2024 / Nov 11-17

Things I Have Enjoyed This Week

[5 min read]

Corvids watching the sunset - UPDATE:

I mentioned before that I regularly see groups of corvids seemingly watching the sunset from a roost on the power lines, but had no photographic evidence to back it up. Mostly because every time I see the corvids watching the sunset I am driving. Well, this time I put on my hazards and stopped in the road because THIS IS IMPORTANT. THIS MEANS SOMETHING. Anyway…watching the sunset plus view of the sunset in the opposite direction.

☝️ Murder of crows, watching the sunset.

☝️ Facing the opposite direction: the sunset being watched by the murder of crows watching the sunset.

Ponderosa Pines

Did you know their bark smells like butterscotch? Its true. Jam your schnoz in its crannies and get a snootful. Some days you have to get close and really whiff it up. Some days, if you’re in an area where they’re plentiful and there’s a breeze, it smells like the trees are running a bakery on the mountain side.

Buckingham Nicks / Cunningham Bird

Madison Cunningham & Andrew Bird covered all of Buckingham Nicks. WHAT?!?! If you don’t know, that’s the only album made by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks before joining Fleetwood Mac. It used to be hard to find because there was an original pressing in 1973 and that was it. But, duh, it’s on YouTube. Both so great, so different. Totally killer.

The original is like a 70s sampler (in a good way), like they hadn’t figured out who to be yet. It sounds like Fleetwood Mac doing the Eagles, then doing the Allman Brothers, then Supertramp, Clapton. On and on.

And the remake goes in completely different directions. Cunningham’s guitar and vocals are so kick ass and Bird is doing some of his best violin work ever. For best results, I recommend ripping the original Buckingham Nicks off YouTube, cutting it into the individual tracks, then making a playlist that alternates the songs from each version. Everyone does this, I’m sure.

David Sedaris

Saw him and he was so great and hilarious. Among other things, he told this A+ street joke: A patient screams “doctor, I can’t feel my legs!” The doctor says “of course you can’t. I just removed both of your arms.” And, not for the first time, it occurred to me that he reminds me of my grandmother, Gramsl. In particular, they are both shameless about observing and laughing at stupid people and oddballs.

Anyway, here is talking about the motherfuckin’ Rooster:

Bonnie Tyler‘s Holding Out for a Hero

Boy, she sure is worked up, huh?

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING INMATES

I love these signs on the highways. If you’ve never seen one…well…this is it. It’s just a yellow sign next to the highway with the above text on it. That’s all. And it is, of course, near a prison.

I laugh every time I see one.

I like to imagine a meeting at the jail where they’re talking about how they really need to do something about all these escapees. Higher walls? More barbed wire? More guards? Guard dogs? Guard geese? (THIS IS A THING.) Guns that shoot nets? SOMETHING, ANYTHING, I mean it happens ALL THE TIME. And then one person is like “I dunno. How about we just put up some signs?” Nice work. Meeting over. 🤝🤝🤝

Exact Right Song for the Moment

Driving through the vastness of eastern NM and west TX in rain so heavy we could barely see 50 feet in front of us, while behind us it was clear and the sun was setting dramatically when Link Wray’s super vibey Fallin’ Rain comes on. So choice.

Songs About Cats

I met this guy at the open mic I frequent. We both like the Weakerthans. I mentioned being recently hung up on Virtue the Cat Explains Her Departure. He said “oh, I was gonna play Plea from a Cat Named Virtue from their other record.” So I said “I have a song about a dog. But I guess it could be about a cat. I’ll play it so we’re both playing animal songs.” And we did and it was great. Mostly I am very anxious about and perplexed by interacting with other humans, but I’m more than happy to talk to this friendly fellow about cat songs. What’s that shirt? Introverted but willing to talk about cats? Anyway…

Not for the Season (Laminated Cat) [Here Comes Everybody Version] by Wilco

Listen on Apple Music • Spotify

This is from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Expanded Edition). Sometime like, I dunno 10-12 years ago, someone gave us the bootleg outtakes from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. My initial reaction was why would I want this? I just love the album, isn’t that enough? But I figured I would listen through it once. This version of this song was on there and it was the one track that really hit me. I listened to it over and over and put it on a TON of playlists.

But in what turned out to be my biggest beef with streaming, so much was lost in (I assume) the mentality of who wants all this old crap if it hasn’t already earned classic status? Forget it, just upload the new stuff and the old stuff that’s big enough for people to care about. So a lot was lost/unavailable for a while. (This included two of my favorites: Jon Brion’s Meaningless and Devin Davis’ Lonely People of the World, Unite! I spent years searching for both of those about once a month before they finally were available, like a dog sitting in the front window every day at 3:30 waiting for the now-in-college kid to come home. [Why did I use such a sad analogy?])

That eventually gave way to the mentality (I assume) of put everything we’ve ever recorded—even as a voice memo—on the streaming platforms because a stream is a stream and we make so little on each stream that we need to get as many tracks as possible up there—FEED THE ALGO!!!!

Then the other day a buddy sent me a track from one of the 2 (2!) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot expanded or deluxe or superfantastic editions, which I hadn’t realized were out. And I found this version of this song! I’ve been so excited and listening to it over and over while I run. It’s one of those nothing-can-hurt-me-while-I’m-listening-to-this-song songs.

Rio Chama

Every now and then we make the drive out past Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch and take FR151 to the Chama River. We’ve hiked out there, we’ve gone and just sat. We’ve seen great horned owls and bald eagles, footprints from big cats. But mostly, we bring firewood and a picnic and sit in a spot overlooking the river and enjoy the stillness until the campfire burns out. And then you can really see the Milky Way spray. Nothing beats it.

What did you enjoy this week? I’d love to know. Leave it in the comments - thanks!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! ✌️❤️🤘

Your pal,

Robert