Clear Heart, Full Eyes

I finally got around to listening to Craig Finn's solo album, Clear Heart, Full Eyes.  It was pretty different from what I'm used to from the Hold Steady.

The sound was a departure from most of the Hold Steady work - the steel guitar and violin gave some of the tracks an alt-country twang.

CHFE was also thoroughly depressing.  The storytelling reminds me of previous Hold Steady albums, but if you remove all the lights and the uptempo tracks.  No hot soft lights, the massive nights have given way to massive hangovers and the subjects of the songs don't seem like caricatures anymore.  I think Finn puts it well in an interview with AV Club, "maybe I was fatigued by all that optimism".

CHFE isn't a pre-game or after-bar record, but still worth a listen.

I'M BUGGIN OUT

BAHHHHHH HALLOWEEEEEN AAAHAHARRGGHGHHHHH BOOOOOOOZZZZEEEEEEE.
Dance Party Friday + Halloween + Caption Contest = least coherent post ever.

Also, check out my office:

I really like it, I'm listening to Bob Marley right now.

I've always felt that I would be more productive if I had me standing over my shoulder:

Cloverfield (2008)

This is a turd of a movie. With no exceptions every character is a horrible d-bag with controlled stubble and until it happened I was praying for the monster to come and kill them all. Then the monster comes and it's all awkward and dumb and hardly ever on screen.

I generally appreciate a horror movie if it just has something cool or badass going on, but there's nothing from either category in Cloverfield. There's one cool moment where a head explodes but it's not enough. That was the only real shade of cause-and-effect in the movie, too. The mythology never gets a chance to develop.

Another thing that sucks: the shaky-camcorder format is painful. The only reason to watch the whole thing is the expectation that it will suddenly stop sucking and live up to the hype. I gave this one star on Netflix because that's the lowest possible. Did you guys see this?

Also I'm coming to town this coming weekend so hopefully we can all go to Wendy's.

Live! From Grenyarnia: Day the Second

This pretty much sums up my experience so far. Take that for what you will.

Hold On To Your Penises

This article appeared in Harper's and was written by a guy from Madison. Oh yeah, it's about magical penis thievery. No joke.

A mind dismembered: In search of the magical penis thieves

Although it was hilarious, I also found it really interesting, particularly for those interested in society and psychology.

Everybody Poops.

These guys just dedicate their time to writing about it. My hat's off to you gentleshitters.

www.poopreport.com

Overflowing Urinal

So I walked into the bathroom at CAE and I noticed there was a bit of water on the floor. The place also smelled like piss, but I wrote that off, seeing as how the room is depository for piss.

Anyway, I was at the urinal and when it flushed, instead of evacuating the waste through the appropriate plumbing, water started flowing for the rinse cycle and dumped a good liter or so on the floor. Well, I now know why it smells like piss in there.

HHC: Unacceptable Bathroom Etiquette

Once again I find myself complaining about bathroom etiquette... what the hell is wrong with people?

Humming or singing while you shit is never acceptable. It shouldn't even be acceptable when you're on your own, much less in a public restroom. I kid you not, I walked into the Wendt bathroom and someone was totally humming and singing. Luckily, he avoided further awkwardness by leaving without so much as a courtesy-rinse, ensuring I would not have to make eye-contact.

Come on. That's just silly.