Eggs and Sausage and a side of Toast

2011 Music I Listened To The Most

2011-12-23T19:03:00.000-05:00

For the last three years (2010, 2009 and 2008) I've looked at what albums I've listened to the most during the year. This year I thought I'd also look at it by artist. The numbers in parentheses show the number of times I listened to a song by the artist. (All based on iTunes stats.)

Tom Waits (1,947)
Fleet Foxes (928)
U2 (746)
Miss Li (672)
Tori Amos (622)
The Decemberists (551)
The Tallest Man On Earth (550)
Adele (528)
Ida Maria (522)
Ani DiFranco (518)

Not surprisingly it's a mix of artists that released new albums this year and artists with large back catalogs.

Here's a statistic: these 10 artists make up 19% of my total listening this year. Which means that over 80% of the time I'm listening to something else.

Onto the most played albums:

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (721)
Adele - 21 (495)
Ida Maria - Katla (429)
Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne (357)
Miss Li - Beats & Bruises (353)
James Blake - James Blake (301)
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now (297)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (294)
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (285)
Joan As Police Woman - The Deep Field (279)

I acquired all albums in 2011 except The Suburbs which took the 11-spot last year. Had it been released early in either year it would likely have made the top 3.

A few more observations:

50/50 distribution between female/male vocals this year. 6, 5.5 and 8 female vocals in previous years
James Blake is the only new discovery on the list. In the previous years that number has been 3, 4 and 7. Less new discoveries every year, it seems
If I limit the list to albums acquired in 2011, Drake's Thank Me Later would take the last spot
These albums make up 9% of my total listening this year. So, over 90% of the time I listened to something else

What makes a neighborhood a neighborhood?

2011-11-25T19:31:00.001-05:00

I moved into a new neighborhood at the beginning of themonth. And when I say new I don’tjust mean that it’s new to me. This is a newneighborhood that didn’t exist five years ago.

This is Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA. In the mid-90s, whenI lived in East Cambridge I walked through this area every day on my way toschool, and, to be fair, the transformation had already started then, but itwas a far cry from what anyone would call a neighborhood.

Boston to the south and east of the Charles River;
Cambridge with MIT and Kendall Square to the north-west

The occasional pharmaceutical and software company had movedin and a handful of restaurants had popped up right around the T-stop (thesubway), but the area generally consisted of a few surviving remnants of aforegone era fenced in with barbed wire (a pipe supply company, a taxi dispatchand repair shop…), and a wasteland of deserted broken-windowed industrialplants, wishing for a demolition crew to come and bring a merciful end to theirmisery.

There are still some deserted buildings left

This entryway is less than inviting

Thankfully, most of those wishes have now come true, and uphas sprung a vibrant mixed-use development with apartments, offices, shops,bars, restaurants, coffee shops, public areas, activities, and so on. All ofthe things you’d find at the center of a good, older, small town.

My apt building with storefronts facing 3rd St: Voltage Café, and Abigail's restaurant seen here.

This type of plannedcommunity is a welcome break from the segregated residential subdivisions,office parks and shopping malls that have dominated American development forseveral decades. However, although the concept of a neighborhood where peoplecan live, work and play, sounds like a great idea, creating one from scratch iseasier said than done. I saw several valiant attempts in Arizona but none ofthem as successful as this one. Some of them stalled entirely when businessesand restaurants either did not move in at all, or did move in to then quickly close upshop a few months later; others focused mostly on shopping and dining, making itfeel like you lived at an outdoor shopping center; and all of them felt muchmore planned than vibrant, and not at all like a naturalneighborhood.

A side-canal provides access to launch kayaks and canoes into the Charles River

So, what makes Kendall Square work? First, it’s in an already-urban setting so it doesn’t feel like it’s been plopped down in the middle of nowhere. Second, it has managed to hit critical mass in all of the different uses: there are many companies of different sizes offering office jobs, there are several large apartment buildings with first floor street-facing small businesses (in my building and the one across the street I found six restaurants, a physical therapist, a Taiwanese bubble tea shop, a trinket shop, a coffee shop, a gym, and a bilingual Spanish immersion day care center), there are outdoor spaces with a farmers’ market and concerts in the summer and ice skating in the winter, there is a canoe/kayak rental place by the river. Oh yeah, I realized after I moved in that I only live a block from access to the Charles River.

Following the canal to the river: view of the Longfellow Bridge to Boston

MIT is another big influence in shaping the community here. Many of the companies are here largely because of the university, especially the ones in the biotech/pharma and software sectors, and MIT has invested both capital and idea power into transforming the area. You can definitely feel that there's an intellectual atmosphere in the neighborhood and it's oftentimes hard to find the line between corporate and university labs.

MIT's Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research

My apartment complex adds to the community experiencefurther with its common spaces for the residents. The apartments are in twou-shaped eight-story buildings facing each other with a large courtyard in themiddle, which in the summer has six barbecue grills, tables and chairs, andlawns where people lay out when the weather cooperates.

BBQ pits in the courtyard

There is one indoor pool, and each of the buildings has a gym - to energize, a movie theater (think nice, large, home theater) - to visualize, a club room with Ping-Pong, foosball, skeeball, couches and a bar (bring your own beverage, mostly useful if you rent the place for a party) - to socialize.

Signage inside the apt building

Finally, in addition to brand new buildings, a number of older factory buildings have been renovated for new corporate tenants or converted into apartments, which provides a nice link back to the history of the area.

Former factory converted to loft style apartments

In summary, I've very excited to be part of this up-and-coming neighborhood which only ten years ago was mostly a source of urban blight and is now quickly becoming a destination for ideas, research, arts, shopping, fine dining, nightlife and just plain old living.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

2011-06-24T21:26:00.000-04:00

...It's about learning to dance in the rain.
- Vivian Greene

As I was walking home from dinner, in a slight drizzle, I walked by the fountain near my apartment building, and encountered this parent and child:

Ready, set...

Go!

Go, go, go, go, go!

Sammy and the Space Station

2011-05-16T18:49:00.000-04:00

Space shuttle Endeavor blasted off this morning on its last mission, and the second to last mission of the space shuttle program. Over the last thirty years there have been 133 launches using five different shuttles, and, as we all know, two of them ended in tragedy.

On this journey, Endeavor is delivering equipment to the International Space Station for a particle physics experiment known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer - a $2 billion project designed to spend the next decade or so searching the universe for antimatter and dark matter. If successful, it will resolve two of the biggest outstanding questions of the Big Bang theory: 1) whether the universe consists of equal parts matter and antimatter, and 2) whether the predicted invisible dark matter does exist.

The AMS being loaded onto Endeavor

The principal investigator (lead scientist for the experiment) is MIT professor Samuel C. C. Ting, who shared the Nobel physics prize in 1976 for his discovery of a particle containing the "charm quark", solidifying the theory that particles like protons and neutrons consist of even smaller particles called quarks.

Samuel C. C. Ting and two astronauts (Commander Mark Kelly, husband of Gabrielle Gifford, on the right)

During my freshman year at MIT, I got a job doing research at the cyclotron lab (basically a giant magnet used to accelerate particles.) I mostly assisted one of the Ph.D. students, Bryan, in the experiments for his thesis but also got the chance to build and run a couple of my own. Bryan and I worked for professor Ulrich Becker, but the head of the lab was Samuel C. C. Ting.

Professor Becker showing the MIT cyclotron

A few months into the job, I was invited to a meeting that professor Ting would also attend. The meeting consisted of different groups within the lab presenting the progress they had made, and I wouldn't need to say anything, but being a young physics geek, I was very excited and a bit nervous to meet a Nobel prize winner in person and was hoping to at least be able to introduce myself.

The cyclotron building with a J denoting the J-particle which led to Ting's Nobel prize

I sat through the whole meeting not able to understand a thing, partly because much of it was over my head but mainly because I kept repeating a single line in my head: "Professor Ting, it's a pleasure meeting you." After the meeting I carefully approached professor Ting, but before I could blurt out my line Bryan introduced me as one of the new undergraduate students in the lab. Professor Ting turned around with a big smile and said "Nice to meet you - please call me Sammy!"

It´s the changing of the seasons...

2011-04-14T00:31:00.002-04:00

...he says ”I need them”

I guess I’m too Scandinavian

the relief of spring

intoxication of summer rain

the clearness of fall

how winter makes me reconsider it all

Ane Brun - Changing of the Seasons

My bedroom window faces almost exactly due east. This means that I can see the sun rise every morning over the harbor. In winter it comes up late, and off to the right, over the water south of the airport. In spring it rises earlier and directly above the landing strips. I have not lived here in summer yet, but it is bound to appear even earlier and further to the north; perhaps even behind Harbor Tower I - the other apartment tower located a stone’s throw northeast from Tower II where I live. I’ll find out in time.

The blinds in my apartment are cream-colored and seem to be semi-permeable for light, meaning that they do a good job of providing cover from people seeing into the apartment (at least I think so) but I am able to see out through them, similar to a screen window. This means that, whether I want to or not, the sun is very noticeable in the morning hours when it is shining directly into my apartment.

At first, I wasn’t crazy about being woken up by the sun, but over time I’ve come to embrace it. I like how it keeps me in tune with the seasons. I have stopped using my alarm clock; if I don’t wake up on my own first, the sun works as my safety net.

Good morning

I have also learned, very roughly, to know what time it is based on the position of the sun. Recently I had stayed up late one night on the weekend and I was hoping that I would be able to sleep in and not wake up too early, and the next morning I immediately noticed that the sun was higher in the sky than usual and guessed that I’d probably slept about an extra hour, and it turned out to be almost right on.

So, even though I live in the city and I fully enjoy the modern lifestyle that I have chosen, I do like that I have a window (literally and figuratively) into something that is natural, simple and pure, and that although it may not be much I’m at least reminded of that at the outset of each day.

Simplify. Simplify.

2011-03-26T16:21:00.003-04:00

I realize Thoreau wasn't trying to escape superfluous language when he went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately, but...

"We are currently in the process of remodeling this area."

What does "currently" add to this sentence? Or "in the process of"? Neither word/phrase adds any meaning not already conveyed by "We are remodeling this area."

I suppose if you feel it is necessary to remind your customers that you're not planning to continue remodeling forever, I'll let you add "currently" or "in the process of", but not both.

On the positive side, I do like that they said "any inconvenience we may have caused you" rather than the neutral/passive "any inconvenience this may have caused you." It shows that they hold themselves accountable for their customers' diminished experience. Unlike many celebrities/politicians half-heartedly apologizing for "the situation" or "what happened" as if they had nothing to do with it.

End of rant. I leave you with a few more words from Thoreau's Walden (which I found when I made sure it indeed was Thoreau who said "Simplify. Simplify"):

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things. I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary. My head is hands and feet. I feel all my best faculties concentrated in it. My instinct tells me that my head is an organ for burrowing, as some creatures use their snout and fore paws, and with it I would mine and burrow my way through these hills. I think that the richest vein is somewhere hereabouts; so by the divining-rod and thin rising vapors I judge; and here I will begin to mine.

Why won't anyone sing about the month of March?

2011-03-22T21:01:00.000-04:00

And where is the love for hump day?

I just examined my music collection, looking for songs about each month of the year. Here are the results:

- January (2 song titles)
- February (2)
- March (0)
- April (5)
- May (2)
- June (3)
- July (4)
- August (1)
- September (6)
- October (4)
- November (4)
- December (6)

So, what inspires people to write songs about September and December, but not about March? I don't know. (Several song titles with "march" in them, but none of them meaning the month.) Looks like the months ending in "ember" and "ober" do well, perhaps they work better lyrically.

Next, I looked at the different days of the week:

- Monday (11)
- Tuesday (5)
- Wednesday (2)
- Thursday (3)
- Friday (6)
- Saturday (13)
- Sunday (18)

Clearly, people are inspired by the weekend and the dreaded Monday, leaving little love for the middle of the week. Not much else to say here, I guess...

Is life too short or too long...

2011-02-13T20:30:00.001-05:00

...to drink bad beer? (Or insert your favorite version of the saying.)

People frequently say "life is too short to drink bad beer".

I've said it. But, I've reconsidered.

I think life is too long to drink bad beer. Let's say I expect to have beer on average once a week for the next 40 years. That's about 2,000 times. That is a lot of times to suffer through bad beer. On the other hand, if life were shorter, drinking bad beer would be a smaller mistake, no?

If you believe private businesses are better...

2011-02-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

... than the government, you're clearly not a Comcast customer.

Here is an abbreviated version of the Kafkaesque nightmare labyrinth I had to navigate to get cable TV and Internet in my apartment:

I moved into my apartment on November 22 and I called Comcast the same day.
A few days later a technician came out "sometime between 1-5 PM" (showed up at 4:30 PM) to do the installation but failed because the signal going into the apartment was too weak.
Not only was he not able to fix that but he said that Comcast would not fix it - I needed to get my landlord to hire an electrician to fix the wiring going into the apartment. It surprised me that a cable company can't fix their own cables.
Here's the highly abbreviated part. The next two months consisted of a circus of phone calls between me, my landlord, his general contractor and Comcast, trying to find out exactly what we needed to do. Rewiring the entire apartment would require tearing up walls, and we were trying to get Comcast to come out and help us determine at what point the signal degraded, since only Comcast has the equipment to test whether the signal is strong enough, but they refused. "The wiring outside the apartment was not their responsibility."
Finally, last week, the general contractor brought in an electrician who quickly determined that Comcast had connected the cables incorrectly where they split inside my apartment to the different rooms, so he fixed that.
Then I got Comcast to come out again last Thursday ("sometime between 1-5 PM" but they showed up at 11:30 AM - good thing I was home) and the installation seemed to work fine.
Except, after the technician had left I noticed that I didn't have HBO, which I was supposed to get for free for 6-months as part of the introductory package I'd selected.
I called Comcast and asked them to fix it, being transferred around to five different people. The first three said they couldn't help me but would transfer me to someone who would. Each time I had to tell them my name, address, phone number and last four digits of my social security number. The fourth person said he couldn't help me but he would enter a help ticket for me and someone would call me back. While he was entering the ticket I got disconnected. I called back and asked someone whether they could look at my account and see if a ticket had been entered, and they said "no". So, I explained the problem and asked her to enter a ticket for me, and she said "that's not necessary, I can fix it for you" and two seconds later HBO appeared on my TV.
Yesterday I received my first bill and saw that I was being charged $19.95 for HBO in addition to the intro package.That explains why she was able to fix it so quickly - she didn't understand what I needed.
Given the poor experience with their phone support, I opted for sending them a detailed email explaining the billing issue. From this point forward, everything worked surprisingly well. Within 24 hours I got a response confirming that they understood the problem and that I needed to contact them via online chat to confirm my identity, which I did today and within 20 minutes everything appeared to have been fixed.

So, I spent the first 10 weeks in my new apartment without TV or Internet and I don't even know how many hours of my time it took (including staying home from work twice) before everything was resolved. Things appear to be working well, now, though.

Knock on wood.

My Top 2010 Albums

2011-01-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

As I’m looking back through the new albums for 2010 I can only conclude that it wasn’t a great year for great music. A good year for good music, but not for great music. What I mean is that there were a good number of solid, enjoyable albums, but very few great albums. In fact, in my mind, only one. I didn’t even have to think about my #1 album, and after that I had a really hard time picking. Well, enough, chit-chat and on to the lists:

1. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
2. The Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt
3. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
4. Anna von Hausswolff – Singing From The Grave
5. Menomena – Mines
6. The National – High Violet
7. Vampire Weekend - Contra
8. She & Him – Volume Two
9. The Dead Weather – Sea Of Cowards
10. M.I.A - /\/\ /\ Y /\

Don’t read too much into the individual spots from 2-10 – they are all packed closer together than the gap between Joanna Newsom and the rest. I’ll only comment on the top album today and leave the rest for another day.

Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
I’ve been a big fan of Joanna Newsom’s previous albums – especially Ys – and it was great to see this triple-album being so good across the board. I was lucky enough to catch her live at the Phoenix Orpheum in November and it was a pretty amazing experience. Her music isn’t for everyone and it’s going to take some patience to appreciate it but it just keeps getting better with the more you hear it. I’ve listened to all 18 tracks (6 per disc, averaging ~7 mins each) anywhere from 20 to 40 times since February and I have no plans of stopping.

Honorable Mention (alphabetical order):
• Ariella Daly – Waterkeeper
• Dirty Projectors + Björk – Mount Wittenberg Orca
• Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
• Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
• LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
• Owen Pallett – Heartland
• Robyn – Body Talk (Parts 1-3)
• Various Artists – Best Of Bonnaroo
• The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights

Albums that were ok:
• Amanda Palmer – Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele
• Basia Bulat – Heart Of My Own
• Belle & Sebastian – Bella & Sebastian Write About Love
• Best Coast – Crazy For You
• Bill Callahan – Rough Travel For A Rare Thing
• The Black Keys - Brothers
• Christina Aguilera - Bionic
• Elvis Costello – National Ransom
• Karen Elson – The Ghost Who Walks
• Massive Attack – Heligoland
• The New Pornographers - Together
• Sufjan Stevens – The Age Of Ads
• Various Artists – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Albums that I wanted to like, but didn’t do it for me:
• Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti – Before Today
• Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
• Ceo – White Magic
• Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
• The Drums – The Drums
• Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
• Goldfrapp – Head First
• Johnny Cash – American VI: Ain’t No Grave
• Julian Lynch – Mare
• Laurie Anderson – Homeland
• Matthew Dear – Black City
• Melissa Ferrick – Enough About Me
• Twin Shadow – Forget
• The Walkmen - Lisbon

2010 Music - Albums I listened to the most

2010-12-27T19:32:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again - time to look back and see what music had the biggest impact on my 2010. This post will focus on the albums that got the most play (again thanks to the magic of iTunes statistics and Excel pivot-tables.) Release year in parentheses.

1. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me (2010)
2. Tom Waits - Glitter and Doom Live (2009)
3. The National - High Violet (2010)
4. Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002)
5. She & Him - Volume Two (2010)
6. The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
7. Christina Aguilera - Bionic (2010)
8. M.I.A - /\/\ /\ Y /\ (2010)
9. Anna von Hausswolff - Singing From the Grave (2010)
10. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (2010)

Observations:

Seven albums are from 2010 - up from only four 2009 albums last year. I guess I'm listening to more new music now.
If I limit the list to 2010 albums, spots 8-10 would be filled by Arcade Fire - The Suburbs, The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards and The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights
Six albums with female singers (compared with 5 and 8 the last two years)
Three artists were new discoveries: The Postal Service, Anna von Hausswolff and The Tallest Man on Earth. Although, The Postal Service is Ben Gibbard's old band, before Death Cab for Cutie, so that was only semi-new.
Two of the acts are Swedish (#9 and #10) - up from one artist each of the previous years. However, last year I had two Norwegian artists and in 2008 I had one, and this year there were none.
Not a single artist repeats from last year (or from 2008)
The biggest surprise (to me - and perhaps to people who know my taste in music) is that Christina Aguilera made it onto the list. I actually liked her previous album quite a bit but didn't think this was great, so I'm not sure how I ended up listening to songs from it so much.

Schrödinger's unemployed cat, Fox News style

2010-12-06T08:21:00.000-05:00

The Fox News morning show was playing in our work cafeteria this morning, and as I walked by I heard them say the following: "Among the unemployed, 5% have a college degree and 10% do not have a college degree."

Umm...what are the other 85% of the unemployed? Schrödinger's unemployed cat?

Taxes, math and semantics

2010-12-05T22:40:00.003-05:00

Headline from today's NY Times: "Senate Rejects President's Plan to End Tax Cuts for Top Earners" The statement is 100% true, but what does it really mean? To "end tax cuts for top earners."

I think very few understand even the basics of how tax brackets and marginal tax rates work, and because of it many people believe that Republicans want to extend the temporary Bush tax cuts for everyone and Obama wants the top earners to go back to the (higher) Clinton-era tax rates (which are scheduled to kick back in on Jan 1.)

This is not correct.

Both sides want to give everybody lower taxes (than what is scheduled to happen on Jan 1), the Republican just want to go further for the top earners. There is nothing obscure about this (other taxes, exceptions, etc) - just the simple facts about the basic tax bracket proposals. So, the real question is whether top earners should get a smaller tax cut or a bigger one.

At this point I should clarify that the semantics around tax cuts versus tax increases depends on what you compare the taxes to. Compared to the current law for 2011 (higher scheduled taxes than in 2010) we're talking about 2011 tax cuts for everybody (both the Democratic and Republican proposals.) Compared to the 2010 taxes we're talking about tax increases for top earners.

Now, let's review the two proposals (comparing the taxes to what's currently scheduled for 2011). Obama wants to lower taxes in all tax brackets below $200,000 for individuals ($250,000 for families). As a standalone proposal, who will benefit the most from this: someone who makes $40,000 or someone who makes $400,000? If your first thought was "the person making $40,000" I'm pretty sure you'd be in the majority. And you'd be wrong. The person making $40K (slightly better than the median US income) would get their taxes reduced on all their earnings up to $40K. The person making $400K would get that reduction plus their taxes also reduced on the next $160K (if filing individually, $210K if filing as a family).

Without running the numbers, the $400K earner will receive a tax cut that is 5X (tax reduction up to $200K instead of $40K) the one received by the $40K earner. In actuality the difference is much greater since most of the income below $35K didn't receive a Bush tax cut at all and isn't scheduled to change for 2011. Being a geek, I looked up the tax tables and did the math and the $40K earner gets about a $580/year tax cut while the $400K earner gets approximately a $5,400 tax cut.

This is the Obama proposal compared to doing nothing. The Republican proposal means also lowering taxes on the second $200K earned by the $400K earner, which would result in about an additional $6,200 for a total tax cut of $11,600.

To summarize:
Obama wants to lower the taxes for the $40K earner by $580/year and the taxes for the $400K earner by $5,400.
Republicans want to lower the taxes for the $40K earner by the same $580 and the taxes for the $400K earner by $11,600.

I'm all for taxes being as low as possible for everyone, but the problem is that the additional tax cut by the Republicans costs about $700,000,000,000 (seven hundred billion) over 10 years, and without a plan to raise that money some other way, that's added to the already massive US debt. And this is on top of the $3,000,000,000,000 (three trillion) cost of the tax cuts that both sides agree on.

Finally, a few words on what it takes to be wealthy. I've heard over and over again people saying that the Obama proposal will tax people that are not wealthy, which makes me wonder what it takes to be wealthy. First, I believe people misunderstand again and think that people making $200K will pay more taxes under the Obama proposal than under the Republican proposal. That's obviously wrong, since the proposals only differ on income above $200K.

So, let's instead look at someone making $250K. For this person the difference between the two proposals is 3% for the $50K above $200K which comes to $1,500/year ($125/month). Let's assume that the person also pays 10% in other income taxes (State & Soc Sec). This would mean that they have a take home net pay of just over $13,700/month under the Republican proposal and just under $13,600 under the Obama proposal. 1) I think that kind of monthly income makes you wealthy, especially considering that it's about $11,000 more than the median working American. That's a lot of extra money to spare. Every month. 2) I doubt that most people making $250K will even notice whether they get that $125/month tax cut or not.

For the $400K earner, again, the difference is $6,200/year which is just over $500/month. That sounds like real money. To me. But when your income is that high, I'm not sure you'll really notice if your after-tax check is $20,700 or $20,200/month. You still have an extra $17-18,000 to spend every month compared to a typical person. For example, a person with a $1,000,000 mortgage would still have $13,500 in money to spend on other things (or save) each month.

First day in my new apartment

2010-11-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

First day in my new apartment. Sitting at my dining table, having take-out pad thai and looking out the window. The first time I see the night-time view of the Boston harbor from up here.

My 22^nd story window faces East, across the water looking at Logan airport. If I look South I can see the lights on the piers along the shore line. North, there’s the New England Aquarium and more piers up to the north End. The water in front of me is sprinkled with 40-50 sail boats, all of them a few hundred yards out from the docks. Need to figure out why they aren’t at the docks – there are plenty of empty boat slips in front - maybe they are too big. I don’t know these things – I’m not a boat person.

It’s great to be in the apartment, although almost all of my belongings are still in boxes. The movers came this morning and spend until early afternoon getting everything in here. The put my bed and desk together and generally put the furniture in the right place, but I still need to unpack ~30 boxes which is going to take some time. I did about five boxes of kitchenware today but am saving most of it for the long Thanksgiving weekend coming up.

Ding-dong! That was the condo owner ringing the doorbell just checking in to make sure everything went ok with the move, and offered to lend me a couple of matching barstools to use for the kitchen counter. Very nice. He lives in the condo next door so we’re going to be neighbors.

I also need to make some hard decisions about my furniture. Since I’m moving from a larger apartment I’m not going to have room for everything. So, as I unpack I imagine a good number of things will have to go to the trash/Goodwill/Craig’s list – whatever makes sense. I spent most of three days going through my stuff before I moved and threw out things I don’t need. I believe I made ~15 trips to the dumpster but apparently that was not nearly enough.

More to follow when I’ve gotten more organized and can take some decent pictures.

And I wondered how the same moon outside...

2010-11-10T01:00:00.001-05:00

...over this Chinatown fair
could look down over Illinois
and find you there
Tom Waits - Shore Leave

My upcoming move to Boston made me go back and look at the geography of it all. As the crow flies, I'm moving 2,288 miles / 3,683 km. (Google Earth is great for measuring distances.) To put that in perspective - here are some other places that are closer to each other:

- Scottsdale, Arizona - Tegucigalpa, Honduras (3,296 km)
- Stockholm, Sweden - Casablanca, Morocco (3,425 km)
- Stockholm, Sweden - Tehran, Iran (3,556 km)
- London, UK - Istanbul, Turkey (2,503 km)
- Freetown, Sierra Leone - Recife, Brazil (3,018 km)

Finally, for the last two years I've met up with a group of Swedes in San Francisco who have been coming over for the Oracle Open World conference. I don't attend the conference but enjoy meeting with them socially so I've been flying up there for a weekend each year, and we talked about doing it again next year. So, Boston - San Francisco: 4,338 km (2,695 miles). Let's compare:

- Stockholm, Sweden - China-Kazakhstan border (4,337 km)
- Stockholm, Sweden - Medina, Saudi Arabia (4,221 km)
- Göteborg, Sweden - St. John's, Canada (4,334 km)
- London, UK - Baghdad, Iraq (4,094 km)

Making any of these trips to meet up with friends for a weekend seems unthinkable, but I'm still thinking about making the trip to San Francisco next October. So what did I learn from all this? Not much, it seems...

Onward and upward

2010-11-05T21:17:00.000-04:00

I found my apartment in Boston!

I spent most of Wednesday with a rental agent looking at twelve different apartments all over Boston. I saw several great places and had a really hard time deciding between different types of apartments (old, modern, walk-up, high-rise...) in different parts of town (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End, Waterfront, Financial District...), but in the end I went with a high-rise on the Waterfront.

Harbor Towers are the two tall white buildings on the right. I'll be living in the one on the left.

I'll be renting a condo on the 22nd floor of Harbor Tower II - the ever-so-slightly shorter (396 ft, 121 m) of the twin buildings designed by I.M. Pei in the early 70s. Because the units are individually owned the interiors can vary quite a bit. I first looked at a unit that had not been updated since it was built and it really felt uninspired, but the second unit had been completely remodeled into gorgeous condition. When I viewed the apartment the owner still had his furniture in there, so what you see in the pictures below isn't my furniture but should give you a good idea of the apartment.

The dining section of the living room. I really like the new cherry wood floors and the large windows facing the water.

The view through the living room window overlooking the waterfront and Logan airport in the background

Looking back through the living room

Kitchen with cherry wood cabinetry, granite floor and counter tops

Bedroom with a view - same warm cherry wood floors as the living room

Marble floor and subway tiles in the bathroom

When I lived in Boston in the 90s we almost never went to the Waterfront. It simply wasn't very nice then, but with the completion of The Big Dig the ugly highway that went through the city has been placed completely underground, and replaced by the Rose Kennedy Greenway making the area much more attractive and accessible. Around the same time, there was also an initiative to make the water more accessible and the concept of the HarborWalk was created, extending throughout the city

Part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in front of the Harbor Towers

The Waterfront is still a bit disconnected from my old stomping grounds (Back Bay, Beacon Hill...) by having the Financial District lodged in-between, but it's still less than a mile from Boston Common so it's an easy walk. Boston is such a compact city that nothing is really too far away. The North End (Italian neighborhood, great food) is only a few hundred yards away from my apartment and so is Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market (although that's a bit too touristy for my taste). And, the Aquarium T-stop (subway) is right next door which gives me easy access to the whole city.

In short, I'm very excited about the move - I only have one week left here in Arizona so it's all happening very quickly. Whoop whoop!

Turning my life around

2010-10-27T22:57:00.001-04:00

Since I was born, my whole life has been a journey in the Southwestward direction: Uppsala -> Örebro -> Kumla -> Boston - Philadelphia -> Scottsdale.

My permanent residences - moing from the Northeast to the Southwest

Until now. After 12 years working at Synygy I've decided that it's time to move on. Friday is my last day in the office so the countdown is nearing it's end. I've accepted a position in the Boston area working for Sunovion - a pharmaceutical company best known in the US for Lunesta (a prescription sleep aid) as well as a few asthma/respiratory condition inhalers. I'll be Assistant Director, Sales Compensation, which means I'll be supporting the sales force with incentive plan design, quota setting, etc. Similar to what Synygy does, but this time full-time internally at a company.

So, I'll be reversing course and moving back to Boston in November. I am really looking forward to it, even though it means a return to a colder climate which, as most of you know, for which I may occasionally have shown some bursts of derision in the past. All joking aside, I really liked Boston during my five college years there and I'm very happy to return. I'll be going out there next week to find an apartment - I'll be back with more details when I have them.

"In Vegas, I got into a long argument...

2010-07-31T22:53:00.002-04:00

...with the man at the roulette wheel over what I considered to be an odd number."

- Stephen Wright

(The text below was written on July 14 - I meant to add pictures when I got home and didn't get to it until now.)

US Airways Flight 232: Philadelphia to Phoenix, coach cabin

I’ve just spent 24 nights away from home. 25 days away as well, but the 24 nights matter more than I had expected. 24 nights in other bedrooms. 24 nights not in my bed. Five nights at the Philadelphia airport Marriott; one night crossing the Atlantic Ocean; fifteen nights in my childhood bedroom in Sweden; and three nights at the Philadelphia downtown Marriott. With the exception of the transatlantic flight, all fine accommodations, but I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. There’s no place like home. Hard to say it better than that.

I’ve done a lot of traveling the last several months. A lot of fun traveling on top of the work trips. A wedding in Mexico, a fraternity reunion in Vegas, and a summer visit to Sweden.

I want to find the time and the energy to write it all down. To share the experiences with others, for sure, but mostly for myself so I can go back and relive the memories later. I’m overwhelmed by the magnitude of it so I hesitate to even start. I’ll just jot down some observations without any ambitions of completeness or organization.

The trip to Mexico was my first trip to an all-inclusive resort. It was a destination wedding for my friends Tracy and Mike and I was one of about 40 wedding guests. The adults-only (brilliant!) resort – Excellence Riviera – was located in Puerto Morelos, less than an hour south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera, and was absolutely gorgeous: right on a beautiful beach, seven sparkling pools, well manicured grounds, etc. I spent most of the time at the resort – always fun to be together with a big group like that – but also took a trip to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. I wanted to visit Chichen Itza, but it was a bit too far to work with our schedule.

View from the hotel room

Tracy and Mike - just married!

The whole vacation was really nice and I had a great time. I’m not sure how I feel about the concept of all-inclusive, though. I really liked the fact that I didn’t need to carry my wallet or think about what anything would cost, and the unlimited supply of drinks that kept appearing. The bar in the pool was particularly to my liking, and the selection of name brand alcohol was quite good. However, the quality of the food left a lot to desire. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, since most all-you-can-eat establishments cut corners to keep their costs reasonable, but in this case it really stood out in relation to how nice everything else was. In every other regard, the resort was top-notch, pure luxury, but most of the food quality was somewhere between Red Lobster and TGI Fridays. I would have much rather paid a bit more up-front to get better food to match the rest of the experience.

The Vegas vacation was also a big group affair – 25 guys from my college fraternity congregated in Sin City for a long weekend of nostalgia and debauchery. There group ranged from recent graduates to the four of us from my era, and everyone stayed at New York New York except for Petter and I who’d found a good deal at THEhotel. (My fourth stay there and perhaps my favorite hotel in Vegas.)

Nu Delts at New York New York

The first night I learned two things: 1) my affinity for night clubs ended well over a decade ago and will likely never return, 2) a private box and bottle service makes the experience significantly more bearable. We had made arrangements for bottle service at Rain (one of the clubs at the Palm) so we started by bypassing the endless line and the $40 entrance charge. Once inside, a secret service-looking gentleman escorted us up a private elevator and as the doors closed he whispered into his sleeve “Skybox 5 coming up”. From there another agent took us to our private box overlooking the dance floor and introduced us to our two waitresses and the huge bouncer who would make sure that nobody else would enter our area. We picked out bottles of vodka, gin, rum and whisky and had the waitresses make us some drinks, sat back and looked out over the DJ and dance floor below. I felt like an Eastern European villain in a b-movie.

Marco Pravia, me and Petter Skantze were the first to arrive to our Skybox

Some of the guys and our two waitresses

We also had VIP-access to the other three clubs at the Palm, so we could go past the line there as well. So, we also checked out Ghost Bar on the roof with a great view of the strip, the Playboy Lounge (gambling with Bunny dealers) and the penthouse nightclub Moon at the top of the other tower. All-in-all, not a bad night, given that it was completely not what I normally like to do.

Marco, Petter and I at Ghost Bar

Elementary math?

2010-07-14T11:24:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting at the Philadelphia airport waiting for my flight back to Phoenix and just overheard a less-than-encouraging conversation.

Next to me, there's a family with two older parents and their adult son - probably in his mid 20s. CNN was showing a story about a 13-year old boy who had collected and donated 1.5 million pennies to commemorate all the children who died in the holocaust. The son caught interest in the story and started asking his parents how much money that was, but they weren't watching so they didn't know what he was talking about and they showed no interest in being helpful.

So, then he asked his dad: "How many pennies are there in a dollar? 100, right?" (This is when I really started paying attention.) Then he brought out his cell phone to use the calculator, talking to himself: "One point five times a hundred, is that what I do?" Then, some silence and fiddling with the calculator before giving up and asking his dad several questions, finally leading up to "How many dollars is 1.5 million pennies?" The dad thought about it for a few seconds and said "150,000 dollars."

End of conversation.

How much does your life weigh?

2010-04-06T19:33:00.003-04:00

US Airways Flight 232: Phoenix to Detroit, 1st class cabin

I’ve been traveling quite a bit for work lately. Enough so that my frequent flier status gets me the occasional free upgrade. Usually I’m in the back with everyone else, but every once in a while I get to enjoy the comfort of some extra legroom, a wider seat and free meal service.

And it is nice.

Nice to be able to use the laptop without having to sit sideways. Nice that the time spent in the plane doesn’t only consist of wishing it was over.

I watched the movie Up In The Air a few months back. It’s a good movie on its own, but I enjoyed it even more since I could relate to many aspects of the traveling lifestyle: always looking to minimize the amount of baggage, finding the best way to get through airport security quickly, getting a good seat on the plane, obsessing over airline and hotel rewards programs, etc

I generally pack light – my general rule is to never check a bag for domestic travel. The only time I make an exception is when I need to transport wine. If I’m only staying away one night I don’t even bring my carry-on bag; I can fit toiletries and clothing for one day in my laptop bag.

The security lines usually are not an issue since I can use the shorter frequent traveler line, and I’m always well-prepared for the security checkpoint. I have my boarding pass and ID in hand and my pockets are empty. I know I need two - and only two - bins: one for my laptop and another one for my belt and my plastic bag of liquid toiletries. Shoes go directly on the belt.

When I book my flights I cross-check the seat configurations against seatguru.com to get the best seat I can. I know I always want an aisle seat, but it’s also good to know which rows have extra legroom, limited recline, trays in the armrests, etc. If I have some flexibility in my travel schedule, I sometimes go so far as checking several flights to see if the seat configurations are different. (Some flights have more first class seats than others, increasing the chance of a free upgrade.)

For both airlines and hotels, I always try to stay within the brand (and its partners) where I have my main loyalty program. For flying it’s US Airways (and the Star Alliance), and for hotels it’s the Marriott brands. When I rent cars I use Hertz because of their partnership with Marriott. Phoenix is a hub for US Airways (being able to fly without layovers is paramount) and Marriott has hotels everywhere – at least within the US.

I actually prefer Southwest to US Airways, but they only fly domestically so I can’t use reward flights for international travel, and with frequent flier status many of the US Airways annoyances go away (baggage fees, additional fees for certain coach seats, standby fees, etc)

I use a Marriott-branded credit card for all my purchases. Although it has an annual fee of $65, the value I get back is worth that many times over. I automatically get silver status and one free night's stay every year, and enough additional points through my purchases for several more free nights each year. And, that’s on top of the regular points I get from just staying at the Marriotts. I cleaned out my points last summer for the road trip I did with my parents, and I’m estimating that by the same time this year I’ll have enough points for a free week at the Ritz Carlton.

All-in-all, there are a lot of hassles around traveling and it can be very tiring, but I don’t do it so much that I hate it, and I do it enough to get some perks and travel conveniences to make it worthwhile. So, on balance, I’m pretty happy with the level I’m at right now.

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.

2010-03-15T00:30:00.011-04:00

It should come as no surprise that when I'm on vacation I enjoy eating well, especially in beautiful places. I've found that many times the best way to enjoy an upscale establishment is to go there for lunch (or sometimes brunch).

I'm not going to pretend I came up with the idea - I've read it as a travel tip several times - but I do strongly endorse it. Over the last several years I've had a number of amazing experiences at places that I probably would have skipped if I'd only considered them for dinner. Many of them have been at destination places where the scenery is a big part of the experience, and this way I've gotten that experience in a less formal setting and usually at half the price or less.

Here are some examples:

Hotel del Coronado

Shortly after I moved to Arizona, my friends Alexandra and Erik came to visit and we went on a road trip to San Diego. While there, we visited the iconic Hotel del Coronado and had brunch on the patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. It was a great way to experience the hotel without staying there or doing a formal dinner.

Hotel del Coronado - from the front

Pebble Beach

In order to get a tee time at the legendary golf course you generally need to book a room at the resort for a minimum of two nights. Rooms start at $695/night and the golf is $495, so you're looking at close to two grand to do it on the cheap. Needless to say, I haven't done that. Instead, my friend Petter and I got a Sunday brunch reservation at the restaurant overlooking the 18th green. No golf, but we got a nice meal in a gorgeous setting and spent a couple of hours enjoying the atmosphere.

Petter looking out over the 18th green

Me in front of the 18th fairway

L'Auberge de Sedona

L'Auberge is one of the premier resorts in Sedona, Arizona, a couple of hours north of Scottsdale. During my family road trip last summer, we enjoyed a nice lunch and tranquility alongside Oak Creek at the bottom of the valley, surrounded by the famous red rocks.

The family and I at L'Auberge, Sedona

Ahwahnee Hotel

On the same road trip, a few days a several hundred miles later, we visited the landmark Ahwahnee Hotel in the middle of Yosemite, California.

The Ahwahnee Hotel from the outside

The dining room

Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn

Post Ranch Inn is a high-end boutique hotel situated on the cliffs of Big Sur, along the Pacific Coast Highway about two hours south of San Francisco, with an amazing ocean view. The rooms range from $550 for a regular room with a "forest view" to $2,800/night for one of the larger freestanding tree house structures.

The restaurant, Sierra Mar, features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the 1,000 foot (300 m) drop down to the ocean. I was fortunate enough to eat there twice last year; first with the family on the same road trip and then a second time a few months later with Alexandra and a group of other attendees from the Oracle OpenWorld convention in SF. Highly recommended.

The family with the ocean view in the background...

...and looking down through the window

All of these were truly memorable experiences and I'm pretty sure none of them cost more than $20 per person. Not counting the trips there, of course.

Culinary Dropout

2010-03-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

I had lunch today at Culinary Dropout for the second time since they opened in late January. It is the latest venture from Fox Restaurant Concepts, and it's replacing Pink Taco (Thank God - that place was terrible!) next to Wildfish by Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Given my experience with Fox restaurants I didn't originally have high expectations. In their defense, I think they have some pretty good places that do a good job at being what they try to be (e.g. Blanco, Greene House, Modern Burger) but they are generally priced 1-2 levels above where they need to be to be considered great.

Culinary Dropout is by no means inexpensive - lunch is $15-20 per person - but I think it's well worth it. Nice atmosphere, good service and very good food. Both times I've gone with the same two coworkers so we've covered 5-6 different dishes and we've been impressed across the board.

The first time I had the ricotta gnocchi with sausage and mushrooms, and I was very pleased with it. My coworkers ordered a shrimp po'boy and a turkey pastrami sandwich on a pretzel bun. I tasted both of their dishes and liked them both - the po'boy used a very good spicy sauce and the pretzel bun was outstanding.

Grilled Cheese Sliders and Creamy Tomato Soup

On our second visit I ordered Yesterday's Soup ("It's better the day after") - a creamy tomato soup with parmesan cheese shavings - and the grilled cheese sliders with tomato and bacon. (I needed something easy to chew after a wonderful morning of dental work.) The soup was somewhat ordinary by itself, but it was a great complement to the sliders. I originally ordered the French Onion Soup, but our waitressed suggested that this soup would be a better match and she was absolutely right. Nice to see staff with an understanding of the food and the menu. Also, their fries are very good - crispy in the style that I like and generously sprinkled with a nice sea salt. One of my coworkers also ordered the sliders and the other got the Pub Burger, and they were both happy - we will certainly return again.

This Too Shall Pass

2010-03-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

Pretty incredible, from the guys who brought you the treadmill video:

We Are The World 3

2010-03-02T19:44:00.000-05:00

The snow itself is lonely

2010-02-10T20:08:00.005-05:00

...or, if you prefer, self-sufficient.
There is no other time when the whole world
seems composed of one thing and one thing only.
- Joseph Wood Krutch

I wasn't even supposed to be here. Not today. Not yet. I'm standing by the window. My sixteenth floor hotel window. Staring at the swirling snow flying aimlessly by my Philadelphia window. The deep passageways between the tall buildings create turbulent, violent winds carrying the tiny flakes in loops and circles. Back and forth. Up and down.

Sometimes, for extended periods, the snow flies straight up the building wall, making my window look like a film played back in reverse. I'm almost tempted to look down and see if the snow is really leaving the ground and returning to the sky above. A Benjamin Button snow storm in an ordinary world.

Slowly the darkness outside settles in. Leaving long, icy-wet, streaky patterns on the window the only evidence of the alabaster chaos that reined for hours. Unless, of course, I lean forward and look down on the empty, desolate white-blanketed street below. And I remember why I'm here.

I spent the last three nights in three different hotel rooms, and it literally took planes, trains and automobiles to get here. The last blizzard shut down the DC airports. Snowmaggeddon, Obama called it, just four days ago. My flight cancelled, I was re-directed to Philly, via St. Louis, missing the Super Bowl. But I didn't mind much.

Sunday night, weary after a day of travel, I stumbled into at an airport hotel and went straight to bed, trying to make friends with the Eastern time zone. The clock said 10:30 PM but my body said 8:30. I needed to sleep quickly because my alarm was set for 05:15 AM. Eastern time. 03:15 body-time. An angry wake-up call, a coworker pickup, and a cautious wintery near-four-hour car-ride to Washington, DC.

A day of meetings and a hotel night later, and the approaching second snow storm was an unnegotiable fact. Nobody was going to make it to the client office Wednesday or Thursday. We would have to meet over phone. Them from their homes and us from hotel rooms. We opted to drive back to Philly before the storm. Save hotel costs and get the locals home.

My coworkers live outside the city and my hotel is downtown. So, upon reaching Wilmington, Delaware, I caught a train. A few hours later the snow began coming down. Here I am now. 24 hours of snowfall and repeated room service. I have not ventured outside the hotel and I don't know when I will. Not yet. Not today. And I wasn't even supposed to be here.

My body's at home but my heart's in the wind...

2010-01-19T00:03:00.002-05:00

...where the clouds are like headlines on a new front page sky

my tears are salt water and the moon's full and high

Tom Waits - Shiver Me Timbers

I've always liked maps. As a kid I used to look at them all the time. Whenever I go somewhere new I try to look at a map of the area. I don't feel comfortable unless I have a mental map of the area and have a good idea of East, West, North and South.

As an adult, I've spent a lot of time playing with Yahoo Maps, MapQuest and Google Maps, and for the last few years I've had a lot of fun with Google Earth. If you don't have it you're really missing something; it's pretty incredible. One of the nice features is that you can see the latitude and longitude of any spot on earth. For example, my apartment is at 33°29'52" N 111°55'15" W.

Here are a few examples of places along my approximate latitude:

- Laguna Beach, California (south of LA)

- Atlanta, Georgia (southern suburbs)

- Bermuda (about 60 miles / 100 km further south)

- Madeira (about 50 miles / 80 km further south)

- Casablanca, Morocco (southern suburbs)

- Lebanon

- Baghdad, Iraq (northern suburbs)

- Kashmir (India controlled portion)

- Tibet

- Japan (between Hiroshima and Nagasaki)

Going along my longitude is a lot less interesting:

- Edmonton, Canada (about 100 miles / 160 km further west)

- Salt Lake City, Utah

- The Grand Canyon, Arizona

- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (about 100 miles / 160 km further east)

- Water, water and more water until Antarctica

Finally, the furthest I've ever traveled in any direction:

- North: Reykjavik, Iceland. 63° N. Similar to Fairbanks, Alaska

- West: Honolulu, Hawaii. 157° W. Similar to western-most Alaska

- South: Negril, Jamaica, and Pune, India. Both 18° N

- East: Agra (Taj Mahal), India. 78° E

So, while I've traveled 157°+78°=235° in the East-West direction, well over half of the 360° to get all the way around, I've only covered 63°-18°= 45° in the North-South direction. Looks like it's time to check out the Southern Hemisphere!

My Top 2009 Albums - Part Four

2010-01-18T00:23:00.002-05:00

Ok - I never got around to adding any detail about Neko Case and the Heartless Bastards. They don't have much in common other than that they both feature very impressive female vocalists. I'll leave it at that and for you to check out for yourself.

My Top 2009 Albums - Part Three

2010-01-01T22:26:00.003-05:00

The Antlers - Hospice

At first I didn't think much of this album. I played it a few times, nothing really grabbed me and a couple of sections were downright hard to listen to. Just as I was about to dismiss it I noticed the lyrics.

This is a heart-wrenching record; ten songs telling a story of a woman slowly succumbing to bone cancer, from the perspective of her caregiver-turned-husband, and how she takes out her pain and suffering on him. Actually, the story isn't that straight-forward and quite open to interpretation. It may be an allegory for a self-destructive person and an abusive relationship. Or not. In any case, thinking about the lyrics both ways makes them more powerful. Most of us have either experienced (or have known someone in) a relationship where they should leave, but it has taken over their existence and they aren't able to let go.

Anyway, below are some of the lyrics (with comments only in the literal context.)

He works at the Kettering cancer ward and she becomes his patient:

I wish that I had known in that first minute we met / the unpayable debt that I owed you / Because you'd been abused by the bone that refused you / and you hired me to make up for that

She becomes suicidal (several references to Sylvia Plath):

Sylvia, get your head out of the oven / Go back to screaming and cursing, remind me again how everyone betrayed you / Sylvia, get your head out of the covers / Let me take your temperature / you can throw the thermometer right back at me / if that's what you want to do, okay?

...

Sylvia, can't you see what you are doing? / Can't you see I'm scared to speak and I hate my voice 'cause it only makes you angry / Sylvia, I only talk when you're sleeping / That's when I tell you everything /And I imagine that somehow you're going to hear me

They quickly marry:

With the bite of the teeth of that ring on my finger / I'm bound to your bedside, your eulogy singer

He initially refuses to give up hope for a miracle turnaround, but eventually accepts her fate:

In the middle of the night I was sleeping sitting up / when a doctor came to tell me, "Enough is enough." / He brought me out into the hall (I could have sworn it was haunted) / and told me something that I didn't know that I wanted to hear:

That there was nothing that I could do to save you / the choir's gonna sing, and this thing is gonna kill you / Something in my throat made my next words shake / and something in the wires made the light bulbs break

After her death he struggles to move on and re-engage with the world:

It was easier to lock the doors and kill the phones than to show my skin / because the hardest thing is never to repent for someone else, it's letting people in

...

[About a friend] When your helicopter came and tried to lift me out, I put its rope around my neck / And after that you didn't bother with the airlift and rescue - you knew just what to expect

...

[Convincing himself] We can't rely on photographs and visitation time, but I just don't know where to begin / I wanna bust down the door, if you're willing to forgive / I've got the keys, I'm letting people in

...

[Someone talking to him at the wake.] Some patients can't be saved, but that burden's not on you / Don't let anyone tell you you deserve that

...

[In dreams later] When I try to move my arms sometimes, they weigh too much to lift / I think you buried me awake (my one and only parting gift) / But you return to me at night, just when I think I may have fallen asleep / Your face is up against mine, and I'm too terrified to speak

Clearly, not the most uplifting album. It is tragic but never sentimental, deeply moving but never sugarcoated. There are no lessons to be learned that make it all better in the end. There are no heart-warming moments that make us appreciate how relationships help us through terrible times. In short, this is not a Lifetime-movie.

Taken By Trees - My Boys

2009-12-30T10:46:00.001-05:00

If you like Animal Collective's My Girls, check out the cover by Swedish band Taken By Trees (and name changed to My Boys):

My Top 2009 Albums - Part Deux

2009-12-29T23:45:00.002-05:00

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

It really came down to this album versus either Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear. While all three albums are great, I gave the edge to Bitte Orca because I found it the most innovative. Animal Collective also have a unique sound but Dirty Projectors are doing things I've never heard any band do before.

Some background: The band has been around since 2002 (but they are new to me) and has had several band configurations over the years, with Dave Longstreth the only permanent member. Longstreth is a Yale musical-composition graduate and an absolute genius. Wait a minute - I've already talked about this. Here, including a couple of samples.

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

This is an album that improved with every listen. When I wrote about it after having had it for about a month (in June) I knew I liked it but it kept getting better throughout the year. It's hard to explain what makes the album so great - it sounds like pretty typical indie rock and probably won't immediately grab you, but keep at it and hopefully you'll get it.

Love this video (Two Weeks):

Interesting live-version of one of my favorite songs on the album (All We Ask):

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

This came out right at the beginning of the year and while it was my first Animal Collective album, I was familiar with the solo work of one of the founding members: Panda Bear. (Not a joke.) His Comfy In Nautica from 2007 was an uneven, but sometimes brilliant, record. So, when I heard that Merriweather was getting a lot of buzz I jumped right on it.

This is also an album that rewards repeated listening, and will not give you everything the first or second time around. For example, the best song on the album (My Girls) doesn't do much until 1:40 into the song:

Not sure what else to say, other than show you another song (Summertime Clothes):

Ok, that's all for today. Antlers, Neko Case and Heartless Bastards to follow...

My Top 2009 Albums

2009-12-28T20:48:00.003-05:00

Last year I created a list of my Top 10 albums of 2008. This year I had a really hard time deciding who to include after the first five or so - close to fifteen contenders for the remaining spots. So, I'm only doing a Top 5 this time, and a large Honorable Mention group, all deserving of recognition.

1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

4. The Antlers - Hospice

5. (tie) Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

5. (tie) Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

Ok, so I cheated again with a tie for fifth place. Well, these six albums clearly stood out from the pack, and who does a Top 6 list? So deal with it!

Honorable Mention:

Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin
Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go!
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
Florence And The Machine - Lungs
Miss Li - Dancing The Whole Way Home
PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By
Röyksopp - Junior
Regina Spektor - Far
St. Vincent - Actor
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

I'll write up my motivation behind the Top 5 (well, six) albums another day...

New Old Town restaurants

2009-12-25T12:02:00.002-05:00

I had lunch at two new places this week:

5th And Wine.

The people who run Humble Pie pizza took over Fine's Cellar. They removed the retail section and converted it to a pure restaurant. New furniture but otherwise the look is similar to before. I was there for lunch with people from work so didn't look at the actual wine list, but noticed that they had a fairly broad selection by the glass and that all glasses are $5 until 6 pm (otherwise ranging from $5-$11).

They serve mostly sandwiches, salads and bruschetta. I ordered a Prosciutto and Brie panini. It was ok - too much figs for my taste and I could barely taste the Brie. One of my co-workers ordered another panini and gave it "two thumbs up" and another co-worker ordered the burger and said it was good, but not extraordinary.

Touch Of Thai

This restaurant replaced Medizona (4th Ave, just east of Scottsdale Rd), which was only open for dinner and I never made it there. Anyway, this is apparently Touch of Thai's second location (the first one at 35th Ave and Bell). Pretty typical Thai fare. Lunch special for $8.95 includes soup, salad, main course, spring roll and a crab wonton.

I had the Pad Thai (my go-to dish when I try a new Thai place) and thought it was good, but not exceptional. The most impressive part of my meal may actually have been the wonton, which was filled with real crab meat. My co-workers were also happy with their food. I'll go back, but I'm a big fan of Malee's on Main St so Touch of Thai may lose out to them in the end.

Other places:

Here are a few other Old Town places that have opened within the last year or so. Daily Dose(on Scottsdale Rd, just south of Indian School, between Starbucks and Grimaldi's) has become one of my favorite brunch spots, but is also very good for lunch. Same owners as the now-defunct Fusion which was driven out of business when the W opened up. The gladiator burger is very good.

Chef James Porter, previously at Tapino, opened Petite Maison (on Shoeman Ln, just east of Scottsdale Rd, before Myst and all the night clubs). Advertised as French Country Bistro, but I think it's more fancy than that. Have only been here once so far, but enjoyed my meal. It's a tiny place with a patio in front, which would be very nice except that the location is less than inspiring: parking garage across the street and construction nearby.

The Mission (previously Union Bar & Grill, on Brown, across from the Farmer's Market, which has become quite a success on Saturday mornings) opened late last year by Chef Matt Carter (Zinc Bistro). A modern take on Latin American food; I've only made it once here too, but enjoyed both the food (fish tacos) and atmosphere.

Modern Burger is the takeout window for the new Modern Steak by Fox Restaurant Concepts in the remodeled wing of the Fashion Square Mall (near Barney's.) I haven't tried the real restaurant yet - pricy and has received mixed reviews - but have had the takeout sliders a few times now. The menu couldn't be simpler: they serve sliders (2), fries, one salad option, soda and ice cream sandwiches. The sliders are quite good - well seasoned with fried onions and thousand island dressing. If you like your In-N-Out burgers animal style, you'll like these.

Fred's is the restaurant inside Barney's. I went there for lunch opening weekend in October(?). I sat at the bar and ordered a crab cake which was over-priced ($16) but very good. The clientele is what you'd expect: I sat next to two older women whose entire conversation consisted of what plastic surgery they were planning and helping each other decide between different procedure options.

2009 Music - Albums I listened to the most

2009-12-24T14:29:00.005-05:00

Just like last year, I've compiled a list of the which albums I listened to the most during the year. Last year, I only included albums I'd added in 2008. I had no way to determine when I'd played each song, so I simply excluded any albums that I had added prior to 2008. This year, I have last year's baseline (how many times I'd played each song a year ago) so now I can see how many additional times I've played each song in 2009.

Without further ado, my 10 most-listened-to-albums in 2009 (and the year they were released):

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)
2. Ane Brun - Changing Of The Seasons (2008)
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (2009)
5. Laleh - Prinsessor (2006)
6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
7. Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (2008)
8. Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright (2005)
9. Various Artists - Dark Was The Night CD 1 (2009)

10. Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart (2008)

Observations:

Two repeat albums from last year: Martha at #7 (#6 last year) and Fleet Foxes at #6 (#7 last year). I got both of them mid-year 2008 - had either of them fallen more cleanly into a single year they'd been near the top.
Similarly, Frida Hyvönen's Silence Is Wild and Emiliana Torrini's Me And Armini didn't make it this year either, even though I've listened to both of them a tremendous amount across 2008 and 2009. Just a matter of being split across two calendar years.
5 albums with female singers (and one mixed). Down from 8 last year.
4 of the artists were new to me (Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Laleh and Ida Maria). Down from 7 last year.
If I limit the list to albums I acquired in 2009, three drop out (Fleet Foxes and the two Martha albums) and are replaced by: Röyksopp - Junior, Regina Spektor - Far, and Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go!

Just like last year, this is not my list of the Top 10 Best albums. Stay tuned for that - I will be compiling that list in the upcoming days.

Thought I hated this city, but...

2009-12-18T00:25:00.001-05:00

...Gothenburg I came back to you

Portishead: Chase The Tear

2009-12-09T19:06:00.002-05:00

New Portishead single out! From the upcoming album, I assume. Have listened to it once so far and I like it.

Video here: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11755

Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 5)

2009-12-07T22:37:00.008-05:00

Ok, here comes the last part of the Vegas trip.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Since I stayed at The Signature the last night, I decided to eat at the MGM Grand. Joël Robuchon has two restaurants here; Joël Robuchon at The Mansion is one of the finest restaurants in the world, and the only restaurant in Vegas with three Michelin stars. It is most known for its 13-course tasting menu. But, I wasn't ready to spend the $385 (not including wine and tip), so I went to Chef Robuchon's place next door.

View of the kitchen at l'Atelier de Robuchon

L'Atelier has a very modern, trendy feel and is very much a concept restaurant - you sit at a horseshoe-shaped bar looking into the kitchen in the middle, seeing the food prepared right in front of you. I always worry that places like these focus more on the experience than the food (e.g. Benihana), but l'Atelier didn't disappoint in either area.

My 3-course meal

As the trip had been filled with big meals I decided to scale it back a bit (and save a few bucks) and ordered the $39 l'Unique menu: a 3-course meal served at once, designed for the pre-theater crowd to get in-and-out quickly. It consisted of a chestnut-bacon soup, veal sweetbreads and a raspberry dessert. I ordered a glass of J.L. Chave Cotes-du-Rhone to go with the first two courses, and then a 2004 Chateau Rieussec (Sauternes) for the dessert.

Dessert and a glass of Sauternes

Finally, since I had a $100-beverage credit to use in any of the MGM-owned bars or restaurants (l'Atelier is under separate ownership) I decided to try some high-end cognacs. I ordered a $25-glass of Hennessy XO and later another $25-glass of Remy Martin XO. Both very good - I preferred the Hennessy by a slight margin. Next, I planned to try a nice port (1970 Graham's) but they were out of it. So, I ordered a Johnny Walker Blue Label - have never tried that before - but after several minutes they sheepishly admitted they were out of that too! So, they gave me another glass of Remy Martin XO free of charge. They didn't know I had a beverage credit, so while it didn't really help me, I appreciated the gesture. I took it up to my room and finished it on the balcony.

A glass of Hennessy XO

Interlude: Glenlivet Trio

2009-12-05T23:52:00.003-05:00

I bought a three-pack of Glenlivets the other day (came in a nice wooden box) and decided to try them side-by-side: 12-year old, 18-year old and 15-year old French Oak cask. I like all three of them (Glenlivet 12 is my usual house scotch) but have to give the nod to the 18-year old.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 4)

2009-12-05T20:22:00.011-05:00

Picasso

Picasso at Bellagio is my first experience at a restaurant with two Michelin stars, so I had built up a lot of anticipation beforehand.

I was early for my 8PM reservation so I was asked to have a seat in their lounge, which gave me a view into the dining room and a chance to make a few observations:

First, I was immediately struck by how formal the place was. The wait staff, which was perhaps completely male, was dressed in full suit and tie, and while a lot of other newer fine dining restaurants (especially in Vegas) go for a hip and modern style this was more on the side of classic style, subdued warm lighting and jazz at fairly low volume in the background.

Second, I was overwhelmed by the amount of original Picasso art on the walls. I had at least 10 full-size paintings within view - I don't know if I've even been to a museum that has had as many Picasso paintings in one room.

Third, I noticed that the dining room floor was fairly sparse. Even though it's not easy to see in the picture below, there was quite a lot of separation between tables allowing for the numerous wait staff to move freely and giving each table more privacy than you get in most restaurants.

Dining room, more well-lit than when I was there (image from Bellagio website)

I had walked by earlier in the day and looked at the posted menus outside, and was torn between the 4-course prix fixe and the 5-course tasting menu. For the prix fixe I would have a number of options for each course which would give me more freedom to compose my own menu, but the tasting menu looked very good as it was so I was leaning toward that.

At my table, I was also presented with a seasonal Alba white truffle tasting menu. (Quick truffles primer: the best black truffles are usually from France and are considered to be best around the beginning of the year while the premier white truffles are from Alba in northern Italy and at their peak during late fall.) But, this menu was nearly three times the price of the regular (already pricey) tasting menu, so I quickly put that to the side.

Amuse Bouche to go with the champagne

While deciding I ordered a glass of champagne (Egly-Ouriet) and spent some time looking through the wine list, which literally was as thick as a book. I decided to stick with the tasting menu and the accompanying wine pairing. The sommelier, Robert Smith (not the lead singer from The Cure!), is somewhat famous in wine/dining circles because he is a certified Master Sommelier.

This means he has passed a series of very difficult tests; both theoretical (knowledge of wine, regions and wine making) and practical (tasting and identifying wines, and wine service). There are only a hundred-and-some Master Somms in the world, and only one in Arizona (Greg Tresner at the Phoenician resort), so getting to meet one is a bit of a thrill for a wine geek like me.

Lobster salad and a glass of dry Riesling from Alsace

Robert was working the floor that night, so when I had some questions about the wine pairings (the menu didn't specify what they were) he came over and chatted for a while. They had both a regular wine pairing (about half the price of the tasting menu) and a premium wine pairing (about the same price as the tasting menu.) I went with the premium option.

Scallop on a bed of Potato Mousseline and a glass of white Hermitage

The premium wine pairing was definitely the right choice; each wine was very good and perfectly paired with its dish. Here is the menu:

Maine Lobster Salad - 2004 Zind Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim Riesling
Pan Seared U10 Scallop, Potato Mousseline, Jus de Veau - 2004 Betts & Scholl Hermitage Blanc
Sautéed Foie Gras, Port Figs, Brioche, Crushed Almonds - 1999 Ch. Tirecul Cuvée Madame
Swordfish - 2004 Henri Bolliot Meursault
Chocolate Lava Cake - 1961 Albala Pedro Ximenez Sherry

Foie Gras and a sweet wine from Southwest France

The lobster salad was quite good - I'm not big on salads, but it's hard to say no to lobster - and the accompanying Zind Humbrecht Riesling was a perfect match. It started out with a lot of fruit sweetness which was in tune with the natural sweetness of the lobster, but ended on a dry clean finish. I've had a lot of Zind Humbrecht wines and they are a personal favorite of mine. They also make some dessert wines that are to die for: so-called VTs (Vendange Tardive, meaning Late Harvest) or, even better, SGNs (Sélection Grains Nobles, meaning Selection of Noble Berries, grapes affected by Botrytis rot - "the noble rot")

Swordfish and a glass of white Burgundy

The pan seared U10 scallop was my favorite dish and perhaps the best scallop I've ever had. In my experience scallops are usually either sublime or terrible, but even at the top there are differences and this was absolutely superb. This alone made the visit worth it. (What is U10, you ask? It's a grading of the size of the scallop and stands for Under 10, meaning there are less than 10 scallops in a pound. This is the largest size.)

The scallop came with a wine that I've enjoyed several times before - Betts & Scholl's Hermitage Blanc. Richard Betts is another Master Somm, at the famous Little Nell in Aspen, and Dennis Scholl is a wealthy art collector with a strong interest in wine. For the last several years, they have made wines in the California, Australia and France. This wine is from the tiny, fabled Hermitage region in the northern Rhone in France, and is made by grapes from local legend J.L. Chave, whose family has made wine in the area for the last 600 years.

Chocolate Lava dessert, ice cream and a glass of sherry

The next dish was the sautéed foie gras. I'm a big fan of foie, and while this was very good it was not quite up there with some of the best I've had. My top three are at Bourbon Steak (Michael Mina's Arizona restaurant at the Fairmont Princess), Sea Saw (Chef Nobuo Fukuda) and by my friend Chef Rich Hinojosa who now works as the executive chef at the Maui Westin.

The foie was classically paired with a Sauternes-style wine (sweet, botrytis) from Southwest France and that worked well. I've had the Cuvée Madame before from a different vintage(1995) which is supposed to be superior, but I thought the 1999 was on par with it.

Pouring the 1961 PX sherry

The main course was a swordfish and it it was quite a disappointment. I don't know if I've had swordfish before, but it wasn't what I expected. The sauce was wonderful but the actual fish was very dense and thick - almost like a piece of meat. Fortunately the white Burgundy was light and airy which helped a bit, but overall this was the weakest course of the evening.

Then, for dessert I chose the chocolate lava cake: a round chocolate cake filled with rich chocolate sauce that poured out as soon as I cut into it. It was delicious, but very heavy which the ice cream offset nicely. The wine pairings only covered the first four courses so for dessert I was on my own, and I opted for an old sherry which was really good. As you can perhaps see in the picture above, the label on the bottle is actually a piece of the original barrel where it was aged.

All-in-all, a pretty incredible experience. It was quite expensive, but about two thirds of my bill came from the wines so you can certainly get away cheaper if you like. But, at a place like this, splurging is part of the experience. Will I come back? Well, I think I only have so many dinners of this caliber in me and I'd probably rather try a new place than return to a place I've already tried, but if I somehow end up here again I'm not going to be sorry.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 3)

2009-12-03T23:19:00.004-05:00

RM Seafood

For those of you following Top Chef, RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay is where they did the Restaurant Wars episode this season. As you may recall, the restaurant has two floors: upstairs is the more formal dining room and downstairs is more casual and where the bar is. I stopped by for lunch on day 3 (Monday), and knowing that I had plans for a big dinner in the evening I just sat down at the bar and ordered a couple of appetizers.

Clam Chowder and Chimay (iPhone picture)

I started with a bowl of clam chowder and then some quiche. The chowder was quite good but the quiche was only so-so. It didn't really inspire me to come back, but I also didn't quite have a real meal so...

Quiche at RM Seafood (iPhone picture)

Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 2)

2009-12-01T23:37:00.007-05:00

Jasmine

Normally, Jasmine at the Bellagio is a fine dining restaurant with a strong Chinese influence, and they are only open for dinner. On Sundays, they serve their Fountains Brunch - a decadent buffet with a great up-close view of the fountains.

The fountain show as seen from the balcony at Jasmine

My plate after my first food hunting trip

I'm normally not a fan of buffets - most of them serve mass-produced cafeteria quality food that's been sitting under heat-lamps for too long - but this was just sensational. There was a raw-bar, gravlax, cheese plates, fruit plates, pastries, eggs benedict, omelets, and on and on and on, all beautifully prepared and presented. And, to top it off there was a whole room full of chocolate desserts, including marshmallows to dip in a chocolate fondue.

Enjoying my food and champagne

Chocolate dessert plate

Stay tuned for more culinary adventures...

Food is an important part of a balanced diet (part 1)

2009-11-24T23:19:00.011-05:00

5 days and 4 nights in Vegas. Done right.

As you may know, I go to Vegas frequently - this is my third visit this year. My last two visits were in June with my parents and sister and in April with a group of friends/coworkers. Both trips were great, but neither allowed me to really do Vegas my way. To me, Vegas is about five things:

Gambling
Hotels
Restaurants
Shows
The strip

To keep a long story short, for this trip I decided to focus on #1-3, since I'd covered #4-5 well on the last two trips.

Gambling

Not too much to say about the gambling - I mostly played Hold 'Em poker, but also some blackjack. Lost about $25 overall, but more than made up for that in free drinks.

Hotels

I started out by cashing in a free Marriott Rewards night - Saturday nights are expensive in Vegas. Then, I stayed two nights at Bellagio. It's one of my favorite places to visit but I had never stayed there before. I made sure to upgrade to get the Lakeview room overlooking the fountains, and that was certainly worth the premium. I always catch a couple of fountain shows when I'm in Vegas, and they never cease to amaze me. And, watching from above (16th floor) was possibly even better.

View from my hotel window

Bellagio is a great Vegas casino; it's beautiful, centrally located on the strip, has great restaurants, and is full of fascinating and wealthy people. As I walked by the area with the high stakes blackjack tables the first day I caught a guy betting a stack of purple chips ($500 each), probably 8-10 of them, and he placed one of them for the dealer. (If he loses the casino gets it; if he wins the dealer gets the bet and the winnings.) He won the hand and, bam, she pocketed $1,000 without batting an eye.

There's something special about holding one of these

And, this is nothing unusual here. A few years ago, at the same place, I saw that two young blonde women playing, but as soon as I got near them a security guard walked towards me to block my path. At first I was confused and just backed off. Then, I looked closer and realized the two women were Paris Hilton and Anna Kournikova.

I'd originally booked three nights at the Bellagio, but then I received an offer from The Signature at MGM Grand to stay for a good rate and they included a $100 beverage credit to use in any of the MGM Grand bars. So, I re-booked my last night and got a 900 square foot (81 square meters) one-bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the strip. The layout of the suite was very similar to the one I stayed in last year at THEhotel, and this one was also a corner unit so I got views in two directions. Overall, I think I preferred the interior at THEhotel, but this suite was somewhat bigger and included a full-size bar/kitchen and the balcony, so this one may be better for entertaining.

The living room from behind the bar

I placed one of the living room chairs on the balcony for some afternoon reading

Night-time view from the balcony

Restaurants

I had five noteworthy meals on this trip:

Daniel Boulud Brasserie
The first night I'd made reservations at Daniel Boulud's restaurant at The Wynn. French chef Boulud is best known for his New York restaurant Daniel (which recently received the maximum 3 Michelin stars) and he is a well-known TV-personality (frequent guest judge on Top Chef and the star of After Hours With Daniel.)

I came because I'd heard so much about the DB Burger which is available for $32. As you may guess, at that price, it's not a regular burger. In fact, it's stuffed with truffles, foie gras and short-ribs. That's right, in the middle of the burger there are short-ribs!

Cross-section of the DB Burger (iPhone picture)

The burger was very good and I enjoyed it with a glass of Cotes du Rhone by Chave. The appetizer was very nice too: a Bluefin Tuna and a glass of Bründlmeyer Grüner Veltliner from Austria.

Bluefin tuna, guacamole and a lot of things I can't remember. (iPhone picture)

Ok, that's all I have time for tonight. Still to come: fountain brunch at Jasmine, lunch at RM Seafood (where they did Restaurant Wars on Top Chef this season), a 5-course meal at Picasso and the express menu at l'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. And some damn fine cognac.

Sell the Vatican. Feed the World.

2009-10-17T11:23:00.002-04:00

Sarah Silverman on Real Time with Bill Maher last week:

And, for those of you who missed The Great Schlep during election season last year:

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

The Fun Theory (sponsored by Volkswagen)

2009-10-13T17:52:00.001-04:00

Using fun to change behaviors...

Hot Waitress Economic Index?

2009-10-08T01:27:00.002-04:00

Stumbled across this New York Magazine article...

Article excerpt:

The indicator I prefer is the Hot Waitress Index: The hotter the waitresses, the weaker the economy. In flush times, there is a robust market for hotness. Selling everything from condos to premium vodka is enhanced by proximity to pretty young people (of both sexes) who get paid for providing this service. That leaves more-punishing work, like waiting tables, to those with less striking genetic gifts. But not anymore.

A waitress at one Lower East Side club described to me what happened there: “They slowly let the boys go, then the less attractive girls, and then these hot girls appeared out of nowhere. All in the hope of bringing in more business. The managers even admitted it. These hot girls that once thrived on the generosity of their friends in the scene for hookups—hosting events, marketing brands, modeling—are now hunting for work.”

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/58195/

New Michelin Star Ratings for New York

2009-10-06T01:28:00.003-04:00

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/10/2010-michelin-guide-to-new-york-the-stars-rea.html

I've not been to any of these restaurants - wasn't enough of a foodie when I lived on the East Coast - but the one I'd most like to visit on the list is Eleven Madison. I've only heard great things about it for several years now. I'm also interested in Momofuku Ko - they only have 12 seats so I imagine you need to get your reservations well ahead of time.

Also nice to see Daniel Bouloud get a third star at Daniel - I've only seen him cook on TV but his food looks delicious and he seems like the nicest man in the world. I think I just decided that I'll go to Daniel Bouloud Brasserie at The Wynn when I'm in Vegas next month. I've meant to go there several times - gotta try the $32 DB Burger! - but have always ended up somewhere else. This time it's time.

This Party Took A Turn For The Douche

2009-10-03T00:52:00.003-04:00

Gotta love Garfunkel and Oates...

Like most people, I discovered Kate Micucci in her role on Scrubs as The Gooch...lawyer Ted's ukulele playing girlfriend. She and Riki Lindhome are the musical comedy-duo Garfunkel and Oates and they have several funny videos on youtube. Here's a recent one.

Speaking of douches...rings pretty true of the Scottsdale scene... Here's a classic in case you haven't seen it:

Negative interest rates in Sweden?

2009-10-02T01:46:00.002-04:00

Well, kinda, sorta, but not really...

The daily overnight rate is still positive (0.15%) but the one-week deposits yield -0.25%. Not sure why anyone would use that (better to just hold onto the money.) Seems like most banks agree: there are 12 million SEK in the weekly deposits, and 90 billion in the overnights.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/negative-interest-rates-in-sweden/

Kill Bill: Vol. 3 Tarantino's next movie?

2009-10-02T01:16:00.004-04:00

Quentin Tarantino said in an interview on Italian TV that his next movie may be Kill Bill Vol. 3. But, he wants 10 year to pass from the first one, to let Uma's character age and raise her daughter in peace.

I'm assuming this will center around the daughter of Viveca A. Fox's character seeking revenge on Beatrix Kiddo for killing her mom in Kill Bill: Vol. 1.

I'd rather see him do something other than revisit old characters, but I'd obviously watch it.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Tarantino-Promises-Kill-Bill-Vol-3-15004.html

Welcome October, Fall Weather

2009-10-01T21:57:00.004-04:00

Ah - the heat of the desert summer appears to have subsided for the season. As I left for work this morning it was decidedly cool outside. Now we can look forward to eight months of wonderful weather. Here's the forecast for the next few days:

And in Celsius:

Skinny Love in Mesa

2009-09-30T23:44:00.004-04:00

I went to see indie rock band Bon Iver last night at the Mesa Arts Center. I'd never been there before and it's pretty impressive: a post-modern $98 million, 3-building complex currently in its fifth season since its opening. I enjoyed the architecture; very sleek and angular, yet airy and inviting.

For those of you not familiar with Mesa, it's a sleepy bedroom community in the Eastern part of the valley. Like many of the Phoenix suburbs it's fast-growing and quickly closing in on half a million people. Although it is the third-largest city in the state it's hardly a destination for anything, and Forbes named it one of America's Top 10 Boring Cities last year (along with neighboring Chandler and Gilbert, AZ.)

When I drove to the concert and entered Mesa I passed an endless series of interchangeable intersections completely devoid of individuality: strip malls, gas stations and chain restaurants as far as the eye can see. I bet even locals would be lost if you dropped them in a random intersection and removed the street signs.

As I reached Main St the cityscape changed a bit for the better - shops, restaurants, street parking and walkable sidewalks - almost resembling a traditional town. This will only make sense to some of you, but it reminded me of Hallsberg in Sweden with its one long main street. The problem is, Hallsberg has about 7,000 inhabitants and mainly exists because it's the intersection of two of Sweden's major railway lines - not exactly what a city with more people than Miami and St. Louis should be striving for.

However, you would certainly not find an art center like this one in Hallsberg! The Bon Iver show was inside the largest of the four theaters: the beautiful 1,600 seat Ikeda Theater, which was, if not sold out, close to full. I had a great seat in the 7th row with a perfect view of the stage.

View from the stage

The opening band, Megafaun, was surprisingly good until they decided to go into a 10-minute long self-indulgent instrumental, experimental noise fest. Apparently, they're childhood friends with Justin Vernon, and I'd recommend them as long as they stick to their more normal songs.

The Bon Iver show was quite good. I found both their album (For Emma, Forever Ago) and their EP (Blood Bank) to be uneven, and so was the show, but the highs more than made up for it. The album title track was very good live, as was Skinny Love, performed nearly identically to their performance on Letterman:

During the encore they covered the Loudon Wainwright III (Martha and Rufus' father) song The Swimming Song - probably best known to my fellow Swedes as the tune being hummed at the beginning of the TV-show Boktipset. For the last song they brought out Megafaun and jointly performed an all-acoustic song called Worried Mind, which got the whole audience to sing along even though I'm pretty sure nobody had heard it before. A nice finishing moment.

Lastly, I leave you with one more version of Skinny Love, which must have been an incredible experience for the lucky few who were there:

Going Rogue?

2009-09-29T01:13:00.002-04:00

Oh great...Sarah Palin's ghost writer has finished the memoir, and the title is Going Rogue: An American Life.

It will go on sale on Nov 17, perfectly timed as a Christmas gift for people who like to read the first chapter and then put it away because:

they are not wired to operate under the same old book reading practices as usual
only dead book readers go with the flow
they want to free up more time for not reading newspapers
Putin reared his head and scared them
they thought Tina Fey would play the part of Sarah

New Release Announced: Portishead

2009-09-28T16:47:00.003-04:00

Geoff Barrow of Portishead just announced that they are working on another album, probably due "in a year's time."

http://pitchfork.com/news/36621-portishead-working-on-new-album/

In related news, Pitchfork reported last month that Geoff Barrow has formed another band named Beak> (yes, the ">" is part of the name) and will release their first album on Oct 17. This had me worried that Portishead might be done, but apparently this is just a side project.

http://pitchfork.com/news/36273-portisheads-geoff-barrow-forms-new-band/

Is there such a thing as "gentle caning"?

2009-09-28T13:29:00.002-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/28/world/AP-AS-Malaysia-Caning-for-Beer.html

A woman is Malaysia is set to be caned for drinking beer. Malaysia imposes sharia laws for Muslims, including a ban on drinking alcohol, but non-Muslims are free to drink. Here's more info on Malaysian Caning and the distinction between "criminal caning" and "sharia caning". For criminal caning the object is to administer pain and suffering, and with sharia caning it is to administer humiliation and shame.

Frightening and surreal that this is still going on in the 21st century, especially in a country that we generally consider a success story.

I've always been intrigued by Stockholm Syndrome...

2009-09-27T22:33:00.003-04:00

Speaking of Zach Galifianakis - he's also in the new HBO show Bored To Death, which premiered last Sunday. I just caught the first episode...too early to really tell but I thought it was pretty funny at times.

The best line of the the night, by Jason Schwarzman: "I've always been intrigued by Stockholm Syndrome. Makes me think of my childhood." Ouch.

Kanye, Zach Galifianakis and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

2009-09-27T19:15:00.002-04:00

Apparently Kanye does have a sense of humor:

If you're familiar w/ Zach Galiafinakis it's probably from the movie The Hangover, but he's done a lot of other funny stuff, including a bizarre series of Absolut Vodka commercials and a number of Between Two Ferns sketches on Funny Or Die. Here are a couple of samples...

Absolut Vodka:

Between Two Ferns:

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

What's Spinning Now (September Edition - Part 2)

2009-09-25T22:27:00.005-04:00

This Month

The Antlers - Hospice

This is a serious undertaking from a Brooklyn-based indie rock trio: the ten songs on the album tell the story of a man losing his girl to bone cancer. Some pretty heavy stuff. So far I'm very impressed with the lyrics. From Atrophy: "with the bite of the teeth of that ring on my finger / I'm bound to your bedside, your eulogy singer".

Girls - Album

I just got this based on a Pitchfork review. Listening to it now for the first time, seems very promising so far.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

I've largely stayed away from the hip hop scene over the years, so we'll see how this goes. So far, I'm enjoying D.O.A (Death Of Autotune) and Run This Town (Feat Kanye West & Rihanna).

jj - jj n° 2

Swedish indie pop group with defined electronic influences. I've had this for about six weeks now and like it quite a bit. Very accessible but still interesting.

Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk

This indie supergroup has been playing together for about five years, but just released their first album together. Consisting of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward and Mike Mogis (also Bright Eyes and producer of Rilo Kiley and The Faint), the band sure brings a lot of talent to the table. We'll see how I like it - only got it a few days ago.

The Sounds - Crossing The Rubicon

The Sounds are a Swedish pop band with some impressive female vocals. I enjoyed a few songs on their previous album Dying To Say This To You, but found it too spotty to really recommend.

Volcano Choir - Unmap

Just got this - also based on a Pitchfork review. Justin Vernon from Bon Iver has a new project - should be interesting.

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

This is going to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it bands - the singer's yelping falsetto will certainly detract its fair share of listeners, but I'm enjoying it so far.

The xx - xx

This London-based indie rock debut has been well received in the press across the board, and I think I like it.

YACHT - See Mystery Lights

I like this album quite a bit so far. Electronic beats, complex arrangements and interesting male and female vocals. And, their website is worth a visit: they have a mission statement!

What else is spinning?

I've recently returned to and rediscovered a number of albums I haven't listened to in a while:

Cat Power - The Greatest
Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild
Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly
Nellie McKay - Obligatory Villagers
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man In Babylon
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell

I'll leave you with a song from the Cat Power album - Lived In Bars. Great song, and it gets me every time:

What's Spinning Now (September Edition - Part 1)

2009-09-23T21:22:00.004-04:00

Last Month Revisited

The Avett Brothers - The Gleam II
Hm...apparently they've been described as Newgrass, which I suppose is the Bluegrass equivalent of Folk Rock. Ok, I'll buy that. But, this album didn't do much for me - it mostly seemed bland and straightforward. I also generally don't get very excited over Dave Matthews Band, so there you have it. (4/10)

Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
If you like The White Stripes, definitely check out this album. Similar enough that nobody will fail to see the stylistic connection, but different enough to make it its own thing. My favorite track: Saint John. (7/10)

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Hello genius! This is truly some next-level stuff. This album requires (and rewards) repeated listening. Bear with me on this one...remember how Seinfeld seemed to have twice as many storylines going in each episode compared to most other sitcoms at the time. They didn't follow the traditional episode arcs and it was like they had enough material for several episodes squeezed into each one. That's what many of the Dirty Projectors songs are like. What would have become the chorus and repeated 3-4 times by another band is played once and then quickly left behind for another equally compelling but completely different piece.

I also want to highlight the interesting idea of "hocketing" used in several songs. It's an old technique originating in 13th century European music, and Wiki describes it this way: "a single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while another rests." Clear as mud.

Instead, check it out for yourself starting at 2:08 (the two guitars) and then around 2:35 (the two female voices):

Also, check out the video below for one of their more accessible songs:

Oh yeah, I should rate the album too. (9/10)

The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
The passionate and involving singing style draws me in and I generally like the album, but I don't have much to say about it. (6/10)

Florence And The Machine - Lungs
What can I say, I'm a sucker for her accent. But, there's so much more to it than that - this is a solid album overall with a few great songs on it. The standout tracks are, Kiss With A Fist, Girl With One Eye and Rabbit Heart [Raise It Up]. And remember, a kiss with a fist is better than none. (7/10)

Laleh - Prinsessor
Partially in Swedish and partially in English, this album won't appeal to everybody, and that's too bad, because it is very good. The stronger tracks tend to be the Swedish-language songs, but I still recommend checking it out even if you don't speak the language. (8/10)

Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm Just Me
Last month I described this as "poppy but promising", and yes it is more pop-chart friendly than I generally like, but this album is too strong to dismiss. Mostly catchy, happy tunes but I've listen to most of them 10+ times and am not sick of them yet. (7/10)

Melanie - Best Of
A few great tracks, Brand New Key and What Have They Done To My Song, Ma being my favorites. A bit too uneven and too many covers (Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones...) to warrant a high rating. (6/10)

Miss Li - Dancing The Whole Way Home
Ok - I'll admit it. I've got a bit of crush on this girl. But who could blame me? She's just so full of life! This is her fourth studio album in as many years, and this one is as good as the others. Somewhat uneven, which holds my rating down, but enough great songs to make it worth getting. (7/10)

Check her out...Dancing The Whole Way Home:

And, here are a couple of sample from previous albums. Gotta Leave My Troubles Behind:

And, Oh Boy:

Moby - Wait For Me

This seemed very promising at first, but ended up a bit too uneven. (5/10)

Movits! - Äppelknyckarjazz
This is actually a very good album, but I still found myself often hitting 'skip' when the songs came on. I think it's just a kind of music I'm rarely in the mood for. Just like I rarely listen to the Squirrel Nut Zippers any more. (6/10)

Regina Spektor - Far

I was a big fan of her previous album Begin To Hope and this one is very good as well. My favorite track is Genius Next Door but there are a lot of great songs on here. (8/10)

Tiny Vipers - Life On Earth

Wow - this is some subtle stuff. I keep listening and listening, waiting for a revelation, but it's just not coming. I like a few tracks (Eyes Like Ours, Dreamer...) but overall this isn't doing much for me. (5/10)

To Be Pleased With One's Limits Is A Wretched State

2009-09-16T21:46:00.004-04:00

I think this speaks for itself...

Wake Me Up When September Ends

2009-09-14T22:27:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems like we've reached the point when it's become clear that this month (or last week, really) will be remembered for public rudeness and lack of civility.

First, last Wednesday, Joe Wilson (the South Carolina douchebag, not Valerie Plame's husband) shouted "You lie"during Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress.

Then, Saturday, the increasingly ill-named Serena Williams screamed at a lineswoman that she would "fucking shove this fucking ball down your throat."

Finally, Kanye decided it was a good idea to get on stage and interrupt 19-year-old Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video and proclaim that the nominated video by Beyoncé was "one of the best videos of all time."

In fairness, this didn't come out of nowhere. It's just continuing a long summer of crazy teabaggers and town hall screamers, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. I don't think there's any need to comment any further on any of the events - it's all already been said in the media - except maybe to wonder who will be next? Ellen Degeneres flipping off Simon? A leaked YouTube clip of Tom Brady furiously berating Gisele "You told me you were on the pill! I can't have a baby during playoffs!!!"

The Academy Awards Best Picture Project - 1932

2009-09-13T22:35:00.006-04:00

Cimarron (winner in 1932, made in 1931)

This western epic follows one family over the course of 40 years, beginning with the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush and ending in the oil fields in 1929. The film is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber (Show Boat), and like the previous two Oscar winners it has several nice qualities, but it is also very much a product of its era.

There is quite a bit of overt racism in the movie, some of it intentional to portray the progress of the treatment of Native Americans during the four decades the movie spans, but also several elements that probably were acceptable at the time but that are fairly offensive with today's standards.

The main character, the flawed hero, Yancey Cravat, repeatedly defends Native American customs while his wife, Sabra, describes them as "dirty, filthy savages." He also has no problem with his son (Cimarron) wanting to marry an Indian woman, and fights for Native American's right to become U.S. citizens. At the same time, the movie depicts their African-American servant boy in very sterotypical fashion as comic relief, who for most of the movie runs around making a fool of himself and saying "yes, masser" and "please, masser".

On the other hand, the movie is suprisingly modern in its potrayal of Sabra as a strong, independent woman. Yancey's tragic fault is his unquenchable thirst for adventure, and only a few years after having settled in the frontier town and started the town newspaper, he grows restless and deserts his wife and children for a second land rush. He is not heard from for years, and in the meantime, Sabra successfully runs the newspaper and becomes a leading town character. When Yancey returns to town, his larger-than-life persona temporarily takes over, but when after he leaves again a few years later, Sabra makes a life for herself again and eventually becomes the first woman from Oklahoma elected to Congress, only a decade or so after women gained the right to vote.

Overall, I liked the film. It is certainly an epic, but the characters are complex and full of life, and while I've mostly focused on the blatancy above, there is room for subtlety as well. One example is the unspoken romantic interest in Sabra from the Jewish character Sol, which only manifests itself in an intense loyalty to her cause while Yancey is gone. If you plan to see the movie, be ready to forgive it its faults as there is more to it than that. (7/10)

Ode to Train Travel

2009-08-21T15:44:00.003-04:00

Sitting on an Acela train between Philadelphia and Boston. To be more specific, and current, somewhere between New York and Stamford, CT. Realizing for the umpteenth time how superior train travel is to flying for short-to-medium distance trips.

While it is not quicker it is certainly more civilized. I did not need to arrive an hour before departure and I did not need to stand in line to take my shoes off and go through a metal detector. I did not need to separate my liquids from my carry-on and put them in a plastic bag. My seat is similar to a domesic first class airline seat and I have a table that actually fits my laptop. I have a big window with a view of the landscape flying by. I have dual power outlets for my computer and my iPhone. I don't need to turn off all electronic equipment for take off and landing. I can use wireless Internet and be logged as much as I want on the trip (got some work done, now relaxing writing this). I can make phone calls. I can get up and walk to the cafe whenever I like. It's quiet and there's never turbulence. I don't need to listen to announcements telling me what to do "in the unexpected event of a water landing." No credit card commercials blasted through the speaker system. I arrive downtown. And, it's better for the environment.

I wish I could travel like this all the time.

Oh, looks like I''ve passed Stamford and am approaching Bridgeport now. Gotta love the GPS on the phone...

The Academy Awards Best Picture Project - 1930-31

2009-08-16T23:33:00.003-04:00

So, I've had the long-standing idea that I should watch all of the films that have won an Oscar for Best Picture, starting from oldest to newest. I finally got around to it.

Well, the first thing I learned was that the oldest Best Picture winner (Wings, winner in 1929) hasn't been released on DVD in the US. I don't know if that's the case for any others... Anyway, I watched the following two winners this week:

The Broadway Melody (winner in 1930, made in 1929)

A musical centered around a male Broadway star and a two-sister vaudeville act just arrived in New York. I did not care much for the musical aspect but thought the storyline and acting were quite good. A love triangle, some ulterior motives, etc. Since the setting is a Broadway revue, several of the music numbers don't feel too forced but there are also a couple of occasions of people bursting into song in apartments, which always seems contrived. I'm probably grading this a bit on a curve, given its age, but I'll give it a 7/10.

All Quiet On The Western Front (winner in 1931, made in 1930)

I have to admit I didn't know much about the actual story here, even though it's based on such a famous book. The movie begins in Germany during the early stages of World War I, and we see a college professor giving a firebrand speech (duty, honor, etc.) encouraging the students to join the war effort. We then follow a group of new German recruits through basic training and then onto the trenches on the western front.

The overarching message of the film (war is hell, and the soldiers who return are forever changed) is familiar, but the movie never feels preachy. The characters are compelling and the war scenes are impressive (they used over 2,000 extras) and seem realistic. (8/10)

Speaking of war movies and how soldiers are changed by the experience, if you haven't seen The Hurt Locker (in movie theaters still, I think) I highly recommend it. I don't want to give the movie away, other than that it follows a US bomb squad in Iraq in 2004 whose primary job it is to disarm or detonate roadside bombs, and that the movie opens with a quote by Chris Hedges: "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug." The quote makes a lot of sense after you've seen the movie.

Hedges was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times for 15 years, and spent much of them in warzones. A number of years ago I read his book War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning (also recommended) and I still remember the interview that made me go out and get the book: he talked about the seductive nature of war, even as a reporter, and how regular life seems insignificant when life-and-death no longer is on the line. After many years in the field he realized that he had to choose between going back and living a normal life or continuing until he was killed. So, he returned home and started writing books.

Finally, if you want to listen to a guy who truly understands the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, etc. listen to Michael Ware (also foreign correspondent; now CNN, previously Time Magazine) who has lived in Iraq since before the invasion. While I'm doing shoutouts, also listen to Reza Aslan who often appears on talk shows. His book No god but God from a few years ago is an excellent lesson in the history of islam with a surprisingly optimisitic view on its future. And, a reminder to follow Fareed Zakaria and his excellent show GPS.

Road Trip! (Day 1 of 12)

2009-08-11T21:52:00.007-04:00

As I've mentioned in a couple of posts, my sister and parents came to visit for three weeks in late June and early July. Because we like to go see things (and it's really hot here!) we went on a 12-day road trip - see the route below:

View California Road trip: mom and dad in a larger map

The green houses indicate where we stayed the night (going counter-clockwise from Phoenix):

Vegas (2 nights)
Mono Lake / Lee Vining (1 night)
Fairfield / Napa Valley (2 nights)
San Francisco (2 nights)
Carmel (2 nights)
Santa Maria (1 night)
Palm Desert (1 night)

In order to keep this bearable, I'm dividing up the trip into about one post per day, and I'm including a handful of pictures in each post. So, here goes...

Day 1 - Tuesday, June 23

We left Phoenix in the morning and headed north for Sedona. Our first activity: Pink Jeep Tour!

Here are a couple of links for those not familiar with Sedona or the Pink Jeep Tours. Both highly recommended. Our next stop was lunch at l'Auberge: good food in a great setting down by the creek!

After leaving Sedona, we drove across the Hoover Dam and into Las Vegas and checked in at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. We had a nice evening at the bar at Charlie Palmer's Aureole. Great food and wine list, and always fun to watch the "wine angels" do their high-wire act and ascend the 4-story wine tower to fetch the wine (see the virtual tour on the web site.)

What's Spinning Now (August Edition)

2009-08-10T20:39:00.002-04:00

Whew. I'm back. I had my sister and my parents visiting for three weeks, which meant I had a 3-week lapse in listening to new music, blogging etc. Anyway, here we go.

Last Month (June) Revisited

Ani DiFranco - Saratoga, CA 9.18.06 (2-CD)

First, I was fortunate enough to see Ani play in Saratoga on July 1 (with sister and parents.) My third Ani-show in about a year, and, as usual, the show was great, but the most lasting memory from this show may be the venue itself. Mountain Winery sits, as the name suggests, on top of a mountain and in the middle of a vineyard, overlooking San Jose and Silicon Valley, and it's just a great venue for outdoor summer shows.

Anyway, this double-CD is from the show held here three years earlier. Good stuff. (7/10)

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Mostly very subtle stuff. Half-taking, half-singing and may seem boring at first, but it rewards repeated listening. (7/10)

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

Much too uneven. If you're a big Elvis fan, get it for completeness. If you're not (and you should be!) start somewhere else. (4/10)

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Olesi Fragments Of An Earth

I wanted to like this, but it just isn't the kind of music I usually listen to, and 21 tracks was too much to digest. So, I put it aside after having played it through once. (No Rating)

Isis - Wavering Radiant

I only got through three tracks on this album. Hardcore metal...it doesn't matter how good it supposedly is. Ain't gonna fly here. (No Rating)

Leonard Cohen - Live In London (2-CD)

Leonard Cohen is touring again, and I'd love to go, but I'm probably going to miss it. The closest he's getting to Phoenix is Vegas, and it's the week before I've already booked a trip there.

Anyway, this album is a must-have for fans, and not a bad way to discover some of his work, although I'd recommend starting with his Best Of album and work from there. (8/10)

Passion Pit - Manners

A few good tracks, but dance music is probably too far from my style for me to really appreciate. Sleepyhead is still a great song, though. (4/10)

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Lisztomania is great and a few other good songs, but hasn't grabbed me overall. (5/10)

Sonya Kitchell - This Storm

Soldier's Lament alone makes this album worth getting. Uneven album overall, but worth checking out. (6/10)

Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin

This album was met with lukewarm interest from the press, but I like it better than that. If you like Tori, definitely get it. (7/10)

The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines (2-CD)

I've still only listened to the first disc - not sure I liked it enough to check out demos and live tracks. I liked a few songs, but don't understand what the big deal is. (5/10)

Wavves - Wavvves

Five of the songs on the album have the word "goth" in the title. I like the last track on the album (Surf Goths) but haven't been able to get any other song to grow on me. That's all I have to say about that. (No rating.)

White Rabbits - It's Frightening

A bit punky for my taste, but a number of good songs. (6/10)

St. Vincent - Actor

Revisiting this from last time. I'e decided on a rating now. (7/10)

This Month (in alphabetical order)

The Avett Brothers - The Gleam II

Picked this band up based on a recommendation from my friend Nikki who understands Sufjan Stevens, remembers Howard Jones fondly, and abhors Black Eyed Peas; all credibility enhancing traits.

Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards

Recommendation from Brittany at work, who has proven adept at finding interesting stuff. If you like the stylings of the different variations of Jack White, check this out. (No actual connection, other than stylistic.)

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

This could be my album of the year. I know this probably isn't in line with how I've rated the albums, but looking back now, I have this, Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear) and Merriweather Post Pavilion (Animal Collective) in the running. Dave Longstreth is absolutely a genius, and this is truly some next level stuff.

The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away

Male-female sibling duo that's been around for a while, but they are new to me.

Florence And The Machine - Lungs

I keep wanting to call them Florence And The Henderson's... Anyway, this debut album is getting a lot of attention in the UK and from the critics. I like it so far.

Laleh - Prinsessor

This is the second album from Swedish, Iranian-born, singer-songwriter Laleh, who released her third albums (Me and Simon) earlier this year. I've got both of them but am listening to this one first. The album contains a mix of Swedish-and English-language songs and I'm very impressed so far.

Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm Just Me

Continuing the theme of Swedish singer-songwriters with international ancectry...Maia Hirasawa (Swedish-born, Japanese-heritage) recently released her sophomore album GBG vs STHLM (Gothenburg vs Stockholm), but this is her 2007 debut. A bit poppy but promising.

Melanie - Best Of

Nothing new about this, but I just picked it up. Good stuff, mainly from the late 60s and 70s.

Miss Li - Dancing The Whole Way Home

Another Swedish singer-songwriter, but this one without international connections (real name, Linda Carlsson.) I've been a big fan of her previous three albums. Catchy tunes, playful lyrics, fun arrangements with influences from many styles and eras (blues, jazz, motown, 50s... )

Moby - Wait For Me

What is there left to say about Moby? This seems to be one of his better albums since Play...

Movits! - Äppelknyckarjazz

You may have caught their act on The Colbert Report a few weeks ago. Four dudes in black tie and sneakers laying down some Swedish-language hip-hop/jazz/swing beats. Yeah. Those guys. If you missed, here it is:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Movits! - Fel Del Av Garden

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Meryl Streep

Regina Spektor - Far

I really liked her previous 2006 effort Begin To Hope. This seems a bit more polished (which is usually not good in my book), but I think I still like it.

Tiny Vipers - Life On Earth

This is the new release from Tiny Vipers, the stage name for Jesy Fortino, and I got it based on a recommendation from my sister Karin.

Well, that's all folks for now. I want to post some stuff from my family visit and our 12-day road trip, but haven't been able to find the time yet...

What's Spinning Now (June Edition - Part 2)

2009-06-09T19:30:00.002-04:00

This Month (in alphabetical order)

Ani DiFranco - Saratoga, CA 9.18.06 (2-CD)

This is the 11th in Ani's Official Bootleg Series - a number of live albums currently covering shows from 2002 to 2007, only sold at live shows and her web site (www.righteousbabe.com). I've been listening to Ani since college and consider her to one of the pre-eminent songwriters of our time. I was able to see her live twice last year and she puts on a great show.

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

He's been releasing albums for almost 20 years (most of them under the moniker Smog) but I just discovered singer-songwriter Bill Callahan through a recent Pitchfork review. The vocals are subtle and live in the land somewhere between talking and singing. I like it a lot, but have a difficult time describing why.

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

What are you doing to me, Elvis? I'm a huge fan of your work; I have 15 of your albums and after listening to this one for about a week I think it may be the low point. I hope I'm wrong and I'm not giving up yet. The album is all acoustic which is fine, but this album frequently falls awfully close to country. And, we can't have that, Elvis.

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Olesi Fragments Of An Earth

The New York Times compared her upcoming album favorably with Amy Winehouse. The new album isn't release yet so I got her previous effort. I don't think I understand the comparison fully - at least this album seems to be more rooted in jazz and hip hop.

Isis - Wavering Radiant

I should have known better. No matter how good the reviews are, any band described as "sludge-metal" and "deeply rooted in metal and hard-core" is not for me.

Leonard Cohen - Live In London (2-CD)

First, I have to say, I had no idea Leonard Cohen is turning 75 this year. In my mind he's a contemporary of The Beatles or Simon & Garfunkel, but apparently he was well into his 30s when he broke through as a singer in the late 60s. Anyway, this is a great album: a mix of his classic songs and a number of spoken word poems. I really wish I'd gone to his show on this tour - his first American tour in 15 years - who knows if I'll get another chance.

Passion Pit - Manners

This full-length album follow-up to the previous EP Chunk Of Change seems to have a few good tracks, but generally doesn't seem to be my cup of tea. Although, Sleepyhead, which can also be found on this album, remains a great, fun, move-your-entire-body song.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This French band is touring the US this summer, but they are not coming to Phoenix. What's that all about? No matter, I don't think I'd go anyway. I like the single Lisztomania, but the rest of the album hasn't grabbed me yet.

Sonya Kitchell - This Storm

The season finale of the TV show The Unit ended with a montage and a song that really caught my attention. Thanks to Shazam and my trusty iPhone I learned it was Sonya Kitchell's great song Soldier's Lament. The rest of the album seems promising.

Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin

I like most albums by Tori - my favorite is Boys For Pele - and this one seems good so far.

The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines (2-CD)

This is essentially a re-release of the 1992 compilation album The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History with an additional second CD with demos and live tracks. Apparently Kurt Cobain described Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee as his "most favorite songwriters in the whole world" and named his daughter Frances Bean Cobain after McKee.

Well, they were only active for a few years in the late 80s, and only released a couple of EPs and one album, so this is pretty much their collected works. They have recently reformed for a tour which spawned the release of this album. I was not familiar with them during their original stint, and I've only listened to the first disc so far, but it seems promising.

Wavves - Wavvves

Holy crap - with the emphasis on crap - what a noise-fest. This album has received great reviews across the board but I don't get it. Maybe I'm too old for this. One sign would be that I recently read a short article about one of their shows and I couldn't tell whether the writer thought it was great or absolutely terrible.

White Rabbits - It's Frightening

More indie post-punk. I think I like several of their songs - a bit too early to tell...

What's spinning now (June Edition - Part 1)

2009-06-07T21:34:00.003-04:00

Last Month Revisited

Ane Brun - Changing Of The Seasons
This is a more even album than her debut Spending Time With Morgan. Several great tracks and no real weak spots. I need to check out her interim albums - particularly A Temporary Dive. And, one more shoutout for the standalone slowed down cover of Big In Japan. Great interpretation. (8/10)

Anni Rossi - Rockwell
I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. She plays the viola and her singing reminds me of Regina Spektor. A good recipe, but something's missing. (5/10)

Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
A bit too produced/polished for my taste, but still a strong effort. The brilliant track Away With Murder alone makes this worth getting. (7/10)

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
Standard lo-fi indie rock. A couple of good songs, but that's about it. (4/10)

Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Solid album overall. I can't improve on this description of the album, made by The Observer: "There's a dreamy, addictive sadness to proceedings, their customary gruff melancholy now inflated to match the panoramic setting." Impressive stuff. (7/10)

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Ok, so I've learned now that Veckatimest is an uninhabited island near Martha's Vineyard. Like their previous albums, it's a subtle and precise effort that will not immediately grab you, but rewards repeated listening. In fact, I've heard most of the songs over a dozen times (I mostly listen to my music on shuffle) over the past seven weeks and I feel like I'm still just beginning to know the album. (8/10)

Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From A Stone
Hmm...I can't decide whether this album is bland or subtle. I really like her previous two albums (Little Things and Rykestrasse) but this one doesn't do it for me. If you're not familar with her work, pick up either of the first two. (5/10)

Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
I really like this album. Ida Maria is a veritable package of energy, belting her heart out, and she's got the tunes to back it up. She's currently on a US tour, and unfortunately she's coming to Scottsdale on June 24 when I'm out of town. She will be performing at Martini Ranch which is only a block form my apartment. Bummer. Although, later this summer she will be touring with Glasvegas, so I may try to catch them both at the House of Blues in Vegas on July 31. (8/10)

Röyksopp - Junior
I've must say that electronica is normally not in my wheelhouse, but this album is so good it wins me over. Lots of catchy tunes. Lots of fun. (7/10)

St. Vincent - Actor
I feel like I should withhold judgment on this one - I like it so far, but haven't really gotten to know it yet. Here's a tentative rating - I will revisit it next month. (6-7/10)

Telepathe - Dance Mother
Several very good tracks but a bit too uneven overall. (6/10)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
I like a number of tracks here: Zero, Heads Will Roll, Runaway and a few others, but there are too many weak spots to make this a great album. (6/10)

What's your Mental Ground Zero?

2009-06-01T20:25:00.004-04:00

Here's another Generation X definition that got me thinking. Mental Ground Zero: The location where one visualizes oneself during the dropping of the atomic bomb; frequently, a shopping mall.

I can't remember ever thinking about where I would be "during the dropping of the atomic bomb." Why is that? Generational? I'm twelve years younger than Douglas Coupland. Does that mean I'm not part of Generation X? I remember the cold war - I was a teenager when it ended - and that WWIII was a real possibility, but I don't remember visualizing the dropping of atomic bombs. (At least not the atomic bomb - like it's an inevitability and only a matter of time.)

Maybe growing up in Sweden was different. Maybe I don't worry much? Maybe I was a child with poor imagination?Maybe my memory is bad? I can't say I have a great deal of memories from my childhood. Is that normal? Has my move abroad - being so far away from all the people and places I grew up with - disconnected me from all that?

Bambification: bourgeois Judeo-Christian attitudes and morals.

2009-05-31T22:10:00.002-04:00

I'm re-reading Generation X by Douglas Coupland. I originally read it a summer in college and meant to read it again last summer before my trip to Palm Springs, but never got to it then. Now, I've been planning a road trip for the family (more about that in upcoming posts) and since I will make it to Palm Springs again I found renewed interest in the book. For some background, here's what I had to say about the book in a post last summer (no need to reinvent the wheel):

[Palm Springs] is also the setting for Douglas Coupland's excellent book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (which popularized the term Generation X.) It tells the story of three friends who are disillusioned with modern society and decide to escape the rat-race and move away from it all into the Mojave Desert. There, forced to work as bartenders (described as McJobs - another term popularized by the book) their existence and outlook grow bleaker, and much of their free time is spent telling each other stories about their lives. A postmodern answer to The Decameron, with commercialization substituting for the plague, if you will. Anyway, hard to make the book justice, but it's a great (and easy) read - recommended for all!

A lot of terms and expressions are presented in the book with definitions in the margins. For exampe, here is the explanation of a McJob: A low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one.

Well, today I encountered anther one that made me laugh. Bambification: The mental conversion of flesh and blood living creatures into cartoon characters possessing bourgeois Judeo-Christian attitudes and morals.

Coupland has written several other books that I have enjoyed. Girlfriend In A Coma which is littered with hidden quotes from songs by The Smiths. Polaroids From The Dead is a number of short stories with very different perspectives from the same Grateful Dead concert. Miss Wyoming is a story of an aging former beauty queen whose career is fading, and when she miraculously becomes the only survivor of a plane crash allows the world to think she's perished along with the other passengers. That sounds a bit heavy, but like all of Coupland's writing it is also both witty and observant.

It was in London, of course.

2009-05-19T19:35:00.002-04:00

So, I went to a wine dinner at Backstreet Wine Salon last night...as they are closed on Mondays we had the whole place for ourselves. Kevin Stoddard was acting host and did all of the cooking and brought all of the wines. Anyway, the main course was a Maytag Blue Cheese Burger with truffle fries, and as Kevin was serving it, Rick Cecala deadpanned "I've never met a cheeseburger I didn't like...except for once. It was in London, of course."

Arizona State! The Harvard of scholastics...

2009-05-13T21:37:00.001-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Arizona State Snubs Obama

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

What's Spinning Now (May Edition - Part 2)

2009-05-11T00:29:00.003-04:00

This Month (in alphabetical order)

Ane Brun - Changing Of The Seasons

Ane is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and this is the second album I've picked up. Her debut Spending Time With Morgan contains the phenomenal Humming One Of Your Songs but didn't really catch my attention beyond that. Her latest album (released 2008) seems much stronger. Separately from the album, I also found her cover of the old Alphaville song Big In Japan - great version! She also covered the Cyndi Lauper hit True Colors for a European commercial - I just got it and am listening to it right not for the first time. Sounds good.

Anni Rossi - Rockwell

Anni Rossi plays the viola and her singing reminds me of Regina Spektor. She's from Minnesota and this is her debut album - I like it so far.

Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

Somehow I'd missed this Glasgow-based band even though they've been around for over a decade. Nice lead vocals from Tracyanne Campbell and a couple of Swedish connections on this album: Jari Haapalainen produced the album and Björn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John provided the string and horn arrangements.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Out of New York and at times lo-fi and a bit noisy indie rock - think Conor Oberst - but enough solid melodies to hold it together. Too early to tell how much I like it.

Doves - Kingdom Of Rust

Another indie rock band - this one from England. This trio has known each other and been making music since the mid-80s, but did not form Doves until 1998. I wasn't familiar with them until very recently. The immediate standout is the title track and I also like Birds Flew Backwards so far.

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Again, anyone want to try pronouncing this album name? I dare you! As I mentioned yesterday, this is the secong Grizzly Bear album I've picked up in short order, and this one is my favorite. If you like their previous work this should not disappoint.

Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From A Stone

Another Norwegian singer-songwriter and one of my favorite finds of last year: her previous two efforts Little Things and Rykestrasse stayed in heavy rotation for a good six months. Not sure yet if this album is on the same level.

Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart

One more Norwegian female - although, this one is more of a rock/post-punk act. The album opens with the brilliant Oh My God and stays strong throughout. This may be a contender for my top 10 of the year. And, how could you not like a track with the name I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked?

Röyksopp - Junior

Ok, this is the last Norwegian act, I promise! For those of you who aren't Scandinavian, the band name is Norwegian for puffball mushroom. I've been familiar with this electronic duo for some time, but never listened to them because, well, they are an electronic duo. But, I read some good things about the new album, and that Karin Dreijer (of The Knife and Fever Ray), Lykke Li, and Robyn (all female Swedish singers) provided guest vocals, so I checked it out, and I love it. Perhaps another top 10 for the year. Favorite track so far: The Girl And The Robot.

St. Vincent - Actor

Annie Clark used to be part of Sufjan Stevens' touring band, and now she performs under the moniker St. Vincent. That, and a good Pitchfork review, was all I needed to know. I only got this a few days ago, but so far I really like the opening track The Stranger.

Telepathe - Dance Mother

Can something be simultaneously hypnotic and happy? Well, apparently, Telepathe can. Again, not really in my wheelhouse - electronic, dance...but I really like it. Favorite tracks: So Fine, In Your Line, and Lights Go Down.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

This is a bit more poppy than I normally like, but it's hard to argue with the catchy Zero. It seems like everyone was talking about this album about a month ago and after I saw their SNL appearance I gave them a shot. Several good songs, but probably not quite my cup of tea.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T23:23:00.002-04:00

What's spinning now (May Edition - Part 1)

2009-05-09T17:18:00.007-04:00

Last Month Revisited

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Solid album - more even than her last effort, but for several tracks that I initially liked, my interest is already waning. The major exception is the closing track The Big Sleep - great song. (7/10)

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware

I don't think I want Will Oldham to be happy - I preferred when his albums were filled with songs like I See A Darkness and Death To Everyone, and lyrics like Black, you are my enemy / And I can not get close to thee / A life is ruled by enmity / And I can't weaken that. This album never caught my interest and I quickly moved on. (4/10)

Buraka Som Sistema - Black Diamond

A bit too uneven to be great but has some very good, energetic tracks that make you want to dance. Sound of Kuduro (with M.I.A. and several others) is the clear standout - one of the better dance tracks I've heard in years. I can't sit still when I hear it. And, I've decided that Portuguese is an awesome language. (6/10)

Death Cab For Cutie - The Open Door (EP)

If you like Death Cab, get it. No surprises here - good stuff. (7/10)

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

This is the live act I really want to see this year. Shara Warden (My Brightest Diamond) and Becy Stark (Lavender Diamond) will be with them on the tour and they'll play the album from end to end before going into their older stuff. This is not their best album, but the idea of a concept album makes it that much more interesting. (6/10)

Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe

This is the live act I will see this year. I have Mode tix for their August show. I'm not crazy about the new album so I'll have to hope they play a lot of older material. (5/10)

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

This is the good album, but I think I like their new album Veckatimest , that just came out, better. (If anyone knows how to pronounce Veckatimest, let me know.) (6/10)

Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love

This is one of those albums that I like but probably won't listen to very often. Beautiful voice, and slow songs that tend to put me to sleep. Each song is good by itself, but as a whole the album is a bit much of the same. My favorite track: Side Of The Lord. (6/10)

Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic

If you like Martina's work with Tricky you'll probably like this. A bit safer and not as experimental. Best track: Anything. (7/10

PJ Harvey & John Parish

If you like simple, catchy melodies to sing along to, this is not for you. Polly Jean wails, roars and grunts her way into seldom chartered territory. And it's beautiful. But it's an acquired taste. So, if you hate it, don't say I didn't warn you. Strongest (and surprisingly accessible) track: April (8/10)

Sara Lov - The Young Eyes (EP)

Five tracks and they are all good. (7/10)

Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go!

I feel like I just got this album, April must have flown by. Worth getting for the catchy Na Na Na, the brilliant Locusts Are Gossiping, and the tear-inducing Swedish-language Innan Du Går (Before You Leave). Many of the other tracks still feel anonymous to me, so perhaps I'm rating this too early. (6/10)

Ok, lots of new, good stuff this month, but right now I'm heading back out to enjoy the sunny weather. Spent much of the morning by the pool and went in to get out of the sun for a while. In the meantime, here's a teaser of what's to come: Ane Brun, Anni Rossi, Camera Obscura, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Doves, Grizzly Bear, Hanne Hukkelberg, Ida Maria, Royksopp, St. Vincent, Telepathe, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It's never sunny in Philadelphia

2009-05-07T00:31:00.002-04:00

I haven't seen the sun since Sunday. And that was at home before I left. I've been in Philly all week - conference Monday-Tuesday and then working out of our HQ for the rest of the week - and it's been non-stop gray skies and gloom.

The trip's still been good - always fun to get to the main office and see co-workers I haven't seen in a while. And Tuesday night I went into Center City and met up with three work alumni (Mike, Allen and Springer) which was a lot of fun. Food and drinks at Misconduct and then more drinks at Fado. Got back to the hotel around 2 am - always easy to stay out late on the East Coast when I have three hours on everyone else, but not so easy to get to work the next morning.

Oh well - should probably go to bed now...

Waiting for Bordeaux

2009-05-02T16:35:00.010-04:00

Well, the wait is actually over, and unlike Beckett's Godot, the Bordeaux arrived, and they arrived in style. For much of April I'd been waiting for this tasting, which should to be the head-and-shoulders wine event of the year. And, it sure delivered.

The wines being lined up before the tasting

Fourteen of us gathered in the private room at Backstreet Wine Salon in Phoenix for a four-course meal and 28 different wines: one champagne, 21(!) first growths, 3 second growths, and 3 Sauternes. If you're not familar with the Bordeaux wine classification system, read this.

Scott, Josh, Henrik, Alex, Mike, Jock, Mick, Chris, Phil and Rick

Jane, Jeff, Dave, Mark and my empty seat (in addition the people mentioned above)

The tasting was an incredible opportunity to taste many both rare and expensive wines. We only paid for the food, and each person contributed one or two bottles - with the exception of the always supergenerous Dave Nerland who brought close to 10 of them. I brought a 2001 Chateau Lafite which showed well, but my favorites were the 1996 Lafite, the 1990 Leoville-Las Cases, and, of course, the 2001 Chateau d'Yquem. The '01 Yquem is probably the consistently greatest dessert wine I've ever tasted. I've been fortunate to try it about five times and it's always superb.

Jeff and all his glasses

My place setting

Happy Josh with his friends: Haut-Brion and Latour

Me polishing off the magnum of 2001 Yquem

Without further ado, here's the list and my scores from the event:

BACKSTREET - BORDEAUX - Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix, AZ (4/30/2009)

Welcome champagne

2000 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon - France, Champagne
Young, crisp, fresh, light (90 pts.)

One white. A good one.

2004 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Contrôlée (93 pts.)

Pichon & Mouton

1983 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Earth, tertiary, meat (89 pts.)

1985 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
More fruit left than the '83. Surprisingly youthful. (91 pts.)

1988 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (91 pts.)

1989 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Not as strong as last time, but still very good. (94 pts.)

1993 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
The weakest of the six Moutons this night (88 pts.)

1999 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Great nose. Drying finish. (92 pts.)

2001 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (91 pts.)

2003 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Still too young, but showing great promise (93 pts.)

Haut-Brion & Lafite

Dave: "So, who thinks Lafite should be de-classified?"

1998 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (94 pts.)

1999 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Good wine - but overshadowed by the '98 and '00. (91 pts.)

2000 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (94 pts.)

1996 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (96 pts.)

1998 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (92 pts.)

1999 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Corked NR (flawed)

2001 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (93 pts.)

Margaux & Leoville Las Cases

1998 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (91 pts.)

1999 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (93 pts.)

1990 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (95 pts.)

Latour

1983 Château Latour - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (92 pts.)

1985 Château Latour - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (91 pts.)

1986 Château Latour - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (92 pts.)

1998 Château Latour - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (92 pts.)

1999 Château Latour - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (91 pts.)

Sauternes

Jock: "If you have to drink Yquem, the 2001 is pretty good."

1988 Château Climens - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac (95 pts.)

2003 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (94 pts.)

2001 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
What can I say? Always so impressive. (98 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

The top of the world

2009-05-02T11:33:00.002-04:00

I just found out that one of my MIT classmates climbed Mount Everest. I don't know her but I was taken in by this picture from the top of the mountain:

Pretty amazing. It took 63 days to climb up and 17 to get down. More info/pictures here.

Stockholm Syndrome Part II

2009-04-24T01:59:00.001-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The Stockholm Syndrome

2009-04-22T23:05:00.003-04:00

Funny stuff. Full release massages at work...not bad...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

The Stockholm Syndrome

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

How's your neodymium supply?

2009-04-21T20:51:00.002-04:00

I just read an article in The Atlantic about the rare-earth metal neodymium: "the pixie dust of green tech - necessary for the lightweight permanent magnets that make Prius motors zoom and for the generators that give wind turbines their electrical buzz."

Apparently, our current dependency on Middle Eastern oil may be replaced by one on Chinese neodymium. Nearly all of the world supply of rare-earth oxides comes from China, which has a huge abundance of them and it's cheap to extract there (no environmental regulations, etc.)

Just like a champagne bubble, pop pop pop...

2009-04-20T22:18:00.021-04:00

Ah, it's been a full week since my Vegas trip and not a beep from me. Booo! Shame on me.

I flew up this time...normally I drive. The flight is right around an hour, but all-in the trip is about 3 with airport craziness on both sides. Driving takes just over five hours, so the difference isn't huge, but the Southwest flight was so cheap I couldn't resist: $49 there and $69 back. So, I worked pretty much a full day Thursday before taking the 5 o'clock hop. Had beer #1 at the airport and #2 in the ridiculously long hotel check-in line. A good start to the weekend. Jasonwas on the same flight so he went on a beer run while we were waiting to check in.

I've stayed in the Luxor pyramid before - with my parents a few years back. It's ok, but not great. You can tell it's an older property, the hallways are narrow - you can't walk two people side-by-side, and it's beginning to show some wear-and-tear. Several elevators were out of service, etc. But, at the price we got it ($45 for the first night and $68/night on the weekend) I shouldn't complain. I don't think I'll go back, though, unless I find another ridiculous deal.

Lotus of Siam: me, Jennifer, Adam, Jason, Dan and Keri

Thursday night Jason and I met up with Dan and Keri - and found out it was their 13-year wedding anniversary. I did know, however, that they eloped and got married in Vegas, so this was a fitting way to celebrate. They got their room upgraded to the spa suite, which meant that they had a corner room (windows leaning in from two directions - very odd), with an extra room and a hot tub next to the bed. Klazzy!

Anyway, Jason and I had walked over to New York New York and sat down at Pour 24, a bar with a solid selection of American micro-brews right next to Coyote Ugly. We met Dan and Keri there and walked downstairs to Nine Fine Irishmen for dinner, live Irish music and some Riverdance-style dancing. Dan Lord of the Ganse was right at home. Like many places in Vegas, loud and overpriced, but fun.

For afterhours - ok it was only around midnight, but it was Thursday! - we ended up atAurora - a lounge at Luxor with a live, female 80s band, complete with 80s haircuts and, strangely enough, a rather large tuba player. After a round of drinks, Jennifer S and Adam met us there for another round. Jason ordered an amaretto sour that showed up withwhipped cream and four maraschino cherries, while he tried to entice our waitress and a few other passers-by with repeated promises of Dan and Keri's hot tub.

Dan and Keri in their Spa Suite

Friday the six of us went to Lotus of Siam (the place I mentioned in my last post) for lunch. The place indeed gives an underwhelming first impression, but the food was really good. I don't know if I'd go as far as some of the accolades but it's clearly a couple of steps above your typical Thai fare. And, for the price, in Vegas, I give it my wholehearted recommendation. The wine list has a lot of gems, especially in the higher echelons, but since it was lunch and my friends aren't wine geeks like me we shared a straight-forwad, but nice German riesling that complemented the food well: a 2007 J.J. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese.

Jenn and Alex arriving Friday night

Friday night game-time started in Dan and Keri's party suite. Dan and Keri had picked up cheese and crackers at the grocery store and I'd brought two bottles of Aubert chardonnay (the 2006 and 2007 Ritchie) from home. People make fun of me for traveling with high-quality Austrian 24% lead crystal wine glasses so I didn't bring my Riedel stems and we had to drink from the sad excuses for glasses found in the hotel bathroom. I should have known better. So, the wines didn't show very well but we still had a great time. Jason had brought his iPod speaker-set so we had entertainment and around 8 pm Jenn F and Alex arrived directly from the airport. And there was much rejoicing.

All of us at Giorgio's

Around 9 we decided to head out for dinner. As nobody wanted to walk far we picked a mid-priced Italian restaurant called Giorgio's next door at Mandalay Bay. Here comes the funny part. Jason was still in shorts so he headed back to the room to change and would meet us at the restaurant. Well, Jason forgot that there's a walkway connecting Luxor and Mandalay Bay so he tried to take the tram over. One of the two tracks was out-of-service, so the tram at Luxor only went north to Excalibur, and from there he could stay on the tram for express service back south to Mandalay Bay. So, two tram rides later, Jason walked through Manadalay Bay onto the walkway back toward Luxor and found us about 50 yards from where he started. What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas!

Dinner was fun but the food was only so-so. Vegas is kind of like that - either you should go really cheap and expect nothing or splurge and get something nice. There's almost no middle ground. After dinner we ended up at minus5 Ice Lounge at Mandalay Bay, seemingly very similar idea to the ice bar in Stockholm. The concept is that there is a bar made out of ice where the temperature is kept at -5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) and you pay $30 for entrance, a warm coat and a drink served in a glass made out of ice. We didn't feel like it so we only had drinks in the regular bar outside.

Jenn being served by the ice-babes in a shot-glass made of ice

Saturday morning we spent some time at the Mandalay sportsbook - placed some bets on my Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots (all to win their Championships). Then we walked upstrip...Jenn and Alex ordered Margarita-yards and later regretted it. That's a lot of cold liquid to get down in the middle of the day. We checked out the remodeled Planet Hollywood, the under constrution City Center, had lunch at Paris and walked over to The Bellagio to check out the fountains and the conservatory.

The Fountains at Bellagio

Alex and Jenn at the Bellagio Conservatory

Watering jugs pouring

Sat night we went out pretty late. Dan and Keri had gone to see Jersey Boys - a musical about Frankie Vallie at The Palazzo (the newish expansion to The Venetian) - so we met up with them at one of the fun, trendy bars there: Lavo. Then we had dinner at Sushi Samba - a Brazilian sushi-joint. Very typical Vegas - over-the-top and showy - but well done and the food was good. I had a drink with plum sake, muddled plums, daikon radishes and beer. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it was actually a very subtle drink, with no discernible beer flavor and a nice radish finish.

Palazzo atrium outside Lavo

Alex, Jason, me, Jenn, Keri and Dan at Lavo

Finally we walked over to The Wynn and their new expansion Encore where we sat down in the Eastside Lounge for drinks. A few of us split a bottle of Vincent Girardin white burgundy (chardonnay) while Alex decided to try a Campari on the rocks. If you've never tasted Campari, it's a very bitter aperitif that most people don't care for unless it's mixed into a drink - frequently soda water or OJ. (I'd been told it was made from artichokes, but that doesn't seem to be true.) Well, Alex did not care for it at all, and neither did anyone else except for Jason and me. Score!

Sushi Samba

Spicy Tuna, Freshwater Eal and Salmon (top to bottom)

Sunday I met up with my old friend Dylan Rivas who had just arrived in town with his mother, aunt and grandmother. Now there's a party waiting to happen! Dylan and I walked up from Flamingo, where they were staying, to Caesar's Palace and had brunch outside at Serendipity 3. Then, some ice cream at Sugar & Ice at the Wynn with a nice view of the waterfalls. Then, off to the airport and home!

Dylan and I under a red awning - Serendipity 3

Dylan at Sugar & Ice

Whew - that was long and a lot of boring details. But, I wanted to document it for myself...

You're so money and you don't even know it

2009-04-08T21:21:00.002-04:00

Going to Vegas tomorrow!!!

Vegas has become quite the holiday vacay spot for me. I've been there for Christmas twice, went there Thanksgiving week last year, and now going there for Easter. This time there's a group of eight of us, which should be fun. Five people from work and three significant others...we've got four rooms in the Luxor pyramid.

Not much planned, except that I want to make sure I make it to Lotus of Siam this time. LOS is basically legendary is food-and-wine circles and I've almost gone several times but never actually made it happen. While Vegas is known for high-falutin' big-name chefs opening high-priced high-end restaurants in amazing spaces, LOS is an inexpensive unassuming Thai restaurant in a dumpy strip mall about a mile away from the strip.

Most courses are about $10 and there's nothing special about the menu, but the food is supposedly top-notch. Gourmet Magazine called it the "single best Thai restaurant in North America".

And, then there is the wine list.

Asian food is notoriously wine-unfriendly, but tends to work quite well with German rieslings and Alsatian gewürztraminers and pinot gris. Most Thai restuarants generally avoid the issue altogether by serving a couple of house wines, a handful of beers, and sodas. LOS has a 34-page wine list filled with wines from all over the world, but heavily focused on German rieslings, all sold at more than reasonable prices.

I just learned that a friend and former co-worker, Ellen Kane, will also be in Vegas for the weekend. Her sister's getting married there on Friday, but we're going to try to meet up at some other point during the weekend. And, my old friend Dylan Rivas is arriving Sunday - just a few hours before I'm heading back - so we're going to try to meet up as well.

Should be a good weekend...

More Theresa...

2009-04-04T12:08:00.002-04:00

Starts slow but gets pretty amazing once the singing starts and the violin kicks in:

She will be performing at The Rhythm Room in Phoenix on May 11 - I'm planning on going.

What's spinning now? (April Edition)

2009-04-03T20:50:00.005-04:00

Last Month Revisited

Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

I liked this quite a bit - several good songs made even better by Erika Wennerstrom's great voice. (7/10)

Loney Dear - Dear John

Some fairly subtle stuff that continuous to grow on me. I have a feeling that this is going to look even better when I look back at it in the future. If this were a wine it'd definitely be old world. (7/10)

Morrissey - Years of Refusal

Hm. I was more excited about this a month ago than I am today. Good album, but not as much of a standout as I thought. (6/10)

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

Solid album but I liked Fox Confessor Brings The Flood better. (7/10)

Passion Pit - Chunk of Change (EP)

One fantastic song (Sleepyhead), one good song (Better Things) and four bland tracks. (5/10)

U2 - Line On The Horizon

I have to say I'm disappointed with this one. There are a number of very good songs on here, but what's unusual for U2 is that it also has a few songs that I don't like at all. I don't care for the opening title track and several songs in the middle of the album, including the first single Get On Your Boots. But, there are also great songs like Magnificent, Moment of Surrender and Cedars of Lebanon. (6/10)

Female Tribute to Tom Waits (Vol 1-3)

Too many songs (121) for a single score to be meaningful (but this won't stop me.) Some great renditions, a lot of solid ones, and also a good number of terrible ones. (6/10)

Dark Was The Night

Again, too many ups and downs for a single score to really make sense, but I'm still giving one. Several great collaborations: Feist doing duets with Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie lead singer) and Grizzly Bear, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner (The National), Buck 65 (Canadian hip hop DJ/MC) and Sufjan Stevens... (7/10)

War Child Heroes

Cool artists doing covers of cool songs (see March post) with mixed results. (6/10)

This Month (in alpabetical order)

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

The last album Fur And Gold had two great tracks (Trophy and What's A Girl To Do?) but was fairly bland outside of those. Also, check out this great video.

Her (Bat For Lashes is the pseudonym of singer Natasha Khan) new release Two Suns seems like a more even effort from the opening track Glass to the beautiful closing track The Big Sleep (with guest vocals from Scott Walker, with whom I'm not familar.)

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware

Will Oldham began recording under the name Palace Brothers and Palace Music throughout the 90s, but for the last decade he's adopted the moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I've been following him since I heard Johnny Cash's fantastic cover of his song I See A Darkness on American III. He's made a lot of great music over the years, but the album I See A Darkness is probably his strongest so far. It also contains the great song Black which Trost made an inspired cover of last year.

His new album is called Beware and seems to be less dark than previous records. We'll see how that turns out, becoming happy has signaled the doom of many an artist.

Buraka Som Sistema - Black Diamond

I found this sound system from Lisbon, Portugal, by listening to the M.I.A. Kala bonus disc, which contains the joint track Sound of Kuduro. According to Wiki, Kuduro is an "uptempo, energetic and danceable" music style from Portugal that originated in Angola.

Watch this and if you tell me it doesn't make you want to dance you're dead inside:

Death Cab For Cutie - The Open Door (EP)

Have just started listening to this, but it's hard to go wrong with Death Cab.

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

I got their 2002 album Castaways And Cutouts about a year ago and have really been impressed by Colin Meloy's distinct voice, great melodies and storytelling lyrics. Since then, I've also been enjoying Picaresque and The Crane Wife.

In these times of digital downloads and iPods set to shuffle, with the increased focus on individual tracks and the diminishing importance of albums, it is refreshing to see one band going in the opposite direction and making a concept album. The Hazards of Love is basically a 17-track rock opera meant to be played from beginning to end with a story arc and characters: Shara Warden (of My Brightest Diamond) and Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond) provide great vocals for two of the female characters.

On their upcoming tour the concerts will be in two acts: the first act being the entire album from end to end (Warden and Stark are touring with them) and the second act being their older material.

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe

This was just leaked so I haven't had a chance to listen through all of it yet, but I like the new single Wrong and the opening track In Chains so far.

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

Don't know much about this Brooklyn-based band, other than having seen their name float around for a while on the indie music scene. I liked their two tracks on Dark Was The Night so I got this.

Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love

I was very impressed with Becky Stark's voice on The Hazards of Love so I got this album too. Too early to say much about...

Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic

Martina is familar to any Tricky fan as she's provided the female vocals on several of his albums. I just learned that she's released three solo albums. Quixotic is her first. Sounds good so far.

PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By

John Parish has been closely involved with a few previous PJ Harvey albums, most notably Dance Hall at Louse Point. I saw PJ Harvey live a couple of times in college and quickly bought Rid of Me and have been a fan since.

Sara Lov - The Young Eyes (EP)

This first solo effort from Sara Lov (of Devics - a band I'm not familiar with) is quite impressive. A couple of interesting covers (Timebomb by Beck and My Body Is A Cage by Arcade Fire) and the standout Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming (presumably from the upcoming LP with the same name.) I like it.

Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go!

Swedish-born Theresa Andersson is a DIY one-person-performer who tours with two loop pedals to sound like a full-fledged band. I was intrigued by the youtube clip below (and the Swedish connection) so I had to get her album.