300 - White Elephant Gift

I went to a Christmas Party this year where we were suppose to bring a white elephant gift. Earlier in the week, I decided that I don't like white elephant gift exchanges when people try to unload their junk on each other. Yes, some present can be funny, but rarely does one get a gift that they don't want to throw away.

So this year, I wanted to give a gift that wasn't junk and kept the spirit of the white elephant. Here is my painting of a white elephant. I may do a new white elephant painting each year.

I kinda like this guy and am bummed that I did not try to get my own present.

299 - I am so going on a diet...

...starting January 2.

Some emails floating around the office.

A basket of Godiva chocolates and other goodies in our area.

Cookies…Jason’s Deli brought an assortment of cookies as a Holiday gift. The cookies are located at the Front Desk while they last.

Cookies of various descriptions on the light table outside Jon H’s area.

Shortbread Cookies…Courtesy of MZ, by our quad.

Chocolate pudding cake, homemade brownies, and candy canes…at our quad.

Come get it…muffins and cookies from Perkins at my desk.

A huge basket of chocolates in front of Henry’s area.

We have almost twice as many desserts for the luncheon than we do side dishes. If you would consider bringing a side dish instead, please e-mail me. Thanks!

Jason’s Deli sandwiches, chips, cookies and more are up for grabs in the South Main conference room.

Fruit Pizza and Pumpkin Cake in our area.

Popcorn…The first of the season – on the light table outside Mike’s spot.

Cream cheese pumpkin bread…At the coffee pot.

donuts in the coffee room... Help yourselves!

Cake…The 2nd floor is sharing their cake with others so you’ll find it at the front desk (until there’s no more).

298 - Which is scarier?

A couple of weeks ago, the family went down to Union Station/Crown Center to eat lunch and take in all the Christmas festivities. But that's not really important here.

Which image below frightens you more?

Here is a photo of Santa Claus. This life size St. Nick was one of many on display in the garden atrium of the Crown Center Hotel. It was a historical "Santa throught the years" series, but this guy in the right light was just downright eerie.

This animated display has been set up for years, probably since I was a kid. This one is just plain weird. The features on Santa are unproportional (check out his massive shoulders) and watch out for those elves.

297 - November Music

Sigur Ros - Hvarf e.p. (disappear)
Listen here.

A new EP with some new songs and some new recordings of older song...some epic, some not so. The highlight is the recording of Hafsol which has been a fan favorite at their shows with the bassist using a drumstick to tap the strings to create a percussive bass jam.

Sigur Ros - Heim (Home)
Listen here.

Heim features six live tracks recording acoustically from natural locations around Iceland...fjords, green fields, carverns, etc. This is either the soundtrack or the live music from their tour film/dvd called Heima. Heima was suppose to be released late November, but I think distributer problems is pushing this back to December. I am very much looking forward to this release.

***************************************************

This is the time of year when radio starts playing Christmas music the day after Halloween. I am not afraid to admit the I enjoy Christmas music, but I usually wait until Thanksgiving to pull out the old records.

My favorite Christmas music is the old stuff, the classics where Bing is King. But I have pretty much collected all the good old classic Christmas music. The last few years I have been interested in finding modern artist making non-cheesey Christmas music. I have been interested in new original songs about this winter season. Some of my favorites have been Over the Rhine's the darkest night of the year and snow angels, Sufjan Steven's Christmas EP boxset colletion, Bill Mallonee's yonder shines the infant light, Low's Christmas EP and others. Maybe some day I'll make a list.

Here are my selections this year:
Mindy Smith - My Holiday
Listen here.

Mindy Smith is an americana folky singer/songwriter from Nashville. This album is a mix of new orignal songs with some traditonal. The new songs celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Christ. Very good listen.

File this under "acoustic christmas."

Joshua James - Fields & Floods EP
Listen here.

I am not sure how I stumbled upon this album on the Internet, but it has been a good find. Joshua James is an indie folk singer from Nebraska and that is about all I know of him. The music is quiet and lo-fi and very moody much like Low's Christmas album. One orginal song and the rest are mostly Christmas Hymns with a couple holiday songs.

File this under "mysterious christmas."

296 - new book

After taking a slight break from reading, I am back at it. It is an easy habit to not read.



I just finished Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. I really enjoyed Devil in the White City so much that I was looking forward to reading this one. And it did not disappoint. Larson writes non-fiction like it is reading a mystery novel.

This story follows two characters at the turn of 19th century, Marconi as he is inventing through trial and error wireless telegraphy and Dr. Crippen a little timid man who murders his overbearing wife and flees with his clueless lover.

Essentially, because of this new wireless technology and peoples appetite for a "killer-on-the-loose" scoop, it seems like this story may bet the first OJ/White Bronco chase that caught the world's attention.

...more interesting things to say, but I won't.

295 - Destination Postcard

Some friends of ours in Lawrence (we go way back to the days at the University of Kansas) have created an arts group called B.A.L.M. - beauty, art, life movement. BALM will hold events/gathering for artists around the Lawrence/Kansas City area to meet and share work with each other. These events usually revolve around a theme. One event was to create "destination" postcards. The results were pretty good and Darin (Mr. BALM) worked it out to show these postcards at the Art Affair Gallery in Baldwin, KS home of Baker University.

Here are the three postcards that I submitted to the show:


Raingirl in Paris
4X6, mixed media
$60

I guess I have been creating a series of Raingirl images. At some point I should try to put them all together in a book or something. On this piece I thought of the destination of where I first saw Raingirl and took her picture in front of the Centre Pompidou in Paris on a rainy spring day.

This postcard was created using chipboard, graph paper, grocery bag, ink, acrylic paint, a map of Paris, and yellow architectural trace paper.


Conversation
4x6, mixed media
$60

...or maybe my better working title was "two old birds." This was a photo I took of two old ladies in one of Venice's many piazzas. They just looked classic or maybe timeless is a better word. Their apparel is great and they fit in with the Italy's old architecture. It's like right on queue they got up and left their homes and arrived at the right time to meet.

This postcard was created using chipboard, graph paper, grocery bag, ink, prisma color marker, and a photo.

Migration
4x6, mixed media
$60

The previous postcard got me thinking about geese and migration and the images of those birds and that process. It is Autumn here in Kansas. The trees are losing their golden leaves and the geese are heading south. I just wanted to celebrate one of my favorite seasons of the year.

This postcard was created using chipboard, greentint Stenobook lined paper, ink, prisma color marker, acrylic paint, and crayon on newspaper clippings.

294 - Daylight Savings Time

Just curious...with the extra hour we gained this weekend, do you use it for an extra hour of sleep or for an extra hour of awake time?

Me...

I always use it to stay up later. It's not really 3am; it's only 2am.

293 - October Music

Maps - We Can Create
Listen here.


Maps is a British band making beautiful dreampop and shoegazer music. To me there sound is somewhere between Chapterhouse (whirlpool album) and somtimes the harmonies of the Stone Roses. The music features electronics, fuzzy/noisy guitars, drum machines, loops, spacey bass, and whispery vocals. A lot of the recent dreampop/shoegazer records lately have all featured female vocals, so it is a nice change to here male vocals in this genre.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Listen here.

Only a band as big and daring as Radiohead can stick its nose up to the music industry by releasing their new album without a label or distribution. There are two options for the new album - (1) a special editions set which includes the new cd, plus a bonus disc of new material, special artwork and packaging, and the new album on 2 vinyl records. Something like that...I am trying to remember off the top of my head the details. This comes at a price of 40 pounds which is about 80 U.S. dollars. Or (2) pay what you feel is right for the album and download the mp3 files to your computer.

Paste Magazine has an online poll to try to gage what people are paying for the new album, since the band hasn't or isn't planning to release the results. Inspired by Radiohead, Paste Magazine is offering a special limited time offer to name your price for 11 issues of their magazine. If you are a music fan, I highly recommend Paste.

I like In Rainbows. Much, much better than Hail to the Thief. The music sounds like Radiohead, but I would say a bit more spacious and mellow. At least the last 3/4 of the album gets into this great vibe and everything flows really well.

Oh, how much did I pay? 2.46 pounds which is roughly about 6 U.S. dollars.

Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Future (issue 3 and 4)

Listen here.

Yes, two more brightly colored vinyls came in the mail. Dust off the old record player and give them a spin. The surprise highlight was the b-side to issue 3 being a cover of the Smiths' Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

The myspace page only includes one song off of these issue - Spooky. Spooky happens to be an instrumental that fits in great with the Halloween season and the Munsters or Adam's Family.

CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Listen here.

This album came out earlier this summer, but I knew it would make a great fall album so I put it off until the season was just right. This is a weird album and I love it! The sounds are crazy. CocoRosie is comprised of two sisters and they both sing or take turns on the same times. One sister has a real raspy voice, kinda like a cheap version of the old jazz singers and the other one has a real pretty and possibly operatic voice. I don't know if one is a classically trained opera singer??? But the contrast between the two voices really works well for the kind of otherworldy music they make. On this record quite a few songs have the Trip-hop vibe thing going on with psuedo white-girl rapping. The atmosphere of this album is of the new old - new music that sounds old. I am not sure how to describe it...it's not polished, it's warm, sounds like an old radio??? Oh, and the lyrics are a bit fairy tale-ish.

Mum - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Listen here.

Sad news - Mum was playing in Lawrence Halloween night. I would have loved to have seen them. Oh well, I can't see every good band that comes by in this phase of my life.

Mum is another band with that new old sound. They used to be described as electronic, but I am not sure that is all true anymore. This album has made me question if rock music is even relevant anymore. Come on! What's new with rock music? Nothing. It is the same old, same old. Sure there are some great songs and good bands. But they are not really making any new ground, they no longer lead a rebellion in thought and teenagers no longer have exclusive rights to this music. Rock music is old and dying. Mum just reminded me of the new breed of bands who is making music artfully and with no limits as to what can make a song. Long gone are the days of a guitar, bass, and drums. Today's musicians can play a multitued of instruments and are creative to make new sounds or new sounds that sound old...not retro. Sorry, a little rant that just came out of nowwhere. (Brian, I wish you were here. We could have one of those 2 hour conversations on the state of music.)

The new Mum album...hmm, can you tell I like it. It is an improvement from their last one. They were getting a bit predictable, but this new album is louder (if you can make a quiet band loud), they have a different vocalists (very good - I like his sounds) and overall the music is very organic sounding with natrual instraments as well as electronics.

I must add that bands from Iceland take the most care to creating a wonderful CD package.

292 - Candy

Yesterday was Halloween.

Candy was everywhere.

All sorts of chocolate bars, candy corn, lollipops, jellies, and gum.

In the office, at church, at people's homes as well as ours.

My boys brought home way too much.

How many pieces did I eat yesterday?

None.

How many have I eaten today?

None.

Why?

Crazy - maybe.

or...

just to see if I could

and let they hype pass.

(...it's killing me, too!)

291

I had thought of something

the other day

that I was going to share with you

but

I forgot what that was

Oh well

290-Over the Rhine at the Grand Emporium

Finally!
Over the Rhine found their way back to Kansas City. It has been a while.

They played at the Grand Emporium again and the Grand Emporium has gotten quite a facelift since the last time I was at that venue. It is no longer a grimy blues bar, but now it a swank lounge-like club. They played the Grand Emporium on their Films for Radio tour in 2001. They were suppose to play the Grand Emporium on their Ohio tour, but that night was the night they cancelled their tour to rearrange some personal priorities, and thank goodness because that lead to the beautiful Drunkard's Prayer.

We got a babysitter, called some friends, and headed down to see the music. The club was standing room and seemed to be pretty full. I am always amazed to see who else listens to this band; this band that I first heard when I was 18 back in ’92 at Cornerstone Festival. I have grown through my 20’s (and into my 30’s) with this band and they have grown too! We are both not so young anymore, but I was surprised to see young fans along with older fans. Being that this band has put out amazing music and has a rabid fan base and has always been on the cusp of success, they have never become a household name and I think their fans like it that way.

The show started with the horns/woodwinds opening track of I Don’t Want to Waste Your Time as the band worked their way through the crowd and up onto the stage. You could tell from the very beginning that this was going to be a good show. The fans were into it – hootin’ and hollerin’ at Karin’s words and voice and you know that the band wants to return the favor.

They played quite a few songs from the new album with some older songs sprinkled in. The music was great and I was once again reminded why this is one of my favorite live bands. We were also treated to one of Linfords stories as he introduces The Trumpet Child. The story was something about being a young child, sister Grace’s pony tails, revival tent, the beautiful language of hymns like Softly and Tendlerly, When the Roll is Called on Yonder, the trumpet, rebirth, horn players, music on God’s ipod.

Very good time!

288 - What is alternative music?

Dust,
What is alternative music, you ask?
Yeah, I'm not good with labels and I am sure this is debatable, but my take on it is this:

Let's just generalize a decade, the 80's brought about a lot of bands that were post-punk from the late '70s punk movement. These band were not popular by mainstream radio standards.

Mainstream top 40 radio in the '80s and early '90s was all about pop and hair metal/glam rock. These post-punk band were many different styles of music ranging from witty smart to electronic dance rock to goth to dreampop to folk to grunge to jangle pop to americana. Many of the labels at the time that I heard for this kind of music were new wave, modern rock, college rock (because the college stations would play this music), progressive.

Where could one here these new sounds that were different from mainstream radio? Really cool friends with older siblings (in college) or MTV 120 minutes on Sunday nights from 10-midnight, or college rock stations, or public radio stations between the raggae hour and the latin music show, etc.

Sometime in the year of 1990 one of our pop stations (Q104) started a half hour show at 10:30 every night called Liquid Radio that was devoted to this music. Also, somewhere around this time Kennedy and MTV VJ had a nightly show called Alternative Nation. Soon the word "Alternative" was used to describe all these different styles of music that didn't fit into the pop music or hair metal category.

Then Nirvana released smells like teen spirit on video to MTV and the rest is history. Alternative became mainstream. Every Major record label wanted to sign the next Nirvana. Radio stations became Alternative Rock stations. The alternative rock sound is now the mainstream sound. The popularity of Alternative rock basically killed it. The quality of music went down due to the need to feed it quickly to its demanding listening audience.

What do people call it these days? I don't know and I don't think bands know either. Not that they ever wanted to label thier music. It is interesting to look at a bands myspace page. At the top their is an area for them to categorize their music. Their you will find words like "other/indie/electronic/minimal/etc."

287 - September Music

Amiina - Kurr
Listen here.

Another band from Iceland...These four ladies are properly a string quartet who opened for and are part of Sigur Ros's backing band, but they are not tied down to any instruments. They'll play the strings along with the saw, goblets, music boxes, electronics, guitars, the glocks, anything and everything from what I can gather. What they produce is a real sweet and delicate sound. The album is mostly instrumentals with a few vocal "awe's and oh's" scattered about. This is the perfect album to wake me up. I prefer coming to on my own verses the harshness of the alarm clock.


Joy Electric - Their Variables e.p.
Listen here.

This album is basically a remix album of The Otherly Opus with 2 new Joy Electric tracks. A different artist remixed each of the tracks for TOO. It's fun and interesting, but The Otherly Opus is such an amazing album that the remixes don't quite measure up to the original.

(not actual cover)

The Foxglove Hunt - Demo E.P.

Listen here.

This 2 song demo came free with my Joy Electric order. The Foxglove Hunt is comprised of Rob Withem (Fine China) and Ronnie Martin (Joy Electric.) Rob sings and writes the songs and Ronnie does all the programming. If these 2 songs are any indication, their full length album is gonna be great.

St. Vincent - Marry Me

Listen here.

Annie Clark writes all the songs and plays all the music. She opened for and played with Sufjan Steven's band. The music is innovative, weird, familiar yet original sounding. This album reminds me of Alternative music before '92 when Alternative became a label and mainstream at the same time.

286 - The Flaming Lips at the Uptown Theater

Looney and I went to see the Flaming Lips. The crowd seemed to be more of the hippie/granola jam band kind, which I don't see much of with the shows I usually see. But they were a little kooky and fun-loving. It's funny, the big time fans treated this show the same way tailgaters do at a Kansas City Chiefs game. Fans were early waiting in line. Fans wore costumes, because the whole show was like a party. Fans brought their own props and had traditions. (like balloons and stuff.)

Anyway here are some words to describe the show:
Richard Simmons, Aliens, Santas, Balloons, lots of Balloons, human inside a beach ball crowd surfing, Super Hero Roadies, Laser Pointers (they passed them out to everyone), confetti, fog machine smoke, megaphone, confetti/smoke cannons, streamers. That's all for now.

Here are some pictures that I took. Enjoy!

285 - Waterfire - 08sep2007

A couple weeks ago on a Saturday night, E1 and I drove down to the Plaza to check out an art installation event called 'Waterfire.' Basically, Brush Creek was set on fire and it was all sequenced to live music. Speaker boxes were placed all along the creek and the echoed out everything from classical to Gregorian Chant to opera to Spanish flavored tunes. It was very peaceful and quite hypnotic not to mention the wonderful smells coming from the burning logs that were floating on braziers along the river. A large crowd came out for this event. People were lined along the creek and standing on top of the bridges. People of all ages were out. Kids were rolling down hills and playing at their parents feet. Middle age couples were on blankets with wine and cheese. And everyone was strolling along the walk. The streets along the creek were closed for food booths and gypsy street performers were gathering crowds. It was a good time. They are going to have this event again in October.

284 - alpine rail

Over a year ago, blogger did not have the technology to upload videos. Now that it does...here is one for kicks. This video came from our trip to Colorado last summer.

This is the alpine rail slide in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It is more like a roller coaster ride than a luge track. You are in a single car and you have a lever in each hand that controls the speed of your vehicle by braking. Very fun.

283- August music

Starflyer 59 – Ghost of the Future (Issue # 1 and Issue #2 of 10)

The idea behind Ghost of the Future is that there will be (10) 7” vinyl records that will be released over 6 months. The “A” side contains a demo version of a song on the upcoming album and the “B” side contains a song specific to the Ghost series. So, I got an old record player and set it up in my art studio. This was actually a new experience for me ‘putting the needle on the record.’ The songs are fantastic. They have a lot more electronic elements along with Jason Martins signature guitar sound. The songs have a very New Order-ish feel to them. Good stuff.

By the way, the artwork is great. It seems to be some sort of hammerpress on heavy chipboard. I think all the albums will create a design or picture. The photos above are front and back.

This myspace page has a song from one of the upcoming releases:
starflyer 59


Eisley – Combinations
Listen here.

I must say that this is a very, very good album. I thought their first album was okay considering that they are all teenagers. The music was good and the lyrics were a little hokey. I didn’t listen to that album a lot. But this album is really good. The music and voice and lyric are very much improved and I am listening to Combinations quite a bit and haven’t grown tired of it. Good job guys. They are on tour with Mute Math. I might have to stop by.

Over the Rhine – The Trumpet Child
Listen to the whole album here.

Listen to myspace here.

I have been a fan of this band since the beginning. I first saw them live at Cornerstone ’92 and knew there was something special. As a true fan, I allow my artist to grow and explore new things and different styles. (What I mean is that a band doesn’t have to make the same album over and over again.) But I must admit I wasn’t sure about this album upon my first listen. In all fairness, my first listen was in the car with my boys going to the pool. All you get from those listens are impressions and my initial impression was that it was a bluesy southern sound. And I thought, oh, I don’t like that bluesy sound, I wish they would make another album like… But then I put the headphones on and the power and beauty hit me. It is a more lighthearted sounding album with a jazzy flair and some whimsical songs. Yes, there is one song that is a little bluesy, but it is growing on me. These are good songs, the kind that only get better and soak into your soul the longer they age. The opening line of the first song states, “I don’t want to waste your time, with music you don’t need…” No time wasted. I need this music.

Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
Listen here.

I bought this album on a whim…It was on sale for $7.99…They sounded pretty good when they opened for Coldplay a few years ago…And I just read an article about the band in Paste magazine. It’s not bad and there are some real good songs. It has an ‘80’s pop feel to it. And I’ve read some publications making comparisons to Fleetwood Mac. But I don’t really know Fleetwood Mac.??? (but I do have a few of their records that I should put on the player.)