You can see it in the branches of the late summer trees. They slow their growth, fade to red and yellow, and then strip bare. The endless sun exhausts them. This is how they survive the winter.
Music: Almost every review one reads for Spoon's new album says something along the lines of "Spoon is a band that's always gotten a lot out of a little, so it's hard to imagine them stripping their sound down even more." I thought everyone was using the line because it was an easy way to review the album-- kind of like how blogging is an easy way to fake being a journalist--but the album really is a stripped down Spoon, proving that hard economic times cause even musicians to tighten their belts and ration out their melodies. The sparseness of Transference makes one truly appreciate the passing moments that are filled with sound, layers, and echoes, and maybe that's what Transference is: the echo of one's emotions traveling outside the body. The space one can hear in this album can make a one bedroom apartment feel as vast as a canyon. Buy it. Enjoy it. Try and not get lost in it.
Just For Kicks: The following video is as close as we could get to ?uestlove guest blogging for us:
There aren't a lot of them in life, but you can take some solace in the fact that there are atleast three guarantees in life; Death, taxes, and Tracy McGrady will always wind up on the injured list. Last night in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder Cats, McGrady re-injured his left knee. It just so happens to be the same knee that was operated in the offseason to have loose bodies removed. Oh by the way, it feels terrible.
“Tonight I went back to square one, even before surgery, is how my knee is feeling right now." “It’s sharp pain,” McGrady said. “It almost just seems like I never had surgery. I’m feeling the same pain.”
It is easy to feel bad for the guy, earlier in his career he played great ball and stayed relatively healthy. That is until the Rockets started surrounding him with talent. It started with Yao and continues now. The Rockets acquired the fiery Ron Artest in the offseason and as of late the team was starting to gel, but McGrady couldn't manage to soldier on through the sore knee.
The Rockets have routinely been the vogue preseason pick to win the Finals for the last 6 years or so. Yet either McGrady or Yao and sometimes both of them ruin it by getting injured. For that reason Tracy McGrady has earned a nickname. He will now be known as "The Paper Tiger." A paper tiger is one who is seemingly dangerous and powerful but in fact is timid and weak. I think it fits the Rockets and McGrady's never-ending string of bad luck and timing perfectly.
However I am not entirely sure if we should name McGrady or the entire Rockets as the Paper Tiger. Since T-Mac is the one who is injured whilst being the face of the team, I believe he deserves the distinction. There is no time table for the Paper Tigers return but he will undoubtedly return sometime, probably just in the nick of time for Yao to re-injure his foot.
I leave you today with a music video of the band Spoon performing their song "Paper Tiger". Partly due to McGrady's new moniker, but mostly because I love the song.
