When you have the same commute every day little things take on a great deal of significance and annoyance. I had a great example of one of these today. I found myself behind a loaner Lexus on a two lane road. This isn’t too big of a deal, it’s nice to know that a dealership will still lend out loaner vehicles, but I noticed that the car had its window wipers on when it wasn’t raining. And continued to have the window wipers on for the entire fifteen minutes that I followed it.
You would not believe how much this upset me. It was even worse than when you follow someone with their turn signal on. Sure, that drives you up the wall but at least you understand how it could happen. We all have left a turn signal on only to notice twenty or thirty seconds later. It is easy to miss. But how the hell can you not notice that your windshield wipers are on? Even in an unfamiliar car it shouldn’t be that difficult to figure out how to turn them off. Given that it is a loaner car it is not as though it should be in bad condition. I just got more pissed off every time I looked through the windshield and saw those blades flip across. Made me wonder how they got their hands on a Lexus in the first place.
Anyway, so we fired Charlie Weis today. That means we won’t have him to kick around anymore, which is kind of a shame since he was a rather large target. My choice to fill his sweatshirt is Mark Mangino. I think we can all agree that our hope of having a talented, inspiring coach on the Notre Dame sideline is pretty much a pipe dream. Instead I think we should just focus on hiring fatter and fatter coaches until TLC dedicates a camera crew to the team to film their “800 pound coach” special. If anyone can explain to me what those shows on hyper-obese people have to do with learning I am all ears. All it teaches me to do is put down the sandwich.
Tiger Woods Update: He will not play in his own tournament and is likely out until the start of next year. Also, one of his friends has stated that he is in the market for a “Kobe special.” I’m guessing that he is going to go shopping at Jared’s. Because what is the 13 letter answer to “What does a guy do after hooking up with a skank in Australia who then brags about it to all of her friends in New York?”
It is interesting to see that other people are picking up on whether or not this should be a story or not. If this is indicative of an affair or spousal abuse does not at the moment impact whether he makes a 20 foot putt. But since Tiger Woods is a billion dollar brand built upon being a squeaky clean image this is a huge story. If John Mallinger had this happen to him it would not even have made the ESPN ticker. Who is John Mallinger? He was the 50th best golfer in the world last year bringing in $1.7 million. Tiger Woods is paid for being a celebrity that is what endorsement dollars are for. In return for those payments you lose the right to privacy. Yes, in a perfect world we would let Tiger sort this out on his own but we all want to see our heroes get dirty. It makes them human.
Showing posts with label Car Troubles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Car Troubles. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
And you've won a brand new car!
Well I’ve finally done it. I’ve broken down and purchased a new car. Mainly because my old car had broken down as well. Let me explain the entire process.
As I may have mentioned before I have had an issue with my passenger side window. As in it had fallen off the track and now was unable to move. (The moment that it first fell off may have coincided with Kim trying to lower it though I blame eight years of wear over her actions.) Now for the past few months this was crappy but manageable. I’d push the window up so that it was as flush as could be and a week later it slides down, I spend a drive with more wind than I would like and I push it back up again. That worked great until last night when I took a turn that caused the window to fall completely off the track and go down into the depths of the door where it could not be returned leaving me sans a window.
If I lived in a more temperate climate this may not be so bad. It would at least be manageable and since I never keep anything of value in my car it is not like I was at risk of anything being taken. However, Delaware in November is rather cold and rainy and that makes the act of driving to work rather painful when you have one window rolled down in forty degree weather. Hence, it was time to buy a new car.
For the record I’ve been planning to buy a new car for months. My Grand Am was eight years old with just under 84,000 miles on it, all of which I had driven. She still ran well and someone is going to end up with a nice car when they fix her up but it was time for me to say goodbye. And yes, I did literally have to go and say goodbye when I traded her in. Think about it: that car was with me every moment from when I went to Notre Dame to today. That is a pretty sizable chunk of my life spent in the comfortable, if stained, seats.
So I went to my local Ford dealer to pick up a car. I chose Ford for two simple reasons. One, I’m not a communist so I buy American. I had been a GM guy but given that Ford has been doing well and I don’t trust GM at the moment they had my vote. Plus, Kim is from a Ford family and if I have learned anything in life is that you keep the family happy. Not that I would have chosen differently even if she wasn’t but let’s face it, after the whole paying for dinner fiasco of a few years ago I now try to be as conscious as possible about these things.
What did I buy? I am now the proud owner of a Ford Taurus and trust me, this isn’t one of those old Taurus’s that you probably drove in Driver’s Ed. This car is pretty freaking sweet. Great pickup, nice engine, stylish as all get out. I am really psyched about owning this car. Officially I am going to refer to it as the Taunton. Partly because I used it to escape from the cold and partly because there is a glow in the dark emergency latch in the trunk that will allow me to escape from the inside. Hence I literally can crawl up inside the belly of the car if need be to protect myself from the weather on Hoth and then escape in the morning. What better reason to buy a car than that?
As I may have mentioned before I have had an issue with my passenger side window. As in it had fallen off the track and now was unable to move. (The moment that it first fell off may have coincided with Kim trying to lower it though I blame eight years of wear over her actions.) Now for the past few months this was crappy but manageable. I’d push the window up so that it was as flush as could be and a week later it slides down, I spend a drive with more wind than I would like and I push it back up again. That worked great until last night when I took a turn that caused the window to fall completely off the track and go down into the depths of the door where it could not be returned leaving me sans a window.
If I lived in a more temperate climate this may not be so bad. It would at least be manageable and since I never keep anything of value in my car it is not like I was at risk of anything being taken. However, Delaware in November is rather cold and rainy and that makes the act of driving to work rather painful when you have one window rolled down in forty degree weather. Hence, it was time to buy a new car.
For the record I’ve been planning to buy a new car for months. My Grand Am was eight years old with just under 84,000 miles on it, all of which I had driven. She still ran well and someone is going to end up with a nice car when they fix her up but it was time for me to say goodbye. And yes, I did literally have to go and say goodbye when I traded her in. Think about it: that car was with me every moment from when I went to Notre Dame to today. That is a pretty sizable chunk of my life spent in the comfortable, if stained, seats.
So I went to my local Ford dealer to pick up a car. I chose Ford for two simple reasons. One, I’m not a communist so I buy American. I had been a GM guy but given that Ford has been doing well and I don’t trust GM at the moment they had my vote. Plus, Kim is from a Ford family and if I have learned anything in life is that you keep the family happy. Not that I would have chosen differently even if she wasn’t but let’s face it, after the whole paying for dinner fiasco of a few years ago I now try to be as conscious as possible about these things.
What did I buy? I am now the proud owner of a Ford Taurus and trust me, this isn’t one of those old Taurus’s that you probably drove in Driver’s Ed. This car is pretty freaking sweet. Great pickup, nice engine, stylish as all get out. I am really psyched about owning this car. Officially I am going to refer to it as the Taunton. Partly because I used it to escape from the cold and partly because there is a glow in the dark emergency latch in the trunk that will allow me to escape from the inside. Hence I literally can crawl up inside the belly of the car if need be to protect myself from the weather on Hoth and then escape in the morning. What better reason to buy a car than that?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Next car will be a transformer
My car is growing ever closer to the point where I will have to trade it in. I would have made the deal under cash for clunkers except that my car does not qualify as a clunker nor would I ever deem myself capable of driving a clunker. But in addition to having a broken passenger side window that does not fully close and allows the rain in I now have a rather odd ventilation system. You know how your fan in your car has five levels? Well, levels one and two no longer work for me. The other three are perfectly fine, though, so I either get a ton or cool air or none at all. This requires much more planning than I would like in my driving regimen.
It is strange the attachment that we get to inanimate objects. I mean, my car is simply a combination of metal and plastic and the odd candy bar wrapper but it has been a part of my life for eight years now. I have listened to every CD I own in that car (though I now seem to have a speaker failing thus adding to the reason for an upgrade). While it is simply a thing it is rather emblematic of a time in my life. That makes letting go all the much harder.
I wonder why that is the case. I still have bags of clothes to give away to charity and the toughest part about letting go is this sense of giving up a part of myself. Even though in this case I am talking about sweaters that are over ten years old and that I wouldn’t ever wear again I still have a hard time putting them in the bin. For a time they were who I was, I wore them at times that I would like to remember and a few that I would like to forget. Now I don’t need to have clothes to recollect but there is a little bit of a draw there. We all want to hold on to portions of our past and often it is the physical items that are the toughest to let go of and move on to the next chapter. Mentally I know it is something that I just have to do but I always feel like putting it off for just one more day.
I do think that we should remember and record our past but I think you can do it without being tied to clutter. I am really happy that I have been keeping a journal for over 11 years now and can look back and see what I was thinking and how I was feeling over that time frame. I recommend it to everyone to at least try. Just sit down for fifteen minutes a night and write about whatever you feel like. You don’t have to publish it, no one else ever has to read it, just write what is on your mind. Often you will be surprised at how it turns out.
Me, I just want to get some sleep. Have another long day of Powerpoint wrangling ahead of me tomorrow. One day I will make a living as a writer and not have to focus on bullet points but until then I have to pay the bills.
It is strange the attachment that we get to inanimate objects. I mean, my car is simply a combination of metal and plastic and the odd candy bar wrapper but it has been a part of my life for eight years now. I have listened to every CD I own in that car (though I now seem to have a speaker failing thus adding to the reason for an upgrade). While it is simply a thing it is rather emblematic of a time in my life. That makes letting go all the much harder.
I wonder why that is the case. I still have bags of clothes to give away to charity and the toughest part about letting go is this sense of giving up a part of myself. Even though in this case I am talking about sweaters that are over ten years old and that I wouldn’t ever wear again I still have a hard time putting them in the bin. For a time they were who I was, I wore them at times that I would like to remember and a few that I would like to forget. Now I don’t need to have clothes to recollect but there is a little bit of a draw there. We all want to hold on to portions of our past and often it is the physical items that are the toughest to let go of and move on to the next chapter. Mentally I know it is something that I just have to do but I always feel like putting it off for just one more day.
I do think that we should remember and record our past but I think you can do it without being tied to clutter. I am really happy that I have been keeping a journal for over 11 years now and can look back and see what I was thinking and how I was feeling over that time frame. I recommend it to everyone to at least try. Just sit down for fifteen minutes a night and write about whatever you feel like. You don’t have to publish it, no one else ever has to read it, just write what is on your mind. Often you will be surprised at how it turns out.
Me, I just want to get some sleep. Have another long day of Powerpoint wrangling ahead of me tomorrow. One day I will make a living as a writer and not have to focus on bullet points but until then I have to pay the bills.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Elmo knows bowling
So, I was watching Sesame Street this morning….yeah, screw you. I’m unemployed, what the hell else am I supposed to do? Stop judging me. Anyway, so I ended up watching Elmo learn how to bowl. There were four easy steps: point, swing back, swing forward and roll. After the lesson Elmo tries and misses all the pins and throws a huge fit saying that he doesn’t want to bowl ever again and he hates the game. This leads to a song where Elmo is told that sometimes in life you just have to keep trying. Elmo listens, tries again, knocks down one pin, and celebrates like mad.
Here is what I learned from that exchange. 1) Apparently bowling is a lot easier than I recall. 2) I share the same mentality as Elmo when it comes to participating in sports (hence my not picking up a golf club for eight years). 3) We are really setting a low bar for success if knocking down one pin is cause for celebration as opposed to riotous laughter. 4) Dude, Gordon is old. Not Mr. Hooper old but he’s getting up there.
I was on the road again this weekend, checking out what may be my new home. I do at least now have proof that Delaware exists. Or at least I have been there. It still is one of those places that seems to exist only in terms of trivia questions than in actual locales. I mean, the place is about five miles wide and is lucky that it is the first state because they got in before we figured out what a state actually was.
I rented a car and as is always the case I was rocking the PT Cruiser. It seems that every time I rent a car I end up with a PT Cruiser. I’m beginning to believe that no one ever actually bought one of those and that everyone you see with one is driving a rental. With that said, I actually like renting them and I tend to pick the one with the worst color scheme imaginable. That way you don’t have to worry about finding it in a lot. Just look for the worst car in the lot and you know that it is yours.
(Also, I may have found people who are worse drivers than the residents of Kansas. I didn’t believe that was even possible. I don’t trust someone from Kansas driving anything other than a tractor and that is only because I know that I can outrun a tractor.)
I’m thinking about cars a lot as mine is in the shop right now, hopefully fixed but I still do not have any proof on that. This is much of the disaster I alluded to on Friday. Went out to start my car and it wouldn’t go, which was a bit of an issue given that I was going to the airport the next day. Towed it to the shop and found out that my security system was on the fritz again and that my car was convinced that I was trying to steal it. Why this happens is beyond me but I tend to have this problem. Once a car hits 70,000 miles the security system should just realize that no one is going to bother to steal the car.
So, it is time for me to once again send out a request for advice on cars. I am going to need a new one once I get my new job so what is a good make and model. I think we can safely say that I am heading into full on mid-life crisis mode so pretty much everything is in play. What will make me look cool and relevant? What will show off my style and grace? What will fill that empty space inside of me than gnaws at my very soul like a pack of wolverines crawling through the tundra? Ok, I’ll need more than a car for that one.
Best of 120 Minutes: Why does the internet exist? Mainly so that I can spend a Monday night watching old Billy Bragg concerts.
Here is what I learned from that exchange. 1) Apparently bowling is a lot easier than I recall. 2) I share the same mentality as Elmo when it comes to participating in sports (hence my not picking up a golf club for eight years). 3) We are really setting a low bar for success if knocking down one pin is cause for celebration as opposed to riotous laughter. 4) Dude, Gordon is old. Not Mr. Hooper old but he’s getting up there.
I was on the road again this weekend, checking out what may be my new home. I do at least now have proof that Delaware exists. Or at least I have been there. It still is one of those places that seems to exist only in terms of trivia questions than in actual locales. I mean, the place is about five miles wide and is lucky that it is the first state because they got in before we figured out what a state actually was.
I rented a car and as is always the case I was rocking the PT Cruiser. It seems that every time I rent a car I end up with a PT Cruiser. I’m beginning to believe that no one ever actually bought one of those and that everyone you see with one is driving a rental. With that said, I actually like renting them and I tend to pick the one with the worst color scheme imaginable. That way you don’t have to worry about finding it in a lot. Just look for the worst car in the lot and you know that it is yours.
(Also, I may have found people who are worse drivers than the residents of Kansas. I didn’t believe that was even possible. I don’t trust someone from Kansas driving anything other than a tractor and that is only because I know that I can outrun a tractor.)
I’m thinking about cars a lot as mine is in the shop right now, hopefully fixed but I still do not have any proof on that. This is much of the disaster I alluded to on Friday. Went out to start my car and it wouldn’t go, which was a bit of an issue given that I was going to the airport the next day. Towed it to the shop and found out that my security system was on the fritz again and that my car was convinced that I was trying to steal it. Why this happens is beyond me but I tend to have this problem. Once a car hits 70,000 miles the security system should just realize that no one is going to bother to steal the car.
So, it is time for me to once again send out a request for advice on cars. I am going to need a new one once I get my new job so what is a good make and model. I think we can safely say that I am heading into full on mid-life crisis mode so pretty much everything is in play. What will make me look cool and relevant? What will show off my style and grace? What will fill that empty space inside of me than gnaws at my very soul like a pack of wolverines crawling through the tundra? Ok, I’ll need more than a car for that one.
Best of 120 Minutes: Why does the internet exist? Mainly so that I can spend a Monday night watching old Billy Bragg concerts.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Always wanted what you don't understand...
Wednesday Night Music Club: I emailed long-time friend of the blog Erik a detailed breakdown of the twenty or so new CDs that have piled up in my apartment, several of which had as my only comment “still haven’t gotten around to listening to it yet.” I think that is a sign of being a collector (or completely insane) in that I’ll buy something with no intent of actually listening to it. However, one disc that I have listened to is “Fables” by Immaculate Machine. You haven’t heard of this band other than the fact that I tend to prattle on and on about them. Last year I drove to Lawrence to watch them play at Replay Lounge. They only had one CD at the time so I essentially drove two hours to see a forty five minute set from a band playing in front of pinball machines. That’s how much I like these kids. This is the best song on the new disc “Jarhand”. Fun video that shows what happens when you let a bunch of art students from Vancouver loose with a video camera. Plus, it has my music crush Kathryn Calder in it so I’ll enjoy it at least.
Had to deal with another bit of car trouble yesterday as I had another flat tire to deal with. For those of you scoring at home (lucky bastards) that is the sixth flat I’ve had to deal with in slightly over two years. This is what I get for living in a town that believes that raised steel plates make for a perfectly fine roadway. I ended up having to replace a tire that we patched earlier this year because it had a nail in it. Now this does raise the question as to why we didn’t just replace the tire in the first place. Or more importantly, why I didn’t make a big stink given that I took it to the same shop both times and made me pay twice for the same tire. Basically, as everyone knows, I suck at negotiations. If I tried to cut a deal they would have ended up with the title to my car.
Otherwise things have been pretty quiet today. I’ve been just completely swamped at work with meetings and trying to get my head around an entirely new product line. I’ve even had to take off my marketing hat and put the finance hat back on, which may or may not be a good thing. I don’t think we need any more blog posts about excel spreadsheets and NPV calculations. Somehow I’m considered an expert in that as well as pop culture knowledge, two things that really don’t seem to go together.
I’ve had to explain to people that my career path can best be described as schizophrenic. Within two months of become a full time member of the workforce I was staring into the core of a nuclear reactor. I then spent five years building mathematical models of the nation’s electrical grid and working on deregulating it just so guys from Enron could then call me on a daily basis to swear at me. Then after a sojourn at the Backer (and occasionally a classroom) I was off to the great plains to run business cases. Or spend some time doing bond pricing models. And then this weird pop culture role that I have absolutely no training for other than I watch an awful lot of tv and I pay attention to everything. It really is a bizarre career path.
I have to say that I like it though. I could still be in the energy biz, working in the same cubicle or possibly a slightly larger one and making good money. But I was getting burnt out on it and couldn’t figure out what would change. The laws of physics are rather stable and electricity is only going to flow one way. So change was good for me. It usually is. Given the rut I’m in in many aspects of my life I should probably ponder that point some more.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Searching for a spare
Another installment in my neverending car adventures today. A few days ago I was filling up my car and went, “My tire looks really low.” But I just assumed that was just due to the angle I was looking at it. Plus, Grand Am tires always look low. Next day, looked at it again and thought, “It does look a little low.” Don’t actually do anything about it, just mentally note it. Yesterday I drive back from work and go, “The car is handling rather strange.” Still, watching Monday Night Raw takes precedence.
So today I drive to work and not only is the car not handling well it is beginning to get a rather strong pull to the right. Make it to work, get out of the car and figure out, “Yeah, my tire is for all effective purposes flat.” At this point I finally decide that I should have it fixed before I end up driving on the rim. (What? You think that I know how to change a tire? Much easier to drive on a flat tire.) Ends up I had a nail in the tire, from where I have no clue as I typically don’t drive through building sites, and I was able to get it patched up. This is the third tire that I’ve had to have fixed since I owned the car and adds to the repair bill for the month that includes a confused security system and a broken mirror, which has probably given me seven years of bad luck. Unless the world ends in 2012 with the Mayan calendar though I guess that would also count as bad luck. Though, seriously, what type of civilization can’t make a calendar that doesn’t have a fatal error? Is tomorrow that difficult of a concept?
Anyway, this is all just another sign that I need a new car. I know that it is odd to associate a flat tire with buying a whole new car but to me, it’s just a sign that something is going wrong. Plus, if I am going…
(Excuse me, they just used the Josh Rouse song “El Otro Lado” in a Panera Bread commercial. I’m going to need to bang my head against a wall for a few minutes. Sure, let’s use the most beautiful song of last year to sell overpriced sandwiches.)
Like I was saying, if I am going to have a midlife crisis I might as well play the part. I’ve reached the point that when I get my haircut that I have discussions on how to emphasize the gray in my hair. The idea being that we can turn my aging into a suave and sophisticated look. I’d rather not come to terms with my aging. I’d rather date someone half my age. Ok, not half, I’m only 33 so half my age would be way too young but still, I don’t want to be an adult just yet. Like all that lies in front of me is an endless string of tax returns. Which I probably should get started on, now that I think about it.
So today I drive to work and not only is the car not handling well it is beginning to get a rather strong pull to the right. Make it to work, get out of the car and figure out, “Yeah, my tire is for all effective purposes flat.” At this point I finally decide that I should have it fixed before I end up driving on the rim. (What? You think that I know how to change a tire? Much easier to drive on a flat tire.) Ends up I had a nail in the tire, from where I have no clue as I typically don’t drive through building sites, and I was able to get it patched up. This is the third tire that I’ve had to have fixed since I owned the car and adds to the repair bill for the month that includes a confused security system and a broken mirror, which has probably given me seven years of bad luck. Unless the world ends in 2012 with the Mayan calendar though I guess that would also count as bad luck. Though, seriously, what type of civilization can’t make a calendar that doesn’t have a fatal error? Is tomorrow that difficult of a concept?
Anyway, this is all just another sign that I need a new car. I know that it is odd to associate a flat tire with buying a whole new car but to me, it’s just a sign that something is going wrong. Plus, if I am going…
(Excuse me, they just used the Josh Rouse song “El Otro Lado” in a Panera Bread commercial. I’m going to need to bang my head against a wall for a few minutes. Sure, let’s use the most beautiful song of last year to sell overpriced sandwiches.)
Like I was saying, if I am going to have a midlife crisis I might as well play the part. I’ve reached the point that when I get my haircut that I have discussions on how to emphasize the gray in my hair. The idea being that we can turn my aging into a suave and sophisticated look. I’d rather not come to terms with my aging. I’d rather date someone half my age. Ok, not half, I’m only 33 so half my age would be way too young but still, I don’t want to be an adult just yet. Like all that lies in front of me is an endless string of tax returns. Which I probably should get started on, now that I think about it.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Furnace Room Lullaby
Every once in a while you have days that can only be described as excellent adventures. Friday was one of those days. Talk about a day when you are totally out of sorts.
Woke up Friday morning in my usual stupor and start getting ready for work. My big issue was what to wear to work since I was heading to Lawrence Friday night to see Neko Case in concert (pictured above in an explanation of why she ends up either third or fourth on my Perfect Mate list). I typically don’t care that much about what I wear, a point that is plainly obvious to most people, but when I’m heading to shows the “Do I bring a change of clothes to work or not” question takes on real importance. So, I was running late already when I get down to the garage and my car doesn’t start.
This after having my car in the shop twice this week for things that had absolutely nothing to do with the engine.
I’ll admit that I did not pull the usual guy move of opening the hood and staring at the engine with a concerned look on my face. Mainly because I had no idea what was wrong and there were no women nearby that I needed to impress by acting like I knew anything about cars. Instead, I call in the tow truck and make my way to the dealer with absolutely no idea what is wrong with my car. Could be a battery, could be a fuel pump, could be the entire engine was removed when I wasn’t looking. All I know is that I need to get to Lawrence tonight and having a car would be very useful.
Get to the dealer and they look at it and tell me that “Your car thinks that you are trying to steal it.” Somehow, the security system in my car failed to the point that it wouldn’t recognize my key and let the car start. I didn’t even know that was possible. What it does mean is that 500 bucks later I was able to convince my car that I did in fact own it and was able to make it to the office. Though now I was looking at driving to a town an hour away with a car that I wasn’t certain would start once the show was over.
(Side note: This probably means that I’ll be in the market for a new car in the next few months. Up to now, everything that I have had to have fixed on my car was entirely my fault. Now I have random parts failing and with Pontiacs that is never a good sign. Any suggestions on what car I should get next? I’m looking for a car that says “I’m successful and sophisticated and while I am going through a mid-life crisis I don’t feel too showy about it. In a ‘You should look at me but you don’t have to’ sort of way”)
Anyway, I survive the day at work taking care of the few projects that I needed to complete for the week and made my way to Lawrence confident that a) the show would be incredible and b) my car would start on the way back. The show was at Liberty Hall and that is easily the biggest venue that I have ever seen Neko in. I was there early and walked in to make my way next to the stage and ran into Michelle, who owns Davey’s Uptown. We talked about some bands and Billy Joe Shaver getting arrested for shooting a guy in Texas. As the opening act took the stage I took a look at the crowd and went “There are way too many people here.”
Neko sold out Liberty Hall. There were as many people there as there were for Guster or The Shins or Rufus Wainwright or a whole bunch of bands I’ve seen there in the past three years. This just stunned me. I’ve been following her for at least seven years and have been at shows where there were forty of us in the crowd. What’s interesting is that, as opposed to Jack Ingram, I can’t really point to something where I would say that she sold out. Adding a drummer to your band probably doesn’t equate to being a sell out. But all of her touring and work with the New Pornographers have paid off with a really strong following.
The show was her usual amazing performance. She has a commanding if disarming stage presence. I don’t know of many other lead singers who I would describe as disheveled in appearance. But she has her dyed red hair flowing everywhere and she takes the stage in jeans and no makeup and absolutely no airs about her. It’s all about her music and her voice taking over the night. At times she can sound like a classic country torch singer though one with a lot of darkness lurking in her past. It’s just an incredible set and I got to be front and center for it once again.
And I even got my car to start on the way home. And dreamt really nice dreams that night. Sometimes music can really take all of your cares away.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Damien Rice “O”
2) Bruce Robison “Bruce Robison”
3) Various Artists “Celtic Tides”
4) The Subdudes “Lucky”
5) Mike Doughty “Haughty Melodic”
Woke up Friday morning in my usual stupor and start getting ready for work. My big issue was what to wear to work since I was heading to Lawrence Friday night to see Neko Case in concert (pictured above in an explanation of why she ends up either third or fourth on my Perfect Mate list). I typically don’t care that much about what I wear, a point that is plainly obvious to most people, but when I’m heading to shows the “Do I bring a change of clothes to work or not” question takes on real importance. So, I was running late already when I get down to the garage and my car doesn’t start.
This after having my car in the shop twice this week for things that had absolutely nothing to do with the engine.
I’ll admit that I did not pull the usual guy move of opening the hood and staring at the engine with a concerned look on my face. Mainly because I had no idea what was wrong and there were no women nearby that I needed to impress by acting like I knew anything about cars. Instead, I call in the tow truck and make my way to the dealer with absolutely no idea what is wrong with my car. Could be a battery, could be a fuel pump, could be the entire engine was removed when I wasn’t looking. All I know is that I need to get to Lawrence tonight and having a car would be very useful.
Get to the dealer and they look at it and tell me that “Your car thinks that you are trying to steal it.” Somehow, the security system in my car failed to the point that it wouldn’t recognize my key and let the car start. I didn’t even know that was possible. What it does mean is that 500 bucks later I was able to convince my car that I did in fact own it and was able to make it to the office. Though now I was looking at driving to a town an hour away with a car that I wasn’t certain would start once the show was over.
(Side note: This probably means that I’ll be in the market for a new car in the next few months. Up to now, everything that I have had to have fixed on my car was entirely my fault. Now I have random parts failing and with Pontiacs that is never a good sign. Any suggestions on what car I should get next? I’m looking for a car that says “I’m successful and sophisticated and while I am going through a mid-life crisis I don’t feel too showy about it. In a ‘You should look at me but you don’t have to’ sort of way”)
Anyway, I survive the day at work taking care of the few projects that I needed to complete for the week and made my way to Lawrence confident that a) the show would be incredible and b) my car would start on the way back. The show was at Liberty Hall and that is easily the biggest venue that I have ever seen Neko in. I was there early and walked in to make my way next to the stage and ran into Michelle, who owns Davey’s Uptown. We talked about some bands and Billy Joe Shaver getting arrested for shooting a guy in Texas. As the opening act took the stage I took a look at the crowd and went “There are way too many people here.”
Neko sold out Liberty Hall. There were as many people there as there were for Guster or The Shins or Rufus Wainwright or a whole bunch of bands I’ve seen there in the past three years. This just stunned me. I’ve been following her for at least seven years and have been at shows where there were forty of us in the crowd. What’s interesting is that, as opposed to Jack Ingram, I can’t really point to something where I would say that she sold out. Adding a drummer to your band probably doesn’t equate to being a sell out. But all of her touring and work with the New Pornographers have paid off with a really strong following.
The show was her usual amazing performance. She has a commanding if disarming stage presence. I don’t know of many other lead singers who I would describe as disheveled in appearance. But she has her dyed red hair flowing everywhere and she takes the stage in jeans and no makeup and absolutely no airs about her. It’s all about her music and her voice taking over the night. At times she can sound like a classic country torch singer though one with a lot of darkness lurking in her past. It’s just an incredible set and I got to be front and center for it once again.
And I even got my car to start on the way home. And dreamt really nice dreams that night. Sometimes music can really take all of your cares away.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Damien Rice “O”
2) Bruce Robison “Bruce Robison”
3) Various Artists “Celtic Tides”
4) The Subdudes “Lucky”
5) Mike Doughty “Haughty Melodic”
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