Sunday Shuffle #193

I've managed to post every day this week, something I haven't done in a long while. I've found some balance this week and I hope to keep that balance as we get fully into the school year and my college semester. For now, however, let's get to the music...

1. Catacomb Kids/Aesop Rock (1)

2. Been There All the Time/Dinosaur Jr. (3)

3. Money City Maniacs/Sloan (3)

4. Mole/The Mountain Goats (3)

5. House of Lies/The Broken West (1)

6. Easy Morning Rebel/My Morning Jacket (3)

7. Cajun Country/Hoodoo Gurus (2)

8. Get Back/The Beatles (1)

9. Stereo/Pavement (5)

10. Summer Is The Champion/Laura Veirs (3)

Looking Ahead #3

Here's a video of Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy covering a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune. I love the chemistry between them. The album they did together comes out on Sept. 14 and I can't wait.

Looking Ahead #2

The box set of Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town is coming on Nov. 16, even bigger than I thought it would be. It's a 3 CD, 3 DVD (or Blu-Ray) set that includes not only the remastered version of the album but 21 unreleased songs that include alternate versions of songs we know...and songs we've never heard before! Add in a documentary on the album and tons of live footage and a big booklet and I am just beyond excited. While I love Born To Run (which just celebrated its 35th anniversary), I consider Darkness to be my favorite Springsteen album. I can't wait...

Soloing

Tonight I played my first ever guitar solo in a performance. It was on the acoustic guitar and it was made up of 4 notes but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I've been playing with a friend the last couple weeks and we're having fun. In honor of my debut solo, I posted a song with one of the greatest guitar solos ever to my Blip.fm, a solo that has only one note in it. Go check it (and other songs I've posted) out here.

Looking Ahead

Today is new comics day and I bought two of them but I haven't read them yet. I did flip through the new Previews and I can't wait to see this cover in my hands 13 weeks from today. It's by Jock and this issue starts a new storyline by Scott Snyder and Jock with a Commissioner Gordon backup by Snyder and Francesco Francavilla, who just kills over at Comic Twart. Enjoy!

Time Travel and Body Swapping

One of the bright spots of the 2010 summer TV season has been the return of Futurama on Comedy Central. It's had a long and spotty history, starting with how it was often preempted by football back in its early days. I've been a fan of the show since it aired and lamented its loss along with other fans. Now, of course, the show is back producing new episodes and I've been enjoying it. Two recent episodes, however, rank right with the best episodes of the whole series.

"The Late Philip J. Fry" was a time travel story and I'm a sucker for those. It is centered around the budding relationship between Fry and Leela. Leela is upset at Fry for never being on time and he responds by swearing he will be on time for a big birthday dinner. On his way, he is persuaded by the Professor to join him in a quick time machine test run that will last only a minute. The problem is that the Professor screws up and they go a bit farther in time than planned. Another problem? The time machine can only go forward. The story is then split between their (Bender is along as well) quest to find a backwards time machine and the future of the Leela and the rest. It's funny and touching and the ending totally works.

Even better than that was last week's episode, "The Prisoner of Benda." It takes another science fiction trope, body swapping, and melds it to the emotional needs and issues of the cast. Bender wants to steal a crown, Leela thinks Fry only likes her for her looks, the Professor is tired of being old, and Amy has her old cravings for food. Initial body swaps occur and things get crazier from there but there is also a real (and gross) payoff for Leela and Fry's arc. Even Scruffy gets a poignant moment. It is funny and creepy and full of heart and is one of the best epsidoes ever of the series.

Race For Food

I have plenty of TV shows to watch, enough that it feels like I'm always trying to catch up. I don't need to find new shows but I always want to. I'm now hooked on The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network. In fact, I chose to watch last night's episode today over the new Mad Men and True Blood (though to be fair, I didn't have time to watch a full episode and knew I'd rather save those two for when I did have more time to devote).

The premise is simple: seven food trucks race across the country with stops along the way. At those stops, they have 48 hours to sell as much as they can. The team with the least amount of profit goes home and to keep things fair, each team starts with the same amount of seed money at each stop. The rest is up to them.

The seven teams have different cuisine and different personalities, of course. I find myself rooting for Grill 'Em All, who deal in outrageous burgers like the one that is between two grilled cheese sandwiches. I like how their name plays off of Metallica and the art on the truck follows suit. I'd like to eat one of their burgers (though not that grilled cheese one - yikes!). In fact, I'd like to try everyone's food but that's one of the perils of watching a food show.

So far, the teams have stopped in San Diego and Santa Fe and two teams are already gone. With five teams left, there won't be many episodes and maybe that's a good thing with my schedule. I'm going to keep watching no matter what, though, because it's a fun show.

Sunday Shuffle #192

I've spent a lot of time not sitting at the computer this past week. Instead, I've been staring at the TV catching up on various shows on DVD and the DVR. That all starts to change tomorrow when I start college and work at the school starts back up on Wednesday. My short summer vacation is over already but that's okay. I don't mind the routine. And speaking of routines, here's today's ten...

1. Way Out West/Big Star (5)

2. Step On It, Jean/Sloan (1)

3. Reset Anytime/Centro-Matic (2)

4. Golden Pony/Army Navy (2)

5. Small Deaths/The Dodos (2)

6. Room With a View/Imperial Teen (3)

7. Get To The Table On Time/M. Ward (1)

8. I Understand/Sloan (1)

9. Slicker Drips/The White Stripes (2)

10. Life 2: The Unhappy Ending/Stars (1)

The National Do It Again

One of my favorite bands, The National, recently did a live session on The Current and it is great. It includes a song they haven't released yet. So excited to see them in early Oct.

Sunday Shuffle #191

Another week has flown by and I still haven't managed any other posts. I have been ingesting books and comics and TV and movies, so maybe this week I can get my act together and talk about them a bit. This is my summer vacation week, which I'm very much looking forward to.

1. Duet For Guitars #2/M. Ward (1)

2. The Palace At 4 a.m./A.C. Newman (1)

3. In This Camp/Midlake (3)

4. Now We Can See/The Thermals (5)

5. Autumn Sweater/Yo La Tengo (1)

6. OK/Higgins (3)

7. Hurtin' You/Ben Kweller (1)

8. Queen of Everything/Haley Bonar (1)

9. Execution/Spoon (1)

10. [Untitled Track]/The Black Keys (3)

Sunday Shuffle #190

I had planned on jumping into a bunch of posts once my class finished but I found myself unable to focus earlier this week. Over the last few days, I've been hitting the DVR pretty hard and have caught up on True Blood, Entourage, and Friday Night Lights. I've also read some comics and finally settled into the new Gary Shteyngart novel. My plan is to generate some posts this week but we'll see. For now, let's get into the music...

1. Try To Make It/Sloan (2)

2. The Past Is A Grotesque Animal/Of Montreal (2)

3. Headsfull/Amy Millan (1)

4. Life is White/Big Star (6)

5. I Know That's Not Really You/American Music Club (3)

6. Automaton/Pernice Brothers (2)

7. Islero/Crooked Fingers (4)

8. The Things You Don't See/Canasta (2)

9. Unhinged/The Drams (1)

10. Here Comes The Sun Again/M. Ward (1)

Upcoming Goodness

Sunday Shuffle #189

August has arrived and with it comes a few endings. Once I proofread and tweak my final paper today I will be done with my summer class. I only have seven days left of teaching swimming this summer as well. The big ending, though, is my son's - he will turn 13 in a few days, a huge milestone in anyone's life. In honor of his birthday, today's shuffle will be 13 songs...

1. Help!/The Beatles (2)

2. Out On The Wing/Superchunk (2)

3. Tallahassee/The Mountain Goats (1)

4. Burn That Broken Bed/Iron and Wine & Calexico (2)

5. Country Mile/Camera Obscura (1)

6. Fool Says/M. Ward (2)

7. OK/Higgins (2)

8. Firenze/Canasta (2)

9. The Weight Of Guilt/Lucero (1)

10. Like A Train/Paul Burch (3)

11. Duet For Guitars #1/M. Ward (2)

12. The Great Depression/Pernice Brothers (9)

13. Citronella/Aesop Rock (3)