Sorry I missed last week. I was in Wisconsin hanging out with my amazing brother and his amazing girlfriend. They live up in Green Bay and we tore that shit up over the weekend. Shout out to Presidente for their habanero chicken, to Glass Nickel for their border to border pizza (insider tip: order beer not bourbon “neat”) and Player 2 in Appleton, WI for having the 4 player Pac-Man (my favorite multiplayer arcade game ever), Area 51, NBA Jam TE, Off-Road and other crazy awesome throwback arcade games. I think I lost at every game that day but you can at least watch me WIN SOME MARIO SPORTS GAMES HERE against the mighty MELON THE FELON on Twitch. I’m happy I could hold my own after all these years and not embarrass myself against my little brother. He’s so much smarter and more talented than me in every way except making music that it’s ridiculous. Well, it’s not really ridiculous, he’s just better. But, luckily, I’m still his older brother which gives me a small advantage when we compete. Someday that will go and I’ll just be older but I’ll take it as long as I can…
So, needless to say, I was having too much fun (and too much beer) to write all y’all last week. I would apologize but I already said “sorry” above and don’t actually give a shit.
I was going to write about the Green Bay Packers and how they saved their season tonight but, unfortunately, they fucking blew it. I know everyone will jump on the fire Mike McCarthy bandwagon which was already picking up steam, but I’d like to offer my two cents. And, since you’re reading this, you probably want my fucking two cents, so here it is: Mike McCarthy is a great football coach but has repeatedly, when the game or season is on the line, trusted his defense over Aaron Rodgers, which means either:
Mike McCarthy is fucking insane
Aaron Rodgers isn’t as good as we think he is
Both Aaron and Mike know that the team sucks and Aaron has no one to throw to regardless
I remember the same “I can’t believe they have only won one Super Bowl” argument with Favre, which, again, was because the teams outside of ‘96 and ‘97 were shit. The difference was that Brett never gave you the opportunity to punt away the game. He would throw the game-winning or game-losing pass himself which is why I always felt he was the superior QB. He rarely put it in the defense or coach’s hands. He was gonna take the win or loss himself. That’s a true leader in my book. I frankly think both Aaron and Brett are prisoners of their own design. They are too good to get coaches or teammates fired so they get saddled with mediocre to bad talent for years. But, in defense of Rodgers, McCarthy has trusted his defense over Rodgers repeatedly since their Super Bowl win. Just think of 2014 against the Seahawks, not going for 2 in 2015 against the Cardinals, and even this year against the Seahawks and Vikings. Maybe the $30M man is good at football… Who knows, he might win you a game or two if you let him… Or maybe he’s not as good as we think. Russell Wilson doesn’t have as good of an offensive line or better receivers but he seems to get it done. Andrew Luck is never out of it no matter how far he falls behind and though he has T.Y. Hilton who is better than any of our WR’s, he doesn’t have much else. Just sayin…
Anyways, to this weeks music… I didn’t keep track of the daily weird song that was stuck in my head but since I was driving about 3 hours a day, I had plenty of time to become re-obsessed with certain songs that I played on repeat for miles and miles and miles and miles. Below are the songs an Asperger’s boy loved while driving past the flat, frozen landscapes for hours on end.
“ANTABUS” - MAKTHAVERSKAN
I just fucking love the lo-fi, weird, emo-punk feel of this tune. It just tugs at my heart-strings in a strange “fuck you” kind of way. There’s a sad, chaotic energy that I can’t get enough of. It’s the perfect winter driving song to get you through those boring ass miles upon miles.
“SET YOURSELF ON FIRE” - STARS
This is without a doubt one of my favorite albums ever. This song popped up on my Spotify “Your Daily Car Mix” and immediately melted my heart. If I could only listen to 10 records for the rest of my life, “Set Yourself on Fire” would be one of them. The title track here is a great summation of what you’ll get on the rest of the record: nostalgia, sadness, hope, sex, awkwardness and beauty. This record could technically be impetus of me marrying my wife as it made me desperately want a female singing partner. I’ve had a few but none have compared until her.
“GRACE CATHEDRAL PARK” - RED HOUSE PAINTERS
Another song off the Spotify “Your Daily Car Mix.” When I lived in San Francisco (in the Tenderloin when it was still a fucking disaster and a horrible, drug-infested neighborhood), I often walked up the hill to Grace Cathedral to sit in awe of its beauty, either inside or out. More often in as the Masonic lodge built of fucking marble and granite across the street freaked me the fuck out. Watching the tourists come in and take pictures and be awed by its immensity and grandeur was a fun way to spend an afternoon, especially given the fact that I had to kick crack heads out of the way to get into my apartment and endure the 3am fire alarms which were only to see if anyone would leave their doors unlocked so they could be robbed. Good times… Grace Cathedral was a respite from all that. It was amazing in the truest sense of the word and gave me a place to be. It’s rare that I felt the touch of God but this place most definitely allowed me that.
“THE GREAT SALT LAKE” - BAND OF HORSES
Nice reference to “the next Omaha.” Saddle Creek records was such a big influence on me growing up. Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, The Faint, etc. But, I saw Band of Horses open for Iron & Wine and was a fan ever since. I remember this song (in addition to “Funeral,” obviously) from that first show I saw them at in 2005 before they even had an album to sell. There was a magic about them. They loved the same bands I loved (i.e. the Strokes and Iron & Wine) and had a wonderful feel that the Fleet Foxes later stole. There’s a strange comfort that becomes me when I hear this album.
“BLUEBERRY BOAT” - THE FIERY FURNACES
OK, I’m weird. I know this. But, I fucking love this album. Just feel lucky I didn’t recommend all the “Green Typewriters” from “Dusk at Cubist Castle.”
That’s all folks… Dictated but not read.
