Big fun on the bayou

Congrats to the LSU Tigers, who just beat the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the BCS National Football Championship. This means that "national champion" LSU and OSU both have two losses and OSU has consecutive losses in the BCS Championship. And one loss in the NCAA basketball finals.

This also means that my 2007-08 college bowl bracket ended with 17 wins and 15 losses. A winning record (just like the California Golden Bears) but not much better than a monkey flipping a coin. I ended up 2-3 in the BCS games, winning only the two "sure things".

1/1 Rose = USC
1/1 Sugar=Hawaii Georgia
1/2 Fiesta=Oklahoma WVU
1/3 Orange=Virginia Tech Kansas
1/7 BCS Championship Game=LSU

It's outings like this that make me glad I don't bet real money on these brackets.

It's in you, if you're into it

An animated video of Syd Barrett, who would be 62 years old today if he weren't, you know.


  
This clip is only 30 seconds long, so here are a couple more animated "Sydeos".

2007: Read It In Books

This January is National Just Read More Novels Month (NaJuReMoNoMo -- all monthly internet memes sound like the company that patented MSG). I wonder if the "National" designation means U.S.A. only? To participate, All you have to do is read a novel from start to finish within the month of January.

I usually read non-fiction books, since I prefer to read about stuff that actually happened, but I'm sure I can find one novel to read this month. I think Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher comes out in paperback. That's a novel I want to read, and haven't been able to find at the library yet. I don't like to buy books, so usually end up reading what's available at the library since I can't be bothered to reserve things I want.

Every two weeks or so, I go to the library (city or county) and find a book that looks interesting. I only check out one book at a time, and when I'm done reading it, I return it and check another book out. Sue said that she read 59 books last year. I haven't kept track, but I think I read somewhere around 24 (two books per month on average). Commuting on BART gives me two hours of reading time every weekday. Here were ten of my favorites from last year.

Stephen T. Asma - The Gods Drink Whiskey
A study of Theravadan Buddhism masquerading as a Southeast Asian travelogue.

David Barker - 33 1/3 Greatest Hits (Volumes 1 & 2)
These are selections from each of the 33 1/3 books about albums. Literary mix tapes.

John Feinstein - Tales From Q School
I'm a big fan of Feinstein as a sportswriter, and this book about the strains and perils "Q School" (PGA Tour Qualifying) was one of the best things he's written.

Franklin Foer - How Soccer Explains The World
I've become really interested in the sociology of soccer (football) over the last couple of years, and Foer explains the sociology better than any of them.

Ken Jennings - Brainiac
Inside the world of competitive trivia challenges. These people are pedantic turbogeeks.

Ed Jones - Northern Soul
Not about northern sould, but how Wigan Athletic made it to the Premier League. I thought it was fascinating, and read the whole thing on the plane from London to S.F.

Rob Jovanovic - Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band
Writing a whole book about Big Star is tough because there isn't a lot of information out there. Writing one without Alex Chilton's cooperation is almost impossible.

Michael Lewis - The Blind Side
Moneyball author Michael Lewis branches into football for this exploration of the value and importance of the left tackle position (the blind side of a right-handed QB).

Alan Schwarz - The Numbers Game
Another baseball book, explaining the importance that numbers (statistics) have had in baseball since the game was invented.

Rob Sheffield - Love Is A Mix Tape
Rolling Stone editor Sheffield writes a story about his late wife Renee through a series of mix tapes that they sent each other. I don't care for Sheffield as a reviewer (his taste or his attitude), but liked his book quite a bit. Just stay away from the audiobook version. Rob has a nasally "rock critic" voice that kind of grates.

I think that's ten. One of my goals for 2008 is to make more use of the 'books' tag in my blog.
Onward to NaJuReMoNoMo.

Accelerate Driver 48

We can reach our destination, but it's still a ways away. And we won't get there until you put the petal somewhere near "the metal". And switch off that damn turn signal!

Michael Stipe turns 48 today, and his band has a new album called Accelerate coming out in April. The new album is evidently R.E.M.'s return to The Rock. I join this guy from one of our local papers in thinking this is a Good Idea.

After delivering four consecutive albums of mostly mellow, moody and introspective indie-pop, R.E.M. is apparently ready to rock once again.

Bring on The Rock! It should be a welcome respite from the mellow, moody and introspective indie-pop of albums like New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Judging from these new songs I found on the youtubes, the new songs are sound like a return to their roots. It's like R.E.M. found the fountain of youth, because they almost seem 25 years younger in these clips.

1. HarborcOat
2. 7 chineSe Bros.
3. so. Central Rain
4. Pretty Persuasion
5. second GuessinG
6. letter Never seNt
7. (dont Go back TO) Rockville
8. little america

(Update: Apparently these actually songs are from a record called "Reckoning "that R.E.M. made in 1984. That's why they look 25 years younger. Mea culpa! )

Still, these 1984 songs still sound fresh, even in 2008. Here's Michael Stipe back when he was half as old as he is now. Those were the days!

And the singer, he had long hair
And the drummer, he knew restraint
And the bassman, he had all the right moves.
And the guitar player was no saint.
Pavement - Unseen Power of the Picket Fence

A pocketful of mumbles

Searching through my 2007 blog entries, I noticed that other than a mention during the mid-year rundown listing my favorite albums of the first half of the year, I haven’t blogged about my #1 Album Of 2007 (Boxer by The National) yet. I figured I’d better do that while it's still timely, and want to give this album the kudos it deserves.



Boxer is really good. Great. Stunningly great. Album of the year good. A total masterpiece from start to finish. And the best way to hear the album is from start to finish. I sometimes skip Boxer songs (besides “Start A War” or “Fake Empire”) when they crop up in shuffle play because they don't play nice with songs by other artists, but everything fits in the context of the album.

When I first heard The National a couple of years ago (someone put “Abel” on a mix CD for me), I wasn't sure what to think. They're a difficult band to appreciate in isolation. Matt Berninger has a singing voice that's definitely an acquired taste ( a deep baritone somewhere between Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen) and their songs rarely crawl above "mid" in the tempo-meter, but there's a lot going on under the surface. Anyhow, I was intrigued enough by "Abel" to download the rest of Alligator from emusic, but wasn't quite as taken by any of the other songs on the album. They all sounded a little samey to me, not as immediate as "Abel" was.

I finally turned the corner on the National when I saw them live late in 2006. I was expecting them be all deep and dour like Nick Cave or Ian Curtis, but they’re completely enthralling live, with lots of interplay between the bandmembers. I just wish they weren't so popular. All three 2007 S.F. shows by The National sold out in Plancks, so I've only been able to see them that one time in 2006. At that show, they played a handful of songs from their “upcoming album” Boxer (this video of "Start a War" was shot at that show) which gave me strong hopes for the album.

The pre-release mp3 ("Fake Empire") helped set the stage for the release of Boxer, and I grabbed the entire album from emusic on the day of release. It took a few listens to sink in, but I kept finding myself listening more and more, at least once a week during my 45 minute commute. Always start to finish from "Fake Empire" to "Gospel". In this age of instant gratification, it's really reassuring that there are still albums like Boxer that reward repeat listening.

This year at the movies was the year of the "three-quel", but my top twenty albums list was full of "four-quels": Boxer is the fourth album by The National, Living With the Living is the fourth Ted Leo/Pharmacists album, Traffic & Weather is the fourth Fountains of Wayne album, Challengers is the fourth New Pornographers album, and Ga x 5 is the sixth Spoon album but the fourth since they signed with Merge and started being good. All contenders for my artist of the decade (2000s) -- it's all down to who releases the best albums in 2008 or 2009.

Most critics and polls have Spoon and the National somewhere in the top ten, and I'm a little concerned that my tastes are jibing too much with the indie consensus. I consider my musical taste to be fairly singular, but as I get older it gets more and more in lockstep with the indiescenti. I think I like what I like, and if other people like it too, it's probably because it's good. Maybe everyone else is finally coming around to My way of thinking?

2007: The Year in Sports

While we're recounting the year that just passed, here are my top twelve sports stories of 2007. One story for each month of the year, checking the sports tags in this blog from from December 29th back to January.

1. December 29: New England Patriots go 16-0
First undefeated 16-game regular season in NFL history.
Crown their ass.

2. November 22: "Old England" eliminated from Euro 2008
The country that invented modern soccer doesn't have one of the 16 best national teams in their own continent.

3. October 6: Stanford 24, USC 23
I was out of the country when this happened, and found out by noticing that USC somehow dropped from #1 to #8 in the Yahoo NCAA football poll. Given the way that USC finished the year, this might have been an even bigger upset than the one below.

4. September 1: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32
A ranked division 1A ("Bowl Subdivision") team loses to a 1AA ("Championship Subdivision") team for the first time ever. Conform or be cast out. The restless dreams of youth.

5. August 7: Barry hits #756*
Uneasy lies the head that wears the asterisk.

6. July 30: RIP, William Ernest "Bill" Walsh 1931-2007
With all respect to Msrs. Belichick and Parcells, there was only one "Coach Bill".

7. June 10: The A's sweep the Giants in S.F.
This didn't really matter in the long run, but it was the high water week of the Oakland Athletics 2007 season -- 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox followed by a sweep of the Giants, and it was all downhill after that.

8. May 3: Warriors eliminate Mavs 4-1
The 2007 Golden State Warriors -- We Believe!

9. April 4: Florida 84, Ohio State 75 (NCAA basketball)
The Florida Gators became the only school to win NCAA football and basketball championships in the same year, beating Ohio State in both championships.

10. March 24: Okay, March was a slow sports month..
India & Pakistan eliminated from the Cricket World Cup

11. February 6: Colts 29, Bears 17 (Super Bowl XLI)
The game itself was super dull, but Tony Dungy became the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl. And Lovey Smith became the first African-American to lose one.

12. January 1: Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (Fiesta Bowl)
Only the greatest football game ever played.

2007: The Year In Music

All is quiet on New Year's Day. A world in white gets underway.
I want to be with you be with you night and day.
Nothing changes on New Year's Day.



Twenty Albums From 2007
20. Sloan - Never Hear The End Of It
19. Silver Sun - Dad's Weird Dream
18. Anton Barbeau w/ Su Jordan - The Automatic Door
17. Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
16. Foreign Films - Distant Star
15. Shake Some Action!
14. The Pearlfishers - Up With The Larks
13. Crowded House - Time On Earth
12. Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate
11. New Pornographers - Challengers
10. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic & Weather
9. Mitch Easter - Dynamico
8. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
7. Future Clouds & Radar
6. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
5. Field Music - Tones Of Town
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
3. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Living With The Living
2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
1. The National - Boxer

Five 2007 Reissues:
1. Robyn Hitchcock - I Wanna Go Backwards
2. Moby Grape - Listen My Friends!
3. Judee Sill - Live in London
4. Sandy Denny - BBC Sessions 1971-1973
5. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth

Close but No Biscuit:
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Cindy Lee Berryhill - Beloved Stranger
   (CLB's first album in 12 years, and I really wanted to like it).

Caribou - Andorra
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
I've come to view Beach Boys comparisons as red flags. These albums are on lots of best of year lists, and they both have a BW "vibe", but I don't hear any "songs".

Happy 2008, everyone!