+fB's Favorite 10 Albums of 2008

10. TV on the Radio Dear Science

I’ve loved dearly them since their debut, but here on their third full-length, I can’t help but feel that the critics were a little too generous with the praise for Dear Science.  While more diverse and catchy than its predecessors, it’s therefore less cohesive and not as risky as it could be.  While it may be the most overhyped album of the year, it’s still a hell of an album from one of this decade’s most innovative acts.

9. Black Kids Partie Traumatic

Great energetic bounce from this young act out of Jacksonville manages to simply make you feel younger.  Similar to critical darlings MGMT, but more fun.

8. Nine Inch Nails The Slip

This free offering from Mr. Reznor kicks out the jams.  Loud, brash, and bold, it’s vintage NIN, following shortly on the heels of return to form Year Zero and soundscapes Ghosts I-IV.

7. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Real Emotional Trash

Muscular fuzzy rock and roll from the frontman of indie legends Pavement.  This album actually made me care for the first time about anything Malkmus has done solo.  Mostly that’s just me being behind the times, but it’s a very enjoyable listen.  May lead to air guitar solos.

6. Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Another one where I didn’t think I’d care again.  Coldplay rescues itself from Adult Album Alternative blandness with innovative arrangements and fresh sounds.  And having one of the best producers money can buy doesn’t hurt, either.  Thanks, Brian Eno!  (And thanks, Joe Satriani!)

5. Girl Talk Feed the Animals

Another stunning tour de force from the king of mashups.  Most fun moment?  “My lip gloss is poppin” over Metallica’s One.

4. She & Him Volume One

Old-timey guy M. Ward follows up his beautiful and lush Post-War album with this collaboration featuring the old-timey and beautiful (though lush is probably not a word I would use) vocals of singer/actress/all-around-pixie Zoey Deschanel.  A wonderful pairing, and an incredibly listenable recording.

3. Bloc Party Intimacy

Bloc Party brings back the energy and urgency of their debut Silent Alarm, on this, their third effort.  None of the tunes may have the power of the highlights from Alarm, but Bloc Party more than make up for it with aggression and intricate, proficient rock.

2. Portishead Third

Proof that a long awaited return after a decade-plus hiatus doesn’t have to suck.  All you other artists past your salad days, please take note before you break our hearts with half-assed, through-the-motions, in-it-for-the-money releases. It doesn’t have to be that way.  Third is right up there with the sublime 90’s work of this UK outfit, and it eclipses its predecessors in many ways.  No one went home disappointed… I know I got way more than I expected from this one.

1. Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend

Absolutely perfect.  The standout debut of the year, by far.  An unlikely success, with its heavy Afro-Pop influences, punk-length songs, and Ivy League themes, this album was both the most listenable album of the year for me, and also seem to capture the spirit of the times.  Maybe Portishead can give this quartet some advice about how to handle Vampire Weekend II.

Just when I thought I was out...

I remarked today to a coworker that my job is like quicksand.

The more I struggle to get free and clear, the deeper I get sucked in.

What's My Motivation?

Part of my professional work deals with motivations to engage in certain activities.  Also, on a daily basis, I’m trying to motivate, encourage, and bolster professionals, students, and volunteers.

Very few people are motivated to accomplish anything.  Maybe I’m just an arrogant jerk, but I believe that I am a highly motivated person.  I work hard, invest a lot of time, energy, and passion into what I do, pay attention to details, and get really glad/sad/mad when my goals either come to fruition or wither on the vine.  I don’t get off on praise, I couldn’t care less how much money I make, and I’m pretty happy with my CV as it is.  I enjoy work for the sake of work.  And that’s the attitude that I see lacking in so many people.

It’s tempting to believe that I’ve been instilled with the Protestant Work Ethic by my working class Midwestern parents.  Trouble is, my attitudes and worldview are about 180 degrees removed from that of my parents.  And I know this is true with regard to my work ethic because when I was in school and grad school, their interest in my academic success was strictly limited to its direct impact on my earning potential.  They got excited about internships and job hunts, never about whether I was actually learning anything or actualizing myself as a person (maybe just their own working class bias towards education).  Plus, the whole predestination thing tied into the Protestant Work Ethic has no appeal to me, since nothing will happen when I die.  :)  I’m working now for no ultimate reward.  That’s okay – none’s needed.

What’s more likely is that I’m someone who is motivated by their need to prove themselves to the world.  I’m not of the vertically challenged persuasion, but growing up as a nerd, freak, bookworm, whatever, often motivates those types to work hard.  I may not have a Napoleon complex, but I’m sure there’s some complex there.  Couple that with being a white male in America whose work is likely to actually pay off (sadly, that's still a reality), and the incentive to work hard is there.

I’ve often wondered if the unmotivated, the idle, are just simply happy-go-lucky and perfectly content with themselves.  I question if I’m missing out on a life of pure joy by failing to just not give a shit.  Maybe that’s the case, but I don’t think I’m wired to move to that lifestyle.  I care too much.

But the question that baffles me is how to effectively motivate the apathetic.  Obviously external incentives like money, recognition, grades, and social pressure help.  But you’d be surprised at how many people (at least that I deal with professionally and in the classroom) don’t respond to rewards.  The real problem, as a coworker related to me today, are those tricky intrinsic, internal motivations.  How do you get someone to change their internal motivations, change how the little fireworks in their head go off?  How do you tug at those heart strings and make them realize how fun it is to be creative and execute your vision?  I'm not cynical enough yet to believe it's a lost cause for everybody.  So, I’m going to have to hit the Psychology textbook.  And I’ll let you know what I find out.

Dread

Just when it couldn't get any scarier, this:

Couric: And when it comes to establishing your worldview, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?

Palin: I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.

Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.

Couric: Can you name a few?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too.

We're scared.

Grammar School

After handing back scripts that my students were asked to submit for their media course, one student who's never had me as an instructor before was surprised to find her sheet covered in furious corrections and other marks from my green inkpen.

"What is this, grammar school?" she asked. God forbid I would correct her punctuation mistakes.

So when she brought the assignment forward at the end of class, and asked me if all those commas I was asking for were necessary, I explained that she's writing for other people to read and to perform from. I took the script from her and read a couple of lines as she wrote originally wrote them, without essential commas needed for natural pauses. She made a face at how odd it sounded, of course. Then I read the same sentences with the commas (and therefore pauses) inserted.

"Oh, okay."

Glue Factory

I was driving back into town this evening for a work-related event, and was surprised to see something new for this small city: police on a horse! It's been awhile since I've seen equestrian-powered law enforcement, not since I lived in the (relatively) big city.

The horse is used to patrol the recently developed park areas along the river, so it makes a lot of sense in terms of mobility. And I'm sure an officer on a horse is more intimidating to riverside ne'er-do-wells than one on a mere bicycle (we've got a few bike cops on campus).

It struck me that one whimsical solution to the climate crisis would be a return to riding horses to get around. Instead of growing more corn for biofuels, we'll just grow more corn for more horses. The only emissions problem? Methane.

The (Mud)gates Open

Now that the Palin bump is over, the season is about to get a whole lot uglier.

I think either McCain will go after his opponent on abortion, where Obama's state Senate record is perceived as being vulnerable (thanks to these ridiculous bills that are designed to either bait Democrats or slowly erode Roe v. Wade) and an "out-of-touch liberal" (even though the majority of Americans are pro-choice)... or we'll see a resurgence of the Rev. Wright and "secret Muslim" strategies and viral campaigns.

So, either Obama will be portrayed to "hard working" whites in the Rust Belt and West as the "most liberal member of the Senate" or as the *hushed tone* "scary black candidate."

At least the race results in some pretty funny web ads from obsure sites of ill repute. I can't wait to see how sleazier these get...


I especially love the "who's more likely" ad. So ridiciously wonderful.

Separation Anxiety

I've always been a big believer in being mobile, being opening to moving to new places. Wanting to live in one city/town your whole life seemed so perverse and backwards.

Having actually moved out of state of couple times now, I sympathize with those I didn't understand. Leaving a place you've become accustomed to, and uprooting ties with people you actually relate to, it's all pretty melancholy. After moving the first time, I went through a sentimental phase of missing my hometown. Awhile back, I started missing Michigan. And now, I'm already getting melancholy thinking about what comes next... But that's still a ways off. Just being sentimental. :P

I have learned the value of maintaining old relationships and staying in touch with good friends. I'm still eager to live in new places, but I think someday, when my wife and I find a place we can call home, I'll be a settled townie like all the rest.

Undertow

In the past year of acclimating to life in the South, I've noted that it's not so much the expected, immediate things that are different about living here. It's the subtle, quiet differences that can be surprisingly odd.

A colleague noted that when blacks and whites in American talk about race, they talk across each other. They're communicating in different spaces in the bandwidth. On a similar note, what's struck me about the enthusiastic response Sarah Palin has received among the culturally conservative base, is that it's something very implicit about her that makes the evangelical demographic so excited. It's something unspoken, understood.

I find myself wondering if the things that separate us, that create distance between red and blue America, or the North and the South, North America and South America, etc. etc. , are not the salient issues we think about dividing us (affirmative action, abortion, war), but rather more hidden differences in the way we think.

Because no matter how much separate cultures, civilizations, or ideologies may differ over issues of the day, perhaps what really produces cultural disagreements are the fundamental, hard-to-name ways in which we process information, and our collective experiences that we use to frame that information.

Getting through to others, and listening to their needs and expectations. I'm getting frustrated with it this month. Because it really requires a willingness to rethink all premises.

Americans Can Opinions Overseas (And You Can, Too!)

Is that a verbatim quote?

V is for Victory

I had the good fortune of being able to borrow at camera from work yesterday. I haven't sat down to learn how to properly operate it yet, as you can tell from the focus ahead, but driving home yesterday, I was glad I had a camera sitting next to me, ready to go. I'm trying to compete with a blogging colleague who is a keen observer of bumper stickers and license places.


Mostly, what I saw was just so odd that I had to snap a couple shots. I think I was fascinated first by the homemade aesthetic, and secondly by the sheer cockiness and self promotion involved.


Even though this guy obviously wants attention, I feel a little bad for picking on him now. I think he saw me driving behind him with a large SLR to my face. Because after he turned, he pulled far, far ahead of me by speeding... 65 in a 45. Guess I scared the poor, paranoid fellow. But again, why would you put that on your rear, then?

I Think I'm Gonna Be Sick...

I might, actually. Sore throat all day, and now a little bit of an earache. There's never a good time to be sick, you know? Thankfully, I don't get taken down too often, and I can't really remember the last time I was sick.

I'm off to take a vitamin and decongestant...

Zen and the Art of Job Interviews

I’ve been fortunate enough, in my short time, to have experienced a wide range of job interview scenarios. I’ve been interviewed by groups ranging from two to a dozen, and I’ve been interviewed as part of a group. I’ve been phone interviewed. I’ve walked, biked, drove, flown, and bused my way to interviews. I’ve bombed, sweated, shone, and been baffled. And my spouse has been wonderful in sharing her own experiences interviewing candidates for me to pick up from. I’m a shy guy, so my tendency is to get overwhelmed by this sort of thing, but thankfully I’ve seen enough of what goes on to sort of balance it all out, I hope.

More recently, I’ve had the opportunity to sit on the other side of the desk, as part of several search committees at work. It’s involved looking for both professors and public relations administrators. So I thought I’d share some of my recent observations with you, the reader, in the form of a few tips.

1. Be one of them

Assuming you’re qualified and competent, the biggest thing an employer is looking for, especially if you’re dealing with a hiring committee and your job is an important role at the company, is how good of a fit you are. The organization wants to know that you’re one of them – that you value the same outcomes and approaches they do, that they will be able to work well with you, and that you will bring a level of fresh perspective and dynamic energy to their team. If you are a good fit with the job and organization, emphasize that. Make it clear that you would be the best person for the job, not because you’re so damn great, but because you’d be the best fit. Don’t exaggerate your tailor-made qualities, though… there’s no room for soul mates and destiny in the working world. This is also where humor and acting natural comes into play… unless you’re being interviewed by an HR official, these people are going to have to interact with you on a daily basis. Make that as appealing as possible.

2. Keep it simple, stupid

Oh my. Please don’t ever talk about yourself for more than a few minutes straight. I was shocked and appalled at the number of candidates, on phone and in person, who would serious talk about themselves for 10, 20, or more minutes, non-stop. You don’t need to let me know that you’re a narcissist. Plus, there’s simply no need to go on that long. Whether its nerves or ego, learn to cut it off and be concise. Help yourself out and let the interviewer do more of the talking. And please don’t describe the methods and results section from your dissertation over the phone. Unless you and the interviewer are in the same narrow field of research, I can guarantee they don’t want details. Summarize, please.

3. Don’t come if you don’t want the job

I understand applying for positions if you’re just trying to feel out the market. But don’t drive down from out of town if you’re not interested. If you’re good, you’re just getting our hopes up. If you’re lousy, you’re wasting our time all around. Interviewers and search committees really hate having to second-guess whether a candidate is truly interested and would accept an offer. And don’t be that jackass that flaunts other competing offers. That’ll guarantee you won’t be getting an offer from us.

4. Curb your nervousness

Nervousness is inevitable. Obviously, interviewers expect that you’re probably a little nervous, but they also expect you to keep it under wraps. One thing I had never thought of before, though, is that nervousness can come off as something else entirely different. If you’re struggling to keep the butterflies down, you might actually end up looking too wordy and talkative, too stoic, or too shy. You may come off as a poor speaker, or even just a little unhinged. Do whatever practice or other techniques it takes to keep your nerves in line, because you might be misinterpreted. Being able to relax helps you perform better, anyway. After all, looking for a job and looking for a good candidate is such a little dance of expectations and subtle behavior – just be aware. Of course, if you’re not nervous, something else is probably wrong (see #2).

Good luck if you’re looking, and if not, clean up that CV anyway!

Living in a Glass House

I was genuinely surprised at how negative and unsubtle the coverage of China was during the Olympics, especially during the opening ceremony a week ago. (I haven’t actually watched any competitions for more than 30 seconds.) Yet even NBC’s sportscaster Costas was thoughtful enough to ask W. about “America’s own problems.” Thankfully, the mainstream media also hopped on McCain for saying, with regard to Russia v. Georgia, “In the 21^st century, nations don’t invade other nations.”

So you’re not a warmonger, megachurch pastor, corporate titan, or other type of high profile hypocrite. How do manage your own arrogance and avoid hypocrisy in your life? Sometimes it’s easy to ask others to do as you do not, yet sometimes it’s easier still to hush and not call people out on their shit, since you know you’re not perfect. “Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”

But nobody’s perfect, and that shouldn’t keep one from pointing out bullshit. I think sometimes that I could just spend all day just calling various folks out on bullshit, but that’s probably a waste of my time. I’ve got better things to do, after all. But I do like to be called out on mistakes so I can improve (or at least I think I do… maybe that’s just arrogant delusion.) What I mean is that I realize how badly criticism is needed to keep one improving and on target. Sometimes you have to get over your own hypocrisy and be unafraid of being critical, if you want to help out others. The only difference with the neocons is that you’ve got to acknowledge your own shortcomings.

Here Comes the Sun

Ah, the warm weather is finally here. Swimming, reading outside, cleaning/organizing/planning at work, and sunshine. Lots of sunshine.

Vacation in less than five weeks!

Why Obama Will Beat McCain

Now that it’s apparent to everyone except for the Clintons that Hillary’s campaign is over, everyone is turning their attention to the Obama v. McCain matchup.

Barring an attack on American soil, Obama will win. Why? Look at the sort of leaders voters have bought into in the past 30 years, and the sort they have rejected.

Putting aside all differences of ideology, intellect, and personality, Obama’s fundamental character follows in the vein of Bush II, Clinton, Reagan, even early Carter… in that he is a wide-eyed, optimistic, idealistic, charismatic son-of-a-bitch. Americans eat that shit up! It plays into all of our self-mythologies about individualism, you-can-do-it, character, and progress.

Grandpa McCain, however, is a hard nosed, seasoned pragmatist (read: Kerry, Dole, Bush I, even Gore). These types are all losers, with the exception of Bush riding Reagan’s coattails against an even bigger loser in ‘88. While a tough, pragmatic old politician may make for a great Senator, Americans are far too idealistic and in love with the idea the president runs the whole country fairly single-handedly to vote for someone that they don’t see as a superhuman type figure. Obviously, charisma is important for any political job, but it’s taken to the extreme with the American presidency. So, based on past performance, that’s why I think this is Obama’s to lose.

Dangerous Subversives

Olberman's worst person in the world, 04.08.08:

Illinois State Representative Monique Davis, challenging an atheist on the witness stand during a committee hearing:

"What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous . . . it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God. Get out of that seat . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-change_atheist_bd06apr06,0,1260452.story

Getting Tough

I’ve never signed up to be a leader, and managing people is something that I’m still growing into. My personality is not an aggressive or straightforward one, and putting people in their place is still often a weird thing for me. As a content manager, and then as a teacher, I’ve been thrust into it several times now, and literally handed the keys. It’s been a series of wonderful opportunities, making me less of a backward and quiet person, and allowing for the development of skills I might not have sought to develop if left to my own devices.

The challenge now, though, is that I’m in a position where I am expected to clean house and lead a demoralized band of stragglers into bold new territory. The organization and vision aspects of it make sense, though they’re work at times. But convincing people to make serious changes of habit is honestly a challenge, even when it seems obvious (to outsiders, at least) that changes are in someone’s best interest. The cultural attitudes in this region, and the weight of the baggage and inertia some people are carrying, is daunting at times.

I find myself getting tougher and challenging individuals more and more, but I know that it’s still too little. Being the jerk is not an appealing thing, though I have been able to use sarcasm and humor to my advantage to make some people think I really am an ass. I did lose my temper last week and I was embarrassed; it’s a different kind of approach for me… it’s still foreign. Letting righteous anger and the piss and vinegar rise to a boil... Thinking one can always lead by example is not a realistic approach! Though I still prefer it. :)

Earth Hour

Tonight we observed, or rather, tried to observe, Earth Hour. While the actual savings in energy are probably nil (certainly for us, probably in aggregate, too), I think it’s a meaningful exercise in reminding people how excruciatingly reliant we are on unsustainable energy.

First of all, we didn’t make it back to the apartment until after 8pm, so we opted to do an hour from 8:15 to 9:15. We didn’t unplug the fridge, and left a number of devices plugged in but off, including a TV with an annoying flashing light.

In the last week, we’ve starting using the air conditioning. (We can cope with an eighty-degree place, but the puppy doesn’t like it). I turned it off for the hour, so energy was used anyways to bring the temp back down afterwards. See, there’s some time shifting going on. For many individuals or locations that did turn off the power, use probably shifted to before or after the Earth Hour. For me, going off the grid means turning off my laptop and mobile, and disconnecting our modem and router. But my wife let her laptop on and just unplugged the power cable. Batteries don’t count, right? : - o

It was nice being in the dark for an hour, as I heard sounds I had never noticed emanating from the fridge, along the incessant clicking of my watch and the wall clock. A light was flipped on by accident for about a second; other than that we behaved best we could. We spent the majority of the hour playing a board game by candle light.

Maybe events like these, while only symbolic acts, have the potential to move us away from lip service to some sort of tangible action. How much more effort is needed to turn that symbolic action into serious activism and real transformative action?