The Decemberists

A few posts ago, I went into detail about a new album that I have really fallen in love with. That album is The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love. If you read my earlier post you would know that it was an entire "folk-opera" complete with different voices for characters. Well last night I was able to go see the Decemberists live in Raleigh, NC. It was one of the early tour dates that they are doing in which they are performing their entire new cd in its entirety. If you think to yourself: "Self! This is amazing! I wish I could hear that amazing album live in its entirety for myself!" Well you can! This link was recorded from the soundboard and aired live over NPR. I cannot even tell you how unbelievable this show was. The Decemberists had all of the members for the various parts in costume and singing and somewhat acting their parts out. After they had played through all 17 tracks of their new cd, they took a break and came back out to play some older songs! Then they did something that I have always dreamed would happen to me. They pulled people from the audience and let them play their instruments! Ever since I was a little boy at Hardee's Walnut Creek with my dad and Phillip Neuhart watching Lynryd Synyrd I have wanted to be pulled on stage and allowed to play with the band. Some little 12 year old kid and highschool girl last night just had their lives MADE.

Here are some pictures that I took.

First I will say that I was fascinated by this light. I have always been a fan of light rays and these last night were beautiful! I wonder if there are visible light rays coming from the Lord in heaven? I hope so, it's one of the most beautiful things I know of.

On another note, the accordion player in the band last night was unbelievable! Wow.

All in all it was a fantastic night. I got to see an amazing band, put on an amazing show and I had amazing seats! I also got to see friends I haven't seen in years, and some that I see all the time. It is totally worth being tired today!

David

Tonight I became a coupon cutter. Never thought I'd see the day.

Summer Happenings

Summer means so many things to all of us. We look forward to so many different things. We look forward to getting out of school, going to the beach, flowers, summer lovin ( had me a blast ). I used to look forward to swim team, being in the woods all day making forts and having bamboo sword fights. Now I look forward to summer because of the hobos. I know it is summer time because in the last several days I have seen the travelers start to emerge. Saturday I saw 2 hitchikers, and today I saw a train hopper. I wrote this in my journal after I saw him, "Once you ride the rails the love for them will never go away; neither will the silent call of the tracks or the beckoning whistle of a passing engine go unnoticed."

That made me think of a much better quote said by the king of Hobos himself A-no 1: "When I started out the wanderlust was upon me and I enjoyed the zest of adventure. Later I travelled because it became a habit with me, and now, although I hate the life I travel because I cannot stop." A-no 1

Here's to the unforgettable experience of hitching and hopping across the

country with Mark, and a shout out to the people whom we met along the way who changed our lives.

(And to Funky who is not pictured here but is one of my best friends in the world)

I have always been a fan of sad songs, sad stories, especially sad love stories and increasingly more I am loving very emotional songs, and if they are about settling down and starting a family that is even better. (Since that is the point where I am at in my life) So here is a song that is about that and is very emotional. It's by Des Ark and I think it's beautiful.

Two Hearts Are Better Than One.

Enjoy!

David

ps. Also yesterday I got out of my car at the ending of a song. I was at my house for several hours and got back into my car at the beginning of the EXACT SAME SONG. Weird huh?

Sad Songs and Waltzes

I was doing my traditional Friday Cleaning, you know the swiff and mop cleaning when I began to think about sad songs about funerals. Kinda morbid and weird, but here's the list I came up with. Any one out there have more ideas?

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

The Ballad of Curtis Lowe - Lynryd Skynyrd

Casimir Pulowski Day - Sufjan Stevens

November Rain - Guns - n - Roses

Funeral For Friend - Elton John

At your Funeral - Saves the Day

Currently Listening to:

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing

Currently Reading:

The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus - John Cross

Deception Point - Dan Brown

Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott

Some News

I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. It lasted all morning until I was eatting breakfast(which in retrospect wasnt very long), but upon my first awake to the dozing laying in bed stage to the actually getting up stage to the shower stage to the dressing and then eatting sage it was friday. About halfway through my bowl of Frosted Flakes it hit me. My arms flung in the air as if in protest to Thursday knocking off my box of Frosted Flakes which fell on the floor spilling everywhere. A crude welcome to Thursday! Blah! For a moment looking at my Frosted Flakes I thought... recycle? Then decided against it and threw them away. 

In other news for those of you wanting a high maintenance, expensive, glow-in-the-dark pet for Christmas look your wait is over! Scientists in Japan have created "Pocket Monkeys" which glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. The best news...they are REAL monkeys. Here's what the news article said

Quite apart from their glow-in-the-dark capabilities, the transgenic marmosets are also handier and more portable than ordinary experimental monkeys. At around 20cm tall, they are easily transported in a lab-coat pocket. The palmtop primates are "less expensive to handle and house" than regular lab chimps and so forth, according to Science magazine.

VERY interesting! 

Also remember Cameron Frye's house in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The one that was all glass and had the red ferrari? Remember how you always wanted to live there? (me either) Well now you can because it's for sale! 

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/ferris-bueller.html

That's all my news for today. 

David 

Foiled Again

Well yesterday I was very excited because I thought I had won a contest for a $250 Amazon gift card. Well I couldn't help but be so excited that I actually began looking at Amazon.com to find things that I wanted that I might buy. Well alas, I don't think I won, and now I know of several things I want from Amazon but with no winnings to buy them. Oh well.

There is an album I have been listening to the Decemberists album "The Hazards of Love." The whole album is one complete story complete with different voices! If you wanted to listen to it, you might be able to find the album in 2 parts at this site. I will now attempt to tell you the story of William and Margaret. (In chronological order for ease of understanding)

There was once a boy named William who when he was born put into a clay basket and sent down the Annan River. The Annan river is one serious river! It was super deep, and had raging waters! William was saved by the Evil Queen. In an attempt to make him her own, she made him to be a fawn during the day and a man during the night. Well one day our heroine Margaret goes for a ride and comes across the fawn (William). It was late evening and when she went to go check on it the fawn turned into William! Margaret and William instantly fell in love. Well the evening draws to an end and Margaret goes back home only to realize that she is pregnant. When she begins to show she goes back into the forest to find William. When she does they spend the night again and William goes to his mother (the queen) and asks for her permission to spend the rest of his nights with his one true love Margaret. The Queen then is VERY upset, and says something like: This is how I am repaid!? I saved you from the raging Annan Waters and you want to just ditch me? So William changes his tactics and asks the queen if he can just spend one more night with her. The Queen agrees to this, knowing that William is going to try to take off with Margaret. Enter the Rake. The Rake is a man who got married at the age of 21 and LOVED it until his wife started having tons of babies! On the 4th child however, the wife and the child died. In order to "regain" his old life the Rake decides to kill all of his other children in various ways. The Queen goes to the Rake and says that she can be his as long as they go across the Annan Waters and never return. The Rake of course agrees and the Queen carries the Rake and the captive Margaret across Annan Waters. William however realizing something is amiss begins to track the Rake and his true love. He gets to Annan Waters and realizes he can't cross. He then pleads with the waters asking them to allow him to cross to save his own true love. He says that if they calm they could have his bones on his return. As William is sailing across Annan Waters the Rake is about to have his way with Margaret when all of a sudden his children come back to life to taunt and haunt him! William arrives just in time to save Margaret and escape with her! They get back in the boat and halfway across they start to sink. William in one of his finest moments...the last moments of their lives says to his true love: "Let's be married here today, these rushing waves to bear our witness. And we will lie like river stones rolling only where it takes us. With this long last rush of air we'll speak our vows in starry whisper. And when the saves came crashing down he closed his eyes and softly kissed her.

The End.

Wow. Don't you want to listen to that now!? Seriously it's beautiful.

Who's the demon in Angels in Demons?

The answer to that question is: Ron Howard. I just got back from seeing Angels and Demons, which in my opinion is a phenomenal book, it is NOT however a phenomenal movie. I have not been as disappointed in a movie since I saw The Lost World. What are the rules with taking liberties with another artist's work? What does Dan Brown think about it? I mean there are HUGE fundamental building blocks of the story that are not even mentioned in the movie. I need to do some research on the worst film adaptations for great books. If I find something good I'll post it here. Has anyone out there seen it and read it? Let me know! Oh wait, no one reads this blog..nevermind

David