Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The cure for bad dreams

There was a handwritten note on my car this morning. These have been popping up around town.





I've been into Cccandy lately. This song sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a bad dream.

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Photo dump: hiking, and bluegrass in a cave

In March and April, I did a lot of hiking, and here's some of the photos. These three are from Frozen Head State Park. One of the nice things about this park is there are usually fewer hikers than on the trails in the Smokies.





In late April, I returned to the Porter's Creek trail, with my parents. You can see some lovely Dogwoods blooming in the last 2 photos.






On April 23rd I went to the Bluegrass Underground show, which is exactly what it sounds like: a monthly bluegrass concert held in a cave. On the drive there, on Easter Saturday, we saw this:


Here's the entrance to the cavern:


There's a chandelier in cavern:



Here's Frank Fairfield on stage in the background, and the radio sound guy in the foreground.



Everything about the first act was amazing. This guy, Frank Fairfield, has a deep knowledge of, and love for American musical history and traditions, and he plays a mean fiddle. Check out his Daytrotter session, and a set he did at Amoeba.

The main act, the Emmitt-Nershi Band, was described as "jam-grass" and "progressive bluegrass." To my ears they basically sounded like a slightly more country America, which is nice, but with incessant rounds of soloing, which isn't really my cup of tea.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

sounds like...

I was listening to this song today,

and it reminded me of one of my favourite songs from Zooropa (especially the fade-out):


The whole Melted album is quite nice. You might like it.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Photo dump

I went to a record swap today, and got a little carried away.




I don't even have a turntable yet... But I have been thinking about switching over to vinyl. When I buy a CD I pretty much just rip it to mp3s, and then put it away. I don't have a CD player anymore, other than my laptop. Some record labels are now providing download codes for mp3 or flac files whenever you purchase vinyl, so I figure, why not make the switch? For example I got the new, amazing, Rural Alberta Advantage album on vinyl, and got the download weeks before the official release date, at which point the vinyl got sent out in the mail. I also picked up one of their super cool posters. (check out their video.)

A few weeks back Knoxville had some pretty heavy rains, and flooding near first creek closed some of our major roadways. Creeks aren't always noticeable from the road, and I've always found it kind of interesting to see where the waterways are that pass under roads and highways... of course you definitely notice it when the creeks flood. A week or so after the flooding I took my bike out on Knoxville's excellent Greenway, and ran into this bridge that was moved a couple of meters by the flood waters.



Now that it's warm out, I've been out on a few hikes. On the most recent, I went with some ecologists, and biologists... they make for interesting hike partners since they know so much about the plantlife. Randomly I ran into a guy I played frisbee with in Madison. He's down here doing a postdoc now. Small world.





Cool Aid: R&B edition

I can't stop listening to the new Frank Ocean mixtape/album. (Check out the amazing Swim Good)

Less amazing, but still quite good, the new Weeknd mixtape. Both albums feature a bunch of unusual rock and indie rock samples. Frank Ocean samples Coldplay, the Eagles, and Radiohead (sort of)... the Weeknd sample a couple of Beach House songs (another one of my current favourite bands). If you like drugged out psychedelic soul, check them both out. I don't think I've enjoyed an R&B album this much since the last proper Aaliyah album.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Concealed Carry

Tennessee recently passed a crazy firearms law that allows people with a concealed carry permit to bring their weapons into bars.
I found this out firsthand last recently while out at some bars, when a friend's coworker told us he was packing.

What kind of a person brings a gun with him when he's out having drinks? I don't want to draw too many generalizations from a single observation. But anecdotal evidence suggests that this kind of person is a woman-hating, tea party kind of guy, and generally a thoroughly unpleasant person to be around.