Forever Winter
photo by Airreck
What The Hail!
So disappointed that I didn’t work out Tuesday morning and excited class got out early, I knew I had to go on a late night run. Even more miraculous was it was lightly raining. I love running in the rain, but usually only when it wasn’t raining at the start if my run. So with it merely sprinkling, I was totally game.
So I head towards the Isles, my usual spot, around 8ish in the pm. Still kind of light out, air is a bit thick, bit no matter. I’m running on high until about half way around the lake. That’s when the tornado sirens start. So I look up and the clouds did look a little funky. Kind of like a mattress that has been melted by hobos seeking heat more than comfort. I’m not sure that makes total sense, but in my head its spot on.
At this point the semi full lake is now deserted. One nice Minnesotan pulled over to warn me and when I informed her I had to get to the other side of the Lake anyway, she said OK and proceeded to document the storm with her phone.
In an instant she was gone and that’s when it started to hail. Nothing to bad at first, pretty soft really. I connect with a shirtless biker. We give each other the ‘68 Olympic Black Power fist, despite he not being black. Its all go though, cause were are both Shaft badass right now.
Well that would end soon, when the golf ball sized hail started. Shit. I would like to think my athleticism helped me avoid the ice stones being thrown, but really I was just lucky. I picked one up and realized it would have turned me into a whimpering Roberto Duran if it connected.
I’d like to think this makes me a badass, but the only real image I can see in my head is my mom shaking her head at me and calling me a nibblethead for not checking the weather. Touche’ mi madre, no mas.
Reading Metro
photo by Airreck
Frozen Innocence
photo by Eric
TV On The Radio
(Above) Not Gerard Smith.
So I was extremely saddened a few weeks ago when first Gerard Smith, bassist for TV on the Radio, passed away from lung cancer at the age of 36. This of course understandably lead to the cancelation of the two shows they were set to play and of which my Saturday had been planned around for months. A double whammy of sorts. Obviously more some for Smith’s family and friends.
My intention that week was to write about my favorite TVotR songs, but I just kind of dropped it in disappointed. So here are a few of the choices I was planning on writing about.
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babies
Despite the violent lyrics and imagery, the song is beautiful in its melodic simplicity. It speaks to the hopeless romantic in me, not so much acknowledging the trials and struggles of love, but wantonly wallowing in it. “I will be your crutch and cast if you will be my sketch and crash,” never fails to lift my mood.
Dear Science
This eerie track is just a slow, methodical build. By the song’s pinnacle, the lyrics are being nearly being shouted at you, before letting off, almost like the calm after an atomic bomb. The twisting and turning lyrics could be about failed relationships or the consequences of technological advances over shooting their creators intensions. The simple fact that the song could enlist thoughts that broadly different, warrants another listen if you ask me.
Nine Types of Light
This one is a little fresher, but in the few weeks of listening to the album, this song and Repetition are the early standouts. My amateur opinion of the songs significance is about the growth of the band, as musicians and people, possibly beyond what they would have ever expected. All set to the image of the Crane soaring, through tough times and good. The song seems to have even more significance since the passing of Smith. “I can leave suddenly, unafraid” are poignantly the last words spoken in the song. Maybe the most beautiful song they have made.