As Far As I Can Tell

Wrong numbers can be great little insights into the life of a stranger. What’s best is when they leave a message without realizing (for some reason) that this isn’t the right number. This happens on my phone routinely, including a sad message a while ago of a man trying to tell someone when they can come down to the funeral home for a visitation. Nothing else though has been quite as bizarre as the 2.5 minute message left on my machine Saturday.

It’s rambling, crazy, threatening and nonsensical. At one point she’s implies that she’s putting someone else on the line, but then keeps talking. At another she seems to take a long drink with loud gulping noises.

I recorded it as an MP3 so you can download it [580K] and listen for yourself with your favorite media player.

I hope this is a friend of mine doing a fabulous job of screwing with me.

A few days ago I went to the new Music Express, a few doors down from their old location. They got rid of all the non-music merchandise and expanded their selection, particularly the vinyl. I feel like we have a real record store in Kalamazoo again. I picked up the TV on the Radio CD and the new Iron & Wine record with bonus 7”.

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I finally spoke to Meredith on the phone today. After hours of international dialing confusion last night I connected, only to hear a French recording speak nonsense to me. Was this her voice mail? Maybe, but I had no proof and left the odd sort of message you leave when you’re not sure who’s going to be listening.

But today, after repeating that confusion 3 times throughout the day, she answered. Hopefully I’ll have less problems calling now, since I’d really like to talk to her often. I can’t wait until I’m there.

Meredith left for France this morning, and though she’s been gone the least amount of time I think today might be the hardest. Right now she’s still in the air above the Atlantic.

We had a small going away party this Saturday. Most of my photos ended up blurry, but here are a couple good ones.

This week I discovered The Books, and not in a long time have I found and artist that so instantly excited me. Their music is a college of electronic bits, folky banjo, violin, and vocal samples. They’re experimental, but know just when change pace to avoid being tedious. At first it reminded me of John Cage and aeatoric music, but it’s far too well orchestrated to be in that realm.

In a Pitchfork interview, members note being influenced by Dadaists, Surrealists, and Fluxus; which describes the music better then a listing of overlapping musical genres could. It reminds me of walking down a busy street, losing track of time in an art gallery or spending hours eavesdropping and watching cars in the park. There’s a calming sense of wonderment in their music, and I’d definitely recommend headphones.

MP3s:
Record Label Site
Sample tracks from Insound

Meredith leaves for France in a week, and thinking about that makes me want to put something on my head. Hats, scarves, blankets, pillows or hands. Things on my head make me feel better. This is her finals week, which means there won’t be any gap between super busy and on a plane.

Two days ago I bought my plane tickets to visit her. Having those purchased makes me feel better, like it compresses time by having a set date. I haven’t bought tickets online until recently, and I’m really impressed with the process. The part I like best is the seat chooser, which shows you all the seats in the plane and lets you pick an available one. I’m flying in window seat 35A both ways.

June 1st: Chicago » Paris » Strasbourg
June 16th: Florence » Paris » Chicago

President Bush’s reelection campaign released their first round of television ads yesterday, and I’m appalled that one of them makes use of 9/11 imagery. Exploiting such a tragedy for political gain is offensive and shameful. Regretfully the strategy extends beyond the single TV spot. The Republican Convention is being held in NYC this year, with its date pushed to Sept. 2, the latest ever in the history of the party. As stated in the New York Times from April 22, 2003 they “chose the date so the event would flow into the commemorations marking the third anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks”.

George Bush has refused to testify in front of the 9/11 commission, set up to determine what went wrong in the lead-up to the attacks. Yet he doesn’t seem to mind using the tragedy to his advantage in political maneuvering. Here is a man who would rather exploit a nation’s grief, then help make sure it doesn’t happen again.