dolphinsbarn

I'm kind of in love with everything about this song. Including this video.

2011-09-02T10:25:00.001-06:00

Veteran Love

2011-09-02T09:53:00.002-06:00

Did a little piece for ESPN and the Jazz. Click here to go to ESPN, and then click on the Jazz button in the center.

Or you can just watch it here. :)

You always sound like your issuing a humble brag when you say "I look stupid on ESPN," but I seriously look stupid.

Min says it's too weird, but I like it.

2011-08-16T23:07:00.001-06:00

Music and the Internet.

2011-07-08T00:09:00.000-06:00

I like music. A lot. I always have, and I suppose I always will. I've owned various record, cassette, CD, and minidisc (yes minidisc) players in my lifetime, and I've loved each for different reasons. Still, they all had one major flaw: you could only carry a certain amount of music with you at one time. For old DJs, that carrying came in the form of bulky milk crates. Later, tape players came along and I remember lugging those long plastic cases that held 10-12 tapes at a time around. With CDs, you'd use those weak case logic carriers that would scratch up your discs (and at some point be stolen out of the back of your car). Mini discs? Plastic cases with little square discs in them. With each iteration of player, the carrying methodology got better, but for mobile use it was never very good. You were always carrying bulky cases around that had perpetual opportunity to be stolen. Until... the digital age.

For music collectors, the single best invention of the last 30 years has got to be MP3's and online storage. Suddenly, we could carry copies of our music with us without the bulk, and without the worry of losing all our music with one mislocked door. My first iPod was a 30-something gigger. It was awesome. I carried hundreds of albums in my pocket everywhere I went (although, full disclosure: the first time I saw an ipod- my cousins- I thought it was the dumbest invention ever, and would never catch on). I had that baby all through college, and loved it. In the years since, I had a series of other ipods, nanos, shuffles, etc., and then the iPhone was released. Once I finally got one (the iPhone4) I was completely rocked again. Now, not only could you carry your music with you, but anything you could listen to on your computer, you could stream on the go, and you could have a device with less (or no) storage, but still have almost all the music you could want. It has been totally awesome and totally changed my listening habits.

Anyway, remember that point... I'll come back to it.

I get a lot of questions about how I learn about new music. Honestly, it used to be from magazines. Then it was directly from blogs. Now, it's mostly from music sites. Let me explain how it worked for me, because this is important:

OLD WAY: I read magazine article from a trusted source - I order the CD - sometime I like it, sometime I don't.
NEW WAY: I hear music I like online - I order it - I always like it.

It's completely changed, and instead of relying on someone else and their opinion, I can make entirely informed decisions on my own. I always know I like the music I buy. ALWAYS. Anyway, my three go to apps for streaming music are:

Pandora: Probably the most recognized music source that I'll talk about. Harley King introduced this to me to this while we were still in college, and it's been a great source for consistently good music. I don't really ever get "new" music from here, but I've refined several stations so I know that I'll get a constant rotation of songs that I like. Pandora is my go to at work, because I know I can turn it on, and not think about what's going to be played.

Grooveshark: Great place to play music you want to listen to. You can favorite songs, make playlists, and share songs. I always use Grooveshark when I'm tweeting music, but I NEVER find music I haven't heard before because you have to search for the songs. YES they have a Pandora like radio station, but I don't like it's algorithm. It gives you misses way more than it delivers hits. If you ever are just looking for a specific song to listen to, it's a great source.

SoundCloud: Great to share music on a blog, but not really a site you want to go to and listen to music on. You can find really strange remixes on here, though, and it's a great tool as an embedded music player.

Hypemachine: BEST source for new, progressive music. If you want to know what people are talking about, this is the place to be. Hypemachine is a blog aggregator, which means that it pulls the songs off of notable blogs from around the internet, and allows you to listen to the most talked about tracks. You can go in and subscribe to blogs that you may like (whether that's indie, pop, or whatever) and it will play music that those blogs post. Besides that, their radio show is fantastic, and it really gives you handle on what is popular right now. It's a serious pulse of the internet.

To be continued...

On the Sports Buzz

2011-06-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

I joined the Sports Buzz for some draft chatter. Check it out, and enjoy my rambling (and sweeeeet hair). Yikes.

Dolphinsbarn is SCH

2011-05-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

If you missed this post yesterday, go check it out. Morning after reaction to the draft lottery from yours truly. It's been a while.

Also, I've got two posts in draft that are coming here...

2011-04-14T15:00:00.003-06:00

One of my best friends (Kyle Monson) recently blogged his thoughts surrounding Arcade Fire’s Best Album Grammy. He proposes that how you react to this victory puts you into one of two categories: Hipster, or Evangelist. Kyle contends that an Evangelist is a person that wants EVERYONE to enjoy the same stuff they do. Conversely, a Hipster “gets off on knowing what others don’t.” They view their insider knowledge as social currency, and as a result try to protect their favorite bands from mass consumption. The underlying difference that Kyle seems to be driving at is that for the hipster, exposure ruins the product but to the evangelist it increases the underlying product’s value.

I’ve thought a lot about Kyle’s post. My initial reaction was, “yeah. That makes sense.” I could relate to his thesis, because I used to fit the hipster mold. In the 90’s I protected my music from “casual” fans. I’d share, but there had to be a mutual understanding of the importance of the music I was offering as a prerequisite to receiving the information. I wasn’t just wandering around giving people tips on cool new bands. I tried to maintain a certain level of mystery by listening to music that was off other people’s radar, and (as Kyle said) I built up a reserve of social credibility that (I felt) made my opinions more viable. So, yes, I was a music hipster. I liked knowing what you didn’t. However, as I’ve gotten older, that’s almost entirely changed. Yes, I still get excited when I tell people about bands they haven’t heard of, but my motivation for sharing has completely shifted from hipster, to evangelist. While writing for Pretty Much Amazing, I freely shouted my opinions on my favorite bands from the rooftops. However, I don’t think it’s because I enjoy that social currency that comes with being the first to know about a band any less, but it’s because the music landscape has entirely been redrafted since my days as a music hipster. I still like the social superiority that can be found in hot new bands, but in today’s music world, social currency is earned not by hiding your music, but by evangelizing.

In its history, music has been through MANY changes, but it went through the most radical shift in its history in the past 10 years. Unlike the musical changes that came along with Elvis, or the Beatles, this change came on the business side, and had nothing to do with the sound produced. Specifically, the shift came in music’s distribution channels. In the 90s, music wasn’t nearly as accessible as it is today. It was a lot harder to be a real fan of any band, especially for independent foreign music. I was a super music hipster, so I knew all the serious indie artists, and I followed them religiously. I can tell you first hand, it took time and major effort. This was a typical experience for me:

You found out about a cool new band. Usually from an interview or review in the back of an off the map magazine that was only carried in specialty stores.
You went to your local specialized music store and ordered the record. You had to order it, because until the late 90’s they almost NEVER had independent label’s music on the shelves.
You waited two weeks for the record to come in.
You got a phone call (on a land line) from the record store telling you the record was there.
You went back to the store and listened to the album cover to cover at a listening booth.
If you liked it, you bought it ($15). You could almost NEVER get singles, so you had to like the band, or a song enough to buy the whole album.
Suddenly, you owned a piece of the band. You were a fan.

Because of the difficulty in getting those records, the more rare the record or less accessible the song, the cooler it was. In social currency, good independent bands were worth a lot. Imports were social goldmines, and imports of concerts that weren’t played in the US were the pinnacle of cool. A big, rare CD collection was a sign that you were committed as a fan, and that you knew your business. And you’d PAID for it. You had sacrificed and paid a price for the social currency. There was nothing I liked more than the moment new friends/girlfriends looked at my record collection. The excitement I’d experience when they would say, “I’ve only heard of 3 of these bands” was immeasurable.

Then the internet happened… and more importantly the internet got credible, and powerful. To be a fan in other decades required physical proof of commitment, but with the internet and Facebook, you could simply post cool underground bands to your wall and freeride on the cool wave. That’s not to say that someone that found a cool band on the internet was any less of a fan, but gone were the days of truly sacrificing for your fandom. You didn’t have to go to the concert to find good merch… anyone could buy a shirt or rare CD online and have it shipped to their door. Being a fan was easy, music was cheap or free, and hipsters could no longer use knowledge of a band as currency. With the advent of MP3 players suddenly everyone had thousands of songs/bands/imports at their fingertips. It completely stripped the hipster of his power. The barriers to entry were suddenly obliterated, and everyone could have a piece of your favorite band.

In the 2000’s, music ownership holds no cache, it has become fungible. It is everywhere… Grooveshark has nearly every old album you can think of (for free), and if you’re willing to pay $12 a month (I used to spend in excess of $25-30 per month on CD’s alone), then you can literally have access to almost ANY album on Rdio, old or new. There’s no sacrifice required to be a fan, and as a result, the cool factor of just LIKING a band has become less important. Now you have to know things about the band… and not just where they’re from, or what’s on their latest CD. Social currency in the music world is now found in how much you know about the music galaxy. Knowledge is power, and how do you flex that muscle? You evangelize it. You share it with everyone. The roles have flipped, and the evangelists are now the hipsters.

Cool song Tuesday... again.

2011-03-15T09:53:00.001-06:00

Speaking of awesome new songs... I LOVE the Junior Boys. Been a big fan for a while now, and this song off their new album reminds me why. Take a listen to "EP."

Junior Boys - ep by jUjU

That's right... two posts in a ten minute period. What can I say? I've been away for a while, so I'm gonna hit the bloggosphere hard upon re-entry. Thought you'd be glad to see me.

Cool song Tuesday

2011-03-15T09:49:00.000-06:00

I posted The Knife's original "Heartbeats" and Jose Gonzalez cover here in 2008, but Ellie Goulding came along and re-covered it. To be fair, this is more a cover of Jose's slowed down version, and less of The Knife's, but it's still pretty awesome. Take a listen and let me know what you think. I think you'll like it.

American Idol.

2011-03-08T14:41:00.001-07:00

I see this in my head every time this joker sings...

...now you have to see it to. Happy Tuesday!

DB is SCH

2011-02-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Don't know if you saw this on Twitter or Facebook, but I talked to some guys on a Chicago radio station this afternoon about Jerry Sloan, Deron Williams, and the future of basketball. It's only 10 mins, so low commitment. Let me know what you think.

Some Bullets.

2011-02-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Some cool things I've been reading:

I would have killed to have this App in college for some of those horrific term papers. Seriously, it writes your works cited page for you.
Wanna get rid of that cold faster? Try zinc... a lot of zinc.
These are fascinating... pretty sure any of us could dig up a few pictures with our siblings and do this, but I love the idea (more).
Anyone that has built something from Ikea can relate to this (my favorite thing is the 10,000 men it requires to build).
If you have insomnia, maybe you're doing it right.
Don't care who you are... hitting your head on a backboard from a standing jump is just plain ridiculous.
Next level expert.
Greeeeeeat. First strokes and now cancer (or was it cancer first and strokes second?).
"There's no shame in losing to silicon."

DB is SCH

2011-02-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

I have had a few people ask my thoughts on Sloan's retirement, and here it is. It's kind of all over the place, and a little dramatic, but overall it's what I think. If you ever get me alone in a room, I can tell you the nitty gritty details behind a lot of this.

Yes it be.

2011-02-07T23:21:00.001-07:00

Cool song Tuesday... on Monday

2011-02-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

A little something for those of you that like Shoegaze (and I do). School of Seven Bells are a cool New York band, and are currently opening for Interpol's latest tour. If you don't know them, you defnitely should take a second and take a listen. Here's two of my favorites (both have fantastic lyrics):

Windstorm on Grooveshark.

Half Asleep on Grooveshark.

DB is SCH

2011-02-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'm back to Salt City Hoops now too... Some quick thoughts on last night's game over the division rival Nuggets.

Teeth.

2011-02-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Mindy and I have been bleaching our teeth this week (thanks Dave) which has been a treat. Whiter teeth sound great, in theory, and probably will be fantastic when we are done... but for the time being, it's been kind of painful. Here's what I've/we've experienced four days in:

The first two days, my teeth were a little sensitive in the morning, but throughout the day the sensitivity chilled out. Last night, I wore the tray all night, and right now my teeth feel like they are made of glass. Anything that touches them sends a ZING through my mouth.
The trays were really tight the first couple nights, and my teeth felt cramped... it was the same kind of feeling you get with braces on the day after you get them tightened.
I have tried to wear them overnight. The first night they lasted for about 5 hours before I woke up and tore them out of my head. The second night I found myself standing at the sink pulling them out (sleepwalking again). When I came to, I thought, "oh, that's okay. I've had them on for at least 6 hours." Then I saw the clock... it was 1.30 and I'd been in bed for 2 hours TOPS. The third night I took a break and slept great. The fourth night (last night) I wore them all night.
Today is the first day that I feel like I'm seeing a difference in color. Don't know if that's because I finally wore them ALL night, or if it's a build up of the past four nights. Probably both.
I think I have about 5-7 more days left before it gets to where I want it to be. Yay.

That's about it. Exciting stuff, I know.

I didn't invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella.

2011-02-03T10:27:00.001-07:00

I had so many things to say... for the past week, I've had various moments when I've thought, "that's funny. I should blog about it." Well, here I am and all ideas for blogging have fluttered out of my head. So, I'll do what I've been doing lately... post some stories, some music, and ramble. I do this as an outlet for myself anyway, so whatevs, right?

It's been so cold in Denver. The high two days ago was 0. I mean, for us, that's cold. Luckily/unluckily, I've been spending about 15 hours a day in the office with meals either coming in, or me munching on snacks from the kitchen, so I haven't really had to feel it. I don't usually wear a jacket to work since I get into my car in a garage, and park in a parking garage under the building... Also, I like the freedom that NOT wearing a jacket brings. When I stand up to leave (which has been infrequent, I'll say) no one knows if I'm going to the bathroom, the kitchen, or home. I'm built for speed.

January and February are the most depressing months. I know we've got a few holidays in there, but I don't get either of them off, and it's just so cold & bleak. In November and December, snow is a novelty. It completes the holidays. In February, it's an annoyance. It slows the commute (and in Denver, the last thing you need is something else to slow down already painfully slow drivers), and lingers far too long. I remember feeling the same way with the winter semester in college. For some reason, fall semester flew by. It was highlighted with football, barbecues, intramural sports, and had HUGE holiday breaks to split things up. Winter semester, though, just drug on, and on, and on. Same thing right now.

The difference between men and women can be summed up with shoes. A man would never buy a pair of shoes that didn't fit right or that could cause serious injury, solely based on cute factor. Why do I bring this up? Well, Min has been in the process of redecorating our bedroom... a room that I was entirely happy leaving the way it was (saying that, I probably would have been entirely happy with a sheet stapled over the window and three band posters taped to the wall). Over the past week, I've come home to various changes... paint one day, new pictures & frames on others, new sheets and bed coverings on another. So, last night I get home and the room was almost completely finished, and it looked great. I mean, GREAT. Ming did a fantastic job. We talked, we laughed, we went to bed. Then, laying there in the dark, I realized that my clock that shines the time on the ceiling (which is also as sound machine, and is totally awesome) is gone. I don't think a lot of it, until I stand up (in the dark) and go to get something... and almost trip over Marzi's bed which is now put on my side (hidden from view for the rest of the room. Perfect for a sleepwalker). I started asking what was going on and it turns out that these items are ugly and have been hidden. I ask if I can move them, she says yes, as long as the place I move them to is also out of sight. So here we are... sacrificing functionality for cute... but don't worry! If you happen to need a six inch fleur de lis, or an OLD wrinkly copy of Moby Dick, or even a ball of yellow yarn, we've got those things handy and sitting on a dresser. Just don't ask for the time.

Two of my FAVORITE pre-1980 songs that I never listen to any more are "Stairway to Heaven," and "Cortez the Killer." I love almost everything about both of these songs, but in particular, the easter egg in Stairway (at the 6.44 mark) is so sweet. Cortez the Killer is just fantastic. Originally written by Neil Young, I also love the Built to Spill version (although, it's 20 minutes long). I actually like it so much, that I had Scott and Gary learn it and play it live at my wedding. Weird? Yes. Awesome, I think so.

Take a listen:
Cortez the Killer - Neil Young
Stairway to Heaven - Led

(And if you picked up the title of this post, then here's this: "The only true currency in this bankrupt world... is what you share with someone else when you're uncool. ")

Baby, it's cold outside.

2011-02-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

What Min is thinking...

2011-01-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

I can take it... Nothing is as painful as Dancing With the Stars... nothing. :)

Check others out here. Very funny stuff.

Cool song Tuesday... on Friday.

2011-01-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

I'm loving this song. Maybe it's a guilty pleasure, maybe it's legit love. I dunno... all I know is that I can't stop listening to it. I'm a fan of Lupe Fiasco's and think he's one of the smoothest rappers out there. I'm also a big Modest Mouse fan, and even though "Float On" is one of my least favorite in their catalog, I love the use of it's opening hook in this.

Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On | LASERS by YINMAGAZINE

New Year's Resolutions...

2011-01-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last year, I had a resolution to write more blog posts in 2010 than I did in 2009. Well, if you look over there (points to the right side of the screen) you'll see that I wrote EXACTLY the same amount of posts year over year. I didn't realize that until the day after 2010 ended (or I would have thrown one more up). Awesome. So this year, I'm committing to several exciting resolutions, but one of the less flashy is to write more here. I will beat that 2009/2010 total in 2011... and if I'm going to do it, I better keep content flowing.

Here are a few things I've been reading lately:

Thought about starting your own business? Do it. It's exciting, and fun... and stressful, and hard. Here are 10 reasons you should do it this year.
I'm a terrible cook (but an excellent griller... ask Ming). Part of my terribleness comes from laziness. I appreciate good food, but I have a hard time justifying the time it takes to prepare something delicious when 3 minutes, a jar of peanut butter, and some marshmallow spread will do the same trick. Saying that, one of my favorite qualities in my lovely wife is that she DOES like to cook, and she's VERY good at it. This means that 99% of the time, I don't have to choke down something I threw together from the cupboard that is covered in marinara sauce and chocolate chips. It also means that I've been enabled, and over the past 8 years I've become even dumber in the kitchen. Anyway, there is a place for men in the kitchen, and that's in the tool department... For years I looked at the microplane, and thought, "I used to use that thing in the garage with my dad." Mindy never liked me calling it a rasp, but finally here's proof of it's humble origins! This had to be one of those situations where a man was hungry, cooking something nasty, and needed to rub a husk off of something fast. After a few tries, he probably sat back and thought "I have just the tool for that."
Wanna know what legal drugs lead to violence? Me too. Here you go.
This whole Tuscon shooting thing is disgusting. The guy that did it is crazy, and it's going to be pretty difficult to scale back the nation's gun laws to protect public figures from nutbags like this when they really want to attack. Saying that, we could do SOMETHING. I wrote a 30 page research paper on gun control in college, and I remember my major finding wasn't that guns in society are bad, it's our approach to regulation. I believe in the right to bear arms, but I think it should be done responsibly. This opinion piece gives a good voice to the issue, and discusses how America regulates toys more stringently than guns.
Somebody tried to reserve a spot at a restaurant that I went to over the break. It was right after a massive snow storm, and the lot was packed. PACKED. I was pulling into an open spot when some guy and his girlfriend stepped out from behind a tree and stood RIGHT where I was parking. They started kanoodling and tried to ignore me. I was unimpressed, and rolled down the window to ask what was going on. They said that their friend was on his way, and would be there soon. I said, "Cool. I'm here. Move" and I drove on. So, maybe I'm a jerk, but really? Saving parking spots? I'm all for saving seats if your buddy is getting concessions and you're waiting in a movie theater, but if they're still outside the building, or around the block, then move it lady. Same goes for parking spots.

It's been too long... BWBW

2011-01-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Took a big break lately for the holidays, but it's time to hit the blogosphere again! Hooray! Bullets? You bet! Here's what I've been thinking/reading lately:

Put a check mark in the "I'm shocked how unshocked I am" column. Why would Israelis study this when every man in the world could save you the time and give you the findings independently.
I read something the other day about Goldman purposefully, but inadvertently double crossing Facebook in this deal... by being their advisor, they basically raise a "Facebook is too big for this type of private treatment" flag from the SEC. Then the SEC forces FB to go public making EVERYONE that owns FB stock (read: GS) filthy rich. Having worked there, I can tell you first hand that Goldman would never do this type of thing intentionally [looks over both shoulders].
Okay, I worked/work in the energy field (specifically natural gas and oil), so I know a bit more about fuel and markets than the average person, but this may be the stupidest headline I've ever read. How does this get across an editors desk? It's like running a headline that says "9/10 Scientists Think Sun May Rise on Thursday" (or "Women's Tears Lower Men's Testosterone").
I think this is dead on for the under 45 market (at least for home use). I hardly touch my laptop when I'm home now, unless I'm doing business, or DJing. There's no need... I access my email, twitter, and even all of my banking from my iPhone. It's crazy. I remember the first computer my family got had a 256MB hard drive, and we were STOKED. My iPhone's hard drive is 16GB.
Some of this is true, some of it isn't. I've talked about the beauty bias before, but here's a study.
I'm starting to feel like the optimum amount of people to follow on Twitter is about 130. I get too far above that, and the conversations are moving too fast to keep up. Any less, and the 90 apathetic friends that I DO still follow don't keep the conversation moving fast enough.

One of my best buddies.

2010-12-22T22:30:00.001-07:00

Couldn't love the guy more.

Cool song Tuesday... on Wed.

2010-12-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

I've had a few people ask me lately what good music came out this year. Honestly, there was A LOT, but one of my very favorite albums came from a strange little band called Francis and the Lights. The album is called It'll Be Better and it's full of GREAT tunes. They have a weird late 80's, early 90's slow rock / Hall & Oates kinda feel, but they're very modern at the same time. You could hate 'em, but in a music landscape that is starting to feel all too uniform, I'm LOVING the uniqueness of this band.

Try "Tap the Phone" out and let me know what you think.

Francis & The Lights - Tap The Phone by Ivory Ror

The White Elephant in the Room

2010-12-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

I had an office party today and part of the event was set apart for a white elephant exchange. I'd forgotten almost entirely about it, but on my way out the door this morning, I remembered, grabbed an old copy of Napoleon Dynamite (that someone had left at our house), and planned to pass that off to someone. There was a $10 limit, so I thought that this was perfect.

Let me interject here, and say that to me, a white elephant gift is one that fits the following criteria:

Has some sort of value, or in other words, you feel kind of bad throwing it out.
Is extremely tacky or goofy.
Is often only kept JUST to be regifted as another white elephant.
Generally humorous in nature.

As far as I'm concerned, if your gift doesn't tick one of those boxes, it isn't a white elephant... it's a present. The bottom line is that you aren't giving a white elephant because you want something awesome back. You're participating because it's funny to see what kind of junk is gonna get passed around.

Some real examples of good white elephant gifts that I have seen given or that I have gifted:

A 2 foot bronze statue of a Native American with his arms behind his head. Real hair, and real bikini painted on (still sitting in my parent's garage).
A braille Playboy (if you haven't seen one, there are no pictures... just braille on brown paper).
SPAM.

So, ANYWAY, I went to this white elephant exchange with the idea that EVERYONE was bringing garbage to pawn off on each other... not so. What I found (just minutes before entering the exchange) was that instead of white elephants, everyone brought $10 GIFTS! We're talking bottles of wine, unopened (new) movies, new stuffed animals, and other relatively nice items. I'd been snookered! This was a GIFT EXCHANGE!!! I scrambled... I zigged and zagged... I ran into a coffee shop and got a $10 gift card and slipped it into my used copy of Napoleon Dynamite! I was saved, but I was also kind of annoyed.

So, why am I talking about this? Because we need to get on the same page. Recently Mindy ran into the exact same situation. She ended up at a party that had billed itself a white elephant, only to realize that she'd also been suckered into a gift exchange... only there was no coffee shop to come to her rescue and she had to "gift" a 10 year old Christmas ornament to another girl who brought a throw pillow.

You know what happens when the white elephant rules are unclear? You end up with a girl sitting next to you crying because she got a bag of freeze dried spaghetti (this actually happened today) when she brought a bottle of wine.

Saying that... some of us walked away happy:

Cool Song Tuesday

2010-12-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

The National are one of those bands that seem to evolve without changing. I've been a huge fan since the moment I heard Alligator's "Secret Meeting. Their newest album, High Violet continues the National's fantastic run as one of the most consistent yet "new" bands on the scene. Here's one of my favorites... take a listen.

The National - Afraid Of Everyone by halloweengum

Also, if you had an interest in old stuff, here's "Daughters of the Soho Riots." If you like melancholy music... you've found a new favorite.
daughters of the soho riots by thatdudeadrian

Cool song Tuesday... on Thurs.

2010-12-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

This is a dark direction for the xx. Very cool though...

CREEP / Days by Young Turks

Man Card.

2010-12-05T23:34:00.001-07:00

I've restarted this post 3x. Each time I realize that I don't have much to say about the topic I've started, so I stop. Basically, I have nothing to say, so instead of actually posting one thing, here are a collection of my misfires.

Misfire #1: Sayings that should cease:

"You're getting your man card revoked." Ugh... I hate hearing about man cards and man caves. I don't have a man card, and I'm not worried about anyone taking it. The guys that bring up "man cards" are the ones who are self conscious of their behavior. I wore a pink shirt to work the other day, and someone gave me the man card line. All I could think was, "really?"

Misfire #2: Europe.

When I graduated from college, Mindy and I backpacked through Europe for 3 months. On one of our first nights in London, we shared a room with a British comedian. He was a great guy, and instead of going to bed, we stayed up and talked to him for about 3 hours in the dark, tucked into our beds. He was a fascinating guy. When he found out we didn't drink, he was shocked, but later said... "you know, I guess it shouldn't be so shocking that there are people that don't drink. I mean, it's not like you're born with a pint in your hand." True enough, and I've often thought about that comment since then... especially since people are SO shocked that we don't drink. The funny thing is, more people are surprised by it in CO then they ever were in NYC. Maybe it's because you get such a wide swath of people in NY... nothing seems all that strange (especially if you've ever been to the Halloween parade as it goes through the west village).

Misfire #3. Why the Captain is smiling.

We let Thunder play with our cell phones. He loves the games and he's gotten really, really good with his coordination on the touch screens. It's really cute... until something like this happens.

We were at Mindy's parent's house for Thanksgiving, and the adults were all sitting around talking. Thunder had Mindy's cell phone (mistake #1), and I had downloaded a free app for him to play while we were talking (mistake #2). About 10 minutes after I gave him the new game, my brother in law said, "I think he just bought something." I told him that there was no way he could have since you had to put in a password to buy anything (mistake #3). Another minute passed, and Rick said (again), I think he did it again. Well, I took the phone and saw that Tetris was in the process of downloading, and realized that he probably DID buy a game. Great. I thought, well... lesson learned. Don't let him play with our phones.

The next day Mindy called me in a near panic. She got the invoice from iTunes for the night before. $40! Jack had spent $40 on "megapoints" (an in-game purchase that allowed you to open more levels on this "free" app). After reading their "All sales are final" byline in the contract, we contacted iTunes IMMEDIATELY (via email). Later that day, a fantastic representative from iTunes contacted us, and said that they were happy to help us with this problem, but first, he wanted to let me know that ANOTHER invoice was coming from the same evening and we had to wait until it cleared to resolve the issue. That night we got that invoice... for another $38.50! So, all in Thunder bought $77.50 in megapoints, and $1 in Tetris. Awesome and fun surprise.

Moral of the story? 1) Thunder is smarter than we thought with electronics. 2) Your phone stores your password 15 minutes AFTER you type it in, so any purchases made in that time do not require a repeated typing. 3) Keep your friends close, and your 2 year olds closer. 4) The kid doesn't touch our phones any more. Period.

This was awesome.

2010-12-03T15:54:00.002-07:00

DB is SCH

2010-12-03T10:20:00.002-07:00

Gonna be in ESPN's Daily Dime Live chat tonight for Jazz v. Mavs (8.30MST). Stop by and chat! http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

What's wrong with Miami.

2010-12-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's winter.

2010-12-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

I miss the summer.

I've fallen back in love with falafel.

2010-11-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Better in the middle east, but I take what I can get.

Thought bullets.

2010-11-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm forcing myself to write something since i've been so MIA lately. It's not going to be long, but my time has been eroded by either 1) Work, 2) Thanksgiving, 3) SCH, 4) other business stuff. Just when I think I can't get busier, another gear drops in and I'm off again. It's good, but it's busy and it means that I stop doing certain things... like this blog. Anyway, this will be sporatic, but I need a release:

Thought Bullets:

I HATE driving through snow. Hate it. Mindy makes fun of me because I'm such a worrier when it comes to winter driving. I think she doesn't care enough, and she thinks I unnecessarily freak my freak in any snow driving (that was one thing I loved about New York: the ability to get around and not have to drive in the snow). Well we recently drove through a storm that we collectively agreed was complete and utter misery. We left St. George, UT on Sunday morning and had to go through 3 scary mountain passes to get back to Denver. We went from being stuck in traffic on I-15 (in horrible snow), to being almost completely isolated in a blizzarg going over Sevier pass, and then having to follow a plow (on I-70) over Salina. It took us nearly 9 hours to make a 5.5 hour drive, and we ended up sleeping in Grand Junction night before last. The last thing we wanted to do was go over Vail Pass in the snow at midnight (We've been up there before when a car slammed the guard rail and spun down the mountain).
Speaking of Grand Junction, I hate short showers. I"m nearly 6'2", and I find myself constantly ducking under shower heads, or nearly doing back bends when I need to wash out my hair. This leads to me often bashing my head against shower heads (which hurts), and never really getting myself all that washed off. Mindy can tell you, I already have a hard enough time remembering to rinse myself off completely when I shower, and abnormally short shower heads don't help the situation at all.
Spun a private dance the other night... there were about 600 kids there too, so it was awesome. I had some new AMAZING pro lights too, so it was a blast. Anyway, here are some of the songs that the kids are loving right now:

Sandstorm (by FAR the most requests of the night came for this song... they went NUTS when I finally played it).
Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me" (I was surprised how excited they were about this one... the girls especially loved it).
La Roux - "In for the Kill" (I guess that "feud" with Lady Gaga got her some exposure in the teenage circles, because this was highly requested).
Taio Cruz -"Dynamite" (I totally forgot this song. It was the big bust of the night... I didn't have it, and it was the second most requested song of the night).
Far East Movement - "Like a G6" (They also loved this one).

How much am I loving the Jazz right now? I have the NBA league pass, and I'm loving seeing the Jazz play almost every game. Especially with how well their playing. Can't wait to go home for Christmas and see them at home (and go into the locker room). On a related note, how much is Mindy HATING the Jazz right now? Lots.
Real Christmas tree, or fake? That's what we're asking ourselves this week. I vote fake.
I hate driving in the snow so much, I checked into taking the train home next time. You'd think that it would be cheap and awesome to take a train... not the case. It's almost twice as expensive as a flight to SLC. Awesome.
It's time for a serious health intervention... I've had the WORST eating habits over the past two weeks mostly because I'm so busy. Today starts the kick off of Hard Bodies 11 though. My family did this in 2009, and it actually went pretty well for all that participated. Well, here I go again. Gotta get ready for all the sunny trips next year, and it starts tonight! Good eating, and in the gym... ugh... can't wait!

Okay... that's all for now. I'm not even editing this post, so if I sound like I'm rambling, or like I'm a complete idiot, I'm sorry. More to come soon...

We party.

2010-11-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yet again... DB is SCH

2010-11-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another post on the OKC game. This is basketball heavy... could bore those of you that didn't watch the game, or that don't like NBA. Joe... I still expect you to comment. :)

DB is SCH - the "Do you feel like this is all we ever do anymore" edition.

2010-11-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Posted some quick after-game thoughts about Orlando last night set to LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." Take a look... Morning After Drill: Don't Call It a Comeback .

DB is SCH again...

2010-11-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Put up some post-game reaction to the win in Miami and got linked again to ESPN's Truehoop by name (second to the end). I love seeing my name there... can you tell (have I mentioned that Mindy hates the Jazz this season... and the league pass that brings them to my door)?

Check it out the article... leave a comment if you are interested.

DB is SCH

2010-11-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

New post at SCH. Go check it out and leave a comment... and those of you that don't like sports will like this one... it's non-team specific and fun... "How to Disgust Fans: A Handbook for Beginners"

Let me know what you think. :)

(Oh, and sorry I've been so sporadic with posting. My various activities are killing me softly.)

Red rocks with the crew.

2010-11-06T18:00:00.000-06:00

What I was doing last night.

2010-11-04T11:57:00.000-06:00

Cool song Tuesday... on Wed.

2010-11-03T16:11:00.000-06:00

Served up without comment.

Sidsel Endresen & Bugge Wesseltoft - "Try"

DB is SCH - UPDATE

2010-11-03T10:45:00.003-06:00

10 Things I Know One Week Into the Season...

Read it and leave a comment if you're so inclined.

Got mentioned on the Truehoop home page at ESPN for that article today. Always cool... check it out (toward the bottom).

Forgot to post this on Friday... DB is SCH

2010-11-01T00:15:00.002-06:00

Contributed to a post about Deron Williams' outburst at Gordon Hayward on Friday. Take a look (it's short). :)

Argh.

2010-10-29T19:40:00.000-06:00

The babes dig my hat. They just told me so.

2010-10-28T00:29:00.000-06:00

Daily Dime Live... again...

2010-10-27T23:14:00.001-06:00

Forgot to say... I did the Daily Dime Live chat again at ESPN for tonight's Denver/Utah game. If you want to reread the thread, it's here, but (fair warning) the Jazz got killed, so it's a lot of me apologizing for terrible game-play.

Some of you have posted to these forums before, and probably wondered why your comment never pops up... I always have. I've been in there as a reader and thought, "This comment is hilarious! Why aren't they posting this stuff!" So here's a peak behind the curtain.

When you comment, it goes into a bank of questions that the general public can't see. To the moderator (me and other writers), those questions are scrolling down the right side of the screen and the live chat (what the viewer sees on the ESPN homepage) is going on in the left side. If the person/people moderating the chat think you're interesting, asking a good question, or saying something relevant to everyone, they will post your comment from the right to the left side where EVERYONE can see it. Unfortunately, for every one question that we have time to answer, there are about 30-40 comments left unread and scrolling down the side, and if you don't make the initial cut, you wont' get reread. There's no time. As far as the comments go, some are terrible like "GO LAKEERSSSS, we R nomber won!!" or derogatory comments like, "go back to Mormonville," but for the most part the commentary is really smart, pretty funny, and is a shame that more comments can't be posted. It's a trip seeing what everyone has to say.

For those of you that do want to get posted in the conversation, stick around and make lots of smart, witty comments, you'll get posted eventually and it will start a dialogue. I figured out pretty quick who my top 30 people were that I liked responding to, and I'd go back to them a lot.

I'll be doing tons of these this season (a piece of Mindy's insides just withered and died), and I'll try tolet you know here during the day if I'm going to be live that night. If you have a generic username that only I'd know, it makes it fun because even though I know we're friends, everyone else doesn't.

It's been really fun so far.

BTW, sorry that this has been so basketball heavy lately. I'm sure I'm boring people, but it's opening week... what can I say?

Daily Dime LIVE

2010-10-27T11:17:00.001-06:00

@saltcityhoops and I are discussing Jazz hoops at Daily Dime Live. Stop by and chat! http://tinyurl.com/25bszgl

NLA 2010 Newsletter

2010-10-26T00:27:00.001-06:00

NOTE: Some of you will find this HORRIBLY boring (so I included a jump), but for my leaguemates, I thought it would be fun to be publicly ridiculed. Those of you NOT in the league, enter the comment section at your own risk.

From the office of Commissioner "if he dies, he dies" Lind

Gentlemen, scholars, managers,

We’re back baby! Six years, one scandal, one (terrible) rotisserie scored season, a Leafy Bug, and a whole lotta trash talk later, here we are! I'm so sick of talking about the offseason, I could scream. I couldn't be more excited for this year, and my opportunity to beat up on each and every one of you. As per custom, I give you the annual league newsletter!

Five Fun NLA facts:

Fun Fact 1: We never had a repeat winner in the NLA until 2009. Without precedent, Carl and his DC Cheeseheads stormed the NLA castle, decimating all challengers in their way. In the Semifinals he beat Los Chupacabras 8-3 and in the finals he destroyed Dark Helmet 8-2. It’s almost like the rest of us didn’t even try. The Nevernudes (Dentists) are the only other team that have ever challenged for back to back champion status (first place finish in 2006 and 3^rd place finish in 2007), but Carl is the first to actually pull it off. We hate him for it to this day.

Fun Fact 2: Speaking of Dark Helmet, they have returned for their 3^rd consecutive year to try and get over the 2^nd place hump that they seem consigned to. Can they make the leap to #1, and what exactly does that name mean? All will be answered in time (not really a fact, but whatever).

Fun Fact 3: The three top finishers in 2008 made 138 collective moves over the course of one season. Last year they followed the same trend making 104 moves (an average of 35 moves per player). The only other team outside of the top 3 that got close to making that many roster changes in 2009 was Majesty, with 35 moves of his own (but finishing in 7^th… lowly for his his Majesty).

Fun Fact 4: All 10 managers from 2009 returned again for 2010. This is absolutely unprecedented in the NLA. We have never had a league that returned all of the previous year’s managers… to take it to the next level, we also have Wunderkinder (formerly the Matthewites) returning (the NLA's favorite whipping post since the 2007 season) after his 2 year hiatus in Switzerland. Our lone “rookie” is Jake Bryant, who is no rookie at all. He’s played in leagues prior to this, but 2010 marks his first foray into the NLA. The great thing about fact 4 is that we have 12 managers that care about winning. NO LEAFY BUGS!

Fun Fact 5: The Matthewites (Wunderkinder)* maintain the best winning percentage of all time in the NLA from the 2006 season (.711). He finished in 4^th place that year. DC_Cheeseheads had the best record in 2009 with 123-85-12 (a .586 winning percentage), and a first place finish. What to take from this? The league is getting tougher.

*Just one year later (in 2007) the Matthewites were involved in the now infamous Trading Scandal Aught Seven. Rookie, and one time player Dr. J began secretly offloading his best players to the Matthewites in exchange for the ites worst players. Majesty brought the scandal to light, and Commissioner Skitch put a halt to the dealings. Dr. J has since been banned from the league, ala Pete Rose.

A few quick draft awards:

Most Likely to Succeed: Blue Darts - Jay shied away from his 2009 draft strategy (draft big-named injured players that may/may not ever play in their careers again) and opted for a more measured approach (draft people that actually play basketball). As a result he ended up with a pretty great fantasy team. D-Will (assist city), Carmelo Anthony (scoring machine), Blake Griffen, and Paul Milsap (rebounding animals). He has a well rounded team with players that do certain things VERY well. Can they do enough things well to take him to a championship?

Best Auto Drafter: Los Chupacabras. Oh wait... they drafted LIVE? Well... if Joe didn't realize that Okur, Redd, and Troy Murphy were injured when he picked them, he definitely knows now. Thanks for taking out the trash Joe. The real autodrafters appreciate all that you do!

Manager that Knows the Most About Basketball, but Seems to Always Come Up Short - The Warriors. Maybe Dave will stop worrying about starting a business this year, and focus on the important things in life... like beating up on the DC Cheeseheads and Dark Helmet.

Manager with Players Most Likely to Cheat/Lie/Shoot/Or Do Something Else Requiring Disciplinarian Action on the Part of the NBA THIS Season: Double Dribble - Jake (our automatic Rookie of the Year), picked a real Rogues' Gallery in the draft. Gilbert Arenas, JR Smith, OJ Mayo, Stephen Jackson, and Vince Carter. Somebody in there will lose games this year to disciplinarian action on the part of the league. Guaranteed.

Strangest Assortment of Players: Fire Dwarves - Raymond Felton, Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace, Luis Scola, Marc Gasol... all really good players, but Scott somehow managed to draft an entire team of players no one has thought about for the past 4 years.

Most Likely to Have a Player Fall Apart 3 Weeks into the Season: Majesty. I'm pretty sure that the average age of Jake's roster is 43. Mike Bibby, Paul Pierce, Baron Davis, Drew Gooden (okay... Gooden is younger than me, but he has to be made fun of somewhere for that tuft of hair he used to keep on the back of his head). In fact, in honor of Majesty's picks... a music break:

Most Likely to Draft a Forward if a Jazz Player is Unavailable: The Reservoir Dogs - Who has two thumbs, 33 forwards, and a few too many Jazz players on his team? This guy (I literally have a disease that keeps me from passing on an available Jazz player).

Most Likely to Return to Former Glory: Nevernudes - Jeff P. Hasn't had the same success every since he changed his team name. While named the Dentists, Jeff finished in the top 3 twice, and one of those times as the actual winner of the NLA. Unfortunately, after changing to the Nevernudes, Jeff fell to last place in 2009. Can he return to grandeur?

Just Happy to Be Here: White Chocolate [Josh sits up, pulls a terrible towel of his head, scratches himself unceremoniously, grunts, and turns back to watch last week's Steelers game film.] - Welcome back Joshers.

Most Likely To Have One Player Shackle Him to a Horrible Season: Wunderkinder - Exhibit 1) Carlos Boozer: Remember that season that he was injured for almost 82 games, but continually told the media that he'd be back "next week?" Good luck with Boozer and his gym bag. Exhibit 2) Amar'e Stoudemire: Remember that season that the Reservoir Dogs went undefeated for 343 games but then lost Amar'e Stoudemire to a poked eye for the playoffs? Yeah. That was awesome.

Ugliest Girl at the Dance: Dark Helmet - Nobody takes lemons and makes lemonade quite like Jason. Last year he took over Duke Awesome's team after a lame-duck auto draft and turned it into the second best team in the league, so far be it from me to make fun of his draft this year. Saying that, Dark Helmet is going to require some real WORK this year, because this team stinks. My rule of thumb is that any team with two Al's (Harrington and Hortford in this case) is an automatic stinker. Oh... and then there's this: the single most selfish move of the offseason (and I'm factoring in "The Decision").

Most Likely to be Hated by the ENTIRE League: DC Cheesheads - We hate you Carl, and we're coming for you. I've talked to 5 different managers that have said (verbatim) "My sole goal this season is to beat the DC Cheeseheads." I couldn't agree more.

With all that said, welcome to the National Lind Association 2010. Keep it clean, keep it fair, keep the trash talk flowing, and destroy one another out there. I’ll try to keep newsletters (more) regular this year, and keep you notified of any changes coming out of the commissioner’s office.

Commissioner Lind

Past winners (and I just realized that Association had an extra T in it for the past 2 years... awesome):

2009

2008

2007
National Lind Association

2006

2005

Into the rainbow I go.

2010-10-25T09:16:00.000-06:00

Lots of rain and wind this am. Love it.

Brushin' the teeth. No big deal.

2010-10-22T10:11:00.000-06:00

DB is SCH

2010-10-20T10:34:00.001-06:00

If you follow me on twitter or FB, you know this already, but I posted a divisional preview over at SCH. We're doing all the top teams in thh divisions, and I saddled myself with Indy to start out (boring, I know. They do get better). Anyway, if you're as starved for basketball as I am, you'll like this. Otherwise, you could get bored fast.

There's another from me coming later today on the Orlando Magic. I'll update when it posts.

Teach them young.

2010-10-19T16:53:00.000-06:00

Cool Song Tuesday.

2010-10-19T11:56:00.000-06:00

Just listen & love it. M. Craft's "Sweets" is that good (Hypemachine). So mellow... so chill.

The Drawing.

2010-10-14T10:31:00.000-06:00

I've worked pretty hard for certain things in my life - It was a chore to get a good internship, and I worked my guts out while I was first in NY to land the actual job. Just over two years ago, I spent an entire week's worth of 3 hour sleep sessions on a friend's couch (near my office) because I was pushed so hard against a deadline. My senior year of college I took 18 hours too semesters in a row (while holding down a part time job), just so I could graduate on time - yeah, there have been a few things that I've really worked for.

But nothing I've ever done has taken as much work, or has been as highly anticipated as this: Mindy's Coke drawing. If you don't know what I'm talking about... well, let me back up and explain this a little.

FIVE years ago (while we were living in NY), Mindy was drinking a diet coke and saw that it offered some sort of award for posting a code from the inside of the cap online. She took the bait, went online, and found that there were all sorts of items that you could exchange for these cap codes.

At this stage of the story, there are two things you should know about Mindy.

Mindy will NEVER back down from a challenge. Ever. I once made an off the cuff comment to her that I'd probably been on more hikes than she had (I wasn't being rude... I just said it because A) I grew up on the side of a mountain and B) I was an Eagle scout with eleventy palms when I was 15). It was a comment made in passing, but she accepted the gauntlet I'd thrown and for the next 5 years, EVERY TIME we walked up a slight incline, Mindy would start telling me about her hiking experiences.
Mindy does not particularly care for math. It's not that she's not good at it, or that she can't do it. It's that she's not interested in it's properties or logic. When she's cooking, it's pretty common for her to ask me what half of 2/3 cup is... which I always get a kick out of.

Anyway, so she's looking down at this cap in her hand (which is worth 3 points) and she's looking at the website for stuff she can exchange and realizes pretty quickly, that the only thing worth getting in this whole pile of Coke junk is the flat screen TV that requires 2000+ points. Without doing the math (of course), and without realizing that she's going to have to be collecting points until the dawn of time, she decides that we're going to start saving Coke rewards for the TV.

For the next two years, we saved every cap we drank from. Soon, friends like Jay and Nachelle, got in on the action and began saving their caps for Mindy too. It was pretty common for us to meet friends at a restaurant in the city, sit down, and have them start the conversation with, "Oh, Mindy... I have something for you." Ziplock bags would emerge full of Coke caps and points. My friends at work realized, and after a late nights of delivered food, they would drop off their lids on the way out the door.

When we moved to Denver, we kept saving. It was common to see caps and cardboard tops sitting around our computer waiting to go in the account. Pretty soon things moved to the next level. I started having our executive assistant at work collect the tops from our drink fridge. Combine those with Jay and Nachelle's treasure trove, (which is the real reason we moved to Denver... we had to be near those guys and all their coke rewards), and our own collection and we were getting close... oh, so close. Mindy now had over 2000 points saved, and we were getting ready to make the exchange.

And then the unthinkable happened (a little dramatic? Maybe... but it makes the story better)... Coke took the TV off the list of things you could buy outright. Suddenly, the only things you could exchange that many points for were mini fridges, Coke umbrellas, and camping chairs. LAME. We were sad. All that work for nothing... years, and years down the drain! However... there was one other option. One awesome option. The option that the gambler in me LOVED. THE SWEEPSTAKES!

So instead of letting you trade outright for a TV, Coke decided to let you exchange 3 points for a "ticket" in a sweepstakes for a 52" TV (genius coke dirtbags). I quickly did the math and realized that we could get almost 700 tickets for the TV sweepstakes, and that there was hope! The TV could still be ours! Mindy wasn't a fan of the sweepstakes originally, but one night while we were laying in bed we had a serious talk and decided that we'd rather have a decent shot at an AWESOME prize, than have a 100% certainty of a Coke telephone.

So, here we are. 700 tickets in hand and the sweepstakes drawing tomorrow. Five years of hard work culminates with Mindy's Coke drawing! I told her that we should have a party to celebrate the day, but she refuses to get excited.She doesn't want to get her hopes up, and then lose. To me though, this is like Christmas and I'm so excited I can hardly do anything else.

I know what you're thinking (Duke): "Why didn't you just save a dollar a day for the past 5 years and just buy the stupid TV?" Well, that would be too easy... besides, do you know how much more fun it's going to be retelling this story, win, lose, or draw? Priceless (Boom. Flawless logic bomb dropped).

Wish us luck!

Garage.

2010-10-11T21:34:00.000-06:00

What the parking garage looks like at 9 pm. Awesome.

Sign #2 of a good time.

2010-10-10T00:54:00.000-06:00

I think I laughed harder tonight than I have in months. Good day/night with some great friends.

Sign #1 of a good time.

2010-10-09T22:24:00.000-06:00

Cool song Tuesday on Saturday.

2010-10-09T09:33:00.000-06:00

(That last picture is a partner with this post.)

The only real thing I like about Mindy being gone, is that I can wake up, roll over and CRANK music in the morning. It helps me wake up, and I love hearing good tunes first thing. It puts me in a great mood. Anyway, this morning I woke up, rolled over, and pushed play on my stereo... this song popped on. I had forgotten about Yaysayer and "O.N.E." Well, Marzi and I are rocking out as we speak, and it's awesome.

And The easter egg at 2.55 is pretty legit (later in the Grooveshark version). This song deserves headphones. Yes the video is crazy.

Happy Saturday!

Waking up to Yeasayer.

2010-10-09T09:30:00.000-06:00

Cool Song Tuesday.

2010-10-06T23:35:00.001-06:00

Work is killing me softly lately. It's been one of those phases where you get there, start working, and by the time you look at the clock again it's been 10 hours. Terrible but nice at the same time.

Terrible: because I've had to put off going to the bathroom about 14 times. By the time I remember I need to go again, but I'm usually in the first 10 minutes of an hour long meeting.

Nice: The work days are flying. I honestly don't know where the time goes and that's good. For example, I was on my way home from tonight and I started thinking what a bummer it was that today was Tuesday. I was totally sad, and I dwelled on it for about 15 minutes before finally picking up my phone to change my podcast and realizing that it was actually Wednesday. WHAT? Kind of weird... (also kind of awesome. Like finding a $20 in your pocket after you wash your jeans).

Anyway, I usually take a few minutes on Tuesday to put up a cool song (as many of you know) but since I can't even remember what day it is, I better do it now. I haven't heard anything new lately that I'm loving, so how about something old and awesome?

Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love 3 things: 1) Learning stupid tricks (Scott, back me up here. I can spin a basketball on every single one of my fingers, juggle, do a Rubik's cube in less than 30 seconds, etc, etc, etc), 2) gangster movies & The Fast and the Furious franchise (Duke... how many times have we seen TF&TF? Paul Walker... unappreciated genius - it's not easy to act when you're made of wood), and 3) Sunny Day Real Estate. Earlier this year I saw them live for the first time, which was one of my all time concert highlights. Anyway... here's a sample. You may hate it, but if you do, don't tell me. I'll judge you mercilessly... and then I'll go watch Tokyo Drift.

"Every Shining Time You Arrive"

Grooveshark

One more for good measure: "The Ocean"

Grooveshark.

Sleepy stuff.

2010-10-04T00:48:00.001-06:00

I slept in this AM, so I'm not all that tired right now. So what do I do when I'm not tired? I blog. Here we go... some things I'm thinking about...

1) I ate at KFC the other day. The last time I remember really eating there was when I was a kid... my mom was in the hospital with one of my siblings (probably Gary or Matt) and my dad brought home a bucket for us. I remembered it being amazing. So last Thursday I saw the KFC across the street from my office, thought of that childhood memory, and I trotted over. I got a couple drumsticks and a leg, and the first bite was AMAZING. The second bite was pretty good, and the third bite was okay. Everything after that was a chore to get down. The chicken was litterally dripping with grease, I could have drank the potatoes, and the biscuit's were dry and lukewarm. It was not a good experience. Three hours later, I felt terrible. Huge mistake. Learn from me... if KFC happens to sound good to you: move along.

2) I couldn't say this outright in my article on SCH (because it's just mean), but this is ridiculous. I remember three seasons ago feeling like CB was holding us hostage with pseudo injuries, and now he's doing it to the Bullz. Good luck with that Chicago.

3) Any good new TV out there that I don't know about? I'm unimpressed with almost EVERY new show I've seen. I can't just bag on stuff though, so here are some shows I like, and some that I don't (and the first thing I think of when I write the name of the program):

Some Shows I don't like:
Glee: I'dratherpluckmyowneyeballsoutandeatthem.
Outsourced: Lazy and easy writing.
Dancing With the Stars: Not my Demographic.
The Office: Please get canceled already.

Some Shows I do like:
Mad Men: Best episode yet: Suitcase.
Community: They know why they're funny and let you know.
Chopped: My mother in law turned me on to this... I may have turned off football at some point this weekend and watched it instead. This show makes me wish I could cook.
Chuck: Guilty pleasure... but it's waning.

[BTW... check out Kyle's on point post on Running Wilde. I thought it was pretty funny.]

4) I told a friend recently that I'm not a morning person, and that I don't think I can EVER become a morning person. Saying that... I may be changing my lifestyle a little coming up here that may require it. I mean... between kids and work, I may as well embrace it, right? So has anyone had luck changing the habit permanently?

More on all of that later. I'm tired now and I'm headed to bed.

Yum.

2010-10-04T00:04:00.000-06:00

Ate this at Jay and Nachelle's place tonight. It was as amazing as it looks. Those two should open a hamburger place. I'd pay for it.

Sox.

2010-10-03T23:59:00.001-06:00

My last pair of baseball socks wore through on a slide in our last game. I went to get more this week, and as I reached up for the usual black, I saw these fellas sitting there.

Smurf socks.

Sweet.

TJ Lemon Curd.

2010-10-03T12:50:00.000-06:00

The reason to make a peanut butter sandwich.

Headlines that sound like a joke, but aren't:

2010-09-27T08:37:00.000-06:00

Presented without comment.

Broncos.

2010-09-26T14:04:00.000-06:00

DB is SCH

2010-09-24T18:07:00.001-06:00

The AK47 Trade Dilemma... at SCH. What do you think about the potential blockbuster trade?

Check me out, son!

Free range.

2010-09-24T13:55:00.000-06:00

What a free range meal looks like. Lunch with BPP was a success.

In case you didn't know.

2010-09-23T09:58:00.001-06:00

For those that don't know. You do now.

Lovely. Isn't it?

Take a picture.

2010-09-23T09:52:00.000-06:00

I took a picture of jack one night before bed and ever since he demands it nightly. He gets such a kick out of it I have a hard time saying no.

Cool Song Tuesday.

2010-09-21T10:38:00.000-06:00

If you like independent music then you should be familiar with a few labels that have been extremely influential. Once you familiarize yourself with these names, you'll hear them brought up all the time in "sophisticated" music conversations. Labels like Up!, Sub Pop, and Matador are a few of the hold steady names that have put out the most influential indie rock of the last 20 years (from bands like Modest Mouse, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Fleet Foxes, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Interpol, etc.).

Another one of these awesome labels is Saddle Creek. These guys have recorded albums with heavyweights like Bright Eyes and Azure Ray, and were the original home of one of my favorite lesser known artists (who also played with Azure Ray): Maria Taylor. If you haven't heard her 11:11 album, I'm sorry. To make it better, I'm embedding a small taste of her radicalness. The haunting and completely mind numbing "Xanax." If you like lo-fi indie (see LOW), then get ready to fall in love.

Also at Hypemachine.

2010-09-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

A camping we will go.

2010-09-19T21:45:00.001-06:00

Stuff we did this weekend.

Gathered that giant bundle of firewood behind me and then lit a giant fire (the beginnings of it in front of me).

Thunder fed a giraffe (they're all over in the woods out here).

Hung out around our gigantic fire.

And looked at some seriously changing trees.

Then we gorged ourselves at IHOP... fortunately, I don't have pictures of it because thinking about how much I ate makes me want to vomit on myself, but it tasted AMAZING at the time.

DB is SCH

2010-09-17T11:18:00.000-06:00

New article at Salt City. Not as user friendly as the last one, but if you're into basketball you could like it. Take a look!

Quick bullets

2010-09-15T17:56:00.000-06:00

Some quick links to stuff I've been reading and doing...

I've been thinking about TV A LOT lately. Especially with the advent of Apple TV and Google TV. How much would it cost if we took an ala carte approach to TV? This article attempts to break it down. I would love to move to this model, since I don't watch a majority of the junk in the packaged TV programming. My major reason for even owning a TV? Sports and the Bachelor Pad (and the Food Network... Mindy has sucked me in deep over there).

I'm reading a fascinating book right now called Who's Your City. It talks about how deciding where you live is one of the most important decisions you can make. I totally agree with the premise... I mean, it's common sense to a large degree, but also because I've experienced it. So, saying all of that, have you ever thought that the city you live in is stressful? I have. New York is a tough city to live in, both physically (sharing cars, subways, and restaurants with that many people) and mentally. This article breaks out the most stressful cities to live in and the least. I've lived in cities on both lists, and it's true.

Speaking of stressful cities... New Yorkers suddenly realize that the city is a terrible place to live (skip it if language offends you... it's colorful). Saying that... it's hilarious.

Emily asked me to list my five favorite people to follow on Twitter... I follow different people for different reasons, but I really like these handles: @kmonson (because he's all around interesting and relevant), @batsonmagic (because he posts some CRAZY cool stuff), @truehoop (because I like basketball), @carney (funny, NYCish, and current financial news), @gr8dane74 (because he knows his music). Em, I used to think it was a lot of noise too, and it sort of is... but then I figured out how I needed to use it. I don't just follow people because I know them. I started like that, but I just ended up with a twitter feed full of people saying garbage (like in Facebook) like "Waking up is hard on a Friday!" And that was stuff I didn't care about. I mean... I write that stuff too, periodically, but I try to focus my tweeting on SOMETHING (and I follow those that do the same). Then the people that follow me know what they are going to get for the most part. For example, I focus on music and basketball. I'm not offended if people that aren't interested in those things don't follow me. If I were you, I'd start following people that write topical and interesting tweets... that way you will get a good news feed of interesting stuff. Like Kyle said, he uses it as his reader for news. I mean... some people like to follow a gajillion people, but I find that I like the experience more when I keep the people I follow limited to 100 or less (and I personally know almost NONE of my favorite tweeters).

Miss me?

2010-09-13T15:51:00.000-06:00

Harry.

2010-09-06T07:40:00.000-06:00

Truman. He knows how to party.

Really?!

2010-09-03T19:59:00.000-06:00

Sitting on the plane and looking at the skymall catalogue and came across this picture and ad. All I can think is, "Seriously Gravity Defyer? That's the logo you want representing your company and on the side of your shoe?" Maybe this is what you resort to when the swoosh is taken.

Thoughts. Mostly on Twitter.

2010-09-02T10:13:00.000-06:00

Went into Home Depot last night and immediately felt like it had been too long. I had to get some caulk, but I hadn't been in the store for probably a month. Generally, I'm in that store 10-15 times per month (sometimes that many times in a day... if I keep forgetting stuff), especially this last summer. Between our yard, tile, mirrors, and kid's bedrooms, I felt like I had moved in. It was nice to be back. I perused the isles slowly, deciding if I really needed useless tools like underwater hammers.

Twitter: I'm a fan. I use it to stay current on issues, and I follow people based on their expertise in particular fields. I do follow some friends, but I view Facebook as the place to follow more personal details of my close friend's lives. For me, Twitter is a way to keep a finger on the pulse of the current event landscape. I know people use it for different reasons, and I don't care what those reasons are... but there are some things that people do that drive me crazy, and I'll typically stop following you if you do one of these things:

Carry on full conversations with your friends inside Twitter. I don't want to see 503,000 messages to @tooleybaby about Lady Gaga. As far as I'm concerned, if it takes me more than 140 characters to say it, then you should be emailing or blogging it.
Use too many hashtags. Hashtags were useful when Twitter started... back when there wasn't a good search tool embedded in the interface, but now that we have good search systems, it feels like hashtags are just ways to overindulge a point you've made in a post. Kyle... am I right, or are they still useful?
Give too many motivational quotes. @kingjames does this. I start feeling like I'm reading a self help book.
You're too funny, too often. Nobody can be funny all the time... stop trying.
Give out spoilers on popular TV shows. I don't know almost ANYONE that actually watches TV as it's airing anymore (besides sporting events... that's a different story), but if you are one of these people that watch it as it goes live, then chill on the tweets. I don't want to know that a bare chested Don Draper wrestled a bear in Sunday's Mad Men until I see it live. Be vague, or give it some time (side note: in the age of Tivo and DVR, what is the correct amount of time to give before it counts as a "spoiler?"). I'm fine with people blogging spoilers... you can choose to read that stuff, but in twitter... it all mixes in together and you can really ruin a show's climax if you aren't careful.

This whole Lehman thing couldn't be more sleazy. When I die, and get to watch the history of the earth on the big screen, I'm headed straight to these boardrooms. I want to see the moments surrounding the decision that Lehman and Bear could fail, and AIG couldn't. Shady shade went down that night.

I like this song.

	Metric - Help I'm Alive (The Twelves Remix)

	Found at skreemr.org

Cool Song Tuesday.

2010-08-31T09:26:00.000-06:00

The Fashion is a Danish band that has been kicking around the circuit since 2002. I've always liked the band, but it isn't until recently that I fell in LOVE with the band (and their 2008 self titled release). I don't know why... I guess it's because music feels different at various points of your life. These guys give me the feeling of Indie Rock in the late 90's... guitar driven, and have the loose feeling that the train could derail at any time. Very Pretty Girls Make Graves. Anyway, this strikes me as awesome right now, and I thought I'd share a couple songs.

Song 1) Solo Impala (Take the Money and Run)

Or for those of you Youtube impaired.

Song 2) "Like Knives"

Anniversary dinner.

2010-08-27T23:40:00.000-06:00

Shot in Englewood

Again.

2010-08-27T20:03:00.000-06:00

Dinner with shmucks.

2010-08-27T19:59:00.000-06:00

The boring 3's.

2010-08-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

Topic 1) The three most boring things to talk about in any group of friends:

Fantasy sport losses (or fantasy sports in general) - Unless you're sitting around with your 5 best (male) friends that are ALL part of the league, then no one wants to hear about your brutal loss last week. We get it... you're running back got injured on Thursday, they had one guy with a monster week, your defense didn't show up... I mean, I love fantasy sports, but if I'm not the guy you played that week, or if I'm not intimately connected to your league, I don't want to hear about it.
Bad beats in poker - Maybe the most painful discussions ever. Guys like to talk about cards, and they LOVE to tell you about how they almost won $(insert large amount of money here) if it weren't for the that RIVER CARD (the final car turned in Texas Hold 'Em)!!!! Well, guess what buddy? If you're playing cards long enough, you're going to lose to inexperienced players on the river. It's how cards (and gambling in general) work... they are games of chance, and EVERYONE loses on the turn or river. ESPECIALLY when you are playing with rookies. Rookie card players win on the river because they are the only ones dumb enough to stay in through several rounds of betting just to see what they're gonna get. Anyway... all bad beat stories are the same, they are all boring, and since I don't have money tied up in your boring card game, I don't care. Unless it's framed EXACTLY like the closing scene in Casino Royale or Maverick where the guy won't turn over the card, or you just lost a lot of money (+$10,000)... I don't want to hear about it. Ever.
Long winded dreams that the the listener was not involved in (D.C.D., before I start, remember that I love you and that we're in this together). Now... without mentioning any names, I have a very dear friend that was a very successful news producer in multiple cities across the country. Because she had such strange working hours (usually working through the night), she had an INSANE sleep schedule, which means she spent a lot of time in that no-man's dreamy area between sleep and wakefulness. Now, I'm a sleep walker/talker, so I'm intimately connected to this sleep zone, and I can tell you... your dreams are VERY vivid here and they last a long time. I've had full discussions with roommates/wife about derivatives, religion, sports, and even the police (who, for some reason, are always stationed outside my house in my sleep)... all while sleeping. It's a wild and weird place to sleep because everything feels so REAL. I've woken up plenty of times wondering who was next to me, where I was, or what I had done to various people I've known in my life... I mean, I've had to get up in Mindy's face to confirm it's her a few times. I've woken up in jeans, different shirts, with pillow cases on the floor, on couches in the basement, with my underwear on inside out, in closets, standing on beds, "looking" in the mirror, standing in showers, and sitting in arm chairs... it gets pretty wild up in there. Anyway, I get it... irregular sleep patters create WILD dreams. So, back to my friend. When we lived in NY, we used to see her and her husband often... we're the kind of friends that talk about EVERYTHING together, and the conversation would inevitably end up on sleep patterns, and dreams... where everything took a turn for the worst and we would get drug into the interminable and unending dream story. We're talking dream stories that lasted hours... about random stuff... birds turning into cherry bombs, children morphing into animals... you know; the nutty stuff. Which is funny & interesting... for roughly 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Tops. It took a couple meetings of listening to these stories before I realized that after minute 3, my body independently dropped into survival mode and began to subconsciously grab for whatever we were eating in an effort to jam it into my ear holes. I also realized that A) yes, these dream stories are torture, but B) I had been doing that exact thing to my friends! I realized that dream stories are fascinating to the person that experienced them, but to others... not so much (unless others were involved in a meaningful way... those can be kind of fun).

*The caveat to all of this is that ALL of these stories can be interesting... if they are told quickly. It's the conversations about fantasy sports, cards, or dreams that drag on that are torturous.

One more.

2010-08-26T23:55:00.000-06:00

What's happening. Hot stuff.

2010-08-25T20:41:00.000-06:00

Ads and pops in the booth.

2010-08-25T20:29:00.000-06:00

Bullets.

2010-08-24T22:47:00.000-06:00

I'm hearing more and more about the benefits of eating locally. I like the idea of supporting local farmers, but you know what I like more? Economics. Mindy and I just spent a few hours talking about specialization (and how the US has no business making cars... but that's neither here nor there), and then I saw this article that my economist brother Gary suggested. Interesting stuff RE: the real cost of eating locally.

This diagram is straight up, AWESOME (I may or may not frame one for me and Kristin, just so we can keep our soda's straight). It helps graphically show the false competitive market place that exists in the soft drink industry (or "pseudovariety"). Love it (click on that sucker to blow it up).

Just start throwing it into the ocean? Right? RIGHT? Wait...

The FASB is full of nitwits, but if they keep doing things that spawn this kind of response... maybe it's worth it (on a side note, I hated marking derivatives to market... it's legitimately the most horrible and time consuming effort on earth, but at least it makes sense on a theoretical level, whereas this fair market business does not).

After hearing about the new housing drop, and seeing my stocks take a SERIOUS drop, all I can say is yep.

I know I'm no exception here, but I hate traffic. I've done a lot of driving in my life... and not just around my hometowns. In college I worked for an attorney and it was my job to drive around various cities in the western US and meet with his clients. I've lived and driven in both Boston and New York, and driven extensively in DC (during our bimonthly visits to the King's place). I've learned to drive on tiny streets on the opposite side of the road (in Ireland and the United Kingdom), and I've driven throughout Western Europe. So, yeah... I've spent a lot of time driving, and a lot of it in rush hour traffic (btw, in my mind I can say, without doubt, that the slowest drivers are from Denver, the most aggressive drivers are from New York, the fastest are from SLC, and the craziest drivers are from Boston). Anyway, I've been in a lot of traffic jams... the worst was probably in New York when it took Mindy and I 3 hours to go around one block... but through all this driving, I've yet to see something like this: Hell exists, and it's this road in China.

I like Angry Birds as much as the next guy, but a movie? Don't know if I can deal with that.

Van.

2010-08-22T15:17:00.000-06:00

Why am I not driving this? Yes... I'm strangely jealous.

Cool song Tuesday... on Friday.

2010-08-20T23:23:00.000-06:00

Off the top of my head, there are 4 artists that I would preorder music from. As in, if they put out a record, I would pay full price for the album before actually hearing it. They are all artists that I have a history with, and none have ever let me down. One of the four is Mark Kozelek. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the best musicians to come along in my lifetime. I've loved everything he's done... from bands Sun Kil Moon & Red House Painters to Modest Mouse & AC/DC covers. I love his work.

Sun Kil Moon's latest album Admiral Fell Promises is real and it's spectacular. I've been sitting in bed listening to it for the past 30 minutes (Mindy's watching some Friends), and all I can think is, 1) I love this. 2) Why didn't I focus when I was trying to learn how to play the guitar? Take a listen to Alesund (and listen through the full intro... it really gets good in the middle).

Sun Kil Moon - Ålesund by pygmylion

Nike.

2010-08-20T16:52:00.001-06:00

Also turns out that I'm a sucker for Nike (as displayed by my shoe graveyard).

Running.

2010-08-20T16:49:00.000-06:00

I've never owned real running shorts until this week. I've always run in basketball shorts, not knowing what I was missing. Turns out, they are awesome. It goes back to Scott's proclamation that "all sports are better when you use that sport's equipment."

Rd Hd

2010-08-16T20:46:00.000-06:00

I love this band.

Don't see that every day.

2010-08-16T17:10:00.000-06:00

Weekend=success.

2010-08-16T09:02:00.000-06:00

DB is SCH - UPDATED

2010-08-13T08:47:00.004-06:00

I think I've told this story on db before, but here is the full version (with pics). Up in lights over at Salt City Hoops. Take a look and leave a comment or two! New post all about Jazz Photo Night in 1988.

UPDATE: My little story was linked to ESPN's main Truehoop page on Friday. Kind of cool (toward the bottom... last few bullets).

Dolphinsbarn is Salt City Hoops

2010-08-11T13:22:00.001-06:00

For those of you that are interested, I've started writing for the Jazz affiliate of ESPN's awesome Truehoop: Salt City Hoops. If you're interested in the Jazz, NBA basketball, or my writing then you should go check it out. It's run by a really classy guy, Spencer Hall, and I'm happy to be a part of it. It's the off season now, so the posting will be a little light, but once the season fires up... look out. Live chats, player interviews, and general good times will abound.

I bring this up because I just answered 6 questions from one of my colleagues about the (just released) 2010-11 schedule. Check it out, leave a comment, and let me know what you think.

SCH is worth checking out every day, but I'll still try and let you know here when I have articles posted or perform other duties over there.

Cool song Tuesday.

2010-08-10T08:51:00.000-06:00

This song makes me want to go out and dance. And I'm not the kind of guy that goes out to dance.

It's a remix of Little Boots' awesome "New in Town." Good song to work out to.

New In Town (Fred Falke Remix) by Do You Take €uros?