do you always look so angry when driving?

A slide to x 0 11 x x x

d 2-11-9-11- chord x 0 11 9 9 x
a 0--0-0--0-

x 0 7 7 7 x x cascade on the e and b strings :
e 10 8 7
b --------10 8 7
g -----------------9

then E (VII) then D (V) chords then i don't know

F#m?

state of love and trust

i almost called today. how's that for breaking news, eh?

moving on, people. man, whenever i say that i miss mr jones. but no man's dead while his name is still spoken.

i had the worst day at work today

i seriously haven't felt like this since my boss at fiu spent 45 minutes detailing how he wanted to kill me and the various ways he would do it if he could.

and then i get home and i realize:

oh shit

they hired me because of my political suaveness
i'm fucked

aside: i found a transcription for martin simpson's "betsy the serving maid". it's not bad. (power tab format on ultimate-guitar if you're interested) and no fucking wonder i coudln't figure the goddamn thing out, i was trying dropped-D and DADGAD and it's in some weirdass G tuning (DGDGCF# -- seriously, what the fuck). also capo on V. aside to the aside: no actual clips of martin simpson on youtube, but here's some dude who learned some of his stuff. aside to the aside to the aside: martin simpson is one of my mixtape secret ingredients. no one expects it. my top four songs that you should download (but i will unhelpfully not provide for you, because the man earns his money,) are: "the company you keep", "betsy the serving maid", "lord gregory" and "dreamtime". I actually learned 'the company you keep' and 'dreamtime' but still kinda suck at them (actually dreamtime I got not too bad at...). if you buy an album (and you should, he's seriously omfg great), i highly recommend his 1996 LIVE AT OXFORD album above all others (although "when i was on horseback" is a good 2nd).

that bell's been ringing now for years. it sounds like needles in my ears.

Low. Mormons from Minnesota -- home of Garrison Keillor and other very white folks -- write glacially slow minimalist music. Except lately they haven't. It's strange, but the last few albums have had a decidedly wider sound to them. Which is good, but strange -- more instruments, more complex songs, but they still sound harrowingly bare, austere and distant. Even the painful songs are just...far away. Removed.

So but see their video for "Breaker": QuickTime, from their website (or here if you prefer YouTube). It's homey, but creepy.

I saw them live with Dr Robert, professional guitarist/lawyer person thing, and they are just as chill-inducing in person. (aside: Mimi Parker is achingly pretty in person. Very tall and with a kind face, but with that way that really nice people have about them that you just know if you actually manage to piss 'em off you might as well just kill yourself then and there.)



Here's more Low for you:
Dinosaur Act: http://youtube.com/watch?v=kTGghNXgxnk
Because You Stood Still: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QPFDix37UZw
Whore: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ArPQvYGrM_w (live)
(That's How You Sing) Amazing Grace: http://youtube.com/watch?v=y2Res0JMuI4 (live but such excellent quality. Very spacey.)

The weather's been gorgeous lately. Yesterday as I left work in the afternoon, the breeze was just perfect, the sky was the light blue filled with perfect white clouds and just to the south the moon was visible even though it was still daylight. Windy days used to remind me of being in love in school, climbing the hills and smoking, listening to tori and ministry and singing the cure. Now it just reminds me of itself. "What do fish remind you of?" "Other fish."

you raise me up just to bring me down

The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove, Live in DC. Well over a year later, this song still reminds me of all that misery. On the bright side, that bass line is fucking wicked.

hunting, central FL, exec summary

2 boar, very hot, hunting from a swamp buggy is different from hunting on the ground, especially with dogs that will NOT still worrying the boar...also: perfect weather, remember to compare and contrast the still hour of 4am when coming to it by staying up or coming to it by /waking/ up, that country music can be considered just about anything and that gator meat smells fetid.

disdain with one eyebrow raised.

this something positive strip (to sum up: chick from davan's past asks him to go with her for an abortion) reminded me of no less than three people who have all been surprised by the fact that i don't have 'oh fuck' reactions to a lot of things.

And I hope when you think of me years down the line you can't think of one good thing to say

This is amazing: an audience sing-along with the Mountain Goats' "No Children"

Courtesy of Largehearted Boy, whose music blog is one of the few that doesn't suck on a variety of levels. Seriously, check out the blog -- full concerts by bands that don't suck etc etc.

Lyrics here in case you want to sing along yourself.

different poerformance:

when i broke, i became normal?

staggolee Stagger Lee Stack-A-Lee Stacker Lee

The Stagger Lee Files, about the different versions of the song.

The Annotated "Stagger Lee", about the Grateful Dead version specifically but also includes some history. ...and the actual Stag Lee story that inspired the song(s).

I really love how it's this one mutating story that moves from musician to musician and it's the same thing, but always a bit different, for example, check out the lyrics to Nick Cave's surprisingly filthy version and then compare Dylan's.

Versions:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Album version, and live.
Grateful Dead, live.
Isley Brothers.
Lloyd Price.
RL Burnside.
Samuel L. Jackson.
Mississippi John Hurt.
Tony Furtado.

I'm still looking for the James Brown and Bob Dylan versions.

I truly never expected to see an article about this.

I mean, seriously. I've been accused of being over-analytical, but even I have limits.

Howstuffworks "How Kissing Works"

Calling down the moon, a red giant.

Well, as it turns out, this is bogus. See Shaunyx's comment for the snopes link. Mea culpa, I'm a jackass.

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Mail from my aunt Zoe to me through my mom. Fuckin' aye.