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utopia
For the past few years, Utopia (2019) by the Danish instrumental duo Bremer/McCoy has been my go-to album when I’m spending some alone time and I don’t know what I’m feeling. It’s calm, positive music, with slow, sparkling keyboard melodies dancing around bouncy acoustic bass lines. It’s not going to be a downer, and equally…
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clickwheel dreams
There’s Las Vegas and there’s Las Vegas. Technically the Las Vegas Strip isn’t even in Las Vegas. It’s in the Clark County townships of Winchester and Paradise. The name Winchester was chosen by the public in a naming contest. “It was said to have more of a Western flavor” than the other nominations. The name…
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the grind
I am preparing to move house in a few weeks, so I have been going through and downsizing some of my things. I am very selective about the items that I choose to attach to. At least that’s what I tell myself; for the past three years I have moved at the end of the…
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…by the sharp lapel of your checkered coat
Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat! This delightful tweet from Linda Holmes sent me down the rabbit hole this afternoon exploring “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” and learning a little more about its composer, Frank Loesser. “Sit Down” is a showstopper from the musical Guys & Dolls: the gambler Nicely-Nicely bullshits a temperance congregation…
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the courage to see what is
A few weeks ago I was having dinner with a newish person I’ve been enjoying getting to know better, who is about 10 years younger than I am. I was talking about playing music in high school, and he asked “Did you ever dream of becoming a big pop star?” That question caught me off…
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"a little bird told me…"
Yesterday, I just started reading in earnest the titanic, 5-volume, 3,856-page Oxford History of Western Music by Richard Taruskin. One tidbit I’m particularly tickled by was this account of the origin of the idiom “a little bird told me
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"a little bird told me…"
Yesterday, I just started reading in earnest the titanic, 5-volume, 3,856-page Oxford History of Western Music by Richard Taruskin. One tidbit I’m particularly tickled by was this account of the origin of the idiom “a little bird told me
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sharon van etten
Last night I went to see Sharon Van Etten at the Crystal. Seeing music there is a little dicey because the proportions of the room make me uncomfortable, and as much as I want to enjoy myself, a full 1/3 of my brain is tied up tamping down my claustrophobia. I went with somebody with…
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Nono
Friday I spent the morning working with J Lo to clean out the kitchen at our facility. We got approval to get the kitchen remodeled, and it’s been a nightmare for as long as I’ve worked there, and I didn’t want to feel guilty if there was some horrendous shit in the cabinets and there…
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Awake
We have two middle school girls coming right now, sisters, that are super into anime and manga and colored hair and weird accessories. The younger one was worked up nearly to the point of tears because All The Shit Had Gone Down in whatever manga series she is reading. Both of them gushed about whatever…
