Unfinished Dad

Living With Pearl Jam

Dear Louie,

I feel that old pull again.  I’ve felt it seven times over the last 16 years and I like it, a lot.  The first time was my junior year in high school and I remember relying on some kid’s article in the school paper for more background and information.  The last two decades have seen me feel it in different cities and with different people—remember that time we ditched work for an hour and listened to Binaural?—but every time the symptoms are the same.  A little rapid jumping up and down, a little stimming, and some very repetitive playing of a favorite initial track.

With The Fixer’s release last week, that feeling started again.  Now tour dates are popping up—nothing in DC yet—and this week I stumbled across some other maniac’s plunge into the Pearl Jam catalog.  The feeling is back full force now.  Coping with two months of this will be difficult thanks to the age of hyper-information that we live in, but September 20^th and the release of Backspacer will get here soon enough, I promise you.

If you will remember, you and I had a fierce debate last spring about the band’s greatest efforts of all time.  And while I took that debate to a confrontational place, I assure you it was only for the sake of art and readership.  So I ask you, Lou, would you like to blog with me about Pearl Jam again?  They are the single biggest unifying experience of our two lives.  Through thousands of arguments, and only slightly fewer beatings, they have been a constant.

I don’t want to review every track that Pearl Jam has issued—we can leave that for the childless—but I would like to share our love with the world in a reader accessible way.  You may have noticed my obsession with So You Think You Can Dance lately, it isn’t pretty.  So let’s spare the public and keep it simple.  We can post once a week about anything PJ relevant and as long as we commit to over sharing and informing with brevity I think we’ll be okay.

Let me know what you think,

Joey

P.S. At some point we will revisit your epic mathematical ranking of every single Pearl Jam song, we just have to.

Andrew Bird, Still

I came accross this clip over the weekend and thought I would make another attempt to get you to listen to Andrew Bird.  If you haven't heard, or seen, any of his work, notice that all of that sound is coming from one man.  And yes, he does list himself among a very rare group...professional whistlers.

The Fixer

Christmas used to come early in Highland lakes, New Jersey.  My parents had a group of friends that would get together and throw a party in the middle of the summer to serve as a mini reunion and a reminder of the joy that we all feel around the holidays.  When I approached adulthood, I became friends with some of these summer revelers and enjoyed one couple's company immensely.  The husband was a lover of music and writing and he and I—despite our age difference—could talk about lyrics for hours.

This morning I am reminded of those simpler days.  My head is swimming with the joy of playing a new song over and over while relaxing in the relative silence that is 6:00 AM in our household.  It doesn't matter if you love the new Pearl Jam track, The Fixer, it only matters that you have something that turns you on when you put your headphones over your ears.  Something that transports you back in time and peels away your adulthood.  Christmas in July via music.

Andrew Bird

We went to see Andrew Bird with The Decemberists at Merriweather Post Pavilion last night and your faithful blogger dipped into the wallet for a 24 ounce Corona more than once.  So a blog post with actual thoughts isn't in the cards.  It was a great show and amazingly the Decemberists rock opera was quite good, highlighted by the crazy pipes of Shara Worden who played one of the "characters."  Sorry.

If you are a music fan, take a peak at the thought process that Andrew Bird applies to his writing.  These posts are part of a New York Times series on musicians and their craft called Measure for Measure.

On A More Serious Note...

Yesterday's post wasn't quite serious enough for my taste.  Let's move on to something a bit more important.  2009 is looking like a very good year.