My Guitar Has Arrived

Thank God. My guitar is safe at last.

Liv and I waited on hold with the airlines customer service number for 45 minutes yesterday only to be told they didn't have it and they didn't know where it was. When we said, "so it's lost" they corrected us and said it was just "misplaced." We didn't really get into what the difference was between the two with them but it was upsetting.

So then Phil came over and said we should all pray and agree that the guitar would be returned to us. I had a big "why didn't I think of that moment" and we all prayed together. It really eased my mind and I just felt like it would all be OK then. Well only about 45 minutes went by and then the airline called and said they had it and they would be delivering it between 7-10 last night.

Ten o'clock came and still no guitar. I didn't freak out though cause at least it was no longer "misplaced." About 1:30 in the morning last night the knocked on the door and Caleb heard them. He walked it right up and put it in the room with me and Liv. We were tired so we didn't hear him. I woke up this morning and went to swing my legs out of the bed and I ran into the box with my guitar in it. It was like a Santa moment when you were a kid. I'm just glad that I don't have to be distracted by this drama anymore and I can just play my guitar.

We Made It, But Not Taylor

We made it. I am sitting here in my in-laws house in Sydney writ ting this. It is such a long journey here but I am so excited. I feel like anything is possible right now. I guess it's just the feeling you get when you know you are obeying God.

The flight here was uneventful but I must say, Qantas is a very nice airline. Laugh at me if you must all you Australia detractors, but 60 on demand movies, 50 on demand albums and 25 channels of tv, plus better food, service and accommodation make it way better than United.

Except for one little thing. They lost my guitar. As it stands right now my Taylor is somewhere else in the world. I am not freaking out though. Everyone on our flight that had any baggage with "special handling" instructions lost their bag. So it's not just me, there's about fifty of us. Liv talked to the airline today and they said they think they have it and it should be here tomorrow. We will see.

Jet lag was pretty bad last night but I feel refreshed this morning. It will take a week or so before I feel completely normal but that's alright. It's all part of traveling 8,000 miles to a completely different day and time.

If I could describe my life in one word right now it would be anticipation. There are so many new things to discover and experience and I have just begun.

We Be Thuggin', They Be Movin'

Last Beer At The Cherry Cricket

The Sushi Den

This Made Me Laugh

Just read this over at Best Week Ever and I laughed out loud.

Carlos Santana is opening a chain of Mexican restaurants. Instead of a Mariachi band, some hippie will come up to your table and d*ck around on his guitar for 30 minutes while Rob Thomas sings, then serves your chimichanga.

I Will Miss This

I will miss the sunrises and sunsets we get in Colorado. The mountain range is so beautiful. Nothing like seeing this when you walk to your car in the morning.

I said good bye to my Grandparents over the weekend so I am feeling very melon collie. I can't wait to begin the next chapter of my life but right now I am just letting go of this one.

Valentines Day - Brooks Steak House

New Stuff

The best movie of 2006, "The Departed" comes out on DVD today. Luckily I have to head over to get an eye exam at Wal-mart after work so I will conveniently be able to pick up a copy.

I can't wait to take it home and rip it to my iPod so I can watch it on the long flight to Sydney (14.5 hours). If Martin Scorsese doesn't win best director for this one, he's never gonna win.

Then when I cam into work this morning I got a little surprise. The new Ted Leo & The Pharmacist record, "Living with the Living" has leaked. I downloaded it right away and have it all set up to be transferred to my iPod as soon as I get home. (A lot of my life seems to revolve around my iPod these days, lol).

Ted is an extremist left wing vegan weenie, but I love the music. They aren't the greatest band in the world or the most innovative, they just make good indie rock tunes. That's what it's about right? Rock and roll? Getting moved by the music? No? It's about the Dixie Chicks winning effing Grammies? Oh well, I can't wait to listen to Ted.

Playing Hooky

If any one asks, I was sick in bed at home.

Are You Ready For Some Grammy?

Gotta love those synthesizer medley Grammy performances.

And who could forget the soy bomb!

Best Wife In The World

So I have been having a rough day today. It's actually just stress from my personal life interfering with work. So my beautiful wife stops by my office and brings me my favorite coffee from Starbucks. She gives me a big kiss and tells me everything will be ok. I love being married to this woman. She is a dream come true.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible Review

Arcade Fire want to explode into your home. They want to burst in to your iPod and make every other album you own obsolete.

They try to grab a hold of everything on this album. The song topics and lyrics are huge. The subjects include life, death, love, hate, religion, politics, and all sorts of points in between.

Do they get it done? The answer is, sort of and God love them for trying. This album will not change the world, or your life, it is just a great album that knows what it is and tries to reach deeper than the rest of the crowd around it.

I have listened to this album a few times and the other night I went through the record track by track.

1. Black Mirror – A droning, dark track with a 2 word chorus the same as the title. This song feels David Bowie-ish to me. There's a sensuality to this track that the band has not touched on before. As far as openers go, it does not slam you against the wall. It just gets your attention and makes you want to hear the rest of what the band has to say.
   
   
2. Keep The Car Running – Driving beat, ready for the arena. Very Springsteen in both lyric content and in musical feel (which runs throughout the album). This is where the band wants you to know that they are going for something big. You can dance to this song and it feels very alive. Just like the best Springsteen stuff, it sounds very American.
   
   
3. Neon Bible - Four on the floor kick drum and repeating acoustic guitar riff. The album pulls back as soon as it looks like it will take flight. Of all the tracks on this record, I found myself singing the line “neon bible – not much chance for survival” over and over after I finished listening. The song is short at just over 2 minutes.
   
   
4. Intervention – An absolute WALL of pipe organ greats you in this song and the first line is “the king’s taking back the throne.” One word describes this song, Unafraid. The title is perfect for this song. The band is warning you. Don’t give in to convention, don’t be afraid, don’t follow the rules or “every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.”
   
   
5. Black Waves/Bad Vibrations – This song is split in to two parts. The first bit is lead by Régine and is a bit of a mis-step. Not in that it is bad, but Win’s voice is just so fantastic that I miss hearing it all the way through this tune. At 1:40 the tempo changes and Win takes over singing again and the song breaks the concrete as it lands on the ground. The beat pounds in your chest and the angels sing in the distance. This is my least favorite song on the record but it is still strong.
   
   
6. Ocean of Noise – A 50’s surf song drum beat and bass line are the foundations of this song. This song gets you ready for the second half of the record where the album really set's off. The outro sounds like ghosts covering the E Street Band.
   
   
7. The Well And The Lighthouse – Bang. The second half begins. The fastest tempo track on the record. “Heaven is only in my head” Win shouts and the band takes off. No band is doing this better right now than Arcade Fire. It feels like life and death hangs in the balance on this one before salvation comes in the form of a fifties music drum beat and guitar progression.
   
   
8. Antichrist Television Blues – An acoustic guitar introduces this song that again, sounds like the best of the boss. “Don’t wanna work in a building down town” is repeated and the song has the sound of the lost Midwest. This one just floors me. It’s not easy to put your heart on your sleeve on record and pure heart is being poured out all through this whole song.
   
   
9. Windowsill – Got up and got a beer in-between these two songs. The intense lyrics throughout this song make it my favorite. This song is rebellion. A rejection of everything and everyone around you. “MTV what have you done to me, save my soul and set me free.” Hell yeah.
   
   
10. No Cars Go – “No cars go where we know.” A lyric line that is open to your own interpretation like “where the streets have no name.” The drum beat and horns sound like Broken Social Scene and the strings propel the song along. The closing statement of the album like Rebellion (lies) was for funeral. The next song is a Post Script.
    
    
11. My Body Is A Cage – The opposite statement of the previous song. The last song says let’s go, we’re free, let’s get out of here, but this song says “my body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I love.” The song builds and builds until it climaxes when the band, an organ, string and horns all come crashing in. The song and album, end in a prayer. “Stay next to me, my mind holds the key, set my spirit free, set my spirit free, set my body free, set my body free”
    

This is really a brilliant record. Not even close to perfect, but it exceeds the expectations I had for a follow up from this band. This will no doubt be near the top of my year end list.

Thanks Natalie Portman

It seemed like only yesterday Natalie handed Zach those headphones and told him that the shins would change his life. A few seconds of New Slang and the tool from Scrubs said "I like it." I guess quite a few people agreed.

The Shins new album "Wincing The Night Away" has debuted at #2 with sales totaling 117,991. I never would have guessed that this band would ever debut that high. Imagine what it would have been if the album hadn't of leaked months ago? I've been listening to my copy for a long time now.

This band has allowed me a lot of great elitist moments since Garden State got popular on video. I could attack people on two fronts:
#1 They would say, "have you heard of this new band, the shins? They're good." to which I could sarcastically reply, "They are not a new band and yes, I know."

#2 They would say "I rented this movie Garden State last night, it was so cool." to which I would scowl and say, "yea, actually I saw that in the theater on opening night."

Two responses that would make Rob Gordon very proud I think.

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire

I couldn't resist. I have given in to temptation and downloaded a leaked copy of the new Arcade Fire album, "Neon Bible."

I have only listened to the album once, but so far I really like it. It's so different from their first album "Funeral," but still retains their signature feel.

I haven't had time to really absorb it yet, but I hope to listen to it several times over the next couple of days. I am going to try and post a track by track review sometime this week.

Is this band over-hyped? Yes. Are they gonna save rock and roll or any other grandiose crap like that? No. But I have been looking forward to this record and it does not disappoint so far.

Eno + Coldplay = ?

Brian Eno is currently at work with Coldplay, producing their next album. He was interviewed for BBC Radio 4 over the weekend and said the new album was “very original and very different from what they’ve done before.”

I'll admit I once hated Coldplay. I used to call them Radiohead-Lite. But now when I look at the pop music landscape, compared to most other bands on the radio/charts, Coldplay is damn good.

Eno is one of the most brilliant musical minds ever. He will not put up with the mediocrity or overly sentimental crap that this band has given in to in the past.

I remember before the last Coldplay album came out the band said something about the album being different and experimental but it was obviously not. It was a step forward for the band, but it was not the revolution to their sound that they claimed it would be. But if Brian Eno says your album is very original and different from what you've done in the past, I'm inclined to believe him. I am officially excited to hear this record.

Dick Cheney vs. Nancy Pelosi: The Blink-Off

Cheney - Ever vigilant, ever alert, never blinking.

What Kind Of Company Am I Working For?

Check out the typo on this AT&T bill that just arrived at the company I work for, "Humanscale." What the heck would this company do?

Sleeping At Last

Sleeping At Last "Keep No Score"

I can't stop listening to this album over the last couple of days. It is just so romantic and beautiful. Everything on this album is where it should be and every melody will break your heart and make you smile. I don't know if this is one of those records that hits you hard at first then fades into the back ground or if it will keep hitting me in the guts. But for now I am just enjoying every listen.

Check out some of their music on Myspace

Forbes Top Money Earners 2006

Forbes has released their list of the top money earners in music in 2006.

01. The Rolling Stones ($150.6 million)
02. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill ($132 million)
03. Rascal Flatts ($110.5 million)
04. Madonna ($96.8 million)
05. Barbra Streisand (95.8 million)
06. Kenny Chesney ($90.1 million)
07. Celine Dion ($85.2 million)
08. Bon Jovi ($77.5 million)
09. Nickelback ($74.1 million)
10. Dave Matthews Band ($60.4 million)

I did not buy anything from any of these bands this year. The only one I even LISTENED to was the Stones and that was a albums released nearly 40 years ago. This list has brought the following questions to my kojak/moby head:

Am I that out of touch with the rest of America?

How can a band that sucks as powerfully as Nickelback make nearly 100 mil?

Do people really listen to this crap?

and finally...
DO PEOPLE REALLY LISTEN TO THIS CRAP