I'm baaaack....

I have returned from my trip to the Pacific Northwest as a far more tan and tired person. The Sasquatch Music Festival was incredible, as was the rest of the trip. Expect lots and lots of Sasquatch related posts over the next few days (with tons of pictures!) and then things to return to normal here.

Capitalist Pig Tuesdays

This is going to be one of my last posts before my vacation, and I'm sure I will get on a computer while down there and write a blog or two up, but I wanted to make sure posted my recommendations for the week.

Or to be specific, one big recommendation, as that is all I have for you today.

Album of the Week: Islands - Arm's Way

This week has one major release in my eyes, and that is the second album from Islands, a band that rose from the ashes of former indie greats the Unicorns. So far, a lot of people have chimed in on the web about this album as it leaked long ago and it is a fairly high profile release after their critically adored Return to the Sea brought them into the limelight, but one review I wanted to note is Pitchfork's review.

For those that have talked to me about music, you may have heard I am not a fan of Pitchfork. I think they get off on being naysayers, and I think they are the type of people who mourn what music has become as opposed to bask in the goodness that it still provides. Not only that, but they seem to be the type to review something based on the inverse of their popularity quite often (meaning if it is well known, it's crap, and if it's a self recorded EP that is 15 minutes of terrible vocals and lo-fi production, it's genius! *ahem* Black Kids).

Back to the point, as I went on a bit of a tangent about Pitchfork. Their review gave the album a 6.2 out of 10, which is not a bad review from them to be honest. It's fair to middling, but not a pan. What bothers me is that Pitchfork uses the word "conventional" within their review as if it is some sort of crime to be that. I liked Return to the Sea, but contrary to Pitchfork's thought process, I believe what they did with Arm's Way is bring pop sensibilities and structure to a band that had displayed limited interest in pursuing that before.

And it works.

It works incredibly well. This album isn't overly polished, it still maintains the unique Islands feel. The song structures are more focused which allows the band to pin their efforts towards making the best album they can, as opposed to pontificating about how they can turn the nice sounding noise they made into music. Every facet of the band improved album to album, and there is still plenty of space for the band to experiment and get their fill of the "these walls can't hold us nature!" of the first album.

No track shows this more than "In the Rushes," which is clearly the standout track for a number of reasons. The opening section of the song is pure build up, as the guitar/bass provides a rhythm to work with and the strings plus lead vocals steadily build . From there, a powerful section with Nick Thorburn's vocals taking the lead kick off, and then we transition into a repeat of the beginning. That's when things get a bit unpredictable, as the band provides an absolutely fantastic homage/somewhat cover of the Who's live track "A Quick One While He's Away." It's the way covers should always be - respectful, but inventive.

And that last sentence perfectly defines this album. This album is respectful of the fans that came with them from the previous effort, but this time the band has reinvented them as a more conventional (but in a good way) guitar driven rock band. Still not exactly normal, but every bit as interesting as the first time around. This is on my short list for favorite albums thus far this year, and I can't imagine it won't be there at the end of the year as well.

Stream the album here and judge for yourself. It's worth a shot, I promise.

My blatantly pro-gay agenda

Today I received a call from customer service at work. The guy on the line claimed that he had a woman wanting to talk to someone about our Yellow Pages ads and in particular our Yellow Pages man. This guy is a popular character created for the ads, and it's just a guy who wears a mask, a cape, and underwear over his jeans. He's a self-made superhero, and to be honest I think the ads are silly. However, they're a hit so whatever.

Back to the point, apparently she was offended by the character's "bulge" and wanted to speak to someone. With no one else available, I begrudgingly took the call, and then dealt with this woman for the next 10 minutes. What did we talk about?

• She felt that our ads "accentuated his area"
• She felt that our ads were "blatantly homosexual"
• She said that this man is "heavy set and clearly gay - two things no real man should be"
• When I combatted her arguments with "I think we're going for a superhero theme" she responded with "that's even more disgusting - gays are not heroes."
• She wanted me to look into the way we do business, as we have a "blatantly pro-gay agenda"

It was really, really hard not to laugh. For the ten minutes we spoke, she just carried on about those five things and variations of each one. The thing that shocks me is that it took this long for someone to figure it out. Yes ma'am, I created these ads in an attempt to convert the entirety of the state into gay superheroes. You've discovered my dastardly plan...now I will go and drink scotch from my decanter (because I can do that now!) and curse your existence for figuring me out.

Blast!

Some people are honestly too ignorant for their own good, but I guess each person is welcome to their own opinion, regardless of how kooky it is.

Favorite Live Performances

To continue Sheri and I's ongoing weekly venture in making lists of our favorite things, and then linking to each other for comparisons sake, this week we have favorite live performances. Per usual, we have specific rules: must be single live performance (not live band or live show, just live performance), must be actually seen live (no BS including DVD watching...bad form), and if the best performance happens to be by a band you don't like in particular. Well...that's tough. It's not favorite band, it's favorite performance.

With that said, below are links that take you to Sheri's blog and previous lists, and then after that it's on with the show!

Sheri's blog
Favorite foods
Favorite albums
Favorite movies

1. Andrew WK at Club Soda in Spokane, WA (some time in late 2002...)

This was the very first show I attended after getting to college, and it was the first road trip I took to attend a show as well. At this point Andrew WK is a bit of an afterthought, as after the Wolf I lost pretty much all interest. But at the time, when he was all about two things (partying and rocking for clarification) my friends and I absolutely loved the guyb. We had to go!.

Why was this show so great? It was all about fun and having a great time at a show, as WK was pretty much the emcee of one of the best parties I'd ever been to. The security at the show had absolutely no control, and it was just the way WK wanted it to be as he went from not caring if people were on stage at the beginning of the set to encouraging people to join him at the end.

Examples of awesome things that happened: my buddy Colver and I sat on stage for 3/4ths of the set right in front of WK and sang the chorus to "She is Beautiful," I hugged WK (in a life affirming "we are bros for life!" sort of way), and during the final song the stage was loaded with no less than 20 people, including a kid sitting on top of WK's shoulders as he belted out the chorus, and the whole thing culminated with WK running at the audience and the kid diving off him into their loving arms.

Incredible. The most fun I have, and likely ever will have, ever had at any concert. Pure, unadultered joy for an hour plus.

2. Radiohead at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Washington (August 31st, 2003)

I think any time you see a band like Radiohead, they get an extra oomph to their performance that you get from few other bands. You just find yourself watching and looking around at everyone else, and you catch yourself thinking about how incredible this experience is. I attended this with my friend Marc, his twin brother Jeff, and our friend Morgan, and their set unified the audience in a way few artists I've ever seen before or after have done.

The picture above isn't from my show, but it's very similar in design as there were monitors all over the stage for us to watch the band in close up. By far the most entertaining was Thom Yorke, as he had tons of fun with the cameras while playing the piano and singing. It was a spectacle and a half, but nothing could top the showstopper that was the second encore.

To the roar of the crowd, they came out and belted out two personal favorites ("No Surprises" and "Everything in it's Right Place") and a third song that was just Thom by himself. As great as the other two were, finisher "Right Place" was the best song I've ever seen performed live. The best part was Jonny Greenwood staying out for an extra 5 minutes after everyone else had left, just jamming on the guitar and using his pedals to create a wall of sound like only he can.

One of the most expensive concerts I've ever been to, but it was worth every penny.

3. Gatsby's American Dream at Neckbeard's in Tempe, Arizona (March 13th, 2005)

This is one of my favorite bands all-time, and it was the first of two times I had seen them. Why was it so special, besides the fact that it was a favorite band playing favorite songs? First off, there is the added plus of meeting Nic Newsham (lead singer) and him giving me a shirt, a DVD, and stickers after the set for free (because I'm such a big fan).

Second off, and most importantly, when talking to him before the set I asked if they were going to play my favorite track, "Apparition." He said he wasn't sure, but he'd see what he could do. During their set (which was stellar, full of tons of energy and near album quality sound) Nic walks around, talks to the rest of the band, turns to the audience and looks directly at me and says "this one is for this guy, this is Apparition."

Hell yes. If this isn't proof that I am susceptible to bribes, I don't know what it is. However, it was the best performance by a favorite band, and one of the best I've ever seen. Hard not to rank it this high, bribery or not.

4. Art Brut at the KEXP Stage at Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington (September 2nd, 2007)

I go into great detail about this bad boy here, but I'll give you a brief synopsis as to why this is one of the best performances I've ever seen: Eddie Argos (lead singer), 20 songs in 50 minutes, mid-song medleys of pop hits like "99 Problems" and "Hollaback Girl," coordinated movements, and hilarious interactions with the audience.

I didn't like this band before seeing them live. Afterwards, they had earned themselves a fan for life. Plus Eddie Argos bought me a PBR later that night, which is another really good way to bribe me (pay attention bands). See this band if they come anywhere near you, even if you haven't heard them or don't like them. You won't regret it.

5. (tie) Girl Talk at the Roseland Theater, the Thermals at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon (September 8th, 2007)

This is kind of cheating, but I saw these shows consecutively (one at 11 pm, the other at 12 am) last year at Musicfest NW in Portland, and if that wasn't the most fun night of shows I'd had since Andrew WK, I don't know what was. Here is an extensive breakdown, but I'll go into a bit of detail as to why they were so great.

Girl Talk's set was just Gregg Gillis jumping down with the audience and throwing together the best dance party ever, impromptu right in the crowd. I happened to be right up front behind the security line, and I was up there dancing my feet off with everyone else. It was sweaty, it was memorable, and it was one of the best spur of the moment show experiences I've ever had.

The Thermals on the other hand was awesome for a different reason: it was just a band going up on stage and rocking very, very hard. Sheri and I went to this show together, and it was just 45 minutes straight of pure energy and fun, as we jumped along to the beat, danced in the crowd, and moshed with the cool people at the Crystal Ballroom. The Thermals brought a ton of energy to the audience, and we reciprocated. Sheri described it like so: "It felt like being in high school again." That sums it up well. Those two alone made Musicfest NW worth the trip.

6. Moneen at the Graceland (now El Corazon) in Seattle, Washington (February 14th, 2004)

The first of two openers for Finch who actually outperformed the headliner, this band was one I wasn't that into before seeing them but I became very into afterwards. I can say unequivocally that this band brings more energy than any band out there. They are bundles of fun and energy, and they just had fantastic rapport with the audience as well. They actually made the headliners feel like a letdown, and made me just want to see more Moneen.

I tried finding video example as to why they rocked so hard, but YouTube failed me. Either that, or this band is one of those "you had to be there" types. They thrive off energy and singing along, and seeing them live I know that. Check them out if they come by, as they are a blast to see.

7. The Movielife at B Complex in Portland, Oregon (February 26th, 2003)

Number two of two in "bands that opened for Finch but outperformed them." I had never liked the Movielife before seeing them live either (common theme, eh?), but their performance changed everything for me. From the beginning where they had someone from the crowd announce their arrival to the stage with the Pixies "Where is my mind?" playing, and then the lights turning on with the whole band starting the first song simultaneously, I knew this was an incredible live band.

Vinnie Caruana to this day is still one of the best lead singers I've ever seen, even though he isn't a "good singer," his presence and crowd interactions were top notch. He hit the notes he needed to and he made sure the show was fun. This is too bad of course, because shortly thereafter the Movielife broke up and I never had a chance to see them after I had discovered that I loved their music. I guess at least I get to keep that memory intact in my mind.

8. Neil Diamond at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska (Some time in 1999...)

Look at that guy up there. That man is mantastic. How could you not love him?

Truth be told, I was forced to go to this show by my parents, and I can't even tell you how thankful I am to this day that they did. Neil Diamond was up on a rotating stage by himself (unless you include his chest hair/necklace as separate entities, which I may) and he was the consumate performer. He was genius, in the way only such a classic artist could be. I didn't need to love his music, I just needed to see him perform.

The man is the biggest rock star I've ever seen.

9. Taking Back Sunday at B Complex in Portland, Oregon (April 12th, 2003)

I've seen Taking Back Sunday more than any band besides one, but to this day the first time I saw them is still the best time. It was the only time I saw them with their Tell All Your Friends lineup, with John Nolan and Shaun Cooper still being in the band. The presentation of the show was very top notch for a small venue show, as they had set up chinese lanterns along the stage and above the audience that gave a great feel to the show.

Not to overuse this word, but it's really my favorite trait of performers: this band is pure energy. Adam Lazzara (the lead singer) is all over the place during sets, especially spinning his mic all over the place and climbing on any and every object he can get his arms and legs on. This was before they had released either of their two later, lesser albums, so it was all b-sides and Tell All Your Friends, and they played the album in its entirety.

They finished with "Ghost Man on Third," which at first glance seems a bit strange, but when you see Adam hanging from the pipes that dangled from the ceiling singing "this is what living like this does" as John screams along, you realize that the show could end in no other way. It's still really too bad that those two left the band, because they are a good band that could have been great.

10. AFI at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington (October 19th, 2003)

This set was slightly devalued later on when I saw them in December of the same year and they performed pretty much the exact same set, but it not by a lot. I was hugely into this band at the time, as they had just released their album Sing the Sorrow earlier that summer. That was the first album that got me into this band, as I was never a fan of their straight forward punk material.

No less, this show was one of the more intense ones I'd ever seen, as metal stalwarts Poison the Well opened and were pretty insane, which led in perfectly to AFI's controlled chaos. There were pyrotechnics, insane circle pits, Colver and I holding up Davey Havok in the audience as he screamed along to "God Called in Sick Today," and four very effeminate looking men rocking about as hard as any band can.

Sure, it was very planned and slickly coordinated, but at the time I didn't realize it. I just knew I loved every second of it.

The Next 10
11. The Offspring at the Egan Center in Anchorage, Alaska
12. The Shins at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington
13. Jet at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington
14. Bedouin Soundclash at the Gorge in Quincy, Washington
15. Death Cab for Cutie at the SUB Ballroom in Moscow, Idaho
16. Ben Folds at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho
17. Flogging Moly at the SUB Ballroom in Moscow, Idaho
18. The Killers at the Big Easy in Spokane, Washington
19. The Frames at the KEXP Stage at Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington
20. Suburban Legends at Neckbeard's in Tempe, Arizona

Another one bites the dust

In the Harry Potter series, there is at least one new teacher every year at Hogwarts (the absolutely, ridiculously incredible wizarding school Harry attends) and that is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Every year there is another reason for the teacher to go away, but it's typically because they are either evil, troubled, or incompetent (in order: evil, incompetent, troubled, evil, evil, sort of evil, evil - mostly evil I guess).

Strangely enough, I've started to notice symmetry between that position and a Marketing Coordinator position at my work. I've worked for my company in the summer of 2006 and from February 2007 until now, and in that time there have been three people that have filled this specific job in my department. One per year. Reasons for departure? Incompetent/troubled, troubled/evil, incompetent.

Today we lost the most recent one, and it's very odd to be going through another one, but it will be nice to get someone who can really do the job in there. It's sad that we go through so many people, but I somewhat hope the Hpot symmetry continues because maybe that will lead to more correlation between my life and the wondrous series.

Perhaps I'll develop magic powers? Win an international wizarding tournament? Get a flying broomstick? I have no idea. I'm just throwing that all out there. God I hope that comes true, even at the expense of consistencies within the workplace.

The Weekend Edition

This weekend was an absolutely beautiful one in Anchorage, and one that completely demanded that I be outside for the majority of it. Sure, it was Alaska beautiful, where the no clouds and gorgeous sun is tempered my middling weather (5o to 55), but it was still pretty incredible. I even have what can be passed off as a slight burn/somewhat tan! How exciting?! So below is a breakdown of what went down this weekend, with the follow up on the most important aspects.

• Basketball with Colver
• Pizzas and Jazz/Lakers with Colver and Lorna (poor Jazz...)
• Kempton Hills crazy fest (aka garage sale day in the neighborhood)
• Anchorage Weekend Market
• Shopping with Colver, Lorna, and Kim
• Frisbee Golf!!
• BBQ at Colver and Lorna's
• Foosball!
• Chilling with Amy at Middle Way
• Wrapping up a big work project
• Moose's Tooth with the Crew

Very busy weekend! Regardless, I'm going to primarily focus on the craziness that was Saturday, as I was up from 7 am until 3:30 AM doing anything and everything.

The reason I got up so very early on a Saturday was a neighborhood (Kempton Hills) in the south side of Anchorage was having their yearly garage sale that day, and it's always an absolute mess, but an incredibly fun one. I had convinced Kim to join me on a quest for knick knacks and great buys, and we both had a great time (although I have to admit, wearing a polo shirt, shorts, and sandals was not the best plan - it was cold!).

What did we make off with? Strangely enough, I bought one thing, and it was at the second garage sale we visited (of roughly 60 total). It was a really awesome decanter, very high quality and extremely pretty. A really cool knick knack to put in my place, and I can't wait to fill it with milk for a delicious batch of milk and cookies! Or you know...something like that. Kim made off with a much bigger haul, picking up four books, some fiesta ware, and something else I don't quite recall.

Even though we only arrived thirty minutes late, it was an absolute madhouse, filled with bargain shoppers in all shapes and sized and from all sorts of locations. I saw people walking around with cups of coffee from Eagle River coffee house Jitters, we saw three people who were getting money from an ATM at the same time as us on the opposite side of town, we saw women who dressed their animals with t-shirts. We saw every type of person you can imagine.

All were united with one common goal - save the most on the best items. Going in I had a goal to get a foosball table and some cheap cd's or vinyl, but I completely failed at getting anything off my list, not to mention I completely failed at finding any cool items for friends or family. Generally you can normally find something cool for someone at this soiree, but I found practically nothing of use.

Truth be told, the actual items at the garage sale were far weaker than years past, but it was still a very good time and extremely entertaining seeing all the strange things people collect throughout the years and the bizarre things people will buy from each other. This didn't even include the multitudes of fundraisers going on, including the soccer team who was trying to pay for a trip to the states by selling kettle corn, and their coach who manned the intense fire pit and called to everyone who walked by to purchase from them in a strangely effeminate voice.

Afterwards (three plus hours after we arrived), Kim and I departed and headed to the other side of town to attend Anchorage's Weekend Market, which amazingly enough never changes, yet is still constantly busy. Maybe it's that people really like Alaskan made products...maybe that it's people love carny food (I had Salmon Quesadillas and Kim had a burger), either way, that place stays busy constantly. We didn't buy anything besides food, but we did get to patrol the grounds in search of good buys and we did get propositioned by a man looking to sell us a dream vacation. I'm very certain he thought we were a couple.

This led to meeting up with Colver and Lorna at the Fifth Avenue mall for shopping and then two rounds of frisbee golf for Colver and I. We played one round of best ball and one round standard and shot negative six in the best ball round and negative one and plus one respectively on the other round.

Quick note: one down side of the weekend is I lost my driver this weekend to the dreaded Westchester Lagoon. A bad release point led to an extremely straight throw...directly into the body of water. This is the driver I've been using for years, and one that's been through the good times and bad. Very sad!

The rest of the night was encompassed by an incredible BBQ over at Colver and Lorna's, where we grilled up a ton of burgers, covered with unfathomably delicious pineapple, cheese, and avocado, and were some of the most delicious aloha burgers I've ever had. Mmmmmmm!!!

Kim and I laid in the sun while Colver and I tossed the frisbee for a while, and we just chatted and had a great time with each other. It was good, mostly (somewhat?) wholesome fun which led into a trip downtown for foosball and hanging out at bars. Amazingly enough, I really wish we had just stayed at Colver and Lorna's.

It was a great time there, and I think I would have had more fun just staying there with all them. But still, all in all it was a great time and an extremely good and packed to the gills Saturday.

Once again, weekends like this make me strangely reluctant to go on my trip. I know I'm going to have an incredible time (coming this Wednesday - get ready Pacific Northwest!!!) but at the same time, I just think of the good times I'll miss out on here. I guess every situation has tradeoffs though, and I know I'll love every second of Sasquatch and seeing friends.

But who is going to be there to take a picture when Lorna is burying Kim in grass? I ask you that!