Filed under: music | Tags: andrew bird, dancing, indie, moore theater, seattle
Hey there Indie Music Dancing Guy … remember me? chances are, you probably don’t. i was seated behind you, right balcony, row W, seat 7 last Monday at the Loney, Dear/Andrew Bird concert at the Moore here in Seattle . now, of course, were were never formally introduced, nor did we acknowledge each other’s presence, but you were hard to miss, and certainly, as i am now painfully aware, hard to forget.
first off, congratulations on really pissing off douche baggins sitting next to you, who was obviously more interested in his girlfriend than the wonderful music being presented for us. seriously, that was some fine work … that dude deserved to be sitting next to a die hard fan. second-of-ly, i have a real appreciation for someone so unaware and self-unconscious … you obviously love the music of andrew bird, and you even more obviously do not care who knows it.
while i do appreciate your unbridled enthusiasm for the music of andrew bird, specifically his song “fake plaindromes”, i have found it increasingly hard to detach my thoughts of the song from your dancing. this came to my attention today while sitting in uptown espresso in belltown. the barista on duty had started playing some andrew bird. this was a welcome change over the previous barista’s choice of neil diamond. i love listening to andrew bird, the problem, you see, is that when his song “fake palindromes” came on, my immediate thought was not, “damn, i love this song.”, but rather mental images of you dancing.
now, please don’t take this as a knock on your dancing. i am not much of a dancer myself, and far be it from me to judge someone else’s dancing … it’s just that dancing in such a confined space really restricts one’s options for dance moves. you looked pretty ridiculous … with a person on each side of you, seats in front and behind you, your movement was limited to rocking ever so slightly, yet vigorously to the left and to the right, while carelessly moving your arms in such a way that the aforementioned douche baggins was ready to knock you out. it was quite a scene, indeed. so much of one, in fact, that it has not left my mind since. and this brings me back to the whole reason for this letter … your dancing, though entertaining at the time, has infiltrated my mind in such a way that with each listen of andrew bird, my enjoyment of his music is ruined … well, ruined is a strong word … my enjoyment of his music is tainted by the images of your dancing in my head. so … i implore you to, by all means, enjoy the shows you go to … but please, think of those around you before you begin your ridiculous dancing.
sincerely, your fellow andrew bird fan,
Brian
PS – douche baggins is guilty of bigger crimes and atrocities than you, but that is best saved for another letter.
Filed under: music, photography | Tags: a farewell to arms, authentic, beauty, celestial, clouds, hemingway, jammin' java, jupiter, moon, photography, rainbows, rosie thomas, starbucks, storms, the sky, venus, vienna
but i only have photographic proof of one of these …
i was trying to finish up “a farewell to arms” before returning it to the library, and actually planned an extended reading session over some christmas blend at my local starbucks, as i had a free drink coupon. my best laid plans, however, were thrown off track by the mesmerizing sky.
i sat outside to enjoy my coffee and book (along with a clove) and began reading. shortly thereafter, a blustery wind kicked up and the sky suddenly was a sweeping swath of gray clouds. big, heavy drops of rain began to fall and i gathered my things and headed inside, but not before stealing the photo from above on my cameraphone. the clouds quickly overcame the sun [as it tried to assert its light and warmth] and dumped a quick downpour across the area … as the clouds exited stage east, leaving mere showers behind, the sun once again broke through the gray and shone brilliantly through. the sky was painted in hues of gray, pink, and yellow and the sun’s light reflected its blinding light off of the wet blacktop of the parking lot. i walked out the door and was greeted with a vividly intense rainbow. being colorblind, rainbows can sometimes be difficult for me to spot, but this particular one … announced its presence quite adamantly. using the very useful ROY G BIV mnemonic device, i deduced that the yellow and green rays of the spectrum were the most prominent, and gradually increased in intensity as they neared the horizon. it was just the beginning of my encounters with beauty …
while at starbucks, after giving up on getting some good reading done, i hopped online and was convinced by a dear friend to see rosie thomas (and her friends) at jammin’ java in vienna, va. the show started at 8pm, so we drove down around 6:45. night had already come, and with it, darkness and his celestial friends. those who happened to notice, were given a glimpse of a bright, crescent moon, jupiter, and a ridiculously bright venus. these celestial bodies were all bunched together for a portion of the night, forming a smile in the sky.
rosie thomas did not disappoint, playing a mix of songs from her new Christmas CD, as well as a good mix of older and newer originals. she is spectacular and has an uncanny ability to command your attention. though her songs can be melancholy and quiet, her voice is one that grabs you and pulls you in. and one would never think that a singing voice so full and dynamic, would come from someone whose speaking voice is so mousy and childlike. in addition her musical talents being on display, rosie cracked jokes the whole night, and just the sound of her giggle would elicit audience smiles and laughter. in short, she is adorable. another thing that sets rosie apart is how real she is. once she develops a rapport with the audience (which happens almost immediately), anything she says is heard … she doesn’t take that for granted, as everything she said, even if it was something silly, held authenticity and hope. this was particularly evident when she would preface a song or two with a story of how the song came to be. she, on more than one occasion, reminded her captivated audience, that, yes, things can be bad, but that there is reason for hope in the midst of the storms. it may sound cheeseball coming from a lot of other artists, but not so with rosie. she was more than just entertaining … she was a source of beauty and means of grace.
maybe your day today has not been a good one … though i would not recommend living in the past, i would implore you to look to the beauty of yesterday. now that you’re a day removed from it, look back on it, and recognize the beauty you may have missed.
[ the yesterday i am referring to in this post was monday, dec. 1 ]
cheers.
Filed under: music, photography | Tags: black & white, blindsided, bon iver, concrete, folk, leaves, music, photography
just a brief little sumthin sumthin for happygivingthanksday …
a photo and a song …
today my house will be full of family, both immediate and extended. my brother is up from virginia beach. my aunt marty is up from clearwater. my uncle larry and aunt besty are down from martha’s vineyard. i’m pretty certain my seldom-seen cousin aaron, from right in baltimore, will be making an appearance. the house will barely be able to contain all the people and the food, so i am thankful to be at work this morning. thankful to be at work, you say? well, with a crowded home, there will be nowhere to get a moment to myself if needed. call it some form of antisocial behavior (antisocialism?) … call it me being a loner … call it social anxiety disorder … hell, you can even call it dislike of family … there may be a part of each one of these things in me to make me feel this way, but when comes down to it, these moments alone at work will help me defeat these behaviors when i finally get to go home around noontime. by then, i will be ready to be thankful for my family. though the dynamic is always a bit tense when a particular aunt is present, we all love her and her ridiculous foibles … we know that we have our own. when we all sit around the table, we not only extend our hands to embrace when we say grace … we extend grace itself, and set aside our annoyances and embrace the differences … embrace the idiosyncrasies/shortcomings and are thankful that we have people at the end of the day who we can break bread with, without being judged too much … even if we do chew with our mouth open.
may you give thanks to God for the blessings He has poured out …
cheers.
Filed under: music | Tags: anticipation, autumn, beauty, cinematic, Creation, death, fall, hope, iceland, leaves, life, lightning, lovely, sigur ros, snow, spring, storm, summer, thunder, winter
in past writings about their catalog, i have waxed obsessive about the beauty and cinematic quality in the music of sigur ros. that, if one takes time to listen; takes time to drop everything, close their eyes, and give full attention to the music, it will produce images of beauty in your mind’s eye. perhaps this is a bit lame, or a bit over the top, but not if you ask me … which you haven’t, but i will be telling you nonetheless.
a little more than a year and a half ago i could often be found on the wooded trails of oregon ridge regional park in hunt valley, md. i would go for trail runs over the dirt trails riddled with rocks, pebbles, and overgrown roots, careful to not twist an ankle as i gingerly ran, trying to keep a taxing pace. other days when i lacked the energy, i would just walk the trails, careful to notice something new each time. through all four seasons, weather permitting, i would visit the park. i loved noticing the difference from particular places of interest in the park from one season to the next. a towering oak tree, bursting with green life in the summer, would be reduced to a mere skeleton whose bones would rattle in the strong northwest gusts after a cold front comes through. songbirds, whose voice once absent from the snowy forests, have come back for the thaw, singing their songs in the anticipation of spring. the more i think about it, i believe that i am a seasonal, migratory creature as well … maybe not so much in the physical sense, but definitely mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. the seasons seem to elicit very raw emotions within me. as i feel something in me dying, fall and the glorious colors of death that come with it resonate deep in my soul. the winter closes its moribund curtain and the lights go down on nature’s theater … an act break if you will … but soon, soon the stage will come to life once more. as i mentioned with the birds earlier, spring brings strong anticipation with it … the hope of life reborn. as summer incrementally bakes and soaks the earth, bringing heatwaves and raging thunderstorms down from heaven, autumn prepares once more to paint the landscape in gold, orange, and red.
/leaves laid to rest, begin their colorful dance/
/green to gold, gold to brown/
/brown to air, air to ground/
/scattered to every wind/
the cycle continues, paying no mind to us as we take these changes for granted. we are all in cycles and seasons … listen and look to Creation, though broken, it’s beauty points to something whole. appreciate the similarities of our lives with the life of this lovely earth.
on to the song … i would ask you to keep the change of seasons in mind as you listen … close your eyes and drink in the beauty.
just a little micro-post featuring the l.a. MC called Busdriver …
the man, the myth, the busdriver
now, i am no hip hop mega enthusiast. i enjoy it, though, when done well … but just know my exposure to it is not wide or far reaching. that said, busdriver brings some of the fastest rhyming and craziest flow to the table. his brand of hip hop blends elements of old school with his own unique, crazed style. in short, i love him. below you will find a video for his song “casting agents and cowgirls”. those of you out there who are well-versed in the ways of hip hop, let me know if i am way off the mark in saying busdriver is one of a kind.
enjoy as the busdriver takes you to school …
cheers.
