LoveSacs & the Tabernacle

Editorial Cartoon from the Salt Lake Tribune 9/29

The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that with the seismically-necessary renovations of the Tabernacle at Temple Square, many of the original wooden benches (that were sized to fit midgets, mind you) will be replaced. This has some historians upsets, since the 1860's benches are precious antiques.

Luckily cartoonist Pat Bagley has a sense of humor about the whole thing. Bring on the LoveSacs!

Nada Surf: Live at Club Suede 9/25/06

I heart Nada Surf. But generally, the only people that have any opinion on Nada Surf are those who remember their mid-90s mini-hit, “Popular.” And those people hate Nada Surf. If you fall into that category, I apologize. That was a crappy song, I agree. However, I extend to you an invitation to listen to their third album, Let Go, which I have deemed one of the best albums of all time.

I made the trip up to the PC [with Indian heartthrob Nilay and supercool Linda] to see the band’s first Utah performance in six years. If I could have had it my way, they would have just played Let Go cover to cover and then called it a night. The band apparently thought they also needed to consider the needs of the other 59 people in the crowd, so they mixed the bulk of Let Go with a couple of tracks from each of their first two records.

I was impressed that the songs – which are incredibly full on the albums – translated so well live, especially given they are just a three-piece band. A few songs sounded noticeably sparse – “Blizzard of ‘77” from Let Go and “In the Mirror” from The Weight is a Gift – but I was amazed by the ease with which they switched from narrow, mid-tempo tunes like “Blonde on Blonde” to rockers like “The Way You Wear Your Head.”

Surprisingly, they only played two or three tracks from the new album during the set; however, they came out and rifled through four or five more during the six-song encore, including an extended version of “The Blankest Year” as a finale.

There was no opener (despite the fact that we kept emailing Club Suede to see if we could open) so the band played for a full hour-and-a-half. It was so good, I had no choice but to buy a t-shirt.

Best Song: “Fruit Fly,” was absolutely amazing. The first verse immediately turned into a Dashboard Confessional-style sing-a-long and with the whole band kicked in - oh so good.

Worst Song: “What is Your Secret” from The Weight is a Gift. Sucked on the album, sucked live.

Best Merchandise: Who wouldn’t want a Nada Surf tote bag?

Coolest Move: Bassist Daniel Lorca looks like he walked right out of 1994. With his long blond dreadlocks and leather jacket, he could just as well have been playing for Soundgarden. Not only did he smoke a cigarette the whole time he was playing bass, but he actually sang backup vocals with the cigarette in his mouth.

Best “We’re Not Rockstars” Comment: After finishing their last song, singer Matthew Caws said,” Give us a few minutes and we’ll be at our merch table if you want to talk or have us sign something.” I love that after more than 10 years in the biz, they still want to hang out with their fans.

Chris Wilson Goes Crazy(?), Ends up on Stereogum

It's one thing to be the drummer for mega-unit-shifters Good Charlotte, but when you end up on Stereogum, well, that's big time. Chris decided that it was time for him to rant about his former bandmates on his MySpace page. The diatribe would have benefited from a bit of editing as it makes him sound a bit crazy. I've heard his Good Charlotte woes straight from his mouth and it sounds like they really screwed him over. Plus, he had to be involved in the whole Joel Madden, Hilary Duff throwup fest. That had to be taxing. So, for what it's worth, here's me saying that I don't think Chris is nuts.

Chris' Manifesto [Edited for my readers]:

So I've kept my mouth shut for long enough. It has been roughly a year and a half since my departure from GC, and all I can say is "what the$#@%?". What are you guys doing? How many times can I possibly get stabbed in the back? I know I #@$%ed up, and I'm sincerely sorry for what I put you through. But why are you guys acting as if everything is ok? Why don't you start telling the kids about how I never made one cent off of any merch, cd's, dvd's, royalties(of songs I played on), publishing(songs I played on) or TV performances(in which I signed contracts stating exactly how much I was supposed to recieve). Where did it go? Why do you still blow me off and never return phone calls? Why have I been trying for a year to get my gear back(4 drum sets,wardrobe case,cymbals,etc.) with no assistance from you at all ... The world does not revolve around you two. You can't keep blowing me off. How many times can you honestly turn your head and act like I don't exist? This is exactly what I've been dealing with for years. The reason why I lost my mind, was because I joined a band with two of the most egotisical, self centered, back stabbing, corrupted individual's who are filled with broken promises.

You guys were my best friends and yet I wasn't good enough. The money just meant more to you. I don't mean this to be an attack, or that I'm talking #$%$. I'm just not going to keep quiet any more...And I'm not the only one you've promised the world to and failed to follow through. Looks like your starting a trend of false hopes. Why don't you explain to Over It why they aren't on the snakes on a plane soundtrack ... You know what is crazy? I live in a #$%$ing van, you live in mansions! Where's the justification there? I was "in your band" for almost three years ...Billy and Paul, I love you guy's with all my heart and miss you so much it makes me sick. You were my best friends in the whole world. I don't know what to do anymore. I just can't hide my feeling about this and pretend everything is ok. Putting us in your top 24 or whatever, does not mean that everything is ok ... I worked really hard to get where I'm at, as did you. But your not better than me. I won't be ignored any longer. The music industry is #$%$ed, and your the perfect example.

Stick It Indeed

Who thought that a "comedy" about gymnastics by the writer's of "Bring It On" would end up being a scathing commentary on the hypocrisy of the sport's poor judging criteria. Wow, now that's comedy. Boring, boring, boring. And there weren't even any jokes about gymnasts farting - Traci is convinced that the real reason why the music plays so loud during the floor exercise is so they can cover up the sound of the gymnasts passing wind. My friend Rhett, who worked at U of U gymnastic meets for a couple of years could not verify this theory.

Anyhoo, it was no where near as good as "Bring It On." It wasn't even as good at "Bring It On Again," probably the worst movie in the history of the world. Well, at least you can enjoy the first scene of "Bring It On." Thanks for everything, YouTube.

The Wait is Almost Over...

In just 20 hours I am finally going to watch "Stick It" for the first time. I have high expectations for the movie by the writers of the best movie in the history of the world. Duh, "Bring it On." For those of you who were able to resist seeing it in the theater, I promise to have a review up shortly.

September Consumption

Music

The Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
Justin Timberlake - Future Sex/Love Sounds
The Summer Obsession - This is Where You Belong
Snakes on Plane - Soundtrack
Lost Prophets - Liberation Transmission
David Bazan - Fewer Moving Parts

Books

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Apple: 2, Spencer: 0

Apple did it to me again. After holding off as long as I could, in the spring of 2004, I purchased a 15 GB iPod. I couldn't have been happier - for about one week. That's when Apple introduced the 20 GB iPod, with the new design, for the same price. My iPod was just fine, but I was a little bummed about my timing.

I decided to buy Traci an iPod Nano for her birthday. Of course, two days after I bought it I got word of the new and improved Nanos. Blast! I still feel okay about the purchase. The new Nanos have the same aluminum casing as the iPod mini, which I am not really a fan of. However, a new 80 GB iPod for just $350?! You guys can all pitch in and get me one for Christmas.



Back to Traci's birthday. What can I say, could these two be any cuter?

Baby Paige Updates

Paige is thoroughly entertained by this Wendy's Kids Meal toy.

The other day my friend Bert showed up unexpectedly with his wife and his 6-month-old baby, Mackenzie. While 10-month-old Paige was lying immobile on the floor, Mackenzie was crawling all over the place - crawling over Paige, stealing her toys and then quickly making her getaway. Paige was helpless to defend herself.

The doctor always says "don't compare your kid to other kids." Yeah, right. After Bert left, we got serious about this crawling thing. "Listen kid, it's time for you to start crawling," I say. She just looks at me like 'yeah right, dad. Whatev.' We both know who the boss is.

Check out the latest Paige photo album here.

A Small World/Feel my Velvet Shoes

At noon yesterday my boss randomly asked me if I would fill in and teach her 2 o’clock Effective Communication class. Always up for a new adventure, I said sure. I drove out to the Jordan Applied Tech Center, which is a campus where high school students take college classes. When I arrived, I found out that I was going to be teaching effective communication to 20 cosmetology students – an adventure indeed.

Like a good little teacher, I stood at the front of the class and introduced myself. (It was a computer lab, so I didn’t have a blackboard to write “Mr. Sutherland.”) I started going down the roll when I reached “Rebecca Miller.” The name caught my attention and I looked up to see which girl raised her hand.

“Rebecca,” I asked, “What are the chances that you used to live in the Netherlands?”

I watched the light bulb go on above her head as well. Rebecca is an American girl whose LDS family lived in Holland for a few years. She was 12 when I last saw her. Her family is now living in Draper. Can you say random?

So that was a highlight. Other highlights included:

• Me trying to get the girls logged onto the computer. I say, “you’ll just have to enter the last four digits of your social security number.” Immediate panic – none of them had any idea. Solution: of course they each had a cell phone and they all called their moms. Problem solved.

• One girl asking me if I wanted to feel her shoes. “They’re pink velvet. They’re even velvet on the bottom.”
• “What does compose an email mean?” On girl asked. “Compose means to write. An email is like an old-fashioned text message.” "Oh, cool. "
  

I think I want to become a teacher.