Meandering Thoughts: It was 10 years ago today...

10 years ago today, Chris Farley died.

Wow. I can't believe how the time has gone. What a tremendous talent that guy was. In reading interviews with his fellow "Saturday Night Live" alumni, all of them talked about how Farley was always the funniest person in the room, and the person to whom their eyes were drawn when he was onscreen. He was so much fun to watch.

A few months before he died, though, I remember sitting in my college dorm, drinking beer and watching the episode of "Saturday Night Live" which he hosted. I vividly remember having a friend of mine named Jason walk into the room, look at the screen, and say, "Wow. That guy's going to be dead soon." He was right. Farley wore his excesses on his sleeve; he was addicted to cocaine and heroin while also an alcoholic with terrible self-esteem issues. Not a fun combination, I'm willing to bet. Those excesses killed him.

Eons ago, when I was performing comedy regularly, one of the theater's respected older performers told me that I reminded him of Farley. Wary of Farley's personal history and the way that he died, I immediately shied away from that. I was taken back further when he clarified with two things: that I reminded him "in the good way" (which I took to mean my physicality onstage) and that he was quite familiar with Farley. It turned out that he'd eulogized him at one of the memorial services. To this day, it's one of the greatest compliments that I've ever been given.

I miss Chris Farley. There was a savage edge to his work, but an essential sweetness to everything that he did which made things all the more wonderful. The world needs more performers with those qualities.

Year In Retrospective Part One: My Favorite Songs of 2007

I've decided that I can be reasonably sure that I'm not going to hear many more new songs this calendar year; therefore, it's time for me to rank my 10 favorite songs for the calendar year. To be eligible for this list, the song had to have been released (officially) between January 1 and now of this year. And I will have had to have heard it between now and then. I can obviously not rank songs that I haven't heard. [Feel free to fire back in the comments section.]

1. Radiohead, "All I Need"
There's been a lot of hype about the latest album from Radiohead, and with good reason - the band's decision to forego traditional distribution routes and release the album onto the internet may have been the most revolutionary act in the history of the recording industry. Lost in that hype, however, was the fact that with this album, "In Rainbows," Radiohead has finally released the true followup to 1997's amazing "OK Computer" - an album that retains the highly electronic sound the band has chased for the bulk of this decade, while revisiting the songcraft that built the band's reputation. "All I Need" is the centerpiece of this album - and an amazing song. If you don't get goosebumps when the drums kick in, you're not human.

2. Wilco, "What Light"
Life affirming to the point of near-hippiedom, this track reminds each set of ears that it reaches that there's always reason to be optimistic. I can dig it.

3. Rivers Cuomo, "Longtime Sunshine"
I'm so glad this song has been officially released - it's an epic ballad of longing and sadness, and one of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo's finest moments. While we may never hear a formal, full-band version of this, this demo will more than suffice for the time being.

4. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, "Falling Slowly"
I'm a sucker for harmony, which this tune has in spades. It's from a movie called "Once," which I haven't seen yet, and a worthy candidate for the best original song Oscar in the upcoming awards.

5. Mark Ronson, "Valerie"
While a great portion of the music-writing world continues to fall at the feet of Amy Winehouse, let us take the time to praise her producer, former club-kid Ronson, whose singlehanded revival of soul-music production made Winehouse's album infinitely better. This track features Winehouse on a genius revisitation of a Zutons album track from a few years ago.

6. Kings Of Leon, "Knocked Up"
Clocking in at over 7 minutes, this blues ramble may actually be longer than an actual Kings of Leon show I caught in 2005. The song's consistent, rumbling rhythm and lead singer Caleb Followill's soulful lead vocal make this track a career highlight for the Kings as well as one of the best tunes of the year.

7. Stars, "Midnight Coward"
The dueling lead vocal between the male and female singers of Stars - never really harmonic, but instead more of a call-and-response vocal - make this song (about the doubts that come and go in the beginning stretches of an intimate relationship) completely noteworthy.

8. Eddie Vedder, "Hard Sun"
9. Loudon Wainwright III, "Daughter"
Both Vedder and Wainwright put together preeminent soundtracks this year; both of these tracks are from soundtracks (Vedder's earthy accompaniment to "Into The Wild," and Wainwright's straightforward, folky counterpoint to "Knocked Up"), and both are covers. Both are, to say the least, essential.

10. Josh Ritter, "Right Moves"
After last year's stunning "Girl In The War," Ritter's taken a slightly more lighthearted path with this track. When he starts spitting words at a remarkably rapid clip, watch out - it's got the effect of being simultaneously hilarious and kind of odd.

Utter Randomness

In lieu of an actual entry, here are some things we've been digging lately:

The great Joe Henry has a new album out. Called "Civilians," it's another slice of this man's brilliance. Do yourself a favor. Go here and download "Our Song," Henry's dramatic fantasia that begins with an imagined encounter with the great Willie Mays in a Home Depot and climaxes with a lament that "this was my country." It's beautiful, and it's a free download. Do it.

We have a great affection for terrible, out of place jerseys (our collection includes a David Wells "Boomer 33" Yankees t-shirt, as well as a Danny Kannell Giants jersey). That's why we aspire to be on Straight Cash, Homey. Check it out. It's awesomeness.

Our friend Bob over at the blooming Silhouettes Of Birds And Trees has taken the time to rank his 65 favorite albums of this year. While we've been curmudgeonly about year-end lists, this is pretty well thought out. It's missing some Stars and Joe Henry, nevermind Loudon Wainwright's wonderful, beautifully crafted soundtrack for "Knocked Up," but well-played.

We're not buying any more holiday cards this year, but if we were, it'd be these whimsical, hand-made cards from friend-of-a-friend Jodi Skeris.

That's all for now!

Meandering Thoughts: Hey, 2007 Is Not Over Yet

There's a part of me that loves year-end lists; whether it's "Entertainment Weekly," "GQ," "Rolling Stone," or some other magazine I've not yet seen, there's a simplicity and a bit of status to these lists which provides average readers like myself with a chance to catch up with the best and brightest of the past year. However, there's a part of me that's alarmed at how early people decide to view the calendar year through the amber lens of the rear-view mirror.

I found myself at a Manhattan newsstand today, and I was surrounded by magazines and their year-in-review coverage. I had to check myself a bit with a bit of reality. It's December 7th, and publications around the world are calling a close to the year. Which, as much as I love it, seems to be a touch premature; I mean, if magazine editors were this quick to summarize the year in, say, 1941, the defining moment of the year (the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) would have been a footnote in their coverage. In 1980, there'd be no mention of another defining cultural moment - the killing of John Lennon in front of his Upper West Side apartment building. Heck, even last year, in the waning days of the year, America lost a former president (Gerald Ford) and the world lost a Godfather of Soul (James Brown).

So, perhaps in awhile, I'll have some kind of retrospective of the year. But, until then, there's music for me to listen to, and movies for me to see, and a current day to experience. Curmudgeonly? You bet.

The December Playlist (or, Thank you, Schenectady. Thank you, Albany. Thank you, thank you, silence...)

In writing this blog, I've tried a lot to separate my personal life from the things that I write about. However, I believe it's the place of the writer to write from the heart once in awhile - and make it personal - to get their message across. This is one of those times.

So, in case you're reading this and haven't been keyed into what's been going on with me for the past month and change; I'm in the middle of what will be the beginning of my big move - back to New York City after 4 and 1/2 years in the Albany area. I begin a new job on Monday, and if all goes well, in a few months, I'll have my own place in New York City. It's a whirlwind move in what's been a year of whirlwind moves for myself and my closest friends, and while I'm very stoked to head downstate and get cracking on this new, lucrative opportunity, it's a bit sad for me to leave behind this area.

So, here's a quick list of the things about the area that I will miss:
- the Albany Pump Station, Olde Saratoga, and Brown's Brewing Company
- Thacher State Park
- the view from the hills of Altamont
- a walk along the perimeter of Washington Park and Lark Street
- Revolution Hall
- WEXT and WEQX
- the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers
- Bombers, Mahar's, and Lionheart
- the Spectrum
- Albany basketball
- Downtown Schenectady and the Stockade - BL's, Uncle Ben's, the Grog Shoppe, Pinhead's, Slick's, Shamrock's, the Thai Bistro, and even the Saw Mill, Blythewood, and Blockhouse
- Driving out into Vermont and Massachussets and back through the Berkshire
- the way the sun sets out here

There's more, but I'm not going to go on and on. You see, for every great place up here, there's people behind it that made it so very worthwhile for me. So, before I go, I want to dedicate a very special December playlist for the people up here who made all of these things (and more) so very worth it. So, for Javen and Justine, Jim and Karyn, Paul and Becky, Nora and Kevin and Elizabeth and Marty, Matt and Rick and Nick, the West Wing folks, Bill, the Shorts, my grad school classmates, my colleagues in school and work, and, hell, even for all the girls I dated - these go out to you. It's a mix of happy and sad stuff, of course, kind of like my time here. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't know what I would have done. Thanks. I love you. Er, most of you. Somewhat.

So now then, here are 10 songs.
1. "Stars," Hum
2. "The Way We Get By," Spoon
3. "Picture In A Frame," Anne Sophie von Otter
4. "Sick Of Goodbyes," Cracker
5. "This Year," Mountain Goats
6. "Ambulance Blues," Neil Young
7. "Where Did I Go Wrong With You?," Martin Sexton
8. "Simple Twist Of Fate," Bob Dylan
9. "Knocks Me Off My Feet," Stevie Wonder
10. "Glad Tidings," Van Morrison

And now, onward and upward, as they say. Excelsior.

Meandering Thoughts: On the Yankees and Johan Santana

I'm not going to discuss the Yankees and Johan Santana at length (I would refer you instead to excellent sites like Peter Abraham's Lower Hudson newsblog, or to the phenomenal River Avenue Blues), but I did have one thought on it that I thought I would be doing the entire blogosphere a disservice if I didn't put it out there.

For the first time with Yankees prospects, I feel like the Yankees are in a better position without the marquee, big-money player. Santana's great, but they should not mortgage their youth movement (not just the great young pitchers, but also sparkplugs like Melky Cabrera) for any player - not even the great Santana.

I'm reminded of the quote with which Vin Scelsa begins his great radio show on WFUV - which he himself took from the music writer David Fricke. It goes like this: "Respect the elders. Embrace the new. Encourage the impractical and improbable, without bias." I want to see the Yankees continue to embrace the new. It might be impractical for the Yankees, given their business model, to go away from the veteran with the track record, but I think it'll be more exciting.

Some things we're thankful for this Thanksgiving...

Here are some things - some are pop culture, others are not - that we're thankful for this Thanksgiving.

- We're thankful that we've taken the time out to watch "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," the hands-down funniest show on television (it's on FX). While we're especially partial to Charlie Day's character, the illiterate, glue-huffing, constantly shouting Charlie, there's so much else about this show that's awesome. If you're not watching it, you should be.

- We're thankful for the safe, healthy arrival of a certain newborn little girl.

- We're thankful for another Thanksgiving of listening to "Alice's Restaurant" at noon. And we're appreciative of Alice's spirit, which is absolutely worth emulating.

- We're thankful (and, to be frank, excited) that our brother's working on a book. On the same token, we're excited about a free software program that we recently discovered that may help us get that screenplay we've wanted to write going.

- We're thankful for the "I'm Not There" soundtrack, which is absolutely as awesome sounding as we'd hoped it would.

- We're thankful for Paul Lukas's Uni Watch Blog, which legitimizes our long-standing interest in sports-related minutiae.

- We're thankful that Chuck Norris has embraced his mythology in the name of politics. We're not crazy about the other dude he's working with, but we're grateful to start off this upcoming year of campaign overload with a good laugh.

- Most of all, though, we're thankful for our friends and family, for the things that remain constant in times of flux, and for the simple, elegant things that make things worth doing.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.