Favorite Albums of 2008

A wham-bam, merci, danke, thank 'a you ma'am.

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20. coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends
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19. department of eagles - in ear park

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18. deerhunter - microcastle

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17. grouper - dragging a dead deer up a hill

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16. tv on the radio - dear science

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15. sigur rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

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14. q-tip - the renaissance

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13. the walkmen - you & me

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12. the felice brothers - s/t
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11. lambchop - OH (ohio)
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10. dodos - visiter
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9. conor oberst & the mystic valley band - s/t
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8. forest fire - survival
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7. bonnie "prince" billy - lie down in the light
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6. breathe owl breathe - ghost glacier ep
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5. frightened rabbit - the midnight organ fight

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4. m83 - saturdays=youth
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3. fleet foxes - s/t
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2. bon iver - for emma, forever ago
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1. samamidon - all is well
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little kids

i spent a while cleaning out my computer tonight and found this file. i recorded it last spring with the help of adam on mandolin.

it's a cover of little kids by kings of convenience




if you can, listen on headphones - i played with balance more than i usually do. also, sorry for the background fuzz - it was recorded on my mac.

the andy rooney game

Want a fun game to play? Just take out everything but the first and last sentence Andy Rooney says on A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney and you've got yourself a poignant and humorous sentiment! Ha, jk. Actually, you realize how incoherent this cute old man really is.

via comedian Joe Mande's youtube













Also, Andy Rooney quotes (he said these things, teehee!):

"Computers may save time but they sure waste a lot of paper. About 98 percent of everything printed out by a computer is garbage that no one ever reads."

"I didn't get old on purpose, it just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you."

"Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives."

"The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong."

"The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress', doesn't spread."

"When those waiters ask me if I want some fresh ground pepper, I ask if they have any aged pepper."

And my favorite: "The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."

That's way too far over my head, folks.

all the colors will bleed into one...

Let it break you down.

don't touch me tomato

Hey. I'm moving to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

No seriously, I was accepted this morning to a program at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute near Frederiksted. (x arrow marks points to the spot island)

click to zoom...

OR view a googlemap! teehee!

I came across VISFI this summer in my World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) directory. Most of the summer, I really thought I was going to find a farm to work on in the fall, and hopefully use that experience to find a more legitimate internship for the spring and summer of 2009. WWOOF (and the farms in the handbook) are mostly just small working organic farms or gardens that will offer room and board for a 20 or 30 hour work week on the farm. I was gonna travel around the country and work on different ones with the intention of finding a more long term stay at one of a few farms in California or Oregon that offered apprenticeships. (Sorry I didn't, Jacob.)

Obviously, I wanted to do it for the adventure, but really I have so much that I want to learn. And that is what lead me to VISFI.

Their entry in the handbook sounded so amazing that I think I started laughing when I read it back in June. "...Permaculture design principles have been incorporated into the farm's development with emphasis being placed on sustainable techniques... The farm is completely off the grid with full power, hot water, and internet capabilities (more like, dude capabilities)... We will be value-adding to our produce by making fruit wines (moonshine), herbal products (salvia), dehydrating fruits (mushrooms), and making sauces (babies) -- Just kidding, Audrey! But VISFI's central mission is education... Accomodations on the farm range from a treehouse, to various hooches, to cabanas. Island activities include sailing, hiking, snorkeling, diving, surfing, and cultural exploration."


So that's what got me interested. Anyway, I ended up being mature and normal and getting an office job in Nashville (which I don't regret - it was a good experience).

For the past month or so, I have been thinking about what I want to do once the job here ends. So I looked back into VISFI. They have a program called The Ridge to Reef program, which is a 2-month-long educational program, lasting from mid-January to mid-March. The curriculum is divided up into 8 focus areas: permaculture/agroforestry, sustainable building, farm-based education, agroecology/organic food production, renewable energy systems, animal husbandry, slow food cooking, and agritourism.

They don't accept many people into the program, so I was kind of anxious after sending off my application, and then after hearing back and having a phone interview with the program director, I had to wait even more. I finally got my acceptance email this morning.

Take the campus photo tour here (photo 4 is my favorite).

Anyway, I'll be posting more as I learn more about the island. I have been spending a lot of my time at work reading about the history of St. Croix. Like, did you know that the island was owned by the Knights of Malta for five years in the mid-17th century? Yep.

Here are some cool kids learning stuff:



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And here is a song that I fell in love with while working at WDVX. I don't condone sexual harassment, but this song is genius.

i just wasn't made for these times

I had a pretty strange afternoon. I drove over to 8th avenue and stood in a long line that stretched around the block from Grimeys for about 45 minutes. I waited in the cold with a crowd mostly comprised of middle-aged "losers". Basically a bunch of guys like my dad. We were all there to meet Brian Wilson.

We were told we had to buy the new album to meet him, which I was planning on doing anyway. At first, Mr. Wilson said he wouldn't sign anything else except the new album, but Grimey's staff helped his management convince him otherwise. Still, though, each person could only get two things signed. Which I was fine with, but some of the people in line had every beach boys record they own in a sack and wanted all of it signed. So bummer for those guys, I guess.

Doyle Davis came outside after a while looking for anyone who already had the new record, cause he was trying to move the line faster. Brian, unlike most others (Cameron Crowe or Elvis Costello, who both recently signed at Grimey's), doesn't really talk. So he was moving the line through faster than the indie girls with bangs behind the counter could ring up customers with the new album. Doyle was afraid he was gonna leave. He said he was nice about everything, but it was very apparent that he was uncomfortable and didn't want to be there.

Anyway, I got in (after they had run out of vinyl, unfortunately) and got to shake his hand and get a sharpie scribble. It was pretty strange meeting him. Certain musicians don't seem real to me. They seem more like mythical creatures than real people - kinda like Bob Dylan. That's how Brian Wilson is to me. I dunno, maybe that's weird. I just feel like I could hang out with Bono, or Ryan Adams, or Neil Young - but Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson seem too far away, like on another planet.


ANYWAY... I got an upside-down Brian Wilson autograph today (He's not all there, so I guess he can't tell when a cd is upside-down).

Happy Birthday me!

Fifty years of popular songs condensed into single sentences.

via TIMOTHY MCSWEENEY



The Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

I want to do it with you.

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Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"

I want to do it with you.

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Led Zeppelin, "Whole Lotta Love"

I want to do it with you.

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James Blunt, "You're Beautiful"

I want to do it with you.

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Sir Mix-a-Lot, "Baby Got Back"

I want to do it.

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Elvis Presley, "Hound Dog"

You're doing it with everyone.

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R. Kelly, "I Believe I Can Fly"

I believe I want to do it with you.

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Patsy Cline, "Crazy"

I want to do it with you so much I'm going fucking nuts.

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Frank Sinatra, "Strangers in the Night"

I'm drunk and I want to do it with you.

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The White Stripes, "My Doorbell"

Using metaphor, I want to do it with you.

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Little Richard, "Good Golly Miss Molly"

I'm doing it with Miss Molly, and she's totally into it.

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Duran Duran, "Rio"

I'd love to do that chick dancing on the sand.

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The Beatles, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"

I'd like to do it with you right now.

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Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"

We used to do it, but then you did it with someone else, and now I'm not going to do it with you, although I wish we were still doing it.

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Pulp, "Common People"

I once met a stuck-up European who wanted to do it with me.

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Radiohead, "Creep"

I'm filled with self-loathing, and, though outwardly I hate everything you represent, I want to do it with you.

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Kate Bush, "Wuthering Heights"

I'm an 18th-century fictional character and I want to do it with another 18th-century fictional character.

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Bob Dylan, "Blowin' in the Wind"

The Man is currently doing it to you.

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Elvis Presley, "Jailhouse Rock"

Incarcerated men will on occasion do it with each other.

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Meat Loaf, "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"

Hey! You won't believe what this one chick said while I was doing it with her!

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Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire"

I did it with you, and now it hurts when I pee.

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Céline Dion, "My Heart Will Go On"

Even your death has not stopped me wanting to do it with you.

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AC/DC, "You Shook Me All Night Long"

We did it yesterday.