I need you so much closer.
Every once in a while, I feel like time travel must be possible. Maybe not in the traditional, sci-fi way; or the clever and surprising narrative device way; but certain things seem imbued with wormhole-like capabilities to transport me to a completely different time and place. The way the air smells, a familiar landmark, re-reading a book... today, it's music. Specifically, Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie. And maybe it's also due to the distinct drop in temperatures outside and the sense that change is literally in the air and figuratively in the country. Maybe it's the lack of sleep and the day after a weekend that involved a road trip to a concert and a speech tournament. But whatever it is, I'm suddenly back in the fall of senior year at North Central and everything seems profound and meaningful and exciting and music isn't just background noise, it's a secret language that tells us everything we need to know about ourselves and each other. Hearing a song you like on the radio or in a movie is your own personal miracle, not just a chance coincidence. It's a "how did they know I needed to hear that song at this very moment" type of thing, and "they" could be anyone and the need to hear it is as palpable and real as the need for oxygen.
When you're a kid, there's no sense of scale. Everything that happens to you is either the worst thing that's ever happened to you or the best thing that's ever happened to you. As you grow up and have more and more experiences, the spectrum of best and worst gets filled up with things that fall somewhere between the two extremes. And, from time to time, things happen that redefine the spectrum by falling on either end of it. To quote Edward Norton in Fight Club, "On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero." And similarly, over a long enough timeline, the importance of any one life event drops to zero too, I suppose. But every once in a while, it's fun to be nostalgic and give in to the illusion that our lives and their little triumphs and tragedies really do matter--bell curve of infinity be damned.
On Friday, Tim and I drove to almost Indianapolis to see Kings of Leon for free at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Despite traffic nightmares and rain and rampant drunken public urination and occasional stampedes, we got there just as KOL took the stage and subsequently got our faces rocked right off. The band played a combination of their older blistering blues/southern rock songs and selections from the album that has finally made them as famous as they deserve to be. Caleb (lead singer) mentioned that they'd been feeling a bit under the weather, but we wouldn't have known otherwise. His voice soared and yowled and broke and mended our hearts for an hour and a half as his brothers and cousins tore it up on their respective instruments. All the while, the lights and video screens behind them scintillated and illuminated the stage and made everything larger than life. Below is the setlist (I didn't memorize it; I tried but lost track so this is one I found elsewhere online). It contains all my favorites, and while I was sort of hoping we might get to hear something new, it was great to sing along with such a massive crowd.
CRAWL
CHARMER
BE SOMEBODY
KING OF THE RODEO
TAPER JEAN GIRL
MOLLY'S CHAMBERS
FANS
REVELRY
I WANT YOU
FOUR KICKS
THE BUCKET
SEX ON FIRE
NOTION
MANHATTAN
ON CALL
COLD DESERT
TRANI
---
encore:
CLOSER
KNOCKED UP
USE SOMEBODY
BLACK THUMBNAIL
According to the band, this was the biggest crowd they'd ever played for and they kept remarking on how grateful they were and how amazing that everyone was on their feet and this is America and it's raining and it's still a packed amphitheater of fans singing along. Nice to see that popularity has not diminished KOL's appreciation of the audience.
I think I'm watching more television now than I ever have in my life before now. And it's GOOD stuff, not marathons of VH1 D-list-sploitation. True Blood just ended its season, but there are about 15,000 more shows to take its place on my TiVo. Part of the problem here is that over the summer when there was a good TV drought, I caught up with a bunch of shows on DVD that I hadn't watched before and now I'm hooked and must watch their new seasons. In that category we have things like Big Bang Theory (way smarter and funnier than I would've thought based on promos) and Breaking Bad (way darker and more fascinating than I would've thought based on Bryan Cranston's portrayal of the wacky dad on Malcolm in the Middle) and Mad Men (which everyone hyped so much I didn't think it could possibly live up and then it totally did). Returning shows that I love include The Office, Parks and Recreation, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, and The Amazing Race. New shows that are awesome (of the ones I've watched so far): Community (Joel McHale & Chevy Chase are great together), Modern Family (not your typical family sitcom and really great pilot), and Bored to Death (Jason Schwartzman plus Ted Danson plus Zach Galifinakis=how can you possibly go wrong). Still need to watch Glee and FlashForward and probably some other stuff. And I'm sure I'm missing out on other shows that people think are great but I also have a life or like to think so and can't spend all my free time on the couch. Ah well. It's nice to have fun things to watch, and I hope you get a chance to see some of these too.
That's it for me. Back to work I go. Happy days to all!
When you're a kid, there's no sense of scale. Everything that happens to you is either the worst thing that's ever happened to you or the best thing that's ever happened to you. As you grow up and have more and more experiences, the spectrum of best and worst gets filled up with things that fall somewhere between the two extremes. And, from time to time, things happen that redefine the spectrum by falling on either end of it. To quote Edward Norton in Fight Club, "On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero." And similarly, over a long enough timeline, the importance of any one life event drops to zero too, I suppose. But every once in a while, it's fun to be nostalgic and give in to the illusion that our lives and their little triumphs and tragedies really do matter--bell curve of infinity be damned.
On Friday, Tim and I drove to almost Indianapolis to see Kings of Leon for free at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Despite traffic nightmares and rain and rampant drunken public urination and occasional stampedes, we got there just as KOL took the stage and subsequently got our faces rocked right off. The band played a combination of their older blistering blues/southern rock songs and selections from the album that has finally made them as famous as they deserve to be. Caleb (lead singer) mentioned that they'd been feeling a bit under the weather, but we wouldn't have known otherwise. His voice soared and yowled and broke and mended our hearts for an hour and a half as his brothers and cousins tore it up on their respective instruments. All the while, the lights and video screens behind them scintillated and illuminated the stage and made everything larger than life. Below is the setlist (I didn't memorize it; I tried but lost track so this is one I found elsewhere online). It contains all my favorites, and while I was sort of hoping we might get to hear something new, it was great to sing along with such a massive crowd.
CRAWL
CHARMER
BE SOMEBODY
KING OF THE RODEO
TAPER JEAN GIRL
MOLLY'S CHAMBERS
FANS
REVELRY
I WANT YOU
FOUR KICKS
THE BUCKET
SEX ON FIRE
NOTION
MANHATTAN
ON CALL
COLD DESERT
TRANI
---
encore:
CLOSER
KNOCKED UP
USE SOMEBODY
BLACK THUMBNAIL
According to the band, this was the biggest crowd they'd ever played for and they kept remarking on how grateful they were and how amazing that everyone was on their feet and this is America and it's raining and it's still a packed amphitheater of fans singing along. Nice to see that popularity has not diminished KOL's appreciation of the audience.
I think I'm watching more television now than I ever have in my life before now. And it's GOOD stuff, not marathons of VH1 D-list-sploitation. True Blood just ended its season, but there are about 15,000 more shows to take its place on my TiVo. Part of the problem here is that over the summer when there was a good TV drought, I caught up with a bunch of shows on DVD that I hadn't watched before and now I'm hooked and must watch their new seasons. In that category we have things like Big Bang Theory (way smarter and funnier than I would've thought based on promos) and Breaking Bad (way darker and more fascinating than I would've thought based on Bryan Cranston's portrayal of the wacky dad on Malcolm in the Middle) and Mad Men (which everyone hyped so much I didn't think it could possibly live up and then it totally did). Returning shows that I love include The Office, Parks and Recreation, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, and The Amazing Race. New shows that are awesome (of the ones I've watched so far): Community (Joel McHale & Chevy Chase are great together), Modern Family (not your typical family sitcom and really great pilot), and Bored to Death (Jason Schwartzman plus Ted Danson plus Zach Galifinakis=how can you possibly go wrong). Still need to watch Glee and FlashForward and probably some other stuff. And I'm sure I'm missing out on other shows that people think are great but I also have a life or like to think so and can't spend all my free time on the couch. Ah well. It's nice to have fun things to watch, and I hope you get a chance to see some of these too.
That's it for me. Back to work I go. Happy days to all!