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It's a little inside- but for those in the know this is hilarious.

Every American sports fan should read this article. Seriously, stop hating on football/soccer.

After I saw this video, I all of sudden didn't feel so tough biking in Louisville's winters.

I've been diagnosed with celiac's for over a decade now. It was nice to see Mars Hill Church give us a shout out.

Working Titles

Towards the end of my freshman year in high school I started writing songs. This eventually led to me forming a band with some friends, which experienced moderate success playing concerts for our friends in various garages, empty school hallways, and even once in the parking lot of a bowling alley.

Since I first started sticking simple melodies and chord progressions together like Legos, my song writing has developed fairly substantially. (I am sure those who tolerate my more recent songs are likely appalled to know I was once worse- much worse.) Nevertheless, in recent years I have given little to no thought of lyrics or song titles. It seems my high school self was much more adept at the literary side of song writing.

Some of my favorite song titles that guitarist Darrick Dowdy and I came up with include:

"I Used to Have Friends" - most emo title ever, but sounded surprisingly indie
"Ember" -This song was originally named for a girl. One letter was cleverly changed after she got married... not to one of us.
"You'll Never Know" - our hit single. it start out straight up pop punk, but it slowly became more screamo over time.
"Murder at Black Canyon" - this Coheed-esq narrative told the story of a deceased teenager and featured clues as to who/what may have caused his fate: a tragic accident, the girlfriend, the best friend who dates the girlfriend soon after the accident , the over bearing parents. In true post modern fashion I refused to definitively solve the mystery, leaving the listener to develop his/her own answer.
"The Kindness of Strangers" - same shtick as "Murder at Black Canyon" only involving a cult and a strung out junkie living in a cabin in the woods.
"Mystery" - the only song featuring the whole band on our ep. we coined the term "Dreamo" to refer to the genre. To my knowledge it hasn't been used since

Son Lux: At War With Walls and Mazes

Musician/Producer Son Lux, recently came to my attention through some fantastic remixes he has done of My Brightest Diamond, Mute Math, and Beirut- amongst others . I was further impressed to discover that NPR recently named Son Lux, real name Ryan Lott, as their Best New Artist in 2008. His solo album, At War With Walls and Mazes, has been out for almost a year now, but I have been trying to make up for lost time by playing it incessantly since I bought it this weekend.

The album is best appreciated as a cohesive unit, but a few tracks in particular have compelled me to interact with them.

"Stay" begins with a sparse piano melody which is soon joined with ethereal, electronic swells and a beat that would be equally comfortable in a Chemical Brothers or Massive Attack song. A dirty, soulful organ seamlessly phases in and out of the atmospheric background and is eventually joined with a full string section, climaxing in an emotional frenzy. A single vocal line is repeated throughout the song that builds with equal intensity. Lott contemplates, "Will you love me/ like he loved me/like she loved me/ or will you stay?".

Pitchfork Media comments, "At War With Walls & Mazes is an album infused with a religiosity that's at times humble and unnamed and at times romantic... [speaking of the quoted line] That "He" should probably be capitalized." While the Pitchfork review offers a very informed insight into the album, here I have to disagree with this critic's interpretation of this lyric. As far as I can tell God in this song is the "you" and not the "he".

"Stay" appears immediately after the song "Betray", a sultry groove which examines relational faithfulness despite the partner's infidelity. In contrast, "Stay" is followed by "Raise" which asks God to:

"Raise a living thing from nothing.
Clothed in skin a pile of dry bones.
I will feel breath come into my body.
Then I will know for myself who you are.
Will know for myself
You are who you say you are."

Lott's confidence in the divine seems to be restored as he later proclaims in "Stand":

"You Stand between me and all my enemies."

It's the same formula: one lyric repeated at intervals accompanied by a diverse sonic landscape, featuring operatic crescendos and sudden, haunting minimalist phrases.

Examined in the context of these other songs, I would suggest that in "Stay" the lyricist is grappling with the faithfulness of divine love, in contrast to the flawed "love" demonstrated in broken human relationships.

My Brightest Diamond

When I saw Shara Worden play at the 930 a year ago, it completely blew my mind. She and underground remix darling Son Lux have done it again

These remixes from A Thousand Shark's Teeth are some of the best songs I've heard in a long time. Asthmatic Kitty is giving two away for free download. Please do yourself a favor and listen to these songs.

"To Pluto's Moon"
"Inside a Boy"

Cycling v. Skateboarding

Due to the tornado warnings and falling power lines Wednesday night, I had to leave my bike at work and was not able to pick it up until today. In the interim, skateboarding became my most effective means of transportation- well other than bumming rides of course. Although cycling has since eclipsed it, skateboarding was a large part of my life (and dare I say identity) in middle and high school and it was refreshing to do some pushing instead of pedaling for a while.

The whole ordeal inspired me to examine some of the pros and cons of cycling and skateboarding. Here's what I've come up with:

Skateboarding:

you can do it on the sidewalk

it is easier to carry up stairs

easier to learn tricks to impress the ladies

people never wear spandex when skateboarding


Cycling:

it's a heck of a lot faster

you don't develop asymmetrical leg muscles

doesn't have the adolescent connotations that skateboarding does

doesn't come to a screeching halt when running over a pebble.

also it's a heck of a lot faster.


So, what's the verdict?

Smile

Stateside

My internet access was limited the rest of my week in Thailand, so unfortunately my mini-series was cut short.  Suffice it to say that Thailand was ballin'.  Pictures should be up soon.

I managed to catch the second half of the Super Bowl with some ex-pats in Thailand.  The ending broke my heart but I was proud of my team, especially Larry Fitzgerald's phenomenal performance. 

In addition to ah-mazing Thai food all week, I got some delicious sushi with my new friends Aaron and Jay.  Eel, Maki, tuna, and all the green tea I could drink- delish. 

The only souvenir I brought back was a sun burn- which I really can't complain about since I got it from swimming too much, not exactly suffering in foreign lands. 

The customs officer pulled me aside for a "random" screening in Detroit.  Evidently they found my journal interesting because they read every page.  Incidentally the same thing happened to Paul when he came back from Thailand 2 years ago. 

Anyway, I am super jet lagged but glad to be back

Pattaya: Day 1

Quite fortunately my initial concerns about being unable to locate some Thai iced coffee proved to be unfounded, as I ended up having three yesterday.  Incidentally, here in Thailand one can just say "iced coffee".

Paint balling with the 3CKs was pretty hardcore. Team blue-gray sadly was not victorious in capturing the flag, but I had a couple really good kills so I walked away with my blood-lust satisfied. 

I almost went bungee jumping for 1600 baht, as my jet lagged, sleep deprived mind thought that was around 15 USD.  Thankfully I realized my error before I shelled out more than 50 bucks.  All the Russians free-falling 60 meters made it looked awesome though. 

Taryn's package is now safely delivered.  It's turns out all the hearts and unicorns Sarah and I drew on it kind of made it awkward after all.  Just goes to show one can't judge another person's sense of humor off of a Facebook profile picture alone.