Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Chicago” — Sufjan Stevens, from the album “Illinoise“
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The Brew House
Writing for Writing's Sake
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#MusicMonday: Vampire Weekend
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Ottoman” — Vampire Weekend, off the soundtrack from, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist“
In Vampire Weekend terms, this is the “song from the Nick and Norah soundtrack that re-uses the Peter Gabriel lyric.” Enjoy.
On Al Borland singing God Bless America at the Royals’ home opener
I wrote about this on Facebook the other day. But that just didn’t seem sufficient.
On Friday afternoon, the Royals played the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium in their 2012 home opener. There was a flyover, and pageantry, and one of those big, damn American flags. The Royals — as they are wont to do — got blitzed 8-3.
But here’s the moment, the scene that sparked the Facebook post (the scene that is tempting me to write a 25,000 word screenplay): Al Borland showed up at Kauffman Stadium to sing “God Bless America.”
#MusicMonday: Alabama Shakes
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Hold On” — Alabama Shakes, off the album, “Boys & Girls”
Debut album. Soulful sound. And lead singer Brittany Howard is three levels of badass. Here’s a full first listen from NPR Music and a solid review from the Chicago Tribune.
Thanking David Beckham (and Gurinder Chadha, Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra)
This post, which is not about soccer, begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Sunday preceding Thanksgiving, one hour and 15 minutes before David Beckham will don the Los Angeles Galaxy uniform for possibly the last time, trying to emphatically conclude an experiment, marred with record losing streaks, coaching changes, and superstar infighting between him and Landon Donovan, that had come so close to derailing as one of the sports world’s biggest busts just two years ago.
I might watch the game. I’m not sure. I’ve just been paying a lot more attention to Beckham the last few weeks, because I need to thank him.
*****
About a month ago, as I melted onto my couch in a post-surgical haze, downing bowls of macaroni and cheese and chocolate chip-cookie-dough ice cream because my operated-upon mouth couldn’t handle anything sufficient, I decided to watch a movie.*
Continue reading
#MusicMonday: IV
Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.
This week: “Two” — The Antlers, off the album “Hospice“
Honorable Mention: “Never Let Me Go,” — Florence and The Machine; “Det Haster!” — CasioKids
Thanks for stopping by the Brew House.
Boxer
We’re half awake in our fake empire.
***
Push through a revolving door and break the plane of a cold that hangs solid in the air and amplifies all the small sounds, making the busy sidewalk feel almost empty. The lights from the taller buildings — 30 or 40 or more stories up — create a soft electric glow, a warm blanket of false twilight that hovers and holds the city close.
Maybe you’re headed home to dinner and bed. Perhaps you’re off to the gym. If it’s Thursday, you might be bound for a bar or dinner to meet co-workers or make connections. No matter where you’re going, you’re headed to whatever semblance of home you’ve built sooner rather than later, because tomorrow’s Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday. Another day of work.
This is all you have and this is all you have looked forward to. This is life as one in however many million, this is growing up and growing older in New York City.
The National is the soundtrack.
Unsolicited Endorsements: III
Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its (new) weekly mix of author-supported goodness.
Album: “Hello Sadness”, by Los Campesinos!
In this post-Postal Service era of guitar-free indie pop music, Los Campesinos! dares to be different. The seven-piece band from Cardiff, Wales, is making some of the biggest, most dramatic and best indie of the past few years, and doing it without the use of pulsating synth bass lines or precious computer-generated percussion. Continue reading
On Baywatch, telenovelas and family
Earlier this month, June Thomas wrote an interesting piece for Slate on the somewhat amazing success of Univision, the Spanish-language television network most people know for its flashy soap operas as well as being the source material for The Simpsons’ Bumblebee Man (I think.)
Univision, according to the piece, has become one of the most-watched networks in the U.S. (It’s been No. 1 among all viewers on Friday nights for four seasons.)
Now, to be honest, this post has really nothing to do with Univision — at least, not in a concrete or tangible way.
But… one of the reasons Thomas cited for Univision’s widespread popularity reminded me of a part of my life I hadn’t thought about in years. Continue reading
(Truly) Free WiFi From Starbucks
As someone who is only tangentially in the real world, a journalist, I am unshackled to a cubicle and granted the freedom to work from multiple locations that change on a daily basis. They are governed by the job: sporting events, places for in-person interviews, etc. And they are governed by choice: my home, libraries, coffee shops, and the side of a dark, country road inhabited by people who wear straw hats when I get lost trying to find locations governed by the job. 
I especially like coffee shops. Continue reading
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