Yearly Archives: 2004

U2

The Complete U2

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A ridiculous 446 U2 songs are availabe on iTunes in The Complete U2, which includes every studio album, tons of singles, EPs and b-sides, as well as several concerts and a collection of unreleased and rare tunes.

Surprisingly it’s available a day early (or it’s late enough the night before that we can call it close enough), but happily you can buy most some songs for 99 cents and don’t have to shell out $150 for the set (UPDATE: though most of the rare and live cuts are now available “album only”). But despite the title I can think of a few U2 tracks missing. Not many, but a few, including the covers “Beat on the Brat” (The Ramones) and “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (Johnny Cash), as well as “Fortunate son “(Creedence Clearwater Revival) and “Paint it Black” (The Rolling Stones), though the latter two are available on the Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses EP. I could probably go on, but it seems like a dorky, fan boy thing to do, and I’d probably get schooled by a real fan.

And if you haven’t heard, U2 stormed the streets of New York today.

The new album comes out tomorrow, so I’ll stop the obsessive U2 posting. I promise.

Writing

Downtown Dandelions in Print

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Now that I’ve finished my novel, I’m thinking about what happens next. Today is the first day in 21 days when I haven’t written at least a page of text. It’s kind of weird. Not sure I like it.

My novel writing experience has been good enough that I will consider editing my novel and seeing what happens with it. I don’t really know anything about the world of novel publishing, but I’d love to see if mine has what it takes. Eventually I’ll solicit feedback from everyone who’s read the thing and see what I can do with it. I’m not expecting miracles, not expecting much really, but it seems worth a try. That kind of hardcore editing probably won’t happen right away.

Immediately, though, I am considering doing a cheap form of self-publishing through Cafepress. It’s basically print-on-demand, and would enable me to put my novel in quasi-professional paperback format for around $15 per copy. Yes, it does seem a bit pretentious, but hey, it’s my first novel. I’m allowed to be pretentious. I could also make these rough draft versions available to the public, though that would strictly be for those who want to curl up and read my novel but find a laptop to be a bit cold and sterile.

Such a self-publishing venture would probably require a small bit of editing (can’t let all those typos and missed words get through, can we?). There’s a few scenes I’m not happy with (or at least embarrassed enough to want to change for a rough draft printing) so I might spend the remaining days of November fine-tuning the draft. It wouldn’t be a real editing job, but enough to iron out the wrinkles and not thorougly embarrass myself if I find this paperback 20 years from now.

It would also require designing a cover. The image at the top right is a potential design I whipped up tonight. I could spend weeks perfecting a cover design and still not be happy, so I’ll probably end up settling for something. And I doubt Cafepress’s printing is anything worth getting excited about, so it’s probably not worth hours and hours of design time.

Basically a self-publishing deal would fulfill that tiny, prideful spark inside that wants to see my name on the cover of a book. After all, publishing is shit. I’m just happy I made it.

And what comes next? I don’t know. I definitely think I should write more. I should definitely do this novel in a month thing again, and I might not want to wait a year.

In the meantime I’ll be reading the adventures of Charlie Parker.

U2

U2: Live on Radio 1

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You can catch a live five-song set of brand new U2 material on the BBC’s Radio 1. If you’re really a U2 fanatic, you can listen to Zane Lowe’s entire show for the occasional bit of interview, otherwise skip to 1:38:XX into the show for the music (and good luck with the BBC’s goofy player that has no rewind or fast-forward buttons). You can also tune into Jo Whiley’s show for more interviews spaced throughout her show and cuts from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

The live set includes “Vertigo,” a rollicking song called “All Because of You,” the song “Miracle Drug” with a typical Bono introduction, “Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own” (which Adam revealed during Whiley’s show was originally written for All That You Can’t Leave Behind), and “Beautiful Day” as the finale with some changed words for Dublin.

Don’t worry, the new album comes out next week and I’ll shut up about U2.

U2

Another Obsessive U2 Post

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In case you’ve missed one of the umpteen posts on this site, U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb comes out next week. Until then the album is being played on radio stations in its entirety and streamed online. NME.com has the exclusive for now (it requires a slow, arduous registration process), though VH1 and MTV are supposed to be streaming it later today.

Though MTV takes the approach of not mentioning it anywhere on its site while VH1 hypes it with ever changing text, first “You can listen to the band’s new disc right here on Tuesday,” and now “… right here this afternoon.” I can’t help but wonder what this says about the two former music video channels. Something about one being entirely too hip and the other trying way too hard.

UPDATE: Both MTV and VH1 are streaming the album now but they’re both PC only. Rather ironic considering the band’s close relationship with Apple. NME.com is the place to go for Mac users, and it has the added bonus of the extra track “Fast Cars,” which is included on every version of the album except the U.S. release.

U2

How to Overwork a Unique Title: First Reaction to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

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My first listen reaction to U2’s 11th studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, heard legally on San Diego’s 91X online radio (though first listens can be deceptive, so take it with a grain of salt. I wasn’t impressed with All That You Can’t Leave Behind on first listen; now it’s my favorite U2 album):

Continue reading How to Overwork a Unique Title: First Reaction to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb →

U2

How to Cheat the Internet Pirates

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2004_11_11soul.jpgTune in to 91X in San Diego at 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m. PST today to hear U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb broadcast in its entirety. You can listen to an online stream, though you do need to complete a free registration.

The band has decided to let radio stations play the entire album before the November 23 release date in response to the album becoming available on illegal file sharing networks (according to @U2)

93 WXRT in Chicago will also be playing the entire album today for more than 12 hours, starting at 9:45 a.m. CST (PC only).

On Tuesday, November 16 both MTV.com and VH1.com will begin streaming the album.

UPDATE: read my first-listen reaction

Writing

NaNo: Past Halfway

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Well, I crossed the halfway point today. And not just crossed it, but sailed right on by and kept going. I racked up 4,777 words today, almost 3,000 of them at Barnes & Noble this evening as part of my first writing expedition.

It took me a while to get acclimated and find out where I was in the story (I actually had to read the entire length of what I’d written this morning to figure out where I was going — and saw lots of mistakes — sorry about that). But once I got going, and plugged in my iPod, it was great. I probably looked like a dork typing away and occassionally nodding my head and mouthing the words, but that’s okay.

A day of output like this in week two is pretty incredible. I’m also pleased with the little narrative twist I worked in this morning, especially since I had no idea where I was going to go. But as usual, the story knows where it needs to go.

Art

The Frogtown King CDC Playground Mural

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A few weeks ago a vibrant, colorful mural was unveiled at the King Family Foundation Child Development Center in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. Bethel University professor Dale Johnson painted the mural, with the help of Molly Irwin and a few others.

You can view the outside of the playground fence any time by visiting the King CDC, which is located near the corner of I-94 and Western Ave. in the Salvation Army’s Ober Center. You should contact the King CDC’s director to see the inside of the fence.

The Minnesota Christian Chronicle ran my story about the unveiling and Johnson’s other local artwork last week, and Bethel issued a press release which includes several pictures.

My wife works at the King CDC, and when I stop by a few times a week to pick her up it’s a marked improvement to see the bright, joyful colors lighting up their once gray, weathered fence.

Music

Music at your Fingertips

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As a testament to the power of iTunes/iPods/music collections freed from the tyranny of albums, I just cued up a few songs for typing my last blog entry and surfing a few quick sites. I listened to the MxPx song stuck in my head (“Don’t Walk Away”), a few songs from the chick group Barlow Girl, an Evanescence song, a quieter, happier song by the local group Coach Said Not To, and now a happy, upbeat song by U2 to finish my night (the single version of “Walk On”), which just faded into a chorus of Hallelujah’s.

I’m my own personal DJ.