Broke Bad

I've mentioned About a Boy before. It was my first exposure to Nick Hornby, and it was also the first book I ever read within a 24-hour period, thanks to a summer by myself in my college apartment.

In the novel, one of Hornby's characters talked about why he could never commit suicide -- there was always at least one thing he was looking forward to. The example I remember given was the excitement over what would happen in the next episode of NYPD Blue.

Now Breaking Bad is over. I loved it, I looked forward to it every Sunday night for years, and it's over.

And you could say that's one less reason to live, but it's not. It's such a good feeling to arrive at the end, and it's life-affirming when art affects you like this. And it's exciting to know that one day there could be another great show or movie or album that you love this much.

Nothing Better Than Ezra

So, I emailed Alipete about the new Vampire Weekend album, Modern Vampires of the City, secretly hoping to find another soul who didn't grasp the fact that "Diane Young" equaled "Dying Young". To my surprise, she was up for another tandem track-by-track review!

 

Let's begin! Thanks for having me back.

1. Obvious Bicycle

 

Pretty simple and a little sleepy; it's a nice start to the album. They jump right into this song, almost mid-word. It's like VW never left us!  "You ought to spare your face the razor, because no one's gonna spare the time for you" is just a dagger. I love it.

6/10

This is one of those songs that I hear 20 times before I realize I have no idea what the lyrics are, and then I try to hear what it's about and I get distracted 30 seconds in. It's a nice song that's just "there", you know? I don't like how "razor" sounds like "raisin" to my ears. (Why is this guy singing about a raisin? First horchata and now raisins? Get this foodie outta here!) But I like the lead vocal and the bridge and the way the background vocals come in at the end. 

5/10

2. Unbelievers

 

This is a song I was introduced to WHILE SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE OF "SNL." Ezra K was wearing a great suit and is a real looker. Anyway, I'm a big fan of this one. It's a needed shot of energy after the slowish start, and in a different, twee-er world, it could be a Song of the Summer. What's the instrument that kicks in at the 2:30 mark? Organ? I like whatever is happening there. We're talking religious non-believers, right? With the holy water and the fire and whatnot? I feel like this is a "thanks, but no thanks" to religion. "I want a little grace, but who's gonna say a little grace for me?" Maybe the girl he loves wants him to try to believe in something, but he decides it's not for him. And he seems OK with it.

8/10

 

10/10. 

So good. According to a Pitchfork interview:

He tells me about the lyrics to the song “Unbelievers”, which some have pegged as some kind of atheist anthem. But to Koenig, it’s a more nuanced piece about how confusing it can be to make decisions about what to believe in as a young person today, and how people with conflicting beliefs about the world interact with one another. “Even when you’re pretty confident in some things, like loving somebody,” he says, “there are still a million other things that contribute to anxiety about the future and the choices you’re making.” We settle on an encapsulation: millennial unease. "I like that phrase," he says, with a little exasperated laugh. "It's a concise way to describe a lot of the feelings on the album."

 

3. Step

 

AC Newman said this may be VW's best song to date. Some days I really like it, and other days I skip it. The rhymes are top notch, especially Alameda/Communist Reader.

7/10

My immediate impression was that this sounds like Mark Mothersbaugh's "Tenenbaums" score meets Vitamin C's "Graduation." I can't shake that initial feeling, but I still really like this song. Most articles I had read about this album highlighted the lyrics "Wisdom's a gift, but you'd trade it for youth. Age is an honor; it's still not the truth." And they were right to; it's a terrific line. 

7.5/10

 

 

4. Diane Young

 

I love it when rock songs feature brass. I love it when things sound like Buddy Holly. I love "you got the luck of a Kennedy". The voice modulation? I don't love it. BUT I LIKE IT. I find when I think I'm getting sick of this song, all I need to do is pump up the volume and I once again am psyched. The "Dying Young" thing is NOT obvious to SOME OF US.

9/10

 

Before this album came out I had decided I was done with VW, and then I heard this on "All Songs Considered" and was completely won over. VW channeling Buddy Holly > VW channeling Paul Simon. Another candidate for Twee Hipster Song of the Summer.

9/10

 

 

5. Don't Lie

 

The word that comes to mind is "pleasant." Slightly anthemic at times, but it stays pretty mellow. I'm a big fan of the drums and the organ/harpsichord. Five tracks in, and he's really not letting go of the aging theme. "Ticking clocks"? "Headstone right in front of you"?? WE GET IT. We're all getting old.

5/10

 

Yeah, quite a bit of millennial unease on this one. The way he sings "Don't lie" makes it sound like a love song, or at least a song about a girl, but then you see that the song is not about some sexy relationship and it's like, "Whoa, dude. Stop yelling at me about this." Good song, though.

7/10

 

 

6. Hannah Hunt

 

I like the way he sings it, but not the words in the chorus. "Though we live on the U.S. dollar" really rubs me the wrong way, because who says "U.S. dollar"? That is a forced phrase. But I gather this song is about a road trip with a lady, so it makes me think of Simon & Garfunkel's "America". Also, for some reason I think that some teens are hearing this song and thinking it's really profound and romantic, and that bothers me for some reason.

6/10

 

When this album first came out, some reviewer noted that the name "Hannah Hunt" was similar to "Hannah Horvath" from "Girls," so when I hear this I think of going on a road trip with Lena Dunham. Which is fine, I suppose. I'm not sure if this song is profound, but I do think it's a little romantic. And any song that name drops The New York Times is OK in my book, even if Hannah/Lena is tearing it to pieces.

7.5/10

 

Hannah Hunt is a real person Ezra is friends with, if that helps your enjoyment of the song.

 

 

7. Everlasting Arms

 

Oh, here it is. Here's VW at its Paul Simony best. It's certainly fun and poppy, but I almost always end up skipping this one.  Also, is this song about God? 

5/10

 

I would be very surprised if this song was not about God. That's one negative about this album - it has at least three songs that are fun to bounce and sing along to, but only when you disregard the fact your singing about agnosticism or millennial unease or whatever.

7/10

 

 

8. Finger Back

 

Aside from the part when Ezra starts breaking it down about Jerusalem and a falafel shop, I don't have a damn clue what he's saying. Also Jerusalem at 103rd and Broadway? I Google mapped that intersection, and it is home to a bank and a Starbucks. I don't know enough about the history of Jerusalem to understand what kind of metaphor might be happening here. That said, I do like this song.

7/10

 

I do not like the way he sings these lyrics, whatever they are. You probably just like it because he sings "hit me like a Yankee" and you have misplaced loyalties for that club. I also do not enjoy the spoken word bit about the falafel shop. If I rate a song 5 out of 10, it means I am 50/50 on its existence. I would rather this song did not exist.

3/10

 

 

9. Worship You

 

Dislike the yodeling verses, don't hate the chorus. Whatevs.

5/10

 

"Whatevs" is a good reaction to this song. I could take it or leave it, but I guess leave it since I usually skip it. Again, I have no idea what he's saying though I will assume this is religious in nature.

4/10

 

10. Ya Hey

 

People have noted that this is "Hey Ya" backward and may be some sort of weird nod to Outkast. To those people I say, "Guys, he's saying YAHWEH." Anyway, there is a lot of religion happening here -- "I am that I am" and all that -- and I LIKE it, weird computerized voices aside.

7/10

 

I love "Ya Hey". It's slightly dark, has great bass, and the Ya Hey / Yahweh lyric is the sort of cleverness that makes VW worth following. The voice modulation works best here. "You won't even say your name," Yahweh being an unpronounceable name -- it's terribly smart. But beyond the tricks and winks, I simply love the way it sounds.

10/10

 

 

11. Hudson

 

After I finish rocking along to "Ya Hey", I don't love sitting through this dirge. It's fine.

5/10

 

There is literally a TICKING CLOCK in this song. And he sings "the clock is such a drag"! So not only is this song a real snooze, but it is also hitting me over the head with the metaphor. No thanks. I will continue to skip this one.

3/10

 

12. Young Lion

 

I am always fooled into thinking that "Hudson" is the last song on the record, so this song usually comes as a surprise. Not much too it, but it's a sweet little coda.

5/10

 

I don't really consider Young Lion a song. It's a minute and 45 seconds.

0/0

Good call. Take away my points for Young Lion. I don't want to inflate the overall score.

Alipete total = 61 / 110

dn total = 64 / 110

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whiny Willie

Ol' Willie Nelson popped up on my shuffled playlist the other day.

Since then, I've listened to a podcast featuring Okkervil River's Will Sheff, and he made a good argument against the shuffle function. He thinks it kind of messes with your brain and causes you to skip over songs you actually like, but aren't prepared for? Kind of? And I may decide to go back to shuffling among all artists in the future, but for now it's been nice to stick within a genre for extended listens.

So, Willie Nelson. "The Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning".



Wikipedia tells us that he didn't write this song, so I will aim my complaints away from Mr. Nelson and toward Gary P. Nunn and Donna Farar.

That first verse, you guys. It's a list of bad things that happened the first thing this morning.

1. A past due bill notice was received. Well, that's on you, bro! You gotta pay them bills! The chain of events that led to this started long ago; don't get bent out of shape because the postman happened to deliver it today! And frankly, you should be pretty amazed that you get your mail the first thing in the morning.

2. The alarm clock rang two hours late. That thing is a machine, and it will ring when you tell it to. Let's not blame an inanimate object for doing its job.

3. The garbageman left trash on sidewalk. Okay, okay - this one seems pretty legitimate! Nobody would like that. Do your job, municipal worker! I bet the garbage truck was really loud, too.

4. The hinges fell off the front gate. They just fell off? Was there a strong breeze? Did that jerk garbageman tear it off? This one's probably not your fault. I'm guessing a guy with a past due bill notice is renting his home. You'll have to call the landlord - it's a small pain, but at least you don't have to fix it!

5. Spilled all the coffee. Hey, it's the morning, you're clumsier than usual - we've all been there. Spilling ALL of the coffee seems out of the ordinary. I mean, if you've got a drip coffee maker, you'd have to turn the glass carafe all the way over to accomplish that. How the heck did the entire pot spill?

6. Hit my knee when I opened the door. Jesus, man, you are a Grade A klutz! Poor little country singer got a boo boo?

7. "The last thing I needed the first thing this morning was to have you walk out on me." Here's a guess: maybe she thought you were a whiny pussy who couldn't support her financially and who blamed the world for his "problems"?

Foot Wear And Tear

This is going to look like I'm grasping at blogging straws, but bear with me for a moment.

This is a pair of shoes I bought from American Eagle (I didn't even know they sold shoes! My girlfriend thought we should check it out.) in a Minnesota mall in 2002:

Kinda gross, right? The inner lining is falling apart. There is a small stain on the top of the left one due to some rogue raw egg that spilled out of a trash bag. Both heels have cuts, and small bits of gravel often find there way inside there, causing my shoe to sound like a rattle until I pry them out. The left one has an additional huge hole busted out, and some tar or something hardened in the treads. Both soles are heavily worn.

I still wear this pair of shoes to work once or twice a week.

I have nicer brown shoes, but these are more comfortable. Remember my toe spasms? They are gone, but I still have some issues with that leg. For one thing, my right calf muscle twitches more or less constantly. But the more relevant part of the nerve damage makes my right foot is a bit numb, and it doesn't like being confined in a tight sock or shoe.

My American Eagle faux Doc Marten shoes are kinda wide, so my foot tolerates them a little better.

And you thought this post wasn't going to be interesting. Heh heh, you idiot.

So I don't love any of my shoes right now, from a comfort standpoint. And I haven't purchased any new shoes since cancer, because it feels pretty unsatisfying to drop $50 on footwear that feels bad.

Now

If you search instagram or twitter right now for "Mates of State", you'll see me in the background of many photos and videos.

The free, intimate "rehearsal" show they played in the basement of Frank's North Star Tavern was well attended and VERY well documented. Look at all these jokers -- snapping chats and vining their facebooks! Within moments, I felt a strong camaraderie with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

(For the record, I took one picture before the show and two back-to-back pictures during the show. I am perfect.)

I'm glad I chose to stand directly behind them. Sure, I couldn't hear the vocals too well, but this was the closest perspective I will ever have to being in the band. Beyond understanding how rocker could get annoyed by overuse of technology, I was struck by how disinterested many attendees looked. I understand if you don't bop your head or mouth the lyrics, but to stand still without even a smile on your face? That would mess with my head if I were a performer for anything more significant than karaoke. Cheer up, buds! This is fun! This was fun! Good show!

Getting Taipei'd for This!

*this post is written by Gav as a guest blogger. Any complaints can be forwarded to DN.


For most everyone I know, I think there are a handful of things that make them feel alive: skydiving, a child’s laugh, relishing in the last sentence of a good book, completing a marathon… Last week, I had the opportunity to have one of those feelings for myself: navigating my way to a scenic place in a foreign country.


Last Saturday, I woke up, ate some breakfast and took off around 9-9:30 to head to Yangmingshan National Park, which is northwest of Taipei, Taiwan and was my first venture using the bus system. I had to get to Jiantan station to catch Red Bus 5, which would take me straight to the park. This is where the above statement about feeling alive comes into play. I like small international adventures like this. There’s really no real danger, as I’m very capable of handling a map, and it’s a little out of my comfort zone, but not like I’m going Seal-Team 6 and repelling from a chopper into enemy territory. So that morning I looked at a map of how to get to Jiantan and noticed it was a bit of a pain to take the brown line (which Huzhou station is on, which is my stop) to the blue line, to the red line (which Jiantan was on). – There was a stop on the brown line that was about a mile and a half from Jiantan, and not only that, but there was a hiking trail along the way. Cool. Two hikes today. Let’s do it!

The first (smaller) hiking trail was basically a kind of outdoor sports park called Jiantanshan Hiking Trail, and it was super-unique. As I was following the path (there are tons of stone paths in Taiwan that serve as the trails, and I often wonder how many man hours it took to lay them because they are almost perfectly laid and Taiwan is pretty mountainous.) So, as I was walking I saw a little white thingy ascend and descend quickly and discretely through the trees up ahead. As I got closer, I saw it was a shuttlecock. – Flashback: I played quite a bit of badminton as a kid. My parents house had a pretty large yard and every spring-through-fall, we had a badminton court set up. My old-man is pretty salty at the sport, having won intramurals at KU – bear in mind; I know nothing about the competition. – So when I got closer, I climbed a flight of stairs and perched along the mountainside was a large flat rock clearing with two badminton courts and two games going. It was awesome to see. These are the types of things that I love about exploring, and finding: sights totally out of the ordinary to see it in such a cool location.

So with only about three double-backs and sign-checks to confirm I was headed in the right direction, this hiking path it its purpose well and spit me out right next to Jiantan Station.


WAIT!!

I completely forgot to tell you about passing Martyrs’ Shrine.

This was by-far the luckiest part of the day, as I had no idea it was there. But along the walk from my stop on the brown line to Jiantanshan Hiking Trail, I passed a heavily military area with guards at every gate (maybe 4 gates total) and up ahead I saw about 7-8 tour buses, so I glanced at my map and saw ‘Martyrs’ Shrine’. When I approached, the shrine looked similar to much of the traditional Asian architecture with the pointy colorful rooftop-looking things and so I went into the courtyard. There were probably 75-100 Chinese tourists lining up along two sides of a red roped area that extended on both sides of two very well-decorated soldiers in white perched completely still on platforms. I looked at my watch and it was 9:57 – At 10:00 there was a changing of the guard. There were 5 (also well-decorated soldiers in white) that came out of an archway off to the side and slowly marched all the way down the courtyard, which was probably 100 meters. I completely lucked into it, and it turned out being one of my favorite photos I think I’ve ever taken. As a friend of mine agreed later; no matter where you are, a changing of the guard is always neat.

So, after locating the metro station, I found the small line of people to board Red Bus 5 and easily got to Yingmingshan Park.

I hiked and hiked to the tune of about 4-5 miles. Had lunch in a small hut like area (water and a clif bar.)

While the changing of the guard was the best photo, I think the highlight of the hike was one of the lizards I saw (out of probably 9. I tried to get a photo of the one with an electric blue tail, but was too slow when trying to grab my camera.) As I was descending a flight of stairs, a family was looking at a lizard that was crossing their path – maybe 5 inches long nose to tail, so not very big – and they were laughing, taking photos, and a boy was yelling ‘Lizard! Lizard!’ Then he saw your’s truly – a white man – approaching behind them and he got so excited when I walked by and was pointing, looking at me, and yelling ‘Lizard! Lizard!’ in English. I gave him the A-OK sign and said ‘That’s Right! Lizard!’

A while ago, a friend of mine once described what she loves about New York City, and it is a slight inconvenience involved with getting through daily life. Not to the point that you would move away, but a feeling that you have to put in a little effort for things. I liked that. – Personally, I enjoy those times I have to use the knowledge I have, a simple tool like a map, and some self-reliance to know that whatever the task or venture, it will probably turn out OK. If I had stuck to the metro system last Saturday, I never would have snapped the photos above.

If given the opportunity to take yourself out of your comfort zone this weekend, or anytime actually, I highly suggest it. If it's in Taipei, I highly suggest taking a hike.

8th Grade Basketball Championship - Overtime

We are tied at 43. The overtime period is 3 minutes.

0:18
Keith wins the second jump ball of the day.

0:39
After much patience on offense, Jarod finds Ryan in the lane for a jumper. The shot is blocked by Andale #4.

0:51
Andale #53 tries a deep two over Ryan on the right wing, which bounces long. Rebound Andale #54, who misses a challenged putback. Rebound is tipped and secured by me.

1:09
Justin barely gets an entry pass past Andale #53, and Keith's short turnaround jumper in the lane bounces in.

1:20
Andale #42 passes into #51 to post against Ryan, but he's well-guarded. He passes back out to #42 on the right wing, who makes a jumper.

1:44
We give it to Jarod on the baseline, and before I can cut through to the other side of the lane, he drives to the basket. I stop my cut, and watch him perform a nifty step-through reverse layup without using the backboard. Some in the crowd want a traveling call, and I'm surprised these Luddite refs allow it. 1:35 remaining, St Mark up 2.

1:58
Andale #42 lobs it into #53 at the right block, and he is surrounded by 3 defenders. Keith is called for a foul from behind on #53's shot, his first foul of the entire game.

2:25
First free throw is missed short.

2:40
Second free throw spins out, rebound by Jarod.

3:00
After a lot of ball movement, Ryan misses a mid-range jumper from the right wing. Jarod has his man boxed out, and comes up with the rebound, which he dribbles out to the corner. Everyone goes nuts because he may have carried the ball while doing so. His second dribble certainly got away from him a bit; again, I'm shocked that these refs didn't make the call, considering their conservative nature. Maybe they are fatigued by the extra period and want to wrap this thing up.

3:10
Our offense works it to Jarod in the right corner, and we stand around and watch him. This is probably what we should have been doing the entire game - at the very least, I should have been passing it to him and then running the opposite direction so as not to screw up another possession. Anyway, somewhat remarkably, Jarod steps through a doubleteam, gets a very useful but mostly unintentional screen by Keith on #53, and hits a wide open shot a few feet from the basket. After the bucket, Andale #53 makes the "carrying" motion to the nearest ref.

3:20
Andale #51 again gets it on the right wing and drives against Ryan - maybe the coaches like the height differential in that matchup? Fine by me, I'm not getting scored on much anymore. Anyway, his drive is cut off by Keith's help at the right block. He pivots, considers a pass across the lane, decides against it and passes back to #4 at the top of the key. In the process, he drags his foot and is called for traveling. Everyone is now convinced of a referee conspiracy, I'm sure. I clap for too long again like an asshole.

3:40
St Mark calls a timeout.

4:00
Our timeout allows Andale to set up a press. Inbound pass to Jarod, back to me, dribbling up the right side and passing to Keith at mid-court. The pass isn't secured, and Andale #51 gets the ball. Since the camera is swinging right to see the pass hit Keith, I can't quite tell if the pass is bad or the catch is bad. Keith seems to be jumping toward me to make a catch, and the ball goes too far to his right. I'm scoring it as a bad pass by me - what's one more for me at this point?

4:10
In the chaos after the steal, Andale #53 gets a shot in the lane after a power dribble. It bounces off to the left, and is rebounded by Andale #54. Jarod is called for a foul going after the rebound.

4:40
As Andale readies to inbound from the baseline, I look extremely disinterested in the overtime period of the tournament championship, final basketball game of my 8th grade career, up by 4 with very little time left.

4:41
We are playing zone. The ball is lobbed over me to Andale #4. I make little effort to get around #42 and reach him at the three point line, where he launches a shot. It misses short, and #42, who I finally got past, is able to get the long rebound. He passes to #4, still in the same spot, who puts up another three that misses long and bounces out of bounds. It's a two-possession game, so Andale didn't need a three there. They were both open shots, though.

4:55
I knew this was coming; I remember it well. In practice against the press, I'd do this thing where I faked pass toward the sideline, then lob to Jarod toward the middle of the court. Jarod and I never discussed it, but we were always on the same page and it always worked. In practice. On this occasion, I lob it directly to #53, who dribbles straight in for a layup. It's my 10th turnover. Andale's entire team has 13 turnovers.

5:09
We have a 2 point lead. Tensions are high. Can we hold on? I've just committed my TENTH turnover, and must inbound again against the Andale press. I look up at the scoreboard. The ref bounces the ball to me. I consider passing to Justin, but why? The clock is still running. The buzzer sounds. St Mark wins as time expires as I am holding the ball out of bounds. This is quite unorthodox, and I have no idea if this is how the clock is supposed to work in our league, or if the person working the scoreboard screwed up by not stopping it after the made basket. The camera is stopped almost immediately, which is unfortunate, because we can't see if the Andale coaches are mad (scoreboard error) or not (no scoreboard error). I assume I would remember a big argument, so maybe that's just how our crappy little league did things.

5:20
"Hi, future self!"

Speaking of coaches, our coach was not very pleased with our play. In the locker room, he told us that he wasn't happy with the close game. I think he wanted to crush them, because when we beat them earlier in the year, people (?) claimed it was because they were missing their point guard due to an injury. He did say that he'd get over it soon, and sure enough, by the time we saw him at school that week he was genial.

Instead of recording traditional basketball stats, I marked them the same way we used to back then, with the same turnover categories.

Andale committed 13 fouls to our 11, but shot 9 free throws to our 1. No players fouled out, despite early foul trouble for Andale. Andale only hit 3 of 9 free throws; Keith missed our only free throw attempt.

The stats might be off, but I only credited Andale with 9 steals. That means many of our 19 turnover passes went out of bounds.

I had 10 of our team's 25 turnovers. Justin was the next highest, with 7, but he had 9 assists.

Andale dominated the offensive glass, 13 to 5. All of #53's 5 rebounds were on offense. Total rebounds were close - St Mark had 23 and Andale had 20. Jarod led all players with 8 rebounds.

We were able to stay in the game despite turnovers because of our high shot percentage. We were 20 for 35 (57%) through four quarters, and were 3-5 (including Ryan's blocked attempt) in overtime.

Justin was 1 for 2 on threes. Andale shot 42%, including 0-3 for three, but did get 13 of those misses back on offensive rebounds.

St Mark had 17 assists on 24 field goals. Andale had 13 assists on 22 shots.

*  *  *

So that was the end of my run as a starting basketball player. I went to a different high school than all of my teammates, and I did make the freshman team there. I got a bit of playing time here and there, mostly as a punishment for whatever player (Phil) screwed up, because I wasn't very good. I improved most, I think, in the couple years after that, when I regularly played pickup games with other high school kids on Sundays. I hadn't been exposed to many 5 on 5 games prior to that, simply because all of my grade school classmates lived in rural areas, and it was hard to get everybody together for a game. Then in college, playing constantly at the rec center really improved my basketball knowledge and skills. My intramural league team won its division, and lost the tournament final. I wasn't a big part of that, but I was on the team as a 6th or 7th man, depending on how many of our studs showed up for the game. We won a T-shirt. Which was more than we won for this 8th grade game -- we only got one trophy for the school, not individual ones for each of us.