A Day at Silverdocs

Eagan and I love the Silverdocs documentary film festival that comes every June to the AFI theatre in our neighborhood. We've seen four movies so far (The Interrupters -- from the guy who made Hoop Dreams, The Loving Story, and Our School). Our first movie today was Life in a Day. You remember the call last year for people to submit footage to YouTube for a documentary? Well this is the documentary. It was an excellent and impressive film.

Before the film started, I was waiting in line outside the theatre and guess who was standing next to me in line?  NPR's Linda Holmes! She's a pop culture/entertainment expert, and she writes for the NPR blog Monkey See and is on the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. I recognized her and we started chatting in line about the festival and the different movies we've seen. I get so geeked out over NPR hosts, apparently.

And then when I got home, I saw this:

@nprmonkeyseenprmonkeysee

Shouts to the very nice blog/podcast fan I met in line for LIFE IN A DAY. Humans spoke to me who knew who I was!

20 minutes ago via TweetDeck

She's referring to me!! Very cool.

P.S. The other movie we saw today was The Learning. It's a documentary about Filipino teachers that come to Baltimore to teach (because of Baltimore's teacher shortage, they're having to look for teachers internationally). The documentary focuses on four Filipino teachers' adjustments to teaching and living in the U.S., and the struggles they encounter when having to leave their families back in The Philippines. It was a really interesting documentary. I think it's coming to POV on PBS this fall.
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Space in the American West

There was a piece in The New Yorker by Geoff Dyer about traveling around the West looking at land art (e.g., "The Lightning Field" by Walter De Maria in New Mexico and "The Spiral Jetty" by Robert Smithson in Utah). One particular passage in the article expressed a familiar sentiment and it made me feel kind of homesick (that seems to be the best word) for the West. I guess another way of putting it is that it resulted in me having a longing for the West and its terrain. Here is the passage:

Perhaps it is not the natives of Texas or Arizona who fully appreciate the scale of the places where they have grown up. Maybe you have to be British, to come from a country the size of someone's back yard -- as Lawrence contemptuously expressed it -- to properly grasp the immensity of these Western states. So it's not surprising that Lawrence thought that "New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world" that he had ever had. Unprepared for the "shattering force" of the landscape, "a new part of the soul woke up suddenly."
The paradox of England: a tiny country that is impossible to get around. You can imagine a prospective visitor from Arizona studying a map of England and deciding, "Yep, we should be able to see most of this puppy in a couple of days." But how long does it take to travel from London to Gloucester? Anything from two and half hours to...well, better allow five, to be on the safe side. On the second thought, make that the best part of a day.
In the American West you can travel hundreds of miles and calculate your arrival time almost to the minute. We turned up for our rendezvous in Quemado at two o'clock on the dot. From Quemado, we drove four hundred and sixty miles to Zion, Utah, and got there exactly in time for our dinner reservation at eight-thirty. Our itinerary was as precise as De Maria's measuring.

I do appreciate the scale of the place I grew up. Eagan and I, having both grown up in Western states with wide open spaces, have discussed this topic together before. Time-and-Space is different outside of the West. Out here -- due to the roundabout nature of the roads (lots of indirect and twisting roads), the amount of traffic, and speed limit differences -- you don't get as far when you drive. I can drive for 30 minutes and end up only 7 miles away from where I started (and that's when traffic is not bad). In Utah, it takes 30 minutes to go from the city of Logan to Brigham City. That's 30 miles away. In the West, you have more opportunities to reach 30 miles in 30 minutes. Travel feels more substantial. From Logan to Brigham City you actually drive through a canyon and end up on the other side of a mountain range. You don't just end up 7 miles down the road.

Although I can get so much further distance-wise in the West (i.e., a better time-distance ratio), I can actually cover so much more territory on the East (in terms of borders). This paradox is due to the small size of Eastern states in relation to Western states. In Utah, driving for four hours will get me from northern Utah to central Utah. I can get halfway through one state. Out here, in four hours I can drive through six states (parts of six states). To further illustrate, the county I grew up in is almost half the size of the state of Delaware (in terms of land area). In fact, the county that borders the county I grew up in is almost three times bigger than the state of Delaware.

It definitely is an adjustment moving from the West to the East (or from the East to the West than to the East again, more appropriately). In the West, if you drive for 30 minutes you're going someplace 'special'. You're leaving your town. You're headed someplace else. Here, people commute 45 minutes just to get to their office.

Cafe Rio

Cafe Rio, a fast-fresh Mexican restaurant chain from Utah, has finally made it to the DC area. Cafe Rio has mostly expanded to states bordering Utah, but they made the jump out here probably because there's a pretty decent population of transplants from Utah. A lot of Utah mormons come out here to work for the government, or to attend one of the many universities here.

Cafe Rio is affectionately referred to as Mormon crack (the pork salads with the creamy tomatillo dressing are considered the most addictive). And, speaking from experience, you don't actually have to be Mormon to enjoy the food (I swear it!!). Every time we would go back to visit family in Utah, Cafe Rio would be on the list of places we had to go. When we moved away from Utah, we found copycat recipes so that we could enjoy Cafe Rio-esque food when the craving called. Now Cafe Rio has finally joined us here! And we couldn't have been more ecstatic. It's a bit out in the middle of nowhere (i.e., nowhere near a metro line), but luckily it's only a 25-30 minute drive from where we live. That could be a lot worse.

We heard about the new Cafe Rio location here during its first week of business. We heard the news on a Friday and went on a Saturday. So we went when it was still fairly new. We wondered if it would be very busy yet. Cafe Rios in Utah always have a line. It's just expected that if you want Cafe Rio, you're going to have to wait for it. We wondered how busy it would be at this one -- obviously Utahns in the area would definitely go, but how many would that be and how long would it take for them to hear that a Cafe Rio was in town? I should have known the power of Cafe Rio and its cult status... We pull into the new Cafe Rio and the parking lot was packed. We saw a shitload of minivans and SUVs -- the automobile of choice for many a mormon family. We also saw a decent amount of Virginia license plates (when Utah mormons move to the DC area, they end up living all over...but, there does seem to be a larger proportion that choose to live in Virginia. I guess DC and Maryland are just way too liberal for them...). Coming from Virginia means they were willing to drive quite the distance to get themselves some Cafe Rio. (Oh and there was even a Idaho license plate in the parking lot. They probably were relieved a Cafe Rio opened up while they were in town or when they just barely moved to town).

Walking into the Cafe Rio I experienced two things I don't see much of in the DC area: Tons of little kids and all the customers were white. Walking through those doors, I stepped into a portal that transported me to Utah. It really felt like we were in Utah. That could be the Utah embassy. There were so many young couples with children. There were also a decent amount of young pregnant women. I heard Utah accents. The outfits were Utah-mormon (including girls wearing tank tops under not-that-revealing shirts and dresses, men in khaki cargo shorts with brown leather flip flops. I also saw plenty of undergarment lines). The hair was Utah-mormon. It's hard to describe exactly what Utah-mormon hair or clothing looks like, it's just one of those things you know when you see it. Only people that grew up in Utah really know what I'm talking about. Just know that it looked like Utah exploded all over the place.

Eagan is posing with my salad and his. He didn't actually order two salads...

You could tell which people were the Utah transplants and which people were just visiting this new restaurant called Cafe Rio. The Utahns were the ones that didn't need to look at a menu at all, and they ordered their meals and all the fixings really quickly. I even saw people pulling out Cafe Rio stamp cards. You can always count on Utah mormons to be thrifty. Cafe Rio has a card where you get a stamp for each entree you purchase, and when you get 10, you get a free meal (and when this happens, the workers shout out "FREE MEAL!" They also shout out "EXTRA MEAT" when someone orders that). This Cafe Rio is in its first week, so the odds are this is the customers' first time coming to this particular Cafe Rio. Which means these customers have collected Cafe Rio stamps at other Cafe Rio locations and they keep the card with them, ready for any chance visit to a Cafe Rio. I myself do the exact same. I have a Cafe Rio card in my wallet that I keep for when I go to Utah, and I'm glad that I can now use it here. One person even got a free meal at Cafe Rio the night we were there (I bet the owners didn't think they'd be giving out a free meal that early in their tenure). That's another way you could tell the Utahns from the non-Utahns, when the workers would shout out "FREE MEAL!" or "EXTRA MEAT!", the Utahns didn't flinch at all. The other customers looked very confused.

One thing that kind of weirded me out is that the line/prep line went left to right at this location. Every Cafe Rio I have ever been to the line goes right to left...with the ladies making tortillas to the right and the person that puts your completed meal on the tray is to the left. It was the opposite here. It just felt wrong...

Halfway through our meal, we noticed a couple of young kids playing on the patio out front by the parking lot, unattended, while their parents ate inside. The kids were walking/balancing on a raised railing, with a cement patch down below. Like I said, I felt like I was actually in Utah.

But guess what?! This Cafe Rio is actually open on Sunday! That's definitely the time to go. I bet the place will be nearly empty. A Cafe Rio open on Sunday -- I never thought I'd see the day! I will revel in this rare opportunity.

Postcards from the Past

I love this time of year. There are flowers everywhere, the trees are all filled in and incredibly green, the weather is great (the options are usually sunny and warm or awesome thunderstorms). This is also the time of year where so many festivals happen and there's always some great outdoor events going on. Although our farmer's market is open year-round (which is so great), it's during this season that the market is at its fullest with vendors and patrons. I love the produce this time of year. Also, today is the first day of our neighborhood's seasonal craft vendor market. There's a lot of crafts and handmade stuff (Etsy type stuff), but there's also vendors that sell antiques, used books, records. It's this time of year that Eagan and I have our usual Saturday routine of heading down to the farmer's market, where we pick stuff out for dinner. Then we get pastries from our favorite French bakery tent and some coffee, and enjoy them on the patio of the coffeeshop. Sometimes we just talk and people-watch, other times we stay and read if it's particularly lovely out. Then we head down the street to the craft market, and fight the urge to buy everything we see. It's a great way to spend your Saturday morning.

At today's craft market there was a tent that had a bunch of old prints of product advertisements, old magazines, old playbills. They also had a bunch of old postcards. I was delighted to find these Utah postcards:

On the back of the top postcard it says "Salt Lake City (the Center of Scenic America) is the prettiest city in the United States [I love the modesty! Though, it is indeed quite pretty]. Nestled as it is at the foot of the lofty and picturesque Wasatch Mountains with the Great Salt Lake at its very doors, its location is unsurpassed. Arrange to spend at least three days here."

On the back of the bottom postcard it says "Main Street is one of the principal business thoroughfares of Salt Lake City, which is noted for its broad, straight streets. The standard width of a Salt Lake Street is 132 feet, allowing ample room for parking on either side and six lanes for driving." 

It was a 3 for $2 deal, so I also got this pretty Grand Teton National Park postcard:

On the back it says "The Grand Teton, 13,747 ft., the highest peak in the central Rocky Mountain region north of Colorado, is a majestic feature of the Grand Teton National Park, established by Act of Congress, February 26, 1929. The mountain summit is seldom attained, being considered one of the most difficult of ascent in the United States." 

Tidbit: The copyright is owned by a studio in Bozeman, Montana -- that's where Eagan grew up. 

Rocky Votolato & Matt Pond

Last night I attended an amazing concert with Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond (off Matt Pond PA, of course). How perfect that they're touring together -- that's like an all-star dream team for me. These are two of my favorite artists. I always get excited every time they release an album, and their albums never disappoint. Both are such great songwriters and singers. I've seen them both in concert numerous times and I'm always so impressed with their live shows.

I was thinking last night that it's been almost ten years since the first time I saw Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA in concert (MPPA was at Kilby Court. Rocky Votolato was at DV8, or whatever it was called back then. Didn't it go through like a billion name changes? Wasn't X-scape another name? I just googled Club DV8 and found out that the club actually burned down in 2008 and the building was demolished! Wow). Almost ten years. That kind of blew my mind a little bit -- where has the time gone? It also made me think about how not every musician/band I liked in high school has stood the test of time. There's stuff that was listenable to me back then but isn't so much now (Well, to be fair, it's still listenable. It's listenable in the sense that hearing it brings back feelings of nostalgia. But if I just heard it today, with no connection to any memories or events or history, it would not make the cut). But Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA have stood the test of time -- I love them just as much as I did back then, if not more (as the catalog grows, you appreciate it even more in its fullness).

Matt Pond is touring as a "solo" act -- in that he's touring as Matt Pond and not with the band Matt Pond PA. However, he played (stripped down) Matt Pond PA songs and he had some friends accompany him (a lead guitar player and a cello player. I was so glad to see the cello player -- hearing MPPA songs without a cello present just seems wrong). Both Matt and Rocky played songs from several of their albums, which I really appreciated and enjoyed. It was a great sampling. Although, as I was feeling nostalgic after reflecting on the fact that it's been 9 years for Rocky (or 11 if you count Waxwing) and 11 years for Matt Pond PA since I first bought their albums, I was (selfishly) hoping they would play something from what I consider my introductory albums. While Rocky did play a few songs as far back as Suicide Medicine (LOVE that album), I was hoping he would play at least one song from Burning My Travels Clean -- that's the album that first got me into Rocky as a solo act. I would have loved to hear "Don't Walk Out On Me" or "Like Silver". Matt played stuff as far back as The Green Fury. It really took me back. Though, I was really hoping he would play "The Hollows" from Measure. That's where it all started for me. Regardless, I still loved all the songs they played. They played a lot of my favorites.

The highlight of the night was when Matt sang with Rocky on "White Daisy Passing" and Rocky sang with Matt on "New Hampshire". Both are some of my favorite songs of theirs, and to have those be the songs they sang together was such a treat.

New Hampshire

A Day in the Life

Eagan got a new computer monitor at work today. It's a 24 inch monitor. And, to say the least, he is in love with it. Today at lunch we were chatting online, and this is the conversation that transpired:

Eagan: you would seriously love this monitor. it makes colors seem brighter, it makes food taste better, it makes the air seem cleaner.

Heather: HAHA! You are totally going to leave me for that thing

Eagan: i think i already have. i don't want it to have to sleep alone

Heather: haha!

It's like in the book we just read, where when the wife says she's leaving him he says, "well, I can't sleep without the dog." 

That screen is going to be your dog

Eagan: haha. totally

ZOMG! Newsmap on this monitor is AMAZING!!! it goes across the whole thing! it is enormous! lol

Heather: I really have lost you...you belong to the monitor now

Eagan: it is like 2 feet of news and colors!

Heather: what about this: http://dd.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/orrery_2006.swf

Eagan: no, it just kind of stays in the middle

Heather: oh, well EXCUSE ME! I guess your monitor isn't so perfect then, afterall!

Eagan: it looks pretty, but it doesn't spread out and use all of the beautiful room.

No, YOUR WEBSITE is the problem here!

Heather: haha! i knew that was coming!

Eagan: DON'T YOU QUESTION MONITOR!

Heather: It's going to turn on you in the end, like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey

Eagan: I know what we can do, the fate of Watson on Jeopardy will decide the fate of our marriage

Heather: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Eagan: if watson wins, i go with the monitor, if a meatbag wins, ill stay with you

Heather: A meatbag?! Is that how you see me?! A monitor is wonderful and beautiful, and I'm a meatbag?! haha

Eagan: haha

Shelfari also looks amazing on it. The colors are so crisp!

Heather: Haha.

Well if our marriage is determined by Watson's performance, I hope there's more puns he doesn't get!

Eagan: haha, totally. i love the one were Watson answered some totally random word and he was like 97% sure it was right

Heather: yeah, totally. Not as smart as ya think, DO YA?! [This a legendary quote uttered by a not-entirely-sober Davis]

Eagan: haha

Heather: It just goes to show that, at least now, computers can have all this great knowledge stored up, but they might not know how to access and retrieve it in a human way 

Eagan: Yeah

But it is really weird about my phone [his phone started malfunctioning today]. totally annoying, i don't understand why it happened.

Heather: Maybe it was jealous of your monitor and committed suicide.

Eagan: haha. indeed. i am about to do that. i feel like the monitor is doing most of my work now

Heather: haha! Wow, that thing has quite the power over you

Is it going to start stroking your arm and say, "I think you should get the basil salad"?

Eagan: haha

Heather: "Alrighty then," you seply

*reply

the seply typo makes me think of SHANGHAI SUPPLIES!

Hey, we should open a Chinese import shop and call it that!

Does your monitor think of awesome ideas like that?!? I don't think so!

...

You've left me for the monitor, huh?

Eagan: Sorry. sarah [a coworker] was asking me if I loved my monitor

Heather: HAHAHA!

Eagan: haha. Shanghai Supplies! that is awesome

i told her that i told you that i was considering leaving you for it. she loved it!

Heather: Haha

Eagan: I've told other coworkers about my new monitor. I feel dirty talking about my huge "monitor" on the phone. lol. 

Heather: Haha! 

What's the size of your new monitor, again?

Eagan: 24" extra widescreen.

Samsung BX2440X. I already have the model tattooed on my lower back

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BX2440X-Performance-Widescreen-Backlight/dp/B003GKTGYC

that is the monitor!

BEHOLD IT IN ALL ITS GLORY 

This Brings Me Back

Bubblebathos has a funny tumblr site where she uses free association words to describe different bands. I don't necessarily elicit all the same associations that she does, but I find them entertaining and funny. Like for Taylor Swift, she came up with things like: hoping there are fireflies at your first kiss, ballet flats from Target, canopy beds.
Rage Against The Machine: Refusing to say what you're thankful for at Thanksgiving, graffiti on a freight train, vegan burritos, camouflage cargo shorts.
The Postal Service: Being a graphic designer, "Sent from my iPhone", pretending you were interested in something before you read about it in the New Yorker/Believer, Douglas Coupland, participating in a Miranda July project.
The Kinks: J.D. Salinger books other than The Catcher in the Rye, owning records without owning a record player, telling someone you like the smell of old books, archery.
Beck: Wearing a baby blue tux to prom, Pete & Pete, eating cereal for every meal for an entire summer.

What really took me back to my old middle school days was her perfect description for The Cardigans:

Baby blue nail polish, Tamagotchi bans, buying deodorant for the first time and smelling all the options, trying to make your room look like a dELiA*s catalog [!!! - I totally forgot about dELiA*s catalogs! I loved those!], convincing your mom to let you use Sun-In, jelly shoes, gel pens, having a crush on a boy with a floppy middle-parted bowl cut, having a birthday party at a bowling alley, amassing bracelets/keychains, sticker earrings, Goldfish crackers in a ziploc bag, dingy white cotton spaghetti-strap tops from GapKids, imagining your first kiss, comparing what shampoo brand/smell you use, practicing bubble letters. 

I would also add Doc Martens, reading Seventeen magazine (even though you aren't 17), idolizing Gwen Stefani (because girls kick @$$!), mini backpacks, scrunchies worn around your wrist, choker necklaces, those metal ball and chain necklaces, zig zag headbands, Airwalks, calling *69 to see if it was your crush that just called your house and then hung up, watching a lot of MTV.

Things I Liked About 2010, Pt 2.

Barcelona

Despite the volcano in Iceland and the British Airways strike to worry about, Eagan and I made it to Barcelona this summer. We had a fabulous time there (and at Cadaques). We loved all the parks, the museums, the beaches, the architecture, the food. It was so great just walking around different gorgeous neighborhoods and stumbling upon cool stuff. It has become one of my favorite cities.

Tuck

My family got a new dog this year! He is very lovable, cuddly, and energetic.

Fenton Street Market

This year our neighborhood started a weekly arts and crafts market to complement the farmer's market down the street. Every Saturday, from Spring to Fall, local artists and vendors set up tents to sell and showcase their stuff. There's often live music and food vendors, as well. Along with the farmer's market, it has become a great Saturday tradition for Eagan and I. We've found some really cool stuff there and met some neat people.

(Photo by thecourtyard)

Sports

Between the Winter Olympics (in Vancouver!), the men's soccer World Cup (in which one of my favorite teams won!), Stephen Strasburg fever surrounding The Nationals this past summer (great while it lasted), The Capitals winning the President's Trophy/being the best team in the NHL (only to choke in the playoffs...), and interesting change-ups for The Redskins, this made for an exciting year in sports.

Food Truck Madness

DC keeps getting more and more awesome food trucks. They drive to different locations each day and tweet where they're stationed for the day. Oh, that beautiful food truck siren call. There's a food truck for just about everything: wraps, sandwiches, Indian food, Ethiopian food, Vietnamese food, Cuban food, Korean food, mac & cheese, BBQ, pizza, grilled cheese, tacos, crepes, lobster rolls, fries and poutine (yes, outside of the boundaries of Canada!), empanadas, cupcakes, pies, popsicles, frozen yogurt. On and on it goes. And this is not boring, average food. This is foodie food. The grilled cheese truck, for instance, isn't American cheese on white bread. It's brie, fuji apples, and honey on multigrain bread; goat cheese, tomato, and tarragon; goat gouda and caramelized onion.

This year they even had a food truck cook-off event. They had all the food trucks in one centralized location and you could hit up whatever trucks you wanted. Delicious overload!

(Photo by Mr. T in DC)

DC Events

I continue to love living in this amazing place. I love all the exciting things that happen here. This year we tried to continue taking advantage of all the great events (often free) that DC has to offer. We really enjoyed events like the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Embassy Tours, the 4th of July fireworks show (my first! I was out of town the previous year for my brother's wedding and I missed it), the Silver Spring Jazz Festival,  the Takoma Folk Festival, different neighborhood street festivals, The National Book Festival, The Book Arts Festival, The New Yorker discussion events, and all the great exhibits at the area museums (my favorites were the Running Fence exhibit, the Lego exhibit, the Lists exhibit, and the World's Fair exhibit).

(Cherry Blossom Festival, car decorating contest at the H Street neighborhood festival, National Book Festival, Lego exhibit at the National Building Museum)

Daily Show Events

When The Daily Show came to DC for a week, Eagan and I luckily snagged free tickets to a taping (I literally got the last two tickets)! We attended the first show of the week. It was a really fun experience.

Then a few days later was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. It was really cool being there in person, and we had a really fun time. It was neat seeing so many people on the Mall (it was packed!). I really liked seeing all the witty and clever signs.

Finally, I loved being able to see my friends and family so much this year. I loved all the visitors we had this year. 

Objects: Wednesday Morning, 3 AM

This is Simon & Garfunkel's first album, originally released in 1964. This particular record had belonged to Eagan's dad, and he graciously gave it to me about four years ago. Not only do I love this album (musically), but I also love that this particular record has a personal history -- that this used to be part of his record collection. I think of him listening to this album when he was younger; and what it must have meant to him. I think about what it must have been like to be able to listen to a Simon & Garfunkel album as it just came out (if not this particular one, at least later ones). Eagan's dad even has his last name written on the back of the album in marker (his last name is also written in pencil in the second "d" of "Wednesday" on the cover. And he wrote his last name in pen on the label of side one). I miss the days of labeling your music collection. I always loved that my mom's record collection had her initials written on the cover.

Simon & Garfunkel were a big part of my musical upbringing. I've been listening to their records for as long as I can remember. My mom was a big S&G fan and she exposed me to their music early. She would play their music in the house while grading papers or working on something. Even my grandfather (my mom's dad) was a big fan. He loved listening to S&G through big headphones. I had one hip grandpa.

I think Paul Simon is one of the greatest songwriters ever.

I absolutely love the scene in Almost Famous when William's sister plays "America" to help explain why she's leaving home. As the song is still playing in the background, William discovers the record collection his sister has left for him. I love how he touches the covers with wonderment.

"America" is one of my favorite S&G songs. When Paul sings, "'Kathy, I'm lost,' I said -- though I knew she was sleeping. I'm empty and aching and I don't know why", I get goosebumps. Sometimes it makes me cry.

Back to Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. This was Simon & Garfunkel's debut album. Paul and Art decided to go their separate ways soon after they finished recording (Paul moved to England. Art went back to studying at Columbia University). Initially the album did not do very well. About a year later, the song "The Sounds of Silence" off the album caught on and became more popular. People started to request it on the radio and it received more airplay (this is the original, acoustic version). Looking to take advantage of this new popularity, their record producer decided to remix the song by dubbing electric guitars, bass, and drums (provided by Bob Dylan's studio band) onto the acoustic track because "folk rock" was becoming more popular (and he was inspired by the success of The Byrds doing electric versions of Dylan songs). He released it as a single, and allegedly neither Paul nor Art approved of what the producer had done to the track. Paul was still living abroad when he first learned that the single had hit the charts. After hearing the news, he moved back to the states and Simon & Garfunkel decided to re-form the group. Wednesday Morning, 3AM was re-released in January 1966 (which is also when they released their second full-length album, Sounds of Silence) and it was more successful the second time around.

On the back cover of Wednesday Morning there is a letter that Art wrote to Paul, who was living in London at the time. In the letter, Art explains to Paul that he was asked by the producer to write the album notes (Art compares this task to that of the man that was advised by Franz Kafka to burn all his manuscripts upon his death, but he nonetheless felt the obligation to publish Kafka's stuff anyway). What follows is sheer admiration of Paul and his songwriting ability (sometimes it sounds like Art isn't even in the group, but a devoted follower. Which, let's be honest, Art is definitely not at the same level of Paul; though he's still an important part of the group). Art then writes a track-by-track "listener's guide". In the guide he further compliments Paul and discusses the songs -- including what the songs are about (or what Art thinks the songs are about, at least. For example, here are some of his thoughts on "Bleecker Street": "I confess that Bleecker Street was too much for me at first. The song is highly intellectual, the symbolism extremely challenging... Admittedly, the song is difficult to understand, but worth the effort."). In the final paragraph of his letter, Art writes, "Paul -- let me know what you think." His devotion and approval-seeking kind of breaks my heart.

My favorite song off Wednesday Morning is "Bleecker Street". Not only is it my favorite song off this album, but it's also one of my favorite S&G songs when I think of their whole catalog. The acoustic guitar part is so beautiful and calming (and very Simon-esque. You know what I'm talking about: guitar picking that sounds like soft raindrops falling. He mastered that sound) and the vocal harmonies are excellent. I also really like the bass on this song -- it adds a really nice touch. The song kind of reminds me of Ian & Sylvia's "Early Morning Rain" (written by Gordon Lightfoot); actually, it's probably more appropriate to say Early Morning Rain reminds me of Bleecker Street. I also really like the lyrics of Bleecker Street. "Voices leaking from a sad cafe. Smiling faces try to understand. I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand...on Bleecker Street." The part that really gets to me is when they sing, "I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand." That line, for me, really gets at feelings of isolation and desperately seeking a connection. And that line is sung beautifully.

  Simon and Garfunkel - Bleecker Street by hconover

Bleecker Street was actually used on a recent episode of Mad Men. It was the seventh episode of the fourth season. The episode was entitled "The Suitcase". This was a really great and emotionally-powerful episode, and I feel like it's my favorite Mad Men episode in the entirety of the show. And how could this episode possibly get better? Well, in the closing scene of the episode, they use the song Bleecker Street. When the acoustic guitar at the beginning of the song starts playing during the scene, I thought to myself, "Wow. They actually just topped perfection." I completely approve of them ending my favorite episode with one of my favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs.

I Think I'll Head Home

I recently took a trip out to Utah to visit my family because I hadn't seen them in a while and I was missing them. I happened to be in Utah for Pioneer Day. This is a Utah holiday on July 24th -- people have the day off and everything. (Cue History Channel program music) Pioneer Day celebrates the arrival of Brigham Young and his band of traveling Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. This is when he delivered his "This is the Place" line. And now Utah has a This is the Place Heritage Park with a This is the Place Monument, and the state song is "Utah, This Is the Place" (though when I was growing up, the state song was "Utah, We Love Thee").

Anyway, Pioneer Day is a holiday that celebrates "The Days of '47". There's parades, fairs (with funnel cakes!), rodeos, fireworks. Some people walk portions of the Mormon Trail and reenact entering the Salt Lake Valley while wearing pioneer clothes and carry handcarts (excitement overload!). Pioneer Day doesn't hold the same appeal it did when I was a kid. When I was a kid I was so excited to go to the parade and to pick up candy off the ground that was thrown to the crowd (which seems very vagabond-esque, now that I think about it). One year I even participated in the parade and dressed up like a pioneer (in a pioneer dress that my neighbor had made for me for a school play -- because my mom can't sew. She took Latin in high school, not Home Ec. She would rather learn a dying language than to learn how to sew a pot holder. Love it.). I thought I was so cool in my little pioneer dress.

As a kid, I also loved going to the Pioneer Day fair for the games and to see friends from school that I hadn't seen all summer. Now the only thing I look forward to about Pioneer Day (other than my family having the day off) is the fair food (did I mention funnel cakes?!) and the fireworks. Although, about those fireworks -- bless Utah's heart (the best Mormon way to draw attention to someone or something's shortcomings. "Bless his heart, but he is as dumb as a bag of rocks." Just like "She's a sweet spirit" is the best way to draw attention to someone's ugliness and/or weight problem), but those fireworks are pretty paltry and sad. They were always kind of paltry and sad, but I'm especially ruined now after witnessing the DC fireworks -- you know there's no fucking around when it comes to the Nation's Capital Fireworks (capitalization needed).

Speaking of how sad Logan fireworks are, every year Logan has their 4th of July fireworks the day before. So the closest you can come to 4th of July fireworks in Logan is the 3rd of July. They have it the day before because it's cheaper (the group that puts on the fireworks show charges less). Seriously. This year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday. And Utah is definitely not going to have fireworks on Sunday (It's da-day-uh-da-lord). So the fancy fireworks (in Salt Lake City and in Provo at the Stadium of Fire -- which was first created by an Osmond-brother-that-wasn't-Donny) had their shows on the 3rd of July. Which means Logan had theirs on the 2nd of July! Happy Independence Day Minus Two Days!

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I was excited to go to Utah because I got to meet the latest addition to the family: A German Shorthair (German Shorthaired Pointer) dog named Tuck. My parents got this dog earlier this year. He's a very cute and nice dog. He's super fast. And he contorts his body into funny positions when he sits or lays down.

Look at how he likes to sit!

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Another highlight of the trip was the Rocky Votolato house show with Holly and Davis (thanks guys!). What a great intimate setting for seeing Rocky -- just him and his acoustic guitar. No mic, no amp. Just him. He sounded amazing.

The show also made me feel really old (at age 26!). Based on the applause of recognition that would come before songs (and people mouthing the lyrics during the song), it was fairly obvious the crowd first started getting into Rocky when he released his Makers album and didn't know much stuff before that album. In fact, Rocky said at one point, "If you guys don't mind, I think I might play some old stuff. This song is from the Makers album..." And the crowd went wild. While they were going wild, I was thinking to myself "Makers is an old album?!" There were like four full length albums that came out before Makers. I was into Waxwing (Rocky's previous band) in high school and got really into Rocky Votolato's solo stuff my freshman year of college (early 2002). Makers came out after I already graduated from college (2006). And yet Makers was an old album? Ouch.

Another indicator of how old I was in comparison to the crowd: After the show, people were coming up and talking to Rocky and one girl said, "I love you so much! I've loved you ever since I heard you on The OC!" I was waiting for her to finish that sentence with "...when I was in middle school." But I'm glad younger kids are liking excellent music.

Regardless of feeling out of place age-wise, it was an amazing show and I'm so glad I went. He played for about an hour-and-a-half and he played songs from several of his albums (even the old, old, old ones). I've seen Rocky in concert so many times and this was probably my favorite concert of his.

So good

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While in Ogden for the Rocky concert:

I forgot how ugly and retro the Mormon temple in Ogden is. Yuck. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that the least amount of people get married in this (Utah) temple. And if they do, they drive to another temple after the ceremony to get their pictures taken.

What a weird patriotic horse statue. Who thought it would be a good idea to paint the founding fathers on a horse?

The painter must have had a real problem with John Adams if he placed him on the ass.

And how bizarre that the statue-maker felt it was necessary to include the penis and balls on this horse. Were they worried that some passerby would say, "Hey, where's the penis?! This horse isn't anatomically correct. Sure, George Washington is standing up inside the horse's stomach...but I take real issue with the horse not having a penis and testicles!"

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I do miss the mountains. And having this in my backyard:

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The best part of the trip, of course, was seeing everyone that I miss. Annnnd eating at my favorite restaurants.

Deal Breaker?

A.V. Club recently had a piece on couples that have disagreements over their tastes in movies/tv shows/music/books. For example, a guy not understanding how his wife didn't share his love for the Beastie Boys and another guy being annoyed that his girlfriend reads so many young adult novels.

It got me thinking. I'm not one of those people that would write somebody off for their pop culture tastes. I wouldn't dump a guy because he hated Dolly Parton (though I would seriously consider it...). I wouldn't ditch a friend because they like the TV show Reba or The Bachelor/ette. But I am one of those people that could build a friendship on similar tastes.

I wouldn't defriend you because of your tastes, but I might befriend you because of your tastes. When I meet someone new at a get-together or a party, and we soon find out we have a similar pop culture interest (or interests), that can become a good icebreaker. That can get the conversation going. Discussing the medical bills we've accumulated due to the heart attacks caused by Breaking Bad can be a great way to start a friendship. If I find someone that says High Fidelity is one of their favorite movies/books, then they have my attention. Finding a shared love of Rocky Votolato results in album reviews (and our preferential ranking of the albums) and concert stories, which leads to discussions of other bands that toured with Rocky, and on it goes until you get married (ok, maybe that's a stretch).

And while not everyone that has similar tastes end up being a good match for you -- I've met assholes that like Elliott Smith and annoying people that like David Sedaris -- at least it's a good starting point to see if there's potential.

This piece also got me thinking about my own personal relationship. Luckily, Eagan and I have very similar pop culture tastes. I don't find myself having to compromise and go see Transformers 2 in the theatre because he really wants to (because he doesn't). I don't have to fill my ears with cotton balls because he's listening to Kid Rock in the other room (because he isn't). We pretty much like the same music, movies, TV shows, etc. But that's not to say we have all the same likes. We have our differences -- luckily we don't have disagreements over them or anything. We might give the other a hard time, in jest, but that's about it. It more results in a situation where when one is not around, the other will watch the movie they know the other wouldn't want to see. Or when we're in the car together and something comes up on my ipod that Eagan doesn't like, he just changes the song (and I don't mind). Here are some of our differences:

Musicals. I like musicals. I'm not one of those people that love all things musicals and have seen every single musical. Far from it. But I did watch a lot of musical movies when I was growing up (some of my favorite movies as a little kid were Grease, Sound of Music, and the Wizard of Oz). My aunt is a choir director and singer and she exposed me to a lot of different musicals when we would visit her. Furthermore, I took piano lessons when I was a kid and my teacher would often assign me sheet music from musicals and I fell in love with some of the songs (songs from Les Miserables are really coming to mind). Since I grew up with musicals and was exposed to them by an aunt I was very fond of, I have a special place in my heart for them. Eagan didn't really grow up with the same exposure.

Also, Eagan is opposed to the idea of musicals. I'm not turned off by actors suddenly breaking out into song and dance -- I actually like that -- but that's a deal breaker for him. I get super excited when Sound of Music is on TV, while Eagan groans. This also translates into my love for the TV show Glee, which is not Eagan's thing. He agrees the show is funny and has smart writing, but the singing and dancing does him in (which is pretty much the whole show).

Speaking of dancing, I love So You Think You Can Dance. Like with a passion. Eagan doesn't care for it.

Another reality show I like that Eagan doesn't watch is The Biggest Loser. Eagan thinks it's funny/cute how much that show makes me cry (it seems like just about every episode makes me cry. Once Jillian corners them outside the gym to talk about their feelings, look out tear ducts!). Though one thing is for sure, Eagan loves the theme song! He does a really funny over-the-top impersonation of that terrible song ("What have you done today to make you feel proud...").

Another reality show is Survivor. Although he doesn't watch that show, he pretty much watches it because I say stuff to him like, "Oh my god, you will not believe what just happened on Survivor!!" and then I proceed to describe the whole hour of the show. So although he doesn't watch a single episode, he knows who's still in the game, what strategies they've played, and who I want to win. Like he knew Russell didn't deserve to win because he doesn't have a good social game -- and that's a huge part of winning Survivor (!).

Eagan pretty much doesn't watch reality shows. Luckily for him, the above shows are pretty much the only ones I watch. The other reality shows I watch, Eagan actually watches with me and likes -- Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Top Chef, and Project Runway (though the past 2 seasons were kind of boring and we didn't really watch consistently).

Another point of departure is 80s movie (some would say 80s girl movies). For example, Dirty Dancing and John Hughes's Molly Ringwald Trifecta (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink). I could watch that shit over and over and over again, much to Eagan's dismay. I think Eagan would admit these are decent movies and that there are some merits -- but these aren't movies he loves to watch or would watch on his own accord. Although I did in fact convince him to go with me and a friend to see the 20th Anniversary screening of Dirty Dancing in the theatre! But I think he was more going for the interesting/crazy experience than for the movie itself.

And then there's the sentimental-crying-movies-about-women. Eagan actually doesn't mind these as much -- he acknowledges that Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Terms of Endearment, Boys on the Side, etc. are good movies (though, some more than others). But, like the 80s movies, these aren't movies he's dying to watch (no pun intended!!!). As for me, I cannot tell you how many times I've seen these movies. Especially Steel Magnolias. I first saw it when I was about 4 (I saw it at my Southern aunt's house) and I've loved it ever since. I pretty much have the dialogue from that movie memorized. Despite the number of times I see these movies, they always get me. I'm drenched in tears by the end of the film. I cry until it hurts ("It hurts! The bee stings!" -- That's another good crying movie).

Speaking of Steel Magnolias, I have a deep love for Dolly Parton. I've loved Dolly ever since I was a little girl. Both of my parents love Dolly's music, so I grew up listening to Dolly records. One of my favorite records as a kid was Trio -- a supergroup, if you will, consisting of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. My parents loved all three singers, and often played their records, so I grew up listening to and loving all three. So when those three came together? Daaammn. Listening to Dolly music was a huge part of my childhood.

In addition, me and my siblings pretty much watched anything Dolly was in. We absolutely loved Steel Magnolias, Smoky Mountain Christmas (that's another one of those movies that I've seen so many times that I've lost track), 9 to 5, and Straight Talk. I even remember loving this Dolly Parton TV special where she went to Hawaii. Dolly could do no wrong. Unfortunately, Eagan doesn't share that same love for Dolly. I think I just have to live with the fact that very few people share the same deep love I have for Dolly.

And then on the other side, there are certain things Eagan enjoys that I don't care for as much. For example, there are certain sci-fi or horror movies that Eagan admits look terrible, and he would never see them in a theatre or rent them (in other words, wouldn't pay to see them)...but if they're on TV one lazy Saturday, he'll watch them. Now I've never seen these movies, so I can't say for sure -- they could actually be amazing (...) -- but they look pretty bad in my opinion. I'm talking about movies like 13 Ghosts (oh, I meant, Thir13en Ghosts. My bad.), Resident Evil, The Core, 28 Weeks Later (I did like 28 Days Later). These are definitely not his top movie choices -- it's more like one of those situations where you find yourself at the end of the moving saying "wow, I actually watched that whole thing." I don't find myself doing that too much. I usually watch with a purpose. If I stumble upon a movie on TV and I watch it, it's actually one I've seen before and like -- like 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, which TBS seems to play all the time. So we differ in our levels of tolerability when it comes to those so-bad-they're-almost-good-no-actually-they're-not-good-at-all sci-fi and horror movies on TV.

Another thing we don't have in common is Star Trek: The Next Generation. Eagan liked the show as a kid, but it seems like his love for TNG really started to blossom in college. A philosophy professor of his played an episode in class to discuss the issue of cyborgs and humanity (I think?). Anyway, after that, Eagan realized the show had some smart writing. Then his love really took off in grad school. Some channel, maybe Spike, seemed to play TNG episodes all day, every day. He would turn on the TV when he took a break from stressful grad school work and the show was always on. And then he was hooked. I would be in the other room working on something and I would hear the faint hum of the TNG theme song playing in the other room, and I would say jokingly, "Eagan! What did I catch you doing?!" When I go out of town, Eagan puts TNG episodes at the top of our Netflix queue.

The other day I read Eagan a comment I saw online, one person said something like "Let's start a nerd fight. Fact: The Millennium Falcon is a better ship than the Starship Enterprise." And Eagan quickly retorted with disgust, "NO WAY!!" and proceeded to go into the technical specifics of why the Starship Enterprise was better. I got very concerned, while at the same time being very impressed. He concluded his argument with something along the lines of: "I'm not saying the Enterprise is better than the Millennium Falcon, just that in a direct fight the Enterprise would win. I have no doubt the MF would be better for smuggling, running a blockade, or any number of tasks. But the crew of the Enterprise is in the thousands, whereas the crew for the MF would be less than ten, maximum. "

vs.

I've never really seen a whole episode of TNG. I think it's because TV shows set in space just don't seem to pique my interest (haha. Great answer!). I wouldn't say sci-fi/fantasy is Eagan's favorite genre, but I think he has more appreciation for it than I do. I do like some sci-fi/fantasy stuff, I just tend to not give that genre much of a chance ('What? It's in space? Takes place in the future? Has futuristic weapons? No, thanks.'). For example, I love the Star Wars movies, but didn't see any of the movies until I was almost in college -- because I never gave it a chance. In fact, my family even owned a copy of Star Wars: A New Hope. My brother checked out that movie from our local library in Connecticut, then my family misplaced it like they always do, and then we moved to Utah. Then when we were unpacking the boxes in Utah, there it was. So we had "Star Wars: A New Hope (Property of the North Haven Public Library)" in our collection for years and years, and yet I still never saw it. So could it be that I would like TNG if I gave it a chance? Possibly. But, then again, it does takes place in space...