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November 16, 2006
Anniversaries
I successfully completed 23 years of life after natality yesterday. In honor of this, here's a list of people who died on their birthdays. I now have 364 days before I risk making their ranks. Wish me luck!
Posted by tony at 12:20 AM | TrackBack
November 14, 2006
Rummy, we hardly knew ye
I think David Rees' tribute is perhaps the most touching the man could ask for.
Posted by tony at 11:46 PM | TrackBack
November 7, 2006
Sign on the Dotted Line
Today, I (like some fraction of Americans) enjoyed 10 minutes of real freedom. Now back to your regularly scheduled slavery.
Posted by tony at 3:14 PM | TrackBack
November 6, 2006
Gypsyland
In the next installment of my continued pursuit of all things gypsy, I discovered more gypsy music from an entirely unexpected source. It turns out Beirut is the product of Zach Condon travelling Europe and learning the style of Balkan folk music, which explains why it sounds like a gypsified Stephin Merritt album. This is only the more recent time this semester I've found a new artist doing something I could never have imagined which is somehow exactly what I've always wanted to hear; all of which makes me question why I would ever not download something Ben posts.
(Incidentally, I've gone back and downloaded all other tracks he's recently posted, for good measure.)
While a lot of the music I download is either a recommendation from or a shared interest with my friends, my sister is the only person who I send almost everything I like, since our tastes are perfectly aligned on every musical preference. Which is why, after I sent her a copy of Gulag Orkestar, she tracked down a book on gypsies which we're now both dying to own, and then we each ended up independently reading up on the Roma people. Turns out, evidence from both genetics and linguistics shows that they migrated over India. "What's funny," Sylvia lamented, "is if I were in a class where I had to read about gypsies, I would probably be reading about cancer online right now."
Now the big problem is whether to buy tickets for Beirut at the Bowery Ballroom or gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel at Joe's Pub on Wednesday the 22nd. I never anticipated my heart being torn apart by gypsy music.
Posted by tony at 12:28 AM | TrackBack
November 4, 2006
Note to Self
Quit thinking about girls. You have work to do.