Long Division

Fragments of a figment, pigmented in a department for all to see

• The most recent Wilco album, "A Ghost Is Born" will crawl into your head and not leave if you give it a chance..same goes for the new one from Spoon, "Gimme Fiction." Pure genius.
• I'm starting to doubt the worth of SmartWater (plain old vapor distilled water with electrolytes). It just makes me feel more bloated than regular water. Tastes better than Gatorade, though.
• The value of the ellipsis has gone down with me, too...it works well to begin or end a block of text...and it works well within a sentence, but I don't know about using it to separate thoughts...it just doesn't feel right anymore...like it's too messy...but I do appreciate the pregnant pause it can create...
• My friend Alissa has become a blogger! This highly itelligent and attractive human being's thoughts and opinions can be read here.
• Okay, seriously, "A Ghost Is Born" is some heavy shit. "Spiders (kidsmoke)" alone will not leave your head until you get "I Turn My Camera On" from Spoon up in there, and then its all over. Note that Jeff Tweedy came out of rehab for alcohol and wrote "A Ghost Is Born." I think he's a fucking genius. So is Britt Daniel from Spoon, but he's more of an overlooked genius. Probably underpaid, too. That's the way it usually goes.
• I think sobriety is seriously, seriously over-rated.
• I think more people need to eat more Boursin cheese, particularly the variety with roast garlic added. Okay, the truth is, I think more people need to eat more cheese, period. Everyone would be so much happier. I don't want to hear any of you lactose intolerant people out there whining, either, because I'm lactose intolerant, but it doesn't stop me! I had Boursin, Fontina, and Pecorino Romano last night.
• What the fuck is a 'fruit buzz'? I have never, ever heard of anyone getting any kind of rush or buzz or anything from eating fruit, walnuts, and yogurt, unless we're talking about sugar shock, then its a different story altogether. I would assume that it's not a desirable situation to get yourself into, though. Its times like this when I wish McDonald's wasn't the biggest advertiser in the country.
• I found a fatal flaw in the logic of love. Or something like that, I can't help but quote songs right now.
• "Handshake Drugs," from Wilco's "Ghost..."
• I could go on and on about my personal shit, but you know what? I don't think that's any of your damned business. Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that. My normally open book is temporarily closed right now.
• The Great Lakes Myth Society. It has been way, way too long since I have seen an excitingly good newer local band. At first, it may not mean anything to you, but I think the first explanation that comes to mind is American Gothic. Not the painting, but a feeling, maybe? I don't know. I really good way of explaining it comes from Stephen Thomas Erlewine's review of their album on All Music. He refers to their sound as "folk instrumentation played with rock vigor." He totally nailed it. It's like nothing from the past and almost nothing else going on right now. I have to say almost because their sound is just slightly similar to The Arcade Fire. Its folk, and pop, and a little bit prog at times. I haven't heard the album, but live there are two brothers, James Christopher and Timothy Monger. James Christoper plays the acoustic guitar all throughout. Timothy plays the accordion (and it doesn't sound cheesy, either), and at other times the electric guitar. Then there's the third songwriter, Gregory Dean Macintosh, who also plays the electric guitar, and the rhythm is held down by J. Scott McClintock on bass and Fido Kennington on drums. At some point, I noticed McClintock toss aside his pick and start plucking the bass strings. He seemed to play it both ways rather effortlessly. This is rare. In fact, you don't see such a high level of musicianship very often in 'indie' bands. I was quickly reminded of The Greenhornes and their fastidious attention to detail when on stage. The GLMS also all wore dark suits which definitely contributed to the folk gothic sound in a way. Oh, also, a lot of their songs actually are about Great Lakes myths. The best that I heard was called "No. VI," which is about the Michigan town of Novi, which was "number six on the line." This is definitely a band worth checking out.