Irish Violet

NHL: 33.3%; Tim F.: 75%

2012-04-27T16:38:10Z

One of the crazier first rounds in recent NHL playoff history concluded last night, or early Friday morning for those on the East coast waiting for the last game of the first round to end. In double overtime. Inside of the first five minutes of said second overtime session. Thank you, Adam Henrique.

A full one-third of all games played in the first round (16 of 48) went to overtime, setting a modern NHL record since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams with four rounds of best of seven. And of those 16 games, 12 ended inside the first five minutes of the extra session, including all three games that went to double OT. So that puts my theory at a cool 75%. With seven series left to play, there is a maximum of 49 games left in this year's playoffs so it's looking favorable for this year to put a tick mark in the yes column.

Other craziness?

The last four Cup winners all lost in round one: Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit.
The first five games of the Phoenix-Chicago series went into OT, first time that happened in 50 years.
And the President's Cup winner (regular season best record) Vancouver was ousted by 8th seed LA, in five games no less. Oh wait, no surprise there.
Historic NHL franchises with deep playoff experience (*snort*) like Phoenix, Nashville, St. Louis, and Washington advanced.

Don't ask me to pick the Cup winner, my heart will overrule my head.

What I talk about when I start to ramble on about music these days (part 1)

2012-04-20T21:08:51Z

I've long said that there's a non-stop soundtrack in my mind's ear. Music has been a long-held enjoyable passion and a topic I can chat about or write about or think about for moments/hours/words on end. For a while I even did the writing bit semi-regularly with some dudes who created an e-zine in the late '90s and brought me along for the ride. That expression of bytes and pixels ended over a decade ago. More recently we gave a half-assed attempt at a reviews-based Twitter feed, but that idea ended nano-moments after starting. Yet we're still damn opinionated and have hotly-contested top 10 lists we share each year. (As a decent proxy for our untethered though always-connected world, the four of us have never been in the same room at the same time.)

To no small degree, keeping up with those Joneses, aka Rob, Pete(r), and Burt, has kept my toe (and wallet) in the game, and ears interested in hearing new music. While thinking about and wrestling with my top 10 from last year, I found myself again reflecting on how rapidly my music consumption habit has changed. Consumption as in purchasing, collecting, and listening.

]]> demise of record stores, indie and otherwise.

Today you could fairly easily track my annual record store visits on one hand, with fingers to spare. In the 6+ years I've lived in Seattle, one of the local indie stalwarts, Sonic Boom, has contracted from three locations to one. Last year, I think I walked into Sonic Boom once. And that may have only been at the going-out-of-business sale for their Capitol Hill location.

After years of hauling around records and cassettes and CDs as I moved from apartment to apartment (and city to city), I did a fairly massive purge a couple of years ago when I moved into my house. CDs still merit two tall shelves in the living room though I'm contemplating a new round of pruning. Last year, I think I bought 2 physical CDs released in 2011 and fewer than 5 used discs at that Sonic Boom sale. As a comparison barometer, there probably were years when I bought +/- 40 new releases. My former employer sells CDs and through distribution of promos at the office, I probably acquired another dozen, one of which I'll keep. (Can you say, Adele?) I find myself not playing CDs -- which is different than not listening to them. And now, I mostly see my physical music collection as one big space-eater.

I wish I could claim some sort of greener-than-thou or audiophile reason for my declining interest in acquiring CDs but neither is true. I'll save the audiophile thread for a separate post about how I listen to music in the 21^st century that probably will blend into how I find out about new music today. But a big part of my lack of interest is the evanescent nature of new releases. And I should probably further clarify, indie/rock new releases. I could add a separate digression about the genres I listen to, but instead I'll digress with this....

A record I may have loved in, say, 1997 is one I probably haven't played 15 times in the 15 years since. No offense intended, Smart Went Crazy. I re-stumbled across Con Art in the last few months, listened to it straight through, and the same big grin crossed my face hearing the Lee Atwater smack-down in "A Good Day" as it did countless times before. For previously uninitiated:

Lee Atwater was on the corner turning tricks
Clutching the failed box set of his heartfelt blues licks
He said, "I think I liked the ghetto better when it was sick."

But do I still need the CD to gather dust for another decade before I pull it off the shelf again? In fact, I think I listened to the files I had ripped to an external hard drive, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So the digital copy will live "forever" or for as long as weeds grow on the grave wherever Atwater's cold, dead, heartless body is buried. But I digr---nevermind.

And yet...maybe I'm just trying to justify making some space in my house for a separate segment of the music industry that has piqued my interest lately. Since the advent of CDs, I've replaced a very small fraction of what I have on vinyl. Now that bands and their releases from those days are celebrating milestone anniversaries -- 21^st, (21^st?), 25^th, 30^th -- are getting the full re-release treatment, and bands (or their labels) are opening the vaults to audio and video footage that few had a chance to experience the first time around...I think I'd best keep my day job.

The Magical Season

2012-04-13T15:40:38Z

It's been all of two nights but the craziness of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is already in full swing. Time to dust off the as-yet unpatented Tim F. Unofficial Playoff Overtime Theory. In brief, I submit that the majority of overtime playoff games end in the first or final five minutes of the 20-minute extra session(s). Last year, the hypothesis fell as flat Roberto Luongo in the Finals. (Hey, any chance to get in a Canucks dig, I'll take it.)

With four OT games of the first seven played across the eight conference quarterfinals, three fit like a glove (save). No resting on my 75% correct laurels though, there are miles to go before I sleep and months before the Cup is hoisted. Preferably by Zach Parise.

My beloved Devils are in the last series to open play owing to scheduling conflicts in the Florida Panthers home arena but the Devs begin their march tonight. Since winning the Cup in 2003, the lads from Newark have under-achieved. 2003 drew down a curtain on a ridiculous run of making the Finals three times in four years, sandwiching two wins (2000, 2003) around a Game 7 loss (2001). But since then, they have only won two total playoff series and didn't even qualify last spring after a run of 13 straight appearances. And the Devils haven't made it out of the first round since 2007. May that all change starting tonight.

The Urban Farmer/Gardener: Year 3

2012-02-28T00:09:22Z

It looks like my first attempt at planting bulbs may be a success! The zoom to the right is in the front of my house where I've mostly not touched the modest landscaping the prior owners designed/planted. As opposed to all the other landscaping that I also haven't touched. *snort* I do need to figure out something to do in the front as one of the species planted is both very hearty and expanding. I can't really say it's my favorite of what's there. The front of my house faces East and neighbors of mine have used their small, similar slope to plant vegetables, but I'm not interested in doing the same.

I've had modest success with the vegetable beds in my back yard. I took a flying leap this year and planted winter beans that are supposed to provide nutrients to the soil before the real deal veggie starts show up in the spring. At least, I think they are winter beans. I planted them months ago and didn't save the packaging. Anyway, some sort of winter ground cover. <--- See?? It seems odd to start the summer planting seasons by yanking all these guys out, but so it goes.

Also, this will be year two for the one successful hop plant that has made it from my prior two attempts (of four rhizomes each, so I'm one-for-eight to date). No hop cones flowered last year but that is to be expected in the first year. This summer -- sun permitting -- I should be able to harvest a handful or two of Goldings. And I bought more rhizomes to plant this spring. Finally, I learned that I need to have two cherry trees if I actually want any fruit.

Now, if I could only figure out why I can't grow a Columbine to save myself. I may have to trade in my claim Colorado roots if I can't grow the state flower.

This entry goes to (20)11

2012-02-25T00:27:56Z

OK, before it's time to start thinking about my musical moments of the current year, time to take five to ponder the sounds in my ear buds from the past year. On the whole, I listened to more albums actually released last year than any year in recent memory. Thanks to Spotify and a couple of music-oriented podcasts, primarily. But my acquisition and consumption of music is fodder for another post or two for another time. And away we, er I, go...

Annual award for record/artist everyone seems to drool over and I don't get in the least: St. Vincent. And I do mean drool. Annie Clark was voted "Top Indie Rock Crush," and Pitchfork (an uneven guide to be sure) rated her Strange Mercy as a 9.0 out of 10. Suffice it to say I disagree on both counts.

10. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light

I thought long and hard about giving this slot to Dum Dum Girls' Only in Dreams that I like quite a lot (and the accompanying EP He Gets Me High with a killer Smiths cover). But, the continued innovation and neck sticking-outed-ness from TVotR, coupled with their incendiary live show that included a startling and spectacular cover of Fugazi's "Waiting Room" get the coveted last spot on my list. Nine Types of Light is a suite of much slower-tempoed and tender songs than on past outings. Admittedly I took to it much less immediately than their two prior releases, but it's strong through and through.

9. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

I've not followed the career of Anthony Gonzalez that closely since his/M83's debut (Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts) which was much more ambient/electronic and basically free of song structure and vocals, save the requisite "ethereal chorus." It won't surprise me if this isn't a record I return to often in future years. There can be an evanescent quality to annual faves after all. But (again) I applaud the over-reaching at the expense of the safer and surer. A double album song cycle? Yeah, OK. I'm in.

8. Wild Flag - s/t

I wanted to like this record both more and less than I do. More because of the ridiculous hype behind the band and its individual members led one to believe this was the future of all indie rock. Or something like that. Less because I still miss sleater-kinney bitterly, now recognize that for about a four-year run they were lightning caught in a bottle, and hold an modestly-unfounded and probably irrational boycott against Carrie. And "Portlandia" isn't that funny.

I think the women are still sorting out how to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. But I cannot deny Wild Flag kicks out some pretty solid jams. "Romance" deserves to be the lead track and is as good a calling card as it gets. And I've always fallen for Carrie's metaphorical lyrics. She's left the water and Civil War behind for the aggressive and relentless "Racehorse." Probably worth laying a wager.

7. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L

Merrill Garbus' curiosity shop of sounds, loops, and imagery unveiled something new on just about every listen. I can't fathom the studio trickeration that went down to commit all this to tape. And, woo! horns.

But try this on for size, Pazz and Jop #1. Wow. That's really my only reaction. Was the 2011 landscape so fragmented that the crowd-sourced hipster-biased critics poll put tUnE-yArDs at the top of the pack. How surprising? Pazz & Jop winners the past two years? Kanye West and Animal Collective in 2010 and 2009, respectively. Makes the notion of a parliamentary-style election for the Congress something to consider.

6. Deep Cut - Disorientation

Mix one part guitar swirl and sustain with one part airy vocals from a woman named Emma and you have...Lush. Just kidding. Deep Cut's lead singer is Emma Bailey not Emma Anderson and I'm probably being unfair to both of them with the allusion. Mat Flint, whose Revolver dissolved way too soon, provides the effects pedals mastery. And let's face it, I just can't get enough of that shoegaze sound. Full props to Jack Rabid for playing Deep Cut on his Big Takeover podcast. Otherwise I never would have heard this record nor...

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5. Wire -- Red Barked Tree

A promo sticker on my copy of Wire's 1987 release the Ideal Copy had a quote from Michael Stipe who blurbed something like, "Pink Flag changed my life in the '70s and it was time for that to happen again." My summer soundtrack in '87 was dominated by three songs that KUSF djs played constantly: Wire's "Ahead," That Petrol Emotion's "Big Decision," and a song called "White Coats" from some band named New Model Army. I think I know what's up with one of those three.

To say the least, I haven't stayed current with Wire's output since probably the late(r) '80s. No doubt I heard a song or two here or there in the intervening years but perhaps, like Stipe back then, it was time for this decade's Wire dosage. "Please take your knife out of my back/And, when you do, please don't twist it" goes the delicious couplet to open the album. It forces you to pay close attention to the twisting and twisted lyrics tossed off by Colin Newman. The musical screech can rise and fall. Wire were probably among the first to be saddled with the terrible descriptors "art rock" and "angular." Just listen to it, it's quite good. Thanks again here to Jack for playing it fairly regularly.

4. the Joy Formidable -- the Big Roar

You've figured out the formula right? Mostly noisy guitar + girl singing = Tim is probably going to like this. Bonus, they're from Wales! This may be the most aptly titled record of the year. There are some big, joyous roars coming through. Think Florence + the Machine with a little more grit, less money to spend in a studio, thus less polish. (And for now, less fame). I know the cool kids all dig their monumental live show closer "Whirring" but I prefer the filling-rattling "Chapter 2."

3. Wugazi -- 13 Chambers

Sound it out...it's the Wu-Tang Clan + Fugazi = the best mash-up I've heard since the Grey Album. No idea who gets it in their head (or in this case, heads belonging to Swiss Otter and Cecil Andy) to attempt something like this. "Last Chance for the Clientele Kid" is ridiculously great. It takes more than just an encyclopedic knowledge of two entire discographies but the talent to make it knit together. Come to think of it, Danger Mouse only worked with the White and Black albums. Slacker.

2. PJ Harvey -- Let England Shake
I can't quite get PJ's career. Very varied which I generally like, but I've found her misses to be way off base. While her hits are astounding. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, anyone? She nearly matches that masterpiece with Let England Shake, an album full of lyrics that are as stark as the best photojournalism: "The Words That Maketh Murder," "This Glorious Land," "On Battleship Hill." Right down the entire track listing, she dug deep into the psyche of her homeland -- a nation who has troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan boot-to-boot with the U.S. -- and the punches hit hard.

The music tends to almost jaunty in places, a stark counterpoint to the messages held within. Unlike on Stories... where she infused the tales of love and travel with a world-wearier vocal sound, here PJ employs a much more girlish tone in her voice, bending at times to near-Kate Bush territory. Again, I'm convinced this was a purposeful choice. Consider these Aesop's fables for the 21st century.

1. Adele - 21

Wonder if Adele sent a thank-you note to the dude who inspired "Rolling in the Deep." OK, that was uncalled for. I guess it happens about once a decade - the intersection of near-universal critical praise and astronomical commercial success. A sweep at the Grammys and Brit Awards. 7.3 million copies sold (and climbing) in the U.S. alone. You go, girl.

How to fail a loyalty pilot in 5 easy steps

2012-02-01T16:35:12Z

Invite customers in target cities to join a pilot loyalty program.

I'm a customer and generally a fan -- in the non-Facebook sense -- of the brand so was very interested to join.

Send a special "loyalty card" that has no way to identify me to track my purchases. In fact, it has no purpose at all. Cashiers at my local store hadn't seen it before I brought it in one day.

Name? Yes. Account #, bar code, retina scan, Bueller? No.

Have separate log in credentials when I try to shop at your ecommerce store.
Neither train your retail sales help, nor inform loyalty program members that rewards for purchase are tied to email address so in-store purchases don't qualify unless you give the cashier your email.

As someone who already received your email messages, I saw no need to give it again in-store.

Announce the pilot failed.

Crate & Barrel -- bravo!

Lucky

2012-01-27T18:24:31Z

Rumor has it (love that Adele) that my birthday was recently. And what better reason to go skiing, especially after a week's worth of snow had cascaded (*groan*) down in the lovely Pacific Northwest all week. And while it was snowing just about all day while I was at Stevens Pass, the fresh snow was great.

I did publicly call out the mountain for utter lack of organization at the base -- everything from the parking lot attendants, to the two, competing lift ticket sales queues, to the lift line management.

It was a weekend, the region had gobs of new snow, and it seemed the fine folks running the slopes were surprised at the crowds. But that's really neither here nor there. On the other hand, I've also never skied in between electrical towers.

At one point, relatively soon after I took this picture on the right I believe, I fell. Hey, it happens. Even for a kid who grew up in Colorado. And I'm not talking about an "agony of defeat"-type fall cartwheeling down the mountain. Just a fall. Maybe I crossed my tips. Maybe I was momentarily distracted. Anyway, down I went and blew out of both bindings. Oh, and my knee hurt. But I clipped back in, finished the run and then skied down off the mountain for the two-hour drive home. And, oh yeah, my knee still hurt.

Fast-forward a few days: my knee was swollen like a basketball, I'm hobbling around like an 83-year old man (no offense, Dad) and was given an early, educated guess by an orthopedist that it was a likely meniscus tear and possible MCL damage. Going on IR seemed likely. Good thing the Broncos had already been eliminated from the playoffs. But as far as lucky breaks go, I cashed in. The MRI showed no tear in either the meniscus or the MCL. Only the fibers that connect one to the other. The upshot? No surgery. For you curious sorts, here's the medical illustration view.

The dawn it will come...

2011-09-11T22:19:55Z

...the song remains the same. 11 September 2001 -- 2011.

Deerfield days are days of glory

2011-06-21T16:04:58Z

It's been more than a week since I've returned from my reunion and I think I've been able to put it all into something resembling perspective. Certainly glad that I went and had the chance to see the campus and catch up with some folks I hadn't seen in too many years.

Funny what the mind can have you believe before the tangible refutes it. I remember the campus being much bigger, but that turned out to be a version of the old line about how much harder we had it walking uphill both ways to school in the snow. I had this recollection of the "trek" from my senior year dormitory to the Classroom Building taking forever. But it was probably less than 5 minutes. Physically, much remained the same (such as the Main Building in photo). There's no additional land to expand onto so the new construction since I was last in western Massachusetts had to be situated within the same space. Interestingly, two of the larger construction projects wound up going down into the contour of the split level campus since out and up really aren't options. The other change that registered was the updated, gender inclusive lyrics to the school songs. Deerfield went co-ed in the fall of 1989, but this since song lyrics crowd up much of anything else useful in my brain, this old boy sang the old lyrics.

But that's the physical. The bigger issues I was wrestling with were most of the feelings/emotions I had about being back and seeing folks (and not seeing the masses who chose not to attend). Coincidentally we had 25% attendance for the 25th reunion, a little over 40 people from a graduating class of 160. And that was part of the bittersweet and sad that I took away the tempered the late nights, catch-up-on-the-biography convos, and perspectives on the school today. Not sure why the attendance was so low from my perspective, but then again this was the first reunion I found a way to return for. Various life events and excuses preceded me and I have to assume the same for my fellow '86ers.

As ever, in the end the bittersweet and sad was self-inflicted. Spent a fair amount of time disappointed that I didn't attend prior reunions, instead of looking forward to the next ones and not waiting until the 50th! Realized I missed out on the lives of folks I was close to, but is good to know that several live in the New York City metro area and I do get back there just about every year so can re-kindle those connections. And somewhere along the way, I neglected to get married.

Surreal

2011-06-11T20:19:29Z

It's the Saturday afternoon of my 25th high school reunion. The day's activities are over and the only pieces left on the agenda are this evening's class reception, all-alum dinner and dance. Since I drove my rental car onto campus about 24 hours ago a rush of intersecting emotions have been cascading all around but the one adjective that seems to be dominating -- trite as it is -- is, "surreal."

He shoots....denied!

2011-05-28T16:01:58Z

With Boston's stirring Game 7 victory last night, the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals is set between the Bruins and Canucks.Time to revist how the Tim F Unofficial Stanley Cup OT Theory is faring. In short, the theory is taking it in the shorts. The scientific method in action, in this instance disproving a hypothesis.

After the first round (eight total series) of this year's playoffs, there were 14 overtime winners, eight of which were in the first or last five minutes of the period (57% met criteria). Of the six that didn't meet the strict criteria, another four were within 43 seconds of meeting the threshold. Since the first round ended, there have been seven more games go into OT in rounds two and three combined (six total series). None of the seven met the strict criteria, two meet "loose criteria," within one minute on either side -- in the first or last six minutes.

Unless the Finals goes five games or longer and all go into overtime, my theory will be disproved this year. When free time permits, I still want to look at past years to see if I've been imagining this all along.

The most exciting time in sports

2011-04-23T17:33:42Z

Of course, I'm talking about sudden death overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even better when the OT-winner wins the Cup. (Thank you, Jason Arnott.)

For years, I've had a purely unscientific theory about overtime in the playoffs. Simply, that most goals in sudden death overtime are scored in either first five or final five minutes of the 20-minute period.

First five because the teams have come off the between-period rest and are skating on a fresh sheet of ice improving puck control and movement.

Last five because the prospects of heading into another overtime period focuses everyone to try and close the deal.

This year, I'm going to start documenting this to put some math behind my musings. To date in the 2011 playoffs, there already have been eight games go into overtime and the first round is still in play. Five (62.5%) meet my criteria and two others miss by 31 seconds or fewer.

More to come.

Spring hasn't quite sprung

2011-04-21T03:43:28Z

X wrote "Year 1." We'll call this year two.

Over the past two weekends, I've spent about 4-5 hours in my yard hoping for a better outcome than last year. Mr. Sun, this is on you, too. Into pots, instead of the ground, went hop rhizomes; two each of Fuggles and Goldings. Hopefully have found a sunny corner of the yard and will worry about the needed 10'-12' trellis later. The balance of time was spent weeding. Oy, weeds and dandelions, the bane of my existence, horticulturally speaking, of course. The Columbine seeds (you can take the boy out of Colorado...) I planted in the fall did nothing. I'll chalk that up to more 2010 bad mojo. But on the bright side, my cherry tree has the hint of many blossoms to come. Will cherry blossoms lead to actual cherries?

So, it's April. April showers and blah blah blah. And we've had more than our fair share of rain so far this month and year, Seattle or no. Can I amend the couplet to read, April showers brings May beer? Breaking out of my usual home brew experiments in English ales, I'm attempting my first German-style beer, a maibock, or May Bock. With adequate lagering, I should be able to sample by Memorial Day.

Happy spring!

So much for resolutions?

2011-03-28T22:13:31Z

Certainly "blog more frequently" hasn't been met with rollicking success. Neither has any House nor Miscellaneous self goal, although I think I'm a day or two away from purchasing a plane ticket to Colorado. Which leaves reading and food.

I just finished reading the July 5, 2010 issue of the New Yorker; one week from today is April 5. You do the math. Made it to two book group meetings in a row and have purchased the book for April's ~~argument~~, meet-up so looking good there. And food. Well, I like to eat. And make new recipes. I think that's mostly a passing grade so far. Portion size...well, who can eat just one potato chip?

The (I-Refuse-to-Call-Them-Resolutions) List

2011-01-24T06:06:55Z

Standing on ceremony, as usual, and simultaneously embracing the bromide that "it's not a goal unless it's written down," I'm noting down some things I want to do in my newly kicked off year. I get a three week dispensation on January 1 since my birthday is in January as well. OK, here goes:

House

Fix garage door
Organize spare guest room

This implies at least two of the following: purchase sleeper sofa, find shelving solution for books, find solution for desk/office area clutter, get crap off the floor, hang more pictures or put them in the basement

Give the yard a bit more regular love

Reading

Make a quicker dent in the unread New Yorker pile (now at 8 months behind; but at least I'm smart enough to say I won't catch up this year)
More books than I've averaged lately

Attend four book group meetings this year (I've already missed January and we don't meet in December, so I need to make 4 out of the remaining 10 months)
Read at least three additional books from the stacks and stacks in the house

Food

Try more new recipes
Eat appropriate portion sizes

Miscellaneous self

Take glass-blowing lessons (i.e. cash in Groupon)
Either complete half-marathon or bike around Lake Washington (again, initially I had both but one would be a big accomplishment)
Blog more frequently *cough, cough*
Visit Dad

Eleven for 2011? Coincidental and not at all original. Seems like a big number now that I'm looking back across this, but several are certainly easily attained and only moderately more difficult to maintain. We'll see.

Perhaps I'll check back in here on my progress, which if successful would be killing two birds....Just a thought -- has anyone in the history of birds and stones killed two of the former with one of the latter? (Falling from the sky in Arkansas doesn't count.)