Monthly Archives: January 2005

The aftermath

My boss tells us it took him six hours to drive the 15 miles to his house last night. A guy I work with said it took him seven hours, that included two miles of walking, as the police had closed the road to his neighborhood. Thousands of children ended up spending the night in their schools because nobody could get there to pick them up.

One inch of snow. Predicted at least 24 hours in advance.

CNN.

My Day

My car's rear end has been making funny sounds, so last Wednesday I took it to the shop. They couldn't reproduce the funny sounds and gave it back. When they sent me their on-line survey, I gave them low marks on everything, because I don't think they tried very hard. But, over the weekend, the weather changed from low 70's to low 20's, and now the car always makes the funny grinding/rubbing sound, especially when accelerating uphill or in turns. So, I dropped it off last night, hoping they could try it this morning when it would be cold, etc.. They reproduced it allright - "worn exhaust hangers" said the guy on the phone. Hmm. How the exhaust hangers on a 6-month old car could get "worn" is a secret only myself, that one pile of gravel in the middle of the road, and the now-disposed-of exhaust hangers can tell. Mr Warranty picked up the tab, and I'd hate for him to think it was my fault or anything...

So, Mrs. Cleek drove me to work today.

And then, at noon, it snowed. "Heavy unexpected snow!!", now says the weather page on one local news channel's website. Actually, it snowed for about an hour, we got less than an inch, and they'd been predicting it for at least 24 hours. The DOT apparently doesn't watch the weather forecast, because they didn't sand or salt any of the roads that I could see. So, even a half inch of snow caused all the local schools to close early, and to refuse to run any buses. And all the parents had to leave work early to go pick up their kids. The place I work closed at 2:30, because everybody was leaving anyway. Rock!

But, I don't have a car today, and so, I couldn't leave. And then as I watched out my office window, I-40 turned into a parking lot as every parent in the city tried to go pick up their kids, all at once, on the unsanded, unsalted, slightly slippery road. And then all the roads that lead to I-40 turned to parking lots. And then my wife, who works a few miles from me, couldn't come to get me because she couldn't get onto the road, because traffic wasn't moving. Three hundred accidents from 11am to 5pm today, says the Raleigh police dept..

The reason it's so bad is because the Raleigh/Durham area is laid-out like this :

    D---J---R

All the people live in the "D" and "R" spots, and they all work in the "J". And connecting those three spots is I-40. And even on days when the weather is fine, traffic is a giant cluster-fuck.

So, I've spent the entire afternoon (now working on early evening) surfing the web and playing Gish. It's an hour and a half past when I normally leave, my wife says she's on her way but who knows how long it'll take. I don't expect I'll be getting home for at least another hour or so. And now the car dealer has closed, so I can't pick up my car. Hopefully, I can get it tomorrow AM.

Just bored. Whining. Grumbling. I suppose there are worse things that could happen than being stuck in the office. But few of them give me a chance to vent like this.

A guy just walked into the office and said he was unable to get home, after 4 hours of trying - all roads blocked.

Wife just arrived... took her an hour to go 3 miles.

Fuck this town.

The audience is listening

  • British Sea Power : The Decline of British Sea Power - A multi-styled and ambitious album. Most of the songs are anthemic and grand almost to the point of parody - singing emotionally about one's "Casio Electric Piano" requires either gigantic balls or, more likely, an abundance of irony. Sytlisitically, they're British. If I was more familiar with the various flavors of British pop over the last twenty years, I might be able to identify the different sounds better. But, since I'm not, I can only say this part sounds like The Smiths, or this part sounds like the Psychedelic Furs. But those two examples don't do the album justice, as it's much more modern and varied than just that.
  • Califone : Heron King Blues - As one should expect from Thrill Jockey, this is a 'post-rock' record, along the same lines as Tortoise, Sea and Cake, or Gastr Del Sol (or Discipline-era King Crimson). The songs share Gastr Del Sol's semi-detached and cerebral styling; instruments wander in and out, phrases start in non-typical places, verse-chorus-verse structure is shunned, etc.. Even with all that, though, it retains a kind of a dark and bluesy quality overally. It's not overt; it's more like blues-scented. And the songs have a nice flow to them - organic. The vocals on these are warmer than you hear on Gastr songs, too, and even sound a bit like Beck's more languid songs - relaxed, warm and smooth. I like it.
  • Firey Furnaces : Blueberry Boat - This one has received a lot of critical acclaim in the indie music press lately, so I gave in and bought a copy. After a couple of weeks of occasional listening, it's proving tough for me to wrap myself around. Within a song, it happily careens from style to style: from anxious speech over electronic blooping, to whimsical sing-song sections, to sound collages, to actual, but bare-bones song. Rarely content to stick with one style or tempo for long, it agressively mashes all this stuff together, often with no real transition. Unlike the album above, where things flow organically and rather slowly, this one leaps about and shows off. It's a tough listen, and one that doesn't pay off, for me.

Bite It

Let me just say that I really like the Hardee's ThickBurgers ad campaign. Since the country has gone crazy with low-carb this and Atkins that and soy protein whatever, it's fun to see a commercial that comes right out and says "it isn't about your fucking arteries". These ads are all about manly self-indulgence: loud cars, dirty trucks, shaving when I damn well please, and I'm gonna eat this 1400 calorie monster and get a whole week's worth of fat in 5 minutes and you can suck it, Mr Atkins.

Not that I actually eat the things, of course. I just like the idea that some people are sticking up for gulttony and holding back the day when all we'll be allowed to eat is grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.