Outside

I saw the headline, and absently started to read the subhead: “A four-year battle over a tiny patch of river beach in Northern California…” No, they couldn’t be talking about Vacation beach… YES! Yes, Chris Colin’s fantastic article is talking about a property across the street from where I lived for 12 years! I know these people! I’ve heard the arguments first hand! Colin pulls back from the Russian River to the larger river access argument across the country and even the cultural ideals around access. It’s a remarkably well-balanced article in what is an extremely divisive subject. If you read one thing this week, I can’t recommend this highly enough!

Mashable

If you don’t know who David Sedaris is stop reading, click on the link and come back after you’ve wiped away the tears (laugh/cry) and come back to thank me. If you know David Sedaris, he’s always worth revisiting. I picked up his latest book, Calypso, but I’m waiting to savor it. This was a great way to dip my toe in the Sedaris pool before jumping in again.

War on the Rocks

Maybe you’ve never heard of Numbers Stations that were used for decades to exchange coded messages for intelligence services. You can check out a bunch of recordings here – that link actually takes you to one of the most famous recordings of a Numbers Station broadcast, one that was used (without permission) by the band Wilco for their classic album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot“. This is a nice primer on the Numbers Stations and how and why they work.

YouTube

I’ve loved the Roots for a very long time – long before they became Jimmy Fallon’s house band. Black Thought has always been in my pantheon of greatest rappers ever. If you’d like proof, here’s TEN STRAIGHT MINUTES of him freestyling. There maybe some folks reading this who immediately go, “oh, what’s so hard about rapping” (I’ve had this argument with people!). To those, I’d say just try talking for ten minutes straight, no pausing for more than a second or two. Go ahead. I’m not even asking you to keep on a beat or make sense. Just try talking.

This is back from December and it is just amazing. I bring it up because Black Thought just released his first solo album, “Streams of Thought Vol. 1″. I haven’t had a chance to give it a good listen, but this is worth listening to just to know the talent you’re about to listen to.

Neko Case

While we’re on the subject of music, Neko Case just released her new album, “Hell-on“. I have loved her music for many, many years, and this album does not disappoint. It’s exuberant, melancholy, lilting, mysterious, and a general feast for the ears. She has more collaborators on this album than on any of her previous albums, but that never takes the focus completely off of her always-gorgeous voice. Check it out! Above link is Amazon, here’s iTunes, Spotify, and a YouTube video.