this boat is obviously sinking

about a year ago, i was walking up the streets of the adam's morgan neighborhood in NW DC. i had my ipod on shuffle. cowboy dan, or maybe it was doin the cockroach came on randomly. i remember the bitter morning weather, the streets covered in filth from the night before - piles of jumbo slice pizza boxes, cigarette butts littered across every square foot, remnants from what must have been someone's night gotten out of hand. the street crews that are tasked with cleaning up that neighborhood every weekend morning always have their work cut out for them. a part of me wonders how the human race continues to be so heedless of their surroundings. now i'd be lying if i said my hands were clean of this sin; i'm guilty all the time of disposing cigarette butts in the middle of the street. if my living conditions are any indication of how much i care about cleanliness in my personal life, well lets just say i'm not judging, that's all.

but i digress. back to the topic at hand: lonesome crowded west. it's hard to listen to this album and not focus on the music. a lot of people listen to music as they're accomplishing some task. background music. now there is a time, and place, and an album usually, that works well as background music. explosions in the sky were my go to band to listen to while studying for that big exam or writing that term paper. it doesn't take anything away from EITS, as i listened to them in non-background music situations as well. but with lonesome crowded west, this is not possible for me. even as i sit here and type this, i'm listening to this album, and i'd much rather just sit back and listen. that's how good this album is. a little over an hour of everything that is right with music.

this is the second album from one of the best bands from my lifetime: modest mouse. released in 1997 is equipped with just the right amount of dark overtones that isaac brock is well known for. heart cooks brain, out of gas, trailer trash, are songs that anyone who's sat in dark room and swigged 8 dollar whiskey out of dirty cups can relate to. his metaphorical lyricism make you happy that such clever thoughts have been put to such good music. they do a good job of making you question your own thoughts and observations, like any real good song should. i won't sit here and type out my favorite lyrics from that album for two reasons:

1. i wouldn't know where to start; there are just too many

2. there is no forum or mode of communication that those lyrics should be presented in other than the way they were meant to be: accompanied by the music; through the hands strumming those guitars and banging those drums, through the mouths that made the songs so amazing in the first place.

part of the beauty lies in the slight contrasts the album throws your way. from the melancholy, to the acrimonious philosophical feelings displayed throughout this album, and succeeding albums modest mouse put out. common themes include god, life, traveling, relationships, and the grace that could exist in these ideas, often overshadowed by the dark nature of reality. then there is the anger that is presented so well in brock's yelling in shit luck. meanwhile, out of luck masterfully conveys abandoned hope, a feeling everyone experiences at some point in their life. one can't help but think of the absurd when listening to the former song, or the entire album as a matter of fact. when i say the absurd, i mean the absurd that sartre and camus talk about. an understanding of life one comes to only after questioning its very significance.

theres so much more i can say about this album. and maybe one day i'll come back to it, but for now i must call it a night. i did lie earlier though, i will end this post and leave you with one of my favorite lines -- im trying to drink away the part of the day that i can not sleep away

a blog eh? what a novel idea

well, it has been quite a while hasn't it. i haven't posted on this blog for... two years now. life came at me pretty fast after i graduated from university, which was oddly enough one of my motivations for starting this blog: to document the start of a new, adult (hah!) life. recently, an old friend sent me a link to his blog, and whilst posting a comment, i was reminded by google of the existence of this blog. so, i'm sitting here thinking to myself, why not? why not try revisiting this hobby. i can't find a reason not to, so here we are.

now i deleted a few of my older posts, for humanities sake. no one should have been subject to reading that nonsense. but hopefully, from here on out, i can provide some interesting entries on a more frequent basis.

so here's to lonely nights, whiskey, and good friendships, which last despite great distances, temporally and spatially. ones that live on in spirit, through written word, aided by the marvel of the internet.

a blowout does not mean I will have a good night

last weeks top five

animal collective - peacebones
animal collective - fireworks
animal collective - chores
neutral milk hotel - king of carrot floweres part 2 + 3
saturday looks good to me - when the party ends


strawberry jam is quickly becoming one of my favorite albums of all time. pretty solid, has kept me from even starting to listen to any of the other animal collective stuff because its so good. also on the radar is cymbals eat guitars- why there are mountains; solid album after my first listen

saturday was ann arbor's hash bash. it was alright. a lot of hippies roaming the streets smoking pot. i stood on top of the michigan union tower, which has been closed off for over a decade. and even prior to that, the only groups allowed up there were the secret societies like michigauma (like yale's skulls and bones or bama's machine). it was a pretty interesting trip. i carved my name on the stone slabs up there; my name and association with this university will live on forever up there (or atleast till it erodes away) with only a handful of other names (im guessing students, building managers, etc). in other words, i was anything but low all day... get it? huh? no? ok, ill stop

oh, and it was sunny and beautiful out. like nice enough where i had my windows open. this was saturday. sunday night? 6-10 inches of snow. its april 6th. this is why i hate this state. one week its beautiful, the next shittier than mid january. its times like this where everything makes sense: the reason why michigan sucks so much (in every category except possibly hockey and higher education, thanks to u of m being on top of their game) is because everyone is so goddamn miserable for 6 months out of the year. as soon as you think your done, when april rolls around, you get hit with another 10 inches of snow and the nice weather of recent weeks seems like nothing more than a distant memory. there are plenty more reasons to hate this state other than the weather (the economy, the lack of anything interesting in the whole state, the shitty sports teams which you love but always end up breaking your tiny heart by going 0-16 and not firing matt millen when they should have years ago, etc.).

but its all almost over. only three more weeks and im done. hopefully out of this state before next winter. i always enjoy the summers here, and this year is no exception. summer of 09 looks to be the most promising of all

the greatest song ever

animal collective - my girls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zol2MJf6XNE)

i tried listening to ac some years ago, but didnt really see the appeal. but this song is amazing. which brings me to today's post. every sunday night or so, ill post the top five songs that have been stuck in my head. so this weeks top five are

titus adronicus - titus adronicus
why? - simeons dillema
wolf parade - dear sons and daughter of hungry ghosts
bonnie prince billy/superwolf - lift us up
animal collective - my girls (duh)

more tracks next week. but while im here i may as well mention that the new phoenix album is pretty dope too. its called wolfgang amadeus phoenix and its bomb. that is all

so i decided that it would be a good idea to start writing. for fun. i know, blogs are kinda homo, but lets look at the facts:

1) many important historical figures kept memoirs. if i, by chance, do become an important historical figure (the odds are totally in my favor here), then bam motherfucker, all my shits recorded here!
2) ak.smellzgood.com has been defunct for four years (college really does turn you into a waste of life) and this is its reincarnation (note: i no longer smell good)
3) this will aid my poor memory
4) plenty of awesome things happen to me, and sometimes it be like damn, i wish i could tell the world. now i can
5) dont question my reasons for starting a blog, jerk
6) i meet weird and interesting people at my job every now and again, and i think its my duty to report their unique characteristics

also, this is not an emo blog. although there is a good chance there will be a lot of bitching and moaning. but not like high school bitching and moaning. more like: why cant i be a pirate? or why am i so broke all the goddamn time? or why is my room like ten degrees colder than outside? or why dear god why do the lions suck so goddamn much?

REASONS TO READ THIS BLOG

1) why wouldnt you? you got something better to do? thought so
2) i will post updates from NASAs website
3) i go on pretty awesome adventures with pretty awesome people
4) some of my updates will include tips and tricks on:
a) piracy (not napster, like, actual somalian jacking tankers full of all sorts of valuable shit (like livestock!))
b) how to get blackout
c) how to not recover properly from a blackout
d) how to waste money you dont have (hint: this is closely related to the last two points)
5) 'cause i dont capitalize or use punctuation properly. and thats hip AND cool. you too can be hip and cool simply by reading my blog
6) random interesting facts! like this: DID YOU KNOW THERE ARE 58455 BRICKS IN THE DIAG (were talking u of m ann arbor here). you did not. but now you do. youre welcome

now there is a very good chance i dont talk about anything i just told you i would talk about. but i like lists and i just made two so whatever.

so thats about it. to be honest, this is just something that should occupy my time at work. so for example, i work five hours today, so expect five hours worth of blogging