Big Money Struggle

This is a mix I made for Christine, who left Monday for Canada (the land of talking bears that sell beer, and SARS).

The-Long-Way-From-Home Mix:
1. Pavement- Gold Soundz
2. Creeper Lagoon- Big Money Struggle
3. Drive 'til Morning- Orange and Tweed
4. The Shins- New Slang
5. New Order- Regret
6. Dntel- (This Is) The Dream Of Evan and Chan
7. Eskimo Hunter- Surfing At 32 Degrees Fahrenheit
8. The Notwist- Neon Golden
9. The Gravity Show- Rock 'n Roll Star
10. Future Bible Heroes- Hopeless
11. The New Pornographers- The Laws Have Changed
12. Love- Alone Again Or
13. Wayne Everett- A Million Leaves
14. The Lassie Foundation- El Rey

There you have it: the best mix CD I ever made so far. Feel free to search out and download any of these track. You won't be disappointed. Before you do that, and if you can even find it anymore (thanks for selling out, MP3.com!), do yourself a favor and give Eskimo Hunter's "Surfing At 32 Degrees Fahrenheit" a listen. It's one of my new favorite songs.

In unrelated news, I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I'm sure you guys hang on my every word. Just been running around a lot lately, going crazy, staying up 'til all hours, working, teaching, etc. The usual business.

I went to a show last night at the New World Brewery in Tampa. I saw Summer Hymns (great), Bear Country (good), Will Johnson (good) and Chris Lee (left before the end). A good time was had by all. Nice folks, good music, good beer. I actually ended up talking with Zach from Summer Hymns for a little while after the show. What a nice, friendly, guy.

Today was nice, because I had a day off. I headed to Vinyl Fever in Tampa to see what I could pick up with a limited supply of money. It was good day for used CD's, it turned out. I got a copy of Low's "I could Live In Hope" (out-of print), The New Pornographers' "Mass Romantic" (an import), Joy Division's "Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979" (hard to find) and Echo and the Bunnymen's "Songs To Learn and Sing" (never spotted a copy with the right price). All in all, some good finds for low prices (only one of them above $9).

I also have some sort of spider bite on the right side of my torso area. It happened while I was asleep Sunday night (after dropping the compilation and several others off at Christine's house around 5 AM), I guess, because I never felt it. I just saw the huge and painful mark the next morning. I'm kind of hoping it wasn't a brown recluse that bit me. According to all the reading I've been doing and based on the appearance of the bite and other sypmtoms, it probably wasn't a recluse, but still... I'm glad I'm heading to the doctor tomorrow.

Oh, and for all the ladies out there hoping for a chance (there's gotta be one somewhere), I'm sorry. I'm going to marry Rosie Thomas. Or Neko Case. Or maybe Gemma Hayes. Or all of them. Hmm... it worked for the Mormons.

That's all for now, I think. My (hopefully non-spider infested) bed is calling to me.

Be good to each other.

Playlist-Spanning-Several-Days:
Low- I Could Live In Hope
Rosie Thomas- When We Were Small
Neko Case- Blacklisted
Summer Hymns- Clemency
Gemma Hayes- Night On My Side
Lilys- Eccsame the Photon Band
Echo and the Bunnymen- Songs To Learn and Sing
Joy Division- Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979
Grandaddy- The Sophtware Slump
Grandaddy- Sumday
The New Pornographers- Mass Romantic
The New Pornographers- Electric Version

Oh, and what's this I read of a new My Bloody Valentine record? Hmm... I'll believe it when I see it.