Autumn Souvenir

In the vein of similar favorites The Big Bad Swim and Wendy and Lucy , 2009's Beeswax is certainly an understated drama. There's not a whole lot going on aside from the daily ins-and-outs that we all experience. And this is what makes the first two films, and especially Beeswax , one of my recent favorites. Centered around the lives of twin sisters living in Austin, one a part owner of a vintage clothing shop and the other a part-time teacher, it's the simplicity of the film and the stellar acting that lends heavily to the overall charm. We grow to love the characters, especially Jeannie, the adorable shop owner, whose disability (she's bound to a wheelchair for reasons never explained) seems an absolute afterthought. The interactions between all characters are interesting to witness, especially Jeannie's growing relationship with the quite funny, Merrill. If you're on Netflix, it's a streamer.

Because of Damien Jurado. And Tim Easton. And The Gourds. Seems that issues and arguments around illegal downloading have basically come to a halt over the past few years. Or maybe it's just that I'm not immersed in the business like I used to be. I can only guess that with respect to the acquisition of music, I've taken a strange route. I've never really been opposed to illegal downloading, per se, but outside of a few occasions, I've never really taken part. Oh, I've accepted many mix CDs and perused a P2P network for out-of-print material, but downloading a new release has likely happened less times than I can count on one of my mitts. Perhaps that has something to do with the artists that land atop my last.fm charts. With a few exceptions, I can only imagine that a large portion live tight to the belt. Without the support of their core fans, there's a good chance that their art could disappear. And this isn't a reality that sits well with me. ...

"Arkansas" by Damien Jurado from Secretly Jag on Vimeo .

I was going to write up a comprehensive take on the trip, but really no need. Here are 80 photos from the road.

Please forgive the awful writing. I have a pretty crap cold and my sleep has been not so awesome. Actually, please forgive this introduction as well. On Saturday, we finally made it to the road at about 11am. Before I knew it, I had covered 695 miles and was in Twin Falls, Idaho at 2am. We made numerous stops, including Winnemucca and Elko, but at least as far as I could see, both towns are pretty broken-down casino towns. Given musician/author Willy Vlautin's storytelling about addiction, it's no wonder Richmond Fontaine named a record Winnemucca . In Twin Falls, we stayed in a Motel 6 for $53. It was pretty clear why it was only $53. Yesterday was spent riding around Idaho. I only put on about 200 miles all told, but man, what a drive. Arco, Idaho was enough to make the trip a success in itself. At least on the surface, this is the exact type of "American town" I was in search of. The majority of the stores are boarded up and the only active businesses appeared to b...

Much more to come when the trip wraps, which is, well, I can't really say.

Inspired by the Dusted Magazine interview with Joe Pernice , I'm going to dedicate my daily writing exercise to the referenced subject. I have much to do on this Friday night, but this little piece is a perfect distraction. These ten songs are simply off the top of my graying head. 1. Bruce Springsteen : "Thunder Road" When I interviewed Josh Ritter a few years ago, he talked adoringly about Bruce's "The River," a song he'd recently performed at a Springsteen tribute show in New York. I think he called that song the "pinnacle" or something of the sort. I recall the moment he said that thinking, "But c'mon 'Thunder Road.'" I held back. But it was "Thunder Road," released to the world just two years after I was born that opened up my soul to rock and roll and it's been leading me all over the place ever since. "Lying out there like a killer in the sun. I know it's late, but we can make it if we run....

I am only about 50 pages in yet it's already having an enormous impact on me.

While discussing tunes over text this morning, a friend asked me to name some albums I love that most probably think suck. We had a little back-and-forth and I decided it's time that I come clean. Since this pal turned me onto Pavement back in the mid-90s, let's call this column Brighten the Corners , since maybe sometimes we need to take a closer look at artists and records that may not be all that bad. I mean, there are artists that are indisputably terrible (Fred Bizkit, Bolton, basically all "Nashville country," Rod Stewart since he feathered his hair, and so on), but there are gray areas. Jimmy Buffett A1A (1974) When I was in high school, well before learning about the greatness of bands and artists like The Replacements, Big Star, The Modern Lovers, Steve Earle, all the great bands of the 90s and all of their mentors, my taste in music was scattered. I grew up on Dylan and Springsteen, went through a Whitesnake/Leppard period which was awesome, and found ...

This is my 2000th post on this blog. I really need to get outta the house.

From Uncle Tupelo and Golden Smog to Wilco and his solo work, Tweedy's many projects have always had a knack for pulling out amazing covers. I mean, if you're a band and you cover Mott the Hoople's "Henry and the H Bombs," Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" and Roger Miller's "Reincarnation," you can probably get away with never recording your own material. Well, in my 95 square-foot apartment, you could. While jumping around iTunes tonight, I landed on Tweedy's solo performance from this past December in Phoenix. Midway through the set came his cover of The Handsome Family's "So Much Wine," a song that I've long considered one of the saddest, yet prettiest songs of the past ten years or so. And, well that's really all I got. Here it is:

If scrobbler hadn't jumped the shark on iPod and iPhone plays, I'd probably check the site as much as I used to, which was numerous times per day. I still think last.fm had the makings for the best internet music-service out there, but once CBS acquired them, the whole service seemed to stall. Nevertheless, I still check every so often, and it appears as if I just hit the 110,000 play mark. And the song?

We were stronger than the preachers We were wiser than the law Took our sleeping by the river And the beaches in your car

There's peace in the wilds of West Texas, where the sun and the sky prevail

I've been wanting to see these guys for a few years now. I did tonight. I was dancing, kind of a lot. Great performance.

Unlike my obsession with naming off the best records, books, movies, etc. of all-time, despite my longtime love of baseball, I've had very few favorite players. As a kid, I'd latch on to a few here and there. I guess former Yankee third baseman Mike Pagliarulo was probably the player I followed the most - something about his gritty play. While in Minneapolis visiting family in the 80s, I bought a used "Pags" bat and looked at that thing every day for years. Following Pags, I moved on to Mattingly and maybe a few others, but when it came to sports, I was more into the team. I was thoroughly obsessed with the Knicks in the 90s, and I suppose Starks and Oakley were my favorites, but really, I just loved the Knicks. When I first started watching the Yankees day in and day out, my brother's favorite player was Ken Griffey Sr. Senior spent four-plus years with the Yanks in the early-to-mid 80s and although his stats were mediocre, my brother loved him. And since he was ...