MPW

I'm a little late with this one. Whoops.

Last week was a little lighter than I would have liked - Sunday I was stuck on I90 during the snowstorm (yes...in October, how awesome!) and Monday my shins were exploding into a thousand tiny shards.

I have a tendency to miss a day and then do just fine on the rest. So far, this week, I've not had that problem, but I'll wait till I get to the end of it to make any grandiose claims.

Sun - off
Mon - 4.25 mi
Tues - 11.25 mi (90-60-30 hills at heartbreak)
Weds - 8 mi
Thurs - 8.5 mi
Fri - 8.25 mi
Sat - 8.25 mi

A whopping 48.5 total. Oh well. The rolling 7 days from this day back looks more like low 60's, so I'm on the right track, at least. Har har.

Also, I ran a little shindig on Sunday that some folks from around here may know about - Mayor's Cup. A fine and dandy 8k in Franklin Park - however, this year (its 20th) found the course in disarray and in mostly liquid form. I eked out a 28:04 for my first cross race in 2 years. Not bad, not great. I would have liked to run more like 27:30 but I get another opportunity at New Englands in a week or two. That's 10k, though - ugh. Going past 8k is truly not my strong point. I don't actually feel all that tired for having moved up the mileage again, though - and the weather is at least cooperating.

One Hit Wondersauce

So, I have quite a few bands in my collection that are there simply because of one freakin' song. Something about it is awesome! And since I hate having single songs, I have their entire cds - and the rest of that CD is completely useless garbage. Or at least, I find all of it to be pretty uninteresting, as a whole.

Anyhow, I feel like I should share some of my precioustreasures with you. Yeah, that's creepy sounding.

HERE'S SHIT THAT YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO

I don't think I am going to be able to dredge up samples for some of these songs, to be honest - my criterion for these songs being on here are that they are by pretty unknown bands. It is unlikely that anyone has uploaded all their stuff to Youtube. You can probably procure it somehow, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.

Golem - The Tower
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)


From their sole release, "Dreamweaver," The Tower is just a pummeling piece of music which I am fairly certain is inspired by Stephen King's "The Dark Tower." It's big, bombastic, and has one of the best rhythms I have ever heard. The final solos, the progressive guitar work through the entire thing, the insanely technical drumming, and the epic scale make this a really fucking excellent song. The rest of the CD, sadly, is kind of boring technical death metal. There are some decent moments in them but nothing compared to this song.

Morian - Warmonger's Ball
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)

I can't think of a catchier opening five seconds. The way the vocal melody slowly edges upwards through the verse is nearly perfect, as well. The chorus seems kind of unfulfilling after all that promise, but thankfully they get back to the point soon enough.

I am certain that it is terrible English, but the phrasing that they use in the verse is also very poetic.

Could it be so we're torn and shaken
Could it be so we are awakened
Could it be so that in all these years I have never seen your face?

Onward - Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q9uAzax4lQ

I really don't know what to say about Michael Grant's (the vocalist) faces in this video. In fact, I'm not so sure about his lace-up frilly shirt, either. But I do declare, the vocal line he is singing has been stuck in my head ever since I first heard this song. No matter how many times I play it, it persists. In fact, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to listen to this!

John Sykes - Cautionary Warning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZF50kMlKc

The really worthwhile parts of this song are (surprise) the guitar work (by John Sykes, of Whitesnake and other assorted acts) as well as the...outro, I suppose? The vocals take a darker edge and slowly begin to fade out, and it's probably one of the best uses of that effect I've heard in quite a while (barring "Fade To Black").

This version of the song is from Black Heaven - the original mix is instrumental.

Crimson Tears - Steal My Heart
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)

This song owes all of its awesomeness to a ten-or-twenty second bridge where the key changes and a small part of an earlier track on the CD is played - it more than makes up for some of the really bad lyrics and the debatable "ai-ee-ai-ee-ai-ee" thing the singer does a few times. The bridge starts right at 3:05 on my copy and is basically everything a bridge should be - deeply melodic and catchy, surprising in direction, and makes you want to listen to the song again just to hear it.

 
Lords of Decadence - The Dreamcatcher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDnnglH1VI 

Lords of Decadence are a little silly, but the interplay between the one(?) vocalist's styles here is superb. The backing keyboards have a bit of a 'creepy kid's nightmare' vibe going on, and the guitar work is slick even if the production is not. The ascending scale under the lyric Scream! - and the overall groove of the song - make it actually one of my favorites when I'm in a particular mood. No, not that mood.

Imperanon - Shadowsouls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jgCeDwKXDU

The defining element here is the female vocalist's duet with the perpetually-soloing guitar. I don't know what exactly you would call the characteristic of her voice that makes it sound sharp or harsh, but it's doing what it's doing exactly as it should. The slight touch of keyboard in the background, the driving drums - solid, solid song for a Children of Bodom clone that never really went anywhere.

Home Trail

The New York Times has an article covering the trail near my hometown which was my daily running route for 5 summers: http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/travel/escapes/23passage.html

It kind of puts in perspective how awesome it really is. I only regularly ran on a 20 mile section of it (with two starting locations) and occasionally would bike farther, when I was recuperating from running injuries. As much as I sometimes disliked the area, the Montour Trail is one of the best things in the Pittsburgh area for runners - only about 15 minutes from my house if you do 80mph on the highway.

It's pretty eerie that something I spent so much of my life on is so widely publicized!

MPW

This week, this is what my calves and quadriceps were up to - I was just along for the ride:

sun oct 11 - 7.25 mi
mon oct 12 - 8 mi
tues oct 13 - 12.1 mi
weds oct 14 - off
thurs oct 15 - 8 mi
fri oct 16 - 8 mi
sat oct 17 - 12 mi

I think that adds up to something like 55 miles.


I took Weds off because I'm kind of reworking my way up after dropping down to lower numbers - plantar
fasciitis is pretty dumb. I've basically taken to running only at Cutler Park and the Cleveland Reservoir to combat my lower extremity woes.

Workouts were on Tuesday and Saturday - both actually went surprisingly well, considering they were both long as hell.

Tuesday was - 20 minutes tempo with 4 minutes rest, 4 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 4 minutes rest, then 5 minutes @ 5k pace. It was around the perpetually temperate Reservoir and I managed to both freeze and sweat profusely (in the neon orange jacket that Kevin loves so much). Tempo went okay - it always feels a little...awkward, I guess - going at that pace for me. Fell off the back a little bit at the end but I'm okay with that.

Saturday was a delectable 6 x 4 minutes on, 3 minutes off at Lincoln. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the longer rest workouts, because it seems like I have a tendency to falter on them a lot more than on the 5 x 5 minute on, 1 minute off workout (for example). I imagine it's just because this workout is 39 minutes long - whereas the other is just 29. Your heart rate is elevated for longer - and you're probably going faster. Paterno showed up - it's always good to see a man of his age getting out and about.

Post-workout, I went to Donelan's and had the most delicious dutch chocolate muffin the world has ever seen. It was a quality day - blue skies and bad techno accompanied me home, to a shower and then driving to New Haven.

Damn it's good to be working out again! I will admit - I get a little lazy in the summer when it's just me doing my thing on Comm Ave all the time. Something about the heat gets to me too...anyhow, it would have likely been a much more craptastic summer without Will to heckle me about running in the mornings and going really stupidly long on Sundays. And working out wouldn't be as much fun, either, without Chris - because he destroys every workout and I can't help but try and keep up. The fact that he's in good shape will mean that I get in better shape too. It's just one big clusterfuck of symbiosis. Hooray life! Hooray track!

Keep The Conversation

I'm not sure if this just a phenomenon that I encounter (or if it is one that solely annoys me) but I have found myself within earshot, or on the receiving end, of quite a few conversations that go something like this:

"Honestly, there's something different about the people growing up in today's generation. They don't play outside [usually here is made a reference to video games], they're privileged and spoiled, and they don't know the value of hard work." [etc etc etc]

It absolutely infuriates me. I want to drag them by their hair into some of my friend's lives and make them watch a slideshow of the bullshit they have to put up with on a day-to-day basis. The world has kept turning under these aged miscreant's feet, and I do believe that a great deal more respect is due to those who they slander.

I realize all of my "convincing evidence" is anecdotal and a few sample points do not a proof make, but I think the situation and culture people my age (and younger) find themselves in is just as difficult, although in different ways. I don't experience all of them myself, but I'm at least aware of them.

One of the primary things I would argue is that there are whole legions more of really intelligent people coming out of high school, college, and etc - and the number of opportunities available to them may have remained rather static compared to their parent's generation. That'd be okay, if they didn't have orders of magnitude more competition. The people I see throw themselves against the wall trying to juggle and excel in fifty things still don't get those opportunities, because there are now just so many people like that. Driven. Maybe by parents or by themselves or by something else, but there certainly are hordes of perfectionists about.

And what to excel in? There is, in fact, quite a bit more to know as a responsible citizen of the globe than there was 50 years ago. Being a Da Vinci-style Renaissance man is impossible - you could sit in your apartment reading Nature and Science and the New York Times along with Phenomenology and Noumena 52 weeks a year and still have a few dozen fields in which you are woefully ignorant. If you pick the job that pays, you understand that it is very unlikely to be the job that provides any sort of benefit to the countless number of poor and dying. And it is very difficult to remain ignorant of the woes that assault the peoples of the globe anymore - so where do you draw the line? How much of you do you devote to them? How much can you, and still lead the life you want?

In a great many ways, the problems of the early 20th century were physical and mechanical (cars! atom bombs! federal highways!) - whereas it seems the problems of the generations in the 21st century will be more cultural, societal, and dealing with the fallout of some of those clumsier and less beneficial 20th century solutions (solar power! when to engage foreign dictatorships! the best appropriation of funds to bolster the poor of the united states!).

To the untrained eye, I think it seems like all the hard problems are solved. You can make a fair bit of money if you work pretty hard, and you can live a life of relative ease. But now we are cursed with the knowledge that it is not what is truly important - and we cannot be content in our own happiness whilst others suffer so greatly. The 20th century was knocking down walls - the 21st is maneuvering minefields.

Anyhow, that long-winded muttering was actually a precursor to what I aim to talk about  - how the sort of conversation that I speak about is so ineffectual and pointless that it probably shouldn't have taken place at all. Not even necessarily because of the content - but because of the delivery.

Think about it for a second. Someone you don't know walks up to you and says, "Look. You're lazy and irresponsible and I don't think you've ever worked hard a single day of your life. Here's what you should do instead..."

Would anyone seriously listen to this joker? I'd fling the slightly-stale dinner roll in my hand at him and go back to my cubicle. No, that is not a dig at Aramark's dinner rolls. I just have a steady supply of over-aired pastries at my command.

The purpose of that guy's conversation with you, such as it was, was to convince you to do something different. He failed utterly - because he is an asshole. (I swear, my argument is a little stronger than that)

You can't actually be guaranteed that anyone is going to be convinced by an argument you're making, or understand the thing that you want to communicate to them. You can, however, ensure that you do the best possible job of delivering what you want to say to them so that they actually listen. The way to doing so is frighteningly simple in premise and a good deal more complicated in execution.

Just say what you have to say respectfully.

I can't tell you how many times people have said, through implication or through direct insult, that I was an atrocious person for holding a particular position or for doing something that they found repellent. Not to say that I make it a habit of doing things that people find distasteful - but people are just really bad at communicating! I usually get frustrated and angry at the sort of comments they make - and completely unnecessarily so. What advantage did their dig at me afford their argument? None - it's a weaker one for being full of veiled (or not) insults, as well as needlessly being hurtful.

It's not to say that arguments or things that need to be heard should be couched so much that they are ineffective. There is a way to phrase things such that the point is still powerful but delivered respectfully. It does take time to do so, though - and it is sometimes extremely hard to take a step back from someone verbally swinging at you and not retaliate. It feels excellent to lash back and watch someone just recoil under the barrage of all you aim at them - but it's not helping.

Without a respectful conversation, very little can be accomplished - little can be learned. Both parties walk away feeling more righteous in their own positions, and more aggrieved than before - knowing nothing more about the other person. I see it in politics, I see it in relationships and marriages, and I see it between friends.

Why would you cause someone pain when you don't have to? When it serves no need - when it does not advance your own purpose?

Seven Songs for Seven Days 6

I'm going to try to get in the habit of actually doing this every seven days. And maybe write some more in between that...! Things were a little busy for a while there but I think I have finally hit the rhythm of fall. With that rhythm comes....new jams! Yes, you are excited.

Disarmonia Mundi - Ghost Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtdtBF-eC_8

This is off a recent EP of Disarmonia Mundi's - a melodic death metal conglomerate consisting of a lot of Italians and the Soilwork frontman, Speed Strid. What a name! This is a little bit of a strange song from them - usually their tunes are a lot more driving, but this one has a great deal of drifting melancholy. I am not entirely sure what the content of the lyrics is pointing towards, but the rapid change in mood about halfway through fits perfectly and has some mind-burrowing parts.

Redemption - What Will You Say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTGRLb6l-M

Redemption is one of a legion of underrated prog metal bands. The song itself is something universally applicable - the painting of an alternative life we might have led had we been with someone different, and wondering and hoping that the consequences of other people's actions will one day haunt them.

Okay, maybe not everyone wishes that upon their exes, but I can't be alone! The song itself is lengthy and mostly vocally driven - the singer (a former member of Fates Warning, I think?) has a way with ascending notes. Some subdued but soulful guitar soloing is happening in this bad boy as well.

DGM - Heartache
http://www.myspace.com/dgmprog

DGM is one of countlessly many excellent Italian bands. Who knows where they all came from? DGM plays progressive metal with a twist - a really good vocalist. There aren't many singers that I truly admire in the prog metal world but this fellow is excellent. They also have really solid skills at reigning in the too-experimental elements of progressive metal. Sure, it's what pushes music to the boundaries - but don't just push them. Make good music while doing it. That, in its essence, is DGM! Give them a round of applause.

Be'lakor - Countless Skies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYaxAosBuro

Be'lakor is an Australian (?!) death metal band that actually has some features reminiscent of Amorphis and Opeth. That's never really a bad comparison, unless you're talking about Opeth fans. They have a sort of progressive death metal take with a lot of piano and very low, roared vocals. I picked Countless Skies as my favorite of their new album, Stone's Reach, because of the lengthy instrumental section that ends the song - I love harmony! I love guitar! It just all fits together.

Amorphis - Godlike Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MQvCKoD1Ng

I challenge anyone to come up with a better song title than "Godlike Machine." It just sounds...HUGE! And it's quite appropriate that the chorus of this song sounds like a many-armed steel juggernaut, ripping up soil and tree and throwing it all in some cavernous fiery maw. A ziggurat of unearthly origin! A mobile Tower of Babel!

These guys are awesome at catchy guitar melodies. I highly advise. Many thumbs up - more than I possess.

Metric - Gimme Sympathy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqldwoDXHKg

Metric reminds me a hell of a lot of the other female-fronted indie-ish bands I have been listening to - they've got a little bit of Silversun Pickups, The Gathering, and The Sounds in them. Probably not so much The Sounds. I don't know if they have a dedicated keyboard player or not but some of the more interesting parts and pieces of their songs have to do with really ephemeral keyboard parts and accompanying vocals. This song is a little more immediately arresting and catchy, but they do have a number of lower-key ones.

Ghost Brigade - Suffocated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkDw9rRl--w

This may be the most perfectly named band in existence. Listen to the opening of the song and it just sounds like something to accompany the slow treading of spirits - and the pounding that slowly ebbs in possesses some measure of dread and gloom - especially the ghostly guitar slide every measure.

The chorus is a big enough stretch from the drone-and-pound of the verse that it elevates the song quite a bit. There's a very slight hint of a choir behind the verse sometimes. It's strange how only two real pieces of music can last five minutes - and still be appealing.

Seven Songs for Seven Days 5

The Sounds - Tony the Beat
http://www.imeem.com/jukeboxmusic8/music/uhD1jjDp/the-sounds-tony-the-beat-album-version/
A punk rock song about doin' it. What more do you want from me?

Skyfire - Misery's Supremacy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgaqYKPzLlU
Holy shit! Skyfire's new CD leaked in the interwebs! My mind is fucking blown. After the soft and swimming-in-keyboards introduction, this song just hits fifth gear and never slows down for a second. I especially love the rhythm and ascending fill of the guitar on the verse - transitioning to a very ascendant arpeggio on piano - then slamming home with a chorus that is impossible to forget.

Imogen Heap - 2-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-LC2vyge4

It's not especially apparent to me what Imogen Heap is actually singing about here - it kind of sounds like a song about...the universe? It's just so huge and throbbing...it sounds like it should be accompanied by an ever-spiraling galaxy showing us our tiny place in the known universe. And somehow she manages to suggest that something dark is slowly and silently traveling towards our minuscule planet...

Starship - It's Not Enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN49psbUshY

I have long, long, long been in the thrall of 80's rock - my dad played basically nothing else throughout my youth and I am sure it was this that was the crowning touch upon the development of my musical genius.

And, besides, what lyrics! 

Wooooomaaaaan! Don't play this game! You'll never get my lovin' this way! 

Starship does well what you would expect - big choruses and cheesy lyrics.  

Forefather - Theodish Belief
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2955310145739546105 
What a disgustingly good song! Even the intro guitar riffs are delicious - the upstroke in the middle of the resonating chord is ballin'. I don't know what kind of key / chord changes they use but they definitely have a weirdly-folksy sound to them. The clean choruses are also a welcome respite from the more harsh-listening verses - the brothers who make up Forefather are fine singers.

Cascada - Wouldn't It Be Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGFg-czXA8Q
I am very much allowed to listen to Cascada if I want to. Don't look at me like that. Yes, all of her songs sound exactly the same. It's actually a little eerie how similar they are - but you can't deny that she has a good voice and some catchy techno beats. Oh, if only I was a blonde techno/dance musician.

Twilightning - Painting the Blue Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzvfM45UMNE
Tommi Sartanen of Twilightning might be another guitarist to add to my list. The solos on this song and the obvious holding back that skilled guitarists have to do when they are trying to not overwhelm a calmer song - sometimes they fail at it. Sartanen does a pretty damn good job and the singer compliments the feel of the song very well.