Loaded for Bear

Well, we're off ... to Michigan for the Fourth of July holiday—and then some. Ambivalent Productions—theimbroglio, the bits, and the images—will be quiet for about a week, during which time I'll be busy living life instead of making other plans. I expect that will involve many hands of pinochle, poker, and possibly Wizard w/L's family, as well as some fishing and reading and movie-watching and great food and just generally relaxing and hanging out. Should be fun.

Thanks to everyone who helped with musical suggestions the other day, the iPod is now loaded with old Morrissey (Viva Hate) for old time's sake; the new Pixies single, "Bam Thwok" (no one mentioned it, but it's the Pixies, which makes it, by definition, superlative); Modest Mouse (of course); the Franz Ferdinand single, "Take Me Out" (it is yummy); and Hot Fuss by The Killers. That last one was in tight competition with Snow Patrol, which I really like the sound of for some reason, from the clips on iTMS—I hear some Dinosaur Jr., Led Zeppelin, and other strange goodness. Also I almost went for The Shins, but they'll have to wait for a more money day. Finally, we'll be listening to some "Fuzzy Math" from the George W. Bush Public Domain Audio Archive, and "Novel Writing" by Monty Python for inspiration and fun.

Of course, the iPod will also be spinning the complete Wilco oeuvre, minus the new one which I couldn't spring for yet, despite all the fuss it's getting. I just didn't feel like getting into too much more downtempo stuff for this trip, and it sounds like "A Ghost Is Born" is not a real sing-along sort of album. We'll also have some Jayhawks, Nuspirit Helsinki, Elliot Smith (talk about your downtempo), Weezer, The Donnas, Cat Power, Dashboard Confessional (yikes! more depression music!), Elevator Ride, the White Stripes, Interpol, The Viper and His Famous Orchestra, Weezer, Cake, TMBG, Flaming Lips, and um, um, more. I do think our ears will be pleasantly entertained for the duration of the 11-hour drive—at least until L. gets sick of my musical selections.

Happy Independence Day Holiday, everyone. Speaking of which, if you'd like a great read in the next week, The Corporation is an incredible page-turner. Funny thing happened on the way to independence day....

Oh, and speaking of books, note to self: Upon return, write up some reaction to the books you've finished recently, including Oryx and Crake (masterful! although L. says not as good as The Blind Assassin, which I'm taking with me), The Corrections, and How Can You Defend Those People? (what an interesting Google search that makes). That's all in addition to The Corporation, which I hope to say something more about soon. Gee. Suddenly my leisure reading has turned into a lot of work...

Posted 05:51 AM | Comments (3) | life generally