NLT Project - Day 2

Day 2 is getting real folks. Check it. - Tears for Fears, Greatest Hits (feel like I'm in a John Hughes movie - or at least heading to 80's prom) - The Allman Brothers Band, Live at Stony Brook - Herbie Hancock, Head Hunters (of course I've heard "Chameleon," but never got much farther...) - Keane, Hopes and Fears (man, can't get enough - where have I been since 2004!)

The Never Listened To Project - Day 1

Hello internet,

I am embarking on a bold quest - a journey into the unknown. And no, I am not going to the northern Twin Cities suburbs. I am aiming to listen to all of the heretofore unlistened to music in my iTunes library. I was astonished to discovery the other day that my iTunes contains nearly 10 days worth of unlistened to material!

I'm trying to listen to at least one or two albums from the "unlistened" list per day, and I thought it would be fun if I documented what I listen to. So, to kick things off, here are some of a few nuggets from the past few days.

- Aretha Franklin, Greatest Hits
- John Mellencamp, Greatest Hits ("Hurts So Good" - excellent song)
- Keane, Under the Iron Sea
- Daft Punk, Homework
- Luther College Jazz Orchestra, 2006 Spring Concert (I forgot I had a solo on "Wyrgly," it actually is pretty good)
- Robert Johnson, Genius of the Blues
- Tallis Scholars, Lamenta (lamentations composed by Thomas Tallis and other medieval composers)
- Don Ellis, Live in India
- John Mayer, Room for Squares

Stay tuned for more sonic adventures - it could get explicit. I know there are a few Disney soundtracks hiding in there somewhere...

Opening Day 2012

"Great is baseball, the national tonic, the revival of hope, the restorer of confidence."

- The Sporting News, c. 1930's


Well Timberwolves, it's been a fun winter. I'll catch you again in the fall, ACL's all healed, energy back up, the anticipation higher still, floppy haired Spaniards a'leaping and my BFF hitting the treys. Looking forward to my new perch in section 236, row K.

Wild - sorry, I just don't care, but do me a favor - try not to depress my girlfriend so much next year.

Vikings - yeah, I really don't care.

When you're a baseball fan, the seasons don't transition from summer to fall, winter to spring. They go from your team playing its last game, a period of anticipation, the first spring workout, and then tomorrow - opening day. It would be cliche to reference the old adage - this is our year, we're going to win the pennant for sure - but it's too accurate to pass up. Even for those teams with no hope of championship glory (quite realistically the 2012 Twins), opening day always references renewal.

No other sport, nay, no other social institution, embraces opening day with such conviction and meaning as baseball. Perhaps it is because, over the course of 162 games and over a century of tradition, baseball is woven into the fabric of our consciousness. For a baseball fan, opening day is more than a holiday, it's one of the best days of the year.

I find that the baseball fan, as pessimistic as one can be crunching sabermetrics or critiquing why the manager didn't put pull the starter in the 7th, the baseball fan is at heart an optimist. We always want to believe that the odds can be broken, that our team can put together a streak and do something special. And why not? There's no clock to inhibit the game, theoretically, if not for an arbitrarily fixed fence, the playing field goes on an infinite distance. Baseball lends itself to romanticism, to romantics.



Unquestionably, the best thing to do in Minneapolis in the summer is spend an afternoon or evening at Target Field, hotdog in one hand, beer in the other - even better now that the Twins have Surly and Fulton.... After all, as Humphrey Bogart wisely observed, a hot dog at the ballpark beats roast beef at the Ritz. I wholeheartedly agree. Sure, the modern ballpark has many wiles to distract you from the game (exhibit a - that acid trippy monstrosity in Miami and the electric green outfield walls), but the game never loses its fascination.

It may very well be a rough year - our pitching is terrifying, one of our two best players has been concussed for a year and a half - but that doesn't matter now. Right now, we're winning the World Series.

26

Hey people, I turn 26 tomorrow. It will feel much better to be an even number again - I typically blame all bad luck during a given "odd" year on that fact - the oddness. There's a particular reason the Twins lost 99 games - all I'm sayin.

Speaking of Twins, I report to spring training in 8 days! I'm happy to report that my ulnar collateral ligament feels good, I'm in the best shape of my life (BSOML), and I'm ready to "battle my tail off" in the pursuit of sun, ballpark hotdogs, the sweet scent of Joe Mauer in the springtime, and a beer at a ballgame! Nothing better.

So trust me folks, next Thursday cannot come soon enough. I've been working hard, sleeping little, and I am ready for six days of nothing except the gentlemanly life of leisure in a semi-tropical climate. Funny thing about graduating from school - it typically does not end your stress level, as you once imagined, but on certain days and weeks, actually will increase it. That, my friends, is lame. But it is alright as well.

Okay, I'm out. Everyone enjoy my birthday tomorrow - I will celebrate with a research memo on trademark infringement, a burrito, and a church council meeting. Ideally, Ricky Rubio and my bff Kevin Love will remember the special nature tomorrow, and gift me a victory over the Clippers in LA...

Where in the World...

This is awesome - my newest favourite Timberwolf.

Dynamism

People, I have had a yearlong case of blogger's block. For the life of me, I can't quite figure out what to write about.

Let me just say, that although I very much appreciate the lack of homework, working full time is also sort of consuming my fun time. That might be false, actually - I consume my fun time by doing things that perhaps only I would find fun. Coaching high school mock trial, hanging out at Hamline discussing the applicability of the New York Convention, etc. I have, begrudgingly at first, and now with arms wide open, become a Minnesota Timberwolves basketball fan - something I would never expect occurring in a billion years. But yet, here I am.

I've decided that 2012 is going to be a year of dynamism - a year to live a rounded, well balanced life, in as many aspects as I can. I'm helping my old high school, I joined the church council, I'm trying to go to the gym three times a week, and if I'm lucky here, I'll get my trombone out and play. As a result, the past few weeks, I've barely spent any time at home, but that's alright.

Anyways, that's really all I have. Maybe one of these days, my year of dynamism will reach these pages...

MLK Day

Should be required viewing today.