Music: All This Beauty

I've been on a big Belle & Sebastian kick this week ...

And this one is leading the charge. Man, this song rocks.

* * *

I'm stoked for a new Death Cab For Cutie album.

I'm even more stoked for new episodes of VH1 Storytellers.

* * *

The Yellowbirds new video for "The Rest of My Life." Gorgeous.

Also worth watching ...

Good news, bad news

Good news ...

It's official: Big 12 Conference lives on

You could hear the collective sigh of relief across Kansas City this morning. As late as Saturday night the Big 12 was dead! Done! History! The rivalries were squashed, KU and the leftovers were destined for the Mountain West ... Then, Texas steps up to announce they're staying, and the Big 12 boosts revenue ... Hallelujah!

Bad news ...

Belle & Sebastian Announce U.S. Tour Dates

Belle & Sebastian -- another one of the bands on my must-see-before-I-die list -- is making a rare swing through the states this fall. And they're hitting Chicago in October ... Why are my favorites finally coming around now!? ... As I'm leaving Chicagoland!?

Good news ...

Commissioner to announce Wednesday
that KC will host 2012 All-Star Game

We got wind of this a few days ago, and Kates and I immediately started envisioning the experience. Our living arrangements and new jobs kept us from going in 2002 when it was in Milwaukee, but in 2012 -- we're so going. Whether it's the All-Star Game, the Home Run Derby, the Celebrity Softball Game, or the FanFest -- doesn't matter. We're going.

Summertime blues

I was afraid this might happen.

In recent years, I’ve gone to Summerfest wondering whether my run might end -- the kind of feeling I suppose an athlete has when his career is in its twilight. … At Summerfest, it’s the notion that the crowds appear to be getting younger and more immature, the music sounds louder and the array of bands less appealing.

Last year, when I went to the magnificent festival for a record-low two nights, I figured maybe the time had come. I figured my youth may have finally escaped me and my concert days were waning.

I prepared myself to move on … And I have. Literally.

Then Summerfest started rolling out its lineup for this summer …

Colbie Caillat. The Moody Blues ... O.A.R.! ... Sheryl Crow!! ... She & Him!!! (... A good read about She & Him in today's Boston Globe.)

A few weeks ago when Cubs tickets went on sale, I was gritting my teeth and doing all I could to hold back on purchasing a couple seats. The mantra “Wait ’til next year” has taken a whole new meaning now.

And then today, the most painful announcement of all. The New Pornographers are playing the Pabst Theater. The announcement via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ...

Indie-pop darlings the New Pornographers - made up of some of the best and busiest in the music scene - will play the Pabst Theater at 8:30 p.m. June 12. The eight-member outfit, including mastermind A.C. Newman and songbird Neko Case, releases its fifth album, "Together," in May.

The New Pornographers. Indie-pop darlings. Songbird Neko Case ...

The New Pornographers. A band that’s hovered around the top of my Concert Bucket List for a couple years now -- along with Matchbox Twenty (so close! ), Belle & Sebastian, The Weepies, Dave Matthews Band, Mates of State (whose “For the Actor” I've heard on multiple Royal Carribean commercials lately!) and The Shins (oh, oh, so close!)

Ugh.

Last night, an old friend of mine tweeted, "don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

When I saw her statement, I smiled and thought so true, especially right now ... But it won't keep me from thinking of ways I can still enjoy the great things that came with the good.

Phoebe's Rock 'n' Roll Playlist

Last week, we gave you Phoebe’s Lullaby playlist. Tonight, we give you Phoebe’s Rock ‘n’ Roll (aka playtime) playlist …

This one didn’t take near as much time and thought as the Lullaby list, and it’s about half as long – though we might continue adding songs as we come across them …

For this playlist, my goal was simply to find a collection of songs that were fun, sing-able and clean. I wanted songs that are classics and songs that are popular today. Songs that have brought lots of smiles to mine and Kates’s faces, and songs I could envision Phoebe smiling with too …

So here it is, Phoebe’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Playlist …

1. 1-2-3-4 (Feist) … Not only was it one of the defining songs of the last year, it’s a great counting song. I didn’t realize how appropriate it was for kids until reading the Mates of State blog a few weeks ago.


2. Come to Me (Koop) … This one had been on the Lullaby list for awhile, but Kates argued -- and won – that it was better suited for this list. It’s a great tune nonetheless. (Hear it here)
   
3. We Are the Sleepyheads (Belle & Sebastian) ... One of the most fun songs I've ever heard in my entire life. Seriously. (Hear it here)
   
4. Fun, Fun, Fun (Beach Boys) … One of my all-time favorites. When it comes on, I wail. It had to be on this list. Period.
   
5. The Middle (Jimmy Eat World) ... It's just a feel-good song.


6. Hound Dog (Elvis Presley) ... You ain't nothin but a hound dog / Cryin all the time. (Classic video here)
   
7. Feeling Alright (Joe Cocker) … One of Kates’s all-time favorites ... I like it too. (Hear it here)


8. Happy Together (The Turtles) ... Imagine me and you, I do / I think about you day and night, it's only right / To think about the girl you love and hold her tight / So happy together.


9. Good Vibrations (Beach Boys) … Another one of my all-time faves. Aptly titled, it doesn’t get a whole lot better than this one. (Vintage video here)


10. Lovely Rita (The Beatles) ... A great, bouncy, singable Beatles tune. (Hear it here)


11. Funny Little Frog (Belle & Sebastian) ... Honey, lovin' you is the greatest thing / I get to be myself and I get to sing / I get to play at being irresponsible / I come home late and love your soul / I never forget you in my prayers / I never have a bad thing to report ... It's a sweet sounding song, with some sweet lyrics, and a sweet video too. (Hear and watch it here).


12. Rockin’ The Suburbs (Ben Folds, Over the Hedge version) ... Great song by the one and only ... But did you really think we'd put the "R" version on poor Phoebe's playlist!?


13. She’s a Woman (Chikezie) ... Chikezie's "American Idol version was way cool.
    
14. Put Your Records On (Corinne Bailey Rae) ... Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song / You go ahead, let your hair down / Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams, / Just go ahead, let your hair down. (Hear and watch it here)


15. You Baby (The Turtles) ... A little ray of sunshine, / A little bit of soul / And just a touch of magic, / You've got the greatest thing since rock 'n' roll!


16. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (The Beatles) ... So fun to sing.
    
17. I’m Looking Through You (The Wallflowers) ... Great cover of the Beatles song. (Hear it here)


18. Sloop John B (Beach Boys) ... Really, I could load this thing with Beatles and Beach Boys songs, but Phoebe needs some variety (Video here)


19. Daddy’s Girl (Peter Cetera) ... The title and lyrics say it all ... Who else remembers it from "Three Men and a Baby" !?
    
20. New Soul (Yael Naim) ... See I'm a young soul in this very strange world / Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake (Video here)

Sleepyhead

... So I got off my Regina Spektor kick.

And found a new flavor of the week.

Belle & Sebastian.

Quite honestly, I'm feeling ashamed for not taking notice of them sooner. I've been reading and hearing for years how great this band is. Sure, I added them to a list I keep of bands whose music I think I should hear more of, but I kept putting them off ...

Finally, over the weekend, I took the plunge.

Uh, yeah. They're pretty amazing ... I'm kicking myself for taking this long to add them to my collection.

Fresh pop hooks. Bouncy vocals. Smart, witty lyrics. Nods to '60s and '70s pop/rock. It all collides for a complete sound that is oh, oh, so sweet.

I haven't had this much fun listening to an album in a long time ... Ok, maybe since I got Wincing The Night Away, which actually compares pretty closely to Belle & Sebastian ...

But seriously. "The Blues are Still Blue," "We are The Sleepyheads," "Funny Little Frog," (Hey, isn't that the Grassroots "Temptation Eyes"?) "Sukie In The Graveyard," and "White Collar Boy" (Hello, Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" ?) are some of the coolest songs ever ...

And their videos are dang cool and imaginative too ...



Ok. I'm done gushing. For now.

* * *

Tonight, I'm basking in a reprieve. From the baseball.

I never thought I'd say this but ... I don't know if I've ever been so ready for a baseball season to end ...

These late games are kicking my butt.

I've managed to stay awake to catch every last out of all the games, including Friday's Rockies-D-Backs extra-inning thriller and Saturday's extra-innning Red Sox thrashing. And I wondered if I was the only one that was having trouble with the schedule ...

Turns out I'm not the only one, after all. Phillip Lerman's piece in the Washington Post last weekend was right on ...

The signs of fall are upon us: The days are shorter. The leaves are falling.
And dads are sitting in their basements, watching the baseball playoffs and getting ready for the World Series. Alone.

... For the last two weeks -- or however long we've been in the postseason; the days have been pretty blurry lately -- I've spent the late nights huddled in our basement, watching the small TV, and squelching my volcanic cheers so as to not wake up Kates ...

And I worry what it's going to be like for our kids.

Every time this subject comes up, I think of October 1988 ... One of the first significant baseball memories I have, that fall is also the first clear memory I have of watching any postseason baseball: The Oakland Bash Brothers and Dave Stewart's menacing stare againt the Red Sox of Wade Boggs, Ellis Burks, Mike Greenwell, Dwight Evans and Roger Clemens. And of course, it was the year I fell in love with the Dodgers -- Orel Hershiser, Kirk Gibson, Steve Sax, Alfredo Griffin, Mickey Hatcher, Mike Scioscia -- as they beat the heavily-favored Mets in seven games in the NLCS and then took down the A's too ...

Yet, I missed one of the greatest moments in baseball history, Kirk Gibsons's homerun to win game one ... because I was in bed. The memory of my parents excitedly explaining the dramatic ending while Joel and I sat, jaws agape and hanging on their every word, at the breakfast table is cemented in my brain. It's a great memory of mine in its own right ... and don't get me wrong, I can't blame them. They did what they had to do. We deserved to be in bed, and our children will likely face the same fate ...

And it sucks.


But, hey, how 'bout those Rockies.

I said it before, and I'm saying it again: These guys are a team of destiny. I called their NLCS sweep after game one. Now I understand what everyone else has been saying all year about how good Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki are. The team's defense has been as solid and dazzling as their namesake ...

How exciting was the final out of Monday night's game!?! Eric Byrnes hits a soft-roller to the left side, Tulowitzki charges it and snaps an off-balance throw to first. Todd Helton makes the stretch to catch it just before Byrnes slides headfirst over the bag ...


Last week, I remarked to a cohort about how crazy it was to see the Rockies and D-backs, two teams that didn't exist 15 years ago, facing each other in a championship series. And now, crazy as it sounds, the Rockies, a team whose expansion draft I remember racing home to watch on TV, are heading to the World Series ...

I'm having a ball watching their run right now ... and I shudder to think what an eight-day break before the World Series is going to do to their momentum. It certainly didn't help the Tigers ...

Lord also knows I'm loving watching the Indians run too, including last night's seven-run fifth inning and, well, watching Kenny Lofton swiping bases like it's 1995.

Last night, as we watched the game Kates asked who I'd cheer for in a Rockies-Indians World Series. I just threw up my arms and shook my head ...

It's gonna happen too. I'm betting the Indians close it out tomorrow night at Jacobs Field.

Good reads ...
a 6-run 4th seals fate for Diamondbacks
a Helton finally is delivered
a LINCICOME: Rockies a team broomed to glory