Stuff that's ruled me the past week or so

|current sounds| Keith Fullerton Whitman- Multiples (this rules, too, by the way)


The Fruit Medley cup from Dilettante Chocolates is divine. Dried fruits wrapped first in milk chocolate, then in white chocolate. The taste just gets better the farther your teeth sink in. My favorite is the apricot. Trader Joe's sells it.


It's been almost two years since I've bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's. The foodstore had them on sale, so I treated myself to the new 2006 flavor "Dark & Tan," the ice cream giant's tribute to, well, beer. Its creamy stout top gives way to a swirl of more cream swirled with rich chocolate. I have a feeling I'm going to feel the same way about "Dark & Tan" that coffee enthusiasts feel about a good coffee ice cream. Just don't confuse the name for a British militia.


We got a piano. I found it on my daily Craigslist "Free" section perusal. It belonged to the ex-girlfriend of a man in Silver Spring and if nobody picked the piano up, he'd use it for firewood. Jamie and I drove out to his place and besides a few unplayable keys, it works well. All of the roomies sit in the living room reading while Jamie plays Chopin. I don't need to mention how ideal this is. Between my acoustic guitar and Jamie's new 1927 Chase Brothers piano, we serenade the house.


The. coolest. new. instrument. ever.
Reactable approaches music-making like an analog synthesizer, but is sensor-based with a fully tangible (and seemingly easier to master) interface that allows multiple users to interact with each other. Soooo cool. There are more Youtube demonstrations here and here. Watch them and mess your pants. The software's downloadable (and open source for you tech geeks), but the downside is buying the equipment, though I get the feeling all you need is a wide-lens digital USB camera and a large, round (glass?) table. I'm definitely interested.

Venice Is Sinking is mad at me because I think "Andropolis" sounds like "My Heart Will Go On." Okay, Lucas, it doesn't have the same chords (or even the same number of chords as mentioned), but when you listen to the flute melody, there's a Kate Winslet flying on the Titanic vibe (not too mention the same intervals and pacing for a measure and a half). And the sustained guitar line echoes the same. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, Venice Is Sinking. This is why I miss DJ-ing Sound of the City (the local music show at WUOG) with Robi: calling out local bands and taking them down a notch (it's not that we were mean, but not even the local weekly would offer this important service to the community - except maybe Gordon Lamb). It's all in good fun and I think (hope) the band, that I like quite a bit to be honest, knows this.

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
After some phone calls and meeting that quickly turned into an interview, flippin' NPR has hired yours truly to help develop their online music project. I start on Wednesday as a full-time temp-to-hire. Isn't that just dandy? Don't know long the temp thing runs, but here's to hoping they'll want to keep me on.