A Short Anecdote from Grade One.

Here, I 've very brief story from my youth (which wasn't very long ago at all).
It was Mrs. Olive's first grade class, and we were to take a survey on a very controversial matter: that of favorite colors. Mine was undoubtedly orange. I had even found friendship with a classmate, who also favored orange. This should have been an easy thing.
But immediately, it all began to fall apart. Mrs. O. called around the room asking each kid what was there favorite color? Red, blue, red, blue, red, red, blue, red... and so on. (Childhood political party affiliations, perhaps?) Until my orange comrade--"Orange. " It crept up to me, and during the wait I was having a terrible trial in my mind, something á la Jean Valjean. I didn't want to stick out from the vast sea of Blues and Reds and say something so passe as orange... but I knew my Orange friend would know I was lying. Finally, it was my turn-- and I uttered "Blue."

Everyone picked blue or red, except for the single Orange. I regret the vote even now, because it's so against my free-thinking code. Just because I wanted to blend and fit in to that purple mess of kids, I forsaked my first love, Orange. Don't let it happen to you. Tell them your favorite color, my friends, and do it with confidence!

The Music Tapes present: Song for Planet Pluto

This rumour-song has finally surfaced over at the Townhall, much to our surprise and glee:


Hey thanks, Pitchfork!

A song for Pluto, that poor once-planet. The song is very pretty and very meaningful, and the cute video complements it perfectly. It's a sort of humorous melancholy little piece. But it works out in the end, so it's all right. Also, hello there, Kevin Barnes, I didn't know you were an astronomy enthusiast--it's nice seeing you again. Woo, Julian, I like your songs. Trum didi didi trum trum rum a dum.

Birthday!

Today is my birthday, WOO! In honor of the holiday (heh), I have for you my favorite birthday party photo ever, directly from the Grandparents' archives..

There's old Antonio, little Marc the man of the hour, Mary, and Gary. For me, this is just the best photo... look at those kids' faces! Their eyes and smiles are so cute and they say so much. Regretfully, I think that the poor old clown cake got brutally cut and eaten shortly after having this photo taken, but you know, I never get tired of looking at this one.

The Breeders at the Fine Line

Went to see the Breeders again yesterday, and they really never fail to amaze me. This show was arguably even better than last year's... and that's saying something. Maybe it's because I was directly under Kim for this one...
They opened with "Hoverin'," while Kim manned the snare (well, mostly-- I know your drumroll secret, Kim) and sang. Kim and Kelley are as cool as ever. They're a perfectly polite and amiable pair. I love them both. Cheryl seems well acclamated now, as well. She handled herself surprisingly well when Kelley ripped out one of her red dreadlocks. Plan on seeing a Kelley Deal bag with an ratty old red dread for the handle in the future. Mando and Jose didn't talk much, as usual, but they played their instruments phenomenally (like always). There was no lack of variety with songs from every album, plus Amps. Their sets are always great... they don't neglect their older albums like some bands will. The Breeders, they've got it down. They know how to put on a great show, and they do everytime.

P.S.--I love you Kim, and I'm happy I got to experience you spitting on me!

Creepy Skull Cloud

The bony face, can you see it? An omen, maybe? Dear me, I hope not.

Conglomeration

First: Let us wish our dear Nelson Mandela happy birthday. Happy 91st, Madiba! You're a hero!

Next: Going to see the Breeders again on August the 11th. I'm getting pretty ecstatic about that. Plus, I learned how to properly open a banana--hint, try pinching the other side. I've been playing my saw on the roof and I got a pair of sunglasses at the antique store for 400 cents that make me look like Dr. Strangelove and I've begun the construction of my tiny cardboard house. Lots of things I've done.

And, I have gotten through most of one of the grandparents' photo albums, which I dubbed the Brown Album. Sounds like a Beatles or Weezer type of name, doesn't it. This one was filled with zillions of old ones of my grand-relatives and their relatives and it is all just brilliant. Here I have

a couple of my favorites. On the left is my late Uncle Butch (recall?) holding a rat he caught. The little mobster on the right is my Grandpa Tony, whom I idolize, standing ring with a huge pile of wood making for a picturesque backdrop. These are circa 1935 or 36, making Butch and Grandpa around 13 and 9 years old, respectively.

Honestly, I never get tired of looking at these. Maybe it's just a personal obsession, but when I look at them it's like visiting an alternate space, and I try to piece that these are the people I know. Time, man, it's a bloody spaceship. I'll put up more of these soon, hopefully.

Out of the Archives

I am beginning a great effort this summer to copy all my grandparents' old photos into digital. The idea began this year while searching for a single photo of my great-grandfather Antonio, when I was shown album after album after album of wonderful old photos of my predecessors, most of whom I never got to meet! To me, it's some sort of trove; hundreds of fading, black-and-whites that show the people who've put me here. It's both an aesthetic pleasure as well as a historical one. It's all there, but it's vulnerable, too. I wouldn't want some freak accident (volcanic eruption, alien invasion, return of the super-ape) to go and ruin them all. And so begins my quest...

Delicious

This is the most amazingly delicious thing anyone can ever eat on the planet earth, and I have a stash of it. Oh yes. It's the time of year when my wonderful Grandmum makes her strawberry freezer jam, and she gave me five jars. Oh, it tastes so good. I eat it by spoonfuls right out of the jar. It is the greatest memory and taste of my life, I think. Oishii, as they say.

Stuff.

The school year ended yesterday for me, and in all the hubbub I managed to finish one last art project. The Music Tapes show of February had affected me so wonderfully, I thought I would make some Music Tapes-inspired bits. I suppose you could call them "jewelry," but I guess when I was making them I wasn't really thinking jewelry as much as little metal bits. Also, they make a chiming sound when you have them all together on strings (perfect).

Record Show!

On Saturday the mums and I went to a neat little record show at the VFW on Lyndale Ave. in Minneapolis that my dear old teacher Mr. Lewis had been promoting in his room for a while. It was raining like a pissing cow that day, but we had fun and enjoyment anyways. We spent some two hours flipping through all the milk-crates of records and 45s and talking to the vendors (some of whom were pretty interesting cats), and I ended up picking up a few things I've never heard of, and thought I would just try them all out. I got some albums by the bands Brian Brain, Fungus Brains, and the Posterchildren, plus some lovely Greek vocal stylings by Nana Moskouri, a Russian Orchestral Pieces record, and some Hungarian Gypsy Melodies. This show was fun. I think I've found my self a new hobby or maybe obsession.

The Breeders: Fate to Fatal (Reprise)

Oh yes.

This was setting on my stoop today and I'm pretty excited about having it. I set the needle on it right away, and I must say, it's really good. Yes.

The Breeders: Fate to Fatal

The Breeders have a new EP coming out on Tuesday entitled "Fate to Fatal," about which I am feeling pretty happy. They're releasing with recognition to Record Store Day, which quite possibly is my new favorite holiday. With Mountain Battles out just last year, it's good to see another release from the Deals, who are wonderful. And hopefully, a tour, so I can see them again. The "Fate to Fatal" video is up now, and it's a really cool song. It's just... cool. So keen sounding. Here, have a listen:



And don't forget about Breeders Digest.

Andrew Bird at the State Theatre

Saturday the eleventh of April, my mum and I watched Andrew Bird play his lovely violin at the (historic) State Theatre in Minneapolis. We've both seen him before, but this time was really smashing.
His buddy artist Haley Bonar opened up for him, and although I can't say I'm a huge fan of her style of music, she's got a beautiful voice and represents Minneapolis well. She made another appearance later in the night, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So, our dear Andrew came out playing his violin and removing his shoes. He moves his stockinged feet and sways those hips just to make us swoon, I think. He played lovely pieces on his violin, and after awhile the rest of his band came out to join him. They played a lot from Noble Beast, including the wonderful 'Masterswarm,' 'Effigy' (which he explained was about that guy who sits at the end of the bar, sketching weird things in his notebook), and a jazzed-up version of 'Fitz and Dizzyspells.' And a bit later, 'Armchairs.' (Oh, wow). Time's a crooked bone, indeed. Of course he did the regulars, 'Dr. Stringz,' and 'Nervous tic motion,' during which he sporadically threw his head to the left. And later, he recruited Ms. Bonar to sing with him on 'Scythian Empires,' which was quite beautiful. They finished with 'Fake Palindromes,' which was a final burst of energy, to say the least, but he wasn't quite finished. He came out and did an encore, which included 'Table and Chairs' and another one in which he spoke along the words while playing his violin, as if it is a part of him. He painted pictures with his arms and hands, with all these flowery gestures that we never got to see at Rock the Garden. He belongs onstage in the theatre, I think. After that, he left the stage, only to come back for a second encore. Nice.

Dreadfully, all the photos I took are blurry enough to cause seizures, so I'll sample one of the better ones here:

[I know, it's pretty bad.]