Potpourri

I rarely blog, but I've been having a bunch of random thoughts kicking around the ol' dome lately so I'm going to just post them all in one.

RUNNING - I ran 5.6 miles today. I'm going to try and run a half-marathon sometime this year which will require a stronger will and most importantly a lot less drinking. I need all the encouragement I can get.

REGRETS - People who say that don't have them are either liars or assholes or a combination of both. I have enough regrets to fill countless volumes of embarrassing tales. What's done is done and I can accept the past for what it is, however, at the same time I wish I could have a few of those moments back.

iPHONE - Love it. Enough said.

MUSIC - Here's what's in heavy rotation
M83 -Saturdays = Youth
Who knew French shoegaze pop could be so good?

Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
I've been listening to this mostly cause people relate M83 to them and I haven't heard JAMC in a long time. It's not everyone's precious Psychocandy but Darklands is still a great record

The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
I don't like this as much as Mike Skinner's earlier stuff, but the beats and lyrics have certainly matured. If you don't like his style, you definitely won't change your opinion with this record. The lyrics can be taken as cheap or cheesy at points but I just accept it as quaint cockney poetry.

Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry
Another classic one. Just listen to the last tracks "The Passion", "The Warmest Room" and "The Home Front", and you'll be sold. Sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn just what it would take a child a night to learn. So awesome.

The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
Hyper-literate, alienating and verbose, over-hyped, pretentious indie rock from Portland? Yes, and it's also really fucking good and this is their best record.


READING - I'm 35 pages away from finally finishing War and Peace, which was last year's New Year's Resolution. It's a little past due on the resolution ticker but I took some long breaks and left it in Boston for 3 months so I can hardly be faulted. Next on the agenda is Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. My big book plan for this year is Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, we'll see when I get around to that.


IOU - I find this acronym to be really irritating. It's more fitting for a valentine than a declaration of an owed debt. Can we just use the original phrase 'promissory note'? It sounds a lot cooler.


TASTE OF INDIA - How amazing is this place? I can't believe I'd never been there until this past weekend. The food was incredible and the cheesecake with mango sauce was the best dessert I think I've ever had.

OK, I'm sorry!

I know I promised a very meticulous tour blog, but I'm sorry, I've been busy. So I'll just give a run down of what I've been doing since I've left.

Sat. 8/16 - We left Seattle and found out that our show in Montana that night got canceled. It sucked real bad because I drove from Billings, MT to Bismarck, ND from 12am to about 5am and it's not very pretty at those hours, just dark.

Sun 8/17 - Rolled into Minneapolis, MN just in time to catch the Minnesota Twins beat the shit out of the Mariners. It was cool though, got to see the Metrodome in its final season, not quite as exciting as Yankee Stadium but close enough.

Mon 8/18 - We played our first show at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis. The show wasn't that great but we stayed with a couple awesome dudes that showed us around and made us feel at home. I ate vegan meatloaf and mac and cheese. Also I ate a vegetarian chicken parmigiana that was amazing.

Tues 8/19 - Drove to Milwaukee, had a BBQ, drank some brews in brew city. Our show was alright, got real wasted though. We skated in the city center, that was pretty rad.

Weds 8/20 - Hung out in Chicago, IL. Went to a ridiculous amount of novelty toy stores, not really sure why. We ate authentic deep dish pizza. We met our friend Clint that put out our record and that was awesome cause he's a good dude.

Thurs 8/21 - Got to Indianapolis, IN expecting a real bad show, but we played in a basement with our friends Killing The Dream and ended up having a great show and a great time. I couldn't believe how awesome the kids in Indy were. We had an awesome show, kids bought a bunch of our merch and then we got free pizza. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Fri 8/22-Sun-8/24 - We were at This Is Hardcore Fest 2008 in Philadelphia. My first impression walking in was being amazed at how big it was. It was so cool to see that many people excited about the fest. We played on saturday and had a great time. Other things in philly that were awesome were vegetarian philly cheese steak which was phenomenal. Also, water ice, which is like a slushy with soft serve ice cream on top. It's soooooo good.

Mon 8/25 - I'm in Providence, RI and it rules! I love this place so much, the dudes I've met here have been incredibly nice and I love the city!

Henry Miller on New York

Angelic Upstarts

One of my favorite bands delivers probably the cheesiest video ever...

24

Today I have accumulated as many years as there are hours in the day....or beers in a case.

To Peet:

THANK YOU FOR ENTERING MY LIFE:

Devin The Dude

If you don't know, now you know, your new favorite rapper.