Baby Got Book

Okay, I promise this is not just going to turn into a video link blog. Nonetheless, I think you should check out Baby Got Book.

Back Dorm Boys

I guess it's going to be seen by half the people on the internet, but somehow the Back Dorm Boys video gives me hope that people are pretty much the same everywhere.

There's a site with lots of Back Dorm Boys videos.

This Evil Supervillain Video is pretty cool too.

Sufjan Stevens Christmas Volumes

My friend Chris Dillon just sent me a link to these Sufjan Stevens Christmas Songs!

Another Great Album

Until yesterday, I had temporarily forgotten how fabulously great the album "Playing the Tan Doll" by Reeve Hunter was. For those of you lucky enough to possess a copy, you know what I mean.

I think my music listening powers have been maturing lately, because the songs sounded twice as good as they ever had before, and I felt a new appreciation for the instrumentation - I felt I could hear the intent through the shifting and changing technical limitations.

I can't wait for new stuff from My Korean Friends.

Seldom: Romance

If you're depressed enough to connect (then), or happy enough to resist (now), Seldom: Romance is a beautiful-sounding album. I found an opulently written review.

Serenity and Sufjan Stevens

This past Friday, we finished up Firefly Disc 2 by watching the last episode. Then, at 9pm, we went to the video store, rented Disc 3, and watched all four episodes, back to back, until 1:00am. On Sunday, we decided skip the park (it was too hot) and watch Serenity instead. Being lazy for an entire weekend was exactly what we both needed - we've been running about like crazy for weeks now.

Serenity was completely entertaining. More action, less character development - but that's what 14 episodes of Firefly are for! Anyone who was complaining about the low (only 40 million) budget special effects should have been concentrating on the story. I noticed the effects only once near the start, but the almost uninterrupted action soon prevented me from thinking about anything else. I am now watching the box office results, desperately hoping that the movie makes enough money to justify more episodes!

Two weekends ago, we went to Athens to see Sufjan Stevens and the Illinoisemakers in concert, with Half Handed Cloud as the opening act. Athens was fun and exciting - every bit the college town. As we drove around looking for parking, waited in line, bought a couple of drinks, watched the opening act, our excitement mounted.

Unfortunately, as we waited over half an hour for the Illinoisemakers to come on, surrounded by what seemed to be some of the tallest people in Georgia, packed into the insufficiently air-conditioned 40watt club like sardines, getting hot and claustrophobic, our excitement started to plummet, soon hitting the "please let me out of here, now!" level. Part-way through the concert, we realized that the crush and heat were much less away from the middle, but it was too late. We escaped the club for a song or two, and made it back in for the last song.

Looking back, and ignoring how terrible we felt, it was an amazing show. The band was hilarious, interspersing fake football-game style cheers between songs. They also rocked out pretty seriously on a couple of the songs. And the crowd was absolutely psyched - hand claps from the entire crowd perfectly timed from the first bar, and people seemed to know all the words. That part was exciting.

So: We enjoyed Half Handed Cloud. Sufjan and company put on a fabulous show. I highly recommend seeing them anywhere except the 40watt club. People are just too tall nowadays for flat floors and low stages to work. I, at least, was tall enough to see most of the show; Bevin saw a lot of the back of one particular black t-shirt.

ps. Yes, I'm pretty sure all this complaining about heat and crowding makes us old, boring, and totally non-hard-core. Oh well.