I will be turning 29 this week. I received a very curious piece of mail earlier this year (February) from my old Youth Group co-coordinators. I don’t remember doing this activity AT ALL, but here it is. When we were all 18-ish and graduating High School soon, we were asked to predict where we’d be in 10 years for everyone else (and write a little message to our ten year’s older selves). It showed up in the mail recently and I’d like to share the results with you (I’ll block out the names, and score them on accuracy):
From M****:
Brian: Very important, famous job. Moved to a really remote part of the country. Very well off. Not married.
M**** scores 1 point for accurately guessing I would not be married.
From B****:
Brian: You are married and loving life. You have 1 child whom you adore. Your job keeps you busy but you are successful. Good luck! Love, B****
B**** scores 1 point for saying that my job keeps me busy
From S****:
You’re a really successful guy… having a good time with life .. probably a reporter for a big newspaper. You live in the city. Good Luck! Love S****
S**** scores 2.5 points for saying I’m having a good time with life, I live in the city, and I “report” which I’ll translate as “blog” for half a point.
From JA****:
Hi Buddy. It’s fun living with you. -J****
J**** scores .5 points in that I am still his buddy.
From BR****:
*Married to _ _ _ _ _ (my girlfriend at the time)
*Drunkard
*Sleepin’ w/ girls left and right
*director
BR**** scores 2 points.
From Anonymous #1: (girl’s writing)
Hey in 5 or 6 years I think you’ll be as cute as you are now! Hope you’re happy
Anonymous #1 scores 2 points. Five or six years from 1999 was 2005, at which point I was cute — correct. Also… drama!?!?!?!
From Anonymous #2: (guy’s writing)
I love you, Bri-guy. You will be a successful suit with a big ole’ fam and a great job.
Anonymous #2 scores -3 points. (Also, to note, I don’t think “suit” was derogatory in 1999).
From JD****
Brian will be a successful businessman. He will be involved with communications or advertising and thinking up slogans and sayings for advertisements. You will be happy a when you return to Drexel (note: my old street) you’ll always be happy & remember your childhood. Best of luck!
JD gets 3 points because being in business and communications and advertising is prettymuch what I do. I have realized though, that the odds of me “returning” to my home street are low … I grew up in a pretty swell neighborhood and I don’t envision being able to afford now.
From A****
Brian will be a movie critic, take Siskel’s place on the show. Watch our for _ _ _ _ . <3 A****
Ha! A*** gets 1 point because I should’ve watched out for _ _ _ _ _.
Anyway. That was fun. Oh, 1999. I’m going to go break out Hello Nasty and reminisce. Oh, and here’s my note to myself:
Hey Gorgeous! Lookin’ Good.
Feb 28 1999
Height: 5′11″
Weight: 130 (note: ha! what?! scary)
Goals: film studies? journalism?
Hopes: To keep my friends. Positive self-image (note: also funny)
I’m a busy boy, but three things I wanted to tell y’all about:
I’m writing for a tri-city music blog, BemBang repping Chicago. We mainly make fun of stuff.
My pet project — the Football-via-Teen Drama blog Gridiron Girl (co-written by Kenny, Matt and Rob) — will be getting a weekly column spot at Third Coast Digest as we start revving up for 09/10 football season.
Oh, Rob also writes a hilarious Milwaukee Brewers column for 3CD called Dear Ken Macha. I highly recommend you check it out.
Oh Yeah. FYI. Brett Favre is OUT as a Viking. Hellllloooo Mike Vick?!?!?! That would be hilarious.
Still May. Since the year is nearly half over, I’ll just post 12 or so albums I liked over the last 12 or some months…
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
(#4 of 12 in no particular order)
Not much more you can say about Justin Vernon… just ask Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold.
Hell, Great albums tend to have great backstories, and I was admittedly skeptical of how great this album could be based on the fact that those recommending it would talk more about HOW/WHY it was made rather than what it sounded like. I can now accept that sometimes an album so patient, subtle, unassuming and redemptive will need that extra tangential push to make it up into the popular conscience and get the audience that it really deserves.
Just when you think he’s teared up at a press conference for the last time, yet ANOTHER rumor pops up that Brett “Journeyman” Favre now wants to play for the Vikings. Hmmm. Is it because he’s got “something left in the tank”, maybe, or maybe the economy is such that it’s too soon to open a car dealership.
Had to post this. Original is Law Blog RLHB.
Either way, he wants in, and Mike & Mike on EPSN seemed to hint that it’s purely to get revenge on his old team — the Green Bay Packers. That should work out for everyone, as we all know through centuries of theater, books and movies — aging gladiators called into battle for revenge’s sake and fueled by blind ambition usually succeed without much difficulty, agnorisis, etc.
What’s sad is that Wisconsin has gone mute on the subject (not that is has a say anyway). Scanning the most recent headlines on google The Frozen Tundra is frozen still. There’s a national frenzy but Milwaukee is mum… there is NO mention of Favre on the Journal-Sentinel front page and BARELY even a mention of this anywhere on the sports page. Hmmm. This from the paper that would run a picture of Favre above the fold instead of Afghan war coverage.
Maybe it’s a McCarthy-era strategy — don’t publish stories about him and maybe he’ll just go away. Meanwhile, Chicago Sun Times and Tribune both had stuff to say about it.
Green Bay is not quarantined with swine flu — they just don’t have the will to get out of bed this week.
Internet-friend Ryan thought: “If [this] … happens the NFC North will be land of the QBs with Cutler here, Stafford at Detroit, Farve at Minnesota and Rodgers in Green Bay, could be interesting.” It’s true. Would the NFC North not be the butt of jokes for once? Maybe they could shake that guaranteed noon start time pattern.
Internet-friend Kenny thought: “….if Brett Favre goes to Minnesota, his legacy will be somewhat tarnished. This is the guy that replaced Bart Starr as the face of the franchise historically, and he is going to go wear purple and play in a dome? Just stick to playing football with a posse of country folk at a field in the middle of nowhere while wearing Wranglers.
Hey. It’s almost April May. Can I slack any more? I figure, since the year is nearly half over, I’ll just post 12 or so albums I liked over the last 12 or some months…
The Eternal Question
In talking to my friends, the year 2008 was felt to be an underwhelming year for individual artist accomplishment. When I sit down and think of the albums I was obsessed with these last 12 or so months, it was very hard to pick 10 out of the bunch, and then decide who gets a #1 over a #10. While there were not any monumental KILLER albums, 2008 saw the emergence of a few very interesting trends that continue to mature as we close out this first decade of the 200o’s.
The trend I find most exciting is the burgeoning globalism of pop music. Perhaps it’s the Internet, perhaps it’s the slow death of mainstream radio and, or pre-fab rock stars, perhaps it’s even American awareness of global conflict that has inspired them to search outside the typical boundaries of inspiration. Whatever caused it, it’s making pop music a LOT more interesting. There was an explosion of Aussie electro, Scandinavian pop, Icelandic atmospherics, backwoods midwest soul-searching, 80’s obsessed French synths, and, of course, the much-ballyhooed return of Afro-pop….
Here’s one I liked:
Neon Neon – Stainless Steel
(#1 of 12 in no particular order)
Gruff Rhys, aside from his full-time gig as part of Super Furry Animals, is half the double-whammy of Neon Neon — teamed with hip-hop producer Boom Bip and a slew of hiphop collabos. The resulting productis an amalgam of glossy late-80s rock and synthy hip hop that tells the story of coke-and-tit fueled carmaker John Delorean (d. March 2005).
Stainless Style finally dropped mid 2008, amid little hype and a mess of other 80’s-informed electro crossovers. What’s remarkable is that the project was nearly complete 3 years ago. Heaven knows how much of a splash it would have made if it released around the time they played SXSW in 2006.
Theoretically, this LP could have been hot on the heels of The Rapture, Radio 4, Hot Chip, Junior Boys and LCD Soundsystem’s nostalgic disco revamps. Viewing it in the time frame that, quite frankly, they just plain missed, Stainless Style could have been an genre-defining/defying album. The fact that it still sounds relevant years later among other like-minded 80s rock/Electro-rap clones is a testament to this clairvoyant one-off.
Will re-post the article below, and extend it with some more rambling commentary…
In a giddy fit of keyboards, falsettos, and saccharine dance beats, Boston newcomers Passion Pit are charming their way west during their first national tour. P.P. bounced their way through a congenial but criminally short set last night at Schubas, as Michael Angelakos engaged the audience with the same disarming manner and sky-high vocals that seep through every track of his debut EP, Chunk of Change.
The set started out playful and keyboard-heavy with Angelakos’ ear for pop melody pushing to the forefront. Flanked a guitar, drums, two Rolands, a Moog, and sitting behind a Yamaha synth himself, Angelakos’ dare-you-to-sing-higher-than-me octaves pierced through riffs, piano lines, and programmed back-beats. Espousing sentiments that in lower vocal ranges might be cringe inducing diary entries, the proper set ended with the dance-happy electropop of “Sleepyhead” and “Better Things” to which the sellout crowd lost their collective brains to, bloggers and ALTBros alike.
Angelakos apologized repeatedly for the abridged set, but, the audience couldn’t blame them for succinctness – Passion Pit just haven’t been around long enough to have a full set.
In a backstory that’s impossible not to repeat; Passion Pit’s origins couldn’t be more endearing: Originally a late Valentine’s Day present for Angelakos’ g/f, the “Chunk of Change” CDR made the rounds at Emerson University, made waves in Boston, and made headlines after some stellar sets at this year’s CMJ music fest in New York. A few months later, after some east coast practice gigs, they’re on tour backed by new label Frenchkiss, playing the six songs that everyone knows and road-testing a few new ones.
Passion Pit’s sincerity and DIY style fits with just a few other bands who somehow dodge be criticized for being goddamned “sincere” all the time — people have seemed to get really sick of that recently. (The fact that, as 20-something culture consumers, we already have issues with earnestness is fodder for a different blog).
I see Angelakos along side other singer/songwriters like Khaela Maricich (The Blow), Ben Gibbard (a-la The Postal Service), and Robert Wratten (Field Mice) as artists that manage to be shmultsy but nevertheless loveable.
Let it be a lesson to those aspiring coffeehouse guitar wankers… if you’re inspired to put your love / breakup letters to music and share it with the world, do two things:
LOTS of new Chicago concerts listed, including the first May concert date. ALREADY! MMMMmmm, I can feel the non-subzero temperatures already. Check dates times and ticket costs on the “Bored People Are Boring” Calendar of Events:
January:
Lambchop
Lasers and Fast and Shit
Friendly Foes
February:
Tortoise
Danger
Lazer Crystal
Kid Color
Leo 123 Flosstradamus
Gatekeeper
The Chamber Strings
Kevin Tihista
Lonesome Cougar The 1900’s
Mazes
Cotton Jones Headlights
Maserati
The Pomegranates
Oceans
March:
Matthew Dear
Guido Schneider
Frankie Vega
Gianna Hardt
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Fruit Bats
Disappears Bishop Allen
April:
White Lies
Friendly Fires
Golden Filter
Marah Simian Mobile Disco
Great Lake Swimmers
Kate Maki
Neko Case
Since I can’t wrap my brain around the season right now, I’m posting a few blogs based on online coversation with some assorted pals; Ryan, Jim, Rob (from the blog Walker’s Point), Kenny (from Ask Dr. Kenny) and Matt from Belly Full of Hell). Here goes:
On The Poor WR Corp
Arms, Distance: I would have to support picking up Kurt Warner in one scenario — because Cards’ Anquan Boldin is not happy in Arizona either… if we’re willing to spend, we could pick up a QB/WR tandem that has PROVEN they’re effective together. That’s immediate offense.
Warner-to-ONLY Boldin (with missing a few games): 89 Receptions, 86.5 yds/g, 11 tds, 10 20+ yds
Imagine Warner/Boldin production if Anquan is the primary receiver.
Matt: The Bears are where receivers go to die.
Kenny: Said Muhsin Muhammed. I think it’s funny he said that considering he led the league in drops that year.
Muhsin Muhammed: where quarterbacks go to see their passes dropped.
Not so fast Braylon Edwards.
A,D: True. Though, you know what really sucks… Moose had more catches than our leading receiver (Forte) for twice as many yards and 1 more TD.
K: Well if you consider that Forte is our running back, I’d say that’s sad on both accounts.
M: I agree.
A,D: Sad all around.
The Bear Market
A,D: So, what’s the #1 thing the Bears have to do in the offseason?
If you answered “Sign a coach who won one game in the last two years”, you and Lovie Smith are on the same page. What do y’all think they have to do to not be a huge fucking joke next season.
“Fire Lovie” is not an option, dude’s got plenty of money left on his contract extension that doesn’t run out until 2011.
K: Coaches have been fired before with years left remaining. But yeah, I don’t think they are going to fire him. If they were going to, they would have by now.
Actually, Marinelli becoming the defensive line coach is good. He was D-line for Tampa Bay for a decade. He was pretty good there. I think certain coaches are better at specializing on one category. This is his category. He’s just not an overall head coach. But then again, neither is Lovie.
Ryan: Ron Turner and Bob Babich need the axe but they won’t get cut
A,D: Some of the more advanced teams nowadays are doing something called “The Forward Pass”. It may revolutionize the game. This Sid Luckman character may be just the ticket.
In what seems like forever ago, I reported on Bob Nanna’s chain of Polaroid images which capture Somebodies and Nobodies alike in a chain that started nearly 8 years ago — March 3rd 2001, with a photo of Bob at Second City in Chicago. Bob, at that point, was with the band Braid, and the photo chain weaves it’s way through a number of musicians you most certainly know.
Mr Nanna, who is clearly on a New Years resolution streak, is now SCANNING each one for posterity’s sake and allowing the general public to see it online — both on Facebook and Flickr.
Quite a task.
The best part about the Flickr portion is that there’s also a brief description of each photo in case you don’t immediately recognize (or wouldn’t recognize) who’s in the photo.
03/09/01 – Second City, Chicago IL
This is me. I look young and happy… just like the pic of George Wendt to my left.
03/10/01 – The Rave, Milwaukee WI
This is Rob, although back then everyone called him Robbie. He played bass in the Get Up Kids but lately, you’ve probably seen him scouring the globe (and your tv sets) as the bass player of Spoon! Together we probably listened to ‘The Lonesome Crowded West’ one thousand times during our European tour.
Posted by Brian Battle 
Posted by Brian Battle 
Posted by Brian Battle 
