You Stood Me Up- Music reviews

I'm a long-time subscriber to Paste Magazine, who publishes awesome book, movie and most notably, music reviews. But to be honest, I give most of my attention to their monthly CD of great new independent music. Here are a few of my favorite songs from their latest, October 2008, #47.

The very first song on this latest CD caught my attention immediately. What stands out most about Benji Hughes' "You Stood Me Up" is how much it reminds me of Fountains of Wayne. Unlike FOW, this song is in the first person instead of the third, like most FOW songs, but it has that same humorous and casually detailed narrative with a simple, catchy melody. "You Stood Me Up," as you might guess, is about a poor dude who gets stood up by a woman who spends the day with some other guy instead. I am fortunate enough to have never been in this same situation. :)

"You had a date with me, on April 17th
I showed up at the Dairy Queen where we were supposed to meet.
I got there at 4:53 we were supposed to meet at 5.
I had a Butterfinger Blizzard and some fries.
When you didn't show up, I got worried that you might of had a wreck
but some friends of mine said they saw you puking off a parking deck downtown.

You stood me up, you stood me up..."

You Stood Me Up


Next, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Dar Williams on this CD. Dar Williams is an incredibly realistic and honest (and has an album aptly named, "The Honesty Room") folk singer who's musically embraced me with her stark emotional and graceful lyrics, often peppered with intriguing metaphor and even a good dose of humor. I first fell in love with Dar Wiliams' song "As Cool As I Am," a song that has helped me through a lot of tough times:
"Oh -- and that's not easy, I don't know what you saw, I want somebody who sees me,
I will not be afraid of women, I will not be afraid of women." (video )

While "It's Alright" (video) will probably not be as life changing, it's the kind of song that's just what you need when you are in those downtrodden introspective moods. It's about being forced to change, but unlike most sappy songs about change and "personal growth" her honesty and realism strike again:

"I know change is a bad thing,
breaks me down into a sorry sad thing,
not some iridescent grateful butterfly
I'll resist with defiance
Not the power of a mystic silence"


A group whose music I keep meaning to listen to more, Okkerkill River's "Lost Coastlines" has a somber, resigned melody and a metaphor that keeps sinking deeper and deeper. It's the kind of song you can pretend is about whatever you want:

"Ticket in my hand I'm thinking wish I didn't hand it in
'cause who said sailing is fine?
Leaving behind all the faces that I might
Replace if I tried on that long ride
Looking deep inside but I don't want to look so deep inside yet..."

"Packed up all of our bags, the ship's deck now sags
With the weight of our tracks as we race beneath flags black and battered
Rattling our swords in service of some fated foreign lords"

Supposedly, member, Jonathan Meiburg just left the group, possibly being an inspiration to parts of this song, but I see it as about the careful balance between finding one's calling (or love) through both independence as well as through connection with others.

(listen and read more here .)


Lastly, my favorite song on the latest Paste Magazine compilation is Sleeping in the Aviary's "Write On."

I this one's metaphors too, even if a bit wacky. Despite it's underlying theme of desperation to resist the tenacious and burdensome love for another, it has an upbeat melody and not-too-serious tone.

I'd call this band indie college garage folk rock or something similar. I love the sound and lyrical style of this group so much and I am pre-ordering their new album containing this song, "Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel."

"Like a thirsty throat on a sinking boat, gonna wait until my neck goes numb. Like a wooden heart that a spark can't start, gonna tie myself to the lightening rod." (I love this last metaphor because it reminds me so much of Ulysses's being tied to the mast in order to escape the Siren's pull, something I too often feel like I have to ask people to do for me.

The bouncy chorus brings a wonderful image to me, of a person, when alone, engaging in emotionally indulgent behaviors driven by residual love he just can't shake:

"Cause I can't write you out of my dreams so I'll write your name in the window steam, it'll disappear as you depart, I just want to write you out of my heart."

To listen and buy the album.

Maybe next month I'll write about more songs. :)

Parma ghost moves to Kansas; Jesus is hanging out in the drywall.

In Overland Kansas, a gym security camera's motion detector is repeatedly picking up and filming an unidentified orb. Although it looks like a bug crawling around, the company who who sells these motion detection driven security cameras swears that a bug would never trip one of their expensive high-quality cameras. According to the company, thousands of other people operate these same cameras with no other reports of ghosts. Perhaps because the majority of them, upon seeing an "orb" are smart enough to know it is a bug and not jump on the phone to the local news claiming that a possible ghost?

The most amusing part of this story is the national coverage. My own home town uses the old, reliable, "anomalous, but easily explained phenomenon leaves skeptics baffled," line with a nice argument from ignorance thrown in:

Possible ghost in gym has skeptics wondering

You either believe in ghosts, or you don't. But this story may make you change your mind...

Nobody is able to explain they mystery. The camera company says bugs, dust, headlights -- nothing is supposed to trip the motion sensors. So, the floating orb captured on camera must have some weight to it.

Yes, I am really wondering. I am wondering how many times a security camera ghost is going to make national headlines. Isn't this just a return to the old Parma, Ohio gas station ghost that was thoroughly picked apart?

Those who are not seeing ghosts working out at the gym are seeing Jesus in the drywall.

"I'm not a religious man by any means, I mean, I believe in God and stuff like that but when I seen that, that's the first thing to come to my mind."

At least the article also quotes the brother-in-law who is not convinced as well as mentioning some other possibilities, including Moses, Sasquatch, and Charles Manson. (Gene Hackman with beard and mustache was my first reaction.)

I'm still here part II :(

The Large Hadron Collider has a leak and is on hiatus for retooling. Hold me. I'm scared. :)

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) says that it will take at least two months to fix a "large helium leak" into the Large Hadron Collider's 17-mile tunnel. The likely cause of the drip: a faulty electrical connection between two magnets that are supposed to guide the protons in planned particle-collision experiments.

Triops through day 20

While the power was out Sunday through the middle of Thursday, I still took some triop pictures. Here are the updates:

Day 7, I can clearly see a shell, eyes, legs, and tail. I can't tell exactly how many are still alive.

Day 12, there is clearly one much larger than the rest, and at least two others.

Day 20, a molt. There are now clearly 4, each of a different size. The two largest have begun to molt.

Below are my Day 20 triops dancing to music dubbed on top of Car Talk playing in the background and my cell phone signaling that I received a txt message:

Beer, bladders, and bellybutton rings

I've been unable to post updates on my triops. Or be on the computer much at all. Sunday night the power went out and I am still living like Laura Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie. So far I haven't resorted to throwing around a pig's bladder inflated with air for entertainment, but I have been dancing with the cats in make shift strobe lighting I create with the flash light.

My possible day time entertainment is throwing out everything in the freezer and washing it out for good. There isn't much in the fridge that will need to be thrown away, and hopefully the $37 of limited time only Great Lakes Brews I bought Saturday won't lose any of its shelf life. I have a case of Oktoberfest and two four packs of Imperial Dortmunder, but what I need is the Blackout Stout, commemorating one of the many other blackouts I endured in the summer of 2003. You know, the one where Cleveland (Eastlake specifically) caused a black out across the entire North East United States? D'oh.

Then there was the summer of 94 when I used the blackout to help me put a notch in the bedpost. My bedposts are made of metal now, and I've been using the blackout as a way to get more sleep much more so than the other thing.

So I endure by charging the lap-top at work, using some "community" wifi of whose origins I am not sure, and by knowing that God has some reason for turning on the lights everywhere in my neighborhood except for this little cluster of four buildings.

No, not really about the God part. I've just been spending my time thinking about the belly button ring I might get Saturday.

Triops Day 5

Day 5 of the triops. About 3 left, plus some new ones that just hatched. The water is getting a little murky, I will have to pick up some distilled water soon. When they get a bit bigger, I will install the filter and get all the cat hair out.

Here is Chuckie! (I think Chester and Lillian may be dead.)

Chuckie again, most likely entangled in cat hair.
If you look carefully, you can see the shell and the three black eyes.
(music- Galaxie 500)

I'm still here.

I've been a little down lately, and my friend has a pretty good feeling why. The same thing that's been on my mind for weeks now. I feel like the world is going to end.

This morning, the Large Hadron Collider began an exciting new test firing two streams of protons near the speed of light in opposite directions hoping they will smash into each other. Some people have been concerned though, that there is a chance this experiment could create a black hole, destroying the world.

Of course I'm worried about it, too; I heard them talking about it on the local news right after their water powered car segment. So my friend passed on a website which will alert me immediately if the world suddenly comes to an end. In the spirit of community, I am adding its frequently updated RSS feed to my blog.

To see "top secret" pictures from within the LHC, including the "In case of imminent world destruction" button, meander over to Skepchick.

Good night, see you tomorrow...??

PS- Triops a bit bigger, but still too difficult to photograph.

The Godless way to keep me from drinking

Edger's Chris Ray really hits the spot with his refreshing drinking game for the godless:

Every time a preternatural superintelligence who was born in flesh of a virgin, murdered on a cross after brutal torture by the men he died loving, and miraculously risen from the dead as a sacrifice for your sins finds a better way of proving his endless love to the world than by appearing on a piece of burned toast, take a drink (only after close inspection to make sure Jesus isn’t watching from within the glass)...

It gets better and better until you are left, completely and utterly sober!

ETA- there are only a few triops left. They are hard to take pictures of because they are now scouring the substrate looking for grown-up baby food. When the final few are a little bigger, I'll post more photos.

Triop babies, Day 2

As promised, I have more triop pictures (thanks, super macro mode). Now when I look at them they have the actual shape of a triop as opposed to just little flitting specks:

Here is my adorable Lillian.

Close-up of my sweet, baby Chester. You can see the beginnings of his long forked tail.

And finally, what every parent loves most, bland video that go on and on.
(But these are my babies!)

There are dead snail shells, but at the bottom of the tank are the remains of a former triop from previous generations. Until tomorrow, good night!

Choosing Life

I've been struggling with the decision. Last night I decided that I am bringing life into the world.

Right now the life is barely large enough to be seen with the naked eye, but the speed with which it is growing is amazing. In just a few days it should be ready for me to start using my special make-shift filter.




I'm hatching a new batch of triops. Triops are supposedly one of the oldest creatures still in existence, having changed little in 70 million years. They live in vernal pools of water which may only last a brief period of time, so they must be able to hatch and reach reproductive maturity very quickly. The eggs can remain viable for up to 20 years allowing them to hatch again even if it is a long time before the now-dessicated pool again fills with water.

Once hatched, triops have a very strong will to live. They will eat just about anything, are constantly scrounging and fighting for food, and if one of their peers shows any signs of weakness, they will cannibalize it. I've seen this myself. In my past rounds of growing triops, I would notice about 6 or 7 budding creatures, then one day I would wake up and find only half of them left with no signs of the others. I usually end up with 2 or 3 finalists who live out the rest of their lives into adulthood. But once again, as one of them grows old and too weak to fight off its peers, the others will attack, killing and mercilessly eating their old friend, not necessarily in that order.


Last night I took out my special triop container containing the old sand and gravel from my last generation. By keeping that old substrate, I have not only triop eggs, but also the spores and cysts of the microscopic creatures that lived in the old water. These microscopic creatures become the food for the triops once they hatch.

Left over substrate from previous triop generation.

They are very sensitive about water conditions, so I filled the tank with some distilled water.

Finally, I had to set up a lamp to give not only light, but warmth.

The next morning (only about 10 hours later), there are probably dozens of these tiny moving dots, less than a millimeter in length.

Close-up of one of my new babies.

I cannot tell you how proud I am. Like any proud parent, I will be posting new pictures documenting every first smile, crawl, and cannibalization. Stay tuned.