Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to my dear mom, a woman who wears many hats. She's got style, she can cook anything (and it's always delicious), she's a star at work, and she's definitely the head of this household! Thanks for everything, mom... you really are "the bomb" and we love you for it!

And since my mom is always beginning sentences with "Do you know what I was doing when I was (insert age here)?" here is a photo of her on a nice fall day when she was a youthful but mature 18.

A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere...

I headed back to the 9:30 club Sunday night for a double bonus concert featuring Stars as the opening band for the headliner and now most well-known indie band (but not technically "indie" anymore, if we're talking record labels), Death Cab for Cutie.

Stars were absolutely fantastic. I was expecting something low-key and mellow from them, considering I usually pop in Nightsongs (Le Grand Magistery, 2001) as I'm getting ready for bed, but they totally rocked the place and the lead male vocalist, Torquil Campbell (who I just discovered is also an actor and has made appearances on "Sex & The City," among other popular shows) was as energetic and inspiring as they come.

For those of you who haven't heard Stars, I highly recommend them. They are what I call "ambient" pop, or in other words, indie-electronica as influenced by the likes of the Pet Shop Boys and The Smiths, with modern contemporaries being the Postal Service and Belle & Sebastian, among others. You know you love some keyboards and synths and drums played with mallots. That's why they call it "dreampop." Anyway, it's hard for me to describe, but something about listening to Stars makes me feel cool. So take that as you will. The blend of male and female vocals (Amy Milan's voice is effortless) adds a unique element, as does Torquil's very passionate performance, including a few dazzling trumpet parts.

As for Death Cab... well, they were good. I've never been hardcore Death Cab, but as the big indie fan that I am, I have to appreciate them. There was no shortage of little OC-fan teens in the crowd, and the club seemed especially packed, even for a sold-out show. That said, it was a nice atmosphere and the crowd was respectful, down to the granny (or some other elder relative or friend of one of the band members) who was up in the family balcony section overlooking the side of the stage. She was up on her feet the whole night clapping and snapping photos! It was great.

Despite the fact that their new album is chock full of emo-ballads, the music itself was lively. They performed the majority off Plans (Atlantic, 2005), but also mixed it up and played at least one song off every album, which was nice. They were able to really rock out and get the crowd going for songs like "The Sound of Settling," but at the next moment bring the place down to a hush, as in the first encore song, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" which featured Ben Gibbard under a spotlight with his acoustic guitar.

Chris Walla, the "mastermind" behind Death Cab's album production, as well as producer on other popular indie discs (The Decemberists's Picaresque, to name one) was a surprising and unexpected character in person. My impression was that he seemed like he was in another world-- not in any "I'm on drugs" kind of way, but more like a "huh??" kind of way, but maybe it's just part of his inaccessible artistic genius. As an aside, his speaking voice is quite high pitched, in a way that catches you off guard when you first hear him utter any words. Maybe this is why his banter seemed mostly unintelligible to me.

Anyway, I can stop writing now and pass the rest off to you, dear reader, because thanks to NPR: All Songs Considered, you can listen to Death Cab's full concert online. It's an audio broadcast of their Monday night show at the 9:30 club, but my guess is it's not far off from what I heard on the first night. It's probably just as good as having been there. For starters, you don't have to worry about getting your clothes all smoky... Enjoy!

"I am Job..." at last!

Well, everybody, the day has come. After nearly a year and a half after graduating (yikes), I can finally say that, beginning November 2, I'll officially be employed. That's right, this afternoon I received a job offer for a job that I was really excited about and really wanted (as opposed to one that I just wanted because it was a job). I'll be an Assistant Editor at PR Newswire, which my sources tell me is a pretty well-known electronic media distribution company. The good news is, well... I finally have a real, full-time job where the people seem cool and where I definitely won't be sitting in a cubicle bored out of my mind. The bad news, if I have to name any, is that I'm turning in my wings as "professional intern" and also as the newest rising star at Treetop Kids (but not before I show up in costume for my last shift on Halloween!!). And naturally, I'll have a lot less time to blog since I'll be occupied with something else for 9 hours of the day! But I'm sure you'll all forgive me. The weekend updates will just be that much sweeter, I suppose...

EVOO!!

Today I received an e-mail containing the link to an absolutely hilarious Rachael Ray drinking game. That's right, folks, booze up with Food Network and you'll be ready to party in no time!

I won't post the whole thing, but here are some highlights of the rules:

"EVOO" -- 1 drink
"Yummo" -- 1 drink
"Delish! -- 1 drink
"How ____ is that?" -- 1 drink
*comes back from refrigerator carrying too many ingredients -- 2 drinks
*drops something on her way back -- whole drink
*fails to provide measurement and tells you to "eyeball it" -- 1 drink
*wears anything midriff-revealing -- 3 drinks


Oh Rachael, you're so awkward but somehow we still adore you... and yes, we'll forgive you for the FHM photo shoot, too. (You can google that one yourselves!)

Fall favorites

Today was one of those perfect fall days: it started out rather chilly, then as the day wore on it warmed up a touch, the sun came out, and that cool fall breeze kicked in. It's days like these that call for my favorite fall music, and to honor the season, I'm posting a sampling of what I consider to be the essentials.


Counting Crows :: August and Everything After (live)

On my drive to work this morning, I popped in August and Everything After (Geffen, 1993) and was reminded about how absolutely brilliant it is. It's a timeless album that still sounds fresh with every listen. The Counting Crows really nailed it with that one. This song, however, is not from that album, but it's a live cut of the title track that never made the album, so for that, it's significant. For those of you wondering which song's lyrics were scribbled on the album cover art, this is the one.

Counting Crows :: High Life

As a bonus, I've also thrown in a favorite off This Desert Life (Interscope, 1999). If I had to look back on the album that got me thinking critically about the music I listen to, this might have been it. We were reviewing new CDs for an issue of my high school paper, and by random drawing, this is the one I picked. The rest, as they say, is history!


David Gray :: Shine

His most recent release, Life in Slow Motion, makes for a great new fall soundtrack, but when it comes to fall, I'll take any ol' David Gray, especially his early work. It's raw and stripped down, pumped with emotion, and personally I think it's Gray at his best. This is the opening track off his debut album, A Century Ends (Caroline, 1993).


Elliott Smith :: Waltz #2 (XO)

Oh, Elliott. It's been two years since you've passed, but thank goodness we can listen to your music forever. There are occasions when I hear Elliott Smith and I am in disbelief at just how good he was. Such brilliant songwriting and heartfelt lyrics. The one thing that's guaranteed is that you can't listen to his music and not feel something. Waltz #2 off XO (Dreamworks, 1998) is no exception.


Nick Drake :: One of These Things First

Nick Drake is yet another brilliant songwriter who left the world too soon, but also left us with a wealth of beautiful music to enjoy. This song appeared on Bryter Layter (Hannibal, 1970) and makes me want to go outside on a windy fall day, run around in an open field, and kick around the falling leaves. There's something about the music that transports you to a different time and place. This song is especially light and playful, which is a departure from a lot of his darker, more depressing themes.


Nickel Creek :: When You Come Back Down

I absolutely love this song, which is actually a cover of a song written by Tim O'Brien and Danny O'Keefe. It appeared on Nickel Creek's self-titled debut album (Sugarhill, 2000), which is an accessible blend of bluegrass, folk, and classical, among other genres. This tune in particular is a beautiful and heart-wrenching love song that has everything that makes a song wonderful. Chris Thile's soothing voice rings through delicately over gorgeous fiddle solos and three-part harmonies. Just perfect.


Dave Matthews :: Stay or Leave

Mr. Matthews did quite a number on his first and only solo effort, Some Devil (RCA, 2003). This is a fall pick because this album was released at the beginning of my last year in college, and I'm pretty sure it sat in the CD player of my car for the majority of the season. It reminds me of fall drives in Charlottesville, golf classes in the morning, weekend hikes or picnics, and in general how there seemed to be no better place to be than UVA in the fall.


R.E.M. :: Nightswimming

Chris Martin told Spin magazine, "I'll tell you what I'm most proud of. The other day I had a pizza with Mike Mills from R.E.M., and he played 'Nightswimming' on the piano for me. I was so proud that I got to the position where I could hear that." This is one of my favorite R.E.M. tunes off of one of my favorite R.E.M. albums, Automatic for the People (Warner Bros, 1992).


And there you have it. Enjoy!

A Special Shoutout to the Binhster...

Happy Birthday to my wonderful dad! He already knows how much I love him for always being there and for his frequent "I love my family" declarations. But here's a special thanks to him for making the best "com tron" (Sorry, I'm missing accents. It's basically a big rice bowl with all sorts of delicious things mixed in it.) and for knowing the DC-area like the back of his hand, and thus being a walking local atlas, able to navigate and offer detour advice to anyone in a jam.

Happy Birthday Dad! You're the best.

Finally, since I spoke of this in a previous blogpost, here's a photo of my pops sporting the linen shirt and Seven jeans, looking somewhat like a J.Crew model with the whole scenic backdrop... (It's Half Moon Bay.)

Current Music: So Alive, by Ryan Adams

Sweet Golly Goodness!

Thanks to Steve Jobs, I have another exciting reason to post. After much anticipation surrounding Apple's new product announcement today (I mean really, the nano is brand new, and now unveiling something else, so soon?), it seems Apple has once again taken the iPod to the next level. And I am officially jealous. Introducing... the new iPod.

Incidentally, this post comes almost exactly a year after one of my first crazy-iPod blogposts in which the 60 gig photo was first unveiled. Ok, while I was always one to snub the iPod extras (photos, color, etc.), I now realize that I want it all.

Here's the deal:

The new iPod has 150 hours of video storage capability, and through the new iTunes 6, you can download your favorite music videos or TV shows (Only ABC or Disney, for now...) for $1.99 a pop. I mean, that's pretty damn cool, right? Sure, the screen is a mere 2.5 inches, but that's still an improvement from the old version. And hell, if I can catch up on a missed episode of "Lost" while waiting at the doctor's office or sitting on the metro... well, I'm not going to complain. It's sure to beat those little handheld rabbit-eared Sony TVs I remember from a decade ago!

Ok, for those of you unimpressed by these add-ons that detract from the music, here are other practical bonuses:

The new iPod boasts up to 20 hours of battery life, five hours more than before. Plus, you get a bigger display and one more iPod color — sleek black. But here’s the kicker: At under half an inch thin, the new 30GB iPod takes up about 45 percent less room than the original iPod. Even the new 60GB model is 10 percent thinner than the fourth-generation 20GB iPod. More features in less space? Sounds like iPod.

Just the other day Auddie and I were in the Apple store, and when we saw the old 60 gig, we were like "Geez, this thing is a monster! Look how thick!!"

Anyway, I'm a bit overwhelmed right now, jumping from page to page to catch up on all the new details. I'm a little annoyed that I just upgraded to iTunes 5 only about a month ago and they've already updated. But if there's any lesson we can learn from Apple, it's that you should wait. Yep, let you jaw drop in awe over all these new gadgets, but sit back and let it all settle in before you pull out your credit card. Sometimes I think about all those folks who have given into the initial hype...the ones who own a Mini, a Shuffle, a Nano, and are currently drooling over the newest iPod. Then again, they're probably broke. It's a nice thought, though! As for me, my 3rd gen. 20 gig is still doing the trick, but I know it won't be long 'til I give in... all extras aside, 20 hours of battery life sounds pretty appealing right now.


Current Music: Pipe Dreams, by Travis

The times, they are a-changin'...

First things first: My apologies for the lack of updates. My computer time has been limited lately. I smell another hiatus.

My auntie sent me an amusing e-mail today and it seemed like such a joke that I thought I'd post about it. It's an old clipping that purports to be from a 1955 "Housekeeping Monthly" article about how to be a good wife. (Other sources indicate that the graphic is fabricated and that the text is from a 1950s home economics textbook.) Real or not, it's still worth a look just as a reminder to appreciate and acknowledge how much has changed for women in only a few decades (though arguably it's not enough). We all may laugh now, but we really should remember that these ideals were once a reality for women... long before the days of Geena Davis as our TV president.

Current Music: The Wrong Idea, by Chris Thile

One year and still going strong!

Well, since I haven't much to blog about, I'll babble. I just realized it's been a year and one day since I decided to enter the blogosphere and change my life forever (by merely fueling my addiction to the computer and Internet). Remarkably after all that time I still am finding things to say. So for that, I wanted to say thanks for any and all who read this.

For some time capsule material, let me add a few current-events bullet points:

-Celeb news: Oh god, just when I thought TomKat was out of the news, they bounce back with Hollywood's latest out-of-wedlock pregnancy. (Hey, at least Kenny & Renée didn't make the same mistake.) I don't really have anything else to say on that. Blagh.

-TV: Ok, it's a given that TV is taking over my life. I'm trying to take serious steps to address this problem, but meanwhile, another show has captured my attention. With seemingly dozens of new series premieres entering lineups this fall, it was hard to capture the attention of viewers who, for the most part, already had their favorite shows picked out. My parents, on the other hand, who are casual TV channel flippers, happened to catch the Pilot of "Commander in Chief" and they couldn't stop raving about it. So I thought I'd tune into the encore as well as the second episode last night. I thought it would be terrible and cheesy (ok, it's a little cheesy), but it's actually quite entertaining and I'm definitely going to keep tuning in, at least for now.

The whole ad campaign that said "This Fall... a woman will be President" was actually inspiring, though at the same time a bit sad, because you realized it was a TV show and the Prez. was Geena Davis, who for some reason I can only remember from "A League of Their Own." On the other hand, despite some occasionally poor makeup, she's great in the role, to the point where you're like "Wow, I would vote for Geena Davis..." (Just like we'd all vote for Martin Sheen.) They threw a couple funny Hilary jokes into the script, too, and all of the First Gentleman scenes definitely had me laughing. Finally, they couldn't have cast a better bad guy/resident jerk than Donald Sutherland.

-Books: I'm currently reading Oprah's latest Book Club selection, A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey. It's the first time I've been on the same page (hah!) as my pal Ope, so I'm pretty excited. More on that later.

-Blogger: Drumroll, please..... On the one year anniversary of "Watch out for the Po-Po," let us welcome the newest member of the blogosphere, Kam! Yes, that's right, you've seen her comments (some of them obscene) and you've read my shoutouts. Now it's time to hear directly from Kam about her amazing adventures in knitting. Don't be fooled-- knitting is not for old ladies anymore!! Kam will prove it to you. I guarantee after looking at some of the photos she's posted of her work, you'll be begging her for a Christmas gift!! Congrats, Kam, and welcome! :)


Current Music: The Hardest Part, by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Army 10-miler

Well, today was the day! After months of (sort of) training, I awoke before sunrise today to make my way down to the Pentagon for the start of the Army ten-miler. With 20,000 entrants and a high demand for registration, this is the biggest ten-mile race in the country, so it was especially exciting to be a part of it.

20,000 runners means that it takes awhile to reach the starting line, so I wasn't too concerned when the start gun fired and I was still waiting in the porta potty line... Luckily I made it out in time to hop in the big pack and start the race ten minutes after 8 am.

The race itself went well, and I definitely enjoyed the course more than the mostly out-and-back Cherry Blossom race I did back in April. The Army course was more of a scenic loop which led us past the Pentagon, across the Memorial Bridge and past the Lincoln memorial, then past the Kennedy center, and eventually along the Mall past the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, and finally a small loop past the Capitol before heading back. Aside from the lovely early-morning Washington views, the turns and loops were much easier, mentally, for me to get through.

There was one minor (ok, it was major) glitch in the race that had lots of runners fuming. Just around or before the 8-mile mark, the race was re-routed because of an emergency security concern at the 14th street bridge, which was supposed to take us to the finish line at the Pentagon. It seems that just after 8 am, an official identified a "suspicious package" on the bridge, so they decided to re-route the course, basically sending us back across the Memorial Bridge and finishing the course the way we had started, in reverse.

The only problem was, no one knew what the hell was going on. First of all, no one ever saw the sign for the 8 and 9 mile mark, which started up the initial confusion, then when someone finally notified us that we'd just crossed the adjusted 9-mile mark, everyone had the "Ok, last mile, this is the final stretch" mentality going. I was slightly more in the loop than others, since I'd borrowed Huan's Garmin GPS device for the race and was keeping track of the race mileage on my wrist. So I knew something was up when the Garmin beeped for 10-miles and we were still only halfway across the Memorial Bridge.

But of course, I kept going, wondering what disaster had befallen the race. Meanwhile, other runners are thinking "This is the longest $@#%&* mile of my life!!!!" Finally, we get word from the finish line that "It's 11.4 miles, and you're almost there!!" This is when people start getting pissed. The beginning of the race was full of smiles and cheers, and now it was "You'd think they could have told us," and "I'm never running this race again." Though it was all kind of sad to think about how the race fell apart and no one was getting official scores, the whole thing was amusing in a "I can't believe this is the biggest ten-miler in the country and this is what happened" kind of way. Sigh.. But I guess these things are unpredictable and security is extra tight and cautious around DC anyway.

I finished my 10 miles in decent time-- about a minute slower than my Cherry Blossom time, but considering training for this race consisted of many fewer workouts and a lot more Popeyes/beers/potato chips/television watching/you name it, I'm actually pleased with my result. And on the other hand, I ran 11.4 miles, which I definitely was not expecting to do. I guess that means I'm that much closer to running a half marathon! Whoo, look at me, raising the bar!!

Since Auddie was such a fabulous event photographer, here are some snapshots from the day (thumbnails):

Mile 4:

Me & my pops (with thunder sticks in hand) at the finish line:

Awesome shot of my dad in front of the Lincoln Memorial, no other tourists in sight:

Finally, here's a random shot of the gang at my post-race brunch at Carlyle in Shirlington:

Twas a fabulous Sunday overall, made even better by a miraculous Redskins win in overtime! 3-0, who'da thunk it?

Current Music: Lately, by David Gray