MattZ
-
Content Count
4,004 -
Joined
Posts posted by MattZ
-
-
I happen to love this song, so perhaps I am biased, but this is badass. Anyone know what this is from?
-
How about that R.A. Dickey?
-
This is a bit and you are all falling for it. But I am not.
Suckers.
-
One thing that was very sweeet was Jeff shared a comment his son made about 9/11 -- his Mom came to get him at school that day -- it came up in the context of "Everlasting Everything" and sort of the spiritual nature of those lyrics...Does anyone remember exactly what his son said? If nobody does I can try winging it from my memory, but I have a feeling one of you can recall it verbatim
I mentioned to Jeff when we were done playing the song that my 2 yr old son and I sing it every night before bed. Jeff said that was sweet and that it's a pretty heavy song. I think someone from the crowd yelled out that it's a depressing song, and Jeff disagreed. He then told the story of how his son came home from school soon after 9/11 and said that he had learned in school that "everything is capable of being destroyed." Jeff asked him if he thought that was a good thing or a bad thing. His son said that he thought it was a good thing, because if not, "bad things would go on forever."
Given the reason I chose to play that song (the connection I've formed with my son and the song), and given my connection to 9/11 (I used to work in those "buildings built to the sky"), it was a pretty emotional moment for me.
-
my least favorite track is probably "People"
Agreed on people, and Send in the Clouds really drags for me.
I am sorry to say that we cannot be friends any more. Which is a shame, because I thought that we really had something.
-
Great song. The first time I heard it I didn't think I liked it all that much - either his version or Mavis's, but it really did grow on me. Had it in my head the whole next day. Not a huge fan of all of the lyrics - some of the lines are clunkers to me - but it's a good tune.
Yeah, I think I agree. Some lines are clunkers, I guess. But "open up this is a raid" is just so great.
-
I've only heard You're Not Alone once (live), but I think it's got an outside chance of being the best thing Jeff's ever written. Not saying it's definite. But it's possible.
I know that some people aren't big fans of Wilco (the Song), so at the risk of destroying my own argument, it takes the same sort of idea, and just hits it out of the park (imo).
-
man oh man. awesome.
-
when Jeff was having trouble getting his harmonica rack loosened, and Karen proclaimed "I've got a rack!" you could see the wheels turning in Jeff's head ("Do I make a joke about that? Do I not make a joke about that?"). It was priceless.
-
i dont even know where to start. the usual superlatives fall flat.
It was a blast all around. The highlights were too many to mention, but I'll list a few.
1. being in a room with 30 other folks where a pin could drop and you'd hear it accompany Jeff Tweedy.
2. seeing old friends again, meeting old friends for the first time (Beltmann!), making new friends.
3. being there in prior years for the Nothing Up My Sleeve requests and being there for the payoff.
4. sneaking up to the stage with Tweedling during the set break and lightly running our fingers over the strings on the guitars while they sat on their stands so that we could claim we "played" Jeff Tweedy's guitars.
5. performing a tune with Jeff that I sing to my 2 yr old son every night before bed.
6. learning that everlasting everything is Bill Fay's favorite song on the album.
7. "open up this is a raid"
8. someday, some morning, sometime segued into a marriage proposal.
9. I am not sure which mystery I've solved because he's got so many damn guitars, but yes, that is an 00-21NY. he's got an 00-21 at home too, but he told me that he doesnt take that one out to play often.
10. he's back to the sunrise pickups.
I will list more as they come to me. My head is still spinning.
-
yeah, I think he's basically ditched the Baggs (at least for now). He had 3 guitars with him this weekend and all 3 had the sunrise pickups in them.
-
anyone have any idea how this amex presale for NYC works?
Do you just need to pay with an amex? Is there a password?
-
-
Man, I got shut out of Philly. If anyone hears of two extras, please think of MattZ? I will be all over the NYC tix pre-sale on Wednesday.
Terminal5 is pretty huge, so hopefully my chances are better there. In fact, many of my friends are die-hards, and they are skipping the show because they are convinced there will be another announcement with a smaller venue, and they don't want to go to T5. Yikes.
-
(at 2:31 of the Beast in Me video that I posted: "England's greatest songwriter, Nick Lowe" - Elvis Costello)
-
Sometimes it tries to kid me
That it's just a teddy bear
Or even somehow managed
To vanish in the air
And I must beware
Of the beast in me
-
-
How badass is Ryan's guitar on Stella Blue from Willie Nelson's Songbird? I mean, how badass? Totally badass. That's how badass.
-
Does this, in your mind, tarnish Wade's legacy as a "The Man"? He actively recruited both Bosh and LeBron to join him, isn't that just as bad?
Nah, because prior to this, I don't think Wade was ever in the discussion with the greatest 5-6 players of all time. Lebron could have been, and now he probably won't be. Who knows? It's sports. Maybe they win 5 straight titles, and Lebron is vaulted into the discussion, and everyone says Wade is his Pippen so it's no different than Jordan. This is all hypothetical stupidity for fun.
-
As an extension of my last post's Roots obsession,
might be the best Dylan cover I've ever heard.I saw them do that cover at a Dylan tribute show a couple of years ago when I'm Not There (the movie) came out. A religious experience, if I've ever had one. Literally blew my mind.
-
Where is the idea that Jordan, Bird, & Magic "did it on their own" coming from?
Each had teammates that were named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team (besides being hall-of famers - this list is like a hall-of-fame for hall-of famers):
Jordan had Pippen
Bird had McHale and Robert Parish
Magic had Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy
Isiah had... Bill Laimbeer?
Is "did it on their own" code for "Had a GM that was capable of putting a decent roster together"?
If Lebron had won a championship in Cleveland, he truly would have "done it on his own" because the rest of his former team sucks.
I think it's just a matter of being more precise about what I meant about doing it on their own. I never meant to suggest that Magic didn't have Kareem, Jordan didnt have Pippen (and Rodman), etc. It's not revisionist, though.
I think the argument is that Jordan and the Bulls didn't win a title until 1990. His first year in the league was 1984. Jordan didn't jump ship to join forces with Magic and the Lakers because he wanted to win so badly. It wasn't just about rings to Jordan. He had to be the main alpha dog on his team. He had to be the best. Yes, his GM got him Pippen, Rodman, etc. But this was Jordan's team. The Heat are Wade's team.
-
Is it any wonder most of the capital G Great athletes can't seem to keep their shit together off the playing field?
well, it's not like Antoine Walker has figured it all out either.
-
Matt, I know you aren't really killing LeBron for this, so this is more of a general post than specifically directed towards you:
Well, most of those alpha dog greatest players ever are crazy. Most of them have behavior on (and, oftentimes, off the court) that would be considered socially reprehensible if it wasn't for the fact that they apply it to something that doesn't matter. Most of them are gigantic jerks who have no sense of what is real in their lives.
It's a little bit funny how in sports we celebrate actions that we would be outraged with if the guy in our office did that. If Michael Jordan worked in Accounting and was doing stuff like punching the Steve Kerr of accounting in the face, he wouldn't be looked at as a hero. He would be looked at as a crazy person. Because he was a crazy person.
I understand the argument that MJ and Kobe never would have done what LeBron did, but I'm not going to put LeBron down because he doesn't have a borderline psychopathic desire to crush people. We're holding him to a standard of our own creation that has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with us. We believe in order to be great, you have to want to kill your opponent. That's fine, that's the standard we've put up for sports superstars, but it's not LeBron's failing. It's ours. It's unreasonable for us to demand this from someone.
Couldn't agree more. I am not sure we should celebrate the qualities that made Jordan, Kobe, etc., who they are. Jordan's competitiveness probably borders on the pathological.
-
I liked Isiah Thomas' take on this idea of being the Alpha Dog:
(Say what you want about Isiah the Coach, or GM or man, but the guy knew what it took to win as a player. Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball has a great section about Isiah and "The Secret" to winning.)
Again, apples and oranges. You've flipped it. Isiah is discussing what it would be like for someone to come to his team to overshadow him. Lebron is going to Wade's team and will be overshadowed (potentially) by Wade.
Look, this is all stupid. I realize it. Lebron did what was good for him, and that's great. I just think it's interesting to discuss what makes players like MJ, etc., tick.
Arcade Fire...
in Someone Else's Song
Posted
I havent read a single review of this album. I have not read a single post in this thread. I didn't listen to the leak. I bought the vinyl yesterday and listened to the album with virgin ears last night. Same thing this morning. Here are my initial thoughts (not that anyone would care):
1. that first track is great. after the dark sounds of neon bible, this track jolted me into joy. sweet. a new AF album.
2. when Win Butler is singing about businessmen drinking blood, is he doing it ironically? This LP was $26. my first moment of discomfort on the album.
3. um, uh-oh. more singing about kids? and war? and rebellion?
4. ummmmm, some of these one-liners are kind of clunky.
5. is my record skipping? oh, haha. ok, that was pretty cool.
6. "i have my doubts about it" - favorite moment on the album. But, I am worried why.
Not sure if it is possible to listen to a new album without comparing it to what came before it. I tried hard to eliminate all outside influences, but obviously that's impossible. I am guessing that everyone else loves this album, but i was pretty underwhelmed on two listens. Lyrics were a bit clunky, and i started to wonder if the joke is on me as the listener. I know that lyrics were never really their strong suit, but i guess the lyrics were what really stood out to me. Isn't there other stuff to sing about? And if the lyrics were so front and center for me, what does that say about the music?
Bummed on first listen. I get it. The modern kids will eat right out of your hands. Can we move on?