Narcissism

Let's take a step aside for a moment friends.

Do you even see all the internet outlets we as a society subscribe to?

- Facebook
- Twitter (not I - kill me if I ever twitter)
- Blogs
And on and on...

With my 7 posts in less than 72 hours (I did them on purpose leading up to this - I tried to make a post for anything that crossed my mind), vanity is at a premium.

All of these "things" we do are riddled with narcissism. Twitter is the worst. How many different ways do we need to pat ourselves on our backs and affirm our sense of self-importance? Yikes. I'm as guilty as any. I love music and love to talk about it. No one is here to talk to me about it, so I just put it out there. I love it. I don't think I'm better than you (as far as you know). I just wanted someone to talk to. It's sad more than anything - all of these things. Facebook used to be a place to re-connect with friends. It has become an avenue to announce when you are "waking up", "feeling cranky", "partying like a rock star", "going to bed" etc etc....(btw, twitter, real original). Blogs are a pulpit for you to pour out your mind. It's your own column in your own paper. Who cares what we think? Who cares what I think? This blog is going private later this month - private as in non-existent. It's what it has become anyway. Just some food for thought, kids. Eat it up! I can't handle it anymore.

You're so vain....

Signing off for good for now.

It's been fun...
-W

Weak-end Wrap Up

The 1st weekend of Premier League is in the books. Some surprises. Some boredom. Either way, it's good to be back. For the most part, it was a weekend of reminders:

- Arsenal year in year out plays the most beautiful football in the world. The are a treat to watch. No one maintains possession or passes with more precision. Tip of the cap to Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas (6-1 over Everton!)

- Moneybags Man City began with a win, but the fact remains that they have a 2nd rate coach at best. He'll never handle all the ego at Ewood Park.

- Fulham began with a win for once. Portsmouth looks headed for the drop.

- Liverpool is painful to watch. One of the best strikers in the world (Fernando Torres), and they can't even get the ball to him. They've lost all their depth (who's your back-up striker? Veronin!?!). Glen Johnson looks promising.

- Rafa Benitez is not a good manager. I don't know how he breaks the colts, but it doesn't work. You can't live and die by the injury time goals. Terrible. Should've been sacked 2 years ago....

- Lucky breaks for Man U and especially Chelsea - 1-0 and an injury time winner respectively.

- Tottenham Hotspur look like Arsenal. Great moves by ol' Harry.

It's gonna be a good one. Come on Fulham! Wheel out the cannons for Arsenal, b/c they are in class form!

They're So Money, Baby

So, I just stumbled upon this brother/sister trio from Camden Town, UK today. Apparently, I was late to the dance. They are in a time warp somewhere between 1930 and 1950 with Cab Calloway. They are cool cats for sure! I give you - Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis

Download - "Put the Kettle On" mp3

Let's Kick It

The day my wife has come to dread is upon us. English Premier League begins today. Oh, how 12 weeks flew by. My fantasy team (Darjeeling United) is ready, and my Fulham Cottagers better be, too. So many quality players left the premier league this summer (read: Cristiano Ronaldo). Manchester City (the other Manchester club) was bought by an Arab Emirates group and used their cash to bring in everyone under the sun to a perennially average club. My team, Fulham, qualified for the Europa League and will be playing mid-week on the mainland. Can't wait to see the new clubs that were promoted (Burnley, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton) and the new faces that have come to England (Alberto Aquilani, Jozy Altidore, Yuri Zhirkov, Thomas Vermaelen). It's a long way to May. For those who still haven't caught the fever, look out it's more contagious than H1N1....

Feel free to click the link above and join the fantasy league, Pabst United. Commissioner Murphree will be glad to welcome you!

No One's First, and You're Next

Modest Mouse is one of those staple indie bands. After what seems like 7 or 8 albums, they have mainstream appeal and still have the street cred to boot. Obviously, their breakout moment came with 2004's Good News For People Who Love Bad News and the hit single, "Float On" (for fans of that song just FFwd to the next track, "Ocean Breathes Salty" is one of my favorite MM songs). They continued with more of the same on the 2007 follow-up, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (did you know both albums were recorded in good ol' Oxford, MS?).

The other week, Modest Mouse released an EP collection of outtakes from these albums, No One's First, and You're Next. Leading up to the release of this EP, the band systematically released the songs on limited edition 7". And like a psycho, I bought them all. Now I'm bummed, b/c I have no reason to by the EP. Yet, part of me is driven to purchase it.... Did I mention I have a problem? That's like buying enough baseball cards to complete the set and saying, "you know I think I'll buy the box set". After all this, the songs are just OK. "Satellite Skin" is a winner. The rest are what they are - songs that didn't make cut for the albums. One of the last tracks is noteworthy, because Heath Ledger directed a video for it before his death. He didn't finish it, but his production company did in his memory. Check out "King Rat" just for Heath and take this EP for what you will. The critics seem to like it.

Modest Mouse

We Go To Some Concerts...

Last week was a crazy week. It was my last week in clinic before things close up for the rest of August. Nevertheless, I didn't exactly coast into the break. I was doing surgery all day everyday up until the last moment. On top of that, I went to concerts Wednesday and Thursday night. After Arctic Monkeys on Wed with some friends from school, Whit and I went to Fenway Park Thursday for an evening with Paul McCartney. Surreal.

Arctic Monkeys was a great show. A huge band in Europe with a good following here, the Monkeys are playing in small clubs for this US tour. A band that could easily sell out 2 nights at the Orpheum was playing a club that is more like a Cracker Jack box. Awesome! (except that despite my best efforts it sold out even before the pre-sale went public - what? And I was left with my worst enemy - Stub Hub) Regardless, it was worth it and a once in a whatever chance. They blew the doors off the place. Their new album, Humbug, doesn't come out until later this month. It was produced by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme (amongst others), and it shows. Humbug is a candy over in the UK (I'm guessing like a Werthers) that requires some time to get through to appreciate (just like this new album - thanks Russian Mp3 site....). Here are some pics I took with Whit's camera (no flash allowed...) of the band, me, John Mayer, etc. I tell you about Sir Paul after the jump.

Hey, Hey, they're the Monkeys...

Me and John Mayer

Alex Taylor

We Go To Some Concerts II

Fenway Park is an American icon. Paul McCartney is simply an icon. Put them together, and I just black out. We are Beatles freaks (I know. Who isn't? Joe Pat....). We had a freakin Beatles cover band for our wedding. Obsessed much? Paul did not disappoint. He played for 2 1/2 hours with 2 encores! Plenty of Beatles hits were sprinkled throughout along with Wings and solo stuff that LBH, I was not down with. Highlights for me were "Back In the USSR" with communist/cold war paraphernalia flying across the screen behind him, "Something" on mandolin with a tribute to George (that's his song ya know - but apparently they wrote it together on mandolin - the one he played that night!), a solo "Blackbird" and an abbreviated "A Day in the Life" albeit sans John but amazing. Whitney really loved "Live and Let Die" with all the explosions and fireworks, "Paperback Writer", and "Drive My Car" (even though she wasn't revved up yet). Even "Jet" and "Band on the Run" were pretty good as far as Wings songs go.

Set List:

Drive My Car

Jet

Only Mama Knows

Flaming Pie

Got to Get You Into My Life

Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady

Highway

The Long and Winding Road

My Love

Blackbird

Here Today

Dance Tonight

Calico Skies

Mrs. Vanderbilt

Eleanor Rigby

See the Changes

Band on the Run

Back in the U.S.S.R.

I'm Down

Something

I've Got a Feeling

Paperback Writer

A Day in the Life / Give Peace a Chance

Let It Be

Live and Let Die

Hey Jude

Encore:

Day Tripper

Lady Madonna

I Saw Her Standing There

Yesterday

Curtain Call:

Helter Skelter

Get Back

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End

The man was bouncing around and playing with the crowd as if he was a Twentysomething. Pretty sure my wife would have left me for him in a heartbeat.
He's a charmer!
It was a magical evening, and one for us that we'll never forget!
Here are some highlights.

Hey Jude

(Please excuse the tone deaf people next to us)

Well, I Bet that YOU Look Good on the Dancefloor...

(this is a teaser)

Last night's Set List @ the Paradise - more pics/videos/details to come

1. Pretty Visitors
2. This House Is A Circus
3. Brianstorm
4. Still Take You Home
5. Da Frame 2R
6. Dangerous Animals
7. Crying Lightning
8. Fluorescent Adolescent
9. Cornerstone
10. The View From The Afternoon
11. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
12. Leave Before The Lights Come On
13. Potion Approaching
14. If You Were There, Beware
15. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover)
16. My Propeller
17. Only Ones Who Know
18. Do Me A Favour
Encore:
19. Secret Door
20. 505


My finger was inadvertently over the mic
(&%$# &%$#!),
so sorry for the muted quality on this one....

A Memo to Washington:

"To do two things at once is to do neither"

- Publilius Syrus

Sorry to get political on everyone, but with all that Obama and the rest of congress are doing with hedging their bets on so many agendas we are doomed to fail in all pursuits. Health care, the recession, energy crisis/DUFO(that's dependence upon foreign oil - it's the new WMD....), the war, the auto industry/"cash for clunkers" and on and on.....not to mention all the jaunts around the world to shake the hands of leaders everywhere. Why is our country in a dead sprint to fix problems that didn't happen overnight and sure wont be fixed in that manner? How the hell are we going to pay for all this? No one knows? Well, let's just do it, and we'll figure it out later. Sure worked for the stimulus/bailout. Sorry for the cynicism. As I watch Meet the Press with Harold Ford, Jr. and earlier this morning Larry King with Ann Coulter on youtube - MAN! I want to shoot them both! Nausea ensues....

(thanks, Ignacio for the quote)