hey-o non-existant readers

this map is interesting - it shows the 2008 presidential election preditect by real-money contracts traded on this intrade thing. it shows four states swinging since 2004 to blue for the win at the moment. we'll see.

life in chicago has been good. this summer will involve classical concerts in the park, dancing, bike riding (new bike!) and generally having an awesome time. come visit!

If you'd enjoy seeing Girl Talk at the Metro on Saturday let me know.

The Wire season five is so fuckin' sweet.

Dude: this weekend I was at this party and there were all these annoying hipsters dancing to crunk music and being ironic.
Dude with pony tail: Ha yeah. I grew out of that whole ironic thing after I graduated college.
Dude: So that pony tail is fo' real?

Music (in no order)
Menomena’s "Friend or Foe" is my favorite rock album of the year. Creative, cohesive, high replay value, what more can I say? Listen to it. Also, I saw them at the Metro and they come across really well live. They make a lot of noise for three guys.

Kanye West’s offerings this year were his released album "Graduation" and the boot leg "Can’t Tell Me Nothing" mix tape which was a prerelease of some Graduation songs and some super creative stuff that he’d be unable to sell to the public. Graduation is good but I rank it behind his other studio releases. His mix tape has some really creative tracks including using hooks from Peter Bjorn and John’s "Young Folks" and from Thom Yorke’s "The Eraser" – really creative good stuff but totally illegal.

Jay-Z’s "American Gangster" is my favorite hip hop album of the year. I don’t normally like his albums as a whole, but this one has a great concept and sticks to it. I’m not sure how many singles will come off it - I played "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." at my party and people booed me.

The Hood Internet releases their tracks, generally a mix of hip hop lyrics and pop/indie rock backings, for free on their website. Right now I am enthralled with “The Pack vs The Dandy Warhols - Oh Go Get High” – absolutely right up my alley. (I am going to see them this Saturday at Schuba’s, you should come!)

I discovered LCD Soundsystem this year and enjoy their new release "The Sounds of Silver" and their original self titled a lot. I saw them at Metro in 2007, I was a bit apprehensive because bands with electronic sounds have hit-or-miss performances, and they were really great. James Murphy sang his fucking heart out and nothing sounded over-produced.

Peter Bjorn and John’s “Writer’s Block” was the clean rock album of 2007 for me (though, astute people will note it was released in 2006, I’m a bit behind). Beyond “Young Folks” there are so many other great tracks. I saw them at the Double Door (they played a free XRT show) and they were great, Bjorn sort of fell on me when they jumped off the stage and played in the middle of the floor for a while, it was sweet.

Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible” is more Bruce Springsteen than anything else I’ve ever liked. I think the album is solid.

Kevin Drew’s “Spirit If..” is cheesy at times and he re-hashes material from Broken Social Scene, but it’s uplifting and believable after you’ve seen him pour his heart out in concert.

JUSTICE’s “Cross” is good but doesn’t hold a candle to Daft Punk’s albums as many suggest it does.

Dan Deacon’s “Spiderman of the Rings” is not for everyone. I like it a lot but it got shut down when I played it on a road trip after like half a song. Even if you don’t like the album you should see him live because he puts on unbelievable shows. He sets up a table filled with random knick-knacks, switches and sets up a dubious tripod with a green skull atop it. He doesn’t do this on stage, he does it as far into the crowd as he can, and everyone’s right on top of him during the show. Everyone goes nuts because of the energy he brings. During a show at the Logan Square Auditorium he had everyone count down “Ethan Hawk” five times before starting a song and the crowd screamed it out, he had to stop the song and restart it so he had everyone count down “Gattaca” 25 times before he started it again. Later in that show he had everyone back up (have you ever seen this happen at a show?!) and form a giant circle, he then had some guy run around high-five-ing the people at the edge of the circle while he played his song, as time went on more and more people started running around the edge – by the end of the song there was a giant whirlpool of people. It was incredible. If this guy’s playing you gotta go.

I was right behind the guy who took this photo

Guilty pleasures: Tegan and Sara’s “The Con”, The Pipettes’ “We Are the Pipettes”

Videos
Daft Hands (Thanks Quinn)

TV
In 2007 I discovered The Wire and watched all four seasons in less than a month. Season five has been great so far. It is phenomenal.

And for those of you unfamiliar with The Wire, according to most critics, it's the show that's done more for art and humanity than all art and every human ever. In addition, it's the only show that is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and everything that you want it to be. The Wire can inspire, move, and cure most ailments if applied directly. If you are barren, The Wire will give you child. If you are hungry, The Wire will give you bread. And if you are lost, The Wire will find you and hold you to its breast until someone who isn't a television show comes along to claim you.
But, really, it's as good as the endless hyperbolic praise of it is irritating.
The Hater, Jan 10th 2008

Miscellaneous Recommendations
Return my phone calls
Put your money under your mattress
Tell me what I missed in 2007
Work for my company. After two years you might get a corner office on the 138th floor too.
We should hang out more
Come see me be an extra at "Societas Raffaello Sanzio: Hey Girl!" this Friday/Saturday at the MCA.

If you made it this far you should inquire about my extra ticket to see Dan Deacon and Girl Talk on Saturday the 26th at the Metro. I believe it’s the hottest ticket in town.

Happy 2008. Let's rock this bitch.

at 1:45am i'm dropping friend off.
friend: man, that was a weak ass new year's.
me: dude, it's christmas.
friend: ...yeah!

i hope you're having a lovely christmas.

Her: That's my favorite sushi. [Fish] roe is so good, if only sperm tasted like that... I’d be the best girlfriend ever.
...
I’m standing on the North Avenue bus.
A guy sitting on the bus looks at me excitedly and blurts something, "you have happy [something]."
I didn't hear him too well, "What’s that?"
He looks even more pleased with himself and re-iterates, "You have happy pants"
I'm confused, (what the hell does that mean?) "What??"
At this point he's not as excited any more. He plainly says, "Your fly is down."
Oh
...
I hand her my card. She’s impressed, “Ooooo, I don’t even want to try to guess what your company does.”
“Hah! The best thing about the cards is the monograph, it’s tactile, feel it!” I move her fingers over the monograph.
She levels a serious gaze at me for an instant then brings the monograph to her mouth and licks it with the tip of her tongue. “You’re right that is cool,” she says.
...
In the elevators at work they’ve added these little TV things for ads/building information. The company behind this, the Captivate Network, proudly endorses itself by showing a picture of well dressed people in an elevator with nothing to do but stare at whatever it is flashing across the screen.

watch you fools!
When they were installing them I thought it would be more entertaining if it just had live feeds of the other elevators.
...
So... it’s sort of settled then, probably for the best. On my way out I get a well deserved sucker punch in the stomach. It was kind of awesome. “Oh, yeah... that’s fair.” I say as I double over and fumble putting on my boots.
...
“Are you flirting with me?” she asks flirtatiously while my arms are around her.
“Hah, yes I am,” I say.
“But I’m too old for you,” she protests unconvincingly.
“Pfft, no you’re not.”
“Mmmm, well you still can’t” she says triumphantly.
“Why not?” I challenge, getting closer.
“I’m married.”
--Intermission--
“Where’s your ring!?” I had already checked!
She laughs, “sometimes I don’t wear it!”
--fin--

...

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Rory waves a coat hanger around while gunning the engine in neutral. We’re jackknifed in the middle of the road after the most hilariously botched e-brake turn in ever. After a collective WTF?!? we calm ourselves by noting that we have not yet been hit by traffic and so are probably OK. We’re on our way back to Voda’s wedding.

During the ceremony, Mark puts the glass wrapped in a napkin on the floor and smashes it with his heel. He yells “Fuck You, Cup!” The crowd approves “Mozel Tov!” He didn’t actually yell “Fuck You, Cup!” but all I could think about for the rest of the ceremony was how badly I wanted to smash a cup and yell “Fuck You, Cup!” at the shards of glass on the floor. (There was not that much ceremony left, gosh)

...

I applaud enthusiastically at the end of the Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was brilliant. The conductor slowly turns around and proceeds to lecture those who would mistake the Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony for a three piece symphony. Oh. [article]

...

From my brief dating consultation with my awesome friend playing dating coach: “You’ve never had a girlfriend? Even I’ve had a girlfriend!” Great.

...

I agonize over the decision. It has long reaching implications. I take the ‘safe’ route. I am frequently going to question it. How many times has this happened now?

...

Person: do you still have a blog?
Me: yes, it’s a boring piece of shit, but yes it still exists.
Person: oh.

...

We just watched “Live Free or Die Hard”. It was ridicules. Every time Justin Long said anything I heard him say “I’m a Mac.”

...

Man, something are just not better digital – these stupid IP phones at work have a volume control that is digital and resets to 6 every time you hang up the phone – I usually set it back down to 0 volume and they’re still too loud.

...

She’s wasted and all up on me. Pushing her off would be completely unnecessary but I don’t want to encourage her. I do the only thing I can think of. I raise the roof.

...

The door will not open. The key does not work. Fucking copies. I think fast. What would Bruce Willis do? I lean back and kick the door into splinters. The door does not actually turn into splinters. It is very solid and will not move. I am upset and relieved at the same time. My flight leaves in two hours from Midway and I need my bags.

100 minutes later I am at my gate at Midway. I got out of the cab and was at my gate in 6 minutes. Which makes Midway Airport the Most Awesome-est Airport in Ever. I think that proclamation could be made more official looking through the judicious use of HTML tables:

The Most Awesome-est Airport in Ever

Midway Airport!!!1!!

...

I’m leading a not so good partner dancer. I lead the most complicated move I can remember. She wants to go the wrong way – I force her to turn the right way. Every thing works out beautifully. “Oh, and you made it work!” She almost sounded mad.

...

My friend is wasted and wants to drive home. I convince her to come to my apartment for half an hour to sober up. All I really want to do is crash. We talk for half an hour and now it’s time for her to go, she’s putting on her boots and they’re impossible. “It’s too hard” she whines. I try helping. It really is impossible. “Wait here a second” - I get my needle nose pliers and pull up the zippers.

...

My friends got married a while back. During the ceremony they had a reading from NPR’s “This I Believe” – the one by Wayne Coyne (previously featured on this blog). “Fuckin’ sweet” I whisper to my camera. I take some more pictures. “That’s a good choice” I mouth into the LCD screen.

I have an extra ticket to see Menomena at the Metro on Thursday. You should come with me as it will be rockin.

I have been biking to work, and most everywhere else, regularly since the spring. It is free, environmentally friendly, good regular exercise, a great way to see town and hands down the most dangerous activity in my life. Today on my way to work I was riding east on Washington street, firmly established in the right most lane of traffic while crossing the Chicago river (there is no bike path) when a car blaring on the horn, half merges in the lane to the left and passes me with about 4 inches of clearance and swooped into the lane. I screamed. About fifty feet down the road the car was forced to stop at a red light, I roll right up next to this guy and scream at him and his passenger “You cannot pass like that! It’s dangerous and illegal! It’s dangerous and illegal!” and that’s about as much vindication as one can really hope for. I am glad that what I said made some sense.

On my way to dinner at my friend Suzanne’s house I the same thing happen while riding west on Chicago Avenue (which again does not have a bike lane). In both cases I was riding as prescribed in the middle of a lane that is not big enough to share both a bike and a car. The second incident was much more worrisome as it was early evening on a much faster moving street. There was no chance to inform the driver of his extremely dangerous and illegal activity.

I arrived to dinner to find that last week Suzanne had been the victim of a bad pass. She was riding on the far right hand side of Ashland (two lanes of traffic, I consider them to be too narrow for a bike and car to split) when an overtaking car misjudged the distance on their driving side and simply hit her. Fortunately she was not run over. She came away with a concussion and other injuries.


In other news, today was my two-year anniversary at work. It makes me remember October 2005, which was a good blog month.

Tonight I was a volunteer model at a fashion show benefiting High Jump Chicago at Akria. While we were waiting around for everyone to get ready (I was ready in about two minutes) I ran back and grabbed my camera. After doing my runway bit I started to shoot people on the runway, but my flash batteries were all overheated from earlier use and I did not have any backups. That’s gotta be the definition of amateur.

some photos (flickr set here):





The guy who was coaching all of us volunteer models showed us how to walk up, strike a disinterested pose and then walk back. Then he gave us the important pep talk about attitude:

I know this is a charity event and that’s great and everyone's happy I know but so many people do runway for the first time and smile and then regret it! So don’t smile! You have to look like you don’t even want to be here. So! Think about sad things, like dead babies, or war, or something.

That pep talk was awesome! So, if I make passing references to dead babies, you know what I’m talking about.