17 September 2006

Musings: Serendipitous Weekends



So, the Whining Stranger walked into a serendipitous proposition this weekend, my friends. My two serious homebrewer friends invited me to be a judge for a regional beer-brewing competition. That's right: a weekend of sipping porters and California commons and altbiers and filling out comment sheets, in which I scored each beverage on its appearance, its flavor, its aroma, and its "intangibles." Granted it's been a long time since the WS started drinking in the a.m. hours (ah, for my lost salad days), so pacing was a bit of an issue, but overall it was a swimmingly pleasant weekend of foam and hops and good food (prime rib dinner on Saturday night!). A charmed life.

Today though I need to start filling this 30GB of mp3 player space. Any recommendations for must-have songs? Upbeat suggestions are especially welcome since this technological investment was especially made in the interest of charging me up on morning walks to campus, before I go teach. The mp3 player-filling is, of course, another procrastinatory measure when I should be doing scads of backed-up academic work. But all I really want to do is pile into my easy chair with headphones on and a Haruki Murakami novel in my lap. Sigh.

Oh, and go Tigers. Two weeks left to the season and then cling to the AL Central division lead.

5 comments:

Paperback Writer said...

What sort of music are you in the mood for?

The Whining Stranger said...

Any good music. I know that's impossibly vague, but any songs that you think are mp3 must-haves.

Paperback Writer said...

Ray LaMontagne's albums: Trouble and Till the Sun Turns Black

Andrew Bird: The Mysterious Production of Eggs

The Pixies: Doolittle

There are more, I just can't think of them.

Kat said...

Jurassic 5's new single (feat. Dave Matthews Band) "Work It Out" is impossibly hot -- I've heard the whole album is great.

Rilo Kiley's "The Frug" is beautiful beautiful.

Tullycraft's album "Disenchanted Hearts Unite" is just increds, but kind of the musical equivalent of mainlining Pixie Sticks. I'd recommend downloading their standout tracks "Our Days in Kansas" and "Stowaway" for free on their site, though, 'cause, hey, nothing to lose. Also, like five years back they were really popular with the indie kids because they were so obscure, then lapsed into profoundly unpopular oblivion which, I think, according to the unfathomable calculus of indie cred makes them about the hottest thing since the cotton gin now. Because only about five people on earth know or care who they are. You tell me.

The Whining Stranger said...

Thanks for the recommendations.

PW, I did Andrew Bird's moodiness. Like "Tomorrow Never Knows"-era Beatles-esque phantasmagoric meanderings.

Kat, the Rilo Kiley is tremendous, and Tullycraft is appropriately ebullient.