March forth

I hate winter - vastly preferring summer in the battle of Extreme Seasons - but I have a sneaking suspicion that deep down, I actually enjoy winter for the sake of this time of year. It's not spring yet, but I can feel it coming. And when spring comes to Wisconsin, I feel more than relief at the end of winter. It's a sense of triumph, that another winter has been vanquished. We won, damn it! I see winter as a foe, but if it were never below zero and blizzarding outside, I wouldn't be this giddy at the melting of snow and warmer breezes. I've been feeling sluggish lately, and I'm hoping the advent of spring will give me a jolt of energy. So why wait until the end of the month? On March 1st I abandoned my winter coat for a spring jacket, because eff you, winter. There's only a week until Daylight Saving time begins.

Of course, at this time of year I'm also full of spring and summer ambition.  I'll go up north!  I'll go camping!  I'll take walks at Conservation Park every week!  I'll swim in Goose Lake!  Mini road trips! Brewers games!  I tend to forget that summer no longer means I'm on vacation.  But hey, might as well start out with the best of intentions.  

We all wanna change the world

Most people are probably aware of the protests that have been going on for a week now in Madison, over Governor Scott Walker's "budget" bill.  My mom has worked in Wisconsin public schools for more than twenty-five years, so I don't think I need to explain where my support lies.  I've had friends out there daily, marching and holding up signs in support of our state's workers and unions.  On Saturday I went downtown to take part myself, thinking it would be interesting to see everything firsthand.  Well, it was more than interesting.  It was amazing.

It might seem odd considering what's at stake, but the mood around the capitol was overwhelmingly upbeat.  I think people understand that no matter what happens, the very act of coming together in support of something they truly believe is vitally important.  One sign I saw said it well: "You can take my money, but you can't take my voice!"  Everybody was polite.  More polite and friendly than your typical Saturday on State Street, for sure.  Considerate of people crossing the streets, of everyone in the crowd.  There was a union-sponsored van set up on Wisconsin Ave with a grill, handing out free brats to a long line of people.  There was free bottled water there.  I saw another man set up on a bench on the square, making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for anybody who wanted one.  Ian's Pizza on State Street has set up an online system for people to buy pizza for the protesters on the square, and they've been selling out.   

Folks were handing out signs printed up by WEAC, and thousands of people had their own homemade signs.  Some mentioned where the protesters came from ... Wauwatosa, Kenosha, Minnesota, even Mississippi.  And there were so many families.  Speakers were set up along the square, playing a sort of protest mix ... the Beatles' "Revolution," "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror."  Some of the marchers had drums and tambourines.  There were lines of Union cabs driving around a block away, honking and waving, to mass cheers from the crowd.  Many cars honking on Dayton as they drove past.  For a few minutes I stood near firemen who were waving flags.  The many police officers around were relaxed and friendly.  They seemed more like spectators. 

Sixty thousand people congregated downtown on Saturday - from both sides, although anti-Walker protesters far outnumbered supporters - and no arrests were made.  Nobody was injured.  The Madison Police department actually issued a statement in praise of the crowd.  That's incredible to me.  Even if I'm ashamed of our governor, I'm so proud of Wisconsin right now.

A panoply of song

Though I realized it just days ago, I didn't see the Decemberists in 2010.  They weren't touring anywhere in my vicinity, but the fact remains that 2010 was the first year post-2003 that I failed to see them at least once.  It felt good, then, to be able to open my 2011 concert season with a Decemberists show at the Riverside in Milwaukee.  (I don't know if Mamma Mia! last weekend counted as a first concert.)

After a brisk wait in line and a pretty set by Mountain Man (a band that, interestingly, contains no men), we were ready for the main act.  The Decemberists opened with "Leslie Anne Levine" from Castaways and Cutouts, and we were off.  Nothing like a song narrated by a dead girl to get things started right!  There were more trademark vivid narratives to come, but many of my favorite songs of the night were from The King is Dead.  The new album came out a few weeks ago, and I like it more with each listen.  "Rise to Me" and "June Hymn" were particularly lovely at the Riverside.

Despite the prevalence of newer, more understated material, the show wasn't short on band theatrics.  Chris Funk, John Moen, and tour guest Sara Watkins took to the house as the Decemberists Family Players during "A Cautionary Song," acting out three tableaux of Colin's choosing: the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Roman Polanski scandal.  Colin handed Chris Funk's flask to a kid in the front row.  The band collectively perished on stage, with much flopping, after everyone got eaten by the whale in "The Mariner's Revenge Song."  I'm not the biggest fan of that tune on Picaresque, but I definitely get its appeal in the live setting.  We even got a verse and chorus of "In the Air Tonight," by Phil Collins.

All of the above and more made for an excellent show, but the best moment of the night for me came when Colin said the following words: "We're gonna play a song about San Francisco."  For years now - six, to be exact - I've hoped to hear "Grace Cathedral Hill" in concert.  Not living in the Bay Area, the pickings are slim.  They played it the first time I saw the band in 2004, but I longed to hear it again.  This was the state of things on Friday evening, when I happened to check Twitter just as Colin solicited requests for that night's Chicago concert.  I took a chance on a request for Milwaukee instead, hoping a mention of last hearing the song at Luther's Blues in '04 might help my case.  I'll probably never know if my request had anything to do with it ... but I do know that on Saturday night the Decemberists played "Grace Cathedral Hill," with plenty of pedal steel, and it was gorgeous.

I drove back home early Sunday morning with a guitar pick in my pocket and songs swirling around in my head.  And the next night, the Packers won the Super Bowl.  Banner weekend in Wisconsin!  The Decemberists announced today that they'll be back at the Overture Center in April.  Me too.

Setlist (as displayed by Matt):

Drug awareness

One of my sisters is now a PTA member at the elementary school all three of us attended as children.  Her sons, my nephews, go to school there.  Sometime last year, the association cleaned out a storage cache dating back to the school's days under its original name, Sunnyside.  There were photos, letters, programs, and scrapbooks from as early as the 1950's ... and nobody wanted them.  Some of the items eventually made their way to the school district's headquarters, but my sister rescued things that otherwise would have been thrown out.

The page above came from a scrapbook from the late 70's or early 80's.  Look, pictures from a drug awareness program! I remember attending those at school.  See, there are some teachers speaking, probably about the evils of drug abuse.  There's a police officer, perhaps explaining the legal ramifications, or what to do if a bad man should ever offer you drugs.  And ...

Wait wait wait wait wait.

There's an interactive table of pipes and bongs?  And Mrs. Zieth is explaining their uses? I so don't remember this from the drug awareness programs when I was in elementary school.  Look at the little kids, eyes alight with interest, exploring the fascinating items on the table.  How come we never got a pipe and bong demonstration?

I think my favorite part is that this photo was actually taken, selected for the scrapbook, pasted down, and carefully captioned.

2010 in review: Live Music

On to the final recap post for 2010 - music.  Here are the numbers:

Total shows (counting each day of multi-day events): 40
A couple notes on this - for the first time, there were a handful of big shows I couldn't count because though they were "shows," they weren't music.  Comedy, book readings, Anthony Bourdain.  Even if I had counted them, though, I'd still be down nearly 20 shows from 2009's total.  Damn!  I think the crazy Spain run of 2009 accounts for half of that discrepancy, though.

Performers seen for the first time (headlining, in this particular incarnation): 6  (Dawes, Jay Farrar + Ben Gibbard, Jakob Dylan, Xalam, Hunstville, the National)


Performers seen for the first time (support or other variety setting): 19  (including Mike Benign, the Low Anthem, the Dodos, the Duchess and the Duke, the Books, Mavis Staples, Outrageous Cherry, Lawrence Arabia, Philip Selway, Owen Pallett, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, J.C. Brooks, Joan of Arc)

Seen most often: Wilco, Martin Rivas, Philip Selway

Favorite concert moments of 2010, in no order:

• My mostly-joking request for "Single Ladies" being granted by Jeff Tweedy, 3/13
• Glenn Kotche beheading a woman during On Fillmore's set, 8/14
• Women dancing in the aisles during Xalam's show at the French Institute in Dakar, 5/28
• Rhett Miller playing "Ray Charles," 3/5
• The Low Anthem's cell-phone-cricket-chirp crowd participation number, 3/6
• Low stage (!!!) at the Orpheum for the New Pornographers, 8/4
• The National performing "Terrible Love" in front of 27,000 people, including President Obama, on Library Mall, 9/28
• The entire audience singing along with the preshow music of "Living on a Prayer" at the Ryman before the Avett Brothers came out dressed as mummies, 10/30
• Viper and his Famous Orchestra's Miley Cyrus cover, 7/9
• The first notes of the acoustic set of my first "evening with" Wilco show, 4/2

Bring it on, 2011.

2010 in review: Books

For the fifth time, here's a list of the books I read over the past year.  Stats follow:

1. Manhood for Amateurs - Michael Chabon

2. Under the Dome - Stephen King

3. Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Mark Oliver Everett

4. Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run - Alton Brown

5. Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable - Bruce M. Hood

6. Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession - Julie Powell

7. You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas - Augusten Burroughs

8. 100 Posters 134 Squirrels - Jay Ryan

9. I Drink For a Reason - David Cross

10. The Crowd Sounds Happy - Nicholas Dawidoff

11. Stealing Buddha's Dinner - Bich Minh Nguyen

12. In Search of Norman Rockwell's America - Kevin Rivoli, Norman Rockwell

13. How We Decide - Jonah Lehrer

14. Somebody Else's Daughter - Elizabeth Brundage

15. Not Becoming My Mother - Ruth Reichl

16. Dead Until Dawn - Charlaine Harris

17. Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

18. Senegal in Pictures - Tom Streissguth

19. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

20. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

21. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy - Gary D. Schmidt

22. Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris

23. Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris

24. All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris

25. From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris

26. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

27. Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert

28. A Touch of Dead - Charlaine Harris

29. SuperFreakonomics - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

30. Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire - Graydon Carter, Ed.

31. Everything is Wrong With Me - Jason Mulgrew

32. The Summer Before - Ann M. Martin
33. A Year in the World - Frances Mayes
34. Children Standing Before a Statue of Hercules - David Sedaris, Ed.
35. Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
36. The Poisoner's Handbook - Deborah Blum
37. Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
38. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
39. The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To - DC Pierson
40. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
41. Every Patient Tells a Story - Lisa Sanders, M.D.
42. The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud
43. Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel
44. Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
45. The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller
46. Holy Fools - Joanne Harris
47. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
48. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
49. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
50. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
51. Timeriders - Alex Scarrow
52. Educating Esme - Esme Raji Codell
53. Both Sides of Time - Caroline B. Cooney
54. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
55. Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon
56. Voyager - Diana Gabaldon
57. The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon
58. A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
59. An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
60. The Impostor's Daughter - Laurie Sandell
61. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
62. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
63. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
64. Emily of New Moon - L.M. Montgomery
65. Emily Climbs - L.M. Montgomery
66. Emily's Quest - L.M. Montgomery
67. Jane of Lantern Hill - L.M. Montgomery
68. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Wells Tower
69. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
70. War Dances - Sherman Alexie
71. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk - David Sedaris
72. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
73. Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
74. Birds of North America - Lorrie Moore
75. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
76. The Mind's Eye - Oliver Sacks
77. Ad Boy: Vintage Advertising With Character - Warren Dotz
78. Songs of Love & Death - George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Eds.
79. The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime - Mark Haddon
80. The Road to Yesterday - L.M. Montgomery
81. Empire Falls - Richard Russo
82. The Cat in the Mirror - Mary Stolz

Total books read: 82
That's six more than I read in 2009.

By male authors: 34 (41%)
By female authors: 45 (55%)
By both: 3 (4%)

Previously read: 14 (17% - down from last year's 20%, but has nothing on 2008's impressive 4%)

Marketed for children/teens: 14 (17% - down from 2009's whopping 26%, but still a presence)

Fiction: 52 (63%)
Nonfiction: 30 (37%)

2010 still leaned more heavily toward fiction than nonfiction, but I noticed an interesting breakdown in the list itself.  Aside from Under the Dome, the first fifteen books were all nonfiction.  Then, for awhile, it was about half and half.  But from book forty-five (somewhere around August) on, it's almost 100% fiction.  I think that's because I spent a lot of time rereading series in the second half of the year.  Two of those - the last three Harry Potter books and all of the Diana Gabaldons - can be blamed on my September trip to the U.K.  I was also very busy in autumn, which meant turning to my own bookshelves and those of friends over the library for quick reads.  That increased the numbers for "previously read," and certainly padded my fiction totals.

You should definitely read: The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  The Poisoner's Handbook is a fascinating account of the rise of forensic medicine around the 1920's.  There are jaw-dropping anecdotes about women who worked in watch factories painting their fingernails with lead paint, and the ways unregulated prohibition-era bootleg liquor killed so many more people than alcohol ever had before.  Cloud Atlas is a unique collection of six stories spanning ... well, space/time/worlds ... I'm not sure how to describe it.  At first each story seems to end without warning and abruptly plunge the reader in the next, leaving you wondering what just happened.  But eventually, you realize there is a method to the madness, and that it is awesome.

Don't bother reading: Cleaving by Julie Powell.  It's not a bad book, really, but my god, Julie Powell is whiny and self-indulgent.  She's honest, which I suppose is admirable (though really, do we have any real clue how honest she is?), but the enthusiastically detailed accounts of her infidelity made me want to punch something.  Possibly Julie Powell.  I felt like I was reading someone's LiveJournal.

2010 in review: Travel

Happy 2011!  Here's the first of three posts looking back at things I did in 2010.  Without further ado, travel:

States visited (not counting layovers): 10
Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, Tennessee

New states: 2
Rhode Island and Maine. With that, the east coast is officially checked off!

States left before I reach 50: 5
Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming.  I could have hit North Dakota for work last year, but it would have meant missing Rhode Island the same weekend.  And since Rhode Island was not for work, Rhode Island won.

Countries visited: 4
England, Scotland, Spain, Senegal.  Two of the countries were new!  (I count Scotland separately, not as part of the UK.) And one of them meant...

New continents: 1
Africa.  I have South America and Antarctica left to conquer.  Somehow one of those seems easier than the other.

What's ahead for 2011?  Aside from a return to the Berkshires in June, it's a blank slate so far.  As always, my goal is at least one new state.  Hopefully a new country, too.