Power of persuasion

[Sunday afternoon conversation]

Elljay: I wish I was a parent.
Dad: Believe me, it's not that great, it's more fun to be a kid.
Elljay: But when you're a parent you get to make the rules.
Dad: ...
Elljay: But I don't want to be president. It's really HARD to be president, you're in charge of everybody.
Dad: Well, not EVERYbody.
Elljay: Yes, even the police and firemen.
Dad: Er.... who do you want to become president, John McCain or Barack Obama?
Elljay: Who do you want?
Dad: Obama.
Elljay: Why? Because he's better?
Dad: Much better.
Elljay: Then that's who I want to win.
Dad (to self): score!

[Backseat of the car Monday afternoon... listening to Radiohead from Jersey City this August.]

The Boy: I like the music.... I want to eat this music for lunch.

Links of the Week

Let's start with another edition of "information that's only interesting to me"

Semi-regular update on downloads. Last done here. (previous)

1. Arcade Fire 17Feb97 (1)
   
2. WSP Reno 3/29/97 Part 1 (2)
3. minimix 26oct07 -- Mix R Treats (UR)
   
4. Best of 2006 disc 2 (3)
5. minimix 11may07 -- Jazzercise.3 (UR)
   
6. minimix 16feb07 -- F.Art.S. Vol 2 (Herring) (9)
7. minimix 6apr07 -- Americana Is Beautiful.1 (5)
8. minimix 20jul07 -- Jazzercise.4 (UR)
   
9. minimix 8jun07 -- Comes Alive Vol 3 (4)
   
10. minimix 16mar07 -- Comes Alive Vol. 2 (6)

[dropped out:12. WSP Warfield 3/31/97 Part 1(7);11. minimix 6jul07 -- HORDEstalgia (8);13. WSP Reno 97 part 2 (10)]

Biggest movers since last we looked:

1. wsp22apr97 d2
2. minimix 21nov06 -- TurkeyTrot
3. bjork 5may07
4. minimix 19oct07 -- Frisell F.Art.S.
5. Arcade Fire 17Feb97

And a handful of links:

• Tiny cameras + gigantic birds = cool videos.
• Depressing news out of NOLA is doubly depressing.
• Hidden Track gets the 97Phishtalgia ball rolling. You know we'll have something to say about it here at OTW. Look for something next weekish.
• BrooklynVegan is a great NYC music resource. It's gotten that much better with this awesome maps feature.
• The internet is great, except when it isn't. This really jibes with my general feelings on the matter.
• Basketball season couldn't come soon enough. The Orange are back on it. Young and hopefully exciting team this year, hopefully plenty to talk about this year.
  

Finally, another Conversation With/Education of LJ (i.e. what a 6 year old thinks about when you're driving to the grocery store)

LJ: If you go to jail, do you ever get out?
Dad: Sometimes.
LJ: Like if you get better... if you're a better listener?
Dad: Right, it's called rehabilitation.
LJ: So, like if you cut down a tree and you go to jail you might get out if you promise not to?
Dad: Well, you probably wouldn't go to jail for that.
LJ: Or smashed a car?
Dad: Well, if you did that and went to jail, you would get out. But if you killed someone, you probably wouldn't.
LJ: Oh. Like the man who killed Abraham Lincoln is still in jail.
Dad: Well, not any more, he's dead.
LJ: Yeah! Sometimes you go to jail for so long that you just die there, right?
Dad: Right, it's called a life sentence, cause you go there for the rest of your life.
LJ: I don't ever want to go to jail.
Dad: Me neither.
[scene]

Photo of the Week

Halloween cont'd... you know you love it.

Links: Download update

Barely had time to surf the web, so you send me your links for once! See below for an updated most-downloaded list for OTW offerings with links for you to catch up on the most popular offerings.

To atone, here's a long awaited episode of Conversations with Elljay.

scene: driving home from Yom Kippur services, we join the conversation already in progress...
Elljay: You know what I'm thankful to God for?
Dad: What?
Elljay: LLLLLLLIFE!

We've topped 3000 downloads recently, with over 150 OTW offerings of minimix, shows and miscellany. Here are the biggest sellers: (last ranking here) -- previous rank in parentheses.

1. Arcade Fire 17Feb97 (2)
   
2. WSP Reno 3/29/97 Part 1 (1)
   
3. Best of 2006 disc 2 (3)
   
4. minimix 8jun07 -- Comes Alive Vol 3 (7)
5. minimix 6apr07 -- Americana Is Beautiful.1 (5)
   
6. minimix 16mar07 -- Comes Alive Vol. 2
7. WSP Warfield 3/31/97 Part 1 (5)
   
8. minimix 6jul07 -- HORDEstalgia (9)
9. minimix 16feb07 -- F.Art.S. Vol 2 (Herring) (13)
   
10. Reno 97 part 2 (6)

[Dropped out: 13. Best of 2006 disc 1 (8); 16. minimix 27apr07 -- Phishtalgia.1 (10)]

Biggest movers since last I looked:

1. minimix 27jul07 -- Tinselitis.2
2. minimix 20jul07 -- Jazzercise.4
3. wilco warsaw part 3
4. Arcade Fire 17Feb97 (2)
5. minimix 10aug07_1 -- Comes Alive Vol. 4

minimix: School Days

The first daughter of minimix started kindergarten this week, so in her honor I bring you a mostly kid-unfriendly dreamy set of chill music. Class dismissed.

Download the mix

01 Teach Your Children -- Fareed Haque: Deja Vu (1997)
02 Playground -- Viktor Krauss: Far From Enough (2004)
03 Recess -- Charlie Hunter: Duo (1999)
04 A Schoolboy's Charm -- The American Analog Set: The Golden Band (1999)
05 Highschool Lover -- Air: The Virgin Suicides (2000)
06 Teach Me -- Benzos: Branches (2007)

Previously in minimix:
LJ Special

Photos of the Week

F.D.o.S.

it begins... see ya in 13.

Teh Lame

It's the dog days here at OTW... exhausted and busy and taking much longer to recover from a couple Panic shows than it used to. I'll have 2 reviews eventually and a lil' Nedstalgia taboot. For now, thanks for your patience.

Overheard:

Utterly absurd promo read by Gary Cohen during the broadcast of the Mets win over Pittsburgh last night... pretty much word for word:

"Guess the Met who will hit the most home runs in the month of July and the number of home runs hit and you will be eligible for a drawing for a chance to throw out the pitch at a Mets game..."

potentially, that is.

Also, as related by the Big Squeeze, LJ magic from the back seat:

LJ (5.5 years): [reading billboard] Boys & Girls Club. It's good that it's for boys and girls, because it wouldn't be nice to excloooooode anyone.

Links of the Week

To tide you over until I have something useful to add:

• Science highlight: cool study about infantile music appreciation
• Speaking of cool: JJarnow interviews Trey (not sure who's cooler)
  
• Political season is starting to warm up. Personally, I think it's time we give experience and competence a try. My early support is for Bill Richardson, until someone gives me a reason to believe otherwise. Love this ad.
• Liffy fleshes out those shows we saw last weekend with some videos.
• Can't spread enough love for the Bad Plus and their new album: Prog. Just lurving it after repeated listens
  
• Stream at their myspace page.
  
• Check out a smattering of sweet videos here, here (When the Levee Breaks), here (Physical Cities), here (Flim).
• Download a set (and other stuff) here.
• Dave King featured in this mix. Ethan Iverson in this one.

So, I've been listening to Prog and other Bad Plus quite a bit this past week, piquing the interest of one LJ, who of course, does them justice.

LJ: I like this music. But it's not like rocking out music. You usually like rocking out music.
Dad: It's jazz. It's kind of like rocking out music.
LJ: It's like a lullaby. A really loud lullaby.
Dad: That's true. The band is called the Bad Plus.
LJ: They're joking, though, right?
Dad: What do you mean?
LJ: The Bad Plus, they're joking! They're not bad, they're good!

Dad: That's true.LJ at the Bad Plus, 8/21/2003, City Hall Park

Photo: Time Travels

We're celebrating The Boy this week here at OTW, as he turns 3 tomorrow. This pic just about captures what it's like to be a younger brother at this stage of his life. As such, it's Hank Week which is kinda like Shark Week without the sharks.

We started on Sunday which was a Just Dad day fighting the cold wind and rain. We hit the new kidflick "Meet the Robinsons." The movie was the third in a trilogy preceded by The Terminator and Back to the Future, which is to say it was largely about time travel. I'm no member of the Academy, but this was a little intense for a G rating. I mean the Big Squeeze gets a bit rattled trying to wrap her head around Michael J Fox running into another version of himself, what are the little ones supposed to make of this? I don't understand how difficult it is to come out with some halfway decent material for the rated-G set but it is... the movie dudes should realize that if they just rotated through Finding Nemo and Peter Pan, etc. every week they'd probably sell an equal number of movie tickets to any other crap available on a Saturday afternoon. Anyway, becoming quite an expert in this stuff, I give this one a B-.

Of course, alone time in the car w/ dad = deep thoughts from LJ. Amongst the stream of non sequiturs :

LJ: How do they make roads?
Dad: Well, they flatten out the ground and then they take asphalt which is like little crushed up rocks and tar and they lay it down and then a big roller truck makes it all flat.
LJ: And then what?
Dad: Well, that's it, then they have a road.
LJ: ...
Dad: And then a truck comes around and paints all the lines.
LJ: That's what I was wondering about!
....
LJ: Dad, look! Did you see that?
Dad: What?
LJ: A tiger just ran by!
Dad: Really?
LJ: April Fools!
Dad: April Fools Day already passed a couple weeks ago.
LJ: It's still April isn't it? I'm celebrating April Fools Month!
....
[midway through conversation about trip earlier this month on which family flew JetBlue]
LJ: ...even the plane was fun... we had coloring books and TV!
Dad: Yeah, that was good. When I flew on airplanes when I was a kid we didn't have TV's.
LJ: You mean you lived in the olden days!?!
Dad: It wasn't that long ago.
LJ: But you didn't have TV!
Dad: On the plane, we didn't have TV on the plane. We had TV's at home.
LJ: Oh...
Dad: We didn't have a computer, though, when I was your age.
LJ: Wha!? You really did live in the olden days!

Links: Feeling smart

Few random stabs this week as I try to consider a world without Imus.... things I read this week that made me feel smarter.

• I love Lost. I was an early adopter, gleeful fan since episode one, but I never followed up on any of the zaniness online until this year when I discovered J. Wood's blog on Powells.com. If you've watched the show at all, you owe it to yourself to check this thing out. It's like a Liberal Arts education rolled into a blog about a silly quasi-sci-fi television show, but it actually makes me feel smarter after reading it. It doesn't get (too) into theories and such (which I really couldn't care less about), but rather delves deep into all the amazing detailed references the shows creators throw into each episode which you almost certainly missed the 1st time through. I'm not doing it justice -- just check it out. Start at the beginning of this season and work forwards. Zing!
  
• If you haven't read this article about violinist extraordinaire Josh Bell playing at a D.C. Metro stop, please do. It's all a gimmick until someone writes a fascinating piece about it, this is more about the article itself for me than what it's about, but that's wild as well. It all means something, unless it doesn't. The ensuing online chat with the author is also worth reading, save for all the Washington-centric stuff. (via Freakonomics)
  
• Renters rejoice! For someone who has been renting a house for the past 2+ years wondering if and when I'd ever be able to afford to buy a place of our own, this article made me feel good.
• JJ starts another piece of so-called microfiction today. Get involved -- it'll make you smarter. Maybe.
• Check out the fun at PaloozaHead. Probably won't hit any festivals this year, but it's good to know that LJ made it Chicago:

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Links: Cuse-ified

Indulge me for a paragraph and I'll throw something decent and a lil' more LJ your way...

First day of the NCAA's and I can't let it slide without at least mentioning "The Snub" as we're calling it with a capital "S." The shit's been hashed over aplenty, with the best work again by Baxter and Waters over at Syracuse.com. My favorite thing about this has been watching Boeheim just all over the place pleading his case. I don't recall as heavy a PR blitz just laying into the selection committee quite like this. I liken it to a good coach working the refs early in the game on some questionable calls and then getting all of them to fall his way during crunch time... I just don't see how we get screwed again. Anyway, last Cuse post until next year unless we end up winning the NIT!

Check out Boeheim on PTI here
His press conference here
Jimmy on the radio making a pretty damn good case


We could go on... by the way, if you'd like to be in my NCAA pool, get in touch before noon on Thursday. Onto some more links...

• If you haven't seen this video yet, get geeky
• David Byrne speak -- you listen
• Tasty music links, downloads and streams for the discerning listener:
• Jarnow's Frow show
• In anticipation of their new album, Prog, The Bad Plus will be teasing with new tracks on their Myspace every couple of weeks
• Friend of OTW, Ted R. does better than good work with his EC podcast every week, it's more than just a bunch of Panic tracks... he may have outdone himself this week
• Speaking of Ted, he dropped this great This American Life clip on me which I enjoy as both a scientist and a parent.

Which leads us to the third chapter in the Conversations with LJ (previously here and here). Seems to be our most popular segment here at OTW (she's earned her own blog tag!), and I'm happy to oblige, although I can't force the magic. I think it might be all downhill after last week, but we'll see what we get. Luckily for you, the lil' one obliged from the back seat once again...

LJ: Is this on TV?
Dad: Wha?
LJ: Like, do you think people are watching us right now on TV.
Dad: No.
LJ: How do you know?
Dad: Well, uhh... where are the cameras?
LJ: Cameras?
Dad: ...
LJ: I want to be on TV.
Dad: Do you think people would want to watch this?
LJ: Yeah! Everyone in the world could watch me....
Dad: Mmmm
LJ: ...except the people who don't know me.

Photos: Continuing Education

Picture of John Zorn bumbling about in an appropriately confused manner on stage before the Old Knit birthday show/The Stone benefit at Town Hall last Thursday.

There are some really good shots of this one over at Pitchfork. You can read my lengthy review on the show over at Hidden Track.

and now another... Conversation with LJ, Chapter 2:

LJ (from the back seat of the family wagon): How do you make people?
Dad: Uh... what do you mean?
LJ: How do you make people? How did you make me?
Dad: Uh... daddies and mommies make people.
LJ: YOU know how to make people!?!
Dad (proudly): Yep.
LJ: You mean you wanted me?
Dad: Yeah, of course.
LJ: But how did you do it?
Dad: It's a secret, I'll tell you when you're older.
LJ: NO, just tell me now! How did you get me into Mommy's belly?
Dad: Magic. I'll tell you when you're older.
LJ: OK, maybe when I'm 8 you can tell me.
Dad (wiping brow): Sounds good.

Links: Very Short Rambling...

Yesterday I posted some CD reviews including one by The Earlies and I was remembering where I had first heard about them: Very Short List. Totally worth signing up for: you get a quasi-daily email giving you a little heads up on music, movies, TV, books, weblinks, etc. One item a day and it actually does a pretty good job ferreting out something semi-obscure or under the radar. In a day when it's harder and harder to find something before it's already been beaten to death, it's pretty refreshing... not that I follow up on more than one or two of their suggestions, added a title to my Netflix queue but it still makes me feel a smidgen cooler. They've also got a nice overall aesthetic going on, so check it out.

Also cool: Tom The Dancing Bug comic over at Salon. I'm a big fan of Salon for a lot of reasons, but those Ruben Bolling comics kill me every week. Worth clicking through an ad for.

Other worthwhile goodies from my shared links from the past week:

• John Tierney was annoying as hell as a Times columnist, but he's doing much more interesting stuff as the science columnist/blogger. Check out this latest work on Stewart Brand.
• Chuck Klosterman's latest blurb on stereotypes
• the incomparable Dino Perucci's pix and words on Mardi Gras
• and in the comedy section, I direct you toward Conservapedia, holy shit these guys are dead serious! For starters, check out the wingnut entry on George Washington, I shudder for my children...

Speaking of the lil' ones, here's a conversation from this week between me and LJ:

Dad [prepares to sink teeth into ribs]: mmm... ow, it's hot
LJ: What is? That? That meat or what do you call it?
Dad: It's ribs, it's pork
LJ: What's pork? Is that a kind of meat?
Dad: Yeah, it's from a pig.
LJ: People eat pigs!?!?
Dad: Yup.
LJ (waits a beat): Do people eat dogs?
Dad: Er... some do, I guess, but not in this country.
LJ: Good, I like dogs.
Dad (watches his daughters innocence melting before him)

Classic. And if you're wondering, I eat more than just flesh and fried foods and have actually lost 30+ lbs in the past year and have just started running again... so look out world!

minimix: LJ Special

I'll get back into new music all next week with some "favorites of 2006" lists and a maxi-year-end mix next Friday (if I can sort everything out by then).

Until then, in honor of my lil' girl turning five today (send her an email, I assure you she'll reply and tell you she loves you) and perhaps more importantly my surviving five freakin' years of fatherhood, a little children's music for you that hopefully is equally worthy of your discerning adult ears. Kid's music grows increasingly intriguing to me as time goes on -- the ultimate in kiddie music is the same in any other genre, but boiled down to the basics -- the ultimate hook. Here's a nice set that somehow teaches you counting, colors, geography, nursery rhymes and the dangers of gluttony. If you've got some favorite "kindie rock," please share...

As always, feel free to pass on.

Download the mix

"Then he ate ten twinkies, some ice cream and some oreos
And Slow Mo Joe wasn't so slow no more..."

01 Mahnamahna -- The Muppets
02 Alphabet of Nations -- They Might Be Giants
03 Slo Mo Joe -- David Weinstone: Music For Aardvarks And Other Mammals 7
04 West Indian Counting Song -- Dan Zanes, Aggie Decaul & Courin Gibbs: House Party
05 Upside Down -- Jack Johnson: Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George
06 Jenny Jenkins -- Jerry Garcia & David Grisman: Not For Kids Only
07 The Window -- Trout Fishing In America: Big Trouble