And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

I spent the day writing, and then, as the sun began to set, took a walk down to my new local comic shop to pick up some things. As I walked back through Los Feliz, past Sunset Junction, the sun set off my left shoulder, and the sky seemed endless, breathtakingly beautiful, framed by palm trees waving in a light fall breeze. I walked through a darkening neighborhood of Spanish houses with terra cotta roofs, thinking once again that maybe, just maybe, I could stick around for a bit.

A friend came for a dinner of delicious poached chicken and hot salsa and margaritas, with an elderly man singing "La Bamba" in the background, and the feeling remained. There was talk of movies, and writing, and the like, and it got me thinking of the friends I'd seen a week ago, and the friends I hadn't seen in far too long.

Watched LAYER CAKE with a glass of whisky, and gave some serious thought to ripping off Daniel Craig's style. But apparently Universal beat me to it and made him the next James Bond. Nevertheless, the movie's excellent.

Now I'm doing what I do when I'm slightly tipsy and sentimental: I'm listening to music. And believe me, I've got some great stuff going:

Jack Johnson's "Taylor," which I came across on my ever-reliable Austin City Limits, is just hands-down great sing-along stuff, reminiscent of Dave Matthews, but not.

Tom Petty's "It'll All Work Out" is currently making an appearance on the soundtrack for the supposedly godawful ELIZABETHTOWN. Don't bother buying the soundtrack off iTunes; just pop it off as a single from the Heartbreakers' Let Me Up album. Tom's been known to get on my nerves now and again, but when he's good, he's great.

Ah, the Cure. The Show was an album that basically made my freshman year in college, and while "Pictures of You" is now best known for an HP commercial, the live version from said album was truly one that brought us to our feet with bottles raised. Words don't do the tune, or the moments in brought about, justice.

U2. "New York." Live in Irving Plaza, December 1997. 'Nuff said.

Radio can be a barren wasteland these days, but Dicky Barrett and Indie 103.1 brought me Matsiyahu's "King Without a Crown," and for that, I'm in their debt. You'll be hard-pressed to find a tune that'll get you up and moving faster than this one. A true heart-lifter. C-Mack, if you're reading, download this one as soon as possible and thank me later. If you haven't already, you trend-hopping bastahd.

Meanwhile, as effusive as I am about music, my hands-down, no-contest winner for favorite song of the year is Calexico & Iron and Wine's "He Lays in the Reins." Maybe it's cause I'm currently reading BLOOD MERIDIAN, or maybe it's because it's a haunting, utterly wrenching song, but either way, it gives me chills. It is beauty.

Speaking of radio, I first heard Stellastar performing live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic and was hooked immediately, no bullshit. Soaring stuff that reminds me of the best of the Cure, even though the missus, who's heard more Cure than I've heard human voice, tells me I'm nuts. If that chorus doesn't lift you, then you're dead. I would love to see these kids live.

Another college hold-out: Blues Traveller's "Sweet Pain." A tune I'd totally forgotten, I mean completely, until I heard Jon Popper on the aforementioned Dicky Barrett's show give a live version that was a killer on my morning commute. It stuck with me all day, and as soon I got home I had to find the original. My God, talk about reminiscient: just hearing it again had me thinking of Shot Team, dorm rooms with cinder-block shelves and packing-crate drawers. Brings me back, I tell you.

Not that I've got the guy's nuts in my mouth or anything, but Dicky also managed to get me hooked on the Aquabats, particular "Waterslides!" Good ol' ska-core stuff...here's another one for you, C. Maybe L.A. radio ain't so bad after all.

"If God Will Send His Angels." The single version. Quite possibly my favorite U2 song, and once I've never heard live in person. The video, available on u2.com, is also one of my favorites. For my money, you'll be hard-pressed to find a tune that brings together the band's lyrical spirit and instrumental chutzpah quite so compactly. I love their stadium tunes and all, but "Angels" gets me going as well as the best of 'em.

We'll end, as is proper, with Bruce. "Lost in the Flood," live in New York City. What can I say? This is story in song: tragedy, heartbreak, a shot at redemption that goes wild and falls in the dust. I'm a fan of Dylan's--Blonde On Blonde is one of my favorite albums, and his lyrics are masterful, but maybe I was just born at the wrong time, 'cause I think Bruce beats him. Especially with this one. "I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm, or was he just lost in the flood?" I'd heard "Thunder Road" before this; I'd heard "The River." But "Lost in the Flood" was the one that sealed the deal, the one that had me hooked. Bruce Springsteen may be a hell of a musician, but it's his writing that truly influences me, the hints of characters whose stories remain untold that seep into my own writing and find room to grow. If ever there was a guy I'd give my left arm to sit and have a beer with, it's Bruce.

Ah, well. There's time for one more song, then it's off to bed, since I've got much to do tomorrow. This one? You might laugh at this one: Third Eye Blind's "God of Wine." But laugh all you want, it's mine and you can't have it, a tune I used to blast on the radio driving through the dark hills of Pennsylvania, thinking about my place in the world and where the road would lead. It led places I couldn't imagine at the time, and I wouldn't give up the twists and turns it took for the life of me. Because they ARE my life. Life's about the curves you have to take, as much as the choices you make, and in the end, they're all just a part of that long road.

Besides, this song reminds me of a friend of mine.