Organizational/Musical/Technical Advice Requested

Alright y’all. I need some advice. I could research the inter-webs or perhaps even go to a store and talk to some knowledgeable sales person (assuming I could find one), but really, it is so much easier just to put it all out there for your feedback. Here is the conundrum.

800 plus CDs and a desire for more.

Owning that many isn’t the issue (c'mon, I'm old) nor is my desire to have more (I am also comfortable with denial). Storing them? Now, that is the problem.

Until yesterday they were in two college-aged CD racks, in piles in front of said racks (which were overflowing), in piles on top of random players around the house—in short, it was a mess. Neats, who seemed to think I am concerned about consistency, repeatedly reminded me that when the boys have toys they have not played with in months or even years, I argue they should be passed on and perhaps I might abide by the same rule? Uh-huh. So after much debate, we decided to get these cool CD towers to place on the back wall of our newly refinished family room (pictures soon after one or more detail is taken care of).

Now Neats wasn’t all that keen on having the CD’s exposed as, well, that aren’t all that aesthetic (to her), but she found a way to give it her touch as you can see. The real issue—yes, I am back to the issue—is that this is surely only a temporary fix—eventually those cubbies are going to get filled up, the random knick-knacks will get the boot until we are out of room and then what? More towers? A whole different solution? When will it stop?

So all of this has me thinking about technology—I know, you have been thinking this for a few sentences now. Should I finally make the move to all digital music? Will I notice the subtle degradation of quality by only listening to compressed files? What about the loss of opening the package, checking out the liner notes, etc.? And more to the point, if I do go this route, what is the right piece or pieces of equipment?

What I would like is one nice piece of technology that plays CD’s, but also let’s me rip them into iTunes (or wherever), sync various iPods (or whatever), connects to the Internet, has more memory than God, and is nicely compatible with the new Bose system. OK, I hear someone saying, um, that’s a computer. Well, yeah, but I don’t really need a whole computer for that, just parts of one--and I don't want a computer in the component mix.

I know there are a variety of options out there—Apple TV, smart DVD players, etc.—or I could just buy a mega-external hard drive just for music, sync the iPods, and then play those through the Bose (and play the CD’s, if necessary, in the DVD player), but somehow I am feeling like there might be other/better options out there. Or I could just stick with 1990's old school and keep buying CD's and filling up that wall.

So anyone who knows, has theories, or has developed their own system for managing the music, please do tell.

You May Just Have to Wait for the Music, We'll See

Seems like it is a 50/50 chance that I am going to actually post on any music I have been listening to as we are about to enter into the "I only listen to holiday music (or post about holiday music)" zone--as I have previously admitted. So, let me just put down a post-turkey, pre-Christmas tree raising marker tonight to say that here is what I owe you as far as I know (and will get to come in January if not before).

• commentary on the the new Dave Rawlings Machine album (aka another Dave and Gillian disc)--hint, yummm;
• recent jazz listening (which is all acceptable, but not amazing);
• my next post on my backward walk through the Avett Brothers catalog;
• a post wondering if Jason Moran is the jazz artist of the oughts;
• there is also the new Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons album; and,
• I am beginning to look back through the what I missed this decade list.

And now as the T-Day meal is officially done, I am off to do a little holiday music shopping informed primarily by AccuJazz who has been tweeting good suggestions from their upcoming holiday channel for a couple days now (I grant them a pass on the no Christmas tunes before T-Day rule because, well, because it is a random rule I can declare in place or not whenever I feel like it).

May I be the first to say happy holidays BTW!

The ABC’s of Thankfulness

Picking up on an idea from Lisa B’s post, who picked it up from her daughter, here is my ABC list of things I am thankful for. The Brothers K have been working on their own. You?

A: the Artist, awkwardness that leads to the funny, apples and anchovies

B: boys, boys and boys, the Brothers K, and brothers and blogs in general. . .okay, and Bose 5.1

C: the Captain, cats (that sleep through the night), and “collaborative driving”

D: dark December days lit with holiday lights, the Detroit Tigers who will rise again to win the pennant

E: the Engineer, educators who do the educating (and those who fight for education)

F: fathers, Fall, first snows and followers

G: the garden (most particularly in August when the tomatoes arrive), G-Strings

H: home sweet home where I long to be more than I am

I: initiative; watching the boys at Imagination Stage

J: jazz and the juxtaposition of the jingle and the jangle

K: kitchen knives that have just been sharpened

L: Lake Michigan, okay, all the Great Lakes, oh what the hay, lakes in general

M: mothers (who deserves a letter all to themselves more than mothers?!)

N: nephews and nieces (especially new nephew Nicolas) and, of course, Neats, Neats, Neats!

O: opposites

P: pesto from our garden, reading the politics, Pandora and piano, particularly when played peacefully (boys, are you reading?)

Q: Queen sung by the Muppets, quiet mornings (or the memory thereof)

R: cooking risotto while sippin’ rye and rockin’ some tunes

S: sisters, especially when they are together

T: tools of all sorts

U: unions (may this country return to the realization how important they are)

V: a veritable gallimaufry of music

W: the West, may we someday return

X: x-tra x-citable boys during the holidays

Y: you . . . just cuz you read this far!

Z: zzzzzz’s which I hope to get more of in the future, particularly during the day.

May you all have a peaceful and warm Thanksgiving Day

Two Worlds Collide!

So when I was a younger man (even a boy), I was a wee bit of a Queen fan, er, -atic. Now The Artist, who is nine, is into all things puppets and animation and at the top of that list for some time has been The Muppets (which somehow always seem to appear in our NetFlix queue). So today, the news of this video means my eldest and I are going to have a good time on the YouTube tonight!

Hat tip to Mashable.

With Apologies to HTM

Buying music, furniture, plants, technology in general? Sure. I am perfectly happy to spend time researching it, searching it out, and buying it. Shopping for clothes on the other hand seems to be a bit more of a challenge for me (as those who know me are well aware). But finally, today, I managed to get on-line to do a little clothes shopping (after I bought a few discs of course).

As I started looking around for a sweater or two, I noted to the Artist, who was home for the day with flu, that I wasn't finding a sweater that I wanted in gray. He suggested that perhaps the reason was that gray was a boring color. And at that moment I felt someone in Utah shudder.

Not Judging an Album by Its Cover: Apparently the Only Hope for Many Female Jazz Artists

So College Roomy keeps asking me about what jazz I am listening to (and buying) these days. I pointed out that not all that long ago, I posted in the now retired Room some of the reasons I think I don't buy as much jazz as other music, but that doesn't mean I don't pick up anything new. And really, I am ready to post on a few new albums, but let me get this point out of the way separately so it doesn't distract from the music-oriented post (which will include commentary on these albums with regard to the actual music).

To understand where I am coming from, you have to check out these album covers. The first is Dutch jazz pianist Amina Figarova.

And then we have award-winning vocalist Gretchen Parlato.

My question is simple. Why do talented (and they are) women continue to allow whoever to put out their albums with such awful covers? I don't even just mean it in the sense of the objectification factor (which these do)--these are just bad, really bad, covers (they are going to end up here at some point). They make you think the albums were released 30 or 40 years ago. What is the excuse now--both from the selling the woman standpoint or the smart marketing standpoint? I fear I know. Thoughts?

Because We All Just Want to Get Home

Since I got to spend hours in a traffic jam on I-95 this past Sunday night rather than getting home from a weekend work trip in time to see my boys, it seems the appropriate time to talk a bit about my philosophy of driving--which I develop each morning and evening as I sit in commuter traffic. It starts with the premise that neither the terms offensive and defensive driving make sense to me. One sounds like a strategy for maniac drivers and the other for drivers who fear even being on the road as everyone else is, well, maniacs--neither of which I want on the road. No, the drivers I want on the road are drivers who are committed to working together so that we all reach our destinations as efficiently as possible. Consequently, I propose the following rules for "collaborative driving."

1. If you are on the road, your primary responsibility is to drive. Your mouth is not required for driving--eating, talking, yes, but not driving--unless you are using it to encourage collaboration or enforce these rules.
2. Figuring out where you are going should be accomplished prior to getting on the road--look up the address, check the map, plan the route, etc. before you get into the car--and please put the GPS away, it is making you stupid.
3. Lanes are not created equal, but rather should be used for particular purposes.
   
   a. Appropriate uses for the right lane include driving an acceptable speed (although collaborative driving allows for right lane drivers to go somewhat slower); turning into your destination when you arrive (because you know where it is so you don't have to creep along looking for your destination--see rule 2); and, generally, for those weird live-in-the-moment people (more below).
   
   b. There is really only one appropriate use of the left lane--driving at full speed and full speed only. If you are driving along and look to your right and see you are going the same speed as the car next to you, and there is a car right on your ass, and the driver is using his or her mouth for one of the approved activities, you need to move over (this counts if there is more than two lanes). Really.
   
   c. Middle lanes should look as much like left lanes as possible--never like right lanes.
   
   
4. Despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact, that we have way too many signs, some are helpful and be attended to. For instance, "No Parking, Stopping, Standing at Any Time" does not mean it is okay to pull over quick while your friend runs in to talk to BFF for just one sec. And "No Left Turn" really means "don't even think about clogging up the left lane with an illegal left turn idiot!" See rules about lane uses.
5. The small lever on the left side of your steering column is known by most drivers as your "signal indicator" or your "blinker." It is a useful tool that lets other drivers know what direction you are planning on turning. Please use it. And no, turning it on as you move into the intersection after you have been sitting at a traffic light for several minutes without it on does not count.
6. If you are retired and fast cars and lots of traffic scare you, then please remember that you are retired and you can run your errands during the day and let those of us who only have a few precious hours at home each day to get there (otherwise, please abide by the rules regarding lane selection).
7. Finally, for those of you who are just enjoying your time in the car because you are a "live-in-the-moment" type of person, congratulations, but do it in the right lane, or better yet a side street. In fact, why not just pull over and enjoy the moment out of the way and let those of us who are living for the destination get there so we can all be happy.

I feel confident that if we would all just abide by these simple rules for working together, we could all have a safer and more enjoyable commute. Now please, get out of my way!

Union Suit Characters: Lo-Fi & Catchy

If you were to search for the band Union Suit Characters on teh Google, you wouldn't find a lot--basically, their page, an Amazon download and the great piece Daytrotter did on them this summer, which is how I ran into them. And it is perhaps that lack of info and hype out there on the nets is perhaps what leads Daytrotter to climb out on this limb:

It's a claim that's preposterous to ever utter as there are so many nooks and crannies to account for, so many different tastes and criteria to consider, but on behalf of the entirety of Daytrotter, I will confidently and without shame or waver make this statement: Joliet, Illinois' Union Suit Characters could very well be the best unsigned band in the whole United States of America.

Well, I don't know--how could anyone? But I will say that Streetcar Legs has been playing in my various decks a lot for the last couple months. What you have here are a couple guys recording a lo-fi record in their own digs--so prepare for starts and stops, tape-hiss and generally the quality of a home production. But that is all for the good.

The songs are nothing complicated. You have piano chords--never melody lines or solos. You got your drums--just doing rhythm and the very occasional fill. Add in an understated bass line and a smattering of guitar here and there you have it. The instrumentation is minimal, but they make some noise with the drum and chord progressions generally being pretty insistent. But on top of that you have catchy melodies that make for short, simple, singable songs.

Let me throw a couple tunes at you that are pretty representative--you get the lo-fi feel, definitely the driving chord structure and the boppy melodic approach all wrapped up neatly. The first is "Fruit form the Park" which I always wish went on for a while longer. The second "Diamond's Teeth" is perhaps the most complete song on the album. There are a couple slower tunes, but these capture the album quite well.

If you are interested in picking it up, you are going to have to do the download thing as this one doesn't seem to be available any "how" else.

Download Streetcar Legs

Fruit from the Park

Diamond's Teeth

Inside vs. Outside

It is no secret that one, I am a bit of a homebody (primarily because I feel like I am away from it so much) and, two, I enjoy projects around the house. There is usually something being done to the house inside and for most of the year some outside work in the form gardening or lawn/tree maintenance is also going on. All well and good except when major indoor project completions conflict with major spring or fall outdoor work and that, dear readers, is what we have been dealing with at this moment.

The family room is coming to fast completion with much furnishing and whatnot going on, but the yard is also desperately calling for attention sensing that we will not have another weekend free to do it until after Turkey Day. So here are a few things that did get done and a few that didn’t in the great effort to balance the inside with the outside.

• We did manage to get the new corner TV stand together, place the new flat-screen on said stand and get the cable guy to hook up the high-def box in the family room. However, we did not find the hour or so needed to stay on the phone to reach a real human being at Verizon so we could upgrade to the full hi-def package—oh, you wanted hi-def on more than five channels?!
• We did manage to pull out the last of the greens—arugula, chard and beet greens—dig up some late planted potatoes for yummy garlic mashers to have those with a tasty pork tenderloin that had marinated all day in a bath of fresh herbs form the garden with those greens wilted with olive oil and kosher salt and local pears and apples diced over it all. However, I didn’t get any time to research better ways to dry the remaining herbs so we don’t lose all that wonderful rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme out there in the pots. Suggestions?
• I did manage to trade emails with College Roomy about the music care package he was putting together for me and I did listen to a few different discs I was considering burning for him while we made the aforementioned dinner, but alas dear friend, I still haven’t burned your discs.
• We did manage to get downtown to a cool opera for children at the National Museum of the American Indian called El conejo y el coyote/The Rabbit and the Coyote but did not find time to sit down with the Artist and work on a blog post over at the family e-home (if only he would stay up later!).
• We did manage to corral the majority of the 5 gazillion leaves in our backyard and the boys managed to trounce them endlessly, although unfortunately about half of those still remain in a loosely constructed pile in the backyard and the front yard is still unkempt.
• We did, however, manage to purchase the new couch (otherwise known as "the pit") for the family room, although we did not take any time to accessorize or take a part the futon we had just put together assuming we would not have a new piece of furniture so fast.

And so now, we must return to the list of all that must get done—or at least looking at, re-prioritizing and fretting over that list since, well, nothing on that list involves the things that actually take up the majority or our lives.

Fickleness Alert

Just dropping in to say that while I decided to try WordPress because I generally like the look of WP blogs and I thought perhaps it might be a good idea to get away from everything in my life being driven/owned/tracked/removed by Google, I may very well be moving this blog back to Blogger. Why? Well let's just say WP seems a bit less than flexible.

For instance, while I like the template I am using, I wanted to jump the font a bit--perhaps because I am getting a bit older or perhaps because the font (particularly in the widgets) is DAMN SMALL! The WP answer?

You can change fonts using HTML but it’s fiddly and maybe not worth the hassle all the time but keep reading. [snip]

To change fonts globally, you would need to purchase the Custom CSS upgrade [15 bucks a year—not much but really?!] and have some knowledge of CSS in order to make the desired changes. If you’re new to CSS, there are some wonderfully helpful people to be found in the CSS Customization forum who may be able to help you out.

We cannot alter a theme to accommodate your choice of font size. Please bear in mind that if we alter a theme for you then that alters the same theme for everyone else. They probably won’t like that happening.

Really?

Pretty sure I could change font size and style easily on individual post or globally in Blogger with out spending any money or having it be "fiddly" or a hassle and I am pretty sure I was able to fiddle with the CSS at will (usually to my demise).

So listen folks--I don't mean to seem like an old, fickle man who keeps changing things at the drop of a font, but I can tell I am on verge and thought that the only responsible thing to do was issue a warning.

Feel free to stop me.

Breaking Down Paste's Top 50 of the Decade

Paste's Top 50 albums of the decade is worth checking out not as some final authoritative list, but as 50 interestng albums to consider--and you can really consider them since they are streaming them on their site. I have doctored the list with a little color to represent albums I already have (not that many actually), albums on the list that I think will probably go on my consider to buy list, ones I suspect might interest me and albums I am quite sure I don't care about. Everything else (a considerable everything else) is just in the I don't know enough about category.

Pastes Top 50 of the Decade

50 Björk - Vespertine (Elektra, 2001)
49 Libertines - Up The Bracket (Rough Trade, 2002)
48 Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope, 2004)
47 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino, 2006)
46 Once - Music From The Motion Picture (Columbia, 2007)
45 Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-released, 2007)
44 The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music (Lost Highway, 2003)
43 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian, 2007)
42 Jay-Z - The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella, 2001)
41 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Capitol, 2007)
40 TV on the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope, 2006)
39 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge, 2007)
38 Gentleman Jesse - Introducing Gentleman Jesse (Douchemaster, 2008)
37 Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop, 2004)
36 Pedro The Lion - Control (Jade Tree, 2002)
35 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino, 2009)
34 Various artists - O Brother Where Art Thou? (Mercury, 2001)
33 Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Capitol, 2002)
32 The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Warner Bros., 2002)
31 Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism (Barsuk, 2003)
30 Damien Rice - O (Vector, 2003)
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar, 2008)
28 Paul Westerberg - Folker (Vagrant, 2004)
27 Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day (New West, 2003)
26 Over the Rhine - Ohio (2004)
25 Sigur Rós - Med ud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL, 2008)
24 The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop, 2003)
23 Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (Bloodshot, 2000)
22 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (Capitol, 2006)
21 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL, 2008)
20 The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet, 2007)
19 Beck - Sea Change (Interscope, 2002)
18 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (Universal Republic, 2007)
17 Kanye West - The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella, 2004)
16 Rufus Wainwright - Want One (Dreamworks, 2003)
15 Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses (ATO, 2002)
14 The Strokes - Is This It (RCA, 2001)
13 Josh Ritter - The Animal Years (V2, 2006)
12 Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (Merge, 2002)
11 The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant, 2006)
10 M.I.A. - Arular (Interscope, 2005)
09 The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You (Columbia/American, 2009)
08 OutKast - Stankonia (Arista/LaFace, 2000)
07 Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (Acony, 2001)
06 The White Stripes - Elephant (V2, 2003)
05 Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek, 2005)
04 Radiohead - Kid A (Capitol, 2000)
03 Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge, 2004)
02 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch, 2002)
01 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty, 2005)

Do let me know if I should reconsider any of my assessments.

The Sugar Haul

Happy Halloween to all. The boys successfully brought in bags of candy last night, which combined with the end of daylight savings time (a convention that drives me a bit crazy) has led to requests for candy starting at 8 a.m. this morning! For those who haven't met the boys yet, here is your legend for future reference here at cps consolidated:

• The Skeleton = The Artist
• Obi-wan = The Engineer
• Captain Rex = well, The Captain

Friends and family know where to get more details and photos about the Brothers K Halloween.