All Music Considered

It's pretty obvious that this blog is similar to the book of Psalms, which captured many of the "natural sentiments" of the psalmists. And that may just be a flattering way of saying, well, I'm really stuck on this new song by R.E.M. (They're from Athens). A preview was featured by NPR's All Things Considered. As Bob Boilen would say, take a listen...

All Music Considered

Okay don't judge. I'm on a heavy Michael Nyman trip. Rochester's Farewell is leading charts, and some other creepy stuff.

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notes from the incubator + song of the week

So there was a post some time ago where Turgenev's On the Eve was quoted without context, nor comment for that matter. Some people asked what it means. Well, I think that dialogue sums up the entire book and perhaps it doesn't require explanation. But I'm considering maybe putting something together to explain what I find so moving, and even relevant, about Shubin's timeless question: "will there ever be men among us?"

And that's our last post for tonight. Here's the song of the week, a little thing from Tom Waits. G'night.

"Take a listen."

The Week in Review

In this edition of "The Week in Review" we conduct some social media M&A work, explore the gospel records of Robert Zimmerman, and journey to a mega-church in Houston. We'll be back right after a short photography break...

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

This week was monumental. Despite the longstanding acrimony between social media mongols Facebook and Twitter, (eyewitness account here), I conducted a merger whereby my Facebook and Twitter accounts are now linked. Anything posted to twitter should now go indirectly to my facebook page. This is a huge step. Get ready...


In other news, you probably didn't know that Bob Dylan's actual name is Robert Allen Zimmerman. And you may not know that Dylan and I have a very special bond: we are both left-handed, though we both overcame this enormous obstacle and learned to play the guitar right-handed. 


Okay, so did you know that Dylan went on to produced two gospel albums? They are titled Saved and Slow Train Coming. These records are powerful and convicting. Tonight I'm listening to "I Believe in You" and "Gotta Serve Somebody." Dylan's lyrics are gripping, uncompromising, and honest. There is a lot I would like to say about these songs, about these two albums, and about Dylan in general. This may warrant a separate post.


On a different note, God's Man in Texas was hosted on Southern California Public Radio this week. The audio aired on 90.3 KPCV tonight. It was simultaneously both painful and entertaining. The piece chronicles a church pastor who is growing old and becoming disenchanted with his congregation and the pace of new, "industrialized Christianity."  It's an incriminating work of art, poignantly highlighting the issues that have so rapidly impacted the landscape of Christianity in the United States. Take a listen, and see if you wouldn't agree.


All for now...

The National plays D.C.

Hip and somewhat upbeat, with somber lyrics and Leonard Cohen vocals. This is an old favorite: The National. Take a listen, and tell me what you think about the last piece on the set, it's "About Today."

New Zealand Day

Some YP from NZ came to Atlanta recently, and their visit reminded me of that little comedy group, Flight of the Conchords. They made a movie recently, which I haven't seen. Anyway, I'm on another FoC binge; here are my two favorites:

you may know these...

"Sæglópur" (Icelandic for "lost at sea") is a song by Sigur Rós, released in 2006 as a single from the 2005 album Takk.... Parts of the song are in Icelandic, although a lengthy portion is in Hopelandic, a "language" of nonsense words selected by the band that sound similar to Icelandic. - Taken from Wiki.

This song is huge.



"First Breath After Coma" from an album entitled The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place. The band is called Explosions in the Sky. If you've never heard of this group, it's time you crawled out of your subterranean holding cell and have a listen.

This song, also, is huge.

Long distant, alas I return...

Such an enchanting little playlist that I'm running though; it begins with Sigur Ros, transitions to Explosions, and then The Album Leaf.

I'm 70 pages deep into Ivan Panin's "Lectures on Russian Literature," and he blows my mind. He's exhaustingly cerebral and thoroughly analytical, but its a fascinating piece.

This is a refreshing break from my typical readings - the literary escapade was prompted by an essay in the Times, "It's Not You, It's Your Books."