Getting back to less serious stuff:

Since there's no more election to worry about, here's a song by the Decemberists. I wish I could find better recordings of the Crane Wife, California One Youth and Beauty Brigade, or the Mariner's Revenge Song, but this is good too.



Anyways, I'm off to prepare for my class tomorrow. Why do I always spend the most time on the internet when I've got the most work for school?

The Secret of Life

Because I really have no rhyme or reason to this blog, here's a video by the Dead Milkmen. They're definitely an acquired taste, but give a listen. What really helped me appreciate the Dead Milkmen was being a 16-year-old underachiever. Enjoy!

The intersection of heartbreaking rock music and freaky physics

Go see Nova's Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives. But hurry, because it'll only be up for the next week!

Go! Now!

If you still need convincing, Eels is one of my favorite bands. They are just absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. They can be strange, beautiful, sad, and funny all in the same song. Go listen to their albums "Electro-Shock Blues" (especially Last Stop This Town and P.S. You Rock My World) and "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" (especially Railroad Man and Things the Grandchildren Should Know).

I can wait while you look up those songs. No, seriously, I'm on the internet now. I have all the time in the world.

OK, welcome back. Good, huh? Like emo for adults.

Have you ever seen one of those Star Trek episodes where they meet parallel selves? Yeah? You know how came up with that idea? The lead singer of the Eels' dad.

The PBS episode is E (the lead singer) finding out about his dad, Hugh Everett III. Along the way, you get to find out about wierd physics, things that don't obey the rules of physics, and you get to find out how E became such a sad, poignant person.

It's just heartbreakingly beautiful.

iTunes is going to bankrupt me

I just got a usable computer to start the semester; before this I had a used Linux platform. And I know next to nothing about electronics, so I couldn't figure out how to run mp3s on it. And don't bother posting comments about how to run stuff in Linux: I do not want to know anymore.

So I've been filling up my hard drive with music, and I found some pretty cool stuff, if a bit wierd. I just downloaded Lucky Dragons, and a couple days ago I downloaded Fleet Foxes after seeing their show at the Pabst. And I've also discovered Republic Tigers. This may not seem a lot to you with actual jobs, but grad students without jobs, like me, have to rely on their student loans, which you don't get more of until the next semester. Now that I've discovered a way to find good music again, I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself.

Anyways, if you want to get something wierd, go download some songs by Lucky Dragons. I discovered them on the Believer's annual music issue. The song that I first heard (Complement Song) sounds like a basket full of puppies while a Chinese string-and-chime trio plays along. No, I'm serious, go download it now on iTunes, I'm not exaggerating.

Plus I've been listening to "Buildings and Mountains" by the Republic Tigers far too frequently this past weekend. Let's see if I can figure out how to embed the video for that:

UPDATE: iTunes just released all of Radiohead's EP's. I'm not going to have any money left.