Monday, October 1, 2007

Monday Night Miscellany


The Monday Quiz!

Well! Wasn't that fun? Very laid back. No stars, no winner, none of that aggressive competitive vibe that you get on Thursday. Just a mellow little quiz.


The Weekend College Football Roundup

In Boulder, Oklahoma got out front early on the way to easy victory, as I had foretold. Except that then Colorado started making points. They made enough points that, just as the clock ran out, they technically had more points than the Sooners. And there was much sorrow and weeping.

In Corvallis, Oregon State got out to an early lead against UCLA, and held on mightily! With nine minutes left in the game, they were slightly ahead, as indeed I had predicted they would be. But then UCLA made 28 more points. And there was much sorrow and weeping.


But none of that really matters, as long as the Ducks win. In Eugene, Oregon and Cal fought toe to toe all afternoon. With twenty seconds left in the game, an Oregon player streaked into the end zone to score the tieing touchdown! Except he kind of dropped the ball, as they say. And there was much sorrow and weeping. Damn.

On the plus side, they were all exciting games. That's something. Right?

I appreciate the kind words of those of you who have been there for me in this difficult time.


The Rock Music

This weekend Mrs.5000 & I went to a show at The Doug Fir, a club that is often alleged to be Portland's hippest. We feel very comfortable and not at all out of place there, so I hope to hell that there is someplace considerably hipper somewhere in town. I mean, come on.

We were there to see Earlimart, a soundscapey, impressionistic, and otherwise hard-to-categorize band out of Southern California that we are more than a little fond of (pictured here in another image that I may not quite have, like, the legal right to post). They were scorching good. They played mostly songs off a new album (Mentor Tormentor) that I hadn't heard yet, which is often kind of challenging at a concert but in this case it just made me excited to get the new record. I'm listening to it as we speak. It's awesome.

It also has an awfully cool cover:


Two opening bands were also superb: Chicago's The Office played a kind of high-energy melange of pop rock 1978-1984, kind of The Cars meet Talking Heads meet The Clash, and they had a lot of fun doing it. They put on a good show. Highly recommended for Chicago-area readers.

And, Portland's own Southerly were considerably more somber, striking kind of an Eels-y mood but with a broader, harder sound, more complex rhythms, and less direct lyrics. I picked up their album (Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist) too, and am look forward to exploring it.


Signs

They've been doing construction by my work. Alternative interpretations for a couple of the road signs popped into my head, and now I can't get rid of them:



"Look! I got a new filing cabinet!"




Caution: Men Playing Squash

7 comments:

Karin said...

Wait! Wait, but--a couple people got the answers right!

How can there be no STARS?! NO STARS? ForGET it. I'm not playing your stupid game anymore.



(only 6 days 38 minutes 'til the next Monday quiz.)

Rebel said...

M5K - they are doing construction *EVERYWHERE* these days. I really like your new descriptions though. Reminds me of a joke I heard -

There was a road sign the other day that said "Orange cones indicate road work ahead" No really? I thought it meant psychodelic witches buried in asphalt.

Rebel said...

PS - the Doug Fir is seriously hip. That's where I went on a pseudo date with the AIR... ahhh good times.

blythe said...

this makes me want to live in the OR. nice bands. street signs with room for interpretation. no sooners...

Mr. Shain said...

look, a new filing cabinet --that's funny, but i don't know why

Michael5000 said...

@karin: The stars come out... on Thursday!

@rebel: That reminds me of a Frank Zappa album. "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch." Hard to explain why, though. Kind of a visual thing.

@blythe: That makes me want to call Oregon "the OR." I've also been considering referring to "my crib in the 5 oh 3." Do you think that would sound good?

@Mr. Shain: Yeah, I'm not sure why it's funny. But I crack me up. The "men playing squash" one was just filler.

Heatherbee said...

Hi Michael, My Crib in the Five oh Three would be fine until you went to LA, where they would think you slept in the middle of a highway.

(My brother comes to visit from LA and it's "get on The 405, take The 87..." They like their definite articles with route numbers down there.)

P.S. Nice filing cabinet.