Blogging Bandwagon Gains New Member

So this is the inaugural post of the Indie League blog. It seems now that everyone and their computer-literate mama are blogging, and I thought I would join in on all the fun. I wasn't quite sure what I would use this blog for until this afternoon when I was listening to the new Radiohead while monitoring my fantasy football team (5 Tom Brady TDs in the first half...money), and I realized that I could post musings on both music and sports, as well as college life in Austin. If I do this right, then this could be the greatest convergence of the two since Garth Brooks donned a Padres uni. I'll also be talking about random things as they come, and possibly posting lit submitted by myself and readers if anyone's interested.

Let's talk sports and why I hate being in college.

In this the craziest college football season in recent memory, the level of couch-sitting necessity is at an all-time high. From when I rise at the crack of noon to when I finally get dressed around 10 PM, Saturdays are reserved for football. Things were going great yesterday, with my beloved Texas Fightin' Longhorns looking at least better than decent and South Florida making way for my also beloved LSU Fightin' Tigers to slip back into the top three after two straight brutal weeks of SEC footballing. If you follow the SEC, you'll know that the LSU-Auburn game is always a nail-biting slugfest which often determines the fate of the SEC West. For the past three years, these matchups have each been in the top-ten games of their respective college football seasons.

I have seen none of them.

2004: The Extra Point Game -- Austin City Limits Festival. Pixies played. Forgiven
2005: The Thank God For John Vaughn Game -- ACL again. Oasis headlines. For shame.
2006: The Pass Interference Game -- Conflicted with Longhorn home football game. Yay Colt.

2007 looked to be a battle between an underrated Auburn team and an exhausted LSU team. Needless to say, I was nervous. However, having been invited to escort a friend to a cocktail party, I was at an obligatory pre-party dinner for the entire first half. From here I had to go to three other locations for various "pre-parties," the first two of which did not have a television. Once I finally reached our last party, I bypassed the keg and sprinted upstairs, only to find that there was one second left in the game and LSU had already secured the victory seconds earlier. Highlight after highlight of the Demetrius Byrd catch revealed that I had missed a pretty decent football game.

Saturdays are for football, not Benihana and cocktail dresses.

A brief word on music:

Haven't been to too many shows recently, though last week's Sunset Rubdown show at Emo's was incredible; I officially like them better than Wolf Parade. Sure, their songs are a bit long and nobody knows what the hell Spencer Krug is talking about, but I'll be damned if they can't write a bombastic and exciting rock song. You don't realize exactly how talented the guy is on piano until you see him in person, awkwardly flailing his arms in between notes and doing his best Win Butler impression along the way. Seeing them finally made me want to listen to something other than In Rainbows or Strawberry Jam. Check out the dope jam from their new album at the end of the post

Also, saw Caribou at the (fairly) new Club DeVille. It's on 9th and Red River, so it's removed from the 6th Street scene, and it's truly different than every other club in Austin. First of all, the bar is in a big circus tent, with the lights providing a pretty laid-back environment. The stage, however, is the really cool part, as the band performs in front of a stone wall decorated with various foliage. Even though it's in the middle of Austin, the venue has the feel of a remote mountain concert. The band, in spite of their gimmicky all-white uniform, put on a much more exciting show than you would expect from listening to their records. The drummer, whose kit was at the front of the stage, was pretty phenomenal, and the vocals and harmonies were woozy and beautiful.

Quick Notes:

• My Rockies playoff beard is looking manlier than Dante Bichette could have ever dreamed of.
• Tom Brady ended up with 6 touchdowns and over 350 yards passing. I love him more than his illegitimate child ever will.
• Go see The Darjeeling Limited. Right meow.
  
• The prospect of an LSU-Kansas national championship is developing from a funny joke into a hilarious possibility.
• Dice-K will choke tonight and Boston fans will struggle to find ways to claim that they aren't the Yankees.
• Get the new Jens Lekman; it's as adorable as it is Swedish.

Sunset Rubdown: The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life
Caribou: She's the One
Jens Lekman: It Was a Strange Time in My Life