:: Dillondesk -- the blog of LCD ::

:: Friday, November 11, 2005 ::

:: Calvin 5:20 PM [+] ::

Procrastination is something I know a great deal about. I often engage in stupendous feats of passive-aggressive avoidance of work by telling myself I'm too tired, that I need to wait until I really feel the pressure, or there is no reason to do it now because I really have a ton of time.

This results in an elevated threat level from my wife, who drops not-so-subtle hints in the days before and SAT class or when grades are due that I need to get up off my keister and put my nose to the grindstone after rolling up my sleeves and get cracking because the early bird catches the worm and the procrastinating husband becomes worm food.

I am currently engaged in the highly ironic activity of grading SAT essays two days before the class meets, said essays being on the topic of procrastination. The kids mostly are saying that procrastination is bad, but they have great personal examples of staying up all night working on three projects at once and STILL pulling A's and B's. I didn't get that bad until college, when I was surviving on Big Macs, adrenaline, menthols, and righteous indignation.

So far I have taken five breaks from grading, which I have been doing pretty steadily since about 11:30am. I am almost halfway finished with the essays, and they are really a pleasure to read.

I really got on the computer to talk about LifeSaver lollipops (I am currently enraptured by a blueberry one -- Halloween is a great thing when you buy too much candy). I used to LOVE these things, almost as much as chewy sweet tarts and little bottles of Welch's grapes juice and family-sized cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli.

Oh well,-- Rage Against the Machine just sequed into Bob Mould from Bjork, so I guess it is time to extract myself from the flow of photons and electrons that is the InterWeb and get back to work.

Have a great Veterans' Day. We had a bunch of cool readings every period yesterday -- the kids had never heard of the Tomb of the Unknown and didn't know about POWs either, so they really liked it.

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:: Monday, November 07, 2005 ::

:: Calvin 6:53 PM [+] ::

Minus the Bear

Since joining eMusic, I have downloaded several indie albums and had my socks rocked off by a couple of them. I really like Spoon's Gimme Fiction, Bob Mould's Body of Song, The Decemberists' Castaways and Cutouts, The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema, Mogwai's Rock Action, and Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. (the Mogwai and Pavement are oldish).

There have been some more mellow discoveries, most notably the eels, Interpol, Belle and Sebastian, Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, and Morphine (missed them the first time around).

But my FAVORITE new band is Minus the Bear, a Seattle band made up of castoffs from other bands like Sharks Keep Moving, Kill Saide and Botch.

Somebody somewhere called them "math rock,"which I guess refers to the intricate percussion and interwoven Stanley Jordanesque tapping on the guitar over some really talented programming.

The names of the songs are stupid ("Pantsuit??? Ugggggh", "Hey, Wanna Throw Up? Get me Naked!" and "Lemurs, Man, Lemurs" are my favorites) and most of the lyrics are either completely banal or an inspired ironic commentary on the current generations obsession with going out drinking and hooking up.

They ROCK however, and on songs like "Hey, Let's Play Guitar in a Five Guitar Band," they majorly rip up the fretboard and drumset.

Give them a listen.

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