Dreams of Home

Band of Horses, Everything All Of The Time. Some very nice person I know sent me this excellent disc as a Valentine’s present, and as presents (and CDs) go, it’s a really good one. I described the music to someone as a heavy dose of My Morning Jacket combined with a pinch of The Shins, and I think that’s pretty accurate. Despite hailing from Seattle, B of H definitely has that dreamy My Morning Jacket sound down, creating very lush soundscapes with very limited instrumentation. And for some reason, every time I listen to this disc, it reminds me of being young at my parents’ house. I have absolutely no idea why, but it’s a good feeling. All in all, it’s a great disc that I probably wouldn’t have discovered on my own. Thank you, sweetheart.

Old Friends

The Dead Zone, Stephen King. With the wacky winter we’ve been having, I’ve found myself with a little more inside time for reading, so I’ve been going back and revisiting some books that left a mark on me in my youth. I’ve been a Stephen King fan ever since my middle school days when Salem’s Lot scared me so bad I slept with the lights on for three nights in a row. I’ve read all of King’s fiction books (except for the last three Dark Tower novels, and I’m getting there, dear reader... someday). Sometime in the past month, I decided I’m long overdue to revisit King’s early work, and The Dead Zone happened to be sitting on a display table when I last visited the library, so I decided to start there. King has really grown in his writing as he’s gotten older, but I had forgotten how gripping I’d always found his early work to be, and I tore through this one in two nights. I really enjoyed the book this time around, but more than anything, it made me want to watch the DVDs of the TV series with Anthony Michael Hall just to see how they stretched it into a multi-season story. If you’ve read the book, you know the TV show can’t follow the plot too closely. On the other hand, there’s also the movie version with Martin Sheen and my man Christopher Walken. I know that stayed closer to the storyline of the novel. And did I mention it’s got Christopher Walken?

Live Art

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones at the Paramount Theater. These guys are never disappointing, and seemed to have some extra energy last night since they were hopping a plane at 6:00 this morning to head to the Grammys (where they’re nominated for Best Pop Instrumental and Best Contemporary Jazz Album). My only gripe is that they leaned a little too heavily on songs from their so-so newest album, The Hidden Land, but they made up for it with some inspired solo pieces and a couple sick covers (The Beatles’ “Come Together” and the famous surf-rock tune “Wipeout”). All in all, a typically great show from an outstanding live band.

Double Trouble

Two things taking up a lot of my time recently:Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City. An outstanding second effort from my favorite new English band. Darker and more dense than their debut, Silent Alarm, I’ve had this for two days and listened to it 7 times already. By far, the best album I've bought in the past 6 months.

The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. I’ve always been and always will be a comic book reader, but as I’ve gotten older, my tastes have turned away from traditional superhero stories. Most of what I like to read (Fables, Y: The Last Man, Rex Mundi) is more adult fare, often dealing with an alternate history or apocalyptic scenario, some sort of twist on reality as we know it. Recently, I’ve been hearing some praise for The Walking Dead, so I picked up the first four collections at the library. Borrowing heavily from various influences (28 Days Later, The Stand, Dawn of the Dead), the storyline follows a Kentucky policeman named Rick Grimes who awakens from a coma to find that the country is overrun by zombies. As he adjusts to the new world order, Rick heads to Atlanta to search for his wife’s family and joins with a group of survivors as they struggle to find a safe haven. With some striking black-and-white art, the authors are able to tell a compelling story of the survivors’ struggle to retain their humanity while doing what they must to keep themselves alive.

Shove Thy Neighbor

U.S. v. Mexico. ESPN2, 9pm Eastern. No love lost between these two squads, as the first real test of Bob Bradley’s tenure as coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team takes place in Glendale, AZ tonight. Mexico also has a new coach in Hugo Sanchez, and he’s called in all their stars in an effort to turn around the recent trend in this series, as the U.S. are 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings.

The U.S. roster is mostly comprised of domestic players, with just four European-based players (including Clint Dempsey, above) crossing the pond for this one. Should be interesting, as the crowd figures to be about 75% Mexican fans. How will the young U.S. roster hold up in a hostile environment? Sadly, I predict they will struggle. Mexico, with a lot more to play for, is due for a win. 2-1, bad guys.

UPDATE: I am happy to say the U.S. proved me wrong and continued its domination on home soil with yet another 2-0 win. Landon Donovan continues to play the thorn in the Mexican side, assisting on the first goal and scoring the second to ice the match.

Wipeout

Snowboarding at Keystone. This is a pretty good approximation of my day on the slopes. I have quite a few spectacular bruises. Might be a while before I get back on a board.