People Get Ready

This week I discovered something. It explains a lot.
I was driving in the car with my brothers, Ty and Treb, and I realized that the music was turned up pretty loud. And that rather than turning it down, we were all yelling over it. At least talking very loudly. And I realized that this is what I always want to do and can't because courtesy doesn't permit it. Suddenly I remembered that the night before, Treb and I were swapping music and he put on some Mingus and it was also loud - a little too loud to comfortably talk over, but not loud enough that it bothered me because I wanted to be able to actually hear the music.
So I brought it up, and we came to the conclusion that we are a rare breed of people for whom time in the car is sacred music time. We are willing to be a little inconvenienced in the conversation department (and believe me, we still talked plenty - although I think part of this has to do with the fact that we are quite often talking about the music) because unless you have it at a certain level you can only hear the drums - sometimes you can't even tell what key the music's in, if you know what I mean. And as Treb pointed out, you can always talk quietly over dinner.
Of course, over dinner (actually over dessert after the movie the next night) we talked about the suckiness of country music today - not the kind my dad brought us up on (although even some of that is a bit much for me) like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash - but the sappy crap that was going at the steak house. (Treb: "The difference between what Dad brought us up listening to and this is like the difference between Coltrane and Kenny G." Well said, big brother.)
Anyway, Treb, Ty and I hit I Am Legend and Juno on Wednesday, and the whole fam (minus Spence and family, since they were in CA) went to see The Great Debaters on Thursday night. I still haven't seen The Golden Compass or The Kite Runner, but I guess there's still time for that. I Am Legend was seriously creepy, but I was really impressed with Will Smith. Juno was funny and sweet even if the feeling was a little Napolean Dynamite-esque at first - I liked it more by the end that I thought I was going to at the beginning. The Great Debaters was quite wonderful all around - I think I can recommend that one to anyone.
Today traded the copy of Pirates 3 I got from Santa for a Brandi Carlile CD and Double Indemnity. A good trade, I thought. Also, staring at the two books I got for Christmas and thinking about the huge stack that's sitting upstairs. I wish that I wasn't always so anxious to read everything. Almost done with Dragonhaven, but then will I read one of the new ones (Saturday, Tender is the Night, The Bridge of San Luis Rey) or one of the older ones (The Kite Runner, Thunderstruck, The Road . . .) or finally finish Dracula? Hard question.
The following video is one I found of an amazing song Ty played for us in the car the other night. It's kind of a cool video, and the song is WOW. "People Get Ready" by The Frames. Amazing.
Merry Christmas/Happy New Year, etc.

Did someone sabotage your car, or were you really listening to your music that loud?

That's what my dad asked me this morning when I came down for breakfast, because unfortunately I had pulled a lovely late night parking job and turned my car off in the middle of a song climax. ("Trust Me" by The Fray - "When you're older, you might underSTAND...") When he went to move it this morning he about blew his socks off.
I have to admit, I love to turn my music up good and loud. Driving at night with my windows down and my volume way up is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Last night it was up so loud that I couldn't hear myself singing along at the top of my lungs, which is the correct way to listen to both "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" by the Plain White T's and "Two Weeks in Hawaii" by Hellogoodbye.
I love loud music for the same reason I love going to concerts. It's a total adrenaline rush when you can actually feel the build. And I guess I'd better cut back a little so that feeling isn't the only way for me to enjoy music in the future, but there must be some sort of compromise for me. I really just can't give up those nights of shouting "Off with their heads!" when I'm driving down the road listening to The Shins' "Sleeping Lessons," and hearing the shrillest highs and lowest lows with the windows down when "Such Great Heights" is guiding me home.
My guess is I'll listen to loud music until I become curmudgeonly (read: have children and have to drive around listening to whatever crap kids are listening to by then) and the whatever hearing I have left will be preserved for the rest of my days.
But I'd better start saving up for hearing aids just in case, because I'm going to need the best.

Another Playlist . . . Why Not?

Here's the playlist of the week. The only theme was songs that get really BIG. You know those songs that just explode and when you listen to them on your headphones they just feel like they're filling up all of the empty space in your head? Or the build is just fabulous and while you're driving down the road it makes you want to be running and jumping instead?
Maybe that's just me.
Anyway, here's the new list. I call it "Off With Their Heads." Don't read too much into that.
1)"Intervention" - The Arcade Fire
2)"Oh What a World" - Rufus Wainwright
3)"Sleeping Lessons" - The Shins (This song is where the name came from.)
4)"If Work Permits" - The Format (The part where it gets huge and he says "Tell all the folks back home - hey, hey I'm doing alright, yeah I'm doing just fine . . ." Brilliant.
5)"Welcome to the Black Parade" - My Chemical Romance (yeah, yeah. Don't freak out too much. I think this song sounds very Queen-esque. Also, "Carry on" is a great lyric, always.)
6)"Your Heart is an Empty Room" - Death Cab for Cutie
7)"Landed" - Ben Folds
8)"Into the Ocean" - Blue October
9)"Swallowed in the Sea" - Coldplay
10)"Bird on a Wire" - Rogue Wave
11)"Halfway House" - The Actual Tigers (you have to wait until the very end for the build, but it's so worth it.)
12)"Do You Realize?" - The Flaming Lips
13)"Let Go" - Frou Frou
14)"Last Goodbye" - Jeff Buckley
15)"Vienna" - The Fray
16)"Vienna" - Billy Joel (That's mostly for fun.)
17)"Starlight" - Muse
18)"Here (In Your Arms)" - Hellogoodbye
19)"Open Your Eyes" - Snow Patrol
P.S. This week's picture is another of Dain's. I hope that's okay with him.