Life!

OK, you may see a pattern developing here, but does anyone remember this one? Another song that I used to LOVE when it came out in roughly 1984. I miss music videos. I think.

1,499 Miles

Nothing says "good times" like Little Rock, AR, which is where I'll be the next two days. My plan is to sample lots of barbeque and try not to get scolded by Bill Clinton! In the meantime, enjoy this Slade video - this was actually a big hit on the radio that you will most likely remember very well. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this song back when I was in 7th grade and I kinda feel like the song has stood the test of time. The video, sadly, has not. It looks like some dudes from western Ohio got together last weekend, dressed up, made some funny faces and shot a video. Good times. Just hit the big play button in the middle. Let me know if you remember it.

Nothing Comes Between Me & My Whey

Designer Whey
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

Had a somewhat humorous moment at Trader Joe's recently. As I've written here previously, once or twice a week I mix up a smoothie for breakfast. The ingredients that are mainstays in the smoothie are a banana, milk, orange juice and vanilla protein powder. That never changes. I then rotate various kinds of frozen fruit into each smoothie to vary the taste - either peaches, strawberries, pineapples, or mixed berries.

So during my last trip to Trader Joe's, I approached the protein powder section, only to find that the Trader Joe's brand was gone, replaced by something a dollar more expensive, called "Designer Whey." I don't necessarily care about the extra dollar, but I did seek out a TJ's crew member to find out what happened to their own protein powder, because I really liked the taste of it and didn't so much like the idea of dumping $9.99 on a new kind that I might not like. Alas, I had no choice. TJ's brand is coming back, but not for a couple of months. Designer Whey, here I come.

The thing is, I have no idea what makes Designer Whey any different. If it's to be thought of the same way as the clothing industry, the term "designer" would indicate that it some kind of high-quality, specialized whey protein. Whaaa? It that even possible? Whatever. It doesn't taste that bad, but I still prefer the TJ's brand, probably out of habit alone.

Once a week the Boston Globe runs a little section in their Sidekick insert where a local Boston celebrity lets the Globe take a look at their IPod. The Globe puts it on shuffle and then lists the first 10 songs that came on the Ipod. This is delicious reading. Most people have pretty standard taste in music, so the lists don't always prove to be terribly interesting, but it's still always fun to read.

Here's my first ten songs on shuffle from this morning:

U2 - "Surrender" (1983)
Red Kross - "Follow The Leader" (1997)
John Lennon - "God" (1970)
Dramarama - "Classic Rot" (1991)
Elf Power - "All The World Is Waiting" (2006)
Van Morrison - "Redwood Tree" (1972)
Elliot Smith - "Waltz #2" (1998)
Margaret & The Nuclear So & So's - "Quiet as a Mouse" (2006)
Bruce Springsteen - "If I Was The Priest" (1972)
Spain - "Our Love Is Gonna Live Forever" (2005)

List yours if you want.

He'd Rather Be Dead Than Cool

Kurt Cobain
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

I came across this article tonight and I thought it very interesting. For those of you who don't feel like clicking it or taking the three minutes to read it, let me paraphrase for you lazy SOB's: on the 15th anniversary of "Nevermind's" release, the author isn't a huge fan of Nirvana and claims that their music has not stood the test of time as well as the Soundgardens, Pearl Jams and Smashing Pumpkins of the world have. Ouch.

So, two things hit me here:

1. "Nevermind" is fifteen years old now? SHIT!
2. There are so many weaknesses in this guy's writing that it's silly.

First things first - we must all realize that this lad's opinion is purely subjective. He's absolutely entitled to it, of course, but to say that Soundgarden's horrible "SuperUnknown" and Blind Melon's big hit "No Rain" are better constructed and more indicitive of the time is, well, a mysterious thing to claim. I could, of course, question his taste, but that's way too easy. I don't think many people share his opinion and let's just leave it at that.

The article spurred some additional thoughts and I think the more interesting topic of discussion here is what might have happened had Cobain not killed himself. There cannot be any shred of doubt that their star would have waned. It happens to them all. My thoughts are that it would have happened more quickly for Nirvana than some of the other major hitmakers over the years. Why? Well, you can't really argue that grunge is timeless, can you? Even before Cobain passed, there was a sense that its trajectory was moving south. I mean, Candlebox? Hello? Either way, it's a moot point - the genre died with its unwilling patriarch.

In my mind, Cobain undoubtedly would have agreed about grunge's downfall. Cobain more or less admitted this himself in the terrific liner notes to Incesticide when he said "I'll be the first to admit that we're the 90's version of Cheap Trick or The Knack but the last to admit that it hasn't been rewarding." (sidenote: you should really read those liner notes, by the way, if only for the interesting words he writes on Courtney Love, which confirm that while Cobain may very well have been the voice of the slacker generation, he had very bad taste in women. Those words about her ring.....strange)

The Cheap Trick comparison Cobain makes is an interesting one when you think about it - and it's right on. Cheap Trick had a string of major hits in the late 1970s and then as quickly as it exploded, it fizzled. And much like Nirvana, those early Cheap Trick records easily support the fact that they were an absolute powerhouse of a band. Hooks up the ass and the talent to back it up. You laugh, probably, but next time you see me, ask me to play "Lovin' Money," "Auf Wiedersehen" or "Downed" for you. Seriously. You won't laugh anymore. If Nirvana had continued the way Cheap Trick did, people today would probably feel the same way about Nirvana that they do about Cheap Trick. Sad, but true.

So we can speculate until the cows come home, but I would have bet anything that Nirvana might have had one more album in them before Cobain ended it. Grohl, grossly underrated, would have gone onto the same career he has now and Novaselic wouldn't have done anything differently - he's at home with his feet up, logging into to his bank account and shaking his head in utter disbelief.

What of Cobain then? What if the bullet missed? An album with Stipe? What else? We can only guess. My sense is that he would have had the brains to end Nirvana soon after 1994 and his talent was such that he would have evolved. It really would have been terribly interesting, because I think he would have branched off into some captivating stuff. Alas, his brains took a different and more disgusting route.

I'm pretty confident that he wouldn't have befriended pro baseball GM's and drank wine on stage during his shows. I know that had he soldiered on in music, he wouldn't be held up to the altar he sits on today. Nothing glorifies talent or legend than dying at your arguable peak. I have little doubt Cobain would still be revered, but in the way that someone like Dave Matthews is revered. Oh, that hurts me to say. But you should ask Robin Zander. He'd take that.

For the record, I think Nirvana's music stands the test of time - barely. There aren't many others from that era whose music does. Then again, music that stands the test of time is long gone anyway. The game has changed.

OK OK.....

Dork On Golf
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

Now THAT"S more like me. Right? I wouldn't be caught dead wearing those other clothes in real life.

Bird Is The Word

Jeff - Master Golfer
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

I haven't bought a new video game for the PC for quite a while now, so a few days ago, I went out and bought the EA Sports Tiger Woods golf game. I'm getting better at it, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that they have a entire part of the game where you physically can build your own golfer. The options are endless. You can build a tatooed fat guy with a mohawk. You can build a 5'1 skinny nerd with nose, chin and ear piercings. You can build anything, really. Fat legs, skinny torso? Yep. Enormous head, tiny body? Sure. Whatever.

Being a guy who has largely written about himself for almost five straight years now on a blog, I naturally tried to build a golfer who looks exactly like me. So tonight's post is for all of you who know me and see me regularly - what do you think? I think I'm pretty darn close.

As far as actually playing golf, computer Jeff is WAY better than real Jeff, this I can assure you.

She Goes Running For The Shelter.....

Once in a blue moon I wake up and I just want to change everything. I look around at everything I've amassed, worked hard for, or the things I put research and effort into buying and I think "what the hell is it all for?" Would I be just as happy with less, just simply knowing I have a wife who loves me, supports me and will always be there for me? I don't thank her enough for that. Your gravestone won't list your material possessions.

From the insignificant things like getting rid of a small rug to the mundane things like the piles of dirt or cobwebs that inevitably form an army in my basement from time to time. I want to change it. I want to delete all the music from my hard drive because I just can't find anything I feel like listening to right now. I want to set fire to my 2002 Camry. I want to stop writing this blog. I want to quit my job, do something I truly love, damn the money. I want to make a difference somehow. How the hell do you make a difference? And I don't mean donating $50 to a local charity.

I want people whom I consider friends to consider me a friend as well and act like it. Or maybe they're not my friends after all. I want people to return emails or phone calls. I want more people to call or write and express some damn interest, such as a simple "hey, how are you doing?" or "how was your weekend?" Because I do it. It seems so simple, doesn't it? It's never that simple.

Tomorrow, I'll be different.

SEE NO EVIL (Television/Tom Verlaine, 1977)
What I want
I want now
and it's a whole lot more
than 'anyhow'
I want to fly
fly a fountain
I want to jumpjumpjump
jump a mountain

I understand all... i see no...
destructive urges... i see no...
it seems so perfect... i see no...
i see... i see no... i see no evil

I get ideas
I get a notion
I want a nice little boat
made out of ocean.
I get your point.
You're so sharp.
Getting good reactions
with your ''BeBo'' talk.

Don't say unconscious
No don't say doom.
If you got to say it
let me leave this room
Cuz what I want
I want now
and it's a whole lot more
than 'anyhow.'

I'm runnin wild with the one I love
I see no evil
I'm runnin wild with the one-eyed ones
I see no evil
Pull down the future with the one you love
Pull down the future

Let The Night Air Cool You Off.....

Drive-By Truckers - Boulder NYE Run 106
Originally uploaded by cutthroatimages.

Since I have no inspiration whatsoever to write lately, I'm going to make this short because I just want to get it down for history's sake for when I'm 85 years old and and trying to remember where I put my teeth. Last night the Drive-By Truckers played to a truly appreciative and sometimes raucous crowd at Avalon here in Boston. They probably delivered the show of the year, although there's still a few months for that title to be assigned elsewhere.

There's no other way to describe it, other than the fact that it was a three-guitar nuclear assault, which has me still harboring a little ringing of the ears and aural blockage this morning (no lie). That's right - THREE lead guitar players and three different singers/songwriters. These guys simply put it all out there. Gutty, energetic, talented, friendly and genuinely appreciative of their crowd. And man, the songs. How did it come to pass that these guys can fill a concert hall with so many good songs? How did this band get to this level? I couldn't help but think back to the late 1990's, when my label passed on them! Ouch.

Nice touch at the end of the night, too, when the band stayed on stage after their last song and shook hands with as many people as they could.

About halfway through the two-and-a-half hour show, I turned to a friend and just said 'this is a fucking barrage." He nodded and said "yep, they bring it."

Indeed.

DO IT YOURSELF (Drive-By Truckers, From "Decoration Day," (2002)
My Daddy called me on a Friday morning,
so sad to tell me just what you’d done
You tried so hard to make us all hate you
but in the end you was the only one
Sick, tired, pissed and wired,
you never thought about anyone else.
You tried in vain to find something to kill you
in the end you had to do it yourself.

Who’s to blame for the loveless marriage,
who’s to blame for the broken band.
You ran from life and all of it’s pleasures,
your own teeth marks on your own damned hand.
Thrown out before the date’s expired,
you’d rather die than let anyone help,
You’d rather die than take a stab at living.
Nothing would kill you so you do it yourself.

Everyone has those times when the night’s so long
The dead-end life just drags you down
You lean back under the microphone
and turn your demons into walls of goddamned noise and sound.

And it’s a sorry thing to do to your sweet sister
It’s a sorry thing to do to your little boy
It’s a sorry thing to do to the folks who love you
Your Mama and Daddy lost their only boy
Some should say I should cut you slack,
but you worked so hard at unhappiness.
Living too hard just couldn’t kill you
In the end you had to do it yourself.

Living too hard just couldn’t kill you
In the end you had to do it yourself.

Hawk Your Wares (dot.com)

What is marketing anymore?

None of what I am about to write here will probably shock anyone under 40, but we're in a very unique time right now. I received the new issue of Men's Health magazine over the weekend and I settled in today to browse through it. I swiftly found myself incredulous that companies, large companies mind you, with supposedly smart marketing teams, are still spending insane amounts of money to advertise in magazines. Now, I don't know about you, but I've been ignoring magazine advertisements, oh, since forever.

What's worse is when a company pays (wastes) even more money buying specialized advertising in national magazines. You know, the stiffer cardboard ads with pop ups or some kind of little trinket glues to the page or some shit? These are the ads whose only effectiveness is to royally screw up your ability to flip pages. Those type ads simply make the magazine harder to read, for god's sake, so much so that I find myself resenting the company that took the ad out. Not a good brand experience, really, is it? Hell, I learned from my dad as far back as the mid-1980s. When we received TV Guide in the mail, the first thing he did was simply go through it and remove ALL of the stiff cardboard ads or anything else that was inserted into the magazine to faciliate a smooth flipping-pages experience. Worked like a charm. I do it today with every magazine I read. Those ads you paid double for, Madison Avenue? They go directly into my trash.

It's actually hard for me to believe that these cats still think that the days of throwing ads into national magazines is an effective vehicle at all. Think about it for a second: what's the last thing you bought because of a magazine ad? Exactly! What drives you to make impulse purchases? Normally, the answer would be television, right? It's probably still somewhat effective, but guess what? We're merely years away from total market saturation of a little something called the DVR (or Tivo), which allows viewers to skip right over commercials. Most of us young-uns already do it, in fact, Stephanie must roll her eyes at me because when I'm fast-forwarding through ads, I go back-and-forth and back-and-forth and back-and-forth until the exact moment the show starts up again so I don't have to watch a single solitary second of advertising. That's right, I would rather FF and REW repeatedly than have to watch commercials.

So now what? The internet? Dunno about you, but I can't remember the last time I even looked at or read a banner advertisement, much less click on one. I'm already starting to largely ignore sponsored links at the top of search result pages, but that's probably a product of my being in the search business for almost six years now. This vehicle remains effective, though, because most regular web surfers simply don't know the difference between a paid search result and an "organic" search result - they just click on the first result. It will probably remain quite effective, I suppose, as it's one vehicle where the advertiser can actually gauge and track user response. Seems a lot of advertisers are still in their infancy in truly understanding the options and opportunities that search presents - and it may already be too late. My gut sense is that this, like everything else advertising related, is cyclical at best, but the model itself (cost-per-click, etc) will endure somehow.

Why? Simple - if you're an advertiser selling Toyota's in Acton, MA, you'd much rather buy the keyword "Toyota Dealers in Acton, MA" than call the local cable TV provider and buy the time on the air and hope the viewer doesn't fast forward through it and hope you're reaching your demographic and hope that it's not a 13-2 baseball game and hope the viewer isn't staring blankly into the refridgerator or putting their kids to bed.

So what's left? Product placement in movies and TV shows? Don't think so, bub. When I'm watching a movie or show, I'm paying attention to the story, dude, not that some chick is carrying a Kade Spade bag or some guy is drinking Red Bull.

So what's left? Well, community, for one. The drop-dead fantastic Craigslist isn't necessarily an outlet for national advertisers, but someone or some entity is going to come along and make that community thing work for advertisers. It's going to be a very tall task to reach consumers effectively in the short term. And I don't know quite how it will happen yet, but it will happen. It could very well be internet video, but if I'm in charge over at the awesome YouTube and I start forcing video ad spots before the video you've selected, I'd be worried stiff that my community is going to go away as quickly as they came. I'm not sure it's going to work.

But community, the act of regular people or entities sharing content - somehow, someway - is what will control this. The inmates aren't fully running the asylum yet, but it's not far off. Community has already ruined the major music record labels (and good riddance, baby!). Community is the reason why the help wanted sections in the physical newspapers are 6 pages now instead of 60. In short time, community will send Hollywood ass-over-end as filmmakers - real filmmakers - will finally get their due. And it's community that will take a large bite out of the size of your magazine.

So if you're running a company today, how do you market your products and/or your clients products? Tough question in today's world, innit?

The Moments That Make Up A Dull Day

I've seen less than 10 total episodes of "Survivor" since its been on the air - and I only watched those episodes because my wife worked with one of the people who was a contestant. After reading this morning's Boston Globe, Survivor has sealed its fate as a show I will never watch again. For this upcoming season, they have decided to seperate teams by race. What is this, 1950? They're seperating teams by African-American, Caucasian, Asian and Hispanic. Do we really need this? What's more mysterious is that someone with some kind of authority and a sense of what's right didn't stomp on the idea at the conference room table when the idea surfaced. That they actually conceived it, planned it and shot it already is mind-numbing to me and a clear sign that money and marketing trumps just about anything. Sad.

We all have regrets, right? Last week when I was in Atlanta for a meeting, we sat down at the conference room table and there were a few people who hadn't shown up yet. Usually when this happens, there's some awkward small-talk about where we live, the weather and usually some silence. This time, though, a topic came up that brought the pre-meeting to life. One guy remarked something along the lines of making different decisions back when he was a teenager. I immeadiately lit up and asked this question: "if you could go back to a particular age and start over, what age would that be?"

I got some interesting answers. Of course, one person had to clarify and ask "would I have the knowledge I do today or would my knowledge and mental capacity also go back to that time?" I quickly made the decision that you would have the knowledge and mental capacity you do today. That really makes things interesting. I'm still not sure what my answer is, really.

So......I'm putting this out there for comment: thinking about your life, what age would you go back to in order to hit the "reset" button, knowing that when you go back to that age, you would be in possession of your mental capacity and knowledge today? Fun to think about.

Cheap Trick?

In the immortal words of Eric Forman, "Hello Wisconsin!"

I didn't get to spend as much time downtown here in Madison as I did in Chapel Hill last month, but I can say this: I love these college towns. Good, cheap food and hip culture. Walked into a joint for dinner tonight and Sufjan Stevens was playing on the bar CD player. Had a turkey burger with cilantro sauce and cheddar. Nice. Flew into Madison tonight during a storm. Not nice.

Run Forrest! Run!

A strange week has just gone by. Two brief stories:

1) I work at home some of the time, which means if I need to fax something, I have to shoot over to The Geek Boutique here in Maynard. You might be asking why I don't just get one of those fax/email/copy/printer things for my home office, right? Well, screw that. I will not ever pay any of my own money for anything involving faxing. I hated faxing in the '90s and I hate it today. A terrible invention. Anyway, there was someone new working at "The Geek" on Tuesday and he claimed they couldn't fax stuff for me, which I know is not true, but whatever - I left and went over to the huge Clock Tower Place, former headquarters of Digital and now a holding house for many different businesses, including Monster.com. I worked in that building briefly years ago and if you've ever been in there, you know how easy it is to get lost. So I'm about to walk in when a group of people emerge from another door and I notice right away that one of them is Curt Schilling. Now, that's just ridiculous. What the hell is Curt Schilling doing in Maynard, I ask myself, and why is he surrounded by a group of bean counters in suits? The only thing I could figure was that he may have been part of a group looking into buying the building. Schilling, by the way, was dressed to the nines himself for his tour of the building - gray sweat pants and a t-shirt that said "Groundforce Iraq - USA" across the front. Delightful. As you might imagine, on my way out, I got lost in that damn building and ended up running into Schilling and his geek army three more times as I tried to find the correct exit and felt like a mouse who had just been injected with something and dropped into a maze. Curses. Come to find out that Schilling is starting a video game company and he was undoubtedly looking at office space, as the press release for his company had Maynard listed as the city of origin.

2) I woke up at 4:40am on Friday for a 7am flight to Atlanta. I go down there, have my 1.5 hour meeting and get back on the plane at 4pm, fly home and as our plane hits the ground, I notice we're moving quicker than usual off the runway - and then we just stop for like 10 minutes. WTF? The pilot then comes on and says that all planes at the airport had to stop where they were because there was a VIP about to take off. He then added that in about five minutes, if we looked out to the right side of the aircraft, we could see the VIP take off. Sure enough, five minutes later, I peer outside the plane and see Air Force Two taking off over our heads. Curses! Dick Cheney cost me 15 minutes of my life! I made up for it Sunday morning, though, when Tim Russert made him feel really uncomfortable on Meet The Press. Good stuff. Cheney ended up with the best joke of the hour, though, when, during a lighthearted exchange about the hunting incident, Russert asked him "would I be safe if I went hunting with you?"

Cheney's response: "No, you're not in season, Tim."

You Aren't What You Eat. Probably.

Head of Meat
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

Since getting together with my wife, my eating habits have changed and improved drastically. Some of that is by default, meaning I'll just eat what she makes. Some of it is by choice. For instance, I willingly gave up ice cream last September and while I picked it up again in April (though far less often), I plan to once again employ a self-imposed blackout at the end of the month. The proof is in the pudding - when I graduated college in 1994 I was at 192 pounds. I lost a little in the years following, but always stayed in the 180-185 range until about two years ago, when I really started paying attention. Today, I'm 165.

In the past year I've also become a fan of Men's Health magazine. I guess my past impression of this magazine (and others in similarity) was that it would just be filled with stories about things like beta blockers, Hydroxycut and dudes who can lift cars over their head or whatever. But it's not. I've found the magazine to be quite an interesting read, targeted to guys just like me - the ones who have recently discovered how important this stuff is and need some basic information on how get (and stay) healthy. It also looks like there are some good recipes in there. I've torn a few out, but haven't tried them yet. Soon.

Anyway, here's what I'm getting at: this month's issue has a story about a guy who has gone 25 years without eating produce. And get this: he's the nutrition writer for the magazine! That's a funny little fact and then you can't really help but have a hearty laugh at that picture (above) which accompanies the article. That must have been fun to build - a HEAD of meat!!

So anyway, the author of the article decides to have a few renowned doctors perform a deep dive on his health after his own self-imposed 25 year produce boycott. After many detailed blood tests and hookups.....good god - the doctors proclaim him to be as healthy as any vegetarian! How funny is that!? The devil is in the details, though. The doctors also tell him that he may not make it to 65-70 if he keeps it up. Apparantly that's really where you pay for a lifetime of.....meat. Or lack of produce. That triggered a strange memory for me: sitting in Miss Dugan's biology class during my sophomore year in high school, I remember her saying that we don't necessarily have a free pass on what we eat, but it's something that you need to seriously pay attention to when you hit your 30's. Funny how little memories pop up like that from time to time.

I guess I should add one more thing: by no means am I fanatical about eating healthy. I won't leave Fenway Park without eating a hot dog or two. Cookies remain an issue for me. But the old adage about that stuff truly applies. I don't even have to cite the adage, do I?

Clique Here To Enter

This past weekend, The Sunday New York Times ran this story, about couples who go through the process of In-Vitro fertilization NOT because because they are infertile, but because the doctors can identify the possibility of disease-causing genes when the embryo sits in a petri dish and contains just 8 cells. Think about that for a second! The article isn't focused on the wonders of modern medicine, though; its focus is on the controversy around not proceeding with the implantation of an embryo because that embryo might become a pregnancy and the baby might have that defective gene and might, later in life, contract a hereditary disease such as cancer, Huntington's Disease or some kind of neurological disorder.

Putting aside the usual conservative vs. liberal issues here, what you're effectively dealing with in a situation like this is what most of us went through in high school: you're only a part of the in-crowd if you're perfect. Except with this, it's LIFE: you're only part of the human race if you don't show a possibility of contracting a disease. The article presents parents and parents-to-be who feel entirely comfortable making that decision and others who don't. It's a terribly interesting read.

I'm not going to sit here and define what makes a pregnancy and what doesn't, but I do know that if cancer or some horribly debilitating disease ran rampant through my family and I carried that gene with a high likelihood of passing it on, I'd probably want to do whatever I could to prevent it. Choosing to go the physically and mentally demanding IVF route for that express purpose? To each their own, I suppose.

NP: Bruce Springsteen: "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City"

At Least That's What I Said

Wilco, Austin City Limits
Originally uploaded by rustedrobot.

I was able to catch up on a couple of Tivo'd recordings over the weekend, one of which was Wilco's 2005 appearance on Austin City Limits. I also see that The Fort has put forth his say as well and it is purely coincidental that we've both written about it and we both think "I'm A Wheel" is embarassing drivel. Their performance was solid, but I find myself repeating the same thing over and over and over when I see them: they are too artistic for their own good these days (see below). Now that that's out of the way........

I remember standing at The Paradise one October evening in 1995, enjoying the hell out of a Wilco show and, in all likelihood, feeling very warm courtesy of The Latrobe Brewing Company . It was very, very late on the A.M. tour and I was probably at the very peak of my admiration for all things "alt.country." Gosh, I hate that term. Anyway, the triumvirate of Wilco, Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo were the three bands that had made my world go 'round from 1994-1997 and I was there in the throes of it.

The "encore" found the band stumbling back out to roll out a couple of new songs they had been working on and I remember thinking how sorta dumb it was that lead singer Jeff Tweedy also changed his clothes, moving into a Denver Broncos football jersey. It was then that they pushed into "Misunderstood," a song that more-or-less flipped that band into another dimension and/or direction. The rootsy, cutsey sound was gone, replaced by something more brooding, more adventurous. It was spectacular.

And that's how I felt about "Being There," the sprawling double-album which shot out in so many different directions that it was......confusing. Miraculous. Interesting. It was Jeff Tweedy's scream therapy (his Plastic Ono Band, if you will), an expression of all the music he'd listened to and been influenced by since childhood; an expression of his newly-found indepedance from Uncle Tupelo & Jay Farrar, whose talent and mildly mysterious aura, theoretically, smothered Tweedy and rendered him esteemless. I've since cooled down a little on the album, but it definitely remains my favorite Wilco work, despite my two favorite Wilco songs being on "Summerteeth" ("We're Just Friends" and "Shot In The Arm").

Later that night, I found myself at Mama Kin (ugh) with a gang of friends, because the Continental Drifters were playing a late show and I certainly didn't want to miss it (really, I was insane about shows). I got there one song into the set and, standing in the back, started to take it all in when I turned around and saw Tweedy come in by himself. Normally, I would know full well that meeting people you admire from afar is almost always an excercise in disappointment. However, the Latrobe Brewing Company had been hard at work that night and I said "to hell with it."

Much to my surprise, Tweedy was engaging, coherent, intelligent and seemed relatively down-to-Earth. We had a terribly interesting conversation, mostly about music and the hype around the whole Son Volt vs. Wilco thing and how it affected him emotionally. "Being There" really was Tweedy on the doctor's couch, not lyrically, not musically, but just........as a human. A free man, if you will. I ended up getting his phone number because when he found out I worked for Rounder, he wanted to see if I could send him some of their children's records for his very young son. I ended up talking to him a couple more times and sending some of those records over to him, but we never connected again after that. Quit while I'm ahead, I guess. Since then, he's had some problems of his own that don't need detailing, but it appears he's gotten past those, too (he doesn't appear to have gotten past having the Elvis circa '73 hair yet, though. Yikes).

To make a long blog post short, many things have happened to the band since then. For example, they sell out large halls now, had a movie and a book made about them, landed some albums in the Billboard Top 30 and are, whether they like it or not, America's answer to Radiohead. Their music gets more and more experimental, which is all well and good, really. You need to follow the muse, wherever it takes you. But there have been way too many lineup changes in the band to think all's well and good in Wilcoland and I just keep going back to my original mantra: too artistic for their own good now. So while I do truly enjoy listening to that band (their performance of "At Least That's What You Said" on ACL was terrific), I sometimes just wish Wilco would make some more songs that feel true, instead of songs that beep, whirr and ding - and sometimes feel true, but mostly feel like a band that's trying too hard.