The Other Stuff: On Exercise

Remember how this blog is about Music, life, and the other stuff? Well the middle part kinda envelopes the two outer parts, so let’s just call this post “the other stuff”. (And it was done.)

The weather is getting nice(r) now, and I’m ramping back into motivated-mode. I want to spend more time out of the house and less time being a lazy bum. And–believe it or not (and I hope you will)–I desire exercise. I know, right? So here’s where I run into a couple (ton) of problems.

Problem 1:
I don’t like to sweat. It’s gross. And with sweat comes physical exhaustion, getting out of breath, pain, and having to shower more often than is typically necessary. None of that is the least bit appealing. But you know, I can get over it.

Problem 2:
I’m kinda broke and can’t afford a gym membership. Why do gym memberships have to cost so gosh darn much? Ok, ok, I hear you. Machine upkeep, staff, insurance, blah blah blah… I just wanna use the elliptical and maybe even the treadmill, dudes. That’s all I ask: just the elliptical and the treadmill. I should definitely be able to pay 1/18 the price for using 1/18 the gym, right? I won’t even shower there (promise!) or touch a single freeweight (double promise!); just cut me some slack.

Problem 3:
I hate “natural exercise”. Ok, so the solution to #2 seems like it would be just to go running around town, right? Wrong. I hate running in natural environments. First off, there’s the traffic; I don’t do so well moving at high speeds around other things moving at high speeds, unless it’s like my feet versus the belt on a treadmill. Then, there are the pedestrians. Sure, they’re not moving at high speeds, but they are totally hogging the sidewalk and often quite unpredictable. Kids jumping out of nowhere; homeless men begging for change; rabid squirrels; stray dogs and cats; old people. And then we have the ground. Yeah, I’m so likely to trip it’s actually painful to consider. But assuming I can conquer this wild and crazy obstacle course, my main gripe is that I just get bored. Like really bored. In a gym, I have the tv, but out in the wilderness, I just have myself. Just me. And my thoughts. Yeah, you see what I’m saying, right? I thought so.

Ok, so let’s recap:
1) I don’t like getting messy (but I will).
2) I’m poor.
3) Running outside is boring.
Oh, and I didn’t mention it, but I don’t really dig sports. So community soccer, volleyball, softball, tennis, rugby: all out of the equation.

So what DO I like? I’ve brainstormed on this and constructed a handy list:
1) Digital numbers that allow me to set numerical goals (distance, time, laps, or calories) and show me when I’ve reached them (with a burst of confetti)
2) <$35/mo
3) Dancing or anything choreographed (but not cardio-kickboxing)

Ok, now your turn. Who’s got my solution?

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Dustin Kensrue: brilliance minus Thrice

I thought I found a great new artist. Turns out, I re-found a great old artist. Dustin Kensrue (formerly performing under the alias Ursus Veritas, comically meaning “bear truth”) is the frontman for Thrice, one of the few post-hardcore bands I still enjoy and respect. Dustin is a killer songwriter with a great voice, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon “I Knew You Before” off Please Come Home (2007). Rumor has it, he’s working on another solo album, so I guess I should do a bit of catch-up before it comes out later this year.

Read:
The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol / Oh, and maybe music television really is the devil after all / But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then / Before you grew up, before you gave in
[...] You could be beautiful again

Listen:

Get this widget →

Watch:

“I Knew You Before” on Letterman

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The Gutter Twins – Saturnalia

I just found this band I’m really pumped about: The Gutter Twins. Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan teamed up in 2003 to work on their March 4 2008 release Saturnalia (Sub Pop). I don’t know if it’s ~4 years good… but it’s pretty damn good.

I know it’s a really weird comparison, but the vibe and lyrical rhythms remind me of Moby era “Natural Blues” (click for video @ 2001 GRAMMY Awards), mixing in the gruffness of Tom Waits at times. The album is sinister; it’s rough around the edges; and it urges me to pull up a stool at the local biker bar and do shots of whiskey. At the same time, it’s bluesy, soothing, and quite intoxicating all on its own. This is music to road trip to, to sleep to, to divorce your spouse to, or just to escape your 9-5 and pretend you’re a lonely cowboy to. Giddyup.

Read:

With my idle hands / There’s nothing I can doBut be the Devil’s plaything, Baby / And know that I’ve been used.

Listen:
The Gutter Twins – Idle Hands
The Gutter Twins – The Body
The Gutter Twins – God’s Children

Stream the album here or at their myspace page.
If you buy the LP at SubPop, you can download all the MP3s for FREE.

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Hadouken! Get Smashed

This week is thus far ridonkulous; It’s official. I won’t pretend to have time or energy to write a decent post with lots of research and links because, honestly, my brain is only 1/4 functional. Actually it’s probably not as bad as all that, but complaining makes me feel a lot better. Right. So down to business.

Hadouken! have a vid out for their song “Get Smashed Gate Crash”. I first heard these dudes when I was interning for a label in London, and spent a bit of time browsing bands on myspace. As I recall, these boys are pretty popular on the social networking supersite. Anyway, the song is about–you guessed it–getting smashed. I didn’t listen to the lyrics, but I can guess from the video that it’s also about house parties, bar-hopping, drugs, sex, rock & roll, boobs, puking, passing out, strippers, and so on. They’re sounding as much like MSI (that’s “Mindless Self Indulgence” for the n00bs) as ever with a British flare. (Wiki calls them a “Grindie band”. Hah. That’s cute.)

Apparently, this is from 2007 and not that new. Meh.

If you hate scenesters, go here and listen to “That Boy That Girl”.

[Spotted @ Panda Toes]

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Sweet new myspace pic

ME (6:36:58 PM): and now, even stranger than computing in the bathroom, I’m drinking wine and computing in the bathroom
ME (6:37:03 PM):
ME (6:38:12 PM): I feel like the obvious next step is myspace pics using photobooth on my mac
ME (6:38:33 PM): by holding it up to the bathroom mirror
Ben is away from the computer as of 6:40:22 PM.
Ben is back at the computer as of 6:40:34 PM.
Ben (6:41:11 PM): hahahaha
Ben (6:41:14 PM): Do it!
ME (6:41:18 PM): what’s that? You dare me?
Ben (6:41:32 PM): I dare you!
6:41:44 PM: Attempting to directly connect to Ben .
6:41:45 PM: Ben is not accepting direct Instant Message connections or is using software that does not support direct Instant Message connections.
Ben (6:41:50 PM): Altho I’m sure you already did it haha

ME (6:42:55 PM): the glass of wine is in front of me, but you can’t really see it
Ben (6:43:24 PM): wow dude that’s such a sick effect there, wicked creative
Ben (6:43:26 PM): hehe
ME (6:43:40 PM): I know, it’s unlike anything anyone else is doing right now
ME (6:43:47 PM): I think it’s the future of myspace/facebook

Discuss.

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Born Ruffians @ Johnny Brenda’s 3.4.08

Good news! Born Ruffians are even more excellent live than I hoped! But wait–I’m getting ahead of myself. Back up.

I kicked myself for not buying a ticket to the show. I mean–come on. BR make really sweet music. And this was their record release show. And Johnny Brenda’s is a great venue. But much to my delight, it was not sold out. Much to my dismay, it wasn’t even close to it. (To their defense, it was rainy and really gross outside.) The “uh ohs” started to kick in as I reflected on my disappointing MGMT experience there. Ape School kicked off the evening with their brand of dreamy rock I thought only British boys could pull off. During certain songs, I even drew comparisons to U2. (Seriously. My notes say, “‘It wasn’t my intention!’ So good! Yes! U2?”) For the record, I 90% despise U2, but when I hear the little guys pull off their epic sound, it makes my heart flutter a little. So I pulled them up on the googleator, and found this myspace page, which sounds surprisingly different than the fellows I saw. It claims the group is just one guy who records his stuff, but calls on his fellow apes when playing live. It might be old material on the page; I don’t know what to think. I’d like to listen to the stuff I heard on Tuesday, please. thnx.

Then Cadence Weapon… meh. One really talented DJ (Wiesel) who I could dance to all night and one quite unbearably boring lyricist, whose vocals I couldn’t understand a word of most of the time. Bummer.

And finally, Canadian heroes Born Ruffians brought it all back with a stellar, high-energy performance featuring lots of tunes off their new album, Red, Yellow & Blue. I had no idea they were only a three-piece, which totally blows me away. Between their catchy hooks, hip-shakin’ beats, and Animal Collective-like “hootin’ and hollerin’” (that’s what they call it–and it’s totally accurate), anyone with a pulse would be crazy not to love their set.



I got a couple minutes to chat with dummer/keyboardist (huh? I know, right?) Steve Hamelin about their journey so far, and he had nothing but great things to say about their adventure, the supporting acts, and especially their fans. I was curious to get his thoughts on the changing business models in the music industry, specifically downloading. Steve’s response? “Go download our album. Tell your friends to download our album. We’re just happy it’s getting out there.” He added that exposure is their main concern; they get money not just through album sales but through touring, ad syncing, merch, etc., so the most important thing is that their music is accessible. Right on, Steve.

For fans of: Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective
Go listen to them on myspace. Go buy (or download–BR approved) their album. Keep rockin’.

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Happy National Grammar Day

As I do not have time to rant and rave about my grammar-related pet peeves, I will simply wish you all a happy National Grammar Day (according to SPOGG). Good luck on your efforts to change the world one misusage at a time; you’re fighting the good fight.

Prove your loyalty by leaving a comment about your biggest grammar “don’t”.

I have lots including but not limited to:
-good vs. well
-”couldn’t care less”
-”could of; should of; would of”
-omitting -ly on adverbs (where appropriate)

What are yours?

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Foals Video – "Cassius"

I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve been totally head-over-heels for Foals’ track “Cassius” the last couple weeks. The song is pretty repetitive and doesn’t get very complicated, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t catchy as hell. I’m talkin’ bob-your-head-and-shake-your-hips-catchy. The video is a little weird, but it’s worth checking out for the song. These guys get my “SO GOOD” stamp of approval.

Head over to their myspace page to check out three more tracks. They’re all really fun.

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"The Best Unsigned Band In Britain"

You may have heard that EMI recently released Art Brut’s latest single without first notifying the band. They also failed to promote or even sell the single in stores. Obviously, the band was pretty pissed off, and according to Eddie Argos’ blog, it looks like the dudes gave EMI the big “smell ya later”.

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Last.fm Widgets Are Really Cool!

Apparently, last.fm has some sweet widgets I overlooked. The site recently signed deals with tons of labels, offering an insane amount of music available for streaming. So here’s the first of my new widget discoveries: my top 5 tracks from this week. Listen up! (EDIT: Looks like two of the tracks are unavailable and the first is a preview. I’ll dig around for a new chart.)

table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 td {margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border:0 !important;}table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 tr.lfmHead a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/header/chart/weeklytracks_regular_grey.png) no-repeat 0 0 !important;}table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 tr.lfmEmbed object {float:left;}table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 tr.lfmFoot td.lfmConfig a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/grey.png) no-repeat 0px 0 !important;;}table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 tr.lfmFoot td.lfmView a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/grey.png) no-repeat -85px 0 !important;}table.lfmWidgetc29a0fbc20e129e62a2cb9f1818be943 tr.lfmFoot td.lfmPopup a:hover {background:url(http://cdn.last.fm/widgets/images/en/footer/grey.png) no-repeat -159px 0 !important;}

Add me on last.fm.

Last.fm also allows users to build their own unofficial programs and widgets. One that I found really interesting is a tool that researches the market price of your top 50 albums and estimates the cost of your collection. Here are my results:

Artist	Album	Playcount	Price
Your music archive is worth:			722.45 $
The Magnetic Fields	69 Love Songs Volume 1	111	–
The Magnetic Fields	i	67	– Info
Daniel Johnston	Artistic Vice	67	– Info
Girl Talk	Unstoppable	67	9.77 Info
The Magnetic Fields	The Charm of the Highway Strip	62	14.27 Info
The Shins	Wincing the Night Away	61	24.98 Info
Mirah	You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This	60	– Info
Mew	Frengers	59	– Info
Future Bible Heroes	Eternal Youth	54	4.98 Info
Carina Round	Slow Motion Addict	51	1.52 Info
Asobi Seksu	Asobi Seksu	51	39.98 Info
of Montreal	Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?	48	13.20 Info
Ferraby Lionheart	Catch The Brass Ring	46	9.99 Info
Brandi Carlile	The Story	44	6.49 Info
Ray LaMontagne	Till The Sun Turns Black	43	24.26 Info
Wilco	Sky Blue Sky	42	21.49 Info
Albert Hammond, Jr.	Yours To Keep	40	9.99 Info
Patrick Wolf	Lycanthropy	38	– Info
Grizzly Bear	Yellow House	38	– Info
Kings of Leon	Aha Shake Heartbreak	37	8.34 Info
The Knife	Deep Cuts	37	– Info
Justice	Cross	36	41.90 Info
LCD Soundsystem	Sound of Silver	36	23.80 Info
Bishop Allen	The Broken String	33	26.01 Info
Brazilian Girls	Brazilian Girls	27	16.61 Info
The Decemberists	The Crane Wife	27	14.52 Info
Turbo Fruits	Turbo Fruits	26	18.97 Info
White Rabbits	Fort Nightly	26	26.99 Info
Suzanne Vega	Beauty & Crime	25	32.42 Info
The Psychedelic Furs	Psychedelic Furs	24	42.08 Info
Dave Koz	At The Movies	24	26.92 Info
The Books	Lost and Safe	24	– Info
Air	10,000 Hz Legend	23	24.26 Info
Okkervil River	The Stage Names	22	12.49 Info
Silversun Pickups	Carnavas	22	12.48 Info
Daniel Johnston	More Songs Of Pain	22	–
The Damnwells	Air Stereo	22	8.89 Info
The Fratellis	Costello Music	21	35.97 Info
Jonah Matranga	And	21	11.99 Info
Okkervil River	Sleep and Wake-Up Songs	21	6.45 Info
Why?	Elephant Eyelash	21	– Info
Barry Manilow	The Greatest Songs Of The Seventies	20	34.98 Info
I’m From Barcelona	Let Me Introduce My Friends	20	15.59 Info
Wolf Parade	Apologies to the Queen Mary	18	26.04 Info
Josh Ritter	The Animal Years	18	23.99 Info
Arctic Monkeys	Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not	18	20.53 Info
Hot Chip	The Warning	18	26.93 Info
Okkervil River	Black Sheep Boy	18	– Info
The Oggs	Radiotherapy.	17	2.38 Info
The Magnetic Fields	69 Love Songs (disc 2)	17	–

//

How does it work?

We take your top50 albums and ask for their current prices on amazon.com.

Why are so many albums not found?

There could be several problems:

1. Misspelling in album’s title
2. amazon doesn’t sell this album
3. amazon sells the album, but they are currently not available

If we’re already friends on last.fm, find yourself on this chart, which expresses our musical compatibility. How neat!

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