Songs of the Week: Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear's new album, Veckatimest, is now out and being greeted by a tidal wave of critical acclaim. I have tried to avoid succumbing to the excitement and buzz around this album to bring you an honest, objective review here. The song "Cheerleader" was an immediate standout to me (FWIW, I recommend cranking this song):

I have Yellow House, the Friend EP, and Horn of Plenty. Yellow House is pretty good, but none of their discs have done it for me like this one is doing. There is just a lot of cool-sounding stuff on here, highlighted by really enjoyable moments of melody, vocal harmony, and rhythm. This is one of those albums that will grow on you more and more with each listen.

Plus, how cool is this video?



I don't know, for some reason these Brooklyn bands, like Yeasayer and Beach House, really have had my number this year.

Houston Art Car Parade

After A Storm

A terrific storm blew through over the course of a few hours this afternoon. Arriving home from work as the last clouds passed, I noted the sudden clarity and wanted to drink it in. After finally being told today that the thing I have been working for over the past two years would simply go away, this was a nice reminder of the way the universe tends to work.



























(and yes, tight shots of flowers are about as cliche as it gets ... but the macro lens is so much fun)

Mono No Aware

One of my favorites of the past three years, Hammock, has released this video. I think the scenes with the actress, especially on playground equipment, are a little forced and slightly kitschy in the face of the musical and cinematic context. But overall, this is an incredibly photographed video...makes me want to drop what I am doing and go out and shoot some pictures.

Score One For The Good Guys: Pearland Breathes A Sigh Of Relief

To the casual observer, the following events come across as mere fodder for local news trash. But it has been a very real experience for the community where I live. It's so rare that one hears about good police work, especially when it involves you, or someone you know that has been mugged or stolen from or otherwise affected.

Previously I wrote about the rash of crime that has been affecting our area. At the time of my writing, there had been an (unsolved) parking lot abduction and several home invasions. Since that post, there has been a murder a mile away from our house, and continued home invasions.

Then yesterday happened.

A Pearland resident leaving for work at 6am was jumped in his driveway by a rifle-wielding suspect who demanded the keys to his car. Instead of complying, the man fought back. At the same time, his wife had the presence of mind to dial 911. During the scuffle, the suspect fired at the man but missed. Within seconds, and amazingly I might add, the police department arrived and began pursuing the suspect on foot.

Then the suspect made two significant mistakes: he fired shots at police, and ran off in the direction of a nearby elementary school. I say "mistakes" since I am speculating that, outside of those two things happening, the police may not have worked as hard as they ended up working to catch this particular suspect.

After being shot at, the police did not return fire. Instead, they very quickly set up a perimeter. In the meantime, students at three nearby schools were arriving for the day. The police put all three schools on lockdown and quickly got the word out for all other students to remain at home.

Then a massive manhunt ensued involving state, county, and city police departments. Bloodhounds were brought in to assist in the hunt, and were intermittently picking up the suspect's trail. Helicopters swarmed overhead all day.

This went on until the afternoon, when I began to think that the whole thing was seriously overblown. I wondered why the police were putting THAT much effort into finding someone they weren't even sure was in the area anymore. As it would turn out, they either knew something that I didn't, had a hunch that I didn't, or just really wanted to catch someone more than I probably would have wanted to in their shoes.

At 2:00 the police announced that they were calling off the search. Except that, as we found out a few hours later, they really weren't. They had strengthened the perimeter around one neighborhood in particular, and at 5:00 the news surfaced that they were still searching house to house to house and yard to yard, after having spotted the suspect and recovering a discarded rifle.

Then, at 10:00 last night, a bloodhound caught the trail and led police to a shed where the suspect was hiding.

We went to bed feeling pretty good that they had finally caught someone commiting a crime, but we had no idea what we would wake up to today.

News outlets this morning reported that, overnight, the body of a woman--most likely the woman who had been abducted from Pearland over a month ago--had been recovered in an industrial park just south of the Medical Center (incidentally, in a lot I frequently pass on my bike commute).

I instantly wondered if it was mere coincidence that Houston police found her body just a few short hours after the carjacking suspect had been captured in Pearland.

Sure enough, reports surfaced later in the day that the suspect in custody was "cooperating" with police, and turned out to be "linked" to the abduction case, as well as to "several other crimes" that have been occuring in our area. The evidence: stolen property from the home invasions has been found in the abductee's abandoned car, and the suspect has confessed that he is the man pictured in surveillance videos connected with the abduction case.

It's been a real page turner over the last two days, and more details are expected to surface tomorrow, including the medical examiner's report on the body that was found.

And--this just in--minutes ago charges, including a charge for attempted murder, were filed against the carjacking suspect, with an accompanying announcement that in all likelihood those charges would be upgraded in the morning following what is likely to be a "major announcement" in the abduction case. The suspect is being held on a $1.2 million bond.

All in our quiet little town!

I'm trying hard to avoid the inevitable response of human nature, which is to pin all of the crime on the first bad actor who is actually caught. But the facts sure seem to indicate that the police have got their man, or at least someone who has a lot of information about the crime in our area. I'm very anxious to see the details unfold.

For tonight, I am resting somewhat easier than in previous weeks. When I got home I didn't feel nervous about opening the garage, or leaving it open while I went to recover the garbage cans from the curb. And when I leave for work tomorrow, I'm guessing I may have a little more peace of mind about leaving my family behind. That has been a luxury I have not enjoyed for several weeks.

roygbiv

I derive immense pleasure from the video above. Youtube is awash in fanboy vidoes for Boards of Canada, some of them are really quite good. My favorite, A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, is unavailable for embedding.

More Roygbiv:



Duplo stop motion animation = Terrific.
Super Mario Brothers = Fail.

Everything is Amazing

Heard of, but never had the chance to hear, Louis CK before.



"It's true! We're so lame!"

Me likey.

Inside The Meltdown

I have sort of a love-hate relationship with Frontline (a very large portion of the hate inspired by the narrator's oh-so-serious voice), but tonight's episode "Inside The Meltdown" sounds like it should be pretty good.

I caught a Bob Edwards interview with producer Michael Kirk on my way into work this morning. Kirk delved into some pretty compelling details about what was happening behind the scenes last September, including an unprecedented, semi-clandestine meeting between Paulson and the CEOs of the country's nine largest banks. Over the course of a few hours, Paulson, armed with some fairly core-shocking economic forecasts, convinced them to accept the $700BB bailout (not last week's $787BB 'stimulus package', aka the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but last September's Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008...remember that one? I have a hard time keeping track).



A lot of productions, articles, and special reports have attempted to explain this mess. I generally come out of them still scratching my head about various details. I'm looking forward to see how well this Frontline accomplishes its objectives.

In other news, trying to fit in this Frontline, in addition to my DVR review of Stage 3 of the Tour of California, may prove mildly challenging tonight...7 hours of TV? Thank goodness for fast-forward.

Keep The Car Running

A big day for me and my truck. 150,000 may not seem like a whole lot, but I am proud that they are all mine, that I've kept it going this long, and that it seems to be in good enough shape to get that many more.

Here is a list of states that this truck has taken me:

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Nevada
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Washington D.C.
Wyoming

My truck has gone through three sets of tires, three batteries, two sets of headlights, about a dozen gas caps, around 300 quarts of oil, and roughly 9,300 gallons of gas.

I've also resolved the following major mechanical issues along the way:

Ball joints replaced under recall
Rear end (rear differential) rebuilt
Brake master cylinder and brake booster replaced*
Air conditioning system overhauled (evaporator, dryer, and compressor)*
Differential ABS tone ring replaced

And some minor mechanical issues:

Universal joints
Power steering pressure sensor*
Cam shaft position sensor*
Rear differential speedometer / ABS sensor*
Brake pedal position sensor*
AC system pressure sensor*
Trailer light relay*

* - indicates I did the work myself.

Eerily enough, I haven't had to do anything but change the oil for the last 18 months or so. So, it's due for something major. Or maybe 120,000 miles or so is kind of a threshold for a lot of those parts. Hopefully everything that's in there now is good to go for the next while. Except the clutch--my foot feels like it's getting further off the floor every day...

The Dismal Tide

Things are getting kind of scary in the quiet neighborhood where we live. Our community has suffered four home invasions over the past two weeks. Yesterday a woman observed a man wearing a mask in her backyard. The man saw her see him and ran off, jumping the fence. Thankfully nobody has been injured, but the intruders have all been armed. All of the home invasions, except one, have occurred within a two mile radius of our house, and they have all happened in the morning hours.

To top things off, a woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from the parking lot of one of our shopping centers this past Monday. They are still looking for her. I had to return some movies to that parking lot late last night. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't get myself to treat it like a normal, ho-hum trip to the movie store.

I feel a bit like Sheriff Giddens in one of my favorite scenes from No Country For Old Men. Specifically referencing the increased crime and drug trafficking that hit El Paso in the early 1980's, but also generally inquiring about the nature of evil, he exclaims "it's the dismal tide" and later, exasperatedly asks "how do you defend against it?" (If I had a copy of the book in front of me I would quote more extensively).



(the scene in question is only the first 1:45; no need to watch all 10 minutes of the clip...though you might just find yourself watching anyway)

As far as I know there are no Anton Chiggurhs running around our town. But I do feel like it's just a sign of worse things to come. If things get worse this year, how far will people go if they are already willing to do this? The Houston economy isn't even hurting that bad (yet).

And, every day as I leave the house, with wife and daughters inside, I ask "how DO you defend against it?" Guns? A big dog? Do you just quit your life and stay at home, holed up all day? Of course I have better answers, but like Sheriff Ed Tom, one feels simultaneously compelled to fight against it, yet ultimately overwhelmed.

Barry Corbin's line at the end of this scene is terrific.

I Hate Resumes

The times, being what they are, bear upon all prudent individuals to freshen up their resume. I count myself in this boat as well.

I hate resumes. I hate writing them. I hate reading other people's. When I review potential job candidates' resumes, my eyes glaze over and my mind wanders to someplace--any place--else, so long as that place is less cold, forlorn, and desperate. My brain drearily skims down the page. I put the resume down, needing to nap, feeling unable, for the life of me, to call to memory anything noteworthy about the individual. If I can get away with it, I'll go into an interview cold so as to not taint the candidate with my own prejudices stemming from his or her resume.

Even worse, I hate reading my own resume. I can't help but see someone else's eyes glaze over in the same fashion--especially now that, according to a Marketplace report last week, there are currently four candidates for every one job opening. Ugh.

Aside from the gaping black hole of desperation that most resumes create, the conventions are mind-numbingly dull. Who knew we had the capacity to make writing so excruciatingly boring? Lest anyone doubt that resumes represent the very worst that the English language has to offer, allow me to demonstrate.

Here are some typical resume verbs:

• Collaborate
  
• Conduct
  
• Coordinate
  
• Develop
  
• Establish
  
• Grow
  
• Increase
  
• Lead
  
• Manage
  
• Oversee
  
• Plan
  
• Prepare
  
• Provide
  
• Reduce
  
• Restructure
  

Here are some typical resume adjectives

• Direct
  
• Effective
  
• Efficient
  
• Fluent
  
• Key
  
• Largest
  
• Meaningful
  
• New
  
• Notable
  
• Proficient
  
• Related
  
• Significant
  
• Sophisticated
  
• Strategic
  
• Subsequent

And finally, some resume nouns:

• Asset
  
• Cost
  
• Department
  
• Expense
  
• Experience
  
• Improvement
  
• Initiative
  
• Metric
  
• Process
  
• Project
  
• Protocol
  
• Report
  
• Resolution
  
• Revenue
  
• System
  

From this list of words, one can play "Resume Bingo"...just hit "shuffle" and voila! You have your basic resume skeleton. Simply add in a few more details, possibly some dollar figures, double check for subject-verb agreement, bake at 350 for 45 minutes, and you're done!

Here is the result of my personal "Resume Bingo", (I created this through a simple Excel function that returns random sentences composed of these three parts):

1. Manage subsequent resolution.
   
2. Conduct meaningful system.
   
3. Grow related protocol.
   
4. Collaborate proficient experience.
   
5. Establish new initiative.
   
6. Reduce strategic revenue. (*note: generally not a good idea)
   
7. Plan direct expense.
   
8. Prepare largest cost.
   
9. Lead significant project.
   
10. Coordinate efficient metric.
    
11. Develop effective department.
    
12. Increase sophisticated improvement.
    
13. Oversee fluent asset.
    
14. Restructure notable report.
    
15. Provide key process.

It's actually remarkable how well this worked. Aside from that blip in the middle and a couple of cases of gibberish, these life-sucking shells of a sentence represent exactly the type of things I typically read in resumes (including my own).

In my current capacity, I have read a lot of resumes belonging to very talented people who represent the very best of the best in my field. I can't say their resumes read very differently than the sentences above. It's rather disappointing.

An honest plea for feedback: how do you make your resume lively and interesting without running afoul of convention? How do you set it apart, in a good way (unlike the candidate who listed, among his accomplishments, his having attained the title of "Wolverine" in High School)?

On the other hand--are resumes simply a basic check off procedure, intended to narrow the candidate pool? After all, in my experience job hires are mostly about personalities and work styles. A resume basically says to the world "I'm not an idiot and I have the requisite skills and experience needed to be considered for this job. Let's talk."

I think the C.V. is a much better way to go. No frills, just the facts. The best C.V.'s I have seen hardly contain any verbs. Just lists of publications and cold details about experience.

Your thoughts?

The Thinkpad Gets A Colonoscopy: Adventures In The New Economy

I purchased our Thinkpad exactly 3 years ago this week. It has been a great computer, but barely operable over the last six months or so. Sluggish as all get out (2-3 minutes to start Internet Explorer), DVD's in the optical drive not working after several attempts to update the driver, error messages on startup, always fighting to keep the last 2 gigs of hard drive space free, the list goes on.

Since laptops generally have a three-year life span, we talked about buying a new computer for the holidays, but ended up putting it off. Finally this month, I've been contemplating the economy and thinking about the need to re-use, conserve, and generally cut back. So I decided today to wipe the hard drive clean (backing up the essential files, of course) and perform a fresh install of XP.

A few hours later and this thing is humming like new, perhaps better than new. I was able to erase IBM's factory-created hard drive partition, freeing up an extra 7 gigs or so of space. Magically, DVD's now work in the optical drive. I custom installed my Windows Service Packs and Updates so that I am only running the essential. Only 4 items in the system tray! No nagging IBM utilities.

Some LCD screen cleaner, a good pass over the keyboard and other nooks and crannies with the precision attachments on the vacuum / blower that dad got us for Christmas, and it's like I just took this thing out of the box.

It's amazing what people put up with in Windows. And the general lack of knowledge and fear people have of wiping their machines clean and performing a reinstall. I used to do this for work, but I was considerably intimidated nonethless. Poppycock! In fact, why didn't I do this sooner?

A question--what other ways has the economy influenced you to cut back, conserve, reuse, or generally prepare?

In our case, we were pretty close to buying a car last year but talked ourselves out of it in the fall. I'm very glad now. If, like the Thinkpad, we can keep our cars running through the recession, all the better.

Manuary

The ladies who maintain the Mormon blog "Feminist Mormon Housewives" declared January 2009 to be "Manuary". I was roped into writing a post earlier this month. True to form, I barely managed to finish it before Manuary came to its conclusion.

See the post here, if you are interested. Topics this month have ran the gamut, some possibly not for the faint of heart. Mine is a somewhat more light-hearted post dealing with the critical issue of "Manfriends".

The Zoster

My feeble frame has become overrun with the Zoster. Herpes Zoster, to be exact. Also known as "Shingles".

About a week ago, when we were driving out to San Antonio, I asked my wife if she had recently used a different kind of detergent. "No, why?" "Because my nipple feels like it is chafing."

Fast forward to today, and if I had my way I would scrape off that nipple, and the whole left side of my torso, for that matter, with a rusty razor blade. But it wouldn't help anything, unless I cut as deep as the dermatome nerve, which is where the little virus bastards are throwing their stupid little party.

Ha ha ha, little Herpes Zosters. Go on, order up another keg. Turn up the music. Because soon I WILL DESTROY YOU.

I hope so, anyway. Beginning last Sunday, the pain increased gradually for about a week. Not quite being able to figure out what it was, I kept expecting to wake up and have it be gone. Until I noticed the rash beginning on Sunday. More confusion. But then I woke up early Monday morning, and with that wonderful Monday morning shower-ey clarity of thought, it came to me: Shingles. I don't know why...I have absolutely no experience with Shingles.

"What am I, 70?" I thought.

But a quick check with Google confirmed it. Wife's reaction? "Huh. That's something."

Yes. "I'm glad you think it's 'something'," I replied.

Anyway, the nice thing about working with doctors is that I had a prescription for a hefty anti-viral drug in hand after just a few hours. Note: it also helps if one of your best friends is a pharmacist and his wife is a neurologist. There is only a 48 hour window to start taking anti-virals once the rash appears, otherwise it may last for months. So hopefully I got to it in time.

When I went in to see my PCP this morning (to get the prescription covered--these little pills are $15 a pop!), she took one look at my measly rash, kind of chuckled to herself, and said I could expect it, along with the pain, to get a lot worse. So much so that she prescribed an opiate pain killer.

So now I lie in wait, expecting a pain apocalypse in my torso, because right now it hurts pretty dang bad. I have read that full-blown shingles pain can be "worse than labor pains." (Note: I do not know if this last sentiment was proponed by a man, woman, or woman who has actually given birth. I'm just sayin' what I read.)

May you never, dear 'bloggo readers, get the Shingles. I won't mention that if you have had chickenpox, you have Herpes Zoster in your body, right this very minute. They're just taking a nap. Try not to disturb them: trust me on this.

Oh, I also won't encourage you to do a Google Image Search for "Herpes Zoster".

In The Quivering Forest...

(available in HD by clicking over to YouTube...highly worth it)

Props to my sister for cluing me into watching an otherwise very forgettable episode of SNL on my DVR. This forced me to break out the mandolin and jam with this song several times over.

I can't say enough about these guys right now...their live performances, which have been popping up all over national television lately, are even better than the album. Makes me want to nudge their album up a notch or two on my personal Best Music of 2008 list.