Is it 1931?

From the Telegraph: Roosevelt took over a country where the economic machinery had completely broken down. The New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade had closed. Thirty-two states had shut their banks. Texas had restricted withdrawals to $10 a day.

Few states could borrow on the bond markets. Illinois and much of the South had stopped paying teachers. Schools closed for months. An army of 25,000 famished war veterans squatting in view of Congress had been charged by troopers of the 3rd US cavalry with naked sabres – led by a Major George Patton.

Okay, so maybe not quite.

As each day passes, I grow increasingly convinced that we're living in what will be the early years of a lost decade. Lost to digging ourselves out of this recession. Paying off debt. Stablizing the economy. Everyone is going to slow down. Job turnover - the voluntary kind - will grind to a hault. People will stop moving from city to city. We'll do the work of 3 or 4 people at the office. We'll stop sleeping. We'll work and work and work, and then find ourselves belly-up at the bar each night. And then we'll wake up one day at age 45 and realize that we lost the best years of our lives to the world's second great depression.

Poof. There go our (my?) twenties. Up in smoke.

at least we have music and romance.

1. "Crimson and Clover" - Tommy James and the Shondells
2. "My Love" - The Bird and the Bee
3. "Blood Bank" - Bon Iver
4. "Head Dress" - Amazing Baby

"Hello Sunshine" - Aretha Franklin, Aretha Now, 1968

Sometimes, it seems like the ambient noise around us reduces reality (reality, as in, cars driving down the street, cashiers scanning groceries, dogs barking) to pixels, beats and sensations. The crowded conditions of modern life abstracts anything imbued with meaning. Meaning (i.e. that which transmits value of some kind to the object) is diffused into style. At that point, what are we left with? Coolness. Hotness. Sexuality, I suppose. Sex can survive, as can hunger. The body reigns.

Today, I discovered Loney, Dear's "I Got Lost" and listened to it 10 times, still wanting more. It recalls the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (as well as the opening sequence of Battlestar Galactica), with the sensibility and vocal track of Radiohead (perhaps even a dash of Sigur Ros?). Anyway, it's the perfect tune to accompany this feeling of d-e-t-a-c-h-m-e-n-t.

1. "I Got Lost" - Loney, Dear, Dear John, 2008

2. "Take Warning" - Operation Ivy, s/t, 1990

3. "What She Came For" - Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, 2009

 
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 Enjoy being part of history in the making!

"Bring on the Night" - The Police, Regatta de Blanc, 1979
"I Am Be" - De La Soul, Buhloone Mind State, 1993

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

1. Music critic (lover)
2. Licensed Mediator
3. Dancer (as hobby, not professionally)
4. Cultural Anthropologist
5. Philosophy Ph.D. candidate
6. Photographer (yes? no?)
7. DJ (see #1)

We promise according to our hopes; we perform according to our fears. (38)

2009 musts

1. A new bed!
   
2. Substantial savings (currently contemplating a move to NYC in 2010)
3. More travel: Beach house, Mexico in March, Newport in August, Eastern Europe?
4. Romance: Opera, good food, spontaneity, more records, Rebecca
5. Take Mandarin classes
6. De-Stress: Yoga, meditation, Ambien, analysis

It is not enough to have great qualities; we should also have the management of them. (159)

1. "Just in Time (Live)" - Nina Simone, The Tomato Collection
2. "We Begin" - Bufi, Homeless Hero EP, 2008
3. "Regret" - New Order
4. "Woke Up New" - Mountain Goats, Get Lonely, 2006

Those who apply themselves too closely to trifling things often become incapable of great things. (41)

Quotes by La Rouchefoucauld

"Funny How Time Slips Away" - Al Green, Call Me, 1973

Then it dawns on me: maybe Christmas always depresses the hell outta me because I'm not really Christian. Was never baptized. Didn't attend church or sunday school. Never discussed or read the Bible with family. And yet, every year, I get together with some semblance of family and observe what turns into an overcommercialized disappointment. Just an excuse to buy useless crap for one another. But of course, it's not like that for people who have a religious connection to the holiday. The problem is, I hold no reverence for this sacred day.

"Winter Killing" - Stina Nordenstam, The World Is Saved, 2005

So I'm considering abandoning Christmas altogether. I mean, it's the last vestige of Christianity in my family. All other observances of religious holidays are long gone. We don't recognize Easter, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, etc. (Are there others? I wouldn't know.) My knowledge of Christian mythology is limited to the book of Genesis. And I couldn't feel more out of place during a church service if I tried. Seriously.

"Rien N'est Trop Beau" - Les Gam's, Twistin' the Rock, 1963

Now I've got to make some mimosas and cook up some omelets. What do you think? Should I give Festivus a try? (But I can still enjoy my Bing Crosby tunes, right?)

And I admit it--I'm convinced. Convinced that Oprah is the empress of all humanity, the quasi-spiritual heart of this nation. Her personal story, and her ongoing quest for self-improvement, is a beacon of hope for millions of middle-aged American women.

So, while visiting my mom in Connecticut this past Thanksgiving, I read through a couple issues of "O" to see what all the fuss was about. In each issue, Oprah closes the magazine with a personal column entitled "What I know for sure." (The mere act of closing your magazine--the one named after you--with a personal column bestowing knowledge that you, alone, declare to be true is proof enough of the cult of "0"). Here are some gems from a recent "best of" column: [I've selected 10 of 20 provided]

1. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.

2. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.

3. The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.

4. Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

5. Doubt means don't. Don't move. Don't answer. Don't rush forward.

6. Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn't lie.

7. When you don't know what to do, get still. The answer will come.

8. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope. You become what you believe.

9. Every day brings a chance to start over.

10. "Trouble don't last always."

Amen to that. I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that Oprah lives and breathes and is a major force in our culture. She's relentlessly optimistic. She has faith in all of us. People think she should run for office, but I think she should start the next mega church. I'd be the first to sign up.

And now some random tunes that I think Oprah would approve of:

1. "Another Day" - Jamie Lidell
2. "Waterfall" - The Stone Roses
3. "I Don't Know Enough About You" - Peggy Lee

Well, I'm all grown-up and living on my own, and I can play Christmas music whenever I want.

First, a few gems from the greatest Christmas album there ever was: Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas.

1. "What Child Is This" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas
2. "Christmas is Coming" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas
3. "Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, ACBC

I'm not exactly an aficionado in the genre of discount Christmas albums, but I think we might be experiencing a renaissance in yuletide music-making. The renaissance is in indie pop, where musicians have been churning out new Christmas albums pretty steadily since 2000. I'm not sure why, but one thing is clear--the "happy sad" variety of indie pop is just a stone's throw away from the bittersweet chords of many classic holiday songs.

1. "Put the Lights on the Tree" - Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas Vol. 2, 2002
2. "O Come, O Come Emanuel" - Belle & Sebastian, 2006
3. "iPod Xmas" - Hello Saferide, Oh No...It's Christmas! Vol. 1, 2006

And of course, the 1960's saw some of the best Christmas tunes (and new interpretations of classics) in the history of the genre. Some of my favorites:

1. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" - The Beach Boys, 1964
2. "Little Saint Nick" - The Beach Boys, 1963
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Bing Crosby, 1962
4. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - Darlene Love, 1963
5. "Blue Christmas" - Who Else? Elvis (Okay, this was released in 1957.)

Feeling a bit old tonight. Not old as in years, but old as in, aged. The folds of my brain are rusted. Dried up vats of nonsense. Down six quarts of creativity. No longer capable of spinning jokes from thin air, or rattling off references to poets, historians, economists and David Sedaris. How does one retrieve youthful intelligence from the dustbin of adulthood? I want spontaneity and openess. What happened to doing things just for the sake of doing shit? (A: We have to be somewhere in 30 minutes.) I want to play table hockey until 3am while discussing the plight of Disney on childhood development.

Remember college, when your only job was to be interesting and, maybe, funny? Nobody told us that our oh-so-adult jobs would destroy all of that. (Well, maybe Fight Club tried to.)

And now, back to the music:

"Sunshine City" - Forest Fire, off the LP Survival, 2008

"Walk Away" (Acoustic) - Franz Ferdinand

"Emma Kate's Accident" - Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City Sessions, 2007

Happy Election Day everyone. Below is a little election night celebration mix (again, fingers crossed!). It equal parts kitsch and classic pop inspiration.

1. "Uptight (Everything Is Alright)" - Stevie Wonder
2. "A Change Is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke
3. "We Didn't Start the Fire" - Billy Joel
4. "Once in a Lifetime" - Talking Heads
5. "Song For a Future Generation" - The B-52s
6. "So Glad" - Fats Domino
7. "The Times They Are A-Changin (Special Re-Release CMJ)'" - The Byrds
8. "People (feat. Dwele)" - Common
9. "Brand New Day" - Sting
10. "People Get Ready" - The Impressions
11. "Peace Train" - Cat Stevens
12. "So What'cha Want" - Beastie Boys
13. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" - Stevie Wonder