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| The city and I |
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| My two favorite methods of transportation |
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| Nighttime at the forks |
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sunday Night 1987
The tragic nature of time lies not in the days that are gone, but in the memories lost forever.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Let Them Have Hockey
The Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Tournament is a week-long enterprise in St. Paul, Minnesota, in which metro suburban high schools collectively bus their homogeneity into this great great city of ours. Sometimes the teams come from Lakeville, or Eden Prairie, or Prior Lake; even the occasional Stillwater produces enough talent to surpass Hill-Murray and earn their ticket to the Xcel Energy Center.
The sheer volume and variety of high school hockey in Minnesota creates for an interesting and unpredictable tournament each year. In this age, however, there are a few aspects of the tournament that are very much guaranteed year after year. One guarantee is that the final tournament will be played in downtown St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. And despite it being held here annually, the second guarantee is that none of the schools participating in Minnesota's beloved contest will actually hail from the City of St. Paul. Even Minneapolis' single team faces a slim-to-none chance of reaching the state tournament, and that achievement is only getting unlikelier as the years go by. The last time a city school (St. Paul or Minneapolis) made it to the Minnesota High School Boys Hockey Tournament was in 1995 (when I was a 0 year old). And as sad as it is, that year might also be the last.
Now, I am quite aware of St. Paul Academy's presence in this year's tournament. And no, I don't consider them, or any other private school of that nature a city school. When the majority of enrollment at schools like S.P.A. and C.D.H. are suburban children, they cannot be considered city schools by any means. These are suburban schools without boundaries. Actually, there is one boundary, and it's income-based. No matter the geography of your home, if you don't have enough money for tuition, then you live outside their boundaries. It's as simple as that.
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I played hockey for a city school in St. Paul from 2010 - 2013, and we never even made it close to the state tournament. But even if I was good enough to play for a championship-bound team like Hill-Murray, I would have played for my St. Paul school a thousand times before anyone else. I have too much pride in my neighborhood to outsource myself. As a hockey player for a city school, you become part of a small group of people that experience two very different sides of Minnesotan culture at once. And as odd as it sounds, no day more perfectly illustrates this nuance than the day I went on a field trip to McDonald's in 2012.
It was late November, and I was along to help chaperon and document a field trip for the English-Language-Learners at my high school, St. Paul Como Park. The first stop was McDonald's, and the next was our State Capitol building. Around 10 a.m., I was helping my classmates order fast food in English. Several hours later, I was skating off the ice after beating one the burbs' cherished hockey teams. I'm still amazed by the spectrum of culture I encountered that day. Here we have the polar opposites of character: foreign teenagers from across the world leaving everything behind just to live in a safe society, and suburban hockey teenagers so comfortable with their carpeted basements, cul-de-sacs, and 4 car garages, it's disheartening—disheartening to watch what that does to one's personality, to one's ego.
And here I am, caught in the middle of it all. Meandering my way between the two extremes of our state. Watching as Minnesota simultaneously fosters refugees from around the world while promoting urban sprawl, a.k.a. "white flight". I can't help but think that the reason the suburbs are so overwhelmingly white (and consequently, so good at ice hockey) is because they've been historically fleeing from immigrants like those I went to high school with. Who knows, maybe that day wouldn't have been so memorable if we didn't beat Le Sueur that night. But we didn't win that hockey game for ourselves so much as we won it for city culture. We won that hockey game in the name of world acceptance, not in the name of 74-inch flat screen TV's or a place called "maple-something". Most of the kids I went to McDonald's with that day probably don't know much about ice hockey, but what they also don't know is that when I scored a goal later that night, I scored it for them.
Tonight, the holy grail of Minnesota high school sports will be awarded in my city, the City of Saint Paul. And it will be awarded to a suburban school. Either Wayzata or Eden Prairie. But no matter who wins, in a way, these schools end up the true losers of our state. They may know what it's like to be crowned champions in a real city, but they'll never know what it's like to live and love in that real city. They'll never know what it's like to bike from one set of skyscrapers to the next. They'll never know what it's like to go to school with classmates that are still learning to speak English. They'll never even know what it's like to live in a classic Minnesota town, like Winona or Duluth. As far as I'm concerned, twin cities suburban culture will never truly know anything except hockey.
So let them have hockey; but let them have their identical homes in their no-name neighborhoods. Let them have hockey; but let them have their morning rush hour crawl to work. Let them have hockey; but let them have their prejudices; let them run further and further away from my increasingly diverse city. Let them have hockey; but let them have their shopping malls, their gated communities, their expansive lawns, their sidewalk-less streets. Let them have hockey; because at the end of the day, hockey is all they've got.
The sheer volume and variety of high school hockey in Minnesota creates for an interesting and unpredictable tournament each year. In this age, however, there are a few aspects of the tournament that are very much guaranteed year after year. One guarantee is that the final tournament will be played in downtown St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. And despite it being held here annually, the second guarantee is that none of the schools participating in Minnesota's beloved contest will actually hail from the City of St. Paul. Even Minneapolis' single team faces a slim-to-none chance of reaching the state tournament, and that achievement is only getting unlikelier as the years go by. The last time a city school (St. Paul or Minneapolis) made it to the Minnesota High School Boys Hockey Tournament was in 1995 (when I was a 0 year old). And as sad as it is, that year might also be the last.
Now, I am quite aware of St. Paul Academy's presence in this year's tournament. And no, I don't consider them, or any other private school of that nature a city school. When the majority of enrollment at schools like S.P.A. and C.D.H. are suburban children, they cannot be considered city schools by any means. These are suburban schools without boundaries. Actually, there is one boundary, and it's income-based. No matter the geography of your home, if you don't have enough money for tuition, then you live outside their boundaries. It's as simple as that.
-----------------
I played hockey for a city school in St. Paul from 2010 - 2013, and we never even made it close to the state tournament. But even if I was good enough to play for a championship-bound team like Hill-Murray, I would have played for my St. Paul school a thousand times before anyone else. I have too much pride in my neighborhood to outsource myself. As a hockey player for a city school, you become part of a small group of people that experience two very different sides of Minnesotan culture at once. And as odd as it sounds, no day more perfectly illustrates this nuance than the day I went on a field trip to McDonald's in 2012.
It was late November, and I was along to help chaperon and document a field trip for the English-Language-Learners at my high school, St. Paul Como Park. The first stop was McDonald's, and the next was our State Capitol building. Around 10 a.m., I was helping my classmates order fast food in English. Several hours later, I was skating off the ice after beating one the burbs' cherished hockey teams. I'm still amazed by the spectrum of culture I encountered that day. Here we have the polar opposites of character: foreign teenagers from across the world leaving everything behind just to live in a safe society, and suburban hockey teenagers so comfortable with their carpeted basements, cul-de-sacs, and 4 car garages, it's disheartening—disheartening to watch what that does to one's personality, to one's ego.
And here I am, caught in the middle of it all. Meandering my way between the two extremes of our state. Watching as Minnesota simultaneously fosters refugees from around the world while promoting urban sprawl, a.k.a. "white flight". I can't help but think that the reason the suburbs are so overwhelmingly white (and consequently, so good at ice hockey) is because they've been historically fleeing from immigrants like those I went to high school with. Who knows, maybe that day wouldn't have been so memorable if we didn't beat Le Sueur that night. But we didn't win that hockey game for ourselves so much as we won it for city culture. We won that hockey game in the name of world acceptance, not in the name of 74-inch flat screen TV's or a place called "maple-something". Most of the kids I went to McDonald's with that day probably don't know much about ice hockey, but what they also don't know is that when I scored a goal later that night, I scored it for them.
Tonight, the holy grail of Minnesota high school sports will be awarded in my city, the City of Saint Paul. And it will be awarded to a suburban school. Either Wayzata or Eden Prairie. But no matter who wins, in a way, these schools end up the true losers of our state. They may know what it's like to be crowned champions in a real city, but they'll never know what it's like to live and love in that real city. They'll never know what it's like to bike from one set of skyscrapers to the next. They'll never know what it's like to go to school with classmates that are still learning to speak English. They'll never even know what it's like to live in a classic Minnesota town, like Winona or Duluth. As far as I'm concerned, twin cities suburban culture will never truly know anything except hockey.
So let them have hockey; but let them have their identical homes in their no-name neighborhoods. Let them have hockey; but let them have their morning rush hour crawl to work. Let them have hockey; but let them have their prejudices; let them run further and further away from my increasingly diverse city. Let them have hockey; but let them have their shopping malls, their gated communities, their expansive lawns, their sidewalk-less streets. Let them have hockey; because at the end of the day, hockey is all they've got.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
My 16 Favorite Albums, From 2000 - 2016
16. Kings of Leon - Only by the Night (2008)
Highlights
Track 1 - Closer
Track 4 - Use Somebody
Track 6 - Revelry
15. Daft Punk - Discovery (2001)
Highlights
Track 1 - One More Time
Track 3 - Digital Love
Track 7 - Superheroes
14. Phoenix - Bankrupt! (2013)
Highlights
Track 1 - Entertainment
Track 3 - S.O.S. in Bel Air
Track 9 - Bourgeois
13. Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)
Highlights
Track 3 - Lost!
Track 5 - Lovers in Japan
Track 10 - Death and All His Friends
12. M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)
Highlights
Track 2 - Don't Save Us From the Flames
Track 8 - Teen Angst
Track 15 - Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun
11. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times (2007)
Highlights
Track 1 - Knocked Up
Track 4 - McFearless
Track 9 - Fans
10. Foster the People - Torches (2011)
Highlights
Track 1 - Helena Beat
Track 3 - Call It What You Want
Track 10 - Warrant
9. Foster the People - Supermodel (2014)
Highlights
Track 5 - Pseudologia Fantastica
Track 7 - Best Friend
Track 8 - A Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon
8. Tame Impala - Currents (2015)
Highlights
Track 1 - Let it Happen
Track 2 - Nangs
Track 13 - New Person, Same Old Mistakes
7. Vampire Weekend - Contra (2010)
Highlights
Track 1 - Horchata
Track 6 - Run
Track 9 - Diplomat's Son
Best track name - #10, I Think Ur A Contra
6. Coldplay - X&Y (2005)
Highlights
Track 6 - X & Y
Track 7 - Speed of Sound
Track 9 - Low
Alright, so these next 5 albums are all tied for 1st, and therefore presented in no particular order. Not only is each record a timeless masterpiece, but they are a testament to the brilliant nature of modern art. If you were to listen to the soundtrack of everything I've ever loved, it would sound like this:
T-1. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011)
Highlights - the whole damn thing.
T-1. MGMT - Congratulations (2010)
Highlights - the whole damn thing.
T-1. Tame Impala - Lonerism (2012)
Highlights - the whole damn thing.
T-1. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2008)
Highlights - the whole damn thing.
T-1. Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown (2010)
Highlights - the whole damn thing.
------------------------------------
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, mA.A.d. City and To Pimp A Butterfly (2012, 2015)
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (2013)
Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker (2010)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008)
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
Pond - Man, It Feels Like Space Again (2015)
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003)
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003)
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
- Every Country-Pop album by any Country singer ever
• Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Eric Church, Keith Urban. You know what it is. As much as I like wearing my dirt road on a blue jean while driving over a Friday night... screw that. Now, I'm not saying I can make better music, but what I am saying is that I can make no music. And admittedly, no music is astronomically better than this kind of music.
- MGMT and Vampire Weekend's 3rd records
• While these albums are not intrinsically bad, compared to their first two works, they definitely disappoint.
- Most of Coldplay's recent stuff
• You know why
Every Band of Horses Album after Cease to Begin
• A couple years ago, I asked my Mom to buy me an album from Barnes and Nobles, and I picked Mirage Rock. To this day, I can't believe I wasted her money like that. I'm sorry, Mother.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Tame Impala's 10 Greatest Songs
With over 30 songs and 3 studio albums released to date, Kevin Parker has given us more than enough quality content to warrant a top ten list. Here are the 10 greatest songs produced by Tame Impala since their 2010 debut:
10. Solitude Is Bliss
(InnerSpeaker)
9. Be Above It
(Lonerism)
8.
7. It Is Not Meant To Be
(InnerSpeaker)
6. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control
(Lonerism)
5. Keep on Lying
(Lonerism)
4. Endors Toi
(Lonerism)
To this day I regard Endor Toi's intro (the first minute-and-a-half or so) as one of the greatest, if not the greatest riff in psychedelic rock music history. I mean, it's just incredible. The swelling synths, the drum fills, the beautiful chaos. It all comes crashing down into such a dreamy synth chord that the ensuing vocals seem to calm the listeners just enough for them not to lose their minds. Kevin Parker's ability to sound like an entire band has never been as impressive as it is right here. And seeing as this is only Lonerism's 2nd track, somehow Kevin Parker is just getting warmed up.
3. Alter Ego
(InnerSpeaker)
2. Let It Happen
(Currents)
1. Apocalypse Dreams
(Lonerism)
(InnerSpeaker)
9. Be Above It
(Lonerism)
8.
7. It Is Not Meant To Be
(InnerSpeaker)
6. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control
(Lonerism)
5. Keep on Lying
(Lonerism)
4. Endors Toi
(Lonerism)
To this day I regard Endor Toi's intro (the first minute-and-a-half or so) as one of the greatest, if not the greatest riff in psychedelic rock music history. I mean, it's just incredible. The swelling synths, the drum fills, the beautiful chaos. It all comes crashing down into such a dreamy synth chord that the ensuing vocals seem to calm the listeners just enough for them not to lose their minds. Kevin Parker's ability to sound like an entire band has never been as impressive as it is right here. And seeing as this is only Lonerism's 2nd track, somehow Kevin Parker is just getting warmed up.
3. Alter Ego
(InnerSpeaker)
I still remember the first time I ever heard Tame Impala. It was the spring of 2011, and I was laying on my living room couch listening to 89.3, The Current. Suddenly, this marvelous track came on. I was blown away - I couldn't believe it took me so long to discover such an ingenious Beatles song. I mean, just listen to it and tell me the voice doesn't sound like John Lennon. When it ended, I searched everywhere in The Beatles catalog for it, but to no avail. I finally ended up taking the logical step of determining the song title via The Current's website. And there it was. Tame Impala - Alter Ego. With no Beatle to be found.
And just like that, my journey into the ethereal realm began...
And just like that, my journey into the ethereal realm began...
2. Let It Happen
(Currents)
When Kevin Parker released this song out of the blue in March, something strange happened. People went nuts. A new Tame Impala song, the first since 2012. I had always been under the impression Tame Impala were a relatively unknown band out of the faraway lands of Australia, where everything is backwards save for the people. But in 2015, that seemed to have changed. People care about this song. People care about Currents. And if you don't care, just listen to Let It Happen.
Since then, the play count on my ipod shows Let It Happen at over 100 plays. Clocking in at a solid 7 minutes and 47 seconds, that means I've spent roughly fourteen hours of my life listening to this song. So if you literally spent every waking moment tomorrow listening to this track, you might catch up to the amount of times I've played it.
With that said, here it is. 2015's track of the year:
1. Apocalypse Dreams
(Lonerism)
As difficult as it is not to sound biased in my own top-ten article, that challenge increases ever more so when referencing this song. It sits atop the list of my most coveted records; one of the greatest tracks I've ever listened to. I literally have nothing bad to say about this song. But naturally then, the question remains. What makes it objectively great? One could argue the meaning, or the production, or the sound. But what I think stands out in this track is its boundless energy, its ability to transform our idea of pop music. And not just pop music as a whole, but more specifically, it challenges the notion of a pop song itself. In 6 minutes, Kevin Parker shows how unconventional song structure can not only be beautiful, but also serve as the integral next step in the development of music.
I never really got the last few lyrics in this song until I returned home after living in Australia for four months. "Nothing ever changes. No matter how long you do your hair, it's the same to everyone else" Parker sings. But then in the next line, he seems to contradict himself. "Everything is changing. I guess I should warn my mum. But she'll just be excited." When I returned home, not much about my home had changed. I came back to a part of the world that I still, and always will love. And yet at the same time, it felt incredibly new. The place hadn't changed; I did. Change is the only constant in life. And as much as you like to keep the same hairstyle each day, new hair is always replacing the old.
Monday, August 31, 2015
The Truth
With the Minnesota State Fair in full swing, I consider being anywhere other than Falcon Heights a setback. Curious as to how things are going, I searched "mn state fair" on google yesterday. Here are the results:
Same subject. Same event. Two very different headlines.
Now, let's put this into perspective. On one hand, we have our local news media, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, reporting that the march by the group was a call for justice. Their sub-headline reads "Police made no arrests during mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter Rally". On the other hand, we have a national media source, Fox News, emphasizing a specific chant from the group, declaring the rally a disruption. Their sub-headline reads "Black Lives Matter protesters marching on the Minnesota state fair on Saturday spewed violent anti-cop rhetoric".
It's also important to note that I actually don't know what went on that day. I simply was not there. In fact, I was over 350 miles away. While it can be useful to form our own thoughtful conclusions from the news, one must never chalk up their own inferences without a grain of salt. For the most part, the people who want to believe that the individuals involved with Black Lives Matter St. Paul disrupted the state fair are going to watch Fox News and believe just that. And at the same time, those who'd like to believe that the marchers were merely calling for justice are going to read the Star Tribune, and they too are going believe just that. So what then, is the truth? How do we know if what we're watching on the news is the entire, unabridged story? How do we know if the way someone portrays themselves on social media is their true, honest self? That's a trick question, because you can't. You never really can. There will always be a program out there letting people believe whatever it is they want to believe. But I for one would like to believe my very own senses.
That aside, it is possible to find the truth. But it's not as easy as a simple google search. It never was. The truth lies in those there on that Saturday in St. Paul, marching with their fellow peers. The truth lies in the police officers protecting the marchers as they made their way up Snelling Ave. The truth lies in the thousands of witnesses at the fair, be it for an hour or just a fleeting moment. Everyone there that day is going to have their own story of what happened. And though that story may be different coming from the 47 year old at the head of the march than that of the 4 year old watching for a few moments from within the fairgrounds, it's really all the same. Because the truth is a collection of all these perceptions strewn into a single, impossibly complex story that no news studio will ever be able to capture.
I never really was much fan of the news. Since the advent of television, it really has become a form of entertainment; a contest of who can find the most interesting stories and get the best ratings, often putting integrity and relevance in the back seat. There seems to be too much subjectivity cast into a medium starving for objectivity. To the average Fox News reader, Saturday's occurrence was just another Black Lives Matter rally interrupting the status quo. To the average Star Tribune reader, it was just another peaceful protest. To me, it's just another news story; an event that I was not a part of but nonetheless invited to form my own conclusions about. Whether I believe myself is another story.
But even though I lack certainty, I can still imagine the real truths of Saturday, the truths culminating within the minds of those marching, of those advocating that black lives do matter. Because to these individuals, the truth of Saturday transcends that of what was said, what was heard, or even what happened. The ultimate truth lies in the fact of the event itself. If everyone on Earth agreed that all black lives 100% matter, then that organization, I presume, wouldn't even exist. But the problem is that not all of us do, and that truth seems to be what this march was all about. Years ago, it was this very truth that fueled the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. And still today, it's this truth that encourages the action of organizations around the nation to seek fairness. It's this truth that drives those from Black Lives Matter to wake up each morning in an unequal world, and cultivate the resilience and audacity it takes to fight for an equality that should have existed before they even fell asleep.
Same subject. Same event. Two very different headlines.
Now, let's put this into perspective. On one hand, we have our local news media, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, reporting that the march by the group was a call for justice. Their sub-headline reads "Police made no arrests during mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter Rally". On the other hand, we have a national media source, Fox News, emphasizing a specific chant from the group, declaring the rally a disruption. Their sub-headline reads "Black Lives Matter protesters marching on the Minnesota state fair on Saturday spewed violent anti-cop rhetoric".
It's also important to note that I actually don't know what went on that day. I simply was not there. In fact, I was over 350 miles away. While it can be useful to form our own thoughtful conclusions from the news, one must never chalk up their own inferences without a grain of salt. For the most part, the people who want to believe that the individuals involved with Black Lives Matter St. Paul disrupted the state fair are going to watch Fox News and believe just that. And at the same time, those who'd like to believe that the marchers were merely calling for justice are going to read the Star Tribune, and they too are going believe just that. So what then, is the truth? How do we know if what we're watching on the news is the entire, unabridged story? How do we know if the way someone portrays themselves on social media is their true, honest self? That's a trick question, because you can't. You never really can. There will always be a program out there letting people believe whatever it is they want to believe. But I for one would like to believe my very own senses.
That aside, it is possible to find the truth. But it's not as easy as a simple google search. It never was. The truth lies in those there on that Saturday in St. Paul, marching with their fellow peers. The truth lies in the police officers protecting the marchers as they made their way up Snelling Ave. The truth lies in the thousands of witnesses at the fair, be it for an hour or just a fleeting moment. Everyone there that day is going to have their own story of what happened. And though that story may be different coming from the 47 year old at the head of the march than that of the 4 year old watching for a few moments from within the fairgrounds, it's really all the same. Because the truth is a collection of all these perceptions strewn into a single, impossibly complex story that no news studio will ever be able to capture.
I never really was much fan of the news. Since the advent of television, it really has become a form of entertainment; a contest of who can find the most interesting stories and get the best ratings, often putting integrity and relevance in the back seat. There seems to be too much subjectivity cast into a medium starving for objectivity. To the average Fox News reader, Saturday's occurrence was just another Black Lives Matter rally interrupting the status quo. To the average Star Tribune reader, it was just another peaceful protest. To me, it's just another news story; an event that I was not a part of but nonetheless invited to form my own conclusions about. Whether I believe myself is another story.
But even though I lack certainty, I can still imagine the real truths of Saturday, the truths culminating within the minds of those marching, of those advocating that black lives do matter. Because to these individuals, the truth of Saturday transcends that of what was said, what was heard, or even what happened. The ultimate truth lies in the fact of the event itself. If everyone on Earth agreed that all black lives 100% matter, then that organization, I presume, wouldn't even exist. But the problem is that not all of us do, and that truth seems to be what this march was all about. Years ago, it was this very truth that fueled the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. And still today, it's this truth that encourages the action of organizations around the nation to seek fairness. It's this truth that drives those from Black Lives Matter to wake up each morning in an unequal world, and cultivate the resilience and audacity it takes to fight for an equality that should have existed before they even fell asleep.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
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