Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Under The Net

2012-01-23T23:09:00.000-06:00

by Iris Murdoch

This is a brilliant book that takes a hilarious serendipitous journey with Jake Donaghue as he goes from a self-loathing free-loading mooch to one who begins to see worth and beauty in himself and the world around him.

An outstanding read, a book that I will visit again.

Week One and Two Done

2012-01-13T18:36:00.000-06:00

I am about 2000 steps over goal. Kicking ass! Several times I have had to take long walks after dinner.

Reading is going well. Well into Under the Net, LOVE IT! and I have been getting more sleep.

Nails are longer.

Solid!

2012 New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-02T15:26:00.003-06:00

I believe new year's resolutions are good for me. They help me distinguish the difference between want and need.

This year, I hope to focus on fitness and health:

Read 30 minutes a day. I believe this will help me get to bed earlier.
Read the following five books on Random House Top 100 novels: Under the Net by Iris Murdock, Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow, and Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
Not to put my fingers in my mouth. This seems silly but I bite my nails, skin around my nails, and cuticles. It is sick!
Average 10,000 steps a day. This is going to be difficult.

As always I am completely confident. 2012, BRING IT!!!

2011 New Year's Resolutions Revisited

2012-01-02T15:13:00.003-06:00

It is never a good indication of how ones new year's resolutions have gone if one has to first go back to see what they were. Here where my 2011 resolutions and a brief summary of how I fared:

No TV after midnight. Having forgotten I even made this one, I failed miserably.
Run three days a week and report my progress on my blog. I remembered this yet stayed basically inactive most of the year. I would rate this as a fail.
Read five books with my mother: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Deliverance by James Dickey, House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. My first success! I enjoyed most of the books, especially I, Claudius and The Heart of the Matter. I plan continuing reading with my mother.
Not to use the word "very" in any writing. Again, a success! I was aware of how easily the word "very" is replaced by other words or just left out.
Remove all dairy from my diet. Not a chance, failure spectacular! I need to get my eating under control before I try to make this kind of leap.

Top 100 Songs Right Now!

2011-12-29T09:41:00.002-06:00

My brother-in-law Matt Smith gave all the brothers an assignment over Christmas to make a list of our 100 top songs.

Here where the rules:
1- no more than five songs by exactly one artist
2- no more than three songs by any other artist
3- you must own a digital copy of any song on your list

We then met on December 28th at Matt's home to reveal our list. I brought beer at Tequila and Matt made tacos for dinner. Each brother rated songs on a + (I like the song), 0 (the song is only ok), and - (remove this song from your list!) To make the evening move along each brother was given 30 minutes to play our lists on shuffle. As soon as a song was rated we went to the next song.

Before I reveal my list, I want to make clear that one can be safe and pick songs that have already been placed on societies collective top 100, or one can dig deeper and pick song that evoke personal emotions. I, of course, created a list of the latter in alphabetical order:

1- Modern Man: Arcade Fire
2- She's Enough: Atmosphere
3- The Best Day: Atmosphere
4- Planet Claire: The B-52's
5- God Only Knows: The Beach Boys
6- Brass Monkey: The Beastie Boys
7- Something: The Beatles
8- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown): The Beatles
9- Girl: Beck
10- Morning Yearning: Ben Harper
11-Furr: Blitzen Trapper
12- Tangled Up In Blue: Bob Dylan
13- Concrete Jungle: Bob Marley and The Wailers
14- See A Little Light: Bob Mould
15- Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen
16- Trapped (Live): Bruce Springsteen
17- Short Skirt/Long Jacket: Cake
18- Shake It Up: The Cars
19- Father and Son: Cat Stevens
20- Somebody's Crying: Chris Isaak
21- The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
22- Brand New Cadillac: The Clash
23- Fortunate Son: Creedence Clearwater Revival
24- I Will Possess Your Heart: Death Cab For Cutie
25- Crooked Teeth: Death Cab For Cutie
26- The Crane Wife 3: The Decemberists
27- Calamity Song: The Decemberists
28- Queen of the Surface Streets: DeVotchKa
29- So Far Away: Dire Straits
30- Used To Be A Cop: Drive-By Truckers
31- Hard Sun: Eddie Vedder
32- Alison: Elvis Costello
33- A Little Less Conversation: Elvis Presley
34- The Rockafeller Skank: Fatboy Slim
35- Helena Beat: Foster The People
36- What Is Life: George Harrison
37- Run (I'm A Natural Disaster): Gnarls Barkley
38- The Captain: Guster
39- Tick Tick Boom: The Hives
40- Oh My God: Ida Maria
41- I'd Run Away: The Jayhawks
42- Fire: Jimi Hendrix
43- Hurt: Johnny Cash
44- Movement: LCD Soundsystem
45- Losing My Edge: LCD Soundsystem
46- North American Scum: LCD Soundsystem
47- All My Friends: LCD Soundsystem
48- Rock 'n Roll: Led Zeppelin
49- Never Said: Liz Phair
50- Two Janes: Los Lobos
51- Skinny Legs: Lyle Lovette
52- Car Wheels On A Gravel Road: Lucinda Williams
53- What's Going On: Marvin Gaye
54- Overkill: Men At Work
55- Southside: Moby
56- Satellite Skin: Modest Mouse
57- O My Heart: Mother Mother
58- Little Lion Man: Mumford & Sons
59- Old Man: Neil Young
60- Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
61- Pink Moon: Nick Drake
62- All Apologies: Nirvana
63- Lithium: Nirvana
64- Cut Your Hair: Pavement
65- Alive: Pearl Jam
66- Better Man: Pearl Jam
67- Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
68- Solsbury Hill: Peter Gabriel
69- Comfortably Numb: Pink Floyd
70-Little Red Corvette: Prince
71- History Repeating: Propellerheads
72- Amie: Pure Prairie League
73- It's The End Of The World As We Know It: R.E.M.
74- Driver 8: R.E.M.
75- Catapult: R.E.M.
76- Weird Fishes/Arpeggi: Radiohead
77- Unsatisfied: The Replacements
78- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning: Richard Thompson
79- Street Fighting Man: The Rolling Stones
80- Gimme Shelter: The Rolling Stones
81- Crash And Burn: Sheryl Crow
82- New Slang: The Shins
83- 1979: Smashing Pumpkins
84- Tear Stained Eye: Son Volt
85- Black Gold: Soul Asylum
86- Flipside: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
87- The Mystery Zone: Spoon
88- Supersition: Stevie Wonder
89- All This Time: Sting
90- Last Nite: The Strokes
91- Institutionalized: Suicidal Tendencies
92- Don't Do Me Like That: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
93- Pancho & Lefty: Townes Van Zandt
94- Wait So Long: Trampled By Turtles
95- Gloria: U2
96- Seether: Veruca Salt
97- Blue Orchid: The White Stripes
98- Baba O'Riley: The Who
99- Misunderstood: Wilco
100- One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley): Wilco

Presidential Candidate

2011-10-29T23:52:00.000-05:00

I had a heated debate the other day at work. My friend is a staunch republican who supports candidates that I have not interest in. We got no where in our debate so I asked him what he wanted in a presidential candidate. He had an answer and I did not.

So...

Below is a list of what I feel is important in a candidate. I reserve the right to add or subtract from it.

1- Our country was founded on compromise; therefore, the candidate I support must be willing to listen to all sides of issues and find solutions that move in more than one direction.

2- America is best when we are creating new innovative cutting edge products. This takes an educated population that can express their creativity. My Presidential candidate must support public education for all.

3- I would like my candidate to be financially responsible. We can not continue to spend without having the money to fund. There needs to be a tax system that requires sacrifice from all economic levels. The rich and corporations must pay their share.

4- I believe our government must protect all its citizens. My candidate must not be bias against any one group of people regardless of religion, race, socioeconomic, or sexual orientation.

Wilco: The Whole Love

2011-10-29T21:47:00.000-05:00

Charlie said: I normally wait until the last line to “surprise” with my rating. Not this time. It is a definite promote it, a big time promote it. In fact, it is my favorite CD this year.

I don’t think it would work if I just listed the songs I like because, I like them all! Really, all of them.

Because of that, I am going to try to interpret one song on this album.

“One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” is my favorite song on the album. Before I even started to try to interpret the lyric meaning, the simple melody caught me. It was so simple yet it seems as if Tweedy added one extra note thus making is at the same time complex. I can’t explain it, but I can’t even hum along without the song in the background.

Beyond the simple yet complex melody there are heartbreaking lyrics. Tweedy is talking about a contentious relationship between a son and his father. “My father said what I had become/No one should be.” exemplifies how bad the connection has become. The problem stems from religion: “I said it's your God I don't believe in/No, your Bible can't be true” and the son is even somewhat happy when the father is gone.

The song could have looked only at the failed bond, but instead it goes much deeper. It was not who was right and who was wrong, like the melody, it seemed simple but at the same time was complex.

The lyrics continue with the son seeing his relationship with his father for what it was, complex, and the song ends where it began.

Here are the last three stanza of the song:

Something sad keeps moving
So I wandered around.
I fell in love with the burden
Holding me down.

Bless my mind, I miss
Being told how to live.
What I learned without knowing
How much more I owe than I can give

This is how I tell it
Oh, but it's long.
One Sunday morning
One son is gone.

It song will be with me a long time.

Atmosphere: The Family Sign

2011-10-20T13:43:00.002-05:00

Tina said: When I was a child my parents would not let me listen to rap music. My mom even referred to it as that “rap crap”. Now that I’m almost thirty, I can listen to whatever I want, and I might even choose some of that “rap crap”. Atmosphere’s album the Family Sign provides simple Dr. Seuss (Cat in the Hat) like rhymes or raps. While their rhymes may be simple, their lyrics tell a story (much like Dr. Seuss). What I like about this album is that the songs are catchy as shown in She’s Enough, and I Don’t Need Brighter Days. The album becomes more interesting is the stories that many songs tell like Became and the Last to Say. Enjoy the majority of this album, but have difficulties with Bad, Bad, Daddy, Your name here and Ain’t Nobody. I was surprised to enjoy many of the songs on this album. Talent, and strong lyrics make this album-- a lend it (plus) on the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale.

If you like atmosphere say shh… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_E8SPc_jo

Charlie said: I obviously liked this album more than you Tina. I found the lyrics vivid, smart, funny, and blunt. This entire album orbits around the family unit, from the pain of growing up (The Last to Say), trying to find a partner (Became), finding a wife (She's Enough), even a funny look at being a dad (Bad Bad Daddy).

If gangster rap speaks to people growing up in gangs and violence, Atmosphere speaks to those living in Minnesota trying to raise a family. Atmosphere are rapper who loudly claim Minnesota as their home, they do not deny they love, and point out their weaknesses and flaws.

I love almost every song of this album. The best are: The Last to Say, Became, She's Enough, Who I'll Never Be, If You Can Save Me Now, and My Notes.

Tina, I even liked Bad Bad Daddy. I think it is hilarious.

On Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, The Family Sign hits it out of the park in to the atmosphere, Promote It.

Best Songs of 2011

2011-10-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

--I just did two things that changed my list: I reduced it to 10, and I bought the new Wilco album.

1- Art of Almost: Wilco-The Whole Love
2- Ok: Beastie Boys-Hot Sauce Committee part two
3- Coming Up: Lupe Fiasco-Lasers
4- Used to Be a Cop: Drive-By Truckers-Go-Go Boots
5- Calamity Song: The Decemberists-The King is Dead
6- You Are a Tourist: Death Cab For Cutie-Codes and Keys
7- Became: Atmosphere-The Family Sign
8- Helena Beat: Foster the People-Torches
9- Shell Games: Bright Eyes-The People's Key
10- One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend): Wilco-The Whole Love

Haiku

2011-10-10T22:14:00.002-05:00

some times I run to
other times I run away from
its best when I'm with

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

2011-09-06T11:47:00.000-05:00

This is the second book about the financial crisis of 2008 that I have read this year. What "The Big Short" does that "The Greatest Trade Ever" did not was to expose the greed and corruption behind the scenes that created these toxic loans.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a better understanding about what happened during the 2008 financial collapse. The following is my rudimentary understanding of the situation.

A bond is a promise, usually from the government or a corporation, to pay regular payments for a specific amount of time. They are rated by bond rating agencies such as Moody's or Standard and Poor's and given a score: the higher the score (AAA) the better the chance that they will be paid off by the borrower.

In the 1980's the bond market expanded from boring corporate and government bonds to begin to pool mortgage loans together into their own bonds. The problem with that was mortgage holders could refinance loans and pay them off early. To address this, the bonds were broken into "floors". The "bottom floors" got the lowest rating because they are the loans that were paid off early: the higher the floor, the higher rating; and the higher the quality of loan, or so it seems.

Several things happened in the 1990's. First, Wall Street was making piles of money on these bonds which caused the demand to skyrocket. Lenders stop caring who they were giving money to and began offering more and more outrageous deals to entice more and more borrowers. Deals like an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) which offers a low introductory interest rate that rises quickly to exorbitant rates. These offers got even more ridiculous; no interest loans for a period, no payment loans that would add interest back into the loan. What kept this ponzi scheme afloat was that housing prices were rising and home owners could keep refinancing pulling more and more money out of their homes. As a result, the bonds created from these loans became more and more toxic representing debt that risked default rather than just prepayment if home prices stop rising.

What should have become apparent to investors (poor quality loans) were hidden by the bond rating agencies who used old corporate and governmental bond formulas to rate these sub-prime mortgage loans. Little was done to investigate the quality of loans within these pools. To make matters worse, Wall Street started to bundle the “bottom floor” of hundreds of different mortgage bonds and have them rated. 80% of these bonds were rated AAA, the same ratings at US Treasury Bonds. Crazy!!!

Several people saw the impending doom and began betting against these bonds. They believed that if as few as 8% of the loan began to default the “Bottom Floor” would be worthless. For a small premium (less than 2%), investors could buy insurance on these bonds called Credit Default Swaps (CDS) in essence getting paid if the loans defaulted. They defaulted big time.

This was an excellent read that I would recommend to anyone interested in learning how corrupt Wall Street is.

An E-Mail

2011-09-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

Here is an e-mail I wrote JT Rissman and Paul Pena, two of my fiends who are going to run the Warrior Dash with me on Septerber 17th.

Warriors

I have named the hills at Ravine. It helps me. When I start "Initiator" I talk with him, I say "Hello Initiator, you look good today." I don't know why, but it is easier for me to tackle a hill that I know by name.

Today I did the first part of my run without my shoes. It means I go slower but it also means that my focus switches to my feet and where I am going to step instead of on my body and how tired I feel.

After about 15 minutes, the trail becomes asphalt and I put my shoes back on. The path becomes all downhill and I have to really concentrate to keep my mind from wandering. Near the end of the path there is a trail that leads up a hill that I have named "Oh, My, God, No!” After the first few steps I begin to realize how steep it is and I say "Oh". When I get to what looks like the top, it curves and continues up and I say "Oh, My". With my lungs burning the next curve reveals even more climbing and I scream "Oh my God!". After reaching what feels like the top there is still more hill and that is where the "NO!!!" comes from. "Oh, My, God, No!" is on my mind before I reach it, usually several minutes before I reach it. I play mental games about should I or shouldn't I run it. I usually don't.

Today I did. At the top, out of breath, I decided to extend my run by turning left instead of right. I found two more hills that I named "Bitch Slap" because it came so quickly after "Oh, My, God, No!" and finally "TKO" as I was KO'ed after I got to the top.

I had an interesting sensation about half way up "TKO", I started to feel happy. I thought about how if felt having mud between my toes, how it felt gliding downhill, how I was going to kick you sorry asses on the 17th!!!

Colorado 2011 Cauthorn Style Day Five

2011-09-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

Today is the day Patrick is to arrive. We are all excited. After breakfast of cereal, we got the boys ready for another day. Again, all wanted to stay in camp.

Dad, Sarah and I planned a hike to Blue Lake. Blue Lake is located in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area about 35 miles south of Estes Park. The three mile hike to Blue Lake took us through a spruce forest, to Mitchell Lake then turned abruptly heading up into the mountains and above the tree-line. Several times the trail looked out over beautiful mountain valleys that were picturesque. The last of the hike took us to Blue Lake. The back drop was magnificent, two glaciers ending in Blue Lake. As Dad, Sarah and I enjoyed our lunch, Sarah noticed skiers on the glaciers. Two skiers and one snow-boarder traversed down to Blue Lake. They packed up there gear and hiked out...in their ski boots!

Crazy. It was something I imagine Anthony will be doing in, oh, two years or so.

We drove back to Estes Park to get the boys and Patrick. Pat looks great: skinny, a full head of hair (I can't help but being jealous) and strong. We played Guillotine, Plants vs. Zombies, and went to eat Thai food in Estes Park.

Anthony did the high ropes course at camp, riding a zip line with a huge smile on his face. Michael had an all day hike to Mills Lake, he wanted to go to Black Lake but the rest of the campers couldn't make it. Nathaniel had a cook out with hot dogs the played capture the flag with his camp friends.

Best Songs of 2011 (so far): Rap is Back!!!

2011-08-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

These are my favorite songs of 2011 so far. Please feel free to add some of your favorites.

No particular order:

1- Who I'll Never Be- Atmosphere
2- OK - Beastie Boys
3- Coming Up - Lupe Fiasco
4- Used To Be A Cop - Drive-By Truckers
5- Calamity Song - The Decemberists
6- You Are A Tourist - Death Cap For Cutie
7- Rumour Has It - Adele
8- Ray's Automatic Weapon - Drive-By Truckers
9- Don't Carry It All - The Decemberists
10- The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco
11- I Don't Need Brighter Days - Atmosphere
12- Too Many Rappers - Beastie Boys
13- Became - Atmosphere
14- Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways) - Lupe Fiasco
15- My Notes - Atmosphere

Drive-By Truckers: Go-Go Boots

2011-08-22T10:19:00.001-05:00

Charlie said: This is another band that I have my good friend Tina to thank for introducing me to. She first let me listen to "Brighter Than Creations Dark" their seventh album and I was hooked. I have since added several of their albums to my collections and each offers excellent listening.

There are many things I love about the Drive-By Truckers especially the way each song tells a story with a beginning, middle, and an end. This is an essential element in country music and underutilized in pop. The Drive-By Truckers are a little of both. They remind me at times of another great band that blended country and rock, Uncle Tupelo.

Some of my favorites songs on this album include: I Do Believe, Ray's Automatic Weapon, and Used to Be A Cop. Used to Be A Cop is a perfect example of the Drive-By Truckers, the driving drums push this song forward as the whining guitars builds the song creating a moving sad story.

I love this album, on the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, with my Go-Go Boots on I promote it!

Tina said: Drive By Truckers (DBT) is a band that I never expected that I would enjoy, but with each studio release and a couple of live shows, I enjoy them even more.

One thing that DBT do best is tell a story within their songs. I like this. I also enjoy how the DBT have a nice mix of country twang. The lead singers voice contains a lot of twang, and reminds me of the country music I grew up listening to (Don Williams, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson). While the DBT have a good balance of rock and country, which makes it very enjoyable to listen to. I too enjoy, I Do Believe, Used to Be A Cop but I also enjoy Everybody Needs Love, and the Thanksgiving Fliter. This song is a good example of a story about a family gathering around the table for a Thanksgiving dinner. The thoughts they have about other family members, and the struggles families have together when they gather in large groups.

Great stories, great music, great album...on the Tina/Charlie promote it, Lend it, Deny it, scale...promote it!

Colorado 2011 Cauthorn Style Day Four

2011-08-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

August 10th, 2011

How is it possible that it is day four already? Time does fly when you are spending time with people you love.

I made scrambled eggs this morning along with toast and bacon. Mom did most of the work but I somehow got credit.

With the boys packed up for camp. Mom, Dad, Sarah, and I relaxed around the cabin reading before headed to Estes Park to do some shopping. We first stopped by the Rock Shop to buy some presents for the Kuemmels who are taking care of our fish, Neptune. We then went to a great shop called Estes Park Coffee and Paper Company for coffee and paper. The coffee was great and the paper was actually birthday cards. We bought enough birthday cards to last the year!

We then went to the post office, ate Thai food for lunch, went to the towel exchange, picked up a yogurt maker, and the boys.

The boys had a big day. Nathaniel did a all day hike to Black Lake. They were planning on only going to Lake Haiyaha but their group split into the hard hike or the easy hike. Nate picked the hard hike and "had to jog" to make it back in time. Anthony played Nuke'em, soccer, read to the preschoolers, and made Puppy Chow and a candle. Michael finished the Tri-Wizard Tournament (he is still confused who actually won) and climbed the climbing wall. Big time!

After arriving home from camp, we played cards and Plants vs. Zombies. All the boys (including me) are addicted.

We ate leftovers, some more than others (me). Anthony again went to Teen Night and as the day cooled we settled down in to deep sleep.

Colorado 2011 Cauthorn Style Day Three

2011-08-10T23:54:00.002-05:00

August 9th, 2011

The morning starts the same except that Mom made pancakes! She used a recipe that had yogurt, delicious.

With the boys packed up, Sarah and I headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park. Today's hike we decided to trek from Bear Lake Trail Head to Fern Lake Trail head. In order to do this, we parked at the Park and Ride and took the shuttle up to Bear Lake Trail Head. The begin of the hike took us straight up. We hiked for about an hour before we reached the highest part of the hike, Lake Helene. To be completely honest, we did not actually know we passed Lake Helene. We did see a pool to our left and later joked that it must had been the lake. Sarah decided that we should rename the lake "Pool"-ene.

As soon as we started down the hike became extremely fun. We hiked over three glaciers, one of which was part of a rock slide and I was actually scared crossing. At one point on the hike from "Pool"-ele to Odessa we were on a narrow path that skirted the side of a mountain, any trip would lead to a LONG drop.

I felt like we were the only people in the park at times. The few times we ran into people they were extremely nice. We met a retired teacher who spends four months a year in CO. He said he had to get out of the Iowa summer heat.

The best part of the whole hike for me was seeing Odessa Lake from above. It is, as all the lakes we have seen, beautiful but it also felt more excluded, maybe because we hiked down to it. We took the extra 30 minutes to actually hike up to the lake, a great decision. The river leading out of Odessa is a fly fisherman's dream, ten feet wide, fast water, a small island in the middle, and almost no overhanging trees to attract flies. The lake was equally as breathtaking.

We reluctantly continued on after spending a few minutes being with Nature.

It was all down hill from there, in a difficult way. Sometimes hiking down hill can be more difficult that hiking up. It is easy to stop going up hill to catch your breath, but down hill your knees sometimes do not recover. For the next two hours we hiked down hill to Fern Lake. Fern Lake is a huge deep lake. I was again surprised how much I liked it. Sarah and I hiked to the opposite side, found a round flat rock in the sun and ate our lunch. We saw fish rise and took in the sun.

The hike from Fern to Fern Lake Trail Head was not as enjoyable as the first part of the hike. That could have been that I was tired, my knees hurt, or that by noon, the temperature was rising. We arrived at the Trail Head passing Fern Falls and The Pool but were impressive. We, unfortunately arrived at five minutes late to catch the shuttle and had a twenty-five minute wait. Colorado is probably the easiest place to have to wait and after nine miles we were content.

The boys had a great second day at camp. Anthony did the low ropes course in the morning which he said was only ok but the high ropes course in the afternoon was great. He got to climb a tree and ride a zip-line back down. Nathaniel played quiddich (yes, I said quiddich), swim, play capture the flag, and make crafts. Nate made a knot bracelet with was colorful. Michael participated in a Tri-Wizard Tournament, swam, and made dragon eggs. We asked the boys if they wanted to take the day off to go on a hike with us but they all wanted to go back to camp. They love it.

The boys went back to the camp five to play another fun but competitive game of capture the flag. The whole crew picked the boys up by six thirty and drove a few miles outside of town to see real beavers in action. We have always hoped to see beavers in action at the Minnesota Zoo but they are always, I mean always, sleeping. We were shocked to find them up and actively adding to their dams. When we first arrived dad saw some high grass moving and a few minutes later, a beaver came out with branches in his mouth. He swam across his lake and dove underwater to put store his food. There were three beaver dams along the side of the road. The beaver's den was in the middle of the last pond and aspen stumps were everywhere. Beavers are not as big as I thought they would be but more active.

We stopped to have burgers at the Estes Park Brewery. On the way home, we dropped Anthony off at Teen Night and went home to Jeremiah. When I pick Anthony up we realized that he had not yet showed in Colorado. That was taken care of before well all when to bed.

Colorado 2011 Cauthorn Style Day Two

2011-08-10T00:05:00.003-05:00

August 8, 2011

The intention was to wake up before six so I could share a coffee and chat with my father, but that is not exactly how the first morning started. Sarah and I were up by 6:30 but that gave us just enough time to get dressed, wake the boys, drink a cup of coffee, eat breakfast, and pack up for our days.

The boys decided they would like to try five days of YMCA day camp this year. Anthony is a Mountaineer, Nathaniel is a Pioneer, and Michael is a Trailblazer. All the boys had archery (Anthony hit the target three of his four shots, Nate hit the target once, and alas, Michael's arrows flew every which way but true). Anthony also had a horseback ride and capture the flag, both activities were loved. His horse, "Tin Cup", was not the most lively of beasts. Nathaniel played nuke'em and putt-putt and made several new friends; Sam, Sam, and "I think George or Jordan". Michael played wizard tag, bombs, and made trail mix. It was suppose to be named "Dragon Poop" but he was going to have nothing of the sort, so we agreed that it was trail mix.

After camp, Anthony met up with a friend he made last year, Micah. They played pool then all the boys played Capture the Flag.

While the boys were enjoying day camp, Sarah and I set off on a hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park. For weeks I have been studying maps and reviewing web sites. We love being up in the mountains with a destination in mind and the beauty of nature absorbing us. The hike we decided on was Black Lake. Starting at Glacial Gorge, we first hiked to Mills Lake. In all the years we have been here, we had never been to Mills Lake. Shame on us! It is named after Enos Mills, an early proponent to make this a national park. He must have been a great man to name such a lake after him. Surrounded by mountains, trees, and impressive boulders is but a taste of its beauty.

We continued about 2.5 mile passed Mills Lake to Black Lake. Black Lake was difficult at the end rising steeply to the lake that was over 10,600 feet in altitude. Being above the tree line only boulders encased the lake. Sarah and I ate our lunches on a huge rock looking out over the feeder creek and lake.

After we regained our strength, we hiked back down to Mills Lake. On the trail we came across an Elk with four fawns. They looked as if they too were hiking to Mills Lake.

Mills Lake inspires tranquility. When Sarah and I got back to Mills Lake, we sat taking in the view. Rocky Mountain National Park exudes nature. It feels like that if you are quiet enough, still enough, and patient enough, at some point a deer, wolf, coyote, marmot, or elk will show up. While sitting on our rock, we saw an Elk enter the lake from the opposite side, walk across to near where we were sitting, get out and continue its journey. This all happened while we silently watched and smiled.

Mom and Dad took a hike from the YMCA to Moraine Park. A few navigational errors and four hours passed before they arrived back at Jeremiah. During their hike they witnessed Anthony mounted on Tin Cup and he was at the back of the line. When they got home, Mom's knee started to bother her. It took three days to recover!

Sarah and I ended up hiking ten miles and arrived home just in time to pick up the boys. Mom and Dad had Bar-B-Que chicken, pork, ribs, and brisket with corn, beans, green beans, and salad prepared for dinner.

After dinner Anthony went to Teen Night at the Y while the rest of the crew played several rounds of Guillotine where Sarah was victorious.

Exhausted, sleep came quickly.

Colorado 2011 Cauthorn Style Day One

2011-08-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

August 7, 2011

A few things before I begin describing Estes Park: all places are beautiful beyond words so any attempt I make will be wanton, life was everywhere around us so I will leave out most animal encounters, and pictures will be added soon which will not do justice to our trip.

Travel was uneventful other that the "slight" detour we took trying to avoid the toll roads in Denver. We ended up driving through Boulder, another amazingly beautiful city, which slowed us down quite a bit. Driving through Boulder is like trying to navigate in downtown Stillwater during the dinner hour.

When we did arrive at the YMCA of the Rockies it was two in the afternoon just in time to sign the boys up for camp and to get a bite to eat. We ate at the Estes Park Brewery. Having not eaten for seven hours all Minnesota Cauthorn's chowed down, well, all but Sarah that is.

After a few side trips, one where Papa bought Anthony some "real" hiking boots, we gathered at Jeremiah to play Guillotine and eat pizza. I won the inaugural game which is the only game that really matters, so I won't go into how I fared the rest of the trip.

Mom and Dad look great! Both were so excited to see us and greeted us with kisses, hugs, and more kisses. I am shocked how quickly the boys seem to acclimate to their grandparents. Not that Mom and Dad make it difficult, it is just that after only minutes, we seem to be one big happy family again.

We all slept well anticipating exciting days to come in Colorado!

Born to Run

2011-08-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

By Christopher McDougall

Christopher McDougall makes many statements with his book Born to Run. He tells a story of the Tarahumara, an isolated tribe of American Indians living in the remote foreboding Copper Canynons in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. He explains the theory of how long distance running may have been the reason our species has ascended to the dominate species on our planet. He then argues for barefoot running and how modern footwear has damaged our technique and health. Finally, he weaves all these together with a Zen-like concept that to be a distance runner, one must become a better human being.

This was a great easy read. McDougall spryly and humorously incorporates himself in the stories he tells but he does not dominate.

The climatic ending sees the greatest Tarahumaras running against the great Scott Jurek and others. The outcome is not important; it is the running that matters.

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

2011-08-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

by Harry Harrison

I’m bored with it.

The End of Eternity

2011-08-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

by Isaac Asimov

When I want to read some science fiction, this book is what I would have in mind. There was a distinct vision of how science would progress in the future and Asimov's description was thorough but not over stated. The story was excellent with an ending that was satisfying.

Asimov also comments on current and future social issues. He sees our future as limitless if we avoid social injustice.

I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5, it was that good!

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

2011-07-19T11:59:00.002-05:00

by Harry Harrison

Jim DeGris throws lots of smoke grenades, changes his appearance many times, and sneaks in then out then in again to get the bad guys. This easy to read science fiction book does not challenge the reader at all but is still kind of fun.

The Life of Pi

2011-07-19T11:58:00.000-05:00

by Yann Martel

Piscine Molitor Patel, also known as Pi, begins his life story in India as a son of a zoo keeper. When his family decides to sell the animals and relocate to Canada, they board a cargo ship and ready for a new life.

This is where the story of the life of Pi begins. Pi tells his story as the cargo ship sinks and how he found himself trapped in a life boat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger named Richard Parker. Pi and Richard Parker learn to live with each other and spend 227 days at sea.

The way pi describes the sea, fish turtles, his hunger, loneliness, helplessness, and bliss was beautiful. I loved this book and how it had me guessing until the end.

The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography

2011-07-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

by Simon Singh

Simon Singh traces the history of cryptography (creating secret codes) and cipher-breaking (code breaking) explaining each step by exploring more and more complex codes. Singh begins each chapter explaining how each new secret code was discovered finishing with how it was cracked.

I experienced the same emotion with each chapter. First, amazed about how clever and creative the code creators were. Each new code seemed unbreakable but by the end of each chapter I was even more surprised by the genius of the code breakers and how they found weaknesses in the codes to exploit.

This book was a good "Math Geek" book being both technical and complicated at times. Little was held back in the areas of mathematics which I appreciated.

I would recommend this book to any who finds this topic interesting.

Stainless Steel Rat

2011-07-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

by Harry Harrison

I am not going to feel bad for reading this book. I had read it twenty years ago and remembered it as being a fun read. When my middle son wrote a story for school last year, his style reminded me of Harry Harrison, cleaver, funny and easy to read. Not a bad reason to read a book.

The Stainless Steel Rat was not as clever or funny as I remembered. Almost no effort was made in developing any interesting futuristic technology. Jim DeGris gets out of every situation with a combination of smoke grenades and a costume.

That said, I will read the next adventure.

Measuring the World

2011-07-04T09:20:00.001-05:00

by Daniel Kehlmann

Measuring the World is a fictional account of two genius' lives. Daniel Kehlmann alternates the story between lives of two great mind, Carl Gauss, the father of mathematics, and adventurer Alexander von Humboldt. He deftly examines their lives, how they see the world, and traces the journey to their greatness.

These men were similar in their ambition and greatness, but they different how they see the world and interacted with it. Gauss' superior attitude and crass behavior is hilarious, even as he hits his oldest son who will never reach his understanding of the world. Humboldt on the other hand, though sharing Gauss' genius, is not frustrated with others, he is oblivious of them. His interaction with subtlety also made me laugh.

When these two giants final meet their interaction is beyond funny. Here is a small part that made me laugh out loud. Gauss' son has been arrested and Humboldt is trying to use his influence to get him out.

All he (the commander) had to do was go (to) the police jail and send the young man home, said Humboldt. The name hadn't even been registered. Nobody would know.

But there was a risk, said Vogt.

But a small one.

Small or not, between civilized people there were ways of recognizing these things.

Humboldt assured him of this gratitude.

Which could express itself in more than one way.

Humboldts promised that he would have a friend in him. And he would be ready to grant any favor.

Favor. Vogt sighed. There were favors and favors.

Humboldt asked what he meant.

Vogt groaned. They looked at each other in embarrassment.

God almighty, said Gauss's voice beside them. Did he really not understand? The fellow wanted a bribe. Poor pathetic little fellow. Poor little shit-eater.

He must protest, shrilled Vogt. He didn't have to listen to such things!

Humboldt made frantic hand signals at Gauss.

Yes he damn well did, said Gauss. Even a piece of vomit like him, a bastard mongrel, a greedy dwarf turd, should be able to bear up under the truth.

That was quite enough, shrieked Vogt.

Nothing like enough, said Gauss.

He would throw them out, said Gauss. They would be bound to be a pair of ne'er-do-wells if they were willing to be ordered around by a dung beetle like him. They could expect to learn the size of his foot, in the ass and elsewhere!

Needless to say, Gauss' son was no released.

This was a great book and I highly recommend it.

Deliverance

2011-06-26T14:01:00.002-05:00

by James Dickey

I am surprised that this is considered one of the top one hundred novels by Random House. Since my mother and I have taken on the challenge of reading every book on the list, I have be introduced to some amazing books. Without this mission I probably never would have read anything by John Steinbeck other than what was forced upon me in high school, and I know Salman Rushdie's beautiful story telling would have remained unknown to me. Why then was Deliverance put on this list?

We all know the story; four white suburbanites take on the unknown. Each face life changing challenges to different results and it is the challenges and the way each man emerges (or does not) drives this story. The most satisfying being the narrator's who must scale a cliff and is rewarded with the most spectacular view he had ever witnessed.

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

2011-06-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

by Deborah Blum

Blum does an excellent job introducing the coming of age of forensic medicine by using poisoning as a template. She aptly describes Charles Norris (chief medical examiner) and Alexander Gettler (toxicologist) mission to legitimize forensic medicine with criminal poison cases dealing with ten different poisons.

I enjoyed the combination of science with history and learned much about the evolution of science as a way to prove guilt or innocence. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes that type of journey

The Decemberist: The King is Dead

2011-06-23T14:40:00.001-05:00

Charlie said: I am a Decemberist fan. I still find myself returning to The Crane Wife their strangely simple but beautiful first album. The Decemberist remind me of some of my favorite bands, Uncle Tupolo, REM to name but a few. Even thought the Decemberist take a different approach to their new album The King is Dead, they have not lost what makes them great. Simple smart tunes that stick with you like a great meal.

"All Arise!" has that punk country feel of Uncle Tupolo. "Calamity Song" takes me back to when I loved REM, back when I had hair and I could swim a 50 meter fly without pucking. "Down By The Water" and "Don't Carry It All" reminds me why I love the Decemberist.

This is, once again, a great Decemberist album. On the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale I would promote even Regicide.

Tina said: I purchased my first Decemberists album in 2007, when it was highly recommended on a radio talk show titled Sound Opinions. Since 2008 I have enjoyed their harmony and their use of instruments. I was looking for to what would be my third Decemberists album titled The King is Dead.

The King is Dead reminds me of an alt country album. These songs are heavy on the lyrics, heavy on the guitars, some harmonica, and maybe a little bit of banjo. This album has a little bit more twang and is a little bit jammier than their other albums.

This album sat really well with me as I was listening to January Hymn on one of those Minnesota winter mornings. These lyrics painted a clear picture of the Minnesota winter that we were having, but yet it was so pretty, peaceful and made me enjoy the beauty of the winter.

On a winter Sunday I go
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below
April all an ocean away
Is this the better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay

As I listened on, wondering if the winter was ever going to end…the Decemberists gave me hope with their song titled June Hymn. This song was a little faster, and it gave me hope. Hope that the winter might soon end, and June (which not only is summer, but the start of summer vacation) might be just around the corner. How can it not be when t first stanza of the song is….

Here's a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer's early sway
And all the bulbs all coming in

I like the Decemberists, I like their sound, I like their lyrics. I like how this album makes me think that winter is on it’s way out. I would like the Decembrists to continue their alt country sound, on the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale I will promote it!

Presentation of a Student

2011-06-09T15:37:00.002-05:00

It is traditional at the ALC for each graduating senior to pick a teacher to present them at graduation. It is a special time for the teacher who get to say something about a student whom they connected with, as well as for the students get a chance to publicly receive praise.
Being the mathematics teacher I rarely have the opportunity to introduce a seniors. Who would you pick, a mathematics teacher or your physical education teacher?

I had the opportunity to present a senior yesterday. Here were my words:

I have the honor to present a very deserving senior, Brianna.

When Bre first asked me to speak for her I felt pleased. Bre had always done well in my classes, asking great questions and staying caught up. But it just dawned on me why she wanted me to speak for her. It is because I look exactly like John Cena.

Bre has been a part of this school for two years and has shown traits that make her an excellent student. She is smart, independent, and did not ever believe a word I said in class. She made me prove everything we talked about. She would look at me not with puzzlement, but with doubt, like it was my job to defend mathematics (which it is!!!). She would always jump on any mistake I made as proof of why she could not believe me. Bre, you are what is called a skeptic and is the reason I enjoyed you so much in class.

Being a skeptic requires those around you to be accurate and precise, and allows for depth of understanding. This can be a great characteristic to have. It can help you dig beneath the surface to find the root of what you are searching for. I hope you continue to be a skeptic and truly understand what is around you.

Bre has big plans after graduation. She plans to attend Ridgewater College in Wilmar, MN to pursue a Psychology degree.

I am going to remember Bre for many reasons:

• The way she would say she could not do something but always did.

• How she would question me about everything!

• And the way she always acted like she hated me but in the end, she didn’t.

Bre, good luck, I wish you the best with your life moving forward.

Main Street

2011-05-30T12:28:00.001-05:00

by Sinclair Lewis

I learned that Sinclair Lewis was from Minnesota. He successfully captures a time where here when the prairie was beginning to be tamed.

What he was less successful of accomplishing was creating characters that I was interested in reading about. I struggled to finish as I had almost no interest in what was happening in Gopher Prairie.

Claudius the God

2011-05-30T09:45:00.001-05:00

by Robert Graves

Maybe following I, Claudius immediately with Claudius the God was not a good idea.

One thing I loved about I, Claudius was that the evil, selfish, and power grabbing was happening around Claudius. He was an outside observer to the debauchery. As soon as Claudius became Emperor, he was in the middle of the cesspool.

I did enjoy the story of Herod and the conclusion after he died.

As Old as Me

2011-05-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

There have been moments in my life that, when I relate them to others, sound insignificant, but to me are monumental. This is one.

Today at swim practice, before we began, I had a little sit down with all my swimmers. My assistant coach once again was absent (I could spew hours about the structure of our team and the lack of professionalism of my "assistant" Lyndsay but I won't) and I wanted to focus the kids on what our goals were to help practice run smoothly.

It was early and the swimmers and I were sharing banter. One swimmers ask when was my birthday and it was discovered that our birthdays were twelve days apart. I followed with "twelve days and 35 years apart". The always important age question was asked next. "43".

The comments that followed were not limited to the following:

WOW!
You are older than I thought!
That's old!

But when one of the swimmers said, "That's as old as my dad!" I saw an opportunity.

I should add that my youngest son, Michael has been coming to swim practice with me lately. He is nine and just beginning to learn how to swim. He works hard but I can never tell if he is enjoying himself or not. That is the kind of guy he is.

When the comment was made about my age and the age of one of the dads, I said I was exactly as old as Michael's dad, born on the same day even. Many questions followed mostly directed at Michael.

And, without missing a beat, Michael said, "They were not only born the same day but the same minute and the same second."

The perfect Cauthorn joke! What Michael did then was to let it play out itself out, he let the swimmers figured it on their own. Some got it later that others, I think some never did get it, but Michael pulled it off. He pulled it off just like I would have.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

2011-04-17T21:21:00.003-05:00

by Bill Bryson
This short history of William Shakespeare does little to add to what is known about possibly the most famous playwright in history but it does consolidate what actually is known.

Bryson’s almost conversationalist style paints at least a partial picture of a man whose words inspire and influence us today.

April 10th

2011-04-10T09:55:00.000-05:00

The last of the glacier in the back yard but more impressively, the mountain of snow that we named "Mount Cauthorn" officially melted last night. We woke up to a snow free yard.

I know that we will have another snow before it is over, but winter is done. Bring on the sun!

I, Claudius

2011-04-03T18:19:00.001-05:00

by Robert Graves

Robert Graves traces the Roman Empire from 44 BC to the beginning of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Grammaticus reign in 41 AD. I, Claudius is a work of fiction but gives an excellent glimpse into the life of Rome and its citizens during the height of the Roman Empire. Graves wrote the novel with the voice of Tiberius Claudius, a lame stammering disappointment who delved deeply into the underbelly of Roman politics.

I was captivated with this story from the opening pages when Claudius introduced himself with a prophecy of his ascension to Emperor to the final pages with the death of the insane and sadistic Caligula. Characters we meet along the way include, Livia, the murderous megalomaniac who runs Rome for over forty years, Tiberius, the paranoid Emperor who’s fear keeps him from seeing his friends, and Caligula, who sees himself as a living god yet runs terrified from any form of danger.

I loved this book and cannot wait to start Claudius the God.

Guster: Easy Wonderful

2011-04-03T15:10:00.002-05:00

Charlie said: I have Tina to think for my introduction to Guster. Guster is a group that seems like it should be more famous than they are. They have some amazing songs like The Captain, One Man Wrecking Machine, Satellite, Center of Attention and Fa Fa to name a few. Songs that deserve to be played and known yet seem to get minuscule respect and even less play.

“Easy Wonderful” has several songs to add to my list of great tunes: Architects and Engineers, Do You Love Me, Bad Bad World, and Do What You Want. Guster is a fun upbeat pop band that more people should know about. There are a few songs that did not work for me: On the Ocean, This is How it Feels to Have a Broken Heart, and Hercules.

Guster does not shy away from branching out and trying something new. They have done a nice job with “Easy Wonderful” keeping their high energy pop sound but at the same time trying different approaches. Overall I like this album, not enough to sit down and listen to it as an album but definitely enough to add a few songs to my ever growing play list, a play list that has quite a few Guster songs.

On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, I would, Lend it . . . with confidence.

Tina says: I have Luther College to thank for introducing me to Guster. Luther tends to bring in a variety of small and big name artists for “free concerts” (it’s included in your tuition). Long story short, Guster was the first concert that I had the opportunity to attend while at Luther. I immediately feel in love with them. They’re amazing live. One of their band members plays the bongos and there are times when the band will break off in a small jam session revolving around the bongos. All and all they put on a great show.

I was so excited about the release of this album I purchased it on the day that it went on sale. I fell in love with songs like “Do you love Me?” “This Could all be Yours” “Stay with me Jesus” and “What You Call Love” (which was performed on a ukulele live). I did not enjoy Bad, Bad World, This is how it feels to have a broken heart (at the concert they had blue and red strobe lights and it was very strange). I think that this album is inconsistent, they can’t seem to decide if they want to have poppy songs or songs that are a little bit more psychedelic or mellow. It just doesn’t seem to flow from track to track, and it seems to be a little disjointed at times. This is not Guster’s best work….this was not easy, but on the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, I don’t feel so wonderful about giving it a lend it.

Light in August

2011-04-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

by William Faulkner

Faulkner is a deep writer tackling such topic as race, religion, and existentialism. He delves into all these important themes in "Light in August".

The story begins with a young pregnant girl, Lana Grove, walking several hundred miles in search for her baby’s father, Lucas Burch who ran out on them. Lana’s story is overlapped by two other story lines, that of Reverend Hightower and of the troubled story of Joe Christmas.

The most compelling account is the latter, where Joe Christmas struggles with his inner demons spurned by his clouded identity. He skirts the line between white and black and feels rejected by both races. The treatment of blacks in the south is painful to read about, the language referring to them equally painful. He is a tragic character who meets a predictable end.

Reverend Hightower is caught in his past. He has been removed as the church but refuses to leave the place of his grandfather’s glorious past. He is the springboard for Byron Bunch’s attempts to win Lana’s love.

I liked this book. I like how uncomfortable I felt reading about Joe Christmas’ past. I liked Lana undauntedly pursued Lucas Burch. I liked how, even as good as Byron Bunch was to Lana, he did not win her. And I liked how Reverend Hightower clumsily attempted to recapture the present.

Faulkner is a fantastic writer and this is a fantastic book.

The Maltese Falcon

2011-04-03T10:46:00.001-05:00

by Dashiell Hammett

With the last few books, after reading them, I have been watching the movies they inspired. I watched both versions of “All The Kings Men” (1949 and 2006) and more recently “The Maltese Falcon”.
I believe Dashiell Hammett popularized the noir private-eye with this story. Sam Spade is on the edge of society, calculating, corrupt but with a sense of inner justice. When one thinks of the how it was to live in the 30’s one thinks of Spade in his gray suits, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and a fedora cocked shading his eyes.

The story is full of caricatures, a jolly fat man, a drop dead gorgeous client, a one track minded cop, and of course Spade. Spade sees through each character to find his justice even at the cost of his own happiness.

The story is dated, the genre is passé, and Spade is extremely sexist and not especially likable. With that said, “The Maltese Falcon” was tolerable.

Go Fish

2011-03-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was different. I can remember boys, yeah, three of them. We were around a table and Sarah was there. Sure, cards, soda, chips. What were we playing? That’s right, we were going to play “Go Fish” with the new deck of cards my mom and dad had just sent us. This was going to be great. The cards were not typical, they had native fish from Hawaii on them and I had the bright idea to play “Go Fish”.

So I am dealing the cards and everyone has a blank stare unsure how to move forward. Mike goes first and ask mom for the yellow fish.

“Which yellow fish honey?” she asks.

“The yellow fish with the stripes?” says Mike.

“Show me peanut.” This game is going to be tough.

“Go fish.”

Nate is next.

“Give me the yellow fish Mike.” I sense danger. This situation can go a number of ways, all of them bad. Mike hates to lose, hell, I hate to lose, but Mike hates to lose to his brothers more than anything in his world. Nate, on the other hand, loves beating Mike. It is some sick predictable cycle that has played itself over and over in our home and never ends well.

I am thinking fast of how to handle this or the game is going to be over.

“Mike, just give him your Kikakapu!” I say with just a bit of irritability for emphasis.

And then what has to happen, happens. Anthony and Sarah crack up. It is going to be ok.

“Mike do you have a Nohu?” says Nate. More laughter follows as does a lengthy discussion about the Nohu’s features which we all agree is the ugliest fish we have ever seen.

Each fish that is named is funnier than the last.

Kokala, Ala’ihi, O’ili’uwi’uwi, and Uhu-uliuli. But when Anthony flawlessly pronounces Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua’a we all fall over laughing. I cannot breath I am laughing so hard. The muscles on the side of my head hurt from the laugh than has not left my face for so long.

That is when I see it out of the corner of my eye and I am reminded again. It is right there, where it always is.

An empty chair.

Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist

2011-03-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

by Thomas Levenson

It is essential when reading non-fiction that something new is learned. It is also essential when enjoying non-fiction that what is learned is fun to talk about. This book was both informative and discussion worthy.

I learned a lot about Isaac Newton, for instance, that his major work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was printed only when a colleague asked him his thoughts on a vexing problem of the day. He immediately answered the question to his colleagues surprise who asked him to write down his solution. During the next year and a half, "Principles", was written which made Newton a rock star.

"Newton and the Counterfeiter" is full of antidotes building to what the title implies, a show down between the Mathematician and the criminal mastermind.

The conclusion left me a little disappointed. I guess I wanted Newton to be like Sherlock Holmes using science and intelligence to capture the notorious criminal when ultimately it was, in my opinion, a case filled with unreliable eye witnesses. All in all it was a good read that would recommend.

On a side note, a friend of mine, JT, recommended I listen to podcast #423: The Invention of Money from NPR's This American Life. This was an outstanding complement to the book. It highlights what Newton recognized over 300 years ago, that money is nothing more than trust.

All the King's Men

2011-03-02T21:45:00.001-06:00

by Robert Penn Warren

Narrator Jack Burton traces the political career of Willy Stark who goes from country bumpkin to kingpin. The story shows the underbelly of politics and how right and wrong blend together. Willy Stark described his relationship between goodness and badness; "Goodness. Yeah, just plain, simple goodness. Well you can’t inherit that from anybody. You got to make it, Doc. If you want it. And you got to make it out of badness. Badness." Willy Stark, by justifying his badness to make goodness, finds himself too deep to make make the switch back to a moralistic life.

Jack Burton finds himself broken and empty, not lonely empty, but soullessly empty. He uses the phrase, "The Great Twitch", to describe how he sees everything as motivated by some inborn reflex action with nobody responsible for their choices. "The Great Twitch" is like the chicken running around the coop with its head already removed.

I loved this book for is characters, mood, and beautifully written style.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

2011-02-28T16:50:00.000-06:00

by James Joyce

I am sorry Joyce lovers; he does not do it for me. I have too little knowledge of Irish history, slang, and life to appreciate almost all his references. This was much more enjoyable than "Ulysses", which is saying almost nothing. "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" did at times follow a logical path but still was difficult for me to follow.

Joyce painted a clear picture of adolescence and the felling of being unconnected with the world. When Stephen Dedalus, the artist and main character of "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", was quizzed if he kissed his mother good night, the boys laughed at both of his answers, he could not figure out the correct answer. I have felt that way before, searching for an answer where there was none.

The other part of the book I enjoyed was the section dealing with the religious questions about Heaven and Hell. This was told from the perspective of a scared adolescent listening to a sermon. Effective.

The rest of the book was difficult to follow. I missed the importance of the relationship between the father and son or the fracture between mother and son. It seem rather ordinary to me.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

2011-01-30T11:51:00.003-06:00

by Carson McCullers

John Singer is a deaf mute who links the lives of four misfits like spokes to the center of a wheel. His calming understanding fills different needs for each of the sad characters.

This is not a book to be taken lightly or read on a whim. It hurts to read at times and paints a bleak picture of injustice, loneliness, and poverty yet also reveals that love and labor are the true meaning for living.

Shoveling Snow

2011-01-20T14:59:00.000-06:00

Maybe it is because I am not a native Minnesotan that I am able to see what it is like to be Minnesotan. When someone has always lived in one place, they do not necessarily see the uniqueness of what is around them. Or maybe it is because when explaining to my family in Texas what it is like to be living in Minnesota I am forced to evaluate traits that other Minnesotan just accept. But I think the real reason I am able to see what it is like to be Minnesotan it is because I am from Texas and Texans too live with an understanding, an understanding that, above all else, we are Texan and unique in this world.

On my birthday it snowed eighteen inches. Not the lights stuff that you can just push aside with little effort, but the heavy stuff. I decided to classify snow falls by the amount of shovels need to remove a square foot. Any snow that could be push to the side wouldn't count as snowfall. There would then be "One Shovel Snow" which would take one shovelful to clear a foot, etc. This storm was a "Three Shovel Snow".

As I was outside making little progress clearing our driveway, I was amazed to see all my neighbors doing the same. I mean every neighbor. Neighbors that I had not seen for months were outside throwing snow. Most had snow throwers.

After spending almost an hour on this project and being about one fourth of the way done, my next door neighbor wheeled his snow thrower over to my driveway and proceeded to methodically clear the path. After he was done, I thanked him and we talked a while about the amazing snowfall. He was excited, almost giddy describing past snowfalls. He compared this winter with other winters, mentioning cold as well as record snow falls and I noticed that it was not him who was thriving, it was the entire neighborhood. There was an energy and excitement all over.

As I tried to figure what was going on, I realized that it was days like this that Minnesotans felt different from the rest of the country. This was our identity, what makes us unique. Though there maybe big snows throughout America, we Minnesotans know, in our hearts, that ours snows where heavier, our cold is colder, and our winter is really winter. No one else knows what it was like to survive here in the frozen north.

Ben Folds and Nick Horsby: Lonely Avenue

2011-01-18T09:09:00.003-06:00

Charlie said: I like Ben Folds, at least I though I did. He is quirky and nerdy but never took himself too seriously which made listening to him music fun. "Brick" is a great song about a bad relationship. I kind of feel for the guy in that song.

What happened on "Lonely Avenue" is inexcusable. Ben Folds has taken himself way too seriously. First by adding Nick Horsby to co-author lyrics. Nick Horsby, who can write a great novel, is a disaster as a lyricist. For example, "Levi Johnston's Blues", a song about Sarah Palin's brother-in-law Levi Johnstson, has the chorus, and I am not making this up:

"I'm a fucking redneck I live to hang out with the boys, play some hockey, do some fishing, and kill some moose. I love to shoot the shit and do some chillin' I guess. You fuck with me and I'll kick your ass."

Are you serious Nick? That is the best you can do? Wow!

Ben Folds continued his new found importance by adding not just violins but an entire orchestra to each song. So imagine if you can, the lyrics I just quoted surrounded by Ben Folds' piano and an entire string section. More than nauseating.

There are bad albums and there are bad albums. This album has me questioning why I ever liked anything Ben Folds ever did. I may purge my entire library of Ben Folds after this. On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, I, with vomit in my mouth, give this a Deny it.

Tina said: I was eagerly anticipating the new Ben Folds Album for two reasons.

1. I have to admit that was I was disappointed with the previous album “Way to Normal” and was looking forward to another great album like my previous favorites (rockin’ the suburbs and songs for silverman).

2. I really like Nick Hornsby and I was hoping that Nick was going to kick Ben in the rear end and tell him to start writing good music.

I was quickly disappointed.

The album opens up with a song titled “Working Day” it begins as a heavy dose of self-esteem. With the lyrics starting off as “I can do this, really I’m good enough” and continues with “I’m a genius really I’m excellent. Better than them I kick their ass'.” However it quickly spins off into an almost depressing section…..that says “I’m a looser I’m a poser, It’s over, I mean and I quit, everything think I write is shit, hey, hey it’s a working day.” I get it, work is tough, and it’s a slam to your self-esteem when other people are critical of your work. The negativity on this song makes me want to cringe. It continues with the next song on Picture Window, where the lyrics are “hope is a bastard, hope is a liar, a cheater and a tease, hope comes near you kick it’s back side, got no place in days like these.” While I enjoy the instrumentation of this song, and reminds me of classic Ben Folds. I can’t seem to get away from the negative attitude. Album continues on a downslide, with “Levi’ Johnston’s Blues”…

However, after the worst song ever wrote in the entire world, (Levi Johnston’s Blues) the album has some good moments. It’s Ben, his piano and a string orchestra. This is the Ben I do enjoy, the heavy instruments, and the sappy, meaningless lyrics. If you don’t try to comprehend the lyrics, this album is rather enjoyable. The use of violins complements the piano and Ben makes good use of the synthesizer.

On the Tina/Charlie, promote it, lend it, deny it scale. I would like to shoot the shit with my redneck friends and lend it.

Top Ten Songs of 2010

2011-01-18T00:38:00.001-06:00

This is in no particular order and may be changed on a whim:

1. Wait So Long: Trampled by Turtles
2. Beg Steal Or Borrow: Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
3. Fuck You: Cee Lo Green
4. All I Want: LCD Soundsystem
5. Modern Man: Arcade Fire
6. The Difference Between Us: Dead Weather
7. The Mystery Zone: Spoon
8. The Man Who Would Speak True: Blitzen Trapper
9. Tighten Up: The Black Keys
10. Waving Flag: Offside

Free Energy: Stuck on Nothing

2011-01-17T23:41:00.003-06:00

Charlie said: I am a huge James Murphy fan. I was introduced to LCD Soundsystem in 2007 after I heard a Sound Opinions episode of the top albums of 2007 and both Jim and Greg listed "Sound of Silver", LCD Soundsystem's second album, in their top ten albums of that year. I took a chance, and using a gift card from my brother, bought the album. The rest is history, they are my favorite band.

Why am a talking about LCD Soundsystem and James Murphy when I should be reviewing Free Energy? Well, Free Energy's first Album, "Stuck on Nothing", was released by the DFA record label that was founded by, you guessed it, James Murphy. Taking another chance and using another gift card, I down loaded the album off iTunes.

This was not nearly as rewarding of an experience.

Free Energy is playful, poppy, some what energetic but mostly boring. Every song reminds me of a 1980's Cars pop song. I like the Cars, they remind me of summers driving up to Stinky Fall to go tubing down the Comal River. Maybe that is the problem. Free Energy doesn't remind me of anything. They just remind me of the $7.99 I wasted on iTunes.

On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, I, disappointingly, give Free Energy a Deny it.

Tina says: When Charlie handed me this album at coffee, and told me it was produced by James Murphy of LCD SoundSystem. I was warned that Free Energy was nothing like LCD SoundSystem. This is True.

Many of the songs on Stuck on Nothing are very poppy, catchy and easy to enjoy. I especially enjoyed Dream City and Bang Pop. They both were mindless feel good songs. The album continues with this theme throughout the album, catchy mindless songs. As I listened to this album I quickly became bored after the first couple of songs. The melodies are very similar and seen to be very repetitive, and this makes for a boring album. I quickly lost interest with this album after the first couple of songs.

Free Energy runs out of energy quickly and on the Tina/Charlie lend it, promote it, deny it scale. I will pass this album along as a lend it.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Chapter Two)

2011-01-11T15:20:00.000-06:00

Stephen's home life is crumbling. His father is drinking too much, the family is forced to sell off property to make ends meet, and his uncle Charles is going crazy. Stephen's alienation with his peers seems to be extending to his family as well. I get the sense that Stephen is a loner who is searching, for what I do not know.

Having won thirty-three pound in a writing contest, Stephen tries to buy his family some happiness which fails. He seems lost and money does not seem to bring the acceptance he craves.

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-05T13:14:00.000-06:00

Last year's New Year's Resolutions did not go well. I made the following:

Watch TV with a purpose. Only turn the television on with a program in mind and only watch that program. FAIL. I continue to watch TV to kill time and relax.
Run three days a week. FAIL. I did run a half marathon but I was not consistent with my running.
Read five books with my mother, Ulysses by James Joyce, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Death Of The Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, and Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. SUCCESS. This was a lot of fun.

My 2011 Resolutions:

No TV after Midnight. The issue I find is that I watch a lot of crappy TV from midnight on. This may help with my sleeping as well.
Run three days a week and report my progress on my blog. It is a good goal and I like being in shape.
Read five books with my mother: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Deliverance by James Dickey, House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. I am excited!
Not to use the word "very" in any writing. When writing my thank yous, I realized that the word "very" has lost all meaning and was just a filler word.
Remove all dairy from my diet. I am not going to be rude when invited over but I will try to make an effort to refrain from eating dairy.

2011 HERE I COME!!!

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Chapter One)

2011-01-03T22:12:00.001-06:00

I have almost completed chapter one and find this much more enjoyable than Ulysses. I actually can follow Stephen's jumps from childhood to college.

A friend of mine recommended that I first read this book before trying to tackle Ulysses and I now see why. Stephen, one of the two main characters in Ulysses, is the hero in this book. We see how he feels unconnected with the world around him, how he feels confused.

When he was quizzed if he kissed his mother good night and they boys laughed at both of his answers, he could not figure out the correct answer.

I have felt that way before, searching for an answer where there was none.

Midnight's Children

2011-01-01T13:57:00.000-06:00

by Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie tells the story of Saleem Sinai whose birth on August 15th, 1947 mirrors that of his home country, India, as it grows into a nation.

When tasting wine or beer, I often describe the taste as being big. Big in a sense of complex and containing flavors that I may not be able to identify but I know they are there and I enjoy them. I would say the same thing about this book. It is big and full of complexities that I may not be able to describe, but I have enjoyed.

Rushdie is an amazing story teller, beautifully weaving magic, history, betrayal, and truth. This is a great book.

Next Years Books

2010-12-07T15:21:00.000-06:00

My mother and I picked five books to read together this year. They were: Ulysses by James Joyce, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Death Of The Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, and Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. I have read them all but Midnight's Children which I should finish that by the end of this month.

Over Thanksgiving we agreed upon five new books to read next year: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Deliverance by James Dickey, House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.

It was fitting that we picked these books over the Thanksgiving holiday because I am so thankful that my mother will read these books with me. She is so smart and insightful that when reading these difficult books, I am able to understand and interpret much of what is going on in the books.

Midnight Children

2010-12-07T13:33:00.000-06:00

Saleem Sinai was born on the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947 the exact moment India gained independance from British rule.

Salman Rushdie mirrors the life of India with the life of the Midnight Children. Using magical realism, the reader is caught up in the story of Saleem Sainai and the history of India.

Though I am not finished yet, I feel like I am reading a great book. I have just been introduced to the Midnight Children. Saleem's injury to his finger has exposed his switching at birth. And the cracks grow larger.

Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards

2010-12-01T15:11:00.000-06:00

Charlie said: What's funny is that I was not a metal head. When I was young I was actually scared of Iron Madden because of their satanic illusions. For some strange reason, that doesn't seem to bother me at all with Dead Weather. I am drawn to the strong acid biting guitar and the energetically blues vocals.

Dead Weather's first album, Horehound, was one of my favorite albums of 2009. My friend Seth lent me the album and I immediately became a Jack White fan. I like almost every song on Horehound, particularly the songs "I Cut Like a Buffalo", "60 Feet Tall", and "Hang You From the Heavens". Like Horehound, Sea of Cowards rocks hard. Each song is driven by a biting guitar and sometimes snarly lyrics.

Though I did not love this album as much as Horehound the tracks that stuck out to me were "Blue Blood Blues", "Die By the Drop", and "I Can't Hear You".

On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, I, while banging my head, give it a Promote it.

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

2010-11-30T07:01:00.002-06:00

Charlie said:
I must admit I had homework to do before I could review this album. I was not particularly familiar with Arcade Fire. In fact, when I first looked at The Suburbs cd cover, I thought it was an Arctic Monkeys album. I was very surprised at what I heard, homework was needed to be done.

Arcade Fire front man, Win Butler, and his brother William were born in California. Their family moved to the Woodlands in suburban Houston. It was that conservative suburban life that is the back drop to the album The Suburbs.

It took a couple of sittings before I started to get into this cd. The first three songs, The Suburbs, Ready to Start, and Modern Man have an energy that is not apparent at first but naturally build. The more I listened, the more depth and energy I found. I love this cd. It has sounds of Wilco, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, the Cars, and yes even ABBA.

I liked this cd so much that I went back and listened to their first album Funeral (which I enjoyed very much) and bought their second album Neon Bible (another keeper).

On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it scale, this Modern Man gives it a Promote it.

Thank you Tina!!!

Tina said: I purchased the Arcade Fire after I had heard good thing about the album. It seems as though Arcade Fire has been on "fire" these past couple of months. Their album is among the top ten albums of 2010 on many charts. Their 3rd album has 16 tracks. I was a little intimidated by the amount of songs, and that the time commitment that I had to make to do a complete listening session.

I will admit that it too took me a long time to get into the album, and had to listen to it numerous times before I was entertained or even enjoyed the album. However as I continued to listen to this album, I began to find areas that I enjoyed and songs that kept bringing me back the album time after time. I really enjoy how the songs build, creating an creative and explosive masterpiece. I feel that this is especially true in Rococo. Rococo tells the story of people shamming others because they are unaware of the meaning of the word. (of or relating to an artistic style especially of the 18th century characterized by fanciful curved asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation or of or relating to an 18th century musical style marked by light gay ornamentation and departure from thorough-bass and polyphony). This album is that- Rococo.

On the Tina/Charlie, promote it, lend it, deny it...it's clearly a promote it.

The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History

2010-11-05T08:30:00.002-05:00

by Gregory Zuckerman

The Greatest Trade Ever was a very interesting account of the lead up to the housing collapse. The warnings of the approaching catastrophe were not hidden but surprisingly few people on Wall Street protected themselves.

John Paulson recognized what was coming and found an investment that profited from the defaults of loans. My rudimentary understanding about the trade is that he bought insurance on blocks of loans that paid out if they defaulted. Who sold the insurance? The same banks that were giving out the toxic loans creating even more of a problem down the line.

John Paulson was not the only person to make money on toxic loans, he just made the most.

Death of the Heart

2010-10-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

by Elizabeth Bowen

I must admit, I would never have read this book if it was not for my mother's encouragement. I am very happy we are reading these books mom.

Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart, tell the story of the life of an orphaned girl (Portia) who is reluctantly allowed to stay with her step-brother (Thomas) and wife (Anna) in their luxurious home in London. When Portia finds out that Anna is reading her diary, she runs to her love interest Eddie, a flirtatious bachelor, who rejects her. Portia then runs to an acquaintance Major Brutt, an out of work war hero, who also rejects her. We are left at the end of the novel with the maid, Matchett, coming to fetch Portia to bring her home.

Bowen examines the crumbling class system in pre World War II England. Through out the novel the reader is shown how the distinction between the classes is changing yet the underlying prejudices still exist.

It was a fine read, but not a book that I would recommend to a friend.

Haiku

2010-10-11T13:20:00.005-05:00

Clinging to order
An oak leaf brushes my cheek
Freeing a smile

Trampled By Turtles: Palomino

2010-10-10T21:05:00.002-05:00

Charlie says: I was first made aware of this band last school year when Seth pulled up the video on his iPhone of “Trampled by Turtles”. I liked what I heard, but forgot about them until my music friend Tina shared “Palomino” with me last week. I thank you Seth and Tina.

What a great name for a band, “Trampled by Turtles”. It implies that the band plays so slow that even turtles would trample them. Just as “Tiny” is a perfect name for the seven foot giant living down the street, “Trampled by Turtles” is a perfect name for a band that rips fire-breathin' smokin’ hot aggressive songs like these.

Wait So Long itself if worth the price of admission. This Duluth Minnesota band brings it’s A game here. Not only is Wait So Long amazing, but Victory, It’s A War, and Help You leave little doubt the ironic choice of the band’s name.

Be warned, this is Bluegrass I am promoting here. Songs like Gasoline, Bloodshot Eyes, and Again are not for the uninitiated. Bluegrass can be slow and somewhat bluesy yet “Trampled by Turtles” even gets this right. Guitarist, singer and song writer Dave Simonett also writes excellent stuff. I hate to keep mentioning the song Wait So Long, but it is just that good. It is about a guy wanting to be more than friends with a girl.

On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale, with blisters on my fingers, I give it a promote it.

Tina says: I my first introduction to TBT was on my birthday. I was fortunate enough to score some tickets to their show, as a New Years Event. TBT rolls in as your "typical bluegrass band". They have the look down, jeans, overalls and the fat guy who plays the fiddle. Their look says, we're a bluegrass band, but their sounds says we're a blue grass band who can bring it! Not only are they able to nail the fast banjo picking, flame thrown' arm pumping songs on their studio tracks, they can do it live.

Palomino (a gold colored horse) is a gold album. Wait So Long is fantastic, along with Victory and It's A War. All of these songs bring it. They are fast, they have a lot bluegrass picking twang, and I like em'.

TBT is an excellent band, and they have produced an excellent album. It's nice to see a group of local boys put on a nice live show, but also spread the joy and happiness that only bluegrass can bring.

On the Tina/Charlie promote it/lend it/deny it scale.....I will not Wait So Long to Promote it.

God and Buddhism

2010-10-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

For the last year, I have been finding comfort listening to a Buddhist podcast. It has helped me by allowing me to think about the meaning of things and reflect on my life and how I live it. With this comfort, there has also come some conflict, particularly with the question about god.

I do not know where god fits into Buddhism but I do not think there is a place for an all powerful creator. My perspective of Buddhism is that the ultimate is liberation not god. This seems to me to be in direct conflict with what I learned in the Episcopal Church that: You shall have no other gods before me. What the Episcopal Church seems to be saying to me is that god is the ultimate and I need to look only to god for liberation.

What draws me to Buddhist thought is the idea of looking within. I want to believe that Christ is within all of us, we just need to keep searching.

MGMT: Congratulations

2010-10-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

Charlie says:
You are not going to like this review Tina.

I liked MGMT's first album. "Time to Pretend", "Kids", and "Electric Feel" where fun, energetic, trippy songs unfortunately I found nothing similar on Congratulations. Hell, there was not even an attempt to try to do something similar.

If you are looking for some glimmer of hope, some song that shows a bit of promise, turn and run. Not even the title track "Congratulations" comes through, it is, well, boring.

I tried to find something to like. I listened to this album at least six times but it did not get any better. I even when back and listened to Oracular Spectacular again to find out what I liked about MGMT. I noticed something. There are some shitty songs on that album as well, "4th Dimensional Transition", "Pieces Of What", "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters", "The Handshake", and "Future Reflections" all stink.

This is not a good band. They had there moment in the sun and are now just bringing me down. On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale, I give this a very very uncongratulatory deny it.

Fifteen in Fifteen

2010-09-19T18:02:00.001-05:00

I posted this same list on Facebook but I thought I would do it again here. I made my list on paper without spending much time thinking. It was harder that I thought. If you would like to participate, post your list in the comments.

This is in no particular order:

Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes
REM: Murmur
Bruce Springsteen: The River
The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem
Wilco: Being There
Tom Petty: Long After Dark
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Beasty Boys: Licence to Ill
Bob Marley: Legend
The Who: Who's Next
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Simon and Garfunkel: Greatest Hits
AC/DC: Back in Black

It will be fun to add to this list (or subtract) as I am reminded of other great music.

Mumford and Sons: Sign No More

2010-09-16T15:44:00.001-05:00

Charlie says: The band name derives from singer/guitarist Marcus Mumford, the rest of the band member are not actually his sons but, as the as the name implies, they make one big happy family.

It surprises me that a debut album could sound so clean, finished and deep. The title track "Sigh No More" directly quote Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, maybe implying that love is but one aspect of a relationship and not that important. I don't really know. Regardless, the song starts off with group harmonies straight from the Fleet Foxes and builds in intensity, as almost all Irish songs do, to a loud urgent cry of suffering.

The best song on the album is "Little Lion Man" about someone taking the responsibility for his past behavior. I love the use of instruments, especially the banjo, which some day I will learn how to play.

If there is a complaint to be made about this album it is the construction of each song from soft harmonies to high energy which makes each song seem similar.

On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale I loudly and energetically give it a promote it.

An extra note, Nate's favorite Mumford and Sons song is "Thistle and Weeds".

Tina says: Mumford and Sons is a classic "Tina Album". They're heavy on the instruments, meaningful lyrics and a little twang. Many of the tracks on the album start off slow with a small amount of instrumentation, and then it builds as the song reaches the climax of the song. I enjoy the speed of the music and the excitement that it brings as you continue to listen. The banjo adds movement to each song, and brings in feeling. Each time the lead singer repeats and as something important to say, the banjo is brought in as a tool to exaggerate the feeling and the importance of that section of the song. This is especially true in, The Cave and Little Lion Man.

I too hear the Fleet Foxes, The Avett Brothers, and it should go without saying that there is a huge bluegrass influence. Little Lion Man is a great song, however my favorite song on the album is Roll Away your Stone. The beginning of the song starts out with a 17th century English waltz, and then continues to build throughout the entire song.

While I do not know nearly enough about Shakespeare but I do think that many of the songs follow the Shakespearian theme. Love, tragedy and death. I especially hear this in White Blank Page (could it be Romeo and Juliet?).

All and all I hear some really great things that I enjoy about this album, and on the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale, this album is clearly a “I will tell the night” and promote it!

On the Road

2010-09-14T21:58:00.002-05:00

by Jack Kerouac

On the Road is a beatnik travelogue that sees Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty criss-cross the United States and finally ends up in Mexico. These journeys were basically hedonistic vacations of no purpose or redeeming quality what so ever.

I must admit, I am a snob. I do not enjoy spending time with people who treat me well. I do not like movies whose main characters are self centered and have no morals. Sal Paradise and Dean Moriatry were despicable characters. The only purpose for these journeys was to get stoned and escape their responsibilities.

They treated women like crap, family like crap, and ultimately each other like crap.

Bruce Sprinsteen: The River an Album Dissection

2010-09-06T17:30:00.000-05:00

An album dissection is not the exactly the right term for what I have in mind, actually this will be more like a snap shot of my musical life and the roll this specific album took in it. My first selection is The River by Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss entered my musical lexicon in the summer of 1979.  I was eleven when my parents decided to let me go to camp, in Tennessee. Camp County Lad is an all boys camp that draws kids from all over the country. It was there that I met Tim Dyke. Tim was a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. He once told me "I would buy an album of Bruce burping. Bruce's Best Belches!" Tim's passion for Bruce manifested in everything around him. Tim played Darkness on the Edge of Town five times a day. He and David Dreyfus, another person I grew to worship, would spar by quoting Bruce lyrics back and forth, the pauses between quotes grew longer and longer until finally one of them would give up. This was my first exposure to a true music fanatic and I caught the bug.

When I got home from camp, I was all Bruce all the time. I bought Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. ,The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle , Born to Run , and Darkness on the Edge of Town and listen to them until they were my own. I began to follow a musician for the first time and the anticipation of The River was almost too great.

I bought, studied then listened to The River for two months straight. Bruce sings and The E. Street Band play with passion and emotion. "Two Hearts", "Point Blank", and "Stolen Car" are just some examples of that passion on The River.

Before Bruce, I had only listened to the Beatles. They have their place, a place for me rooted in bunk beds and stuffed animals, Bruce was the first musician that made me want to turn up the music full blast and scream along with him. "Crush On You", "Cadillac Ranch", and "I'm A Rocker", all taxed my vocal cords and my parents.

"The River", as a song, is almost perfect.  Starting with a haunting harmonica riff setting the stage for a tragedy. I was just becoming aware of lyrics and lyrics like "for my ninetieth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat." strike to the core. They spoke to me about the end of innocence and started me on a path of appreciation for great music.

So much of the love for music is situational.  When I listen to The River now, I feel many of the same emotions I felt the first time I heard it, but I know that it is because of Tim Dyke, camp, and my age when I first heard The Big Man blow his saxophone on "Drive All Night" that draws me to this album, an album that will always be very close to my heart.

Continental Divide

2010-08-13T08:28:00.004-05:00

One of many (too many) family photos

For our final day full day in Colorado, we decided to drive, as a family, to the Continental Divide. To prepare, we slept in, had a breakfast on sticky-buns and coffee, and packed into two cars. The drive up was stunning. We entered the Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park and took the 11 miles long, one way uphill, Fall River Road. The drive was more than beautiful offering wild life (we had to stop as a Marmot waddled past), scenic views (we stopped almost every opportunity to just exhale), and places to stop and hike (we hiked to the top of Marmot Peak at just over 12,000 feet the highest point of the trip so far!).

Fall River Road reaches the visitor center at 11,796 feet above sea level. We stopped for a bite as we all felt a bit nauseous from the altitude.

On the Continental Divide

We continued past the visitor center to the Continental Divide a few miles past. We had talked about what the divide was and how water flowing on one side would empty into the Pacific yet water from the other side would empty into the Atlantic. To demonstrate, BeBe (Elizabeth) brought water bottles to test.

Big hit.

Elk grazing at 12,000 feet

On our way back to Estes Park we pulled over to view some Elk. The elk were just off the road and were fearless unlike me who demanded Anthony and Nate to stop far earlier than they would have liked but the elk were huge!!!

I was thankful to have a rent-a-car because I road the breaks all the way down the mountain.

Mom and Michael made a delicious meal of Shrimp, bread, and salad. It amazed me how tired I was with the only thing to blame was the altitude.

Before I dropped off the kids to play putt-putt golf, Dad had a Strawberry ice cream tasting. Dad explain how smell was important to taste, that each person could have their own opinion, and the importance of describing what was experienced in words. The boys tried the ice cream and did a nice job explaining why and what they liked best.

After the kids were dropped off, Dad organized a wine tasting for us. We tried five different Syrahes from Australia to France. He explained each wine and had different smells to test against (bacon, plum, pepper, and jam). It was almost unanimous that the French Syrah was the best. I was the only hold out for the sweeter Australian.

Water to the Atlantic Ocean

Pictures Added!!!

2010-08-12T13:18:00.002-05:00

I just added some pictures the our trip to CO.

LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening

2010-08-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

Tina says:
I wasn’t as excited about the new LCD Soundsystem as my rock critic friend Charlie was. Rumor has it he didn’t sleep the night before it was released. On release day he was on iTunes at 12:01, downloading the album, and at 8:30am he had already memorized all of the lyrics and melodies of the album. I, on the other hand waited for my album to arrive on a burned copy in exchange for a cup of coffee.

After receiving the album, I placed it in the CD player of my car. It hasn’t left my car since. This is Happening is a great windows down, volume up, summer album! I can’t get enough of how the songs build and the beats continue to build throughout each song. The volume was up and I was startled in Dance Yrself Clean, when it switched from the silent and calm rhythm to the bass driven drive in the middle of the song. It literally made me jump! I like the instrumentation and the strange sounds that this band creates throughout the album. This album has a good variety of sounds, and beats to keep the listener engaged. I will admit that sometimes this genre of music tends of leave me a little board, as the songs continue to drag on and on. I didn’t feel this with this album. I enjoy and continue to find new sounds and beats in songs like Pow, Pow, Somebody’s Calling Me, and All I want. LCD Soundsystem is Happening! I think that is should go without saying that on the Tina/Charlie deny it, promote it, lend it scale….I give it an enthusiastic promote it!

Charlie says:
Well Tina, I did stay up the night before but I did not download it from iTunes, I wanted a hard copy so I was at Target at 12:01 am to buy a copy.

A little history, I first heard LCD Soundsystem on Sound Opinions. Jim and Greg had just selected LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver as one of the top albums of 2007 and on a whim, I bought it. It blew me away. After waking from my techno haze I purchased LCD Soundsystem self titled album and again was head bobbing until my neck was sore. So yes I was a bit excited when This Is Happening was due out.

This is a great summer album, full of energy, humor, and just great music.

James Murphy writes songs that make people want to move. On their first album, "Movement" stands out as a fist pounding call to dance. "All My Friends", on their second album, continued the call. And now on This is Happening "Drunk Girls" does not disappoint.

Along with Murphy's gift to write music to dance to, he also writes funny sarcastic songs. Songs like "Losing My Edge" which addresses getting old and being made insignificant by the youth. Then "North American Scum" dealing with how Americans are perceived around the world. Now "You Wanted A Hit" is a song about writing a song.

LCD Soundsystem has some just flat out great music. It started with "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House", continued with "Someone Great", and now with "All I Want" and "I Can Change". I few lines:

"You learn in your bed you've been gone for too long/ So you put in the time, but it's too late to make it strong."
"Love is a murderer"

I love this album, an album that on the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale I give a promote it.

Andrew's Tarn

2010-08-11T09:36:00.006-05:00

Sarah and I left early to avoid the crush of people at the park and to get our hike in before the rains hit. We were at the the trail head by eight at exactly the same time as the other thousand hikers who where hoping to beat the crush of people.

The first three miles got us to the beautiful Loch Lake. I was reminded of the last time I hiked to The Loch with my dad. We fished for greenback cutthroat trout. It was an amazing experience and being at the Loch again was great. I saw several large trout and wished I had my fly rod.

From the Loch the trail headed up, way up. The trail got very difficult. At one point we just hiked for about thirty minutes using our hands. We came across a couple heading down. After talking with them for awhile I found out they had started two hours before us. My mental outlook dropped significantly.

I started to think about how much further we had to go which is not good. I tried to focus on my breathe which helped but I could not quite my mind. I still found myself focusing on how far we had come again not very productive. The only way I found to make it up to the top of the hike was to focus on how beautiful the world around me was. It was truly amazing to views.

When we got the to the top, Andrew's Tarn was an amazing powder blue lake. It almost looked like it glowed. Andrew's Glacier was a short walk and let us throw snow balls at each other in August.

The weather was cold, the wind blew steady and after all the sweating I had done, I was shivering. We huddled behind a rock and ate a Cliff Bar each. Sarah noticed the clouds which were becoming threatening and we headed home.

The hike back was fast and easy.

We got home in time to shower and then picked up the kids from camp. Village Pizza was the new destination and after eating my fill and drinking a few beers we headed home to bed. Sore but happy.

Cub Lake

2010-08-10T09:04:00.023-05:00

The boys loved camp. Picking them up filled the car with a cacophony of sound as they all spoke at once. They were not yelling or even upset that it was impossible to understand what anyone was saying, they were just talking to share. Hikes, horseback rides, climbing wall, games, new friends...

A brief interlude about mornings for me in Colorado. I have been getting up between 6am and 6:30am and have a few minutes to sit with my dad who always brings me coffee. We talk about what we are reading or the day and spend a few minutes reading. It is very relaxing and gets me ready for the day.

The planned activity for the day is an adult hike to Cub Lake. This hike started in the Rocky Mountain National Park and passed by three beaver ponds. Along the way we saw Trout, Elk, and two Marmots. The final destination was a lake filled with water lilies. Other than the aggressive ducks, lunch was serene.

It was an excellent hike during the best part of the day. We arrived back at the car just as the afternoon rains came.

Dinner was enchiladas. Excellent.

The crew then when to see Cowboy Brad who sang John Denver tunes and requests. He we very good playing, I am embarrassed to say, some of my favorite songs (Rocky Mountain High, Annie's Song, etc.). John Denver was better than I give him credit for. Cowboy Brad also played Ghost Rider as requested by Nate.

Again, sleep came easily.

Einstein in Berlin

2010-08-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

by Thomas Levenson

Einstein in Berlin is an ambitious book portraying a place and time in history as well as highlighting a person who tried to affected that place and time. Einstein's physics changed Berlin and the world yet his social activism could not open the eyes of his fellow Berliners or the world.

Thomas Levenson expertly weaves both the politics of the day and an individual. I grew to see why Einstein was such an important person of his day. The same man who revolutionized physics saw what Germany could be under the Weimar Republic and what it was becoming influenced by the National Socialists.

The only knowledge I had of the lead up to World War II was what I had learned in high school 25 years ago. This book gave me a view of what was happening in Germany leading up to both WWI and WWII. I really liked this book.

Ouzel Lake

2010-08-09T08:15:00.003-05:00

After getting the boys off to camp, Rangers, Pioneers, and Mountaineers, we drove to the Wild Basin Trail Head about thirteen miles from Jeremiah. We arrived at the trail head at nine in the morning and with a light heart started down the path. Almost immediately we arrived at Cascade Falls. It was a beautiful sight as well as calming. The sound of water flowing over rocks drowns out all other thoughts.

We continued on, hiking through the woods to Calypso Falls. The trails in the Rocky Mountain National Parks are pristine. We encountered a few hikers but only a few. We did pass a llama being riding by a little boy. When we passed the family, I asked the older sister if she had ridden the llama, she responded "NOT YET!!!".

Two and a half miles further we arrived at Ouzel Falls, it was stunning. This mountain waterfall was the most impressive so far. We experienced it from several different views. I even spotted a trout in the stream.

We pushed on to Ouzel Lake another two miles through a burn. I was amazed to see so many perfect small pine trees. Who was caring for them? How could the be so perfect?

Ouzel Lake was not impressive. We ate lunch, shared a bottle of water and headed back.

Ten miles and we were back at the trail head. My feet and ankles hurt. Dad had offered and I took him up on a pair of new boots.

Dinner was steak and mashed potatoes that were eaten with little conversation. After dinner the Minnesota Cauthorns went to see a blue grass band consisting of a husband and wife. We liked it but only stayed for 30 minutes. My favorite song was Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

We were happy and tired as got into bed.

Gem Lake

2010-08-08T10:48:00.001-05:00

We woke the first full day in Estes Park to homemade pancakes. The Minnesota Cauthorns supplied the Chokecherry syrup and the Texas Cauthorns supplied the pancakes. There were no leftovers.

All that was officially planned for the day was a family hike to help us acclimate. After registering the boys for three days of camp at the YMCA, dad randomly selected the Gem Lake trail. I am not certain the exact reason for the selection but I think it was the distance (4 miles) and the elevation gain (1090 feet). Both turned out to be excessive.

The hike started out in the trees with lots of shade. The boys were bounding ahead with the adults lagging behind. The last mile was difficult, steep and rocky. We got to Gem Lake with only half our party. I headed back down to find mom and dad who where not far behind. It was agreed that the name Gem Lake was a bit optimistic, Gem Puddle, or Gem Pond would have been better names. The boys found a rock with a perfect hole in it, and I found a rock formation that I named "Estes Moon" (or "Butt Crack"). We all love the view of Estes Park and the mountains and agreed (after having eaten) that Gem Lake was an enjoyable hike.

We played put-put golf and had wild rice soup for dinner. Vacation was off to a wonderful start!

Jeremiah

2010-08-07T22:47:00.001-05:00

Our vacation really started several weeks before we left for Colorado. The boys started to associate all situations to Estes Park like, "I can start reading that in Colorado", and "I'm going to wear that sweatshirt at camp".

After arriving in Denver, we rented a car and drove two hours to Estes Park. The drive snakes through the Rockies delivering beautiful vistas. I am always amazed and surprised seeing mountains again. Next to the mountains, all my worries and cares shrink to nothing.

I took the kids on a small hike around our cabin Jeremiah after we arrived. The altitude affected all of us as we huffed up the side of a small rise. It could not have been a better introduction, we saw three deer, found an arrow, and discovered prints that I am convinced were a bear. The deer were eating the grass as we passed, at times as close as twenty feet. At one point, a deer looked up at Anthony one ear pointing at me and the other ear pointing at Nate.

Dad made a beautiful homemade apple pie. We each had a piece except me, I had two.
Jeremiah was to be our home for the next seven days.

Cottage View Drive-In

2010-07-19T06:58:00.004-05:00

Last Friday Sarah and I decided to take the boys to the drive-in located just a few miles from our home. It is something we have talked about doing but takes a special occasion like our nephew coming to town to actually pack up the car with popcorn and bug spray and go.

What I did not expect was the unseen culture of the drive-in. We were rookies, not knowing where to park, what to bring, or how to relax while everyone else seemed at home. Let me give you an example: We pulled in, then backed in, with an open parking space in front of us and had a great view. By showtime, a huge mini van took that open space, the children climbed on the roof to even further obstruct our view. I noticed that most of the "veterans" pulled into spots with a car in front, thus assuring an excellent view at showtime. Well played, well played.

Every family was also already in their pj's and had blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. Comfort was the goal.

Some families even pull out grills and were eating burgers. The smells were mouth watering and I found my microwave popcorn, well, lame.

We had a ball, we stayed for both features. Mike and I slept for most of the second picture but I am glad we stayed. All in all, I am excited about our next drive-in experience. An experience that will see me in my pj's.

Belief vs. Faith

2010-06-18T21:13:00.000-05:00

I finally started running again (it has been about a month and a half) which always gets me thinking.

I am intrigued with the difference between belief and faith. It is much easier to belief in something than it is to have faith enough to actually do what one believes in. For instance, one can believe in god but it takes faith to actually live with god.

Thinking vs. doing possibly?

To the Lighthouse

2010-06-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1-3

Most of these chapters deal with what is going on in Mrs. Ramsey head. She is a mother of eight married to a man who seems cold from afar. She seem to me to be striving to do what is right and kind, not allowing her daughters to mock the acward Charles Tansley.

I know this is a stream of conscience but it seem much more accessible than Joyce. I am liking it so far.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

2010-06-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

A black swan is an occurrence that we do not see coming like 9.11, or the banking collapse of last year, or even the success of Harry Potter. These black swans pop up everywhere and if we do not account for them we are in big trouble. Nassim Nicholas Taleb opened my eyes to the difference between the world we live in and the world we think we live in, Mediocristan vs. Extremistan.

Taleb is ruthless yet funny, extreme yet understandable, brash yet hopeful. I very much enjoyed this eye opening look at the unexpected results we call black swans.

To the Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf

2010-05-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

I am planning on starting our third book of the year this weekend. It is fun to be reading a novel that I know nothing about. I am starting with an open mind.

I plan on reporting better on my progress so we can have a limited discussion on-line. I had fun sharing ideas about Ulysses.

Grapes of Wrath

2010-05-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

by John Steinbeck

A truely important book that all Americans should read.

Be the Pack Leader

2010-05-20T11:12:00.002-05:00

by Cesar Millan

I do not own a dog or have any desire to own one. I know that my brother loves dogs and very much enjoys Cesar Millan on "Dog Whisperer" so I thought I would take a stab reading this book.

I liked how Cesar discussed the role philosophy and introspection play with being a dog owner; dogs live in the moment where as people do not, how calm assertive energy is passed between dog and owner soundlessly.

Cesar is not a particularly interesting writer and this book did seem very redundant but I did enjoy it.

Drive By Truckers: Brighter Than Creations Dark

2010-05-10T23:19:00.001-05:00

Charlie said: Tina gave me a copy of this CD to listen to about a month ago and I almost immediately lost it. I searched for about a week under my car seat, at work, by the computer, to no avail so I set aside my pride and bought Brighter Than Creations Dark.

The Drive By Tuckers wear there influences on their sleeves, you can almost hear Mick Jagger singing “3 Dimes Down”, and Jeff Tweedy crooning “Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife” and “Daddy Needs A Drink”, and maybe even Tom Petty in "The Righteous Path". Not that I am complaining, if you are going to be influenced, I approve of all of the above.

This CD was my first exposure to Drive By Truckers. They definately have a country feel with some very strong rock tones. My favorite songs on the album are “Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife”, "Daddy Needs a Drink", and "Opening Act". This is an enjoyable album slow at times but overall a fun listen. On the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, well worth an $11.99 promote it.

Tina said: I purchased this album on a whim after seeing them live for about 5 minutes on Austin City Limits. note 1: no matter how much I like the band I only make it through about 5 minutes of the show before I fall asleep on the couch. Note #2: Austin City Limits might be my favorite TV show. This album was also a recommendation from a friend.

I will have to admit it took me a while to warm up to the album, each song sounding different, each with a different influence. After multiple listens, I have decided that I enjoy the CD. The female vocalist reminds me of Loretta Lynn, which brings back fond memories of my childhood. I also hear many of the same influences such as Tweedy, Petty and maybe a little Dylan. I hate to say it but there may be a little Van Morrison (Check Out in Time Vegas). The album really reminds me of AM and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco, I hear these albums in songs such as Self-Distructive Zone, 3 Dimes Down and Righteous Path.

What I like about this album is that each song creates a story. However more importantly I like the use of the instrusmentation. I like the beat, and I like the album. On the Tina/Charlie lend it, Promote it, Deny it....I will Driver By Truckers Shouting Promote it!

PS- Drive By Truckers is Opening for Tom Petty this summer.

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

2010-05-10T11:35:00.005-05:00

I am about half way through the book (page 250) and the Joads have just arrived in California to find a fertile yet unfriendly land. I very much like how Steinbeck alternates between the story of the Joads and a lyrical prose depicting the rest of the migrating nation.

Ex-preacher Casey speaks truth at every turn. He continually reminds everyone he is not a preacher, yet fills that role to perfection.

Steinbeck makes the point of the evil of greed and selfishness by contrasting it with how the Joads live, with altruism and strong family values.

The Road

2010-04-19T15:55:00.002-05:00

by Cormac McCarthy

If you have not read this book stop now, I do not want to affect how the end of this book will affect you.

As I started to read "The Road" I was humbled by the world Cormac McCarthy created; bleak, raw, unforgiving, and gray. The hunger and heartless punishing world that the boy and father lived in seemed almost too much to take, yet they survived.

And as they continued their journey, I stopped seeing the outside and began to see what was on the inside of these two people. The story became a journey of any father and any son. Fathers taking care of a child, protecting them from the “bad guys” and helping them carry the light.

Even when they reached the coast to find nothing, I was pleased that the father delivered the child. He did his job and when he died he left a boy who had to find the “good guys” on his own. Which is exactly what all fathers hope to do, let there sons find their own way.

Siddhartha

2010-04-11T16:10:00.001-05:00

by Hermann Hesse

I think I last read Siddhartha in high school. Rereading it now I had almost no memory of its content so it felt like I was reading it for the first time.

Siddhartha is a lyrical poetic powerful legend of a journey to enlightenment. I was absorbed by the major theme of this book, that everyone must find their own path to enlightenment. Siddhartha, a privileged, intelligent, gifted being learns to shed what holds him to this world and finds peace.

What a beautiful piece of art.

Son Volt: American Central Dust

2010-03-31T13:09:00.000-05:00

Tina said: I first listened to this album while running errands. My first impressions of this album were positive. I like Son Volt; I like their “modern country twang”. What I really like about Son Volt is the use of instruments throughout the album. I like the guitars, pianos, and the raspiness of Jay Farrar’s voice. My first impressions of this album left me feeling very pleased.

As I dug deeper into the album, I started listening to the lyrics of the album. I soon realized that the lyrics were extremely cheesy. In Dynamite, he says…”This love is like celebration…forth of July dynamite”. There are more of these corny/cheesy one liners through out the entire album. These lyrics which remind me of a trashy country album, were the lead singer is singing about losing, his wife, his dog and is house. However with that said, I do think that he is trying to appeal to all citizens and bring our country together. I think this was his Springsteiness attempt to start bringing the country together in song. On the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, the album is not worth the celebration…4th of July and dynamite….I deny it.

Charlie said: Son Volt is the country half of what was Uncle Tupelo, the other half, obviously is Wilco. It is amazing to me that two such greatly different and important bands come from the same origin. Where Wilco has experimentally expanded, Son Volt continues the alternative country vein.

Son Volt continues to write smart thought-provoking lyrics. You missed the boat on this one Tina. Where you see cheese, I see depth. In the song Dynamite the correct lyrics are “This love is like celebrating 4th of July with dynamite.” This is a love that is not working just like trying to celebrate with dynamite.

There are several worthy songs on this album; “Dynamite”, “Down to the Wire”, “Roll On”, “When the Wheels Don’t Move”, and “No Turning Back”. The last two were my favorites. Where the CD falters in not with the lyrics, but its lack of energy and ambition. I felt as if I had heard most of this before from Son Volt and I wanted more. The only reason I am down grading this album is that their album Trace is so much better doing exactly what this album does.

On the Tina/Charlie deny it, lend it, promote it scale, the album deserves another listen from Tina and a lend it.

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)

2010-02-27T07:56:00.000-06:00

by Rick Riordan

This is the final chapter in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Percy is older, more powerful, yet still somewhat nerdy.

This was my least favorite of the series. Although the story grew and became more complex, Percy did not. He seemed to be the same mix up demigod from the first book.

The final battle comes in waves, new challenge after new challenge. It was fun but somewhat lacking the thrill of the previous books.

Mike like it.

Happy Birthday Bro!!!

2010-02-18T05:27:00.002-06:00

In honor of you, I will finish Ulysses today!

My Own Odyssey: Ulysses (Eumaeus)

2010-02-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

I am currently on page 667.

I thought it an easier read than some sections I have attempted.

Bloom and Stephen are wrapping up the night. Stephen is still very drunk and Bloom seems to be caring for him like a father.

I like the sections where a sailor describes his exploits.

The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You

2010-02-07T19:23:00.002-06:00

Charlie said: Being this is the fourth review I have done in a week I have an excuse for the blandness of this review. Sorry.

I like this album. The first three songs are great. “I And Love And You”, “January Wedding”, and “Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise” are a mixture of folk, country, and bluegrass. They rely, like most of the songs on this album, on powerful piano and lyrics.

After some research I found out that this is not the Avett Brothers first album, by my count, at least their seventh. This is the first album from a major label but from my ears they seem to remain true to their country/bluegrass roots adding elements of pop and hillbilly rock. The song “Ten Thousand Words” has a definite southern flavor.

My only complaint is there is not much rocking going on. The emphasis is on the mellow with very few high energy songs. On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale I give “I And Love And You” a warm southern promote it.

Tina said: I tend towards gravitate to music that has strong vocals and strong instrumentation. I agree with Charlie when he says that the Avett Brothers does this. Not only do they do it, but also they do it well. There are a variety of instruments used. I am no expert, but I hear banjos, violins, acoustic guitars, and the piano. These instruments provide the listener with a variety and support the lyrics in the songs.

I do however think that they do provide a good mixture of “high energy” songs, with mellow slower songs. After listening to the album multiple times I have decided that the album is a story of a relationship, and the ups and down that a relationship can have. As demonstrated in the mellower songs such as “I and Love and You”, “January Wedding”, “The Perfect Space”. I found myself rocking to their high-energy song such as “Kick Drum Heart”, “Slight Figure of Speech” and “It Goes on and On”. I think that this album is very well put together, it leaves me feeling happy, and I find myself not getting bored or bothered by it. On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, lend it, Deny it scale, I use my heart kick a kick drum and promote it!

Spoon: Transference

2010-02-07T17:31:00.001-06:00

Charlie said: If I could have only one eating utensil it would have to be a spoon. It is the most basic. You can eat soup, steak, or even eggs with it. You can use it to spread butter, dig a whole, or clean your ears (maybe not clean your ears). When I listen to the band Spoon, they represent similar basic fundamentals. Good guitar, strong drums, and maybe some piano; basic, fundamentally sound, and good.

"Transference" hits similar themes. "Before Destruction", "Got Nuffin", and "Before Destruction" are simple yet complex. "The Mystery Zone" also is a good tune. Spoon loses me a little with "Who Makes Your Money", "Goodnight Laura", and "Out Goes The Lights". Almost as if they are using a drum machine.

This album did not grab me like "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". I like it but on the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale I have to give it a lend it.

Tina said: I prefer sporks to spoons.

However, I do enjoy Spoon the band. I recently went to great lengths to get tickets the sold out all ages Spoon concert. This involved countless hours searching Craig’s List for that one person who was willing to sell their tickets for face value. I found him. Lets call him Bob.

My first contact with Bob was rather interesting, it was around 8:00pm when I finally contacted him, and it sounded as though he was sleeping or stoned. I wondered what sort of shady Craig’s List transaction I was getting myself into. I felt like I was entering “The Mystery Zone”. Each phone call, Bob seemed to have a difficult time remembering that we were planning on meeting, he seemed clueless. I was beginning to wonder if I was set up. In the back of my mind I could hear my mom saying, “I told you Tina, I told you not to purchase things off Craig’s List”. After countless phone calls finally, we agreed on a time, date and location. 12:30pm on February 19th at Border’s Bookstore.

I arrived, and nervously waited near the café section, and pretended to read the latest literature on traveling to South America. I waited, watching each person who came up the escalator, wondering if it was “Bob”. Could it be the 60-year-old man? Could it be the “possible gang member”? Could it be the guy wearing a bike helmet? I was beginning to rethink my Craig’s List Transaction, where the Spoon tickets really worth it? What would my mom say if she found out I was purchasing something from a stranger, I found on the internet?! Then rising up on the escalator armed with tickets in hand, was a 16-year-old boy and his girlfriend.

As he handed me the tickets, his voice cracked as he said, “This wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be”. For it was he who was the Craig’s List rookie. I on the other hand had drove through snow and sleet the previous day to Mark’s house to purchase a beater bike, under a Swedish alias. I was the one who had traveled through rain and flood like conditions to Baldwin Wisconsin to meet a guy named Lloyd Flandis who informed me that he had googled me and was aware of my race performances. As I confirmed the price with Bob, he informed me that the tickets actually were five dollars more than the price posted on Craig’s List. Being that he had brought his girlfriend along, I could not resist giving him the extra money. In my mind I had visions of them enjoying a tasty five-dollar foot long at the local subway.

Was it worth it? We will find out. I will hold off on writing my review to the latest Spoon album until I have a chance to listen to them live. As my lessons are learned by my Craig’s List Transactions, first sounding impressions are not always the impressions to go by.

On the Tina/Charlie lend it, promote it, deny it scale…I agree with Charlie…this album is a lend it.

Ida Marie: Fortress ‘Round My Heart

2010-02-04T19:35:00.000-06:00

Tina said: The Norwegians have brought us the Norwegian sweater, lutefisk, leffsa, Luther College, and now Ida Maria. Ida Maria a 20 something rising star out of Norway. She demonstrates her musical maturity as she rocks with her second studio album titled Fortress ‘Round My Heart.

I first purchased this album when I heard that one of the critics on Sound Opinions rated this album as the number one album of 2009. The other critic rated his number one album of the year, as one of my least favorite albums of the year. At this point I was hoping for a 50% success rate.

Well, my buddy was right; Ida Maria’s Fortress ‘Round My Heart is a fantastic album. This album rocks, the heavy guitar riffs, the fast past and the anger/excitement that comes across in her voice. I think that this album was created after a serious relationship break-up. As she expresses her feelings about this in songs such as - Oh, My God, I’m the Queen of the World, and Stella. I like the fast paced movement of many of the songs, and especially found myself enjoying “Oh My God” and “Louie”. I imagine that “I like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” is a hit at college campus’ everywhere. On the Tina/Charlie lend it, promote it, deny it scale, I stand up on top of the bar in Decorah, Iowa as I shout promote it!

Charlie said: This is how it works. One morning meeting Tina brings new music to share; the next morning meeting I bring music to share. Tina brings hip new music; I bring the latest from an old artist like Son Volt or Bob Dylan. This last morning meeting I showed up with an album that Tina already owned. What did this mean?

It could have meant that I was getting more in vogue or it could have mean that Tina was getting less in vogue, but I think I know the real reason. It is Ida Maria. She appeals to the old and the new. She is so good that an older generation of music listeners can hear her angst and passion and be moved.

In the first song “Oh My God” she hits it. This simple song connects driving drums, straightforward guitar, and a tormented vocalist perfectly. In “Stella”, Ida Maria plays a husky-voiced prostitute then brings down the energy level but not enjoyment with “Keep Me Warm”. “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” is a great song. Hell, this is a great album.

On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it scale I too shout “Oh, My God Promote It”!!!

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

2010-02-02T22:57:00.005-06:00

Tina Says: When I received this album was looking forward to listening to it. I had heard great things about it in on the Current, and the band was also a guest on Sound Opinions. I think it should go without saying that I was anticipating the Grizzly Bear album to really roar.

On the initial listen I found myself listening, but often times found my concentration on the album drifting off.
What I like about the album is the bands use of instrumentation. I enjoy the use of the violins, pianos, and other instruments. However the lyrics and the melodies do not back up the potential that the instrumentation
has. It seems as though a lot of thought was given to the song set up but the band members forgot to bring their emotion. This gave the album a boring and almost slow turn around, with the anticipation of when the album was going to be over.

However, with that said this band does have potential. I hear the Fleet Foxes, and possibly the Beatles. On the Charlie/Tina promote it , lend it, deny it scale, it’s a lend it.

Charlie said: Having little inside knowledge of the hip music scene, I rely on musical leads from podcasts like Sound Opinions and friends. A friend and fellow teacher, Anne, lent me Grizzly Bear's newest album, Veckatimest, and gave it a strong recommendation.

Upon first listen I saw very little to be excited about. Most songs remind me of bad sixty’s music. Maybe not quite as bad as Tiny Tim’s "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", maybe. I got to be honest; I did not listen to the whole album. Several songs, ok, all the songs except maybe “Two Weeks", "All We Ask" and "Foreground", I skipped. I listened to the first minute and a half and just skipped ahead.

When I think of a Grizzly Bear, I envision of a wild ferocious beast who does not take shit from anybody. What a disappointment. On the Tina/Charlie promote it , lend it, deny it scale, it is a deny it all the way. A deny it then flush it.

My Own Odyssey: Ulysses (Circe)

2010-02-01T15:25:00.001-06:00

I am currently on page 613.

At least I could read most of the words in this section, most of the words.

Circe is written as a play. A play that is mostly a series of hallucinations as the drunken evening of Bloom and Dedalus is coming to a conclusion. Bloom is deified, and then glorified in a bizarre portion where he eventually gives birth to eight children.

Steven is so drunk at one point he grossly overpays a whore eliciting Bloom to take possession of all Steven’s money.

Reading this section I got the feeling of the 1967 television show “The Prisoner” where it was never clear what was real and what was in the mind. As disturbing as it was, it was an easy read and I breezed through the section. The only meaning I pulled out this section was for the first time, Bloom and Dedalus were interacting almost as father (Bloom) and son (Dedalus).

For My Brother

2010-01-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

For you Bro.

Code Monkey

My Own Odyssey: Ulysses (Oxen of the Sun) part 2

2010-01-27T15:07:00.000-06:00

I am currently on page 434.

The last 24 pages of this section were the most chaotic, incomprehensible, gibberish I have every tried to read. Please tell me what the hell is going on in this section:

Golly, whatten tunket's yon guy in the mackintosh? Dusty Rhodes. Peep at his wearables. By mighty! What's he got? Jubilee mutton. Bovril, by James. Wants it real bad. D'ye ken bare socks? Seedy cuss in the Richmond? Rawthere! Thought he had a deposit of lead in his penis. Trumpery insanity. Bartle the Bread we calls him. That, sir, was once a prosperous cit. Man all tattered and torn that married a maiden all forlorn. Slung her hook, she did. Here see lost love. Walking Mackintosh of lonely canyon. Tuck and turn in. Schedule time. Nix for the hornies. Pardon? Seen him today at a runefal? Chum o' yourn passed in his checks? Ludamassy! Pore piccaninnies! Thou'll no be telling me thot, Pold veg! Did ums blubble bigsplash crytears cos fren Padney was took off in black bag?

Can you make out what is going on? Not I, not I.

The last 36 pages took me a week to finish. I feel like I am in the doldrums with this book. I need to catch a wind soon.

My Own Odyssey: Ulysses (Oxen of the Sun) part 1

2010-01-24T10:19:00.000-06:00

I am currently on page 400.

This is a very difficult section. I can not figure out what is going on. Joyce is writing in such an old, detached style that I miss almost everything.

Only 32 more pages of this section.

My Own Odyssey: Ulysses (Nausicaa)

2010-01-23T16:01:00.000-06:00

I am currently on page 383.

I now know why this book was banned in the US. Bloom is hanging out at the sea shore watching three sisters watch over twins. Bloom watches one (Gerty) while fondling himself to orgasm.

I am wary to say this but this was my favorite sections so far. Not only did I understood most of what was happening but I was impressed with the way Joyce dissected Blooms thoughts and the beauty he does it in. For example this section struck me:

Longest way round is the shortest way home. And just when he and she. Circus horse walking in a ring. Rip van Winkle we played. Rip: tear in Henny Doyle’s overcoat. Van: breadvan delivering. Winkle: cockles and periwinkles. Then I did Rip van Winkle coming back. She leaned on the sideboard watching. Moorish eyes. Twenty years asleep in Sleepy Hollow. All changed. Forgotten. The young are old. His gun rusty from the dew.

Very poetic. Bloom thinking about his youth, Molly, and how twenty years have passed. Everything had changed but the love and his youth have been forgotten.