Getting better all the time...

It's been a couple months since my novel and I have utterly failed to get on here more regularly as I'd intended.  I'll skip the excuses and just get down to filling you in on what's been going on in NoPo... that's North Portland for the foreigners.

I got my wife to play a video game.  By her own volition.  If you know Bella, you'll recognize the import of those statements.  She even played on her own when I wasn't home.  How did I accomplish this seemingly impossible feat?  It just so happens that the video game for the movie Brave is kind of awesome.  It's clearly for kids, but it incorporates game play that reminds me of Ninja Gaiden... which was most definitely not for kids.  You get to play as all the main characters, including Mumsy and the wee brothers as bears.  (Btw, if you've not seen the movie, rent or netflix it...  Super adorable...)  We can also play together: Bella as Merida and me as a wisp.  If you'd asked me a year ago if I'd be on the couch playing video games with my wife, I'd have laughed my a$$ off.

Anyhoo, what else is been going on...  Ah, the job.  I was converted to full-time at the beginning of the year and I'm not sure I could be happier.  Meaningful work, bright/entertaining coworkers, and the trust of management... didn't realize how much I'd missed it until it was all but gone in my Portland career to this point.  Some good coworkers at Odious and DCrap, but otherwise kinda crap.  But I'm settling in nicely and am looking forward to a nice, long tenure.  I've even golfed a couple of times with said b/e coworkers...  Let's just say they're patient with how crap my golf game still is...

On the concert front, we saw Muse and are seeing Mumford & Sons again.  I'll bury the lead and say I'm mega excited about the M&S show.  If it's half as good as the last one, awesome won't even cover it.  As for Muse...  Wow.  Best show ever.  The music, the lights in time with the music... Amazing.  I could go on and on, but will try and characterize the awesomeness of their show by describing how they played one of my favorite songs, 'Knights of Cydonia':  As an anthem.  With everyone singing along, so much so that I could feel the pressure of the sound on my ears in time with the music.  Blissful moment...  Just an amazing show...

As for the autism, it still awaits official confirmation from a medical professional.  Bella found one... who charges $250 for a consultation and four times that for a full diagnostic.  I don't have that kind of money to waste on something I already know, at least not now.  Bella and I continue to make headway on handling me at my worst, and she continues to be patient and awesome to a degree for which I have no words sufficient.  So even as I struggle in moments here and there, overall life continues to improve apace.  Can't ask for more...

~NCMSW?

Four Discs of Music I Love, Part IV

I've heard you can fit about six albums worth of mp3s on a cd-rom.  I've +never+ tested this out, but I believe that it's possible.  So if I were to share some music, which of course is not usually condoned, this is what I would burn on those four CDs, broken into four installments so as to not overwhelm...

Disc #	Artist	Album	Favorite Songs
4	311	Grassroots Universal Pulse	Maybe 'Offbeat Bare Ass'?
My favorite album and a short little gem of an album, respectively, from one of my Top 5 favorite bands.  Bouncy dance hall awesomeness...
4	Ben Folds	3 EPs	'Dog' (if only for the reparte at the end...)
I'm lazy and lump these three EPs into one album...  Just great jazz pop, and that's underselling it...
4	Fall Out Boy	Folie A Deux	3. 'She's My Winona' (Bella knows why...)
Hard to pick favorite songs, so I chose my favorite album from these melody poppies...
4	Imagine Dragons	Night Visions	7. 'Hear Me' 4. 'Demons'
This is the album that broke the YoungTheGiant run...  I'm waiting for their sophomore effort to see if they stay in the Top 5...  I can't say enough good things about this album...
4	Metric	Synthetica	Haven't chosen yet...
I'll lead with the admission I've barely listened to this album...  Bought it mainly because I recognized at least three songs I liked from the radio here in Portland...
4	Passion Pit	Gossamer	2. 'I'll Be Alright'
Another one of my favorite albums of the year, this and last...  The second track reminds me of Gnarls Barkley's 'Go Go Gadget Gospel'...  Very yummy album...

Enjoy!

~NCMSW?

Four Discs of Music I Love, Part III

I've heard you can fit about six albums worth of mp3s on a cd-rom.  I've +never+ tested this out, but I believe that it's possible.  So if I were to share some music, which of course is not usually condoned, this is what I would burn on those four CDs, broken into four installments so as to not overwhelm...

Disc #	Artist	Album	Favorite Songs
3	Alex Clare	The Lateness Of The Hour	5. 'Hummingbird' 1. 'Up All Night'
Bought this album after hearing 'Too Close' on the radio and then humming it all day...  Then fell in love with the next song, 'Hummingbird'...  Great album and can't wait for the sophomore effort...
3	Chronic Future	Lines In My Face	3. 'Shellshocked'
An album from 2004, no clue how I came to own it... Started listening to it on a whim and realized it's pretty solid...
3	Lily Allen	Alright, Still	2. 'Knock Em Out' 11. 'Alfie'
Bouncy fun from start to finish... Hard not to tap your feet, no matter how much 'Smile' was overplayed on the radio...
3	Lily Allen	It's Not You, It's Me	1. 'Everyone's At It' 8. 'F*** You'
Sophomore effort, probably better than her first album...  Plus, anyone who works in "medieval" into a song deserves mad props...
3	Mumford & Sons	Babel	All of them...
This band jumped in to my Top 5 with their debut album... When they released the first song, 'I Will Wait', off this album, it brought me to tears...  Still can...  That's how good this band is.
3	XTC	Oranges & Lemons	All of them...
Favorite album from one of my favorite bands...  One of the strongest albums, both musically and lyrically, I've ever heard...

Enjoy!

~NCMSW?

Four Discs of Music I Love, Part II

I've heard you can fit about six albums worth of mp3s on a cd-rom.  I've +never+ tested this out, but I believe that it's possible.  So if I were to share some music, which of course is not usually condoned, this is what I would burn on those four CDs, broken into four installments so as to not overwhelm...

Disc #	Artist	Album	Favorite Songs
2	Coheed and Cambria	In Keep Secrets of Silent Earth: 3	8. 'TCV II:Backend of Forever'
I don't listen to much of what I'd qualify as heavy metal, but the melodies and complexities in this album won me over... Another album that listens well from start to finish...
2	Dance Hall Crashers	Purr	'Cricket'
The most recent album (AFAIK) from one of my all-time favorite artists, who are even better live... So really I should pointing you towards their live album, but I really love the song 'Cricket'...
2	Muse	Black Holes & Revelations	1. 'Take A Bow' 4. 'Map of the Problematique' 11. 'Knights of Cydonia'
My favorite Muse album, on par with their latest... Side note: Bella and I saw them recently and it was hands down the best show either of us had ever seen... No contest... Had I more energy, I'd of blogged about it... That awesome, seriously.
2	stellastar*	stellastar*	1. 'In The Walls'
Saw them at the Troubadour in LA... Great show, almost better live than on their albums... Random note: Their bassist is wicked hot... (Did I mention I saw this show before I met my wife? Because that's important too...)
2	The Butchies	Make Yr Life	3. 'Make Yr Life'
I describe this as rock bubblegum pop... Yummy and too short...
2	The Civil Wars	Barton Hollow	7. 'Barton Hollow' 2. 'I've Got This Friend'
Credit goes to my sister who calls me StrangerDanger for sending this to Bella... Wonderful harmonies...

Enjoy!

~NCMSW?

Four Discs of Music I Love, Part I

I've heard you can fit about six albums worth of mp3s on a cd-rom.  I've +never+ tested this out, but I believe that it's possible.  So if I were to share some music, which of course is not usually condoned, this is what I would burn on those four CDs, broken into four installments so as to not overwhelm...

Disc #	Artist	Album	Favorite Songs
1	Ben Folds/Nick Hornby	Lonely Avenue	9. 'From Above' 5. 'Your Dogs'
A standout solo album from Ben Folds with lyrics by Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About A Boy.  Some really inspired music...
1	Fun	Some Nights	3. 'We Are Young'
Only took hearing a second song off the album to go buy it... Honorable mention to 'Carry On' because it reminds me of Cousin Eric... "May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground..."
1	Grouplove	Never Trust A Happy Song	1. 'Itchin on a Photograph' 4. 'Colours'
Admittedly haven't listened to the entire album as much as others on this list, but each time I do it's usually to the last song...
1	Of Monsters And Men	My Head Is An Animal	1. 'Dirty Paws' 6. 'Little Talks'
Great harmonies, like a more rock-ish Civil Wars (also on this list)
1	Phoenix	Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix	1. 'Lisztomania' 2. '1901'
I listen to this at work, start to finish... The only knock is that the vocals are out of my range...
1	Young The Giant	Young The Giant	Every track, except maybe the ones played too much on the radio...
One of my favorite albums... I probably listened to this album for over a month nonstop before I even began to tire of it... Only reason it hasn't made it back into the daily rotation is because of other albums on this list...

Enjoy!

~NCMSW?