I don't need an excuse to drive down to my old neighborhood in DC and hang out, but seeing Rilo Kiley at 9:30 Club sure don't hurt none. Last year, around this same time, I saw Jenny Lewis' solo band at the same venue. But this was my first time to see RK live. It did not disappoint. They set the tone early with energetic performances of "It's a Hit" and "Portions for Foxes," and carried it on throughout the entire show. It might be redundant to say this, but Jenny Lewis was sexy and intoxicating. I'm sorry. Oh, and I believe I've now recruited Jonathan, who saw the show with me, to participate in my obsession with this band, and with JL in particular. Again, I'm sorry.

I won't go into any more detail about the show because, for one thing, I find concert reviews a little boring—both to read and to write. But in this case, there's no need to review it because you can actually listen to the show for yourself on NPR if you're interested, which will certainly be more entertaining than anything I have to say about it. Oh, and I will also draw your attention to a pretty good article on the band in Spin. You'll learn about Jenny Lewis' obsession with clothes, as well as why people are comparing the band to Fleetwood Mac. There are a few pics which I've posted over here and here, too, some taken by me and some by Jonathan. Enjoy.

Also, if you're a RK newbie and want to pick up an album, I'd recommend getting The Execution of All Things. Shy away from their most recent album Under the Blacklight, at least for now. I'm not going to say it's bad, because it isn't, and listening to the songs performed live last night definitely gave me a new appreciation for it. But it's definitely getting a lot of criticism from fans for being a departure from their "classic sound," and while I don't agree this is inherently a bad thing, I do agree with the assessment. Execution is really great, though. And if you like that album, you'll fall in love with RK.

link to this | comments (3) | File:  Rilo_Kiley 

If you follow the sports and like hypothesizing on who will end the season a champion, or if you hate sports but love statistics, check this site out. Of course I'm most interested in this page.

link to this | comments (2) | File:  Sports  Football 

The happiest part of my day is picking up coffee from Common Ground on the Avenue. The saddest, most tragic part of my day is taking my last sip. Man, I really need more excitement in my life.

link to this | comments (2) | File:  BMore  Coffee  Ho_Hum 

Google's "Presentation" is here. I realize Google's office application suite isn't going to be for everybody. But for my purposes, which are relatively small and non-sensitive in nature, it works really well. Now I can finally stop using NeoOffice, which I find annoying to work with, and more than a bit buggy. (Look at me: complaining about free software).

link to this | comments (3) | File:  Google  Web_2_0 

My neighbor grunts. A lot. To call it a grunt, however, doesn't really do it justice. Maybe growl—or even bark—would be more accurate. Want to know what these noises sound like? Here, try this: imagine if somebody (for this exercise, it might be helpful if the "somebody" was the type of "somebody" you might find at a biker bar in Montana) were attempting—very enthusiastically—to imitate a bear. No, that's not quite it. How about Frankenstein . . . no, no, too human. Ah, I know: a werewolf. Imagine he's trying to imitate a werewolf. Now, I don't know exactly what a werewolf would sound like, so largely, this exercise is something open to interpretation. But I think it paints a pretty good conceptual picture of what we're talking about here.

I hear the noises mostly at night, when I'm doing my stretches. I do my stretches on the floor of the long narrow hallway upstairs. A long, narrow hallway that, no doubt, butts up against my neighbor's long, narrow hallway. I do these stretches on a thin air mattress used for camping. I position the mattress just outside our bedroom door so I can use the door frame as a prop to stretch my hamstrings, one at a time. When my ears are next to the hardwoods, my leg up against the door frame, the sounds of my neighbor's growls are difficult to miss. Because believe me, I do try to miss them. Because they sort of scare me.

There are several possible explanations as to why my neighbor makes these sounds. At first, I was worried they might have to do with sex. I say "worried" for three reasons. First, and most importantly, with the possible exception that one day I might find myself living next to Salma Hayek, I can honestly say that I don't want to be privy to my neighbor's sex life. Ever. In my many years of apartment dwelling, it's happened on more than one occasion that I've accidently heard the stray moan or scream. And no matter who it is, it's just weird. And creepy. It makes for awkwardness when you run into them outside. It's one of the reasons I like to sleep with a fan on or the A/C running—to drown out background noise like that. The second reason I was worried about the sounds being sex is that they were never accompanied with the sounds of another person, which would only imply that the sex was being had with himself. And that would multiply the creepiness factor by several times. Third, if these were the sounds he made while having sex—either with himself or with somebody else—I'd hate to hear the sounds he made while sick to his stomach or dying.

Which brings me to another possibility: he is ill. For a while, this definitely ranked up there high on my possibility index until I began to realize that these sounds weren't a "temporary" condition. They have continued for some time. And I suppose this could signify some kind of chronic condition, but I've sort of ruled that out because, as I've begun to notice, the noises are far too ludicrous and affected to be anything serious.

So that leaves a couple of other possibilities:

• He plays X-Box, and he grunts and growls each time he loses or does something stupid (which evidently is a lot).
• He's watching some kind of sport and expresses his frustration vociferously when his team loses (which again, seems to happen a lot).
• He's drunk (I know. You get it . . . a lot).
• He is indeed practicing to be a bear, Frankenstein, Big Foot, or a werewolf for Halloween. If this is the case, I really admire his dedication since Halloween is still a good ways away.
• He's not practicing at all. He is a werewolf.

Now I don't mean to poke too much fun here. I mean, there might actually be some logical explanation for all of this. And maybe it is something serious, in which case I'd feel kind of bad. I mean, I make noises in our house all the time. Noises which are natural, but nevertheless if other people heard them out of context, they might be disgusted or offended, or both. They might think somebody was ill, or dying. Certainly the word "unwell" might come to mind. When I sing, for instance. This is one noise that could certainly be mistaken for some serious sickness. I also tend to carry on conversations with myself. Most often these conversations involve some coding problem I'm working out in my head, but there is usually at least one conversation a day about poop. And I'd be really embarrassed to know anybody was listening in on one of those. Which is why—given the fact that I live in a row house—I use my "inside voice" at all times. Because if I didn't—if I spoke loudly—then I'd realize that almost anything I uttered could be heard by anybody on either side of me or—if I'm near an open window—across the street, even.

And maybe he realizes this too, my neighbor. And maybe he just wants to make me think he's a werewolf. Well, it's not working. Because werewolves don't exist. I'm almost 100% positive.

link to this | comments (2) | File:  Ho_Hum 

There's been much hype and chatter over the new release of iPods. I have to admit I kind of dig the new look. I've had my 4th-gen, non-color-screen, 20-gig iDooDad since fall of 2004. I did not feel compelled to trade it up for a 5th-gen number last year, or the year before that, but this year I'm definitely intrigued by Gen, the 6th. My battery is beginning to show it's age so it might be time for a new music delivery device, only this time I'll be able to venture into the world of video, as well. The 160GB "Classic" is looking mighty fine. Of course, so is the 80GB at $250. Not necessarily pocket change, but certainly much better value than previous models. Apple is actually driving down its own prices by releasing other "cooler" models like the iPod Touch. This is good news for me. The Touch is definitely nifty, and I like the Wi-Fi ability they've integrated into it, but 16GB just doesn't cut it for me. So I can benefit instead from the bigger muscle and smaller price tag of the new Classic models.

The real entertainment in all of this has been the fact that Apple dropped the cost on the 8GB iPhone a whopping $200 from it's initial price in June of $599, which—it's worth pointing out—was just two months ago. This lead many early adopters to protest that they paid too much. Then there was a backlash of articles from people who think these guys should essentially "quit their whining." On the one hand, I agree with this sentiment. As Michael correctly points out, "Bottom line, if you don't want to pay the early adopter premiums, don't buy 1.0 products. From anyone." Right-O! I am most definitely NOT an early adopter, and I'm damn proud of that fact. Give me 2.0 or 3.0 products, please. I like them cheaper and less buggy.

But even though I agree that you have to have an iron stomach to be an early adopter, there's definitely something fishy to me about a $200 price drop in just 67 days. What it tells me is Apple took advantage of their most loyal, dedicated—and let's be honest—wealthy group of customers by inflating the price on a product that was worth less to begin with. They knew these people would buy the thing no matter what it cost. Now, as a sign of goodwill, Apple has given the people who bought the 8GB iPhone a $100 gift card which they can use to buy, you guessed it, more Apple products. Whoa. Apple's really bending over backwards on this one! Meanwhile, the people getting refunds are bending over, too. The other way. For a supposedly media-savvy and cynical generation, we blissfully have our blinders on when it comes to Apple.

Oh, Apple, you know us so well. You know that even when we're angry at you, we're really just angry at ourselves. Because all we really want is ever more of your iGoodness. Thank you for watching over us. Give us this day our daily iTunes. And forgive us of our debts of $200 too much for over-valued products, as we forgive those who give us $100 to spend in their own stores. And lead us not to anything un-hip, but deliver us from Microsoft. For thine is the iKingdom, and the iPower, and the iGlory forever. Amen.

link to this | comments (1) | File:  Apple  iPhone  iPod  Mac  Tech 

If you have an iGoogle homepage and like sports, create a new tab and call it "Sports." It will, by default be populated with several sports news feeds, and a cool standings widget from CBS sports. (At least it was for me.) If you prefer Flash, you can also use integrate this widget instead.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  Google  Sports 

It's important to recognize patterns in your life. Because once you've determined a pattern exists, you can try to figure out what it means. Right now, I'm puzzling over this one: with a few exceptions, I've spent my entire life in NFC East cities. Now, I realize there are non-football-watching people who read this who don't know the NFC East from the AFC West, and to you I apologize. But September means it's Football Season, people, and so I'm going to need to go off on football-related tangents every so often from now until early February. So just to clarify (for all of you non-football fans) what we're talking about here is Washington DC (Redskins), Dallas (Cowboys), New York (Giants), and Philadelphia (Eagles)—the NFC East.

If you know me from childhood you might baulk and say: Wait, wait, Dave. Okay, you were born in DC—I'll give you that—but then you grew up in Houston, man. Fourteen years. Oiler country. Sorry, but that's AFC, buddy. And to that I say: Yes, but my Dad lived in Dallas, and I visited him every other weekend from the time I was six. We used to go to games at Texas Stadium. So I think I can lay some claim to either city. Besides, I was never an Oilers fan, unless you count the poster of the Derrick Dolls I had in my room. In fact, I was the opposite of an Oilers fan. I was a Steelers fan back in those days. In any case, I spent eight years most recently in Dallas, so my heart is there. And besides, when you think about it, does Houston even have a real team anymore? (Sorry, James.)

Now, there are two phases in my life that might leave room for some discrepancy. First off was the four years I spent in college in central Virginia. Second would be my current stint in Baltimore. Central Virginia is now probably mostly Carolina Panther territory, but it wasn't that way for most of the time I was there, before the mid-90s expansion team thing occurred. Back then, I think most of central to northern Virginia was probably Skinz territory. That means the only real exception to my NFC East living has been the last two months in Baltimore. But come on, does that really count? Two months? The Ravens—another expansion team? I don't think so. It's never really felt right, being in Baltimore. And now I know why.

Things have been complicated ever since we left Dallas for DC four years ago. Cowboys vs. Redskins has always been a huge rivalry. And it has felt kind of weird watching them play against each other while sitting in our apartment in DC and cheering for . . . who? Cowboys? Redskins? Tough call.

Last night, things got a little more complicated. The area we're moving to in central New Jersey, just west of New York City, is pretty much Giants country. Of course, if you travel an hour and a half Southwest, you'd also be in Eagles country. (I'm telling you, there is some crazy cosmic circumstance here.) Last night, came our first test: Giants vs Dallas. Another huge rivalry. The two played at home—er, in Dallas. C and I decided we'd cheer for the Giants because it was going to be our new "local" team and we needed to be up on the players, you know, just in case we were confronted by any suspicious neighbors knocking on our door wearing jerseys emblazoned with the number 10. But we found it hard to do. There were too many years of ingrained animosity toward the Giants. And we found ourselves letting out small cheers whenever Romo would make a good pass. So, for now, I think we'll just try to remain neutral bystanders. It's probably safer that way. After all, we're going to be strangers to the people in NJ. We might be tarred and feathered if we're invited to a party one day and cheer for Dallas—or, even worse—the Redskins. On the other hand, we've still got friends and family in Big D, and Washington. And they know how to find us.

So I don't know why I am destined to live in the NFC East. I'm sure it has some profound existential meaning in my life, which I may never fully understand. Maybe it'll come to me as I'm drawing my final breath—Enlightenment. But this much is certain: no matter which NFC East region I live in, I will always continue to be a die-hard Denver Broncos fan. This way, nobody gets hurt.

link to this | comments (3) | File:  Football 

For the past couple of weeks, we've kept a rather spotless house. Not by choice, mind you. We've had to. Because of The Showings. And it's getting old, this incessant cleaning up after ourselves. We take a shower and immediately dry the tub with a towel so as not to leave any unsightly watermarks. Same goes for using the sinks. At night, we behave somewhat like normal people, leaving our bags on the sofa, or our clothes on the bedroom floor, or—gasp!—our toothbrushes on the bathroom sink. Then in the morning we hide everything and dress it all up again. Bed made. Clothes put in their proper, but still entirely temporary, locations. Decorative kitchen towel and area rug put back in their assigned, most photogenic, locations. The hand towels hanging on the bathroom rack stay clean because we never use them.

All of this tidying up has its benefits. I mean, it's kind of nice coming home to a clean house each day. It sort of makes you feel like you're walking into a Pottery Barn catalogue. But there are also some serious drawbacks. For one thing, I'm a slow-morning-routine type of guy. So when you add "cleaning and staging the house" to an already full AM docket of showering, big breakfast, a couple of cups of coffee, an hour of NPR, and sometimes a little plant-watering—well, you're looking at just over two hours prep time before you can reasonably get out the door.

I long for the days when I could just leave everything as it was and go. And we're not talking about anything that terrible here. I mean, we're not normally slobs or anything. But come on, it's normal to leave a shirt carelessly strewn on the dining room table now and then, isn't it? Or a dish or two in the sink. Or, I don't know, your underwear hanging from the living room lamp shade. I mean, that's normal, isn't it? Well, not anymore. It's all got to be put away, brother. Things have got to be tidy before we leave. Because, who knows, we may have a Showing.

And that word—Showing—has never held such high esteem in our hearts and minds. Was there a Showing today? Do you think there will be any Showings? The only other word that trumps it right now is Offer. But we only whisper that one quietly to ourselves in the cover of darkness, when only the cats of our neighborhood creep softly on the sidewalks outside our bedroom window. It's a word to treat with great reverence and respect. In fact, I think I may have violated some real-estate voodoo by even mentioning it here. Shit. Please forget I said anything.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  House 

NBC is pulling out on iTunes and they're going to begin streaming shows for free from their Web site. This could actually hurt iTunes a bit. I'm personally a fan of the streaming TV for free idea and it's about time the networks got on board with this. I know that right now it doesn't quite jive with the whole watching from the iPod thing, but as iPods become "connected" devices a-la iPhones, it seems like streaming on handheld devices could become more common, anyway. I've just never wanted to pay for (and keep) TV episodes. I mean, isn't TV a bit like pornography? Don't you just have that dirty feeling and want to throw it away afterwards? I know iTunes (Apple) thinks its strategies are invincible, but it may want to take a break from feeding its ego just long enough to feel the fire burning under its ass.

link to this | comments (0) | File:  iTunes  TV