37 swimmers and james frey.

The other morning I was at the airport on my way to Charlotte, NC. I had an early flight: 5:40 am. I arrived at the airport at ten after, which according to AirTran is too late to check in, in which case they issue you a gate pass. [quick sidenote: AirTran is a piece of shit airline... don't ever fly with them if you can help it]. I was, of course, selected for additional security screening, which didn't take long at all, but everyone that was working was definitely at least a cup and a half of coffee ahead of me.

I made it to the gate with my 'gate pass' and spoke to the woman who, I thought, was going to get me on my ridiculously early flight. She asked me for a 'paper ticket'... I wasn't aware that these were still in existence. I think they disappeared around the same time that the Chilito was replaced with a Chili Cheese Burrito on Taco Bell's menu, which would take us way back to '99 or so. After telling her that I didn't have a paper ticket, she told me that I wasn't going to be making my flight becaus the 'lost ticket' form that I needed to fill out was going to take too long. I asked her if she could give it to me so I could fill it out on the plane and turn it into a gate attendent on the other end. This definitely was not an option.

Then it gets weird. After digging around in the drawers behind the counter for a few minutes she tells me that they "don't seem to have any of the forms down here" and "you'll have to go back to the check-in counter and speak to whoever you spoke to". I was pretty pissed at this point. 1. I had missed my flight after waking up at 4am... 2. instead of calling to have one of the forms brought down to me, or checking another gate station drawer, she sent me back to get my own... I stared at her in disbelief, while imagining her gasping for breath as I strangled her as fast as I could before anyone noticed what was happening.

So I walk out of the terminal area, past security and back up to the check in counter... here's where the 37 swimmers [almost] enter my story. As I'm approaching the counter a group of 37 college age swimmers, in a near perfect line, are nearing the same counter. Of course I made it to the counter before them; even if mere seconds seperated us. For the rest of my trip, I told everyone who asked "how have your travels been thus far?", "they've been great, but I do have a story that involves 37 swimmers", with absolutely no intention of ever telling them the story. So were they a part of my story or not?.. I think they were and I had every intention of making sure they manifested themselves into being an even larger part of my story, but I didn't. Later that night, I watched CNN and caught the tail end of the developing James Frey story... would Oprah back him?... [Yes she would, and she'd let the world know by calling into the Larry King show]... I'm not trying to save anyone... I was never addicted to any drugs [with the exception of my developing dependency on Starbucks coffee]... but in lieu of the events that took place that day, I'm just happy that I didn't turn out to be another James Frey... the melee with the 37 swimmers, 2 dead cops, and a quarter full PBR can... that was my Tuesday morning.

captain caveman.

First of all I can't believe that Netflix has "The Power of Salad..." dvd from Lightning Bolt. If anyone out there is still questioning the eternal benefits of joining Netflix, please let this be the final nail in the coffin of doubt. I read a great article on Lightning Bolt in the new issue of Wire magazine. They grace the cover, and to be completely honest, I've grown a bit sick of all the hype surrounding noise bands lately... High on Fire, Earth, Smoke, Wolf Eyes, etc... I enjoyed LB's music before this article, but after reading about how they started, where they came from, and their general approach to life, I have to say that I'm a huge fan... so needless to say, I'm listening to Hypermagic Mountain right now. Here's a link to the interview that spawned the article... http://www.thewire.co.uk/web/unpublished/lightning_bolt.html... and throw down 10 bucks for the new issue... it's a good one and should come with a Wire Tapper [number 14]... which includes: http://www.discogs.com/release/566853

my list... finally.

The more I think about this damn list, the more it confuses me... I think it might have something to do with the fact that Radiohead didn’t come out with an album this year... the last couple years have been kind of shitty as far as solid cohesive fucking awesome records are concerned... I’m not joking... the Arcade Fire record was great, don’t get me wrong, but there’s still 2 songs on there that I have to skip over every single time they come on, and they’re not “Fitter Happier”... but this was a better year for music, for sure... thanks to all my friends who turned me on to new stuff that I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise [still the best way to learn about new music]... I think that when we’re all retired we should start up our own version of Pitchfork... fo rilla... werd? ... word.

best albums of the year:

konono no. 1 - congotronics [whoa... didn't see this coming]
animal collective - feels [listen to Purple Bottle and Banshee Beat and tell me this isn't the best album of the year]
gang gang dance - god's money
jackie o motherfucker - flags of the sacred harp
jan jelinek - kosmischer pitch
shugo takumaru - LST [not as good as Night Time, but...]
the books - lost and safe

alva noto/ryuichi sakamoto - insen [ridiculous]
matthew herbert - plat du jour [process vs product?.... maybe a little bit]
jamie lidell - multiply
boards of canada - campfire headphase [we're spoiled]
caribou - milk of human kindness [once you see this live... you'll understand completely]
isolee - we are monster
roisin murphy - ruby blue
broadcast - tender buttons [seriously love this record at work]
dominik eulberg - kreucht & fleucht [to make up for Richie Hawtin's demise]

young jeezy - thug motivation
kanye west - late registration
common - be [welcome back]
clipse - we got it cheap [could've been condensed to one disc, but...]
spank rock - anything he released [hot shit...]

wolf parade - apologies to the queen mary [best song of the year "I'll do anything"]
clap your hands say yeah - clap your hands say yeah
akron/family - akron/family
wilderness - wilderness [it really is that good...]
bloc party - silent alarm [who cares about the hype]
the national - alligator [take away 3 songs and it's sooooooo much better]
dead meadow - feathers [ahhhhhhhh... I love this shit]
thanksgiving - the ghost and the eyes [this dude's like 11 years old or something]
wooden wand - harem of the sundrum & the wit [perfect album in my book]
jose gonzalez - veneer [you could give your parents this album and they'd dig]

have I reached that point?... yes you have, you sonuvabitch.

{the following is unedited as of 1.2.06} ... just in case...

We wanted to bring everyone up to speed on what’s been happening in our lives this past year, so we thought this a better year than any to start a new tradition... the “Van Laeken Annual What the Heck’s Been Happening in Our Lives Lately That We Feel You Should All Know About” letter. The first installment:

We had the opportunity this year to live in Minneapolis; probably the best city that we’ve ever resided in, and one of the coolest cities in the country. Fortunately we had great timing climate wise and dealt with one of the mildest winters in many years. The parks and the people are probably the two things that we’ll remember most. The people really were amazing. I met some of the most honest, interesting, hard working people that I’ve ever met. Brittney still receives at least three calls a week from people who she encountered, and looks forward to picking up the phone each time. Auden loved it as well. Whether it was the Walker Art Museum and its sculpture garden, or Lake Calhoun, he seemed to always have a smile on his face eagerly saying “Yeahhhhhh” to whatever we pitched at him.

Brittney worked as Program Coordinator for New Challenges. Essentially she managed a house of staff members who oversaw the day to day lives of three developmentally disabled women. She, of course, loved her job and it reflected not only in the feedback from her supervisors, but also the clients themselves. They still write her letters and send her pictures. You can tell that she is missed, but that the time she spent with them changed them forever.

I was still working for Urban Outfitters. I had the opportunity to open my own store this year; something I had only helped out with in years past. It was an experience that I’ll never forget, and it gave me all the necessary experience to take on my first district management position... which is the reason we find ourselves in Florida. I’m currently managing the creative side of the Southeast district [which includes stores in Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, 3 stores in Miami - and soon a new store in West Palm Beach]. I’m definitely traveling quite a bit more than we’re used to, but it’s usually contained to Tuesday through Thursday at the most. Brittney’s been patient and supportive of the entire process and that speaks volumes for our relationship.

So now we find ourselves with the option to go to the pool to swim on New Year’s day... a far cry from freezing temperatures in Minneapolis. It has been a bit surreal to say the least. Wearing sandals every day, and Auden’s new love of sand and the ocean has been welcomed with open arms. We did experience our first 2 hurricanes this year [one of which saw us without power or running water for 8 days], but the winter nights [usually in the mid 60’s] have more than made up for Wilma.

Auden and I have a daily routine which involves him riding his bike [and me walking behind him] down the path of our apartment complex to the clubhouse to get free juice and popcorn. He still refuses to use his pedals, but it’s only a matter of time before he understands the potential for speed that he’s not yet realized. He’s really into Bob the Builder, Extreme Home Makeover Edition, This Old House, and breaking stuff. This year his list of obsessions included: garages, every single light anywhere we went being turned on, broken things, and the color orange being ‘ugly’. He’s absolutely in love with Dan Zanes’ music... any time we’re in the car and Dan Zanes isn’t on, he demands it immediately. Which is usually followed by, “Yeah... Dan Zanes!” and hand claps. The most ridiculously cute word he says is “Dangerous”. He’s learning how to use the potty with the help of Starburst candy, and loves to watch movies in the evenings... most notably “Garfield.” He definitely has a mind of his own and doesn’t let anyone think otherwise.

Lots of changes, which is nothing new for our family if you’ve been following us for the last 4 years. We wouldn’t have it any other way... we’re meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and climates, and falling more in love with each other every day. I don’t think that there’s anything more that anyone could ask for. We wish everyone a happy new year, may it bring you everything that you hope it will and more...