start to pile up…

Back, back, back in the days of the very first iPod ever, at the time, it did not realize that “The” is not how you want things filed alphabetically. So any band that started with “The” found itself in the Ts. So I switched all the names to things like “Beatles (The)” and “Cars (The”). And then they made a new, smarter iPod that knew to ignore the “The”s. So then I would import some new album or song and wind up with “Shins (The)” followed by “The Shins”. So again I had to go in and relabel things.

I don’t want a “Justin Timberlake” entry next to a “Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland” entry. So anytime they put the “featuring” crap in the artist line, I delete it and put it after the song title instead “Sexyback (feat. Timbaland)”.

Then there’s the “random people who input song & artist names and submit them to iTunes and then when I import albums with different IDs I don’t know which is which”. Paste 20 had a song by “Bobby Bare”. Then Paste 25 had a song by “Bobby Bare Jr’s Young Criminal Starvation League.” Or so iTunes IDed them. Does it not seem likely that these are the same artist and one or the other name would be correct and not both? Yet, so far, I am too lazy to actually get out my Pastes and find the truth…

Oh the traumas of managing your music….

Singles I’m Diggin’

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Most of which were bought, I’m sure, due to being played for a moment or two during an FNL episode. Sheesh, I’m pathetic! And one of which I think was bought after reading about it on Que Sera Sera, an occasional source of great music recommendations.

  • “The Metre” Powderfinger
  • “Waterfall” Griffin House
  • “Jesus Christ” Brand New
  • “So Divided” …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead
  • “I Remember” Chris Brokaw (LOVELOVELOVE this one!)

And I meant to buy this forever ago when they were using it in the commercials for that show w/ Scott Foley in the secret navy seal-like military dealybop (is it called “The Unit”?) and I never remembered to buy it and then they used it on FNL too and it’s a great song and I finally remembered:

  • “Lord Give Me a Sign” DMX

Bright Eyes Versus Bright Eyes

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After reading a blog post with a random comment about how the blogger felt “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” was one of the best albums of the year when it came out (whatever year that was, I am too lazy to look it up), I decided to take a pod break from new stuff and have a Bright Eyes afternoon.

Yet, I found once again that of the two releases that came out simultaneously, I much prefer “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn” vs. “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning.”

I know IWAIM is more the traditional Bright Eyes’ sound…but I like DAIADU a LOT more. I like the lyrics more, the mood, the backdrop, the “thick” layered orchestral (but actually digital) feel. I hear he has a zillion new albums going to come out later this year…I’m hoping for more Digital and less Folksy.

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Making: A third sock in the pair I’ve been making since Rhinebeck, good lord I am fucking slow. Ugh. I was completely done with #1 (ends woven in and everything) and up to the toe on #2 when I decided they were just too damn snug. Started over… Now about to start the heel on “#3” although obviously #s 1 and 2 do not exist anymore… And the only quilting I’ve done is vicariously through Jackie as I gave her direction at the sweatshop this weekend…

Reading: “The Guermantes Way” by Marcel Proust, a.k.a. book 3 of À La Recherche du Temps Perdu. I read book one in 2005 and book two in 2006…so at this rate, I’ll finish the series in 2010. Pathetic! The problem being, as with everything in my life, there’s just tooooo many things (or “other books”) I am interested in so I have to spread the GR love around… Anyway, as to Proust, Marcel is soooo neurotic and really isn’t that why these books became such classics? Because he’s the worst things about yourself that you would never tell anyone about? Unless you’re completely narcissistic and have an entire web site devoted to detailing your idiosyncracies…. Oh, hmmm, wait a second…. (Hahahahaha)

Watching: Friday Night Lights. And obsessively so. Watching it when it’s on (on Wednesdays), at random times throughout the week on the DVR in the living room, on the TiVO in the bedroom, on NBC.com, on my iPod…. Whenever, wherever. (Again, pathetic.) Also rewatching Tristan & Isolde, which is NOT a good movie, but James Franco is all sullen and miserable and HOT in it so there you go. Btw, my dad says “Blood Diamond” is really good so I may have to suck it up and go see it, even though it wasn’t really on my list… As of now, that’s my movie plan for the week. At the sweatshop this weekend, Jackie and I rewatched some old Party of Five…only to see Milton! from OfficeSpace! playing Bailey’s football coach. How nuts is that!!! (Also (re)watched Almost Famous, Singles, Garden State, last week’s OC, this week’s Brothers & Sisters, and a few episodes of Sex&theCity.)

Listening: The new Fallout Boy “Infinity on High” , which I really like. Also two albums by The Essex Green (“Cannibal Sea” and “The Long Goodbye”) that I picked up at the concert. And still listening to everything I bought in January….

Big Screen: Catch and Release

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One of those little “we’re suddenly turning into adults and WTF do we do now” movies. So: Not nearly as good as Garden State. But not nearly as fuckinghorriblybad as Last Kiss. Yes, the valley between those two is my latest measuring stick for this kind of movie. Which means it was pretty “middling”. Some nice moments. Some funny moments. Not just a story about one chick; really about how four (or more) different people are all dealing with the same person’s death, and finding out how each of them actually knew him in a very different way.

I realize Jennifer Garner was pregnant during filming but it seemed they went a little overboard on how dumpy they had her dressed. Give her some better clothes and my opinion would have gone up a few points, which might sound weird but if you’ve seen it I think you know what I mean. Kinda odd to have the random boys wearing cuter clothes than the only “normal” girl in a film!

Enjoyable. But not a GREAT flick.

p.s. Kevin Smith basically plays himself. And he’s pretty hilarious.

In Concert: Camera Obscura and The Essex Green

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Opening band The Essex Green was great: boppy, male/female vocal switches, goofy lyrics, really filling the room with fun, albeit from an almost folky perspective.

Camera Obscura sounded pretty, but man what a downer. Played (literally) only three upbeat songs. The very first one (Let’s get out of this country…) and the very last two. Midway through, the lead commented “Hmmm, didn’t quite realize when we were writing up the set list that we were playing all our slowest songs back to back…” Gee, that would’ve been a great time to call an audible and rock one out, but no such luck. Perhaps it wasn’t an intimate-enough venue for them; I imagine this would have been a great show to listen to somewhere like, for example, Joe’s Pub. But in a standing-only BIG drafty venue full of people looking for something to bring them up (or in out of the cold) it wasn’t great.

Note to self: Logan Square Auditorium: no easy transit options to get home and not easy to find a cab afterward. Maybe don’t go there when it’s below zero out next time!!!

Alison liked them better at the show she saw, if you want to read a more positive review, and FYI they did the same ‘you can call me Al’ stuff at the show I was at.