Obama and the environment

You've probably heard of the Yucca Mountain cancellation, but here's an additional small round-up of Obama's environmental initiatives this week.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/11-good-decisions-from-obama.php

Interactive neighbourhood map of Toronto

Nice map of Toronto with neighbourhoods shown, clickable. Toronto Star

Album of the Day: A.A. Bondy - American Hearts

... the love that's tearing you down, is the love that will turn you around...

Reviews:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88160710
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10774-american-hearts/

Yeah.. it's a heavy album. Stories of the Civil War. Recorded with two microphones in an up-state NY barn.

available here.

Boston Globe profiles Charlie Louvin

http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view/2009_03_07_Charlie_Louvin_s_career_spans_genres_and_generations/srvc=home&position=also

Sunday morning at the Dakota

A fantastic Sunday, starting out with a coffee at Clafouti, brunch at the Dakota, some great conversation at the Crooked Star, more than a few rounds of Bananagrams, some Ethiopian food, which was a first time for me, and finished off with a few new episodes of Flight of the Conchords.

Spectacle

Clips and full downloads of Costello's Spectacle.

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7087&start=350&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=1195f2a79093e0de2442d09f77916b12

Saturday night

Drock graciously invited me to the Venezuela vs. Italy World Baseball Classic game on Saturday night. Great game, until Italy decided to take out Mike Defelice after the 4th on 45 pitches. He was pitching a gem, and Grilli came in, giving up a homer to his first batter faced. Game over from then on. Still, great to watch some meaningful baseball in March.

Album of the day: Condo Fucks - Fuckbook

Yo La Tengo record under a different name. More straight rock than a traditional Yo La Tengo release.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/03/who_are_the_con.html

Album here.

Yo La Tengo: The band's name comes from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into the 160-pound Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" which is "I have it" in Spanish. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by 200-pound (90.7 kilograms) left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo! as a way to avoid outfield collisions.^[1] After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the heck is a Yellow Tango?".^[2]

Pictures from the other night...

Cloudy ski meant no telescope observations other than peering into the CN tower upside-down... they have a nice roof though, and I took a few shots. Here are some. Middle two photoshoped, obviously. I love how they look surreal. They are, I guess.


The black shadow at the bottom is actually cast by my lens... I love wide angle lenses!

Ok...one last post. Tomorrow:

http://www1.astro.utoronto.ca/~gasa/public_talk/2009APT/0903flyer.pdf

Song of the night: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

Download song here.

Lyrics here.

Youtube: Live in Glastonbury

Two interpretations from that lyrics page:

"The song gives me the vision of a guy always going to parties/get-togethers, leaning on a table with a cup in his hand, and being bored shitless. The conversations he has are boring, he's not listening to them, not laughing at any of the jokes. He keeps going to these parties so he can't get a decent meal. He's falling asleep, he's obviously not interested in going anywhere anymore but people keep telling him that being able to is "everything a man could want."


"to me the meaning of this song is pretty clear. it refers to life on the road as touring/famous musician.
they constantly plays shows at night, thus sleep a lot during the day and get pale due to lack of sunlight.
the ringing in the ears is that familiar ring we all get after a show. its constant for them because they constantly have to play.
skinny as a rail comes from boozing and not eating properly.
lightbulbs are dim because of odd sleeping cycles, lack of proper nutrition, and general jadedness.
conversations become dull because they start to repeat themselves (due to meeting so many new people).
the sense of humor/interests start to fade because of home sickness, lack of stimulation, and general jadedness.
the verses about a 'confederate'. refer to the fact that there is no one who can bring pep into the situation/break up the monotony. the feeling that this 'confederate' doesnt exist shows the state of mind that they are in. again, jaded.
the verse about looking for sympathy refers to diners/groupies. both are good for a quick meal/pick me up, but dont solve the problem.
but being a 'rock star' is "everything a man could want" and they shouldnt complain.
just my thoughts. "