Author Archives: Duff

Just one of those days.

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9:45a.m. – Rockin to Sounds of the 80s on the way to the bus. Harden my Heart, oh yeah baby.

10:15a.m. – Dear REO Speedwagon, no one will ever take your place in my heart.

12:00p.m. – Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks, I will be right here waiting for you.

12:16p.m. – And don’t you know I would move heaven and earth to be together forever with you.

1:06p.m. – You’re out of touch, I’m out of time. But I’m out of my head when you’re not around.

1:15p.m. – You’re not shy, you get around.

1:28p.m. – And you want her, and she wants you. No one, no one, no one ever is to blame.

1:37p.m. – How do you think I’m gonna get along without you when you’re gone?

1:47p.m. – Listening to Celebration and all I can think about is Ross playing it on the bagpipes.

Now “free period” is over and all I’m listening to is people whining and bitching on the phone when I tell them no. In which case, I tell them: no, again. Louder.

Song of the Drive Home Last Night that Drove Us Nuts Not Being Able to Remember What the Hell Song It Was

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I had to text myself lyrics to look up when I got home. Stupid moron.

Picture yourself in a living room
your pipe and slippers set out for you
I know you think that it ain’t too far
But I…
I hear the call of a lifetime ring
felt the need to get up for it
oh you cut out the middleman
get free from the middleman
You got no time for the messenger,
got no regard for the thing that you don’t understand,
you got no fear of the underdog,
that’s why you will not survive!
I wanna forget how convention fits
but can I get out from under it?
Can I cut it out of me?
Ah…
It can’t all be wedding cake
It can’t all be boiled away
I try but I can’t let go of it
Can’t let go of it
Uh huh
Cause you don’t talk to the water boy
and there’s so much you could learn but you don’t want to know,
You will not back up an inch ever,
that’s why you will not survive,
…
The thing that I tell you now
It may not go over well
And it may not be photo-op
the way that I spell it out
But you won’t hear from the messenger,
don’t wanna know bout something that you don’t understand,
You got no fear of the underdog,
that’s why you will not survive! (Hey!)

-“The Underdog” Spoon

Best Twitter Ever

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How does one choose a Battlestar call sign, really? I’m thinking Schmoo, but does that really communicate my abilities as a viper pilot?

(not written by me / but there’s an obvious clue if you also know this person!)

April Album Reviews

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Absolutely Love & Adore:

The Raconteurs “Consolers of the Lonely” – Another rocking album from a great band. Can Jack White write a bad song or produce a bad album? Not so far! “Old Enough” and “Top Yourself” are my faves. If you get the chance to see them live, I highly recommend it.

Joe Purdy “You Can Tell Georgia” – There’s nothing unexpected here, but it’s all good: lovely lyrics, pretty arrangements, melancholy but not super sad. I mean, except for “Ode to a Sad Clown”. “Can’t Get It Right Today” is also great, even if it is on a commercial.

Meg Hutchinson “Come Up Full” – This album has been on repeat since I bought it, at least once a day, I swear. Can’t get enough. Listen to “Ready” “Home” and “Come Up Full”, then come tell me how you love it.

Joseph Arthur “Crazy Rain” (EP) – Digital, dark, dirty, scratchy. Magnificent.

Joseph Arthur “Could We Survive” (EP) – Very different than Crazy Rain. Choral, thick, harmonic. Insistent.

Fleet Foxes “Sun Giant” (EP) – Gorgeous. Layered. I might actually love this EP more than the full album. CSNY harmonies, but without that country/folk twinge. I’ve heard it called freak folk (?) but somehow I missed out on ever knowing about that genre. Whatevah! I’d call it “Alternapop” myself, ha ha ha ha. (If you like Sea Wolf or even Shearwater, I think you’d like this too.)

Favorite Singles (not on any of the above albums):

  • “Buildings & Mountains” The Republic Tigers
  • “She Loves Everybody” Chester French
  • “Roadway Hymn” La Rocca
  • “Dust” Augustana
  • “Everywhere” (Paul Devro blend…) Fleetwood Mac
  • “Tick of Time” The Kooks
  • “Heart of Mine” Peter Salett (old! from a fave flick: “Keeping the Faith”)
  • “Fighter Girl” Mason Jennings
  • “New Soul” (Yael Naim cover) Tristan Prettyman
  • “Rise” Will Dailey

Other Albums I Liked:

  • The Magic Numbers “Undecided” (EP) – Always love their harmonies.
  • Duke Special “Songs from the Deep Forest” – Very theatrical and dramatic. Seems like it should be the soundtrack to something. Unusual.
  • Jason Anderson “The Hopeful and the Unafraid” – Has a very Springsteen/Jesse Malin vibe to it. My faves are the last two “The Post Office” and “The Half of It” that are really, really reminding me of someone else but I just can’t put my finger on it. Morrissey? maybe? Listen and tell me who you hear, it’s on the tip of my tongue…
  • Girlyman “Remember Who I Am” and “Something Different Now” (Live) – I’m really into the live album, it really captures their energy.
  • The Submarines “Honeysuckle Weeks” – Boy/girl vocals. Poppy, electronic. Kinda ’80s feelin.
  • She & Him “Volume One” – This one really grows on you if you give it a chance. Has some very fun, rollicking songs (“This Is Not a Test”) and I’m really into Zoey’s voice. LOVE the Beatles cover.
  • The Weepies “Hideaway” – Aw, so sweet and melodic. As with Joe Purdy, you know beforehand what you’re getting. But if it’s what you like, you’ll be happy.
  • Madonna “Hard Candy” – I know it’s cool to harsh on Madonna these days. I guess I’m just not that cool!!! I really like the upbeat dancy rhythms on this album. And the lyrics? Are SUCH a great contrast to the music. It kinda sounds like a breakup album, and you know I’m in a permanent state of breakup. “Miles Away”, “She’s Not Me” and “Incredible” are my faves. Despite what you may have heard, the JT songs are actually not the best ones, to me!

Not really for me / but maybe for you!:

Colin Meloy Sings Live! – I love a lot of these songs in their Decemberists arrangements. But I’m just not into it here. All very “one note”: every song sung with exact same level of intensity, same volume on both vocals and guitar, same earnestness. No ups/downs/louds/softs. Kinda boring. (These same songs on Decemberists albums? Not boring at all!)

Counting Crows “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” – I like some of the (faster) songs. But it’s a bit much and the second half really drags. On the other hand, it’s their best stuff in years. And I like the live versions I heard on Fuel/Friends a few months before this came out (a lot better).

Shamefully have either not listened to at all, or not all the way through, or so few times that I can’t legitimately offer an opinion:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin “Pershing” – I like it the few times I’ve had it on..but I’ve barely listened to it. Too much else going on. It’s on my to-do list. 😉

Best of May

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The best movie I saw in May was Iron Man and it was fucking awesome and definitely the best movie I’ve seen this year (not that I’ve seen many) and it’s so good that even the second time around when you go to a crap ass neighborhood theater and the projector breaks and you have to watch the middle 20 minutes in two-minute increments, it’s STILL brilliant. Are you coming to Chicago? I’d be happy to go to it again!

The best books I read in May were the one-two punch of Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood by Patricia Briggs. Magical and mysterious and yet so human and irresistibly attractive. If only I could have jumped into these books and become an auxiliary character (Another “cousin” for Ward? A romantic interest for Oreg?)… She ranks right up there with Elizabeth A. Lynn as my favorite current fantasy writers.

The best gig I went to in May was probably a tie between the Long Blondes (for actual “best”) and Crowded House (for playing some of my all-time most beloved songs).

My favorite tunes in May….Honestly, I was soooo busy watching BSG over and over (see below), I really didn’t do much listening in May. Which would be why I’m now working on listening to all the many many albums I bought but did not listen to in April, May and (thus far in) June all at once. Doh!

Random personal highlights: MDS&W, not the greatest, but I did get to see my peeps. I watched like* every episode of Battlestar Galactica. Twice. (Or more, depending on how much I loved the episode and how much screen time my Future Husband had ha ha ha ha ha.) I went to visit my nephews. Met my newest cousin! And I got many back/shoulder massages at physical therapy (but see lowlights as well).

Lowlights? Physical therapy: a) the need for it, b) the stretching and lifting and pulling, ow, ow, ow, c) the ice. Hate the ice!! Had to skip a concert (Avett Brothers). Continuing buttloads of stress at the secondary browsing location.
*like used purely for valley girl emphasis, and not to approximate any less than ALL.

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Eating: Bing cherries. Yum! (1 cup = about 85 calories. Not bad!)

Making: Trying to finish the second sock of a pair started…a million months ago. Before I move on to finishing up Kysa’s Friendship Star quilt, since I finished Ame’s yesterday! Woot!

Reading: Just finished “Life Class” by Pat Barker (very good) and have moved on to “Lush Life” by Richard Price. It’s good. But then again, what book of his isn’t.

Watching: Just watched season 1 of Burn Notice on Hulu (Dear Hulu, how ’bout you try to get Everwood, seasons 1-4? Thanks!). Eh. I don’t like the lead at all, I hate that everything he says in the voiceovers is in his smarmy, self-satisified tone of voice. But I’d love to be skinny, strong and sassy, like Gabrielle Anwar. So there’s that. Since the insanely stupid Sci Fi channel is not going to show the rest of BSG season 4 until fucking next fucking year, I have to find something to watch this summer, before I die of fucking boredom. So I figured if I’m going to be stuck watching season 2 of Burn Notice, I might as well have watched season 1 first.

Listening: Listening to lots of Joseph Arthur (man of many recent EPs) and still obsessing over Meg Hutchinson‘s latest, as well as some singles from Tristan Prettyman and this very theatrical, dramatic album “Songs from the Deep Forest” by Duke Special that I picked up one day after reading Largeheartedboy’s blog where he linked to an interview of someone who recommended this (Paul Weller? maybe?) but I can’t remember who or where. It has a similar tone/feel to the soundtrack to “Spring Awakening” or the Buffy musical episode “Once More with Feeling“.