iMood Tuesday Aug. 10

Rain again this morning, at least on the drive in.  Top firmly up (window part way open - gotta have my nose in the air if at all possible!), wipers slapping away the accumulated mist-cum-rain.

Traffic this morning was obtuse.  Everywhere I went someone(s) were asleep at the wheel, out for their Sunday drive several days too soon (or two days too late), and I think I ended up stopped behind every possible light on my route.  More, actually, since 200th was blocked off by emergency vehicles midway down the block with no advance warning (and no detour indicated) - so I wandered several very residential blocks out of my way to find the next closest path to highway 99, along with a couple of particularly obtuse drivers.

Still, all of this meant more playlist time this morning, so what did my iPod make of this extra time and my frustration level?

Bobby Previte: Airstrip One
Foreigner: Tramontane
Michel Camillo: Oye Como Va
Leonard Cohen: So Long, Marianne (Live)
Kenny Werner: Hey Reggie
Jim Ed Brown: The Three Bells (Les Trois Cloches)
Pixies: Debaser

I suspect that is one mix of tunes that no radio station in its right mind would attempt to play back to back.  Just about right with a morning that's starting out a wee bit out of sorts.  As I listen now from my office, Madeleine Peyroux sings a solution to the out of sorts morning: Damn the Circumstances.

For the record: yesterday I had the iPod set to a single album on my way in to the college (The Fray: The Fray).  Back to random on the way home and I think I intentionally skipped over more than I listened to.  At one point, having skipped over about five really awful tunes, I started to wonder where all this piteous music had come from.  Just goes to show that even an intentionally built music collection has some stuff in it that isn't the bees knees.

iMood Friday Aug. 6

A non-declarative morning today, with high sky covering that could be clouds (it's going to rain) or mist (it will burn off and shine) or (more likely) something in between.  How we are to determine what our perspective on the day is to be when the sky hasn't made up its mind is beyond me.

Stopped for gas on my way in and then, in a fit of "its an undermined Friday" swung through the local Starbucks drive through and bought an iced late.  Made the way I like it, it's 180 calories.  Ask me why I know.  OK, don't.

I also cheated on my music this morning.  The fourth tune this morning was Wilco's Impossible Germany, which simply had to be repeated.  So I repeated it, just to listen to all that wonderful guitar work.

Wireless in the office isn't working this morning so this will no doubt be posted a bit later than usual.  Still, if that's as challenging as the morning gets, I have nothing to complain about. [Now restored, now posted.]

• Peter Doherty: Salome
• Louis Armstrong: I Still Get Jealous
• Fountains of Wayne: Bought for a Song
• Wilco: Impossible Germany (twice!)

iMood Thursday Aug. 5

Rain!  At first, just barely there and I actually started my drive in with the top down (I could see the sun, and 20 tiny drops per mile wasn't going to wet me) but then it got wetter and I tossed the lid over by shoulder and back up.  Good thing, because by half way in it was coming down surprisingly hard.  It was all over by the time I got to the college, though, and the sun is once again out and ready to lend us another beautiful day.

What with the rain dance, I forgot to even turn my music on until about half way in, so a very short song list today.  And, the iPod was in a particular mood today: Alternative folk/country or music my mother would be just fine with.

• James Taylor & Carole King: Sweet Baby James
• Nanci Griffith: Beacon Street
• Bon Jovi: One Step Closer
• Il Divo: Ti Ameró

iMood Wednesday Aug. 4

This morning was again just a tad hazy, but otherwise clear enough to see the far hills, if not the Olympics on my way west toward the college.  About half way in an egret flew directly above me, very purposeful looking in its spear-like flying position.

Nothing purposeful about this morning's mix of tunes, ranging from silly to sacred.  It was nice to hear a bit of Blue Merle, a group that only put out one album together before moving on to separate musical projects.  I wish they had done more.  Haden/Jones is just plain simple and classy.

• Blue Merle: Either Way It Goes
• Spamalot: Knights of the Round Table
• Christine Lavin: 85 Degrees
• Charlie Haden & Hank Jones: We Shall Overcome
• Train: My Private Nation

iMood Tuesday, Aug. 3

Another softly beautiful morning, with light high fog barely hiding a blue sky.  Thermo-thingy says it's roughly 55° F heading to a possible high of 75, which is very pleasant for the beginning of August.

The iPod, this morning, had contrary ideas about where we were in August, since it kicked off with August Ending, a tight piece of jazz trio work.  After that the iPod bounced around musical styles like a spinning radio knob, ranging from Don McLean to Nada Surf.  I confess I skipped over most of Spits. It was a little too thumpy for a morning drive through quiet residential streets, though it's a great album (Tobacco Road by Common Market).

Camera Obscura (http://www.camera-obscura.net/), if you are not familiar, is another one of those gems worth looking up.  A Glasgow group that has a unique high energy sound.  Always a good thing when one of their tunes pops up on the morning list.

• Brad Mehldau Trio: August Ending
• Camera Obscura: If Looks Could Kill
• Common Market: Spits
• Don McLean: And I Love You So
• Nada Surf: Comes a Time

iMood Monday Aug. 2nd

It's Monday, though it doesn't really feel like Monday.  Probably because I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in the office this weekend, so this is something like a Wednesday. And a foggy one at that.  I refer to the weather, not my state of mind.  The fog was dense at about roof-top height, so at street level it was reasonably clear with a block or two visibility. That being the case, the top stayed down and I enjoyed the swirly cool of the morning.

Music: another strange mix today.  I don't see much of a common thread in this random concatenation of songs. There is, maybe, a faint trace of time passage in these tunes, but that takes a bit of reading into the lyrics.  More effort than a Monday dressed up as Wednesday is worth.

• Wilco: Handshake Drugs
• Logh: A New Hope
• Pat Metheny: Time Goes On
• Karrin Allyson: Plasir D' Amour
• Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)

iMood Sunday Aug. 1st

It's Sunday morning, but I'm still heading into the office nice and early again today.  That will make it a full weekend spent in the office, but there is work that has to get done and sometimes it just has to flow this way.  With luck it won't be another full day.

That said, was there anything in this morning's random music selection that can be read like tea leaves or a mood ring?  Not that I can see, to be honest.  An odd combination of tunes, and a short list (the last tune runs over 8 minutes, and Sunday morning traffic between house and college was almost nil).  The first one swings, but the other three are melancholy.  Maybe that's the connection: it's hard to swing when you know you're entire weekend is one long work day?

• Pearl Django: Stompin' at the Savoy
• The Beatles: For No One
• John Mayer: Vultures
• Sigur Rós: Ny Batteri

Still, though overcast this morning it isn't raining or chilly, so it was a quiet top-down drive in.  The music was down low so the bird song was clearly audible over the music, and the crisp morning air and crisp morning smells were abundant.  Can't complain about any of that!