Monday Night Miscellany

The Monday Quiz!

Well! Wasn't that fun? Very laid back. No stars, no winner, none of that aggressive competitive vibe that you get on Thursday. Just a mellow little quiz.

The Weekend College Football Roundup

In Boulder, Oklahoma got out front early on the way to easy victory, as I had foretold. Except that then Colorado started making points. They made enough points that, just as the clock ran out, they technically had more points than the Sooners. And there was much sorrow and weeping.

In Corvallis, Oregon State got out to an early lead against UCLA, and held on mightily! With nine minutes left in the game, they were slightly ahead, as indeed I had predicted they would be. But then UCLA made 28 more points. And there was much sorrow and weeping.

But none of that really matters, as long as the Ducks win. In Eugene, Oregon and Cal fought toe to toe all afternoon. With twenty seconds left in the game, an Oregon player streaked into the end zone to score the tieing touchdown! Except he kind of dropped the ball, as they say. And there was much sorrow and weeping. Damn.

On the plus side, they were all exciting games. That's something. Right?

I appreciate the kind words of those of you who have been there for me in this difficult time.

The Rock Music

This weekend Mrs.5000 & I went to a show at The Doug Fir, a club that is often alleged to be Portland's hippest. We feel very comfortable and not at all out of place there, so I hope to hell that there is someplace considerably hipper somewhere in town. I mean, come on.

We were there to see Earlimart, a soundscapey, impressionistic, and otherwise hard-to-categorize band out of Southern California that we are more than a little fond of (pictured here in another image that I may not quite have, like, the legal right to post). They were scorching good. They played mostly songs off a new album (Mentor Tormentor) that I hadn't heard yet, which is often kind of challenging at a concert but in this case it just made me excited to get the new record. I'm listening to it as we speak. It's awesome.

It also has an awfully cool cover:

Two opening bands were also superb: Chicago's The Office played a kind of high-energy melange of pop rock 1978-1984, kind of The Cars meet Talking Heads meet The Clash, and they had a lot of fun doing it. They put on a good show. Highly recommended for Chicago-area readers.

And, Portland's own Southerly were considerably more somber, striking kind of an Eels-y mood but with a broader, harder sound, more complex rhythms, and less direct lyrics. I picked up their album (Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist) too, and am look forward to exploring it.


Signs

They've been doing construction by my work. Alternative interpretations for a couple of the road signs popped into my head, and now I can't get rid of them:

"Look! I got a new filing cabinet!"

Caution: Men Playing Squash