http://gingermiss.wordpress.com/

I’m really shocked that it’s already the end of August. I love Autumn, and there are parts of winter that I love, but I always get depressed during the winter. As though my body wants to go into hibernation. I know that this is not a strange phenomenon, but it gets very exhausting.

Someone said to me the other day, “Remember when you were young and summer used to last forever?” Yes. Very much so, possibly because I’m still fairly young. I wonder if that sort of experience is ever duplicated as you age. That would definitely give me something to look forward to.

I went to see Nickel Creek with Fiona Apple in Central Park yesterday. I was generally impressed with the way the whole thing was set up other than the fact that, as a non-extremely tall person, it was very hard to see the performers. That killed me. I spent almost the whole time standing on my tip toes. I’ve wanted to see Fiona Apple perform ever since I got Tidal and part of the fun of seeing her perform is seeing her dance on stage - flailing about wildly, periodically hitting herself and pouring herself into the music.

Before going, I didn’t know the gist of the tour was that Nickel Creek and Fiona were performing together. When I first found this out, the idea seemed disappointing to me because I assumed it would minimize the amount of Fiona I got to see. Until last night, I also had never listened to Nickel Creek, despite being both a country and bluegrass fan.

This was one of the most entertaining and memorable shows I have ever been to. Nickel Creek is a warm, congenial band in which every member is a high caliber performer. There’s a sister/brother fiddler/guitar picker combination (Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, respectively), the Mandolin player Chris Thile, and the current bassist Mark Schatz. Sara, Chris, and Sean all sing lead on different songs. I love bluegrass music and that love is amplified when the band on stage loves playing bluegrass music. They played their instruments expressively, they harmonized beautifully, and their whole show had the tone of a freewheeling, open experience while still having the edge of an incredibly professional performance. They played for 2 1/2 hours. I can now easily be considered an official Nickel Creek fan. They were great. There is no doubt in my mind that if the band members separate for good, each member will individually produce great music.

The way the show functioned in relation to Fiona Apple was like a special treat for avid Fiona Apple fans. Nickel Creek performed for about 45 minutes and then Fiona came out to join them. They performed a few of her songs before taking a short 20-minute intermission. Hearing Fiona Apple songs interpreted in a Bluegrass style - hearing the performers transfer each song to their string instruments from her standard piano - was fascinating and uniquely satisfying. Their last song before intermission was Limp from When the Pawn…. It may have been my favorite song of hers that they performed that evening. One of the aspects of that song that I always loved is that it’s so unapologetically angry. She sang it with significant anger and verve. I adore her.

Some of the other really popular Fiona songs they performed last night were Extraordinary Machine, Paper Bag, Waltz (Better Than Fine), Not About Love, Criminal, and Fast As You Can. She was, I can only assume, at the top of her game because every performance was treasurable. The covers were amazing. They closed the show with a priceless rendition of the 1926 song “Tonight You Belong to Me”. Favorite moment of the whole evening. Apparently you can see her sing this song with other people on the Extraordinary Machine dvd. You can also see it here.

Not only would I highly recommend every music fan buy tickets to this show, I would go so far as to say it’s one of those rare moments in music history when two bands come together to create a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that transcends the normal quality of what fans get to see on a tour. I’m extremely glad I had the opportunity to see it. Go if you can.

Here’s another worthwhile cover from the club where they all hob-knob and play in L.A. Enjoy.
Fiona Apple performs “River, Stay Away From My Door”

Photos from their tour are available at the official Nickel Creek website.

The guy who took a lot of those photographs has an interesting website too: Acoustic Images Online

Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums being among my favorite movies and Wes Anderson among my favorite directors, here is the trailer link for his upcoming film The Darjeeling Limited.

The Darjeeling Limited, in theatres September 29

It’s about three brothers traveling through India. As one would expect, I’m ardently looking forward to its release.

Sometimes I feel like I want to get married just so I can have one of those freaking awesome cakes. That’s a valid reason to marry, right? Just kidding, of course… but I may develop and celebrate some other momentous ceremony that revolves around a giant cake.

Not a lot going on over here today. I also like to write when I’m bored, but I can see I’ll have to do that later unless I want to write a whole entry on wedding cakes and the humidity index. Later kids.

Here. To make this post slightly more substantial, this is a link to a blog which is entirely about cake decorating. That, my friends, is thrilling news to hear.

Cake Journal

After browsing, I’m sure I’ll be adding this to my sidebar links. Enjoy.

If you’re into that sort of thing.

It was excellent. It definitely lived up to the high standards the show has set for itself. I haven’t laughed that hard at the movies in a while.

There are few people in the world that I would pay an exorbitant (or even a moderate) amount of money to see. Jack White is one of them.

I have seen the White Stripes in Orlando, Florida.

I have seen the White Stripes at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan.

Now I have seen the White Stripes at Madison Square Garden.

I hope to see them again many times in the future.

It’s difficult to articulate what I both expect and extract from a White Stripes concert, or why my devotion to them is so unquestionably fervent.

Most of the time, when people use the word “electric” to describe someone, the person in question does not live up to the images and feelings that word evokes.

In this case, that sentiment is not true. Jack White is electric; truly electric, in all the wild, beautiful, and vibrantly evocative glory of the word. It’s the best adjective to describe him; to describe the way he performs; to describe the way he makes the audience respond; to describe the way it feels to watch him and know that you’re that close to such a profoundly commanding personality.

I love Meg in a completely different way. The persona she adopts for the band is quiet, soft, and deliberately mysterious, so sometimes it’s difficult to see beyond her manufactured aura of fascination. Everyone makes a big deal about her being a mediocre drummer. Aside from that being untrue, I don’t feel the minimalist percussion themes in most of the White Stripes’ sets provide any valid basis to demean her contributions to the band. She strikes me as someone who would probably be wildly interesting if you were ever given the chance to know her. Of course I don’t actually know anything substantial about her, other than: it’s fun to watch her drum, she obviously motivates/inspires Jack, and the public/private relationship between her and Jack is fraught with intrigue.

I remember when I first discovered the White Stripes. It was late at night and I was watching M2. I was drawn to M2 originally because I was excited by the prospect of a music video channel that actually showed music videos. The Fell In Love With A Girl video came on; it was labeled a ‘breakthrough video’. It happened so fast. I was hypnotized. The combination of the music and the strange stop-action animation made a great, lasting impression on me. When the video was over, I heard the song over and over in my head, progressively becoming more attached to it with each passing repetition. I bought the album within the next few days. What I anticipate to be a lifelong romance bloomed within the first few seconds of aural exposure. Love at first sound.

I am irrevocably glad every time I get to see them perform. Some shows are better than others. At tonight’s performance, Jack played Little Ghost on an electric mandolin. Little Ghost is one of my favorite songs off the newer albums. I love bluegrass music and I love that Jack White loves bluegrass music as much as he does.

One day I would love to meet them, if only to make my life a little more magical. Until then I’ll keep going to their shows, thriving on the energy of the experience and cherishing the lingering aftereffects; especially once I’m forced to go home and live amongst those who have never felt the way I feel at a White Stripes concert.

NOTE: Title changed because I misquoted the song lyric I was referencing. How depressing.

… according to Duchovny.

I’m so sorry to have to link to E!Online, but there’s some wonderfully titillating information in this article.

X Marks Spot for Files Sequel

- Production will likely ramp up after that, with Duchovny anticipating getting in front of the cameras as early as this fall.

“I think it’s November for a summer [2008] release,” he said.

- “All Chris says is that he wants to make a really scary horror, like a stand-alone episode,” said Anderson, who has kept busy with film work, including last year’s The Last King of Scotland. “I don’t think they’re interested in touching on any of the conspiracy stuff.”

Everything I would want to hear. Makes me nervous.

Dare I say more and fate it to be untrue?

I dare not.

“This gift that you gave me for my birthday. You never got to tell me why you gave it to me or what it means… but I think I know. I think that you appreciate that there are extraordinary men and women and… extraordinary moments when history leaps forward on the backs of these individuals… that what can be imagined can be achieved… that you must dare to dream… but that there’s no substitute for perseverance and hard work… and teamwork… because no one gets there alone… and that, while we commemorate the… the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifice of those who make these achievements and leaps possible.”

- Spoken by Dana Scully, Season 4, episode “Max”

Always Apologize, Always Explain

That is the link to an excellent article on CNN.com today about the art of apologizing. The author, Martha Beck, has said everything I’ve been trying to express to my boyfriend for the last 5 years.

In my own, personal experience, it seems men have more difficulty apologizing than women. I’m not saying that women are great at apologizing, or that men who do genuinely apologize for their mistakes on a regular basis are fictional, just that it seems more difficult for them on a personal level. I’m not exactly sure why this is, but I would guess it has something to do with pride, with feeling like admitting to their mistakes makes them seem like a weaker, more fallible person, or just that it’s about maintaining their status and power in a relationship.

Regardless of the reason, this is one of the best articles I’ve read that outlines the situation (in a gender-neutral way) and gives a practical, straight-forward explanation as to why a genuine apology, however seemingly insignificant, is very important.

The introduction to the piece evaluates that stupid fucking line from Love Story - “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” - although Beck’s point was already made by Lisa Simpson several years ago.

I don’t care how much you love someone else. Somewhere down the line, you’re going to make a mistake, and you’re going to need to apologize for that mistake to maintain a healthy, functioning relationship. Beck makes an important point by saying that you shouldn’t be constantly apologizing; apologies should always reflect the idea that you (and you alone) are truly sorry for what you did or said.

Empty, useless apologies can often be more hurtful than not apologizing at all because it’s just showing the other person that you have no intention of listening to what they have to say and just want them to be quiet. I certainly find them much more frustrating, especially since it’s pretty easy to identify when someone is just jerking you around and isn’t actually repenting.

I have my own set of problems, but apologizing when I feel that I have done something wrong is not one of them. If you feel this is something you have difficulty with, or know someone who does, I encourage you to take a look.

You… won’t… be… come on, you know what’s coming….

SORRY!

Ha. I’m sure me and 9 million other people have made that original, hilarious joke.

P.S. - The wording in the article is not gender-neutral; the author writes the article with the goal of speaking to women who are apologizing to men. What I mean when I say this is that I feel the advice works well for both men and women.

Lady Bird Johnson died. I knew practically nothing about her, except that every time I drive along the highway with my family and we come across a patch of wildflowers, my mother always mentions how she was so glad that Lady Bird Johnson did the work she did to have the wildflowers planted along the nation’s highways.

It wasn’t world peace or national literacy, but it was a simple something that brought a lot of beauty and modest happiness to the world.

Thanks, Lady Bird.

… and the featured article on Wikipedia today is “mourning dove”. Go figure.

Just thought I would share the joy that is Sifl & Olly.

YouTube - Baby for Gravy

Sifl & Olly - vastly underappreciated bits of whimsical and musical genius.