truffle shuffle – 4.27.07

happy 27th, babies!!!

as an intro to this week’s shuffle, let me say that it’s been a good week, mostly. the good, relaxed vibes of last weekend’s climbing carried me through the week, combined with ninja-like climbing on tuesday nite and movie nite with bwe on monday & tuesday. (stranger than fiction. highly recommended.)

i’m supposed to be running the half-marathon tomorrow. not gonna happen. (and by the way, if you want to run it and don’t have a bib, contact me. you can have mine for a very, very small fee.) i’m disappointed about that, but i’m excited about getting to make a new herb garden this weekend and getting some projects done around casa de newton. well, that and the prospect of climbing sunday afternoon in clarksville and church on sunday morning.

with no further delay, the truffle shuffle for friday, april 27, 2007:

- i just wasn’t made for these times (stereo mix), the beach boys, pet sounds
- the irish keep gate-crashing, the thrills, let’s bottle bohemia
- double bass, gorillaz, gorillaz
- the gash, the flaming lips, the soft bulletin
- x & y, coldplay, x & y
- operator, grateful dead, american beauty
- what child is this, irish tenors, home for christmas (obviously haven’t removed all the christmas tunes just yet)
- undone (the sweater song), weezer, weezer (the blue record)
- what goes around…/…comes around interlude, justin timberlake, futuresex/lovesounds
- novocaine for the soul, eels, beautiful freak

well, there you have it. more appropriate than i could possibly explain in a short friday morning post, this week’s truffle shuffle, brought to you by (insert name here), the purveyors of half-assed opinions on just about anything. have a good weekend!

genetics is a bitch

my cholesterol issues are relatively well documented. it’s high, it’s genetic, it sucks, and i’m trying to lower it through holistic healthcare as opposed to poppin’ pills.

wanna know what’s worse?

my brother’s. homeboy’s triglycerides are SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY!!!!!!!!!! holy heart attack batman. he just got the news today and has already started the “don’t die before 35″ program.

moral of the story, in a poem:

things might be bad.
things might be shitty
but it could be much worse
you tri’s could be se’n fitty.

100 things, updates, etc.

i’m scattered like waffle house hasbrowns this morning. mmmmm…hashbrowns.

-well, i’m still not up to 100, but i’m closer. i added 10 more things to my list this morning. go check it out…

-xm channel 43 (xmu – the college/indie station) was positively jamming the good tunes this morning. i think i’ll get a handful of new records to review for you guys over the coming weeks. if you want to beat me to it, here’s what they were playing (yes, i wrote it down):

-panda band – didn’t catch the song title
-bear colony – hospital room
-thom yorke – black swan
-fruit bats – legs of bees
(they were doing some sort of animal theme song set. yes, really.)
locksley – let me know
gruff rhys – beacon in the darkness

anyone familiar with these bands/artists?

-last nite i was a rock climbing ninja. i’m still giddy about it, in fact. i warmed up on routes that i’d never even sent (finished) and climbed two full grades above my previous best (climbed 5.10b last nite, previously had only sent 5.9+). i would like to attribute the improvement to having spent both days this weekend lead climbing outdoors, but my climbing partner thinks that i was just more relaxed (also a benefit of spending the better part of two days around dirt, rock and trees). either way, last nite saw in big jump in my mind/skill set.

over and out…

new music monday – 4.23.07

this weekend i downloaded 3 new albums from emusic. (a service which i highly recommend that any/every music fan subscribe to. if you do, please please please let me “officially” refer you. i’ll get some free downloads.)i’ve been in a “chill” music mode for a few weeks, but don’t really have much in that particular genre, so i asked my buddy kevin for some recommendations and got to downloading.

the first album i downloaded is by the album leaf, called one day i’ll be on time. the best way i could describe it would be to call it rock & roll sound scape or environmental music. it has nice, repetitive phrasingand good atmosphere. it’s hard describing songs and records that don’t have words, so i’ll just say that it’s pleasant, and that it’s good chill music for fans of indie rock. think nick drake making indie rock, and not singing.

also on the “rock & roll chill” download list was explosions in the sky’s album how strange, innocence. this album is a bit more psychedelic and experimental, closer to pink floyd than nick drake. again, without vocals. the songs take a little longer to develop and “travel” a bit more from start to finish. if starflyer59 or smashing pumpkins made chill music, this might be what it would sound like.

the album that i think will be most frequently played around my house will probably be a data learn the language by the mercury program. it’s a little more along the lines of what i think of when i think of chill music. from what i can tell, all of the music is live, not loops and keyboards and computers. of the three records, i think it’s the most accessible and the most listener friendly. the album has nice melody lines and fantastic live drumming, and the songs go into interesting places. if you were only going to download one of these three albums, i’d say it should be this one.

so there you have it, three very basic reviews of three very good albums. i’m trying to utilize this emusic subscription a bit more effectively, so i’ll be downloading more frequently and i think i’ll try to do a review of whatever i downloaded that week each monday. if you’re a music fan and a reader of my blog, give me a recommendation of what you think i should check out this week, or in the coming weeks. if you’ve got any of the records that i review and want to comment on them, or make recommendations in the “recommended if you like” vein, feel free.

that’s new music monday, brought to you by the fine folks at (insert name here) for april 23rd, 2007.

(next week (i think): lemonade by breaking laces, or country falls by husky rescue. i’m also going to download some “earthscape” music to fall asleep to, but i think that would make for the worst album review ever, so i probably won’t discuss it.)

truffle shuffle – 4.20.07

i’m really trying to be productive at work this week, so i’m dicking around with ye olde blog quite a bit less than normal. i promise that i’ll have some chewy posts for you guys in the next few days. for now, i give you the truffle shuffle* for friday april 20, 2007:

-do the evolution, pearl jam, yield
-achin’ to be, the replacements, don’t tell a soul
-it’s a wonderful lie, paul westerberg, suicaine gratifaction (but this version’s live from some radio station in germany or something)
-damn girl, justin timberlake, futuresex/lovesounds
-voodoo candle, jay farrar, sebastapol
-you’ve really got a hold on me, the miracles, the ultimate collection
-the bar is a beautiful place, ryan adams, side 4 (gold bonus disc)
-any major dude will tell you, wilco, me, myself & irene soundtrack
-rosalita (come out tonite), bruce springsteen, the wild, the innocent and the e street shuffle
-everybody out of the water, the wallflowers, red letter days

so there you have it, the first 10 songs that shuffled across my digital turntable. go ahead, let me see your truffle shuffle.

*calling it the random 10, or the God’s-playing-mindtricks-with-me-again 10 doesn’t sound festive or lighthearted enough, so i decided to name it after chunk’s gyrations. after all, it’s 10 random songs, shouldn’t i be happy about it?

it’s so easy, it’s so easy

woaaaaaaah yeah!

thanks to lynnster’s advice, i now have learned how to post new pages to my site, and it’s easy. for those who don’t know how to do it, if your templates like mine, all you have to do is:

click on “my dashboard”
go to “presentation”
“sidebar widgets”
drag and drop the “pages” widget on to your sidebar.

so that, my friends, is it. feel free to visit my “100 things” page and comment away.

(edit: so i just realized that i pretty much just restated what lynnster said in my comments.my ability to think clearly has clearly been compromised by sex, rock & roll and the liberal media.)

help!

i have a separate wordpress page that i want to publish, but don’t know how to do so. any of your wordpressers know how to do it?