"It is good to be without vices, 
but it is not good to be without temptations."
--- Walter Bagehot

Album Review: "Give Up the Ghost" --- Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile officially released her third album "Give Up the Ghost" yesterday. Haven't had a chance to pick it up yet (yes, folks, I'm one of those few people who still buy hard copy CDs. I just like to be able to physically hold things that I buy) but no doubt I will.

What I have heard from free whole-album audio on Billboard's website has left me with some initial impressions. And they're not all good. I've been looking forward to this album for a while now, having kept apprised of some of the new road songs through concert postings on YouTube, etc. There are some good tunes on the new album that suffer in the vocals and instrumentation from the concert versions. The lyrics haven't changed (much). The music simply isn't as good. There are several tracks that don't flow well and don't have good rhythm. It pains me to write this criticism about one of my favorite singers.

I accept that each artist does what they think is right and what sounds right. "Give Up the Ghost" is Ms. Carlile's album. I am a listener. But to my ears, this album could have been much better. Perhaps part of the reason is the time lapse since "The Story" was released. Many of the songs on "... Ghost" have been bouncing around on the road for two years. The band may know them a little too well. Something that worked on "The Story" was that producer T-Bone Burnett took them out of their comfort zone by having them use unfamiliar instruments. As a result, that album had freshness... it had an edge. Similar to something from my college days, when you're taking an exam, you should almost always stick with the answer you gave first. It's when you go back and second-guess yourself that you often run into problems. There has no doubt been pressure to tour as much as the band does in order to build up the fan base, but "... Ghost" should have been done sooner.

Also a small disappointment, the new album should have been titled with the more familiar "Giving Up the Ghost." If you're going to use phraseology, use the phrase that rolls off the tongue. "Give Up..." is stilted, not as natural. What's more, I don't understand the decision to go with command sentence form, as if the listener is supposed to "give up the ghost." Grammatically speaking, the track "If There Was No You" should be "If There Were No You." Ms. Carlile actually dropped out of high school to focus on her music. I'm not generally in favor of this choice, but I also recognize that the broad structure of high school just isn't for some people who are exceptionally gifted in one area of study and exceptionally devoid in other areas. Some people's brains are just not wired for science and math. High school has zero-tolerance of/for this fact. Still, Brandi would benefit immensely from Professor Jambeck's "The English Language" grammar course.

(Image © The Beaumont Club)

On Blogging for Profit

In light of the recent Federal Trade Commission statement regarding blogger endorsements of products, I would like to take this opportunity to set something down in no uncertain terms:

Any retail product, good, or service that I have written or will write about in this blog has not and never will be provided free of charge or for other compensation, monetary or otherwise, without each such entry expressly saying so.

On its face, I'm wouldn't be averse to getting free stuff in exchange for using and then writing about it. But, since this blog has perhaps two readers (one of them being me), vouchsafe that this practice is not in any company's interest or gain. What is here in the white type has been and will be my unvarnished opinion after having thoroughly researched and --- in the vast majority of times --- used or experienced a product or service.

Pond Project Part Deux

Have been continuing with the pond project for several days, here and there, between the rain and weekends. Sadly, though, I haven't had the chance to get many pictures. Will strive to do that tomorrow and post those that I have taken.

Since the last post, I dug a shallow trench down the middle of the bed, and put in some perforated pipe, covered with some 3/4" crushed gravel and all enclosed in landscape fabric to keep it from clogging with soil and organic debris. Then shoveled in a layer of sand on the bottom, up the sides and on the shelves to give a smooth surface for the pond liner to prevent punctures. Also moved some of the large boulders to the side, as putting them over the liner had me worried about puncturing; I used some old towels to create a soft surface on some harder edges and along the round-edged stone. Then, installed the liner and started to stack stone on the shelves I created. The liner filled with water almost to the top in two rain storms we've had since. Indeed, the pond is now doing the trickle overflow as planned with the open system --- as water is flowing in from the stream, an equal amount is flowing out of the pond. So far, I have nearly finished both sides of the shelves and it is shaping up nicely. Decided early on not to stack very formally, with no shaping of the stone, as the intent is to make this look "natural" to whatever extent that can be accomplished, and to blend in with the other existing non-liner pond. Then again, I've had good fit with the stone selection that's available in a lower section of the property. I make my pickings and load them in the homeowner's lawn tractor and Wheel Horse yard trailer (hallelujah! that has saved a lot of back and forth) or on my hand truck for bigger stones.

They're already impressed with how much the yard has dried out where it was a soupy mess before. I'm also appreciating that I have free reign on this project --- they're taking a hands-off approach and letting me determine the shape of the pond and stone choice. Some people on projects like this can tend to micromanage, ask a thousand questions and be dead-set on doing some things that aren't advisable from a functional standpoint. Even so, I fully understand why people do that and certainly work with them on --- it is, after all, their project. But it is nice to have artistic freedom.

"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. ... Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." 
--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

2 October 2009

One almost feels sorry for President Obama these days.

For everything he touches, the more he touches it, the more it turns to sh--.

The economy, health care... now the Olympics.

1 October 2009

Went to the dentist on Tuesday for the normal 6-month cleaning. Always fun, that.

I know I'm probably like most people with regards to brushing and flossing. Every time you have an appointment at the dentist, you do a mad rush of both every day in the final few weeks, trying to make up for all the times that were skipped. And then, after some chiding during the cleaning, you re-dedicate yourself, saying, "I'm going to brush and floss every day this time.... Really!" And for the best of us, that usually lasts for about two weeks until we settle back into our old routine.

For the toothbrush, I went electric a while back, which seems to have helped. The ad copy says that 2 minutes of brushing with an electric is like 10 minutes of brushing with a regular toothbrush. For me, it's a drawn-out affair, never that 2-minute deal. Flossing is a real time-consumer. Before I know it, I've spent 15 minutes on cleaning my chompers.

There's a commercial that runs in the Providence area for a dentist office where a woman says, "I love my dentist. How many people can say that they love their dentist?" Well, my hygienist is my cousin (a lot of the family goes to this office partly because of that and because it's one of the best places around) so I figure I can say I love my dental hygienist. It's also helped out vis-a-vis when taking X-rays, they take four and charge for one, or last year when the dentist was doing some silver amalgam filling on one wisdom tooth and ended up doing them all while he was in there, at no additional charge. Not having dental insurance myself, it's very much appreciated.

Didn't have any cavities or anything this time, and no "Holy hell!!!" moments where you leave impressions on the hand grips in the chair, though they said that getting the wisdom teeth out is on the horizon, with some early indications of softness on the back of the upper right wisdom tooth. Said I have perfect teeth otherwise (honestly, he said that. Admittedly, I had braces as a kid). It's just very hard to reach way back there, even at the dentist's with their specialized tools.

But, truthfully, I'm going to brush and floss every day now.... Really!