Category: Personal

A Mighty Wind

Saw A Mighty Wind Saturday night. I haven’t stopped chuckling to myself since then. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy have got major comedic writing talent. As some reviewer said, their attention to detail was incredible. The song lyrics were hysterical yet very believeable. I think it was funnier than Best in Show. We went to Crescent City Cafe for beignets after the show. Obviously it lacks the ambience of Cafe du Monde but the beignets were hot and fresh.

Spent the night on the boat Friday night with grandpa and the kids. The kids seemed to have a blast. I didn’t sleep too well–the berths on the boat aren’t too comfy for the over 6 foot crowd. The kids had a good time, though. Saturday morning we tried to do some sailing but the winds were too light. Probably a good first outing for them, though. This evening we went back out to a much stiffer breeze. We lost a couple of hanks off the jib. A lot of the steel on the boat is corroded from years of saltwater in California.

Nik Kershaw.

Just heard a cool song by this guy, but didn’t catch the title.  He’s got a really cool website.  [Tom’s Blog]

Isn’t Nik Kershaw that same guy from the 80’s who had the single, Wouldn’t It Be Good? I think I had that on one of my mix tapes.

Good Sailing on Good Friday

Dad and I took Wendy out today. We spent an hour or so rummaging around on the boat. It’s amazing what collects over the course of 34 years. Dad put it best when he said, “Essentially, this boat is a floating Winnebago that a couple of old folks owned for thirty years.”

The wind was really howling but Wendy handled it with ease. It had shifted direction about 90 degrees from where it was two weekends ago which made getting in and out of the slip much easier. The last time we went out I put I pretty good gash in the bow thanks to a strong headwind and an inexperienced helmsman (me). This time we had no similar incident.

We’re ready to take the fam out next.

Finally got a chance to watch I Am Trying to Break Your Heart this evening. Very good. Obviously, the music is great but I also liked the interviews with the writer from Rolling Stone. Closing quote: “[The record lable] hated the album so much they paid for it twice.” The bonus DVD has some good live performances.

Last bit of news from the music front is that there’s a new Jayhawks album out. It’s called Rainy Day Music. I was in a restaurant or bar and heard a Jayhawks song I had never heard before. When I checked Amazon they were taking pre-orders. The last time I checked, I had told Amazon how I feel about the Jayhawks so I’m a little pissed that their recommendation engine didn’t let me know about the release.

Also recently arrived from Amazon is the Wilco DVD, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. I haven’t watched it yet, but oddly enough, I have watched the bonus DVD which contains extra footage and a couple of live performances. I’m looking forward to checking it out. Obviously the band is awesome but the story about how they essentially bought back their own album (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and put it out themselves should be good.