Why? @ the MFA in Boston, or The Hardest Working Band (Members) in the Industry.

I had the good fortune to get tickets to the Why? show at the Museum of Fine Arts last night. As usual, I had only thought about getting tickets but never did; friend Joe ended up being double-booked for the night so he gave Mo and I his. I'm so glad he did.

We were completely blown away, but also inspired by the performance. These four guys made the layered and convoluted magic of the last two Why? records into convincing indie rock show, getting the kids to stand up and dance despite the tame surroundings of the Remis Auditorium at the MFA.

The subtext of this post's title concerns a majority of the visual appeal of this band on stage. Drummer Josiah Wolf and muli-tasker Doug McDiarmid bookended the stage, juggling parts like expert circus performers. The studio tracks are pretty dense with instrumentation, and these two handle the lion's share of it when translating the songs live. Wolf manages a xylophone (and, at one point, bass), backing vocals, and drums simultaneously, while McDiarmid hunkers down behind the fender rhodes to cover multiple parts on keys, percussion, vocals, and guitar. They looked like pro's without looking like professionals. More like expert craftsmen.

Mo and I left the show with our heads buzzing. Seeing these four people so comfortable and so successful in their art made us think about the effort we do (or or rather don't) put into our own respective creative endeavors. We'll be starting our New Year's resolutions early this year. We're determined to not look back at our lives and wish we did more; we're convinced the members of Why? won't.

During the set, young people started to get up and stand in the aisles, but were kind enough not to get in front and make it harder for the more timid (seated) in the crowd to see. When they left the stage, though, we all stood and yelled for more and the crowd moved down to the front, massing around the stage. I thought that the MFA staff might throw a fit, but for all their zeal, the masses were respectful. Just a lot of people jazzed about the show.

When the band came out for their encore, they were clearly pleased with the development - smiles all around. It was one of those great moments where the crowd is moved by the band and the band is moved by the crowd. I've missed Why? other times when they've come through town, but I will never again.

Not dead, just busy...

As the title implies, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth or been devoured
by rats. The intensity of my work spiked severely in the past few weeks, so I've
been loath to even look my computer when I get home (or do ANYTHING for that matter).

Thankfully, I've been able to take a week off so I'm in a much better place right
now. Here's a quick recap of things I've wanted to write about:

1. Bike Day

We had a "Bike Day" a few Sundays ago. I indulged in the therapeutic properties of meaninglessly tedious and unnecessary hand labor. Namely, hand polishing old ball bearings from the gummy bottom bracket of an old three-speed we have. Sure they're cheap to buy new and the old ones are pitted, but I found it strangely calming to sit there and individually polish them of the (probably) decades-old grease.

The day was not without surprises. Can you guess where I found these things?

If you said the bottom bracket of the aforementioned three-speed I'd be a little freaked out, however accurate you might be. No lie, I found a dead earwig, dead wasp, and sunflower seeds when I cracked this baby open.

Also learned on that day - the secret to disassembling cotter-pin style cranks is hammering the shit out of them. Seemed rather barbaric as a means of servicing a bike, but it worked.

More when my pictures are uploaded