Easy Street

At work today I discovered the coolest name for a newspaper in the history of the world: the Malayala Manorama.

Several hours after that I wandered around the Seattle Center (Key Arena, Space Needle, etc.) and Easy Street Records in Queen Anne. I like Sonic Boom up the street pretty well, but Easy Street overwhelmed me. Before going I kind of thought I wouldn't like it because I tend to prefer smaller scale stores, but it wasn't as big as I thought. It did have an amazing amount of great stuff. I spent 10 minutes just looking at the titles in the magazine rack without even browsing. It's definitely the best annotated record store I've been to, with tons of staff reviews and Pitchfork clippings and whatnot. I liked the setup of the store, which included mostly L-shaped display racks, so there weren't any annoying long lines to file down. They had an in-store performance by Earth who play slow, low, and I think pretty loud when they're not doing an in-store.

I picked up Mouse on Mars' Vulvaland because of the 30% off used sale. I wasn't sure about some other things, and I stuck with Mouse on Mars because I didn't know if other things were on the list. Charles has seen the list. I might post it at the old Tripod site someday, but don't feel like it at the moment. It includes just over 500 albums that I want, but I can't carry it around. Unless, that is, I can convert it to a "notes" file for the iPod, which would be pretty awesome. I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh, and I heard the Snoop Dogg vs. The Cure ("Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Close to Me") mashup from the new Hollertronix 12". If I remembered which MP3 blog was hosting, I'd link you up, but you'll just have to imagine or try to do it yourself. In fact, both tracks are so spare that you could probably play them at the same time and not notice that anything was wrong. Anyway, the contrast between the ultra-bouncy Cure rhythm and Snoop/Pharrell's sly declarations made me actually smile like a fool for several blocks (walking speed!).

This and That

Three things made me pretty happy today. One is that we finally got some weather I would associate with Seattle: fog, clouds, and light rain. Two is that I saw this weblog at work that used five digits for the year, as in 02005. It's inspiring to think that someone plans to be blogging into the eleventh millenium AD. Third, and most awesomely, this dude gets on the bus, sits down beside me, and to my complete surprise, he is rocking a Wesley Clark '04 button! I mean, yes I've still got my Dennis Kucinich shirt, but to be a advocating a fairly middle-of-the-road non-politician more than a year after he faded from the primaries, that takes some commitment. Or a lack of button-removal skills.

Free Franz Ferdinand

Apparently one of my housemates can get free tickets to Franz Ferdinand + TV on the Radio + Cut Copy at the Paramount this weekend, which should be terrific. It's not quite as stunning as Sarah Moody's standing offer of free admission to Sub Pop-related shows, but pretty great nonetheless.

Weather, etc.

According to the National Weather Service, today is the last nice day for a while. I didn't know this when I decided to do so, but I went up in the Bank of America tower today, across from the Seattle Public Library, because it was there and the doors weren't locked. I tried to go to the 50th floor, because that was the highest number I could see in the elevator system, but that didn't seem accessible, so I wandered around on the unfinished 47th floor for a while, looking out to Mt. Rainier and the Space Needle, which I was about level with, and so on and so forth. I was completely blown away when I saw Rainier for the first time last Friday going south on I-5. Charles said it reminded him of Mt. Fuji's relationship to Tokyo, which was certainly true from my view almost atop the Bank of America tower.

I still haven't gotten settled what with our retreat to the country this weekend. Charles and I saw Wolf Parade at the Crocodile Cafe on Thursday night. It was just about perfect, probably as good as I've been to since Bloc Party. One of those shows that makes you wish you were in the band, but still feeling lucky to be in the crowd. The encore of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" got me to thinking about appropriate times and places for Guns n' Roses songs (or Dylan covers), and this was totally one. The high point was probably not during any of the songs, but rather when the singer who was standing (as opposed to the one who was sitting; don't know their names, don't yet have the album) felt inclined to tell us that, though he might be drunk, he wanted us to know that even if it sounded dorky and earnest there was nowhere else he'd rather be (on stage, not Seattle specifically), and the way he did so was just icing on the cake.

My camera is not working. More later?

After A Long Layoff

So, I moved to Seattle. I was in Kansas for a (pretty good) week. Now I'm here. I haven't been moved to blog very much for a number of reasons. One is that the internet connection here (pirated wireless) is pretty sketchy, and I haven't hauled the laptop to the library yet, so there are technical considerations. Another is that I'm not quite comfortable yet (although I was quite comfortable at the party we had Saturday night) because it's a new, still unfamiliar place with new and different people, so no routine has been established. I'm confident that I'll settle in sooner or later, although it might be tough to do with at least the next two weekends spent out of town (at a retreat {for which I'll miss the two Decibel events I'd planned to go to, which I'm not thrilled about} and the Washington MCC Sale). Everything is good so far, I think, but perhaps it doesn't quite feel like home.

Charles will be here tonight through Sunday or Monday. According to his estimates, he may be here as a resident by early October. He should be pulling in around midnight.

Notable people/places/things so far: the aforementioned party, at which I met a lot of former Mennonite volunteers. People told me that many stay here after their year is over, but it's still a little surprising to be more part of a lineage than a closed unit.

The library downtown is breathtaking.

I took a walk north on 15th Ave yesterday. I got acquainted with Sonic Boom Records (playing the Dangerdoom album), which was pretty cool. They had a very good selection of magazines, none of which I could afford to purchase. It felt like about the right size, which for some reason seems to be really important to me when considering record stores. They also had new releases for eleven dollars which I still can't quite believe, considering they aren't Best Buy and their selections weren't exactly Billboard Top 50 material, for the most part. I've yet to search out other record stores yet, but I don't know how much I'll actually be buying records this year, so that might not matter much unless I decide to seek gainful employment here next September.

After that I continued on and gaped at the amazing view east of Volunteer Park. It doesn't seem natural to me, based on where I've lived previously, that I should be able to see something like that so close to my house. I may take pictures eventually, if I feel like it, but I haven't yet.

I've been listening to KEXP when I can. It's been mostly good so far. My impression so far is that it's not dissimilar to The Current in Minneapolis, but I haven't gotten annoyed with the AAA format yet the way I did in Minnesota. Maybe that'll just take time.

I heard three memorable songs last night. The first was something from the new Iron & Wine/Calexico EP, which I was apprehensive about because I thought maybe I was getting tired of how Sam Beam uses his voice, but it worked for me. I also liked a track ("Camera") from the Editors, who are basically Interpol, I guess. I nearly swooned when I heard something or other from Takk. It actually made some kind of weird sensory impression on me, inspiring odd thoughts of pre-dawn landscapes and primeval beauty. I was surprised because it took me a while to get used to ( ). I might have to go pick it up down the street if I can't get it for free, which is saying a lot on my "salary".

The Incessant Posting Ends

Have you seen the Pontiac commercial featuring M83's "Don't Save Us from the Flames"? I mean, it's still just a car commercial, but it's pretty great. It's about a minute of shiny black Pontiacs changing into different Pontiac models while driving through some sort of special effects pyrotechnics show with M83's enormous song blasting away throughout. I listened to that album the other night, but I think it needed to be a lot louder, because as I experienced at the Triple Rock, M83 is even better loud than quiet, and they're already pretty good at a low volume.

The commercial was on ABC during college football (of which I think I saw about eight or nine hours), I think near the beginning of the Iowa-Iowa State game. I was impressed with the Cyclones on both sides of the ball. Ohio State's game against Texas was fairly hard fought. Vince Young's passing numbers make the damage they did look worse than it was. The Buckeyes' secondary was invisible, which allowed for some big gains, but their linebackers were absolutely ferocious. If Holmes or Ginn had been able to get open at all, the Buckeyes would likely have won by at least a touchdown, but it seemed to that throughout the second half the OSU quarterbacks would get stuck in the pocket with no one to throw to and have to continually settle for losses or short gains. We also saw the second half of Michigan-Notre Dame and the end of Boise State-Oregon State. After yesterday it certainly appears that the Buckeyes can win the Big Ten (since Michigan and Iowa both completely folded), but to win in the BCS they'll probably need a much more effective passing game.

I'll fly to Kansas tomorrow for some volunteer orientation and then to Seattle on Friday, so you'll have go back and re-read some archives until then.

Toronto over Cannes

Roger Ebert argues that Toronto has usurped Cannes as the world's most important film festival.

Shows I'm Actually Going to in Seattle

I opened the floodgates down and to the right, and am listing all of the shows of interest I've found in Seattle (they are usually hidden). I will not have very much money, so I am thinking that I will really only get to a few things like:

• Decibel Festival
• Black Dice
• Superpitcher/Ada
• My Morning Jacket

You may already be aware that I would probably donate organs to see My Morning Jacket. Of the $10 shows I could find, both Black Dice and the German techno night are about exactly what I'm interested in right now. Plus, they're at Chop Suey, which is, according to my calculations, three blocks or less from my house, the awesomeness of which I can barely comprehend. I'm guessing the Seattle music scene is a little more active in the winter than the Twin Cities, but I'm not sure, so it's hard to budget my time/money/excitement.

The Decibel Festival provides far more shows than I can afford, so I'll probably stick to a $5 cheap show and a more expensive $15 one. The Fourth City/Kranky showcase has two Kranky artists (Strategy and Nudge), which is enough for me, and I'm conflicted about the expensive showcase. The Experimental showcase has Tim Hecker and Fennesz, both of whom I would love to see, and would lead into the cheap one I mentioned before. The Headfuk showcase (Isolee and Thomas Fehlmann) is pretty late on Sunday night, although I don't actually know what time I will be going to work in the morning, so I'll cross that one off. Since I've already had my fill of Kranky, I'll have to also leave out the Kranky/Ghostly Ambient showcase. Tough decisions. Tough, barely readable decisions.

Jack Shafer

So apparently Slate editor Jack Shafer decided to brave the cruel retorts of the politically correct by publishing an article about why New Orleans does not need to be rebuilt. I'm guessing he's unaware of any of the positive facts about the city that Alan AtKisson brings up in his piece, pro-reconstruction, that I linked to a while back. He also seems to completely ignore the city's strategic location as a major port at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Early on he asks what kind of place New Orleans really is, in an attempt to dissuade his readers from their enthusiasm for rebuilding. His big two leading points are "It's a poor place" and "It's a black place" which apparently means it is unromantic and probably no fun at all. I don't know if he asked any actual poor and/or black people about this before he wrote it, but I'm guessing not.

It's also kind of bizarre how at the end he "apologizes" to the select New Orleans natives he can think of who aren't welfare mothers, minimum wage earners, or just generally the type of lazy bastards he seems sure that the city is filled with. The weird part about the apology, to me, is that I guess he actually means to offend all other people from the city/region.

I'll refrain from analyzing any of the rest of his arguments since they seem unfounded and not very well put together. I'm no opponent of controversy for controversy's sake, but this is mostly just sad.

African Progress

Jared Diamond has an essay in this month's National Geographic about how Africa's progress has, to this point in history, been thwarted and how that trend might be reversed. (From WorldChanging)

Pirated Connection

I found some wireless connection that reaches my house. I'm guessing it's either from the telephone company or the "community building" which is like a miniaturized version of a city hall. I suppose it could be residential. If I were sticking around longer I'd probably try to find out but since I'm leaving fairly soon I'll just try to use it politely.

Money runs out on U.S. projects in Iraq... I think this is why a lot of people have blamed the federal government for the recent bad disaster planning. It's not so much that they have supreme faith in the local and regional goverment officials on the Gulf coast, who Republican leaders are choosing to blame, it's that we've already seen a criminal lack of foresight demonstrated by the Bush administration in a number of cases, only one of which is the shoddy and now apparently stalled attempt at rebuilding Iraq.

Wireless

I finally got me some wi-fi access and have been uploading like crazy. There's a set of beach photos at Flickr and most of my old web stuff on Tripod. Some of the photo sets at the Tripod site aren't up yet, but almost all of the main stuff is.

And Another...

Here's another hurricane/flood link, which is pretty helpful (as long as it's accurate) when politicians are confusingly blaming one another for not asking for enough help. It's a timeline of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

And thank you to the anonymous commenter(s). Both right on the money.

UPDATE: Bush won't allow photographs of New Orleans dead.

Links/MP3 Blogs

I changed the links and MP3 blogs lists to reflect what I actually read, so have at it.

Late Edition

I heroically finished the mix CD!

And, the Observer led me to my new favorite blog, which chronicles a London man, who wears a suit to his job at Sotheby's every day, who is currently sleeping in a ditch outside the city in perhaps the ultimate exercise in the minimalist lifestyle.

Links

By posting these links, I do not assume you haven't heard all of this already, but I want to make sure you do, just in case.

Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

Don't use Katrina to justify your hate

Make Katrina a nation-changing catalyst

"Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a Democrat, said today that she was so angry about federal failures and second-guessing that if she heard any more criticism of local efforts, even from the president, she might "punch" him

In case you missed it this Wednesday, almost 1000 Iraqis died in a stampede

Bush to fellow countrymen: We will rebuild Trent Lott's house!

Kanye West rips Bush onstage before NBC censors him

Fallout

I read fairly early this week that the president's approval rating hit 36%, equivalent to Nixon's during Watergate, and have to assume that it's sinking rapidly. Many people seem happy about this (though, of course, not to the exclusion of their anger at the relatively poor disaster response) but I can't figure out that it matters much regarding how things are run in this country. We're still a long way away from mid-term elections and I can't see that the administration being by the voters told that they're incompetent is going increase their competency levels. I've been feeling fairly disconnected in general, probably because I don't get out much, but perhaps it's also a sign of either cynicism or apathy. My upcoming change of scene and acquaintances should reveal what's what.

What interested me more than the political wallowing was this piece by architect Alan AtKisson about how to rebuild New Orleans in a sustainable and successful fashion, working from guidelines already established by a local economic development group.

It feels kind of awkward at this point in time starting a volunteer position at a fairly cushy job (I hope!) when there are probably going to loads of opportunities to help out down south in the coming weeks and months. Not that I'm having some kind of crisis, since I feel I'll be doing good work anyway, but that's just a thought that struck me this week.