Top 6 cds of 2009, IMHO:)

It is that time of year when everyone and their dog releases a top 10 list. With the explosion of blogs and everything related, you can hardly surf the web anymore without tripping over someone's thoughts about the year that was. I usually will glide on by unless it is top 10 related to music or movies. I must admit that most names on the 2009 versions are unknown to me as I don't listen to the radio very much anymore.

Nevertheless, I do follow somewhat the goings-on of the music world. Recently I made a comment on my facebook about the current state of music and my friend Dave sent me to his blog which had his Top 5 cds of 2009. He wrote that since there were not enough quality cds released this year he had to do a top 5 instead of a top 10. I thought, I can list at least 10 great cds from this year. I made my list and then did some research and realized that several of my choices were not released this year but were actually from 2008. I was unable to list 10 good cds from this year which is sad.

Here's my list:
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11: If you haven't listened to these guys yet, stop reading and go find something of theirs. This is their second cd and it is amazing. Anyone who plays guitar will find their jaw routinely dropping as this duo. For the uniniated, Rodrigo y Gabriela are a duo from Mexico who play acoustic guitars but it is unlike any other instrumental acoustic music you have ever heard.

AFI - Crash Love: I am not one of those AFI fans who has been lamenting the change they have undergone since their cd "Black Sails at Sunset." I have listened to this cd about 20 times and I love it more every time. Their progression as a band seems to always track where I am in my life. This one is best when cranked to the maximum volume possible.

Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night: There is no other guitarist currently playing that makes me want to play more than Brad Paisley. A great set of songs which is funny as well as amazingly played.

Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers: not very familiar here in hte U.S. which is a shame because they are one of the top selling bands in the U.K. EVER! They are super liberal which may put off some listeners but the songs are amazing.

Tom Waits - Gloom and Doom Live: Tom Waits would make this list whenever he puts out a record which is increasingly rare these days. I love his work and this is a live set from his most recent tour and focuses on his later work. Plus there is a bonus cd of Tom telling stories!

Morrissey - Years of Refusal: My wife and her brothers are huge Morrissey fans. I have never been much of one until I heard this album. Of all the cds on this list, I have listened to this one the most. Depression has never been so much fun:)

Random Thoughts....

1. It is hard for me not to think of the opening sequence of the old cartoon show, Duck Tales, when I hear that New Moon debuted this weekend to the tune of $140 million...particularly the scene where Uncle Scrooge goes swimming in his money.

2. The longer I live in oregon, the more my assumptions about it are blown away. The strongest chapter of the KKK west of the Mississippi was based in Ashland, Oregon and it was illegal for African Americans to live in Oregon until the mid-1900's

3. There is no lonelier place on a Sunday night than the University library

4. It is interesting what would have happened to my career in film if YouTube had existed when I was a film major.

5. What exactly does Twitter mean?

6. It took me 35 years but I can finally type without looking at the keyboard. Somewhere my pencil is silently weeping.

7. I miss the old-school guitar intros in rock songs. The ones where you immediately knew the song and it made you want to pick up your guitar and play.

8. Why am I increasingly disturbed by the stories I hear about what my country in doing to people in my name? I get madder every day, especially since our current President vowed to stop these abuses.

9. I wish I was big enough to play rugby.

The end is in sight....for the semester at least

I am so close to finishing my first semester as an LLM student and it cannot come fast enough. Granted I have a ton of stuff to finish before the final bell but this experiment has been an incredible trial. Most of the fault for that lies with me and my unrealistic expectations. I came back to school mor ethan a little bit cocky. I thought that since I was already an attorney and had passed the bar, that everything would be easy. that I would not have to try very hard to get good grades. this has not been the case....far from it actually. Additionally, the program itself has not been what I wanted or perhaps even needed. It is not managed very well, there is a poor selection of courses and nobody in the administration seems to know what to do with me.

Maybe I should have thought this through a little more...but then again I did recieve an answer ot my prayers to bring my family to Oregon. Doubt and faith cannot exist in the same person at the same time. Perhaps during this break for Christmas, I should work on my faith. I certainly could use the help in that area.

The sun was out today for the first time in a week. I really enjoyed it.

Music I have been jamming to lately....

Crash Love by AFI
Futures by Jimmy Eat World
Appeal to Reason by Rise Against
Forth by The Verve
Alter the Ending by Dashboard Confessional
American Saturday Night by Brad Paisley
The Best of Morrissey by Morrissey

I haven't posted in awhile. Just been feeling overwhelmed and underperforming. Liz and I both got the flu which was frustrating and scary. My grandpa is dying in the hospital with pancreatic cancer which has effected me more than I thought. School is winding down in three weeks and I have an seemingly unsurmountable amount of work to do before Thanksgiving. And Sammy is due to make his debut in January.





Wow! I am such a whiner:(





I am truly blessed when I trhink about it!

Orientation Day

I had my first day of orientation which was really interesting. It was in a large auditorium and I was one of 3 LLM students. The other 120 or so were 1Ls. Most of the orientation was geared towards them and rightfully so as their trek will more difficult than mine right now. I kept thinking to myself, "They have no idea what is ahead of them." I know it is a very paternalistic thing to think but I am about to be a father and I am several years ahead of them.

I remembered my first day of oreintation for Loyola. It was hard to believe that I had made it into law school and that I had just moved myself to New Orleans, LA. I looked around my class that evening and I was filled with a sense of elation. Things were going to work out great, I thought. Little did I know that 10 days later, i would be in a stranger's home 3 hours north of NOLA, watching Hurricane Katrina rip the city apart. Nor did I know that I would attend three different law schools and end up practicing law in Chicago, Illinois over the next 4 years.

The students this morning, similarly, had no idea what was ahead of them. It may not be a natural disaster which will be taught to their children in history class but they will not be the same. And under Willamette's strict grading policy, at least 12 of them will be out trying to figure out another career because they failed out. I felt sad and oddly happy for them. It will bond them to their classmates in a way that I never got to experience. It may also be more than some can handle. Law school is rough, probably rougher than most practices of law. Maybe it is meant to be that way, a sort of initiation rite to join the fraternity. It does create an instant connection to other attorneys once you start practicing.

In the end, I envied them a bit since they have three more years before the bite of reality will first sting them. As tough as law school was, it is a sort of fairyland place where growing up can be put off another couple of years. Not that law school creates perpetual Peter and Patricia Pan's but that you can just be a student for a little while longer before you have to figure out careers and lives that will carry you to retirement.

I know this sounds sad and depressing but I am excited to get another crack at school and try to improve my family's situation.

Moe's and the matter of effort.

My wife and I went to the Oregon Coast this weekend, Lincoln City specifically. It was a sunny but cool day which was beautiful and restful. On our way home, we decided to visit a restaurant called Moe's which is very well known and popular here. (http://www.moschowder.com/home.cfm?dir_cat=13368)

The line was out of the door when we arrived. We decided to stay anyway since every one we have met in Oregon has asked us if we had eaten here. I can say a few things about Moe's and none of them are very good. The service was atrocious and the food was mediocre. The plates were sloppily maintained. More importantly, it cost $40. Now I am not usually one to complain about food. I have shared a meal of dogs and horses with a thousand flies before while seated on the dirt floor of a thatched roof hut but I find as I get older my tolerance for laziness and incivility has diminished.

Anyway, my wife and I discussed it for awhile on the two hour drive back and came to the conclusion that Moe's is simply a victim of its own success. At one point it was no doubt a small mom and pop chowder stand that did well during the tourist season. However, it had grown too big (6 locations) to maintain quality or perhaps they had just stopped trying. I think it is probably a mixture of both. On my way out, I asked the cashier, as I pointed to the line of at least 50 people spiraling slowly out the door, if it was always "this" busy and he replied with exhausted eyes, "Yes, always." I asked myself if I would keep trying hard every single day if even my most mediocre efforts were rewarded. I didn' t like the answer I gave myself...*sigh*