I’m still in the middle of “G” and listened to f# a# infinity (or: F Sharp A Sharp Infinity … many ways to write it) from Godspeed You Black Emperor (or: Godspeed You! Black Emperor).
I do not recall who gave it to me a few years ago but I never bothered to listen to the whole thing. The first track captivated me, though I didn’t pay as much attention during the next two; all three are subdivided into “movements” of sorts, and the last track contains, after a break, a “hidden/secret” track. All in all: would listen to again. It’s from the mid- or late-90s, their first real album.
I then got around to Gogol Bordello, which I grew to love while I was in Berlin. “Sally” is still a great (post-)punk-ish piece. Some of the later tracks on the album (Gypsy Punk) are a bit over-produced, like layered metal, a bit heavy, but still enjoyable enough.
This evening I’ve got Golden Smog playing; I don’t think I’ve ever listened to them. The album is Down by the Old Mainstream, and it’s mellow enough, which is nice for a Saturday evening. “Red Headed Stepchild” is a bit louder.
Tonight was a birthday party of sorts for Julie and Nicola out at the Hilldale Great Dane. I arrived and promptly encountered Adrienne, who introduced me to her girlfriend, Megan, and a guy named Ben, who is Cherokee and studying German, not yet a grad student, though, I guess. Class-clown type.
I took the 7 to the capitol, then waited for a dozen minutes or so before the 2 arrived. I couldn’t stand in the shelter because a woman in there all bundled in layers and layers of coats was smoking (despite the *very clear* no smoking sign[s]) and the smell was overwhelming. A guy showed up and I gave him bus information on the 4 and 5, which would arrive after the 2. My good deed of the evening. A homeless guy with a hand-scrawled note on crumpled paper approached and asked for money. The 2 arrived, I got on, got warm, and headed west. The bus stops right across from the Dane at the mall.
Adrienne informed me that Julie was sick — stomach “flu” or such — and no one knew if Nicola was actually going to come. Soon Andrea and Helmar showed up, then Jennifer and her husband, Helena and Daniel, Stella, Ben, Elliot and Charlie, and soon we had a party of 15-16. Nicola arrived. It would have taken an extra hour of waiting (we’d been waiting long enough as it was) to get a place for all of us, so we split up, and those not really looking for food just headed to the bar area and the pool tables; a party of five (as Adrienne liked to say: the two gay couples and a token hetero) kept a reservation for 5 for food.
I chatted for a while with Stella and Helena, but mostly watched Jennifer’s husband and Daniel play pool. The Pro Bowl was on one TV, the Florida vs. Kentucky game on the other. Wisconsin won their basketball game today, I read.
After 9 a handful of us (me, Stella, Nicola, Cherokee Ben, Charlie and Elliot) headed across the way to Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream, though I held off. They were closing in a few minutes and only cones and dishes were available. No hot chocolate syrup for sundaes, much to Stella’s displeasure.
The timing was perfect and I just caught the 9:38 #2 back to the capitol. I got lucky and we got ahead of a 6, so I transferred at the capitol and rode that to Ingersoll rather than walking the whole distance.
Rather than watch the new(er) Doctor Who episodes I went for the equivalent of TV comfort food and caught a few old episodes of season 2 of Alias this afternoon. The first two seasons are amazing, the acting, dialogue, tightness of plotting, etc., and so even re-watching them again and again offers a great deal of pleasure.
Tomorrow I might try my hand at a new bread recipe or such. I was reading through more of Harold McGee this afternoon and would really like to start a sour dough “starter.”
