I ♥ Footballers' Wives

Footballers' Wives has risen to near to top of my list of guilty pleasures recently, right between sudoku and Texas Hold 'Em poker. This is bizarre because what everything I love about the show is everything I hated about Melrose Place. Except the gratuitous shots of bare tattooed male ass throughout - this was a quality in which Melrose Place was sorely lacking.

I tend to get sick of most TV shows pretty quickly, usually because the characters invent so much drama for themselves that I stop being sympathetic to them. This is the same reason, incidentally, that most people I meet rarely become more to me than casual acquaintances and that most twenty-something gay men don't even get that far. But this is actually part of the appeal for me when it comes to British drama. What gives?

Maybe it's because Footballers' Wives has a few characters that rise above the schemers. Hazel is a no-nonsense acerbic dyke (which is how she would describe herself) you don't want to mess with. She'll tell you exactly what's on your mind before you know yourself. And if you try to put anything past her, make sure you're wearing an athletic cup. And then there's Harley - at his core a sincere, decent bloke who just married too young. He still does everything he can to save his marriage to Shannon until he realizes that she is too shallow to ever truly love him or even herself. Characters like these foil the designs of dastardly plotters just often enough to keep me guessing. And watching.

Countdown to Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man: 5 days remaining

Today was payday. My paycheck was delayed for several hours, causing me to stay on campus much later than I had expected. This only heightened my anticipation of my eventual return home. All I could think of was downloading the soundtrack to Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

The album is nearly flawless. Teddy Thompson's voice immediately sounded familiar. It took a few minutes to realize where I'd heard him before: Brokeback Mountain. His cover of "Tonight Will Be Fine" was a little too twangy for my taste at first, but it grew on me. Nick Cave, as always, is amazing in his rendition of "I'm Your Man". Antony's performance of "If It Be Your Will" is breathtaking, to say the least. Rufus Wainwright's tango version of "Everybody Knows" is unexpected but it works. Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Martha Wainwright recast "Winter Lady" as a medieval vocal harmony piece, possibly rivaling the original arrangement in its potency.

There are a couple of weak moments. Beth Orton sounds as if she had just received a blood transfusion from post-Jefferson Airplane Grace Slick ca. 1979 five minutes before the show. I had high expectations for Jarvis Cocker, having been a fan of Pulp for over ten years. Unfortunately, his vocal for "I Can't Forget" is even weaker than the Pixies' 1992 cover of the same song - possibly the worst thing they ever recorded. And who told Bono he could ever be worthy of placing his voice next to that of the master himself?

Overall, though, it's worth the price for the download.

Here's what I've been listening to today:

1. Mugison: Mugimama! Is This Monkey Music?
2. Tones on Tail: Everything!
3. Mogwai: Young Team
4. Deerhoof: Apple O'
5. Howe Gelb: 'Sno Angel Like You
6. V/A: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man soundtrack
7. My Robot Friend: Dial 0
8. Frog Eyes: The Future Is Inter-Disciplinary or Not at All EP
9. CSS: Cansei de Ser Sexy

Preparing for Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Michael has agreed to let me give him a crash course in Leonard Cohen before we see the movie next weekend. He gave me, with some trepidation, his last CD-R for this purpose. I assured him that the experience would not be too painful.

But how does one distill forty years of songwriting genius to eighty minutes? I spent a couple of hours agonizing over the tracks to include and their order. Inevitably, some great songs had to be left off. Here is the tracklist I finally settled upon:

1. Chelsea Hotel No. 2
2. Everybody Knows
3. Master Song
4. Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On
5. Avalanche
6. First We Take Manhattan
7. Field Commander Cohen
8. Night Comes On
9. Bird on the Wire
10. Waiting for the Miracle
11. There Is a War
12. Stranger Song
13. The Law
14. Story of Isaac
15. A Singer Must Die
16. Sisters of Mercy
17. You Know Who I Am
18. Who by Fire

I'm not expecting Michael, whose most recent music purchase was Mariah Carey, to become a die-hard Leonard Cohen fan as the result of hearing this mix. However, I hope he will notice some of the qualities in LC's music that have made me such a devoted proponent.

Update

Since my iPod's miraculous recovery, I have been listening to lots of Leonard Cohen. All of his studio albums from Songs of Leonard Cohen to Various Positions in order of release, to be precise. Since I am probably going to drag Michael over to Scottsdale to see Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man at Harkins Camelview on our 10th mensiversary next week, and he's never actually heard Leonard Cohen, I'm going to make a CD of my favorite LC tracks to prepare Michael for what he's in for.

Additionally, I have been listening to the Pitchfork Infinite Mixtape Series. I highly recommend it, and not just because it includes several tracks that were included in my podcast. It also seems to prove that everything goes better with Antony Hegarty. The world would be a better place if Antony were the lead singer for every band on the planet. It would probably be exhausting for him, though.

I had two interviews this week: one for the four positions at the Downtown campus and one for the specialist position in my department. Both interviews seemed to go very well. I should get answers from both search committees in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, I will pay for and schedule my GRE on Monday. I still have to practice the analytical writing section, but I think I will do alright. I've decided I'm not going to worry too much about getting the highest score possible. In the end, all I can do is relax and do my best and the score will reflect my abilities accurately. The program I want to get into considers everything, including GRE score, GPA and professional experience. I think I have a very good chance of getting accepted.

Hallelujah!

My iPod is in working order again and I didn't lose a single file! Yippee!!!

The end of 3DH?

Some of you may have already noticed that I have removed the link to Threedogheads. David decided to discontinue his blog, but hopefully we will hear from him again soon. I will add a link to his new blog as soon as I am notified of its whereabouts.

iPod trouble

I did something stupid. I tried to use ephPod to delete tracks from my iPod after copying them to my hard drive. Big mistake. Now the iPod DB is corrupted and only ephPod can read it. iTunes will not recognize the iPod when plugged in and the iPod will not recognize the 13,000+ tracks that are still stored on it. And, yes, I tried using the DB-rebuilding feature in ephPod and it doesn't work too well. It seems to think that there are only 20 subdirectories, rather than 40.

All is not lost, however. The tracks are still there and ephPod still sees them. I have started to transfer all the tracks onto my hard drive and my old 40GB Creative mp3 player. Then I will use iPod Updater to restore factory settings on the iPod and transfer the files back. This should take me a few days, so I don't reckon there will be a podcast this week.

I want to get it done fast, though, for these three reasons in particular:

• the soundtrack to the Leonard Cohen documentary I'm Your Man, featuring Antony, Nick Cave, Rufus and Martha, Kate and Anna, and some other lovely people.
• O Yuki Conjugate's new album, The Euphoria of Disobedience, which just became available on iTunes.
• Frog Eyes' new EP, The Future Is Inter-Disciplinary or Not at All, which I had my hoodlums order for me from Spain.

Here is what I was able to listen to Saturday, Sunday and Monday before this little mishap:

1. Girl Talk: Night Ripper
2. O Yuki Conjugate: Equator
3. The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes
4. Metallic Falcons: Desert Doughnuts
5. The Essex Green: Cannibal Sea
6. Peeping Tom: Peeping Tom
7. Centro-Matic: Fort Recovery
8. Richard Butler: Richard Butler

paleunderweight podcast 22

Now available.

1. Xiu Xiu: "He Needs Me"
2. Thom Yorke: "Atoms for Peace"
3. Asobi Seksu: "Strings"
4. Broadcast: "Arc of a Journey"
5. Sunset Rubdown: "I'll Believe in Anything You'll Believe in Anything"
6. Death From Above 1979: "Black History Month"
7. Stereolab: "OLV 26"
8. Sufjan Stevens: "Dear Mr. Supercomputer"
9. Final Fantasy: "Many Lives 49 MP"
10. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult: "China de Sade"
11. Lisa Germano: "Too Much Space"
12. MSTRKRFT: "Neon Knights"
13. Vetiver: "You May Be Blue"
14. Art Brut: "Formed a Band"
15. Uusitalo: "Lumimies"
16. Brian Eno: "Baby's on Fire"
17. White Rose Movement: "Deborah Carne"
18. Gorillaz: "Dare"

Slow day

It's an almost unbearably slow day in the office. I have about an hour and a half left and I am bored to death.

I am going to take my GRE in about two weeks. I plan to study a bit each day until then, including writing essays from the sample topics at the GRE website. On two practice tests (quantitative and verbal only) I scored 1330 and 1360. My goal is at least 1450 combined verbal and quantitative and 5-6 on each of the two analytical essays.

I recently became concerned that my iPod was running out of space for music. I realized that many tracks that I had downloaded from Emusic and Bleep were encoded at a sampling rate of more than 200 kbps. I realized that if I could transfer files back to my hard drive, I could convert them into 128 kbps AAC files without a significant decline in sound quality. I had to find software that had the capability of transferring files from iPod to hard drive - iTunes had lost this function with version 4.7. I found and tested ephPod and it worked. Last night I reduced about half a GB by about 140 MB - roughly 28%. I hope that this process will free up at least 3 GB.

I have now successfully killed a few minutes, so I will get back to work.

Thursday

1. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult: 13 Above the Night
2. Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup
3. Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets

Wednesday

Nothing much to report. Started studying for the GRE. Still waiting for calls to schedule job interviews. Starting to freak out about turning 29 six weeks from now.

Here's what I've been listening to today:

1. Asobi Seksu: Citrus
2. El Perro Del Mar: El Perro Del Mar
3. Death From Above 1979: You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
4. Gorillaz: Demon Days
5. Broadcast: Tender Buttons

Tuesday

1. Lisa Germano: In the Maybe World
2. White Rose Movement: Kick
3. MSTRKRFT: The Looks
4. R. Luke DuBois: Timelapse
5. Art Brut: Bang Bang Rock and Roll
6. Xiu Xiu: Tu Mi Piaci EP

Monday

1. Thom Yorke: The Eraser
2. Sufjan Stevens: The Avalanche
3. Vetiver: To Find Me Gone
4. Sunset Rubdown: Snake's Got a Leg
5. Final Fantasy: He Poos Clouds
6. Uusitalo: Tulenkantaja

paleunderweight podcast 21

The new podcast is now online.

1. Mirah: "Jerusalem"
2. Antony & The Johnsons: "Atrocities"
3. O Yuki Conjugate: "Bismuth"
4. James Figurine: "55566688833"
5. M.I.A.: "Sunshowers"
6. Syd Barrett: "Late Night"
7. Booka Shade: "Darko"
8. Junior Boys: "Birthday"
9. Love: "And More Again"
10. Todosantos: "Antes Era Mejor"
11. Caribou: "Every Time She Turns Around It's Her Birthday"
12. Peter Gabriel: "With This Love"
13. Karl Blau: "The Dark, Magical Sea"
14. Oneida: "Charlemagne"
15. Joy Division: "New Dawn Fades"
16. Devendra Banhart: "The Charles C. Leary"
17. Shearwater: "La Dame et la Lincorne"

War

So now Jerusalem, you know that it's not right
After all you've been through, you should know better than
To become the wicked ones almighty G-d once saved you from

- Mirah, "Jerusalem", from the album C'mon Miracle

I am a Jew, at least by the Orthodox genealogical standard. My great-great-grandmother along my maternal line was born in a Polish shtetl. She arrived in Oswego County, Michigan in the early 20th century, along with thousands of other Polish Jews seeking to escape persecution.

This knowledge was concealed to me until fairly recently. I grew up thinking my heritage was as white-bread-and-mayo as you could get. German, Irish, Swedish was what I was told - with a tiny splash of Cherokee on my father's side.

That was until my sister, who had been given up for adoption at birth, did some research into our heritage. She found the 1920 census records that proved that we were not merely German, Irish, Swedish and Cherokee, but Polish Jews as well. I no longer have contact with my mother and only sporadic contact with my grandmother, but I suspect that they both know more than they have been willing to reveal. Our great-grandmother died in 2000, so we can't ask her anything.

According to traditional Jewish standards, one is either a Jew or a non-Jew - there is no gray area. One's Jewishness depends on his or her mother's status only. This is in contrast to the typically European idea that one can be half German and a sixteenth Swedish. This means that my sister and I are just as Jewish as, say, Adam Sandler.

Ironically, only non-Jews have tried to argue that I'm not really a Jew. All the Jews I have spoken to about my heritage not only agree that I am indeed a Jew, but welcome me into the community. Regardless of my beliefs or what I look like or whether I have had a bar mitzvah, I am a Jew by Jewish standards. They just say, "Er ken ongeyn far a goy," meaning that I can pass for a goy.

Since learning about this aspect of our heritage, my sister and I have both embraced it to varying degrees. Sarah has chosen the path of conversion - though it's not really necessary - to Orthodox Judaism. After months of reading and study, I determined that the spiritual beliefs that I already had are very close to those of Reform Judaism. I occasionally attend a synagogue and I read voraciously. I may or may not choose to become a member of the temple, but this does not limit my exploration of spiritual ideas outside of Judaism. I am what I am - including but not limited to a German Irish Swedish Cherokee Polish Jewish gay liberal intellectual audiophile anthropologist future-librarian pet-parent blogger podcaster with a craving for pepper jack cheese.

Having explained my fairly unique perspective, I must discuss my feelings about the situation about the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The words of Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn above are very similar to my own opinion. I think that the Orthodox-dominated government of Israel has become an oppressive power, treating Palestinians as sub-human and acting in ways that are contrary to the ideal of compassion that is at the center of Judaism.

Certainly Hezbollah is not blameless. Obviously, their actions in the past few weeks (and indeed their whole history) are despicable. However, by unleashing such an overwhelming attack on Lebanon, Israel is causing death and harm to more innocent civilians than to Hezbollah militants. It is also weaking political parties in Lebanon than can oppose Hezbollah.

There are no 'good guys' here, but lots of innocents in the crossfire. The fact that Bush supports one of the aggressors in this conflict rather than caring about the safety of civilians on both sides is disgusting - but hardly a surprise. Support for the actions of Israel's government is morally equivalent to supporting Hezbollah as far as I'm concerned. I applaud nations that have come out and publicly condemned both Israel and Hezbollah. This is what the U.S. should do as well.

I hope that there will be an end to this conflict very soon, but I'm not very optimistic about it.

Thursday

1. Caribou: Up in Flames
2. Ms. John Soda: No P. or D.
3. Peter Gabriel: Passion
4. Love: Forever Changes

I am plotzing...

...because not only is most of O Yuki Conjugate's back catalogue now available on Emusic, but they are going to release their first album in ten years very soon!!!

Wednesday

1. Danielson: Ships
2. Sufjan Stevens: Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State
3. Oneida: The Wedding
4. Junior Boys: Last Exit
5. Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner
6. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
7. Devendra Banhart: Oh Me Oh My... The Way the Day Goes By the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit

R.I.P., Syd Barrett and June Allyson

Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd and influential solo performer, passed away Friday from diabetes-related complications at the age of 60.


Actress and Depends spokeswoman June Allyson died Saturday of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis at the age of 88.

Here is what I've been listening to today:

1. Amps for Christ: Every Eleven Seconds
2. O Yuki Conjugate: Sunchemical EP
3. M.I.A.: Arular
4. Antony & The Johnsons: Antony & The Johnsons
5. Syd Barrett: The Madcap Laughs

Catching up

I have been woefully remiss in my posting lately. Would you believe my dog ate my posts? No? How about... I haven't posted because of national security concerns? Er, um... terrorists! Yes, that's it - if I don't get lazy about posting periodically, the terrorists win!

You're not buying any of this, are you?

Ok, the truth is I've been tired and lazy. I promised the next installment of Albums That Loved Me Back several weeks ago - that is still forthcoming, I assure you. I also promised a few words about Richard Butler's new album. Short version: I love it, it's better than any of his work with Psychedelic Furs or Love Spit Love, it's a sonic mosaic, yadda yadda yadda. Buy it.

It's not that I haven't gotten anything done recently. I applied for five full-time positions in the ASU libraries last week. The one I really, really want is a specialist position in my current department which I am thoroughly qualified for, but I have to compete with two other colleagues that are similarly qualified. Four others are at the soon-to-open downtown campus library. I will also be happy if I get one of these.

I am planning to take my GRE in early August so I can apply for U of A's MLS program before their September deadline. Wish me luck!

I finished the six-day course of Medrol my doctor prescribed for my headaches but I am still experiencing side effects - I sleep fitfully and I am always hungry! It's frustrating, but it will pass. I'm still taking the Skelaxin when needed, which isn't as often as it was last week. I managed to go without it all day Saturday, but I started getting a mild headache again yesterday, so I started taking it again.

Last night I didn't sleep very well at all. I was so tired at work this morning that I forgot to put the caraffe under the coffee maker while it was brewing. I didn't notice until it had made a horrible mess. Oh well, I am prone to that sort of thing even when I am perfectly well-rested.

Thom Yorke's solo album is out tomorrow! I am drooling in anticipation. Whee!

I have decided not to put the podcast on hiatus quite yet. I still have more to give, so why not? I enjoy doing it. I might take weeks off more frequently though. I guess I'll play it by ear.

Here's what I have been listening to today:

1. Todosantos: Aeropuerto
2. Shearwater: Palo Santo
3. Booka Shade: Movements
4. The Tango Saloon: The Tango Saloon
5. Stuart A. Staples: Leaving Songs
6. James Figurine: Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake
7. Karl Blau: Beneath Waves
8. The Twilight Singers: Powder Burns

RSS feed problem fixed

If you tried to download yesterday's podcast via the RSS feed, you probably noticed that it didn't work. I typed the filename incorrectly in the xml file. Now it has been corrected and you should be able to download it without any trouble.

paleunderweight podcast 20

The new podcast is now available:

1. Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Lullaby"
2. Morrissey: "Dear God, Please Help Me"
3. Mr. Bungle: "Desert Search for Techno Allah"
4. Boards of Canada: "The Devil Is in the Details"
5. Tim Buckley: "Song to the Siren"
6. The The: "Giant"
7. Frog Eyes: "The Fox Speaks to His Wife Who Is Not Quite Sure"
8. Grandaddy: "Why Would I Want to Die"
9. Iggy Pop: "Some Weird Sin"
10. Iron & Wine: "Fever Dream"
11. Paik: "October"
12. Bright Eyes: "Arc of Time (Time Code)"
13. Radiohead: "Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was"
14. Guided by Voices: "Window of My World"
15. Mojave 3: "To Hold Your Tiny Toes"
16. DeVotchka: "The Last Beat of My Heart"
17. Cocteau Twins: "Cherry-Coloured Funk"

Happy 4th

Lots to report on since I posted last.

I quit my job at the cafe this past Friday. The work was much more physically strenuous than I had anticipated. In fact, it was probably the cause of the muscle and nerve problem that resulted in my missing three days of work at my primary job. At least I was able to collect a small paycheck from the cafe, which provided a much-needed financial jumpstart.

The medications seem to be helping. I still have small headaches periodically thoughout the day, but nothing nearly as severe as it was last week. Hopefully the meds will work and I will be completely pain-free soon.

On the job front, several new full-time jobs have opened up at ASU for which I plan to apply. There are a few positions for the Downtown Campus library, but the one I really want is the library specialist position that just opened in my own department. The deadline for resumes is this Friday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Michael surprised me yesterday afternoon with a mensiversary dinner, two days early. He spent hours cooking and setting up his dining room. I was stunned by how elegant the dinner was. He served spinach salad, salmon, curried rice and green beans. Nobody else has ever surprised me like that - Michael has now done it twice. I guess he's a keeper!

After dinner, Michael got me hooked on Google Earth. This is an amazing piece of software. I am amazed that it's still free! Here's some images I captured this afternoon:

Here's what I've been listening to since Monday:

1. Grandaddy: Concrete Dunes
2. Radiohead: The Bends
3. Saturday Looks Good to Me: Every Night
4. Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That