On Friday night I had the opportunity to see The Punch Brothers with Chris Thile in concert at Earlham College. As with many of the artists that Earlham brings to town, I hadn’t heard of them when I came in, but when I left I was craving more of their work. The event was billed as a mix of “bluegrass, gospel and klezmer,” but that hardly does justice to the talent, complexity and variety the group brought to the packed auditorium.  Mandolin player and group convener Chris Thile evoked David Gray, Jeff Buckley and Dave Matthews in his vocal range, honest lyrics and child-like wonder as he danced around the stage – he made it hard not to smile and dance in my seat, and several audience members were moved to call out in praise throughout the show.  It was quite an experience, and based on the quality of the performance I saw and the group’s full tour schedule, it looks like they’re really going places.

On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to go with my Valentine’s Day date (or, Chinese New Year co-celebrant, if you’re down on contrived Hallmark holidays) Kelly to the beautifully restored Gennett Mansion for an amazing dining experience prepared by chef extraordinaire Jennifer Ferrell.  I hadn’t been in the mansion before and it was really a wonderful glimpse into Richmond’s past.  Donna and Bob Geddes were warm, attentive hosts, we had a great time getting to know our fellow dining guests, and the cuisine was outstanding in flavor and presentation.  It was easily the best dining experience out I’ve ever had in Richmond.  The Gennett Mansion has private dining seatings on Friday evenings, it’s worth checking out.

Some other reviews from other sources:

• Aaron Hill reviews the Roku Internet media player
• Rachel Sheeley reviews the Richmond Civic Theatre’s production of “A Streetcare Named Desire” (how’d she do, Jean?)
• Director Kevin Smith reviews Southwest Airlines` “too fat to fly” policy on his Twitter stream; the airline better step up its efforts at amelioration ASAP
• Matt McKimmy reviews his new Droid phone (not quite posted yet, coming soon I’m sure)

What about you – anything to weigh in on?

You can view other coverage of the mural: Palladium-Item article, Flickr photos, YouTube videos, and so on. Congratulations to all of the people who worked hard to make the mural happen, and certainly to Jim for bringing everyone to the table, er, canvas.

That’s probably why I can’t stop laughing at this:

For example:

• My Girl by The Temptations becomes: The One Who is My Significant Other, and Also Female
• I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly becomes: I Have a Sense That I Am Capable of Sub-Orbital Flight Without the Use of an Aircraft
• Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears becomes: I Am Struck That I Appear to Have Made the Same Error I Previously Made
• I Wish It Would Rain Down by Phil Collins becomes: It is My Earnest Hope That We Will Experience Significant Precipitation in the Near Future
• In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel becomes: I Perceive Something Noteworthy About Your Corneas

And so on. It’s especially fun if you sing them to the original tune.

Does anyone else play this game? Or am I, as Gnarls Barkley should have called it in his hit song, Perpetually Experiencing Difficulty With My Understanding of Reality?

Doug, unfortunately, became the target of my antsy-ness. He had fallen asleep in one of the beds, and as 2 AM rolled around, I suggested to Brandon and Scott that we play a prank on the poor boy. All clocks were set to appear as 6:50 AM, the alarm clock was set for 10 minutes later (our prescribed time to start getting ready to go), the rest of us got into bed, the lights were turned off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP, the alarm went. The three of us laid there trying not to laugh, and Doug eventually started to wake up, hitting the alarm, moaning and bleary-eyed, probably with a strong sense that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. “Doug,” I fake-grumbled, “time to get up. You can have the shower first.” Doug appreciated this gesture, and went through the motions of getting ready to go. His confused state of mind was exemplified when he poked his head out of the bathroom at one point and said something about seeing a deer in the shower.

Perhaps a less-mean friend would have ended it there, but we took it to the next level, setting all the clocks back to their proper 2 AM-ish time while Doug was in the bathroom, and then complaining about all of the noise he was making when he came out, dressed and ready to go. “Dude, what are you doing, it’s like 2 in the morning!”

Doug spent the rest of the night on a chair backed into a corner of the room, sleeping with one eye open, not very happy with any of us. Can’t blame him. At least he was clean?

Gah, what a lousy thing to do. Perhaps I can make it up to him somewhat by pointing you to his musical group’s website? Why? is a full-fledged, touring, news-making, album producing band whose work is released under anticon. records. Doug is the guy on keyboards and guitars. I always knew he would be a part of some sort of sweet musical venture – you can even watch them on YouTube.

Sorry if I slowed you down any, Doug.

[tags]adventures, music, audio, bad_idea, friends[/tags]

Gray’s voice also seems to help his music transcend a particular tone or genre – he can go from airy and mysterious to dark and pounding to raw and passionate without straining, and the music follows suit. He creates atmosphere with seemingly very little effort, and doesn’t for a minute make you picture a guy in a recording studio singing the same song for the umpteenth time – instead, at least for me, images are evoked of a stage floating through the air with a very free Gray singing on top of it.

Whether you’re looking to rock out or just find something to drift away on, Life in Slow Motion has got a lot to offer. Certainly if you’re already a David Gray fan, I think you’ll find it a great addition to his already impressive discography.

That being said, I think it might be best if the debate ended with the voluntary end of Napster, instead of the involuntary end of Napster “as we know it.”

Outrageous, you say? They should fight to the death, you say? Well, let’s think about it. When this whole conflict started, the Napster folks took the hard and fast position that they were providing a legitimate service that was not in any way defrauding the music industry. I’m not sure how their personal/internal corporate view has changed since then, but the current course of events would suggest that Napster is making every attempt to find the best way to handicap their service in a way that satisfies the music industry. This is the result of the seemingly immutable decision of the justice system that Napster’s original operating model is illegal.

If you follow that course to its natural conclusion, it means that the current conflict will not end until either Napster operates in a manner that is pleasing to the music industry and/or the government, or Napster does not operate at all.

As a matter of pride and principle, I think Napster should head off either ending and call it a day. By continuing to participate in the current conflict, Napster publicly acknowledges, however reluctantly, that it is in the wrong and that the music industry and government are somehow in the right — OR, it acknowledges that its more important to Napster’s keepers to exist as a prisoner of these entities than it is to assert the right to exist freely or not exist at all.

However, if Napster were to close its proverbial doors, it would be its own unique way of admirably saying “we choose not to exist in a manner that is subject to the corrupt whims of a malicious industry”. Yes, it would be a loss for Napster users, and yes, it would be a loss for a practical, working example of the power of the Internet. But it would NOT be a loss for the cause of freedom of information; quite the opposite.

Some things change our lives so significantly that they deserve better than to be trampled out of existence by the changing face of subtle bureaucratic oppression.

What do you think?