August into September

It is a weird time. I remember as a kid it was an obvious time of transition. Summer was over and you had to go back to school. Then, as you grow up and get to College, you  almost openly root for  summer to end so you could go back to school and start tearing it up again. You still enjoyed summer but it was not the same doom and gloom of "back to school" as it used to be.

Fast forward to adulthood. I barely recognize the transition or when kids go back to school. The only way I know is because the traffic gets worse and there are school buses everywhere. It's striking. This used to be so much a part of my life. You always knew when Summer ended. Labor Day is next weekend and, I swear, my reaction to finding that out the other day was: "Huh. Seemed fast."

What  I do recognize now is the change in Sports seasons. It has started happening just recently; Apparently coinciding with my entering adulthood and subsequent loss of the education-imposed schedule. I begin April super pumped up about baseball. After all, it has been months since there was meaningful sporting event to watch. that excitement gets me through the lion's share of the summer. But then August comes, and with it NFL training camp.

Once I have training camp, and this year Hard Knocks is featuring my Jets, I almost completely forget about baseball. And, that's ok. While there are pennant races to keep track of, these are the dog days of summer. The season is about 130 games old. That is a lot of just straight up baseball. You need a break. Think of the baseball season like one of those Family Guy gags that goes on forever. At first its funny. then it keeps going and its still funny, but you're like "ok this is getting a little out of control" then it keeps on going and you're like "ok, this is dumb" then it keeps going and you find yourself cracking up at the absurdity of it all. That is baseball. I will be cracking up again come late September/October. Right now, though, I'm not feeling it.

Football is the perfect foil for baseball. It is violent, exciting and loud. And that's just training camp. Just when you are finally succumbing to the laid back pace of baseball and looking around for something more: Here comes Football. And really, it steps in perfectly for the end of Summer/Start of School transition. It is exactly like being home at the end of summer and you start getting tired of your parents and counting the days before you go back to school. It's not that you don't love your family. They're just kind of boring and you've had enough of them for the time being.

I love baseball, it will always be there for me, through thick and thin. I can't do keg stands with baseball, though.

Absolute Sonic Pwnage

I know, I know: two music posts in a row. Get over it.

There are a couple shows looming that I am equal parts pumped and bummed about. First, Explosions in the Sky is playing ATP up in Monticello this labor day weekend. Awesome. Tickets are like a hundred and forty bucks. Not awesome. Second, Godspeed You! (motherfucking)* Black Emperor is curating Nightmare Before Christmas in the beginning of December. Fucking killer! It's in England. Huge buzzkill.

I've often said, and these shows legitimize this theory, that I'd much rather be independently wealthy or British than not independently wealthy or British.

With that as a backdrop, do yourself a favor and listen to a.) Godspeed's Dead Flag Blues - when I was reading The Road I imagined that song being played the whole time and b.) Godspeed's Static. The song is long as shit, but the payoff is so, so worth it. It absolutely obliterates everything in its path at around the 16 minute mark - but you gotta just wait for the build up.

Explosions is like the Cliff's Notes version of Godspeed. That is in no way a slight, by the way. They are able to produce the same effect in much, shorter, much more accesible songs. Catastrophe and the Cure is one of my favorites. But, you can literally pick up any of their albums and get rocked pretty quickly. Maybe the payoff isn't quite as incredible as Godspeed, but really, it's negligible.

It's like tantric sex, really. The orgasm is just going to come and it can only be so big, no matter how long you wait. Whatever, this isn't a competition. They're both awesome, Godspeed's dick just might be a little bit bigger, that's all.

*I say add the (motherfucking) part. It just works. Especially coming off a seven year hiatus. They've been all over the map with their weird punctuation changes, just embrace it and accept the fact that when people talk to their friends they say "did you hear? Godspeed You! (motherfucking) Black Emperor are getting back together."

(The) Arcade Fire

I hate when bands do this. First they were "Arcade Fire", then "The Arcade Fire" and now they are "Arcade Fire" again. At least, that is how it has played out in my iTunes library. I had two separate groupings for them under artist name. Annoying.

This is all by way of saying: I got the new album. I'm currently on listen 2.5. So far, its ok. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's the best record I've ever heard, because its not. There is one song,  I think, that immediately caught me and made me listen hard. Aside from that, eh. But, as with most albums, it usually takes me a couple listens to really crack. It's just a shame,  I don't give every album/band a chance. If it's a band I already have an existing relationship with,  I will undoubtedly give their newest release multiple opportunities to woo me.

Otherwise, its a one and done situation. Sorry, Of Montreal! You are the girl all the cool kids like, and you probably give a mean beej, but I found out you don't shave your legs. That is weird.  We have no future together.

Now, this Arcade Fire Album; It's entirely possible that this album is the female best friend whose beauty I just can't see thanks to the super hot chick, with the trendy haircut and misunderstood disposition, whose name I have been scribbling in my notebook for months. Eventually I may come to my senses and fall in love with all its subtle nuances that I sort of always knew were there but never took the time to really see (or, listen to).

For the time being though, we're just friends who hang out.

I cannot tell you the last time I wrote the word "whose" and I just did it back there twice in one second. Wild.

Happenings

So, I'm going to write a movie. I am kind of terrified. I bought some books, some software to aid in the actual writing process and I think I've got a pretty good (funny) idea. But, I've never come close to actually doing something where someone might judge me so I'm kind of hesitant to start.

I've spent the better part of my life taking the easy way out and relying on whatever innate talent/smarts/etc I may have to get by. I've always gotten by. Not such a terrible thing, but now I find myself, at 29, in a job/career that I am pretty sure I hate.

It's just a drag that I spent so much money on my degree only to find out I want nothing to do with the practice of law. Ah well. I suppose I can use it for other things than just practicing law. I hope.

First order of business in this re-imagined, Cheese Mac-ian world, is to really make an effort to keep this blog updated and be the funniest motherfucker out there.

Anyway, as I re-write my self/life by way of what will surely be a high concept comedic film (about the search for a missing porno); a year plus later, the name of this blog turns out to be pretty prophetic.

lets go get it.