C/o Clear Lake

The music of my 2011.

2012-01-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

2011 was a year of new and old music for me. I discovered some new music released by old artists, rediscovered music I'd loved in the past, and discovered music that was technically "old" but was new to me.

During the latter part of 2010 and into the beginning of 2011, I discovered a Scottish band called the Proclaimers, who I am most certain you only know for this song

and possibly this song.

I consider that a shame. While those two songs are amazing in their own right, they're nowhere near the band's best work.

If I had to recommend other Proclaimers songs to you, it would be this one

and this one

Of course, it helps that I have an affinity for Scottish accents, but with the Proclaimers being identical twin brothers that are Scottish, and that sing... well that put the icing on the cake really.

In March 2011, Duran Duran released an album titled "All you need is now".

I didn't get a chance to buy the album until the summer, but I found it refreshing.

I first got into Duran Duran around the release of their 2004 album, "Astronaut". Then was their 2007 album "Red Carpet Massacre". Then, in 2011, "All you need is now".

I think Astronaut was the beginning of a kind of DD movement, where you can hear their roots but they still sound relevant. It was the same on "Red Carpet Massacre", where a lot of production was done by Timbaland. Timbaland's production on that album is good, but it threatens to sound stagnant because it sounds the same as all the other production he does.

Anyway.

"All you need is now", as an album, continues this movement, where Duran Duran continue to stay true to their roots and pay homage to their classic sound, but without rehashing it or sounding stale. I hope they continue to do so for subsequent album releases.

In the early summer, when I was delivering newspapers, I discovered Peter Gabriel. Well. Rediscovered in a way. I always knew songs like 'Sledgehammer', 'Shock the Monkey', 'In Your Eyes', 'Solsbury Hill' and whatnot. I was looking up songs by another Genesis member, Phil Collins, when I had a thought to look up the few Peter Gabriel songs I knew, and when I started listening to other PG songs of which I wasn't previously aware, I was in awe. I could post you a multitude of songs, from 'Here Comes the Flood', to 'Steam', to 'Big Time', to 'No self control', but there is one I want to focus on for the purposes of this entry.

It's inspirational, and uplifting, and at that point in my life, just what I needed.

Fast forward to mid/late summer, and I had discovered a Norwegian band called A-ha, who you may be familiar with due to this song.

They're pretty much considered one hit wonders in the U.S., which I think is a real shame. They're brilliant. Morten Harket has a gorgeous voice, which was still top notch when A-ha retired in 2010. Butterfly Butterfly (the last hurrah) was, as far as I know, the last new A-ha song to be released before their retirement.

Anyway, my discovering them lead me to purchase their 2002 album "Lifelines".

Other notable album tracks I recommend are "You Wanted More", "There's a reason for it", and this next song, called "Forever Not Yours". Forever Not Yours was among a handful of A-ha songs I knew in college, due to my 80s new wave phase.

As far as 80s A-ha goes, I recommend the album "Hunting High and Low". I believe 'Take on me' is on that album.

During the summer, I discovered an Australian band called Icehouse, who you may be familiar with due to this 80s hit.

I knew this song several years ago, when I was in my 80s new wave phase, but I never bothered to look into other songs by them until this summer

When my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up other Icehouse tracks, I was amazed and I loved what I heard.

This was another semi-big hit for them, and unless you're from Australia, it's probably the only other Icehouse song you know, sadly.

This is another Icehouse song I highly recommend, from the album of the same name.

It's a shame that Icehouse weren't more widely recognized. Also, since I live in the US, it can get pretty expensive to acquire any physical media by Icehouse, since everything is pretty much being imported from Australia.

I recommend the entire "Man of Colors" album, as well as a few random songs like "No Promises", and "Don't Believe Anymore".

In October of 2011, Thomas Dolby released "A Map of the Floating City", his first studio album in 20 years, leading me to rediscover his music for the umpteenth time. I have been discovering and rediscovering his work since my first exposure to his music, when I was a child. In my 80s new wave phase in college was when I first got really into him.

My first exposure to his music was the work he did for the random computer animation film, The Gate to the Mind's Eye. If you have the free music program Spotify, you can listen to the album in full, but it's nearly impossible to find on youtube. If you do look it up, I would lead you to concentrate on "Valley of the Mind's Eye" and "Nuvogue".

I can't embed the video, but I can link you to "Valley of the Mind's Eye".

http://www.artistdirect.com/video/valley-of-the-minds-eye/39999

It's a safe link, I've watched it there myself dozens of times.

Those are two notable tracks from "A Map of the Floating City". I also highly recommend the first four songs on the album... as well as the entire album. Again, if you have the free program Spotify, you can listen to the entire album for yourself.

I would also direct you to the 1992 album "Astronauts and Heretics".

I recently found out that Thomas Dolby will be touring the US in the Spring of this year, 2012, and I have decided that I WILL be at one of those concerts. Even if I can't technically afford it, I am going to be there. Thomas Dolby has consistently been one of my favorite musical artists for a very long time. He still has his beautiful voice, but honestly, as a man in his 50s, I don't know how much longer he'll be doing the whole touring, releasing music thing, and I don't want to lose my chance to see him play live.

As for the rest of my year in music, it's been more or less discovering and rediscovering all the music I posted you above.

As for predictions for my 2012 in music, I will probably continue to look into the artists I mentioned above, and who knows, I may discover another foreign band from the 80s to add to my list of loves.

A different purpose.

2011-07-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see, this blog hasn't turned out to be anything. I was going to keep it as a chronicle of all the trash I pick up and remember to take pictures of, but...it's trash. I can tell you how much I pick up. It's not like I have to have photographic proof. I mean, when I see a rubbermaid food container or a super old beer can on the lake shore I'll probably still take pictures of those, but... this blog is going to be a random little blog with a random little purpose.

I enjoy cooking greatly, so you'll probably get my food exploits; my favorite recipes, new recipes I try, all that sort of thing.
I'm not sure what else I'll give you here. My every day random thoughts are usually not coherent enough to form an interesting blog entry. Hardly anyone reads anything I write so I could pretty much bash my head on the keyboard and that would get as much attention as when I take the time to sit and think about what I'm going to say, but this is a blog.

It's not a life changing newscast. There are millions of people who keep blogs. Not everyone's is going to be read.
Although... I have to say. I have a wordpress.com blog, and every so often a bunch of blog entries get "freshly pressed" and featured on the homepage. After seeing what kind of boring crap sometimes gets featured there, there's no reason I can't come up with something interesting that people will actually read here.

An introduction to trash.

2011-04-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

As I said in my first entry, I've found a great deal of trash in the lake.

Only recently have I begun to chronicle what I pick up. What you're seeing here is most of the garbage I've picked up since I started documenting it.

Now, if I see a random bent drinking straw, or a bottle cap or something, I'm going to pick it up and not give much thought to whether I've got my camera with me or not.

Most of what you're going to see here are the numerous times I head to the lake with three or four plastic grocery bags in my purse, with full intent to fill up at least two of those bags with trash I find.

Right now, I regularly pick up trash within the same sort of two mile or three mile radius.
This summer I hope to expand that area to include more of the lake shore. I mean, come on. It's a big lake.

Anyway, enough of that. If you decide to stick with this blog you will come to find that I can be somewhat long winded when the mood strikes, so I ask you to bear with me about that. XD

Here are the pictures I have for you so far.

The first picture is a torn up coffee cup from the local coffee shop, Cabin Coffee.

The second, a couple of old tires sitting very close to one of the public access docks scattered around town.

Near these things. That's right; *#&@^!#$% rusty paint cans. I'd really like to knock on the door of the expensive house I found these behind and ask them if they plan to do something about these, but I'm shy and non confrontational. I'll probably just end up disposing of them on my own, once I find out what the proper measures are that I need to take.

{I have something of a potty mouth elsewhere online, but I'm trying to keep it classy and family friendly here. With the exception of damn, and hell, I'll be trying not to swear, and I ask you to do the same should you choose to leave me a comment}

Litter! Love it to bits!

Litter=happiness, apparently.

I am disgusted by how long some of the cans I find manage to have avoided proper disposal. Once I found a pepsi can that was so old the contest advertised on the can ended in 1991. I've found cans that appear to be much older than that, but I couldn't manage to see a date on those.

I'll have a mocha frap with a side of "I'm a huge *$&#^@! with no respect for the planet" please.

I find a lot of plastic bottles in/around the lake. Like these things aren't bad enough for the planet. And they're so damn easy to recycle... Clear Lake has twice monthly curbside recycling pick up. Not to mention, you can redeem a lot of them for 5 cents a bottle.

Which doesn't sound like a lot until you consider it's the equivalent of chucking a nickel on the ground because you're too lazy to wait until you get to your piggy bank.

Lighters, of all things. Now, being something of a pyro, I appreciate lighters ~~as much as~~ more than the next person but. come on.

Does anybody know what this stuff is? I find tons of it around the lake and I'm really sick of seeing it.

Yes, that's a glove and a blanket you see above. I had to exert a fair amount of effort to fish them out of the lake. Mainly because the public access docks haven't been put up yet this year, so I had to stand in sandals in ice cold water with my pant legs rolled up.

Litter! Only $2.49! Get yours today!

Yet another reason I hate fishing

Things not pictured are a rusty bottle cap, a smashed ping pong ball, a small pair of gloves, and a hostess snacks wrapper, because this entry has too many pictures in it already.

That's pretty much all I've got for you right now.

"Oh geez, done already? We wanted MORE!"

Oh I know you did, but I can only throw so much at you at a time. Trust me, people are disgusting so there will sadly be much, much more where this came from.

Welcome to my new blog!

2011-04-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog, C/o Clear Lake.

I've lived in Clear Lake Iowa for ten years now, and I've always loved this town. There's so much going on, with the Surf Ballroom, and our lake that only in the winter do I get marginally bored. XD

One thing I've noticed is that... there's a lot of trash around. That bothers me. It's like people don't appreciate this place enough or something. The range of trash I've found is quite incredible, but only in the last couple years has it really started to get to me.

I enjoy walking the lake shore. There are a number of ducks, geese, and seagulls around the lake at any given time. It bothers me to see these beautiful wild animals in such close proximity to so much garbage and other random crap that has made its way into the lake. Trust me, you will be shocked to hear some of the stuff I've pulled out of the lake.
These things include:

An attachment brush for a vacuum
a chunk of carpet
elastic to a pair of underwear
an entire pair of underwear
a pair of underwear that had been there so long they had completely unravlled, except for the elastic
a fishing license receipt from 2006 (found in 2010)
a movie ticket from 2009 (found in 2011)
A huge television (I'm not kidding). The police had to deal with that.

I could go on, trust me. That is just a sampling of what I've found in the lake. Not to mention all the sea glass. I love collecting the smooth pieces of glass but it pains me to see just how much of it I can pick up in a single outing. Just earlier tonight I came home with both my jean pockets full of glass.

Anyway, enough of that. I wanted to start this blog to chronicle the sheer amount of trash I've found in the lake. It's my hope that, towards the end of the summer, I write an editorial to the local newspaper, the Clear Lake Mirror Reporter, and possibly even Mason City's paper, the Globe Gazette because I think people need to be more mindful of what they do with their garbage. They need to stop being lazy and just chucking their trash on the ground because there's no bin around. Also... I think there need to be more permanent trash cans around town, but that's a different issue for a different day.

Anyway, I'm going to get on with posting some pictures in forthcoming entries, so stay tuned.