Notes from all over

Just some notes about all sorts of things.

First, a non-partisan observation about Tuesdays election:

A lot of pundits are debating whether Democrats won on Tuesday or Republicans lost. They only need to look to the Northeast, to two of our smallest states, to get the answer to that question. Take Rhode Island and Connecticut. In Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, the most moderate Republican in the Senate and the only Republican in the Senate to vote against the War in Iraq, was ousted from his seat. In Connecticut, Joe Lieberman, a strong supporter of the war and of President Bush, staved off a challenge from a farther-left Democrat, Ned Lamont. Even though Lieberman ran as an Independent, he is well known as the long-time Democratic Senator from Connecticut. Chafee, the more liberal of the two, was ousted because he is a Republican. Lieberman, a supporter of the war, was kept because he was a Democrat. The label mattered more than the voting record. So now, Republicans need to start questioning what made voters so angry at their party (maybe their ultra-extreme neoconservative, Christian Right agenda?), and Democrats need to realize that tuesday was less about them and more about George Bush and Republicans (Jon Stewart accurately decribed the Dems election strategy as "slowly leaving the room while your older brother is getting yelled at).

Recent albums that I'm listening to:

"Wincing the Night Away" by the Shins.
Technically not available until Jan. 23 (thank you Aman), The Shins third major release surpasses anything they've done before, and solidifies my impression that The Shins are possibly the "Arrested Development" of the rock world: highly critically acclaimed and loved by the fans that they have, but not widely listened to. By the way, if you've seen "Garden State," you've heard The Shins ("Oh my God, you have to hear this one song, it will change your life"). On "Wincing," lead singer and songwriter James Mercer explores darker themes than before, including a single about two lesbians from a small town that just can't understand them ("Phantom Limb," their first single off of the album available on iTunes Tuesday). Once again, I'm just taken aback by Mercer's lyrics, asking myself where in the hell he pulls this stuff out of, and realizing, as Aman said last year, that maybe it's just "poetry beyond our comprension." Some lines from my favorite song, Austrailia:

Dare to be one of us, girl,
Facing the Andrum's conundrum,
Ah, I feel like I should just cry,
But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin,
You’re humoring your cote,
You don't know how long I've been,
Watching the lantern dim,
Starved of oxygen,
So give me your hand,
And let's jump out the window.

Half the fun is figuring out what the hell the songs are about. Still working on that one, but if you want a good value for your 99 cents, buy "Phantom Limb" on iTunes Tuesday - and let me know what you think!

Some shorter reviews:

"Unfold" by Andrew Heringer
I was introduced to Heringer by my brother, mainly because Herigner attends the same college as my brother. Heringer's music is part jazz, part pop, part singer-songwriter, and part rock. Think John Mayer meets Billy Joel (because Heringer is adept at both piano and guitar) meets Dave Matthews Band (not as hard rock as DMB, but its the willingness to use nonconventional rock instruments such as violin and sax that counts). My impulses tell me that he's going to be huge someday, but music is such a tough business, you never know. Still, he's just as talented (or perhaps more so) than anything that's on any Adult Alternative radio station out there (think Alice, SF people). If you like rock or AC, check out Heringer. Also, on iTunes.

"The Last Five Years"
Another one that my brother gave me, this time a few months ago that I just got around to listening to. A musical about a couple, Jamie and Kathy, who meet, get married and divorce over the course of five years. Except Jamie tells the story forwards in time, starting at their first date, and Kathy tells it backwards, starting from the day Jamie moves out. Most of the show is in solliloquy form, and in fact the only time the two sing together or even appear together on stage is during their wedding, when the disjointed narratives connect for just a few moments. Overall, while the story itself is nothing too out of the ordinary, it's the way it is told that keeps you interested (as there are many facts about the relationship you don't find out until the last few songs). The music is very reminiscent of Steven Sondheim, which is a good thing.

Anyways, besides that:

Seeing Borat tonight!
Travel is almost over (a week and a half more!).
Looking forward to Thanksgiving.
My back hurts.
It gets dark on the East Coast way too early (like, 5:00 right now).
I'm happy it's the weekend.