Autumn Souvenir

I haven't spent more than an hour in my lifetime exploring art (by art, I mean the kind to the left). Tonight on PBS there was a fascinating feature on Georgia O'Keefe, Jackson Pollock and other great artists of the 20th century. I was ready to QUICKLY flip to another channel but was immediately drawn in by these incredible images of Georgia O'Keefe spending some time in New Mexico. They then went on to show some of her work and I'm suddenly hooked. I've spent the past hour looking up her work as well as others around her time. Absolutely beautiful. To finally acknowledge that these folks have a lot in common with many of my artistic heroes (e.g. Bob Dylan, Jeff Tweedy, Albert Camus, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Haruki Murakami) will likely lead me to explore. The world of art, in all its forms, is just endless. Does iTunes have this? :)

Boy was today bizarre. Our company decided to give us the day off Friday as opposed to Monday. This morning I headed up 280 and felt like I was driving along I-80 in Nebraska (does I-80 run through Nebraska?). My commute, which usually runs about 90 minutes door-to-door, today was 45 minutes tops. When I approached the lot I park in each day, there was nobody. The gates were open, but there was a mere ONE car in the lot. No attendees. No notices. I just parked and walked to work. No charge. As I made the two-block stroll to work there was literally not a soul on the streets. All restaurants/cafes/Starbucks, etc. were closed. No joke, I seriously had to stop and think, "Wait, is today Christmas? Is it Sunday? Where the heck is everyone?" When I got to the front door of my office building still nobody. I headed up the elevator and as the door opened there sat a number of our HR/Admin. folks. Ahhh, life! The office was about half full but the mood in the office was secluded yet

When I realized that the new job, a move and a lack of cash was going to prevent me from spending Christmas with my family, I admit that I was a bit upset. This was the first Christmas that I would be spending alone. Nevertheless, for some reason it turned to be quite alright. I knew that I could make it through Christmas day fine, it was the Eve that worried me. Christmas Eve has always carried a lot of emotion for me. Yesterday afternoon I figured I'd reach out to some local folks to see if they were around. Much to my surprise, my buddy Ryoko was interested in meeting up for a few drinks. We landed in a bar in Sunnyvale. There were four people on hand: the sullen bartender, a distracted barback, Ryoko and myself. For a few hours we chatted about this past year, the happiness she'd found with her new boyfriend and how our lives had matured in the past year. I drove home around 11pm and felt great. Small things. Today I received a few unexpected calls, spoke to my parents (and

you are a runner, and i am my father’s son :: wolf parade blinking lights (for me) :: eels i feel too young to die :: south san gabriel 10 :: m.i.a. fading :: kenny roby modern music :: black mountain radio campaign :: m. ward the dark don’t hide it :: magnolia electric company simple hello :: damien jurado fistful of love :: antony & the johnsons sometimes always :: brakes what a wonderful man :: my morning jacket the two sides of monsieur valentine :: spoon decatur, or, round of applause for your stepmother! :: sufjan stevens when i go deaf :: low i can’t help you anymore :: aimee mann devils & dust :: bruce springsteen

I was raised catholic. Well, sort of. After my parents divorced, my mother via my grandmother, tried to instill catholic 'values' in me. My mother was working too hard to support two young children to put much effort into educating us about religion. We didn't go to church on sundays, however, my mom did enroll us in catholic education classes fairly early. I was baptized. I had my communion. But unlike the other kids in my town, I wasn't sent to church, temple, etc. Now 32 I still don't know my feelings on religion. I certainly have a strong sense of spirituality. That said, I'm not quite sure who I pray to, who I look to or who I'm speaking to. Around 2000 was the first time that I started to truly explore my religious beliefs. This was the same time that George W. Bush became our president by hijacking naive christians across America. This is unfortunate. At the time, given some setbacks in my life, I was in need of a deeper spirtuality and I was strongly

Today I began packing up everything for my upcoming move to San Francisco. Man do you find odd things when you're trying to clean out old crap: cards from girlfriends past (and I mean LONG past), articles about bands I loved in the early 90s, pictures from high school, the list goes on. Some of these things I tossed (with some hesitation), while others I've thrown into a trunk. I'm sure I'll go through the same exact process whenever I do move again. I suppose we all (or me) gradually feel ok parting ways with these memories. I'm about 5% done packing up my crap (and boy do I have a lot of crap); I'm sure I'll stumble upon some more stuff that'll bring me back. I know I'm keeping my eyes out for some cards sent by my now-deceased grandmother. I also need to find my grandfather's wallet (an absolute treasure to me (and not because of the $3 that he had in his wallet when he passed away)). In a matter of days or weeks I'll be a resident of the

d Golden Smog Irving Plaza, NYC 1998 Chip Robinson Liberty Lunch, Austin, TX 1999

Books: "My Friend Leonard" by James Frey. I really dug "A Million Little Pieces" but this one's even better. A great, great story about friendship, overcoming addiction, acceptance and understanding. Movies: I can't think of one. I need to see "Syriana" and "Good Night, Good Luck" (is that the title?). "Capote" was good but not memorable - outstanding performance by Hoffman but the story was a bit erratic. San Francisco: A city I'm slowly starting to love. I've met some incredible people here, I couldn't be happier at the new gig and the music scene's pretty, pretty nice. Aliya Huprikar, Amelia Negri and Hudson Galik: Three of my close friends have children and it's changed my perspective on a lot of things. The Wrens: Reignited not only my love for live music but my faith in recording artists. Brooklyn: Not a day goes by that I don't miss not only Brooklyn but my great friends and family back in the NYC

It's no secret that the current state of the democratic party is, well, bordering on laughable. Ever since Rove and his arsenal of assholes convinced the country to re-elect W, I have drastically decreased my time spent following U.S. politics. All told, I just couldn't stand watching what was happening in this country. Sure that seems apathetic, but I found myself drowning in misery whenever I followed events here. Iraq. Katrina Aftermath. Tax Cuts. Environmenal Ambivalence. Torture. Plame Leak. It's just one damn thing after another with this despicable administration. So I ask this: Where are the folks that DO represent some of what I believe in? When I volunteered for the Kerry campaign last year, I felt like there was a voice that stood for some of what I stand for. Sure folks didn't take to Kerry, but had Americans had the chance to see him speak in person, I think the turnout would've been very different. I digress. As this country continues to slide into cha

It's odd how these two have suddenly collided to provide inspiration. I'm not talking about anything in the news; I'm simply talking about personal inspiration. Wasting away on the couch tonight, I found my way to a little tribute to Cash on Larry King. During one of the bumpers they played a live clip of Cash doing "Delia". That led me to actually turn off the program and fire up "American Recordings" from top-to-bottom (I'm at "Why Me Lord?" right now). While absorbing this fantastic record, I stumbled upon a piece about Jimmy Carter and all that he continues to tirelessly do to help the down-and-out. While the man in black empathized with the down-and-out, the peanut farmer has dedicated his life to helping those in need. One was a musician. The other was a president. In many ways, they both served us all.

#1 Aimee Mann :: The Forgotten Arm #2 M.I.A. :: Arular #3 Eels :: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations #4 Bob Dylan :: No Direction Home #5 Bruce Springsteen :: Devils & Dust The rest.... 6 Sufjan Stevens :: Illinois 7 Spoon :: Gimme Fiction 8 Damien Jurado :: On My Way To Absence 9 Antony & The Johnsons :: I Am a Bird Now 10 Brakes :: Give Blood 11 M. Ward :: Transistor Radio 12 Low :: The Great Destroyer 13 Wilco :: Kicking Television-Live In Chicago 14 Beck :: Guero 15 Son Volt :: Okemah & The Meldody Riot 16 My Morning Jacket :: Z 17 Stephen Malkmus :: Face the Truth 18 Josh Rouse :: Nashville 19 LCD Soundsystem :: LCD Soundsystem 20 Franz Ferdinand :: You Could Have It So Much Better

2005's been a slow year as far as live music attendance on my end. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm about an hour south of the city, maybe it's the fact that I'm getting a bit older or maybe there just aren't many bands truly inspiring me lately. It's probably a combination of all of those. Last night that all changed. The Wrens's ages range from about 33-41. They've recorded two full-length albums in the past ten years, the most memorable being the indie-pop masterstorke, "The Meadowlands" (2003). Last night this foursome played their second straight show in the Bay Area. Hailing from 3,000 miles away in South Jersey, The Wrens absolutely floored a packed crowd at Slims in SF. They played ballads. They played all-out, balls-out rockers. They played like a band that'd been touring for a decade (without being jaded). These guys were loving every minute of it. And it was real. "Four balding fat guys from Jersey" (as the lead singe

Top Ten Records of the Year will be posted shortly (perhaps tonight). It's been a great year for very good records (translation: no classics). Tomorrow night I see The Wrens for the first time.

There are countless songwriters whose writings, voices and visions have changed my life in some way. Some leave a momentary mark, while others continually offer guidance, support or empathy, whenever I need it. Many spring to mind: Jeff Tweedy, Bruce Springsteen, Gary Louris, Matthew Ryan, Damien Jurado, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, Richard Buckner, Lucinda Williams. All of these writers, along with tens of others have stood by my side many times througout the years. Whenever I think about the greatest songwriters/voices of the past decade or two, one of the first to come to mind is a virtually-unknown musical genius from North Carolina named Kenny Roby. Many years ago it was Roby's band 6 String Drag that revealed to me that straightforward music can at times be the best music. No frills. Simple songwriting, a charging guitar and seeping passion. That was Kenny Roby's 6 String Drag. They were shortlived, but Kenny charged on. I've heard numerous times that he's considere

Tomorrow afternoon I return to NYC for the first time since June (and only the third time since moving to the Bay Area in January). This is the first time that I am truly excited to return home. Having spent the last 11 months living in Sunnyvale, CA, I am desperate for big city spirit. Once I return next week I will be only a few weeks shy of my pending move to the big local city, San Francisco. Now that I'm working up in SF, I can honestly say that the city has started to grow on me considerably. NYC was always a bit too much for me; SF seems like it might be just right. Nevertheless, tomorrow I return home to the city that'll never leave me. np Alejandro Escovdeo/Velvet Guitar

I think it's safe to say that this record changed my life. Sure, peoople throw such statements out too easily, but for me, I truly believe it's the case. I vividly recall hearing "Backstreets", "Night", "Jungleland" and the five remaining tracks oozing through the walls of my Ramsey, New Jersey bedroom as a child. Although my father's late-parties often left me red-eyed and blue, the wail of "Born To Run" always gave me comfort. Whether it be as guests arrived or as the booze and drugs had fueled the hangers-on at 5am, "Born To Run" often accompanied the madness downstairs. Now at the age of 32 I find myself working in the music business and fueled not by the booze and drugs but by the music. Springsteen led me to Neil Young which brought me to Uncle Tupelo which guided me to Damien Jurado and Elliott Smith. For over twenty years music has been the cornerstone of my life. And how I got here can be attributed to those late, s