You win, you lose...

Well, the Twins lost tonight. Their season is over.

And I don't know, I'm not quite as crushed as I had thought I might be. You had to have some sort of ominous feeling when the Twins dropped 2 of 3 to Kansas City. You had to have an ominous feeling when Chicago dismantled Detroit last night. And although the Twins gave a valiant effort tonight to defeat the Sox, in all honesty, this pennant should have been theirs a week ago. I am a little disappointed in my friends Mauer and Morneau though. No hits, no hits at all.

The cruel fact is, sometimes in life, you win, and sometimes you lose. Sometimes you want something so badly it hurts, you want it so much you don't even know what to do. Sometimes everything is great and you get what you want. And well, sometimes you lose that thing. You make a mistake, or you freak out, or you don't score any runs in 9 innings. And it's kinda inevitable, you're going to feel like crap for a while. There's always next season though. I mean, it's out of your control now, you just need to keep on going.

I'm no fairweather fan. I'm proud of our team, even if they lost. No one expected them to compete for the division title. They didn't sell their soul to the undead like the White Sox. And the Rays will most likely destroy them in two days anyways. Righteous vengeance, you know?

We'll get em' next year.

163

It will take a herculean effort to defeat the Sox in Chicago tonight, but I have a goat at the ready and am confident that the baseball gods will cause us to prevail. The White Sox are a team full of terrible human beings who probably rape and pillage on their off days. Whereas the Twins spend every waking moment visiting terminally ill children in hospitals and rescuing little old ladies from oncoming traffic. So, on a moral sense, it's only just that the Twins crash the party tonight.

But in any case, this would be one of the greatest victories in franchise history. How does this team want to be remembered? It's all in their hands now.

So anyways, I'm hoping for a dramatic night of baseball, and hoping especially that we come out on top. In the past 7 one game playoffs, the road team has a 4-3 advantage, so here's hoping we add to that. This Twins team has the heart and the skill to go in and win. Whatever our woes in the past, nothing matters except this one game. So, here goes nothing.

Win Twins!

Open Letter

Dear Minnesota Twins player,

I have hotly followed your 2008 campaign with bated breath. It's been a journey fraught with both joy and peril. With the loss of Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, no one thought you could compete. You proved them wrong, I'll admit, but it hasn't been easy. Numerous times I had an incredible urge to throw a brick through my TV during your telecasts.

Now here it is, you're either in the playoffs, or you're playing a single game to get into the playoffs. Let's focus on the latter scenario. I am fully prepared to do whatever is necessary to will you to victory. I mean hell, if I need to go out and find a goat to sacrifice on an alter sheathed in homer hankies, that's fine. Just let me know so I can get one in time. If I have to wear the exact same set of clothes for two weeks, I'm game. If it comes down to me chanting some sort of voodoo hex on the Chicago bats around a bonfire naked, no problem.

I beseech thee though, just go out and win. God knows you should have won on Saturday, then you wouldn't have this conundrum in the first place. And listen Mr. Morneau, now is not the time to slump. I had kind of a brain slump last week, but I busted out of it in time to write a fantastic office memo, even with a cat-voiced lady screeching in my ear. So get your shit together.

I mean, it's a simple game, right? Catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball. Hell, if I could do it in the British University Baseball League (minus the hitting part), you can surely do it in the major leagues.

Sincerely,

Myself

Sunday Morning Thoughts

I'm at a Caribou Coffee right now, attempting to finish revising my office memo due tomorrow. I know, I know, it's a Caribou, but the Starbucks around here is worthless. This place isn't much better, they ran out of scones. They must have taken their business model from AIG or something.

I would probably be a lot more productive if there wasn't a woman with a voice like a cat screeching to the left of me. I'm really quite amazed, I have never heard someone sound so much like a cat. I mean, yeah, it's probably some sort of skill. But damn is it offensive.

Thank you sweet Jesus for headphones and John Coltrane.

Concert Review: Sigur Rós

Few people in the world would choose to spend their evenings listen to a man warble falsetto gibberish in a made up language while playing a guitar with a violin bow. Lucky for me, I'm one of those few. So I put on my plaid, did my best indie nonchalant stride, grabbed a sweater, and headed downtown to catch Sigur Rós in concert at the Orpheum.

Sigur Rós, as some of you may know, is one of my most favourite bands. They hail from Iceland and almost exclusively sing in Icelandic or a made up gibberish dubbed "Hopelandic." They have a sound unlike any other, mixing distortion, keyboard, drums, and bowed guitar into a blend that is honestly otherworldy. And in general, they're just kinda out there. Watching the concert, I sort of felt like I took some sort of side trip to Saturn.

Then again, if you ever see what Iceland actually looks like, you'd be playing some pretty messed up stuff too.

One fantastic point about the show was the audience. For pure people watching, it was absolutely priceless, a veritable cavalcade of white hipster/indie culture. Plenty of facial hair, plenty of thrift shop sweaters, a whole lot of Sketchers, Pumas, and retro Adidas. The same pair after pair of skinny bearded man in a t-shirt with (what I would consider) an entirely too hot girlfriend wearing knitwear. I don't think I saw a single black or non-caucasian person there. The funny thing is, everyone is at such pains to look "indie," that when they all get together, they all look exactly the same.

I thought Sigur Rós played fantastic. It was moreso for me about the imagery, because their music sounded exactly as I had expected it to be. And it didn't help that I was a little distracted. But there's something about a man furiously bowing an electric guitar silhouetted by smoke and lights that creates a pretty striking scene. Like I said earlier, the whole thing was very otherworldly. Unlike anything I've ever seen or heard. Couple that with a video show in the background that was by any explanation, just plain weird, and you get something pretty memorable I feel.

Some of the tunes sounded a bit slow to me, and "Gobbledigook" from their new album almost got overwhelmed by the drums. But overall, fantastic. Going back to that same "Gobledigook" song, it was genuinely bizarre to see them playing acoustic guitars, especially when you are expecting this wash of distortion. I mean, I have the album, I knew it was coming, but it was still odd.

I'm just glad they played extensively from their album "Takk." I really got into Sigur Rós when I was in England, so I have this very intense emotional connection with their music to aspects of my life in Nottingham, especially the Takk album. I actually bought some of their music at a record shop in downtown Notts that I frequented. So as they played, I just got flashes of random scenes, stuff not spectacular in any way. The church hall in the basement, walking to the university, etc, etc, etc.

So yes, though there were considerably less riot police than at the Rage concert three weeks ago, I would say Sigur Rós lived up to the standard set by Zach, Tom, and co. in the world of live music witnessed by myself. I was happy to have gone and heard them play. I wish it would have been under slightly different circumstances, but sometimes I suppose you just have to deal with what is thrown at you. And if none of you have ever heard their music, I'd suggest checking it out.

I think this quote from a friend sums up the concert quite nicely.

"Even if you were high, and you came down, you'd probably think you were still high"
- A Friend

. . .

Sometimes it's good, I feel, to just chill out a bit.

Half Price Books

I am the scourge of Half Price Books. Literally, if we lived in a pirate society, I'd be the Jolly Roger or whatever to Half Price Books' peaceful British colonial town. Except for the fact that I actually have to pay for all the plunder I take from them. Hate how that works.

I'm really a fan of the one in my native Apple Valley. I've been to the one in Roseville and have concluded that it is worthless. Firstly, it's because they have some sort of pricing curve for music. A Beatles CD that would cost $6.98 in AV costs $9.98 in Roseville. There are all sorts of little discrepancies like that. And secondly, they usually don't have anything good. Which I suppose probably means that people in Roseville respect good music more than they do in AV.

That's the disadvantage to shopping at HPB, when you see something that just does not belong in a second hand store. For instance, today I saw a copy of Bill Evans' "Sunday at the Village Vanguard," one of the most legendary jazz recordings ever. A milestone in the development of modern jazz. And someone, somewhere, decided that the infinite glory of the music was worth little more than the $3 they got paid for it. Shameless, absolutely shameless. A part of me dies when I see that. I literally stood there and thought about purchasing the Bill Evans album and gifting it to someone, just to save it from the indignity of being peddled next to a copy of Burt Bacharach's greatest hits. But like I said before, I spend entirely too much money at this store in the first place. So I dried a tear and turned away. Once I saw a copy of "Kind of Blue" in the racks and had to go throw up.

I suppose other people's loss is my gain though.

I think one of the reasons I like the HPB in AV so much is that it is staffed by blissfully awkward people. I had a book recommended to me a little bit ago (which I bought at HPB) about snap judgments, and how people can seemingly instantly know stuff about things in a matter of seconds. I've only read about a chapter or two in it, but basically the gist is that you can know something fundamental about a person in the first few seconds you meet them. Needless to say, I applied this technique when I was milling about the store this afternoon. And with nearly ever person, I instantly knew they were socially awkward. Which means I would probably get along great with them.

There's the dowdy girl who you know spends every waking moment reading Jane Austen. She strangely reminds me of my 12th grade English teacher. Like, a clone from the past or something. There's also the nerdy looking dude with glasses who probably has to structure his work schedule around his World of Warcraft raids. The slovenly guy with the beard who looks really bored, he's always the guy buying your books. But two employees in particular stick out to me, they must be my favourites. One is this very pregnant girl who undoubtedly drives a car that runs on vegetable oil and only wears hemp clothing naturally grown by a small cooperative in the Ecuadorian countryside. She hasn't been around lately, so maybe she's not quite so pregnant anymore. The other guy has to go through life stoned out of his mind and he rocks the 1970's pornstar look to go with it. Kind of looks like he crawled out of a couch in his mom's basement. He also really likes Nirvana, because he talks to me about them nearly every time I stop in. Absolutely hilarious, I think.

Being that the majority of people who go into HPB are relatively normal, it's always funny to see the normal people try to interact with the employees. It's kind of like if I were to start talking to you in Yiddish about my thoughts on trombone mouthpieces. Complete lack of information transmission. Lucky for those of us who have deciphered the code though, we can communicate freely in front of the "normal" people without anyone knowing what's going on.

The scary thing is, I've had people ask me on at least two occasions if I work there.

Seriously though, cannot go wrong at this store. If any of you haven't gone, I'll gladly take you on a guided tour. I mean, where else can you pick up an LP of Don Ho's greatest Hawaiian hits?

Exactly, nowhere. Why the hell do you need that? I have no idea, but I own it. A friend of mine once went and got an LP of German Oktoberfest songs for 50¢. I thought it was stupid too, until we listened to it after a couple beers. Then it sounded like a brilliant purchase. Based on that, I'm sure Don Ho will prove his worth eventually.

Next time you need a book on self help, science fiction, or 19th century Russian history, check out HPB. Or if you need a Burt Bacharach album. Give me a ring, I'll probably want to come along.

Album of the Week: Loveless

I know the internet has been waiting with collective bated breath, anticipating my next album review. Well world, here you are. This week's album is Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.

This album is a trip.

Seriously, unless you're a fan of post-rock or noise-rock or something similar, I can almost guarantee you've never heard anything like this before. It's a sound pretty much unlike any other, really more of a sonic dreamscape than anything else. I think I would characterize it as art music, rather than any sort of popular genre. Definitely part of its appeal is listening from an intellectual standpoint, figuring out what the hell the group is trying to do.

So what makes this so crazy, you may ask? Unlike most rock, My Bloody Valentine employs a constant sonic assault. There really is no discernible dynamic range, nor is there much diversity within the songs of different instrumentals. Add in the fact that their song formats just sort of go until they're done, they don't seem to have any sort of formal structure. Instead there's this cacophony of electric guitar, distortion, synthesizer, obscured vocals, and strangely rhythmic drumming. I mean, in reality, it is just bizarre. The music sounds so otherworldly, you can't even really believe that actual humans can wrest these sorts of sounds out of instruments.

Conversely though, it is absolutely brilliant.

I don't have any individual songs to really recommend, because everything blends together so perfectly. Well, I suppose I am partial to "Loomer" and "Sometimes." Those may be my two favourites. But this is a capital "A" Album in every sense of the word, and we all know how much I love Albums as opposed to albums. Meaning, this is a cohesive statement, and as such, it really is best to listen to it through, rather than nitpick it apart into 11 songs. That would just not do.

One intense part of their sound is how they have this sort of acoustic guitar thing going against what sounds like a wall of electric distortion. It's a really effective tactic, I think, keeping that ethereal distortion in the back with some rhythmic device that keeps it from sounding stagnant. Like I said before, it's probably unlike anything you've heard.

Many must know my fancy for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. Who incidentally, I'm going to see in a week, but that's neither here nor there. They must have gotten some influence from My Bloody Valentine for sure, as they employ a lot of their tricks in terms of electric distortion. But it's a lot different. Where Sigur Rós employs almost a classical approach to the use of electric instruments, bowing guitars and other crazy stuff like that, My Bloody Valentine has a bit of a harder edged approach. In any case, I like it. A lot.

So there you go. Check out "Loveless," let me know what you think. Give it a bit of a chance though, it's kinda messed up. Like I said earlier, it's a trip.

Target Field

So, the Twins, aside from making me throw my TV through the window, today unveiled the name for their new ballpark: Target Field.

Now, it's obviously not perfect. I would have preferred some non-corporate name like Puckett Park or Killebrew Field or something like that. But it's the 21st century, so I'll be realistic. In light of these circumstances, I actually think Target Field is a pretty good name. I mean, Target is a Minnesota company and seems to do a lot of good work in terms of philanthropy and all that jazz. Additionally, it doesn't have the seedy/creepy/weird vibe of Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or other comparable retailers. I mean, Target, in comparison with other department stores, is kind of like a bottle of fine French wine standing in a field of Franzia. Plus their grocery wing sells delicious salsa.

Some other names I heard bandied about were Best Buy Ballpark and Land O' Lakes Field. I'll go on the record and say that dual name parks in MLB are not a good idea. The former Pac Bell Park in San Francisco? Forgettable. The former Minute Maid Park in Houston or wherever? Not a good idea. Seriously, we should maybe thank Target. Best Buy Ballpark sounds like some sort of juvenile tongue twister while Land O' Lakes Field had revenge of the technologically savvy and idiotic written all over it. LOL Field? No thanks. Target Field is concise, somewhat corporately ambiguous, and I'm sure there are many promotional opportunities. I will almost bet money there will be a giant Target target hanging in right field with the words "JUSTIN MORNEAU HIT IT HERE!"

If you're ever downtown, go check out Target Field under construction. I had the good fortune to catch a nice glimpse of it beyond a line of riot police at the Rage concert a few weeks ago. And I must say, it looks fantastic. If I have to sell an organ to go to the first game, so be it.

I need answers

I really need some answers.

Here are some facts.

1. The economy, according to Alan Greenspan, is in a "once in a century" crisis.
2. Over 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq, along with countless Iraqi civilians
3. We still have not found Osama Bin Laden
4. The US produces approximately 1/4 of the world's carbon dioxide emissions and we consume the most oil
5. Some 45 million people cannot afford health care
6. Our international standing in the world has plummeted

One would think that in light of such pressing facts, we need to find solutions. One would think that with a fairly important presidential election coming up, people would want to hear about how the two candidates are going to solve these issues. One would think people want answers.

Instead, we got John McCain talking about how Barack Obama insulted Sarah Palin when he, in the midst of criticizing McCain's economic policies, said that "if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig." Don't mind the fact that Senator McCain made the exact same statement about Hillary Clinton's health care plan last winter.

Instead we get a barrage of flat out lying from the McCain campaign. I'm not joking, there are literally lies flying about the airwaves. I really like the one where McCain accuses Obama of sponsoring a bill in the Illinois Legislature that promoted "comprehensive sex education for kindergartners." In reality, he signed a bill which promoted age appropriate awareness of good touch and bad touch. Or there's that Spanish language one which accuses Obama of killing immigration reform last year. Don't mind the fact that McCain and Obama voted exactly the same. What's even more galling is that Mrs. McCain had the audacity to criticize the media for exposing such lies.

Gov. Palin has no excuse either. She claims to have "killed" the Bridge to Nowhere earmark that would have used federal tax dollars to construct a $400 million bridge to an island with 50 residents. Not so. She was for it before she was against it. And frankly, I feel it's pretty reasonable to say she's a pretty freaky person in general. For some reason, she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world because she is a "hockey mom." Well, my mom was a "band mom," and she shops at department stores too. She might not be quite so adept as killing moose, which is apparently another key qualification. Love her as I do, I don't think my mom should lead the free world.

I forgot, she has foreign policy experience of her proximity to Russia. "They're our next-door neighbors," she said in a recent ABC interview, "and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska -- from an island in Alaska." That's fantastic. Alaska is also the closest point in the US to space (Mt. McKinley). She must also have space experience. It's also the closest US point to the North Pole, so she must also have experience dealing with Santa. This is the most pathetic form of reasoning I've never heard. If we talked about this in law school, we could probably spend months discussing how inane it is. I mean, I can see Lakeville if I stand on the road outside my house. I'm obviously in a position to officially negotiate with the Lakeville City Council on behalf of the City of Apple Valley.

I suppose this is to be expected. It's the same culture wars bullshit that has been used as a political tactic since Nixon. The same sort of thing perfected by George W. Bush and Karl Rove. I mean, it sort of makes sense. If you don't have any fresh ideas for yourself, why not just tear apart the other person?

Except the fact that this is coming from the founder of the "Straight Talk Express." This is coming from a man who I'm supposed to think is "honorable." There's nothing honorable about fear mongering. There is nothing honorable about sacrificing your integrity to get ahead. And McCain had integrity, he really did. But obviously not anymore. Doesn't the Republican Party praise our Christian origins? What sort of Christianity promotes this sort of sleaze? This is something our society should condemn, not lift up.

The fact that people want to turn this election into some sort of referendum on personalities is an embarrassment to a civilized country, I feel. Obviously, we want to elect someone who people can trust. But it cannot be that we elect people based not on their ideas, but on some sort of "image" they've crafted. Sure, Obama might sound like that kook professor you had in sociology or whatever. He might seem like a giant egghead. He's "educated." Wait a second though, wouldn't it be a positive to have an intelligent, thoughtful person in the White House. No, no, what was I thinking? That would be awful.

Seriously, I want some answers. I know I have some conservative friends out there. How is John McCain going to make this country better? How is he going to "reform" Washington when he essentially brings to the table the same policies of the last 8 years? How is he going to fix the economy by continuing the Bush tax cuts? Senator McCain is not going to lower your taxes. Literally, he's not. Check his website. Senator Obama will cut taxes to the middle class. If you're a senior making less than $50,000 a year, he's going to eliminate their income taxes. How is this a bad idea? How is it a bad idea to want to talk to countries that we don't currently talk to? Why is it that we think we're punishing people by not talking to them. It's not helping us deal with Iran. In fact, I would say its downright arrogant.

Honest to God, I want some real answers. Why should I desire to supplant eight years of near total failure with four more years of pretty much the exact same? How is that going to make things better? Seriously, someone tell me why.

The idea that we should be a nation of cowboys is a terrible idea. That's what got us into the shitstorm in Iraq. Non cooperation, arrogance, ideology driven policy. I'm not saying Obama is God's Chosen One to restore America to its former greatness or anything. He most likely will fail in some of his grand schemes. But the fact remains, Senator Obama has ideas that are different from the failed ideas of the Bush Administration. They are not the same, they set forth a different direction. For better or for worse, they are a change, a willingness to try something new. Why should I want four more years of essentially the same policy? It has not worked. Why are people afraid of doing something new? A great mentor of mine at Luther said that the reason he loved the United States is because it was always reinventing itself, it was never stagnant. This is not a time to be stagnant.

I need some answers.

Album of the Week: Jazz After Dark

Good days deserve good music. Today is a very good day, hence, I will recommend some very good music. This week's album is Playboy Jazz After Dark.

When people think Playboy, jazz does not typically first come to mind. I mean, it doesn't for me either. But if you listen to this album, I think you'll agree that it should. Or at least jazz should accompany the rest of what you think Playboy is about.

Now, normally, I don't advocate compilation albums, especially "best of" discs. I prefer buying music in the format of the original album because then you get a better picture of what overall musical statement the artist was trying to make. However, sometimes compilations are so sublime, they must be noted. Here is such an example. I think part of the reasons for its success is that they compiled everything with a certain aim in mind. Obviously, that aim is music to be played "after dark." Any idiot can see that's not the actual aim though. I'm going to take a stab at Playboy's mindset here, and reason "after dark" really translates to "getting it on with a significant other." But don't get fooled into thinking that you need to be listening to this "after dark" or "getting it on with a significant other" to enjoy this music though.

The lineup of artists here is a proverbial all-star team. Ellington, Evans, Monk, Getz, Bennett. The real nice thing is it isn't other musicians rehashing their work though, it's the actual composers and performers. Thus, when you listen to "Prelude to a Kiss" (which is worth buying the album for on its own), you are actually hearing Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges. And it is absolutely sublime. Thelonious Monk also rocks it out with an excellent solo rendition of "'Round Midnight." And for those of you in the mood for some Brazilian flair, check out Charlie Byrd doing "Corcovado" (I was there). I mean, this is the cream of the crop of the great romantics of jazz history. You listen to this, you can't help but feel good about love, no matter how bitter or hurt you are. Conversely, I'm sure if you were sitting at home with a bottle of wine watching "Sleepless in Seattle" by yourself, it would probably also make you extremely sad. So, there's a disclaimer.

The fun thing is, out of the two discs, the first is all instrumental whilst the second is vocal. So, there's quite a nice mix of different styles and songs. There's some hauntingly whispery vocal stylings courtesty of Mr. Tony Bennett, a little slow and sweet Basie-esque swing with Patti Austin singing "Our Love is Here To Stay," and some modal fun with Bill Evans doing "Blue In Green." Admittedly, some of the vocal pieces are overly schmaltzy, and pile it on a little thick for me. So it's not as if everything is perfect or anything. But the ones that do work hit it right on the head, more than making up for any deficiencies. I'd say the gold standards on the vocal side are Karrin Allyson doing "How Long Has This Been Going On" and Diana Krall singing "Body and Soul." If you've never heard Diana Krall, go out and buy her stuff right now. And of course, there's "Solitude" by Billie Holiday.

I can't stress enough, this disc is not only for the purposes I discussed above. I listen to this all the time during the day without a significant other, and I don't feel one bit ashamed of saying that. I can only imagine what the intended effect would be, however. Probably a home run.

Time to reconsider Playboy. Good day, good music, go listen to this.

Fantasy Vacation + Hilarious Link

I want to do this.

For a hilarious link, check out this brilliant website. Stuff White People Like.

Small towns

I'm quite fond of an American-English writer by the name of Bill Bryson. Hilarious guy, I've read a bunch of his stuff. Anyways, I'm reading another one of his books, this one called "The Lost Continent." Basically, Bill goes on a road trip throughout small town America in his mom's old Chevelle, and writes about his thoughts and experiences. He's actually at the time of the trip living in England, so he has a unique insider/outsider point of view on everything. I'm liking it thus far, check it if you have the time.

Anyways, Bill likes to get pissed off about things. A few of his favourite topics are ugly architecture, the effects of the global economy on traditional economies, and stupid people. He just goes off (in all his books, mind you) on city planners who allow historic areas to be deadened with ugly buildings, with no regard to the history of the area. He also is a huge critic of how the increasingly global economy manifests itself in ways derogatory toward the "tradition" that he thinks is more important. In some ways, he's a very conservative guy. Change probably is not on his high list, I'm sure he'd much prefer to live in that TV version of 1950's America, or some rural English village untouched by man. Funny enough, he's the President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. He's a very funny, very perceptive guy though.

Why do I mention this? Well, I decided, against all financial better judgment to drive 4 hours to Independence, IA the other day for a 20 hour reunion with 3 of my best friends from college. We spent the night at my friend's place in Independence (he's student teaching there), doing all the things we used to do. Or as it turns out, what we still do. That being listening to music whilst drinking and talking. And I must say, it was absolutely glorious. I'm all for productive argument and all, but from time to time, it is very nice to get together with three gentlemen whose worldview I generally share, who value many of the things I value, who share my sense of humour, etc. Especially since, in contrast to the last 4 years (save that one in a foreign country, which is a different story), we've basically lived with each other and enjoyed (and occasionally dis-enjoyed) our common company almost everyday. To be able to relax and drink Sierra Nevada while listening to Rage Against the Machine and Duke Ellington, discussing our lives with the very best of friends is surely one of life's greatest pleasures.

Of course, it wasn't all enlightened philophosizing, NPR, and french pressed coffee. We are not so pretentious as to shield ourselves from some of the world's baser entertainments. We had a few slightly awkward encounters with townsfolk in the local bars, and one of us very nearly got attacked by a guy named Luis outside a gas station at 2 in the morning. We were buying burritos on credit.

In a related public service announcement, never try something called Budweiser Clamato, no matter how intrigued you are. You'll thank me for it.

But back to my friend Bill, I couldn't help but note how different Independence was from Decorah. We were lucky, we were insulated at Luther by a small Iowan town which is light years away from the norm. We benefited from a vibrant downtown and a mostly successful effort to keep the downtown area (nearest to campus) locally owned and free of chain merchants. The college town atmosphere made it diverse in thought and opinion, with tons of cultural activities. Mostly I think, a Luther student can't have anything but good experiences in Decorah. It has a variety which is just very unusual in these days.

Independence seemed to me to be the epitome of the lifeless small towns that Bill motored through in his Chevelle. I mean, it's not absolutely desperate. It has an excellent musical heritage, and is obviously quite proud of the high school. But the main street was lifeless, cheerless, and pointedly, people-less. The shops were run down and derelict looking, competition driven out by the Wal-Mart supercenter on the outskirts near the freeway. Instead of pedestrian friendly Decorah, we were given strange looks for walking downtown by truck after car of confused locals. In all honesty, they were probably a bit freaked out by the four young guys in decidedly un-local clothing striding in a line down main street. We definitely did not fit the mold of the bulk of the people we saw.

Anyways, I just couldn't get over juxtaposing Independence with Decorah, seeing exactly what Bill had been describing in his books. There was a window ad in one storefront for some church, that had a crucifix draped in American flags. Apparently Jesus was American, or some such thing. Benjamin talked about the meth problems in the community, problems that seem so far away from a lot of us. It was very interesting.

On a sidenote, coming back through Charles City today, I passed a wind farm in the midst of the fields. Now, I honestly do think Iowa is a quite beautiful state. Assuredly because of college, Iowa is a very homey, very comfortable place for me. And I read this story on CNN by this farmer in Pennsylvania who hates the wind turbines on his land, because he says they destroy the natural beauty. And I must say, I disagree. I think wind turbines have a certain majestic quality to them. They're so large, so silent in their neverending rotations, so stately amongst the corn and soybeans. They represent a brighter future for our country, I think they represent the preservation of the land in which they reside. And especially large groups of them, it's pretty intense.

Hilarious.

I don't know how you all feel about the Daily Show, but this bit is hilarious. Either Jon Stewart and his cronies have really dumb luck, or they are just scathingly intelligent.



Great satire.

And just to show I can laugh at myself too, check out this additional clip.

Concert Review: Rage Against the Machine (updated with photos)

Tonight I went and saw Rage Against the Machine play at the Target Center. I really don't feel as if I wore enough facial piercings for the event. Nor did I wear enough black, thought I did try. I could claim facial hair as evidence of my hard-rockedness, though. I exploited that as much as possible, because let's face it, it's all I've got.

One thing I couldn't help but notice as I approached the Target Center was the police. Police in cars. Police on bikes. Police on horses. Police in helicopters. Police in SWAT team vans. Just in general, a whole lot of police. Wielding a variety of fun implements, like clubs, tasers, riot shields, tear gas, zip-tie handcuffs, helmets, etc. Needless to say, it was unlike the security detail when Ben Folds played at the CFL.



A worthless punk band called Anti-Flag opened. They were, as previously stated, worthless. Not worthy to carry Rage's used sweat towels. Maybe it's just me, but punk music seems to have very little value whatsoever. It's fast, loud, generally musically uninteresting. And then someone yells about how pissed they are at everything.

Now, touché you may say, isn't that exactly what Rage Against the Machine does? Well, they do play fairly loud, and they are very pissed off. But the big difference here I think, is that they express themselves not in shitty punk non-music, but in face-melting guitar riffs, funked out bass lines, and actually quite intelligent lyrics. Granted, I could barely hear what Zach De La Rocha was saying, because I had a seat to the side and it was really loud. But I've read the lyrics. I mean, who else sings about Euro-centric textbooks in school?

Rage did not disappoint in the least. They came out on stage dressed as Guantanamo detainees, in orange jumpsuits and black hoods. They then opened with "Bombtrack," complete with the hoods on, before changing into their normal wear. Needless to say, it was quite the entrance. The whole show was just quite electric. A lot of bands have amazing sounding albums, but once you remove them from the safety net of the studio, they sound terrible. Rage however, they sounded incredible live. You could really tell they were passionate about their music and their message. So much energy. They were just, in a word, intense. Tom Morello is a freak on guitar, I really don't know how he coaxes those sounds out of the thing. It's like the equivalent of me making my trombone sound like an oboe or something.

Of course, the band is famously political. They were not fans of the Republican National Convention next door in St. Paul. Nor of the Iraq war. That was explicitly stated numerous times. I mentioned the Guantanamo thing, right? They also subtly flashed "RNC FUCK YOU" in lights above the stage before they went on. Honestly though, I'm sure most of the crowd could have cared less about the political leanings of the band. They just wanted to rock, which they had ample opportunity to do. Still though, it's kind of a shame. The people in this band, they're not stupid. And yes, they may be extremely to the left, but they're obviously passionate about social justice in ways that a good portion of their fans don't quite grasp. Too bad.

I went alone, which was probably good. It meant I could react to the music in ways where I didn't have to think about how stupid I looked. I could spend money lavishly on shirts without anyone bothering my conscience. It allowed me to have beer spilled on me without feeling some societal urge to punch the guy out. So many things. It would have been nice to have a friend, but I can also appreciate that many aren't quite so enamoured. That's fine. It was interesting to see the floor from my throne in row H of section 229, seat 4. An ocean of people, pulsating to the music, a constant stream of body surfers being tossed out. Guys throwing themselves around in mosh pits. How is that fun at all? I suppose I can grasp it, it would probably be fun if you were with your friends, but definitely not if you were claustraphobic.

Anyways, after the show finished with an insane version of "Killing in the Name Of," I exited onto second street. Got a great view of the new Twins ballpark, rising across the freeway. Man is it going to be spectacular. There was literally a phalanx of riot police surrounding the Target Center. I had secretly kind of hoped that I would have accidentally gotten caught up in some sort of ruckus, and gotten hit with a club or tear gassed. Good story to tell at Thanksgiving, you know? But alas, everyone was pretty well behaved. And to be fair, for all their vitriol, after Rage finished their show, they encouraged the crowd to disperse peacefully. I think he said something like, "let's show them (the police) we have more discipline then they do."

In summary, if it's your thing, I'd highly recommend going and seeing Rage play live. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of opportunity for that. Good thing I went last night.

Here are some more professional reviews, should you so desire.

Star Tribune

Rolling Stone

Pioneer Press