2007 Show Review

Well, because I'm weird I keep a list of all the bands I see live. 2007 was a good year, even without attending Bonnaroo.

Alexi Murdoch - Headliner's Music Hall
Andrew Bird - Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Backyard Tire Fire - The Vogue
Charlie Louvin - The Brown Theatre
Damien Rice - The Louisville Palace
Dierks Bentley - Freedom Hall
Govt Mule - The Vogue
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - The Vogue
Jason Aldean - Freedom Hall
Jenny Devoe - The Vogue
Jim James - The Rudyard Kipling
JJ Grey & Mofro - The Bluebird
JJ Grey & Mofro - The Vogue
John Butler Trio - Headliner's Music Hall
Josh Turner - The Great Lawn at Waterfront Park
Kellie Pickler - Freedom Hall
Ki: Theory - Headliner's Music Hall
Man Man - The Egyptian Room
Midnight Movies - Headliner's Music Hall
Modest Mouse - The Egyptian Room
Nickel Creek - The Ryman Auditorium
Patty Griffin - The Vogue
Paula Cole - The Brown Theatre
Rascal Flatts - Freedom Hall
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Brown Theatre
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Brown Theatre
Ryan Shaw - WFPK Studios
Sarah Elizabeth Whitehead - The Rudyard Kipling
Shaggy Wanda - The Bluebird
Shooter Jennings - The Bluebird
Suzanne Vega - The Brown Theatre
Terremoto - The Vogue
The National - Headliner's Music Hall
Trace Adkins - Freedom Hall
Vietnam - The Brown Theatre

Since it's the end of the year, I'm obligated to also make a best-of list. SO, the best five live performances I saw were (in no particular order):

Damien Rice - Beautiful show. Damien Rice is surprisingly funny on stage. The highlight of the show was when he sang Cannonball without any amplification. Pretty impressive in a 4000 seat theatre.
Dierks Bentley - Not only did Dierks have a set of bluegrass songs within his larger set, but he came out into the crowd. Not pretentious rock star style with the stage in middle of the crowd, but jumped off stage on whim and ran around in the crowd. It was a really fun show.
JJ Grey & Mofro (at The Bluebird) - Small crowd (people are dumb). Small venue. Great party. JJ Grey got pretty drunk and at one point was lying on his back singing a song. It was great. The Bluebird is so small that the fans always end up buying drinks for the artists. Then it gets wild.
Nickel Creek - The final show of the Farewell For Now tour. At The Ryman. Incredible show. Enough said.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - This was his second show at The Brown. He is as weird as he is an incredible musician. Meaning that he is really weird and really incredible.
Ryan Shaw - This was a WFPK live lunch and because they were playing it over the air, it was in this little recording studio with a tiny crowd. Ryan Shaw has great energy and made it really fun. Plus I got a set list. Plus, I talked to Ryan.

You probably noticed that my top five had six. Well, it's my top five, so if I want it to have six it can. It should be noted that I didn't get to see My Morning Jacket this year, and that is sad.

The most disappointing show was the Govt Mule show at The Vogue. While faithful, the Govt Mule fans are terrible. I was really excited for the show too.

Just saw Patterson Hood's reviews for shows of the year over on Jambase, and now I'm kicking myself for not picking up those sweet tix to see Bruce Springsteen at Conseco in Indianapolis. Maybe $100 a pop, was worth it. Maybe, I just remembered that I'm broke.

Song Recommendation - Aint Love Strange by Paul Thorn

Soundtrack To My Year - 2007+ Edition

As most people are well aware, I love music. And, because I love music I try to put a song recommendation on each of my posts. The recommendations aren't necessarily something that's new, but something I like and think you should like too. I understand that you may not. I'm cool with that. I may think you're dumb for it, but we can still be friends. Music is different to different people. Just because I'm hyper-opinionated about music doesn't mean that I don't respect your music. Ok, maybe it does mean that I don't respect music, but what I do respect is that you like music.

So, I've compiled the list of the music I've been listening to over the course of the past year (with a little 2006 added....since I started this website last December). I hope you enjoy it.

December 11th, 2006 - The Hardest Part by Ryan Adams
December 13th, 2006 - Make This Go On Forever by Snow Patrol
December 18th, 2006 - Empty by Ray Lamontagne
December 20th, 2006 - September When It Comes by Rosanne Cash
December 22th, 2006 - Bright Sunny South by Alison Krauss and Union Station
December 24th, 2006 - Lay Low by My Morning Jacket
December 25th, 2006 - It'll All Work Out by Tom Petty
December 31th, 2006 - Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen

January 2nd, 2007 - Three More Days by Ray Lamontagne
January 8th, 2007 - La Ciegna Just Smiled by Ryan Adams
February 16th, 2007 - Wish You Well by Bernard Fanning
May 13th, 2007 - Imitosis by Andrew Bird
May 20th, 2007 - Two by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
June24th, 2007 - It Makes No Difference by My Morning Jacket
June 26th, 2007 - Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
July 9th, 2007 - Laid A Highway by Tift Merritt
July 14th, 2007 - I Found a Love by Ryan Shaw
August 12th, 2007 - Losing You by John Butler Trio
August 14th, 2007 - To Go Home by M. Ward
August 19th, 2007 - Paranoia in B-Flat Major by The Avett Brothers
September 21st, 2007 - Poor House by The Traveling Wilburys
September 26th, 2007 - Somebody More Like You by Nickel Creek
October 3rd, 2007 - Sweets by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
October 5th, 2007 - Hair of the Dog by Shooter Jennings
October 9th, 2007 - Boy With A Coin by Iron & Wine
October 15th, 2007 - Intervention by Arcade Fire
October 16th, 2007 - Ah Mary by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
October 21st, 2007 - Cannonball by Damien Rice
October 29th, 2007 - On Palastine by JJ Grey & Mofro
November 13th, 2007 - Float On by Modest Mouse
November 16th, 2007 - House By The Sea by Iron & Wine
November 26th, 2007 - What Sara Said by Death Cab For Cutie
November 28th, 2007 - The Lighthouse's Tale by Nickel Creek
December 3rd, 2007 - Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John
December 9th, 2007 - Southside of Heaven by Ryan Bingham
December 21st, 2007 - Full Moon Cigarette by Gran Bel Fisher
December 28th, 2007 - Wake Up by The Arcade Fire

I also created an iMix of these songs on iTunes. So, if you think you might like some of them, I'm making it about as easy as possible. A few are missing....I don't know what's that about. So, maybe it's not as easy as I would like.

Have a happy New Year, and here's to wishing you the best of luck in 2008.

The China Jungle

A Merry Christmas to all.

For some reason, I never read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in high school. Also, for some reason, I had the urge to read it. And so, while I was out in Vail I read it and it wasn't quite the book I was expecting. I went into it with the notion that the book's sole purpose was to expose the reality of the Chicago's beefpacking industry of the early 1900's. Yes, the book did talk about the use of rotting meat and human appendages purposely packaged with hog meat, but that was just a side story. The real story was what the life of an immigrant was like in the early 1900's. Or supposedly what the life what life of an immigrant in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, the story went up and down so many times, that eventually I couldn't help but think, "Get to the point." Well, unfortunately Mr. Sinclair did get to the point. The point turned out to be 60 (of 380) straight pages of Socialist (I think we see how well that worked out for the movement) propoganda to finish out the book. Kinda disappointing.

One thing I did take from the book is that there are a lot of similarities between 1904 Chicago and 2007 China. I'll lay them out for you. I'll even number my points (you know to make the extensive list easier to read).

1. Quality issues in respect to foreign countries - In the book, they say numerous times that the meat being processed in Chicago cannot be sold in Europe because of quality issues. So, although it is the cheapest, there are quality problems. Does that ring a bell?
2. Poor living conditions - The areas around these processing facilities were shanty towns. People that worked nights shared houses with people that worked days since they never saw each other. This is true in China today. A key difference is that often companies build dormitories for their workers.
3. A very small middle class - You either owned the company and were extremely wealthy or you worked for the company and barely made ends meet. This was true even for supervisors. Same is true in China today.
4. Long hours - Workers in the processing plants worked 12 hour days for 6 hours a day. Year round. That's unheard of in America in 2007, but commonplace in China. Sure, if you're an IT consultant at Crowe Chizek you might work 1,000,000 for one week at a time, but never year round.
5. Loss of an agrarian society - I was reading this book, and thinking you idiot. Move out of the city, work on a farm, live in a forest. It's not worth. Eventually the main character does, only to find that all the farm workers are moving to the city to find more lucrative work. That migration is happening as we speak in China.

So what does it mean? This was beginning of the American industrial revolution and a time when what we are as a country today as being formed. The effects of WW1 and WW2 can't be discounted though, because nothing helps an economy more than a war (that you eventually win). Today, I think the type of war can be different though. I think the war could come from fighting a disease or a space race, in addition to saving Europe from Hitler. So, it's not that much of a leap to assume that China will be in 100 years what America is today. All great civilizations fall. That's a fact.

Exciting news. I found a Google application called Google Analytics that is used to track traffic to your website, so you can target ads better. It's easy to use and pretty with charts and graphs and maps and all. It also tells you what city people are visiting you from, and the frequency of those visits. Since I've been using the application I'm pleased to announce that I average an ASTOUNDING 1 unique visitors per day. Simply incredible. This website is well on its way to becoming a cash cow for me. So, if Jake, Adam, Sara, and my sister want to go ahead and let me know what ads they would like to see. That would really help me with my effective advertising.

Song Recommendation - Wake Up by The Arcade Fire
(The Arcade Fire is #1 of bands I need to see live now)

To Vail and Back

The largest ski resort in the U.S., the most groomed terrain on the planet, seven back bowls, 300 days of sunshine, voted Number 1 for the 14th time in 19 years in SKI Magazine's "Top 50 Resort Guide" and we didn't ski. Nick, you're an idiot.

Let me explain. In business school they teach us that lots of fledgling businesses fail not because of bad products but because of cash flow problems. I know, that makes no sense. Let me explain (again). Say I make shoes. I sell a lot of shoes to a retailer and send them a bill to pay within 60 days. It is benefical for them to wait until the last day since their money is earning interest in bank somewhere. Since I'm a new company, I'm super close to the edge and need their money to buy more rubber and shoestrings to make more shoes. So, although I've been successful at selling my product, the cash flow isn't there and my company fails (I hear this happens to a lot of IU MBAs).

So, I told that long and somewhat boring....yet informational....story to say that I didn't go skiing because I'm having a bit of cash flow problems right now. That loan money is coming in January, I'm starting work in January, and my check for grading papers is coming in January.....but it's December. $81 for a lift ticket and $25 for ski rentals really doesn't fit into the budget right now.

We still had fun though. Vail is a pretty cool place in that it calls itself a resort, but is almost a little city. A little city where you can't drive on any streets and they all lead to the lifts (33). A little city with The North Face, Patagonia, and Burton stores. A big resort with upscale hotel rooms 30 feet from the lift. A little city in that the nearest movie theatre is 20 miles away, but they're in the process of building one outdoors (don't really know how enjoyable that will be). You could tell that every person that drove a bus, or worked in a subway, or took tickets on the Gondola did so just they could afford their ski passes.

It was a cool place. I don't know that I would want to drive two hours in the middle of night across the Rocky Mountains (note, You have to drive over and around mountains to get to Vail) in a Chevy Cobalt (note, Cobalts have the worst headlights ever) without cruise control (note, without cruise control you have press on the gas peddle when on the highway....weird). I want to go back. Maybe next time, I'll ski.

What's the deal with Jack Johnson releasing the single for his new album a full 2 months before the album is released. That's dumb. Radiohead finished their album, then sold it on the internet the next week.

I was about to grab a couple of Bruce Springsteen tickets at his show in Indy, but I balked at the $100 a piece price tag. Sniffle.

Song Recommendation - Full Moon Cigarette by Gran Bel Fisher

Bonnaroo, ATO, and Lost Highway

Rumor on the internet is that Led Zeppelin will be headlining Bonnaroo in 2008, and I'm hoping with all hope that this rumor isn't true. I mean, yea, I would love to see Led Zeppelin, but I'm going to be out West on THE road trip (you'll here more about this in the coming months) and, I would rather not fly back to Tennessee for the weekend. Which, I would have to do if Led Zeppelin was playing. I'm guessing that Alison Krauss and Robert Plant are already signed up to play based on the fact that they are touring together in 2008 in support of their Raising Sands cd, and Alison has played Bonaroo before. So, it wouldn't be that far of a leap for the rest of the guys (John Paul Jones played Bonnaroo last year) to jump onboard. I would love nothing more than an off year for Bonnaroo. A year where none of the artists interest me (rumor also has it that MMJ won't be playing Bonnaroo again because they wanna headline, that's good news to my ears). Here's to hoping.

As for today's song recommendation, Ryan Bingham is another artist in the Lost Highway family. I sent this song to DMassey because he's from Georgia and his old lady is from Texas, and I knew he would probably dig it. He said, "I enjoyed the hell out of that video. It made miss places." I could only reply, "It made me miss places too, and I've never even been to those places.

So, after finding another great artist from Lost Highway. It makes me wonder. Which is the better record company, Lost Highway or ATO? On one hand, you have ATO (owned by Dave Matthews) headlined by My Morning Jacket, Patty Griffin, Gov't Mule, David Gray and the recently added Radiohead. Lost Highway is fueled by a much more country sound with Ryan Adams (not for long), the later Johnny Cash stuff, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Elvis Costello, Tift Merritt, O'Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, the Night Train to Nashville compliations, and about 20 other artists. You can decide for yourself.

Song Recommendation - Southside of Heaven by Ryan Bingham

These Aggressions Cannot Stand

Recently, I was the victim of racism. Ok, maybe not racism. But definitely discrimination. The worst kind. Someone discriminated against me in a way that hurt deep down to my core. They assumed that I wouldn't try to smuggle drugs into a Modest Mouse concert. See, Sara and I had to wait in an extrodinary line to go through security to get into the The Murat. They were basically giving everyone the third degree. They made people take off their shoes. They searched peoples hats. They made people take their cigarettes to out of the package so they could search both of the cigarettes and the package. Then it was my turn. They took one look at me and my J Crew sweater and just told me to go right on through. I even had everything ready to take out of my pockets. Don't they know. I'm from the suburbs. I could have had a meth pipe or some coke in my pocket. I mean I didn't. But I COULD have. Don't they know what the drug lords look like. They don't look like dope slingers. They look like CEOs.

As you know, this past summer I worked at Humana (I know you know because as a loyal reader, I know you probably know everything about me). Anyway. The entire time I was there, consumerism was preached upon me. Consumerism is the education of the consumer so can make educated choices when it comes to healthcare. The belief is that the educated consumer will cost less to the healthcare provider, thus lowering costs (which raises net income for the same level of revenue, inflating the stock price, making the everyone happy). So, as an employee of Humana, I should know that being an educated consumer is important. I should ask questions. Well, a recent trip to the doctor showed that this was infact not the case. Not only did I chose the an expensive specialist(the premium for having the best), but whenever the doctor said he was going to give me a cortizone shot, I was all about it. An informed consumer would have asked how much that shot cost. An informed consumer would have asked what alternatives were available. An informed consumer would NOT have just said, "Ok." So what does this prove. It proves that converting people to be informed consumers is much more difficult than just tell them they SHOULD be informed. That they SHOULD ask questions. It isn't even enough to tell them the benefits of being informed. Imagine if the doctor told you that you should have a shot. You're probably going to get the shot. That's the state of healthcare today. Maybe the fundamental change in the industry needs to be more transparency between doctor and patient. Maybe that is where insurance companies should be making their efforts. I don't know. I don't have the answers. I'm just an uninformed intern.

Song Recommendation - Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John

Nickel and Dimed

What's the deal with tipping? I've never had a job where I was supposed to tip, so admittedly this is a one-sided discussion. In fact, since I write and my constituents read I don't think it's even a discussion. So.....my thoughts. I feel lousy as a tipper to give someone a couple of bucks, or to throw my change into a tip jar. I feel like the tippee and I both know that I have an obligation to tip, and as such, I am giving them the least amount of money I can to get out of the situation with my integrity intact. So, this starts what we can call a death spiral of integrity. The tippee knows I have to give them $1 to save face. I just want to save face, so I give them that $1. But the tippee knows that they weren't being tipped because of their service but out of obligation. So now, the tippee is looking to receive $2 to know that they have provided good service. I know that $1 is no longer sufficient and now must pay $2 to save face. And so, we are left in a situation where the tippee and I are never satisfied. They will think that my $2 is a lousy tip, and I will feel like I just nickel and dimed this poor high school kid. People will always may the minimum tip they need to to save face. Even a big winner at a casino. They just want to be a bigshot. It has nothing to do with service.

Speaking of Nickels. This past Thursday, Sara and I made the trek down to Nashville for Nickel Creek’s last concert of their Farewell (For Now) Tour. I know, I know. You’re probably wondering, “What the heck does Farewell (For Now) Tour mean?” Well, I’ll tell you what I know. The lead musician in Nickel Creek is a mandolin player named Chris Thile. Chris Thile is also known as one of the top two mandolin players in the world. As such, he released his first CD at the age of 8. About the same time, his mandolin teacher had another student at the age of 12 by the name of Sean Watkins. Sean Watkins has a sister four years his younger named Sara. So, the two families met and a band with 3 kids and one dad playing bass was formed. Fast forward through two limited-releases and numerous music festivals to the year 2000 (right Conan, in the year TWO THOUUUUUsand). Their self-title major label debut produced by one Alison Krauss was nominated for two Grammy’s and they receive first commercial success.

Fast forward through two more releases (This Side and Why Should The Fire Die?) and their decision to take a break. Fact of the matter is that they have been a band for the past 18 years and they decided they couldn’t make a better CD than Why Should The Fire Die? so it was time to stop playing together. So they said 2007 was their last year and scheduled their Farewell (For Now) Tour with the last shows a two night stand at the Ryman in Nashville. The Ryman Auditorium is THE venue in THE country/bluegrass town, and I’ve long been wanting to see a show there. But I’ve been waiting. Waiting for the perfect storm of band and timing and Ryman. When I found out Nickel Creek was playing what could be their last shows there, I knew I had to be there. Thursday night. No problem. Six hours from school. No problem. Sara having class the next morning. No problem. I had to be there. So I went, and it was awesome. The Ryman has the best acoustics of all the venues I’ve been to and now tops my list of favorite places to see a show. Like I said, Nashville is a bluegrass town and a Nickel Creek show is bound to special guests. So, Nickel Creek brought friends (Bela Fleck, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Tim O’Brien, and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers) onstage throughout the show and for their encore (which they did the right way and only played covers). I know Sara disappointed because she wanted Alison Krauss, but I thought the show was incredible. I’ve always thought that Watkins siblings were chumps and that Thile could have put anybody beside him and the band would have been the same, but after the show I’m much more impressed with Sean’s abilities on the guitar, and release that only those three could have been Nickel Creek. They did their last song (Why Should The Fire Die?) in style with no mikes or amplifiers. A great way for a great band to go out.

Andrew had free tickets to the show in Louisville and decided not to go. Now that's dumb.

Song Recommendation - The Lighthouse's Tale by Nickel Creek

Who's gonna watch you die?

The stretch of I-65 from Lafayette to New Albany is a barren wasteland (Indy included) when it comes to radio, as such I relish when I’m south of mile marker 68 and can listen to both NPR and WFPK being broadcast from Louisville. I’ve been listening to a lot of NPR lately because the time passes a lot faster when you’re thinking about something. It also stays away from being completely polarizing like other talk shows, and broadcasts the BBC. I mean, British accents are just so fun. Anyway, how did I even get here. Oh yea. Driving and listening to NPR. Last night I was driving and listening to NPR and they were playing some of the award winners from the Third Coast Festival / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition (if the competition had a longer name, I think it would get more recognition). Apparently, entrants in the competition are the best radio documentaries from across the globe. The Gold Award winner was this BBC Documentary from a series called Don’t Hang Up. The premise of the show is these radio guys in a studio called public phones across the globe and would talk to whoever answered. They talked to a drunk 14-year in rural England, a transgender hitchhiker in New Zealand, and a security guard in the Everglades. It was highly entertaining. Plus, their accents were fun.

While Don't Hang Up was highly entertaining, the piece that had me thinking the most was an Honorable Mention Winner entitled The Ground We Lived On. The piece was about a woman and her dying father. They started taping their conversations near the end of his life when he knew that he wasn't coming back from the cancer that was killing him. The story was so touching because of its intimacy and the creators courage to not hold any of those touching moments back. It immediately made of think of the Death Cab for Cutie song titled What Sarah Said. I think that Benjamin Gibbard write some of the best lyrics in the business, and this particular song is about waiting for this girl Sarah to die. (As each descending peak of the LCD takes you a little bit farther away from me..........how good is THAT for lyric? I'll tell you, off the chart good.) Anyway, great song. Great album (Plans). I think both the documentary and song make the same point though. Although death can be scary and painful and sad, that is what love is all about. No one needs you more than when they are dying, and thats when the REAL moments are shared. The ones you'll remember. Either because you can't let them go, or because you don't want to.

Song Recommendation - What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie

Eggs and Energy

Darn you Jake.

Jake recently wrote a post on his blog about food poisoning (the link to his blog is to the right, click on the one that says Blair), and trys to make a claim that eggs can go bad (dumb, right?). I mean I've eaten eggs that have sat in my refrigerator for months before. With that protective shell and all, how could they even begint to go bad. Plus, with that expensive price tag, ($.93 for a dozen) how could you not do everything to not throw them out. Well, all this talk of eggs, made me want an omelet. So, I grabbed the eggs from the refrigerator taking special notice of the best to buy before date of October 15 (if they want you to buy them before October 15th, that means they expect you to eat them later, so we'll say expiration date of October 25th). So I said, "That's only three weeks old, I definitely eating these guys!!" So, I turn the stove on and start cracking the eggs. I crack the first egg and immediately question the yolks texture. I crack the second egg and question why the egg didn't crack right. I grab the rest of the eggs and throw them in the trash. I couldn't do it. Jake was totally in my head. Now, I have to wait until I forget about Jake getting food poisoning from eggs to enjoy them again. I'm not European, I'm not going to go to the supermarket everyday. That's why they invented pasteurization (that begs an important question, why can't the French pasteurize their stuff, their man Louis Pasteur invented the process). So I could enjoy my eggs a month after purchase.

Two asides about eggs.
1. You can get 3 pretty nice meals out of a dozen eggs. At $.31 a pop, that has got to be the deal of the century.
2. At Evan and Scott's bodybuilding competition, they had free magazines. In one of said magazines, there was an advertisement for egg whites. The product was a bucket full of egg whites that you add as a supplement to protein mixes. The worst thing about it, is that the bucket of eggs looked like one those gigantic lotion bottle looking containers. You know the kind they have ketchup in in baseball stadiums. So you basically you be like, "Ok, I need 3 squirts of egg white byproduct in my drink. Delicious." More like disgusting.

Ok, next topic. Geothermal Energy. I recently went to the Net Impact Conference in Nashville (you can Google Net Impact for more info on them), and one of the speakers was this guy who made a documentary (Kilowatt Ours.....get it) on where our energy from. He had this really effective illustration of how when you flip a light switch, you are effectively blowing up a mountain in Appalachia. Now, is that sensationalistic. Yes. Effective. Yes. Anyway, although his film was made at a much lower budget than An Inconvenient Truth**, I liked it more because the entire second half of the film was solutions and I thought that was lacking with Al Gore's film. The solutions were based on how much money one could save. Saving money is always more effective to getting people onboard than trying give people the soft sell. Either way, you're saving the earth.

One of the solutions was geothermal heating, and it showed this man who ran his pipes really deep into the ground to have the earth geothermally heat his water. He saved something like $600 a year doing this (the man probably had a 5,000 square foot house, so why he was worried about the money, I have no idea).

There is another type of energy called wave energy. Wave energy is energy derived from wave motion. In practice this means taking a magnetic and anchoring it to the sea floor. You place this magnet inside a buoy with electric coils inside it. The motion of the ocean (hehe) causes the buoy's electric coils to oscillate up and down along the magnet and creating electricity. Cool.

But, I see a problem with both types of energy. What happens when a large amount of people start using it? Energy is a zero sum gain. If tons of people starting using energy to heat their water, that means their is less geothermal heat to go around. What effect does that have on the earth? In 100 years will people be calling for the end of geothermal energy before its too late. If tons of coastal cities create wave energy parks (groups of these wave energy buoys), the oceans kinetic energy will be turned into cities potential energy. Those waves you see at the beach will begin to become much weaker. In 50 years, will people call for the end of wave energy and the use of oil. It remains to be seen. You do have credit people for trying to find solutions.

Probably the best solution is an epidemic or aliens. I'm kidding......kinda.

Another issue I've been pondering lately is this. Ryan Adams is almost finished with his contractual obligations to Lost Highway records. As such, the rumor is there will be a box set of all his releases. I have half of Ryan Adams releases, and I want the other half. But I don't know what to do. I could buy the rest of them and not have the official box set. Or I could wait, buy the box set, and them have doubles of half his stuff. No good solution. Geez.

Song Recommendation - House By The Sea by Iron & Wine

Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping?

I sure hope you're dead.

And so Modest Mouse opened their set at The Murat in The Egyptian Room. Ok, I lied. They didn't open the show with Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping, but I just thought that opening would sound so cool. It did. They didn't play Are You Dead until much later in the show when they already had the house good and rocking. They played with a lot of energy and although I could not understand any of Issac Brock lyrics it was still a great show. Man Man opened the show, and can only be described by Sara as what Kurt Vonnegut's band would sound (and look) like. Really bizarre....but entertaining.

I realized once again how much I hate The Egyptian Room as a venue. All the Egyptian decor (The Murat used to be a Masonic Temple) is quite memorable but unfortunately the room has about the same acoustics as a pyramid. Terrible. Plus it's large and flat. Good luck if you can't snag great seats.

As previously discussed, I went daily to Starbucks to get a free iTunes Song of the Day. Finally, after 32 days, the promotion is over and I can go back to leading a normal life. Except I can't. The promotion worked. I keep going back. I genuinely like the experience. All this crap I learn in school about the "Starbucks Experience" is true. It does exist. The people are just so nice. They say "Word" when I comment about the weather. They play good music. You're probably just assuming that it's a caffeine addiction. So what if it was. I'm not Mormon. I don't live by the Word of Wisdom (singular, although there are multiple words). I can be addicted to coffee if I want. Except I'm not. Sometimes I get decaf. Sometimes I get tea. It's not about the caffeine.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world (oil is numero uno), and just about every country in the world drinks it (except for China). When Starbucks builds a store, coffee sales at all coffee shops in the area historically have increased by as much as 25%. Starbucks is 25 times largest than the second largest chain (Caribou Coffee). It runs the industry. Since Starbucks buys coffee from all over the world they have been able to mitigate a lot of the risk associated with a catastrophic crop failure in an individual region. I can only see one thing that can stop them. The government. I see it as only a matter of time before the government starts to heavily regulate coffee. How could they not? They regulate the tabacco industry, they regulate the alcohol industry, and they regulate the fast food industry. You think the government will stand by and let by Starbucks build their goal of 20,000 US stores (they currently have 10,500 but less than 10% of the US market) without wanting a piece of the action? How many senators would love to make a name for themselves by attempting to stop this great caffeine dispensing giant? Oh it will happen. It will be epic and it will be nasty. But until then, drink up and be merry.

Song Recommendation - Float On by Modest Mouse

The Year is 1999

The year is 1999. Almost everyone is partying because, well, they've been hearing that this is model for partying since Prince blessed us with 1999 in 1982. The rest of the population is stockpiling goods in their cellars and creating militias for when the Millinnium happens. Well you're one of the "almost everyone'' and you are at this party and it is the coolest party you have ever been to. I mean people are GETTING DOWN and just when think things can't get any cooler this discussion about macroeconomics in the future breaks out. This lesser thinker is like, "What do you think would happen if in 2007 the price of a barrel of oil isn't the current $12, but 5 times that much at $60?" Everyone just starts laughing at this guy, "That is not only impossible," they say "but the answer would be catastrophic to the economy." They of course were wrong. You want to think about something crazy. Oil is trading at $93 a barrel. That is an almost 800% increase to what it was in 1999. What is the economy doing? Just humming right along. You know what that makes me think. This Earth will never run out of oil. The price of oil will just keep rising until is makes sense to use other forms of energy. Then we will just use that energy for 200 years before the media will make a big deal about getting ready to run of that energy. The cycle will just keep reciprocating.

I heard something I've never heard at a concert before. Grace Potter was opening up for Govt Mule and before one of her songs she said, "This song is kind of dirty. All the pornstars have been calling to use it." I thought, "Wow. I've never heard someone say that before." And yep, the song was kinda dirty (For reference, it's called If I Was From Paris). We ended up leaving the Govt Mule show early because I hate The Vogue in Indy and I hated the crowd. See the leader of Govt Mule is Warren Haynes who is in this other little band called The Allman Brothers Band. And because of that association there were about a million 50 year old hippies at the show. And the place is tiny. And I had no personal space. And the smoke was killing my eyes. So we left after an hour.

The Dalai Lama (or as he is referred to in my household, Mr. Lama) was in town last Friday to talk about compassion. I went to be enlightened. Mr. Lama made it clear early into his speech that he had no super powers and that people who thought he did, were dumb. He was really fun though. Just a cute 73 year old man who has spent his entire life preaching peace. Using broken English to talk about nipples. His sometimes translator (Mr. Lama didn't know the English for some words, like nipple, so he just pointed) was also really impressive, and could finish sentences for Mr. Lama when needed. It was a neat experience.

This past weekend was the UPA Ultimate Frisbee Club Championships in Sarasota. Seattle Sockeye came out as champions for their third title in four years. In the semi-final, eventually runner-up Johnny Bravo (Boulder) was playing GOAT (Toronto) and a player went up for a disc in the endzone. The JB guy grabs the disc for the goal and the GOAT guy kind of tackles him trying to get the D. The JB guy stands up and spikes the disc in the GOAT player's chest. WOW. However heinous, it's just another example of American ownage on Canada.

Song Recommendation - On Palastine by JJ Grey & Mofro

A Law For Everything

In the not too distant past I was driving down to Bloomington to visit a young lady known by the name of Sara. The visit isn't that important within the context of the story because this discussion centers around the actual drive. Since the downfall of WTTS, more specifically since they have become enamored with poor 80's and early 90's rock, the radio options on the trip from Lafayette to Bloomington is ESPN or NPR and local radio. Since you lose ESPN 5 miles outside of Lafayette and NPR somewhere between Indy and Btown (before regaining it once again), you're only option is the Monroe County radio. SO, I'm driving and listening to these fellas debate a proposed Bloomington law that will make it illegal for people to smoke in cars when kids under the age of 13 are also in the car (mind you, there is also a Bloomington law in which kids can be ticketed for not wearing a bicycle helmet). It seemed that most of the people who were calling in, as well as the commentators, agreed that this law was pretty dumb. I'm glad. My dining experience is much more pleasant when the restaurant is non-smoking, it will be nice to wear a jacket to the bars this winter, and I'm glad people have to stand far away from buildings on campus to smoke. But those are all public places. Those aren't someones personnel possessions. People have every right do smoke in their cars. My grandpa smoked in the car with my dad and uncles in their. They turned out alright. Andrew's dad smoked him the car (maybe not, Andrew's dad loves his vehicles) with him in there and he turned out alright. In fact, I bet the healthy people who wrote this absurd law rode around in cars with their smoker parents. For reference, Sara supports this law. She also pretends she is super liberal. She is also dumb.

I've been busy grading papers all weekend. It's been pretty boring, and I often feel bad for giving low grades, but I guess that's my job. Actually, I don't feel bad giving low grades if I can tell that the person did not try. That's just stupid. Especially since the students are Executive MBA's. That means they are executives of a company somewhere. I know they know how to work hard. I'm also talking to Matt about working part-time at Humana. I only have three classes this module, plus a project with Caterpiller.

I've been going to Starbuck's everyday for the past two weeks. Those guys are good. Right now they are in the middle of a promotion with iTunes in which you get a free, different download everyday. Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Alice Smith, Rogue Wave, Band of Horse, all kinds of stuff. A different artist everyday. So, I love music. I walk in, get a medium coffee ($1.96), and get a free song, drink the coffee, stay up all night wishing I hadn't drank the coffee and that I could fall asleep. I'm cool with that. Songs on iTunes are usually $.99. So I'm down with $.97 coffee. (I know it's not really like that but I can at least lie to myself). It's fun, you never know what artist you're going to get.

Song Recommedation - Cannonball by Damien Rice

al-Qaeda and Nickel Creek

So, I've been reading the book The Looming Tower while on break. It was written by Lawerence Wright and won a Pulitzer Prize. Anyway, the book is about the history of al-Qaeda (if you don't know who these guys are, they have a wikipedia page, although you will probably get put on terrorist watch lists for going to it) and the events leading to 9/11. When I say the events leading to 9/11, I mean all the way back to the childhood of Osama bin Ladin's dad. Over the weekend I also went and saw The Kingdom, which is about Saudi Arabia and deals with many of the same issues as The Looming Tower (the bin Ladin family is Yemini by Osama was raised in Saudi Arabia). The thing that strikes me most about this whole al-Qaeda issue is that everything thinks what they are doing is right, and that it is what God wants. Granted that some of the issues have been twisted by al-Qaeda to fit their needs, but there is no way you can stop someone who thinks that God wants them to do something, and they truly believe in that God. What a mess.

On to other not so tragic issues. I was able to snag a pair of tickets to Nickel Creek's last show. Turns out that I'm not the failure I previously suspected that I was.

I was having a discussion last week with Long Steve about Entrepreneurship. Long Steve was saying that Entrepreneurship was his major in college. I told him that that was dumb. You can't teach someone to be an entrepreneur. You can't say, "Here, I am going to teach you how to come up with a good idea!!" That's impossible. He agreed. His point was that what he learned in college was how to run a small business. How to get capital. How to deal with new companies. This makes much more sense to me. These are good skills to learn since almost everything students learn in business school is focused on taking an established position in an established company. So we agreed that the term Entrepreneurship was some lame marketing word. I mean yea, it sounds way cooler than Small Business Management, and implies the ability to get rich with a great idea but I still don't like the term.

I just picked up the new Iron & Wine cd and Ryan Adam's Cold Roses. Both of them a grade A and a must buy in my book.

Song Recommendation - Ah Mary by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Fall Break

Well, the passing of finals means that I am five modules down and have three remaining before I'm finished with school. I can't remember a time where I have been apathetic with school. Hopefully, I can get myself together and finish up like a rockstar. The passing of finals also means that it's time for fall break. Fall break means it's time for Harvest Homecoming. Harvest Homecoming means it's time for belly aches and avoiding people. This year didn't disappoint.

Speaking of HH. Kids are dumb. Today, I saw a girl licking the ketchup off a corn dog. She wasn't eating the corn dog, just licking the ketchup off. I'm sure her parents were upset that they went with the corn dog and not the ketchup popcicle.

Fall Break also means the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Ever since my mom was diagnosed, my family has been steadfast participants. When I say family, I'm talking grandma, aunts, cousins, second cousins, Sara, friends. The whole family. It's always a good time. This year didn't disappoint. Kaliegh wouldn't pee in the port-a-pot so instead chose the little urinal inside the port-a-pot. That must have been hilarious.

Quest Outdoors was also having their annual warehouse sale. It was madness when I was there on Friday morning, as apparently people were waiting outside in the cold. People were scooping up 5 coats at a time to go try on. I was able to snag a winter coat with zipout fleece from The North Face. I went back on Sunday with Sara and found some sweet travel luggage from The North Face. I also found an even sweeter Arc'teryx Naos 55 trekking pack. It was an awesome deal too. I didn't want to buy it, but I couldn't pass it up. Mom and Dad are giving it to me for Christmas.

Song Recommendation - Intervention by Arcade Fire

Speaking of Arcade Fire, when Sara and I went to the Andrew Bird concert in Bloomington the band LeLoup was a pretty good knock-off. I doubt they want to hear being called a knock-off though.

Tulsa and Back in One Weekend

It was almost 3 strikes and out for Steve Loomis this past weekend. On Thursday we found out we were getting the promised tour bus because the trip from Louisville to Tulsa is 10 hours and 2 minutes. Bus drivers can apparently only drive 10 hours per DOT regulations, and those 2 minutes were going to cost us $750 both ways. So we made the trip in minivans and the Miller Family Magnum. Not ideal.

Then I found out that there will be no staying in the Indian Casino. Not only did we not get to stay there we had to drive by it in its neon, Cherokee Casino glory on our way to our smoking room at the La Quinta Inn. I mean, I don't have a problem with La Quintas, but they don't have roulette wheels in the lobby either.

THEN, I find out that because we don't have the tour bus we won't be getting Wigger or Frazier. I mean, we're a different team with those guys.

THEN, we get to these fields and they aren't anything extrodinary.

Anyway, we stilled had fun none the less.

Tussin' - We played pretty well, and won a close one at the end.
General Strike - They played like a team that had made a 20 hour trip from Winnipeg. We played about as well and lost 11-8 in a game we should have won.
Madison - We expected to lose this one from the beginning and would have probably won with a little more energy. We lose 11-8.
Black - Oh geez, we played horrible to a team we probably should have beat. 11-3.
Madcow - Fresh off their big win against BAT, and visions of their 13-3 whipping against us at Sectionals, they opened up their roster. Bad idea. We took half at 6-3, but couldn't win it. 11-8.
BAT - It rained. They were athletic. We didn't play well. 11-4.
Dingwop - We handled our business in a game that was never close. 11-6.

I played pretty bad, but nobody played really well. Our goal this year was top 8 at Regionals. That didn't happen as we finished 11th or so. Definitely going to show some improvement next year, or I'm going to have to play coed to get my trip to Natty's. And boy I don't want to do that.

In other news, this week is finals. Dumb. I also got a job grading accounting papers in the Executive MBA program. Now I won't have SO much free time. Sweet.

Song Recommendation - Boy With A Coin by Iron & Wine

It ain't easy, but it'll be all right.

On my way home to catch the bus to Regionals, I stopped by Bloomington (yea, I know it is not on the way at all) to see Sara and catch the Shooter Jennings show at the Bluebird. I hate seeing shows at the Bluebird. The place is set up very poorly for a concert, but they tend to have great shows there. North Mississippi Allstars. Nickel Creek. JJ Grey. Grace Potter. Old Crow Medicine Show. I mean, real quality acts. So anyway, Sara and I are pretty big Shooter fans and this was a must see show. It was also fun to see him in his "element". The last time we saw him it was at Bonnaroo, and the crowd was a lot rougher tonight. Charles Manson look alikes. Meth-heads. Lots of what business people would call diversity. Well, anyway, it was a great show. Lots of fun.

Like I was saying, I'm making my way down to Louisville to catch the bus to Regionals. Well, I guess it's not a bus anymore. We were supposed to getting a tour bus with the co-ed team, for what would have been an epic journey. Something happened with the price though, and we had to switch last minute to vans. This is sure to be a cheaper option, but 11 hours in a van to Tulsa is a lot less comfortable than 11 hours in a bus to Tulsa. Regardless, everyone is excited about Regionals. We're seeded 10. Our goal for the entire season is top 8 in the Region, so that is easily within reach. We get to stay at an Indian casino. I've never been to Oklahoma. Lots of positives.

Song Recommendation - Hair of the Dog by Shooter Jennings

Outsourcing/Offshoring/Offsourcing

So, in my global strategy class we talked about one of my the most polarizing of all topics in the media (which then makes it political). The Topic? Outsourcing. Which is different than offshoring. Which if different than offsourcing. Specially, outsourcing is when a task is done outside your company. Offshoring is when the task is done outside the country (this does mean that another company does it). Offsourcing is the most accurate term for when a task done by your company is done in a different country by a different company. This is traditionally what people think of when thinking of outsourcing.

Anyway, a good discussion ensued. Most MBA students are for outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing because they look at it strictly from a labor to cost perspective and the financial advantages that ensue.. I tend to agree. Then again, I wouldn't say I have been personally affected. If my dad worked on an assembly line, maybe I would have a different view. I think what most American's don't understand is that outsourcing/offshoring/offsourcing is not just a local event. When I was at TVS in India (who people think is the black hole of labor) they sent there engineering work to Japan and built a plant in Malaysia for labor cost advantages. I also think that Americans are polarized by it because we are in the wave where jobs leave. I would argue that our industries will stay competitive by adapting. No job is immune though. Doctors in India check x-rays for hospitals in America.

Song Recommendation - Sweets by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

(I saw the last 5 minutes of this crappy HBO show about married couples, and this song was playing in the background...crappy show, great song)

Nickel Creek Tickets

As some of you may know, Nickel Creek is currently in the middle of their Farewell For Now tour. The band is planning on taking an extended break. Nobody really knows what that means, so I think everyone is planning as if this could very well be their last tour. The last two night of the tour are the the Ryman Theater in Nashville. They will be making a DVD and live CD from those two nights, and I'm sure there will be guest appearances galore.

I wanted to be at that show.
I needed to be at that show.
I was unable to get tickets for that show.

I got online at 1:06 when tickets went on sale at 1:00. Sold out. Both nights. Are you kidding me. They weren't. I failed. I'm a failure. I will get those tickets. One guy on their website said he was flying in from England for the show. Now, that is dedication.

I guess I should give a song recommendation from Nickel Creek.

Song Recommendation - Somebody More Like You by Nickel Creek

Nick, where have you been?

Where HAVE I been? It's interesting that these blog entries are accomplished in fits. I wish I had the discipline to sit down one a week and write something. I mean, I know all the readers are just waiting out there for something. Anything. Begging to themselves for one sentence of a post. Probably not. Maybe it's not even that I had the discipline, maybe it's that I had the discipline to have the discipline. I digress. (I don't know if I used that "I digress" statement appropriately, but I like it when people say that)

So, what has happen in my life since my last post?

I started school.
I decided that six straight years of school was too much.
I decided that I am going to take some sort of epic journey at the end of the school year.
I was unstoppable at CHC, and completely stoppable at Sectionals. (Ultimate Frisbee)
I saw Andrew Bird in concert.
I received a full-time offer from Humana.
I counter offered with Humana.
Humana said no to the counter offer.
I bought a new computer.
I almost got halfway finished with a Logistics exam.
I skipped the job fair.

That pretty much brings us to the present. I'm glad you're back on board.

Song Recommendation: Poor House by The Traveling Wilburys

The ring on Sara's Iphone for when her dad calls is Poor House. Basically the most appropriate ring possible.

Summers Over

Summers over. It ends tonight. Tomorrow, I go off to be an MBA student again. Luckily, I learned one very important thing this summer. No, it had nothing to do with my internship.

The one important thing I learned is that old woman LOVE Trace Adkins. Let me tell you a story. My sister and I were all excited because Dierks Bentley was going to be at the Kentucky State Fair, and since he played Bonnaroo this year I knew he had talent. Well, it turns out that Dierks was going to be playing after Kellie Pickler but before Trace Adkins. We were like, “Who wants to see Trace Adkins?” and “Why is he headlining?” Well we found out who wanted to see Trace Adkins. The old ladies. Apparently, to the geriatric crowd Mr. Adkins is dripping sex appeal. Most of his songs are about sexing chicks, and they are accompanied by a nearly constant stream of pelvic thrusts. I was impressed. Andrew Miller was not (“If he thrusts one more time, I am going to kick him in the balls”). You have not lived until you have seen a grandma booty dancing to Honky Tonk Ba Donka Donk (Real name to a Trace Adkins song). Entertaining? Yes. Am I fan? No.

Dierks Bentley was highly entertaining, and even had a bluegrass mini-set. I snagged the setlist after the show. Kellie Pickler is kinda dump.

Song Recommendation – Paranoia in B Major by The Avett Brothers