I've Got To Remember

I've got to remember that when I inevitably get frustrated by the conservative politics of my new home state it could be so so much worse:

A prosperous hamlet of 6,300, Sioux Center is home to 17 churches, 13 of them with the word "Reformed" in their name, a sign of a strong evangelical presence. In 2004, 16,000 people in the county voted, 14,000 of them for Bush.

I've driven through Iowa twice in the past three days and but I missed Sioux Center both times...

Kansas, Not the State

From the current issue of Rolling Stone there is an interesting Letter to the Editor written by Steve Walsh, the lead singer of the great group and my future place of residence, Kansas. He is writing in about the previous issue in which Rolling Stone determined the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time and Kansas was not included.

"RS has always hated the band I sing for. Still, two key songs were omitted: "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry On Wayward Son."

--Steve Walsh, Kansas frontman Via the Internet

Kansas -- Dust in the Wind

Kansas -- Carry On Wayward Son
Both tracks are from The Best Of collection.

Spring Break In Wisconie

Thinking about it, I have never gone anywhere warm and sunny for Spring Break. I was hoping for maybe lower 60’s when I got off the plane in Minneapolis on Thursday…instead by the next morning I had this:

Next year chances are I will be living in Wisconsin, Kansas, or Missouri depending on how things pan out and so I’ve got a 66% chance of having a warmer Spring Break next year.

The Arcade Fire – Cold Wind
From the soundtrack to Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends.

Coldplay – How To See the World No. 2
From the charity album Help: A Day in the Life.

Haven't I Heard That Before #5: The Beach Boys & Okkervil River

This is the first Okkervil River song that I really fell in love with...probably for the reason that they burst into "Sloop John B" at the 3:00 minute mark...

I think we can all relate to "This is the worst trip I've ever been on"...for me it was my 2nd summer trip to Kansas in which we visited Oklahoma and the car's air conditioning broke. My family vacations on the whole were always fun but that was the worst single day of traveling ever.

The Beach Boys -- Sloop John B
From the Pet Sounds album.

Okkervil River -- John Allyn Smith Sails
From The Stage Names album.