Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Spring has sprung?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Back to Basics
While it's bordering on cliche by now (and has been discussed elsewhere), a few weeks ago I decided to pull the plug and blow up my old Facebook profile, starting from scratch. It wasn't any particular one thing that prompted this action, but rather a result of the cascading series of changes being made to Facebook over the past couple of years. If there was a single catalyst for my extreme reset, it was the new Timeline feature where, like the result of bad plumbing, everything that was thought to gone bubbled right back up to the top again - five years worth of banality, bad (and good) parties, wall posts - everything. It's not even like there was anything particularly incriminating or inflammatory that was on my Facebook, since I was fortunate to have already been 24 when I first joined (although I often wonder about those who have their teenage years pasted in its entirety across Facebook - and if you don't believe how stupid people can be with personal details and oversharing, a visit to Lamebook ought to set you right), so I was old enough to know better.
With all of that being said, what really threw me off was the sheer "Big Brother" aspect of it, where it was just unilaterally resurrected. I have spoken to people who spent hours carefully culling and, for lack of a better word, curating their Facebook profile - only to have it be effectively reset. While there are legitimate concerns about privacy on Facebook (although that can be easily nullified by spending a bit of time ratcheting back privacy settings and actually preserving one's private life by not spending every waking minute providing a Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. play-by-play), it was just the sheer cheek of it that found me gritting my teeth and seething. I had been long toying with the idea of blowing up my account, but had concerns about the fact that, for better or for worse, it was a means through which I communicated with many friends, organized parts of my social and professional calendar through the Events feature, and so on. But by the same token, there was also an enormous volume of detritus from six years of adding people I had only met once or had not seen since high school, advertising spam based on my "likes" in the profile, and so on.
So I did the next best thing. I started all over again. I cancelled my old account and started a nice, new, pristine one that was free of all of the accumulated baggage of years of FB use. It's minimalist to the point of austerity, with only a handful of people that I actually keep in touch with added and very little else. It's been refreshing!
As the title of this post suggests, this is part of a personal push to get back to basics. As a librarian, it seems that we spend all of our working days in front of a computer, only to go home... and sit in front of a computer (or television). It's easy to get sucked into a mindless routine of nothing, so I've been scaling back my digital immersion. Not out of any antediluvian intention of becoming a superannuated luddite, but rather to refocus myself and add a bit of variety. On weekends, I've been trying to do at least one, ideally two, computer-free days where I can indulge in hobbies, reading, getting outside - anything that doesn't involve sitting in front of a glowing screen (and yes, I recognize the irony of expressing this in front of a glowing screen to send out for others to read off their glowing screens).
The breakdown of focus and the ability to concentrate for long periods of time is a well-documented issue that has been proven to have become an epidemic that has correlated with the rise of digital over-saturation, and it cuts across a wide swath of the population, and I've felt its tug as well. As somebody who has always prided themselves on speaking in full sentences and thoughts, this was a decidedly unwelcome development. But the cure is easy - just stop. Which is what I've done, and it's proven to be of enormous benefit - I've hacked through a significant book and magazine backlog (and even renewed my New Yorker subscription!) and my concentration, focus, and productivity have all improved tremendously.
I think that this is a good place to wrap up for now, but I thought I'd leave you, dear reader, with one of my favourite-ever comic strips, and one that speaks to my sentiments.
With all of that being said, what really threw me off was the sheer "Big Brother" aspect of it, where it was just unilaterally resurrected. I have spoken to people who spent hours carefully culling and, for lack of a better word, curating their Facebook profile - only to have it be effectively reset. While there are legitimate concerns about privacy on Facebook (although that can be easily nullified by spending a bit of time ratcheting back privacy settings and actually preserving one's private life by not spending every waking minute providing a Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. play-by-play), it was just the sheer cheek of it that found me gritting my teeth and seething. I had been long toying with the idea of blowing up my account, but had concerns about the fact that, for better or for worse, it was a means through which I communicated with many friends, organized parts of my social and professional calendar through the Events feature, and so on. But by the same token, there was also an enormous volume of detritus from six years of adding people I had only met once or had not seen since high school, advertising spam based on my "likes" in the profile, and so on.
So I did the next best thing. I started all over again. I cancelled my old account and started a nice, new, pristine one that was free of all of the accumulated baggage of years of FB use. It's minimalist to the point of austerity, with only a handful of people that I actually keep in touch with added and very little else. It's been refreshing!
As the title of this post suggests, this is part of a personal push to get back to basics. As a librarian, it seems that we spend all of our working days in front of a computer, only to go home... and sit in front of a computer (or television). It's easy to get sucked into a mindless routine of nothing, so I've been scaling back my digital immersion. Not out of any antediluvian intention of becoming a superannuated luddite, but rather to refocus myself and add a bit of variety. On weekends, I've been trying to do at least one, ideally two, computer-free days where I can indulge in hobbies, reading, getting outside - anything that doesn't involve sitting in front of a glowing screen (and yes, I recognize the irony of expressing this in front of a glowing screen to send out for others to read off their glowing screens).
The breakdown of focus and the ability to concentrate for long periods of time is a well-documented issue that has been proven to have become an epidemic that has correlated with the rise of digital over-saturation, and it cuts across a wide swath of the population, and I've felt its tug as well. As somebody who has always prided themselves on speaking in full sentences and thoughts, this was a decidedly unwelcome development. But the cure is easy - just stop. Which is what I've done, and it's proven to be of enormous benefit - I've hacked through a significant book and magazine backlog (and even renewed my New Yorker subscription!) and my concentration, focus, and productivity have all improved tremendously.
I think that this is a good place to wrap up for now, but I thought I'd leave you, dear reader, with one of my favourite-ever comic strips, and one that speaks to my sentiments.
 |
| Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (December 31, 1995) |
Saturday, February 4, 2012
In praise of positivity!
Inside my heart is breaking
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile still stays on...
- Queen, "The Show Must Go On"
Yesterday I stumbled across a new blog that has been started by the well-known (well, at least to librarians - and that's all that counts) Twitter personalities the Bitchy Librarian (@bitchylibrarian) and the Wine Librarian (@winelibrarian) hilariously titled "the Homance Diaries". While pervasive blogging and tweeting amongst librarians is nothing new, especially for two of the most prodigious practitioners of the art, the Homance Diaries signals a new direction for the Bitchy and Wine Librarians - their second and third posts advocate the both the "ten-day purge" (which essentially amounts to hitting the reset button on much of the clutter of life) and an attitude adjustment. Subsequent posts are at times almost uncomfortably personal, but any discomfort is really only attributable to their extreme honesty about addressing their own shortcomings, why they exist, and how they want to change course to better themselves. This invariably circles back to being more positive and optimistic, both through their Twitter personalities and through the blog.
Certainly, such self-reflective approaches to blogging and writing in general are nothing new. Without self-loathing and its subsequent expression, huge tracts of music and books would have never seen the day of light. But this somehow feels different, if not in content, than in context. If you pay the least bit of attention to the news or politicians, the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. The Euro crisis, high unemployment, Syrian massacres, Israeli-Iranian tensions, austerity... the list goes on and on, with no end in sight. In a narrower context, libraries are seemingly equally doomed, with histrionics and navel-gazing in every corner as change appears to be inexorably lapping at the heels of the status quo. It often feels that everybody is digging in for a drawn-out fight, yielding no quarter while lashing out at change and things which they fear or don't understand. The dialogue, both in the greater public realm as well as within our profession, has become irreparably defensive and toxic.
Thus, in this context, I found that the public turning of a new leaf by the Bitchy Librarian and the Wine Librarian has greater resonance beyond simply being the musings of two members of our profession. Instead, it should become something of a clarion call for not only librarians, but the public as a whole, to try a new and more positive approach to the problems which face us all every day. The problems will still be there and, indeed, problems will always be there. If it's not one thing, then it will be another. If a multi-millionaire like Jay-Z has 99 problems (but a Bitchy Librarian ain't one), what hope do the rest of us have? It may seem trite and blindingly obvious, but looking around, it also seems to be a message that is also often falling on deaf ears. It shouldn't. We all have days where we just want nothing more than to hit the snooze button and retreat under the covers, but that doesn't give carte blanche to insult, belittle, undermine, criticize, and mock all and sundry. At the end of the day, we're all just doing what we have to to get by, which carries enough existential baggage as it is without the added load of the negative baggage flung by others and, often, ourselves. Oftentimes, it is all to easy to get sucked into the vortex of negative thinking and expression. Identifying and rectifying this is the hard part, but I think that it is critical to do so and cut the Gordian knot to free ourselves from what is often our own worst enemy - ourselves.
The quotation at the beginning of the post is taken from Queen's "The Show Must Go On", which was written by Freddie Mercury when he knew he was dying of AIDS, but nevertheless, his smile still stayed on. It is an example that we should all follow.
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile still stays on...
- Queen, "The Show Must Go On"
Yesterday I stumbled across a new blog that has been started by the well-known (well, at least to librarians - and that's all that counts) Twitter personalities the Bitchy Librarian (@bitchylibrarian) and the Wine Librarian (@winelibrarian) hilariously titled "the Homance Diaries". While pervasive blogging and tweeting amongst librarians is nothing new, especially for two of the most prodigious practitioners of the art, the Homance Diaries signals a new direction for the Bitchy and Wine Librarians - their second and third posts advocate the both the "ten-day purge" (which essentially amounts to hitting the reset button on much of the clutter of life) and an attitude adjustment. Subsequent posts are at times almost uncomfortably personal, but any discomfort is really only attributable to their extreme honesty about addressing their own shortcomings, why they exist, and how they want to change course to better themselves. This invariably circles back to being more positive and optimistic, both through their Twitter personalities and through the blog.
Certainly, such self-reflective approaches to blogging and writing in general are nothing new. Without self-loathing and its subsequent expression, huge tracts of music and books would have never seen the day of light. But this somehow feels different, if not in content, than in context. If you pay the least bit of attention to the news or politicians, the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. The Euro crisis, high unemployment, Syrian massacres, Israeli-Iranian tensions, austerity... the list goes on and on, with no end in sight. In a narrower context, libraries are seemingly equally doomed, with histrionics and navel-gazing in every corner as change appears to be inexorably lapping at the heels of the status quo. It often feels that everybody is digging in for a drawn-out fight, yielding no quarter while lashing out at change and things which they fear or don't understand. The dialogue, both in the greater public realm as well as within our profession, has become irreparably defensive and toxic.
Thus, in this context, I found that the public turning of a new leaf by the Bitchy Librarian and the Wine Librarian has greater resonance beyond simply being the musings of two members of our profession. Instead, it should become something of a clarion call for not only librarians, but the public as a whole, to try a new and more positive approach to the problems which face us all every day. The problems will still be there and, indeed, problems will always be there. If it's not one thing, then it will be another. If a multi-millionaire like Jay-Z has 99 problems (but a Bitchy Librarian ain't one), what hope do the rest of us have? It may seem trite and blindingly obvious, but looking around, it also seems to be a message that is also often falling on deaf ears. It shouldn't. We all have days where we just want nothing more than to hit the snooze button and retreat under the covers, but that doesn't give carte blanche to insult, belittle, undermine, criticize, and mock all and sundry. At the end of the day, we're all just doing what we have to to get by, which carries enough existential baggage as it is without the added load of the negative baggage flung by others and, often, ourselves. Oftentimes, it is all to easy to get sucked into the vortex of negative thinking and expression. Identifying and rectifying this is the hard part, but I think that it is critical to do so and cut the Gordian knot to free ourselves from what is often our own worst enemy - ourselves.
The quotation at the beginning of the post is taken from Queen's "The Show Must Go On", which was written by Freddie Mercury when he knew he was dying of AIDS, but nevertheless, his smile still stayed on. It is an example that we should all follow.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Desk Set Trivia - January 24, 2012
This past week the Toronto Desk Set did a trivia night and I had the privilege of being the quiz master. Just for interest's sake, I've taken the liberty to include the complete list of questions (and answers!) below.
Oh, and the pirate category? The theme of the night was information piracy - hence the dedicated category!
Enjoy!
Oh, and the pirate category? The theme of the night was information piracy - hence the dedicated category!
Enjoy!
Desk Set Trivia Night Questions
There are going to be five categories of fifteen questions each, with most questions worth 1 point, although there are a few bonus points for a total of 81 points. We will go through each category with me reading the questions, and each group writing down their answers. After I’ve finished the category, I will make sure everybody is satisfied with their answers, and repeat any questions if necessary. We will then take up the category, with each group tallying their score. Periodically, I will offer a chance for some bonus points. If there is a tie at the end of the quiz, I will offer a tie-breaker.
Category #1 – Book Characters (16 points)
I am going to state the name of a character from a book and then you need to write down the name of the book from which the character originated. I’ve tried to mix it up between high and low-brow and older and newer stuff. I’m going to start with a few easy ones, and then they will (hopefully) become progressively more difficult.
- Boo Radley (To Kill A Mockingbird)
- Piggy (The Lord of the Flies)
- Benjy Compson (The Sound and the Fury)
- Rob Gordon (High Fidelity)
- Ignatius J. Reilly (Confederacy of Dunces)
- Raoul Duke (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)
- Nick Shay (Underworld)
- Leopold Bloom (Ulysses)
- Telemachus (The Odyssey)
- Dr. Manhattan (The Watchmen)
- Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment)
- Gregor Samsa (The Metamorphosis)
- Professor Woland (Master and Margarita) [Bonus if you get Woland’s true identity – Satan]
- Miles Archer (the Maltese Falcon)
- Leigh Teabing (the Da Vinci Code)
Category #2 – Sports (18 points)
This category will deal with a panoply of sports-related trivia.
1. The 2014 World Cup is going to be in Brazil. Where will the 2018 and 2022 World Cups be held? [1 point each] (2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar)
2. Who won the baseball World Series in 1994? (Nobody – strike-cancelled season)
3. Sports Illustrated controversially named Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf as the most overrated played in hockey this year as part of a player poll. Who was named most overrated last season? (Dion Phaneuf)
4. Which “original six” NHL most recently won the Stanley Cup? (The Boston Bruins in 2011)
5. Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati had his 1998 Olympic gold medal stripped due to testing positive for what banned substance? (marijuana)
6. Which member of the British royal family was a part of the British equestrian team at the 1976 Summer Olympics? (Princess Anne)
7. The 1940 and 1944 Olympics were cancelled due to World War II, but what cities were scheduled to host the summer games in those years (and eventually did, in 1948 and 1952)? (London and Helsinki – bonus point if somebody mentions that Tokyo was supposed to host in 1940, but was stripped of the games before given to Helsinki)
8. Deoin Sanders and Bo Jackson were both famous for professionally playing what two sports? (football and baseball)
9. Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run at which Toronto stadium, which was demolished in 1937? (Hanlan’s Point Stadium – will give point if somebody mentions stadium on the island)
10. Which team has avoided relegation from the top flight of the English football (that’s soccer!) league for the longest time? (Arsenal – the last time was in 1913)
11. Where is the largest stadium in North America located? (Ann Arbor, Michigan, with an official capacity of 110,000 – bonus point for naming the stadium [Michigan Stadium or “the Big House”])
12. The United States led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to what reason? (the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan)
13. What is the only non-profit, community-owned professional sports team in the United States? (the Green Bay Packers)
14. As the second-most successful team in the NBA by titles won, the Los Angeles Lakers are a league institution. However, the franchise didn’t start in LA. What city did the team originate (and get its name from?) (Minneapolis)
15. What is the oldest professional sports franchise in North America to retain its original name? (The Toronto Argonauts – since 1873)
Category #3 – Food and Drink (15 points)
1. The consumption of which French delicacy involves the placing of a napkin on your head “to shield you from the eyes of God?” (the ortolan)
2. Which country has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol amongst teenagers in the world? (Ukraine)
3. What was the result of the Volstead Act? (Prohibition in the United States)
4. In 2006, the Chicago City Council banned what delicacy? (Foie Gras)
5. Reputedly named “America’s Best” at the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exhibition, this beer continues to tout the achievement on its packaging and, indeed, in its name? (Pabst Blue Ribbon)
6. The term “Dutch courage” originates from the consumption of what spirit? (Gin)
7. What spice is worth more than gold by weight? (saffron)
8. MSG is intended to trigger which of the five tastes? (umami or savouriness)
9. If food colouring were not added to it, what colour would Coke be? (green)
10. What is Hawaiian steak? (SPAM)
11. After Ireland and the UK, which country is the third-largest consumer of Guiness? (Nigeria)
12. 2 million visits from honeybees will produce how much honey? (one pound)
13. Hakarl, an Icelandic delicacy, is what? (fermented shark)
14. The standardization of orange carrots originated in which country? (the Netherlands, as a form of tribute to William of Orange)
15. Adding a pickled onion to a martini makes it what? (a Gibson)
Category #4 – Popular Culture (17 points)
1. Despite the fact that this year is the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ founding, the chance of an anniversary tour are unlikely due to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ feud over Richards saying what about Jagger in his autobiography? (that he has a “tiny todger” – full points for any more-or-less accurate variation)
2. In addition to Michael Jackson’s Bad, what is the only other album that has contained five #1 Billboard singles? (Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream)
3. What was the first film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards? (Wings)
4. 1970s Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu were rumoured to be a pseudonym for what band? (the Beatles)
5. Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” was quoted in whose suicide note? [bonus for identifying the quote] (Kurt Cobian – the quote was “it’s better to burn out than to fade away”)
6. Apple famously introduced the Macintosh computer with an advertisement during Super Bowl 18 that was inspired by what novel? (1984)
7. The long-forgotten Tracy Ullman Show was almost solely notable for introducing what characters into popular culture? (The Simpsons)
8. What was the first music video to be aired on MTV? (“Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles)
9. The phrase “drinking the kool aid” is in reference to what event? (the Jonestown Massacre)
10. Which song was blocked from officially reaching the #1 position on the UK singles chart in 1977? (“God Save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols)
11. In 1983, the James Bond movie Thunderball was remade with a different name and featured an aging Bond. What was the movie’s name and who played Bond? [for two points] (“Never Say Never Again” starring Sean Connery)
12. What is the best-selling video game of all time? (Wii Sports, which has sold in excess of 75 million copies)
13. James Osterberg is better known by what name? (Iggy Pop)
14. Of the following three acts, who has not won an Oscar? U2, Eminem, or Bob Dylan? (U2 – who were nominated for “The Hands that Built America from Gangs of New York the year Eminem won for “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile. Dylan won for “Things Have Changed” from Wonder Boys)
15. Elvis died where? (on the toilet, in the bathroom, at Graceland – all acceptable answers)
Category #5 – Pirates and Piracy! (15 points)
1. Metallica’s Lars Ulrich gained a certain notoriety for his very vocal and public opposition to what? (Napster)
2. Edward Teach was better known by what name? (Blackbeard)
3. Which company would brand pirates with a “P” on their foreheads? (The East India Company)
4. What is the most pirated e-book? (1000 Photoshop Tips and Tricks)
5. The term “corsair” refers to pirates who plied their trade where? (the Mediterranean)
6. What was the name of the controversial piece of US legislation that led to mass blackout protests on the internet last week? A half-point for the acronym, full points for the full name. (SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act)
7. A skull-and-crossbones flag is known as what? (the Jolly Roger)
8. Jack Sparrow was a historical pirate – true or false? (False)
9. Who was the pirate antagonist in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island? (Long John Silver)
10. What percentage of downloaded music is thought to be done so illegally? (95%)
11. Which “typical” pirate punishment is believed to have not actually existed – marooning, the cat o’ nine tails, or walking the plank? (Walking the plank)
12. In 2012, you’d be most likely to find pirates operating off the coast of where? (Somalia)
13. The most valuable baseball card in history depicts which Pittsburgh Pirate? (Honus Wagner)
14. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is an annual pirate festival held in which city? (Tampa, Florida)
15. Comprising an estimated 36% of the pirated content on the web, [blank] is the most pirated? (pornography)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Oxford Companion to Beer
2011 saw the long-awaited publication of the Beer volume of the Oxford Companions series which, in some respects, serves as a spiritual cousin to one of the essential oenophile bibles, the Oxford Companion to Wine, which is currently in its third edition. In the ever-overcompensating world of beer nerds, the publication of a similarly authoritative "bible" for beer lovers was another check in the column that indicates that beer has "arrived" as a respected category of food and drink. To paraphrase Sally Field - they like us, they really like us. It was like an unexpected treat for me, as I had pre-ordered it on Amazon in the summer and then soon forgot about it, so that when a mystery package arrived, I opened it to find a mint copy practically hot off the press (indeed, this was in the fall of 2011 and the book has a 2012 publication date).
Edited by Garret Oliver, the head brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, the Oxford Companion to Beer is a remarkable book, with over one thousand entries on every aspect of beer and brewing, written by 165 subject specialists, that will sate all but the most anal-retentive beer geeks (although judging from some of the nitpickers on various forums, they do exist). These subject areas range from hop varieties (71 different types chronicled here!) through yeasts, characteristics, cultures, cities, festivals, breweries, styles, and so on. While it is logically organized like an encyclopedia and cross-referenced, making random page openings interesting, you can really get your nerd on and just pick it up and read it as a regular book (I'd be lying if I said I haven't done that - at least in small bursts). With 165 contributors, minor variations in terms of entry quality are to be expected, but Oliver has done an excellent job of keeping this to a bare minimum. If there is any downside to the book, it is the fact it quickly generates a strong thirst!
Friday, December 30, 2011
'Tis the Season... for end of year lists!
Bear with me for this one, which I concede is a completely self-indulgent post. As anybody who knows me will tell you, I'm an enormous music nerd (which is in an of itself kind of ironic due to my hearing loss, but whatever), and I love, love, love end-of-year music lists, even if it's just to tut-tut like the hipster music nerd cliche that I am. Every year I write out a top ten list, even if it's just for my friends. I think this habit was perhaps goaded when I won a province-wide high school newspaper award for critical music writing in 2000 (top album: Primal Scream's Xtrmntr). However, this year I thought I'd put it out there on the blog for others to tut-tut over. So here are my top ten and albums with, to paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, attendant comments, heresies, grudges and digressions.
On the whole, this was probably the strongest year for music since 2008 (top album that year: Hercules and Love Affair's eponymous debut), with loads of great music, which made whittling it down to a manageable number difficult. While I was tempted to expand the number, I held fast and chose ten each of songs and albums (which I will likely want to change the minute I publish the post!) As a Torontonian, one thing that I was thrilled about this year was the sheer amount of great local music, with four of my top albums and three of the top songs springing from the local scene. So without further ado...
Albums
1. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
A hardcore punk rock concept album? Sure, why not? Toronto's Fucked Up have never shied away from being far more ambitious than the average punk group, with countless EPs, singles, and albums already. However, David Comes to Life was something else entirely, with the sort of bloat, ambition, grandeur, and epic scale that only a concept album can have. And the amazing thing was that they nailed it, and while it can hardly be said to be "accessible", it reward patience and thus has enormous staying power. Pitchfork is streaming a live performance of the album in its entirety here.
2. Cults - Cults
In many respects the exact opposite of David Comes to Life (although Cults singer Madeline Follin guests on that album), Cults' debut album is a half-hour breezy whoosh of an album that evokes one of my favourite styles, the Wall-of-Sound girl group sound of the early 1960s, while avoiding being unnecessarily slavish and deferential to that style. Follin's voice is an amazingly expressive alto that is the album's breakout star.
3. The Weeknd - House of Balloons/Thursday/Echoes of Silence
I'm cheating a bit with this one, since it's actually three albums. Still, it is difficult to not think of them as being a whole work, as they were all released online for free in 2011. That it was such a success despite no publicity, rare-as-hens-teeth live performances, and an undeniably dense, claustrophobic sound speaks to the Weeknd's talent and the quality of his albums. I've always been a sucker for dark and moody albums, so I was drawn into these immediately. Also score points for being from Toronto (and making a New York Times reporter travel to Guelph to see one of the aforementioned rare-as-hens-teeth live performances!)
4. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
While I concede that tUnE-yArDs is perhaps guilty of a lot of twee hipster affectations and self-indulgence (look at the spelling!), w h o k i l l nevertheless overcomes its own potential pitfalls by simply being a killer album with lots of great songs. Indeed, its affectations are arguably its strengths, since they're worn on its sleeve and it wears them well.
5. Drake - Take Care
A spiritual cousin to the Weeknd albums (indeed, the Weeknd is all over Take Care, producing and appearing on a number of songs and leaving his stylistic fingerprints everywhere else), this is an album in the grand tradition of albums about being rich, famous, and miserable. In many respects, it's the perfect recession-era record (and the mirror opposite of another great 2011 album, the recession defying Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West).
6. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Erika M. Anderson's Past Life Martyred Saints is a great, dissonant loud-soft record, with passages of folk, rock, and sheer white noise. The lyrical subject matter is at times obtuse, but also occasionally uncomfortably raw, and delivered with incredible intensity by Anderson. This sounds like a record she just had to get out of her system like some sort of primal scream therapy, so it should be interesting to see where she goes from here.
7. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
Despite the fact that this album made the list, it still kind of feels less than the sum of its parts. It is front-to-back excellent, but it is still the individual songs that stick more than the overall record (and "Midnight City" was my favourite song of the year). This may be due to a bit of bloat, since it is, after all, a double-album (who DOES that these days?!), but it is just so chock-full of fantastic, old-school pop music that it could never not be here.
8. Destroyer - Kaputt
I'd almost forgotten about this album until it started appearing on the end-of-year lists - and with good reason. It was released way back in January, so it had gradually gotten buried under all of the other releases. Upon revisiting it, I loved it then and loved it now. It's got a fantastically retro, mellow vibe reminiscent of a lot of late seventies "easy rock", but without the negative schmaltz that makes a lot of that music horrid. Languid doesn't always have to mean horrible. Unless you're Dan Fogelberg.
9. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
This is almost on the list by default, since I didn't think it was that much of a departure from the Fleet Foxes' debut, but that's hardly a bad thing. I think it would be something that I would knock them for more on their third or fourth record, but for the time being, the "ain't-broke-don't-fix-it" mentality suits them well. If you knew and loved the first album, you'll love this one.
10. Austra - Feel It Break
Again, some hometown pride. I don't think that Austra necessarily lived up to the sky-high expectations foisted upon them, but given how stratospheric they were, how could they have? Nevertheless, with a voice as phenomenal (albeit somewhat affected, and an acquired taste) as Katy Stelmanis', it is nevertheless an ethereally wonderful dream of a record that hopefully points the way for things to come - especially if they can avoid the sort of Side B sag that unfortunately kept Feel It Break from being an unequivocal home run.
Songs
I'm going to keep my comments a bit more limited here, with one-word reviews and YouTube links.
1. M83 - "Midnight City"
Synthy!
2. Rihanna - "We Found Love"
OK, I lied. This merits more than one word, since I feel the need to justify myself. This is just an awesome, flat-out pop song. "We found love in a hopeless place", despite the fact it's such a simple, almost generic phrase, somehow is elevated by sheer repetition into something more than the sum of its parts. I think that it's the Seth MacFarlane Family Guy tactic - repeat something until it's actually really good. And the video is awesome.
3. Cults - "Abducted"
Wall-of-Sound-y!
4. Fucked Up - "Queen of Hearts"
Shouty!
5. The Weeknd - "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls"
Hangover-y!
6. EMA - "The Grey Ship"
Eerie!
7. Adele - "Rolling In The Deep"
Classic!
8. tUnE-yArDs - "Gangsta"
Twee!
9. St. Vincent - "Cruel"
Catchy!
10. Austra - "Lose It"
Pretty!
Well, I think that's it. Feel free to chirp me! I probably deserve it, despite the fact I won't budge on Rihanna.
On the whole, this was probably the strongest year for music since 2008 (top album that year: Hercules and Love Affair's eponymous debut), with loads of great music, which made whittling it down to a manageable number difficult. While I was tempted to expand the number, I held fast and chose ten each of songs and albums (which I will likely want to change the minute I publish the post!) As a Torontonian, one thing that I was thrilled about this year was the sheer amount of great local music, with four of my top albums and three of the top songs springing from the local scene. So without further ado...
Albums
1. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
A hardcore punk rock concept album? Sure, why not? Toronto's Fucked Up have never shied away from being far more ambitious than the average punk group, with countless EPs, singles, and albums already. However, David Comes to Life was something else entirely, with the sort of bloat, ambition, grandeur, and epic scale that only a concept album can have. And the amazing thing was that they nailed it, and while it can hardly be said to be "accessible", it reward patience and thus has enormous staying power. Pitchfork is streaming a live performance of the album in its entirety here.
2. Cults - Cults
In many respects the exact opposite of David Comes to Life (although Cults singer Madeline Follin guests on that album), Cults' debut album is a half-hour breezy whoosh of an album that evokes one of my favourite styles, the Wall-of-Sound girl group sound of the early 1960s, while avoiding being unnecessarily slavish and deferential to that style. Follin's voice is an amazingly expressive alto that is the album's breakout star.
3. The Weeknd - House of Balloons/Thursday/Echoes of Silence
I'm cheating a bit with this one, since it's actually three albums. Still, it is difficult to not think of them as being a whole work, as they were all released online for free in 2011. That it was such a success despite no publicity, rare-as-hens-teeth live performances, and an undeniably dense, claustrophobic sound speaks to the Weeknd's talent and the quality of his albums. I've always been a sucker for dark and moody albums, so I was drawn into these immediately. Also score points for being from Toronto (and making a New York Times reporter travel to Guelph to see one of the aforementioned rare-as-hens-teeth live performances!)
4. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
While I concede that tUnE-yArDs is perhaps guilty of a lot of twee hipster affectations and self-indulgence (look at the spelling!), w h o k i l l nevertheless overcomes its own potential pitfalls by simply being a killer album with lots of great songs. Indeed, its affectations are arguably its strengths, since they're worn on its sleeve and it wears them well.
5. Drake - Take Care
A spiritual cousin to the Weeknd albums (indeed, the Weeknd is all over Take Care, producing and appearing on a number of songs and leaving his stylistic fingerprints everywhere else), this is an album in the grand tradition of albums about being rich, famous, and miserable. In many respects, it's the perfect recession-era record (and the mirror opposite of another great 2011 album, the recession defying Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West).
6. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Erika M. Anderson's Past Life Martyred Saints is a great, dissonant loud-soft record, with passages of folk, rock, and sheer white noise. The lyrical subject matter is at times obtuse, but also occasionally uncomfortably raw, and delivered with incredible intensity by Anderson. This sounds like a record she just had to get out of her system like some sort of primal scream therapy, so it should be interesting to see where she goes from here.
7. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
Despite the fact that this album made the list, it still kind of feels less than the sum of its parts. It is front-to-back excellent, but it is still the individual songs that stick more than the overall record (and "Midnight City" was my favourite song of the year). This may be due to a bit of bloat, since it is, after all, a double-album (who DOES that these days?!), but it is just so chock-full of fantastic, old-school pop music that it could never not be here.
8. Destroyer - Kaputt
I'd almost forgotten about this album until it started appearing on the end-of-year lists - and with good reason. It was released way back in January, so it had gradually gotten buried under all of the other releases. Upon revisiting it, I loved it then and loved it now. It's got a fantastically retro, mellow vibe reminiscent of a lot of late seventies "easy rock", but without the negative schmaltz that makes a lot of that music horrid. Languid doesn't always have to mean horrible. Unless you're Dan Fogelberg.
9. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
This is almost on the list by default, since I didn't think it was that much of a departure from the Fleet Foxes' debut, but that's hardly a bad thing. I think it would be something that I would knock them for more on their third or fourth record, but for the time being, the "ain't-broke-don't-fix-it" mentality suits them well. If you knew and loved the first album, you'll love this one.
10. Austra - Feel It Break
Again, some hometown pride. I don't think that Austra necessarily lived up to the sky-high expectations foisted upon them, but given how stratospheric they were, how could they have? Nevertheless, with a voice as phenomenal (albeit somewhat affected, and an acquired taste) as Katy Stelmanis', it is nevertheless an ethereally wonderful dream of a record that hopefully points the way for things to come - especially if they can avoid the sort of Side B sag that unfortunately kept Feel It Break from being an unequivocal home run.
Songs
I'm going to keep my comments a bit more limited here, with one-word reviews and YouTube links.
1. M83 - "Midnight City"
Synthy!
2. Rihanna - "We Found Love"
OK, I lied. This merits more than one word, since I feel the need to justify myself. This is just an awesome, flat-out pop song. "We found love in a hopeless place", despite the fact it's such a simple, almost generic phrase, somehow is elevated by sheer repetition into something more than the sum of its parts. I think that it's the Seth MacFarlane Family Guy tactic - repeat something until it's actually really good. And the video is awesome.
3. Cults - "Abducted"
Wall-of-Sound-y!
4. Fucked Up - "Queen of Hearts"
Shouty!
5. The Weeknd - "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls"
Hangover-y!
6. EMA - "The Grey Ship"
Eerie!
7. Adele - "Rolling In The Deep"
Classic!
8. tUnE-yArDs - "Gangsta"
Twee!
9. St. Vincent - "Cruel"
Catchy!
10. Austra - "Lose It"
Pretty!
Well, I think that's it. Feel free to chirp me! I probably deserve it, despite the fact I won't budge on Rihanna.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sharp-Dressed Man: Sartorial words of wisdom for guy-brarians (Part one)
In my last post, I promised that I would follow up with a few words of wisdom on what exactly can constitute fashionability for male librarians. The Socialite Librarian wrote a post on this issue from a female perspective in August, but I think that the time is ripe for a male perspective on what, exactly, it takes to set yourself apart in the sartorial realm.
While there seems to be a well-defined popular idea of what exactly it takes to "look like" a librarian, I think that most of these are with a woman in mind. After all, women do constitute the overwhelming majority of librarians, so this is hardly a surprise. But if there is a general rule of thumb as to what constitutes an appropriate look for a librarian, it could likely be summed up in a single word - "dowdy". Or maybe "frumpy". Or possibly, if one was being charitable, "retro".
Unfortunately, I think that these descriptors are more likely to apply library students, rather than librarians themselves. When I was in library school, it seemed as if after the first term, many students rapidly morphed into what they thought a librarian should look like, and much like Albrecht Dürer's drawing of a Rhinoceros, which he drew without having actually seen one in the flesh, there may have been flashes of reality, but something just seemed a bit "off". This would typically manifested itself in people looking awfully uncomfortable in many ill-fitting shades of beige and grey, as if they were afraid that colour might permanently sear the retinas of prospective employers.
No, looking like a truly natty librarian, as with pretty much every form of fashion, really requires being comfortable with what you're wearing. Mind you, that can be somewhat different than actually being comfortable in what you're wearing, but as Billy Crystal's Fernando famously said, it's better to look good than feel good. And I fret that often people are too preoccupied with the feeling good aspect. If one wishes to project a certain verve or confidence, one of the surest ways to do so is to be dressed appropriately and with no small mesure of verve and style. Especially for those who are trying to break into the profession, it is critical ensure a strong first impression. While being well-dressed is only a part of this, it is certainly at least half of the deal.
So, if you're a guy who's trying to look good and feel good while still looking appropriately "librarian-y", what are some of the ways this can be done?
Cardigans
Another key aspect of being able to wear a cardigan, and to wear it well? Leave the heavy, dumpy cardigans at home, unless you want to look like an escapee from a retirement community. I don't dispute the utility and comfort of such items, since I have a beautiful, cable-knit Scottish cardigan. The thing is, I wear it at home or when I'm out on weekends (although - perish the thought! - not when at a bar or restaurant). No, a properly stylish cardigan must be relatively lightweight and form-fitting. It's not really intended for warmth, but rather as a layer or substitute for a blazer, although I personally love the dressy-but-casual look of a cardigan under a blazer. This is especially perfect in the cooler months, and gives off a certain flair, n'est-ce pas?
Bow Ties
Having said all of this... the good Doctor is right. They are pretty damn cool. While an interview is perhaps not ideal, a professional association holiday social is certainly acceptable, and I have done exactly that (although I've not been able to get a full-time offer of employment, so maybe not!). An absolute must is to have a proper tie that you tie yourself, otherwise you're just a dork with a clip-on. And that is most definitely not good. It isn't the easiest thing to do, and it took me the better part of an afternoon, armed with printouts and YouTube standing in front of a mirror, to nail it. But once I did... it looked great, and it's now like riding a bicycle - I won't forget.
Tweed
Pretty much the exact same applies to this as for bow ties. It's a great look - but perhaps not for everybody. I personally love it, and have a number of Harris Tweed jackets that look great with a pair of jeans (more on jeans in a minute...) but I can see where people reflexively recoil at it - especially as more authentic, rough tweeds that can admittedly be itchy if you're not wearing something relatively heave underneath it. Nevertheless, if you want to evoke the classic image of a male librarian, tweeds are a definite must.
Jeans
Wow... I've gone on for quite some time, but only scratched the surface of what I wanted to say. I think I'll save my thoughts on glasses, shoes, and pipe smoking for a future entry!
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