You'll Never Guess

There was a package waiting for me when I arrived home tonight. From FILTER magazine. Full of CDs. It turns out that the long-awaited winnings from I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS had finally reached the upto12 home. And, while I was supposed to receive a simple copy of the Stranger Than Fiction soundtrack, I also received a few bonus albums for being such a patient and good-natured winner (or something like that).

The final haul:
Mrs. upto12 is pretty happy about the Sarah McLachlan album and the comprehensive Depeche Mode Best Of disc (18 songs and 23 videos!). I couldn't be happier about the Emily Haines album - I've been forgetting to buy it for months.

Thank you, Heather!

Now if only that autographed Calexico album would show up on my doorstep...

Urban Lounge, SLC - Badly Drawn Boy - 11:55pm

Kyality: He's drifting off into the abyss

(Three false starts of a Thunder Road cover)

(The first verse and chorus of Like A Virgin)

(The opening bars of Silent Sigh)

upto12: Well, if the abyss leads him from Like A Virgin directly into Silent Sigh, I hope Mr. Drawn-Boy follows that abyss whever it takes him.

Go Buy This Album

As usual, I'm behind the curve on this one, but I picked up Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope about two months ago (gave it to Wife Of upto12 for her birthday, actually) and every song is a humm-able bit of delicious pop sweetness. No joke. It'll be the best sub-$10 purchase you make this month.

And... to solidify your Regina fandom, I'll one-up Kate's mandate. Watch this:

Big Day

Last Thursday was an incredibly big day for some true friends of upto12. Visit them:
www.struckcreative.com

And read about the shenanigans:
Struck blog

Why I Love Nick Hornby and Why I'm Convinced That He Knows Me Personally

In his own words (from Fever Pitch):

"I just felt as though I had come off the rails somewhere.

"I had no idea at what point this might have happened. Indeed, I wasn't even sure which rails these were. I had loads of friends, including girlfriends, I was in work, I was in regular contact with all the members of my immediate family, I had suffered no bereavements, I had somewhere to live . . . I was still on all the tracks that I could think of; so what, precisely was the nature of the derailment? All I know is that I felt, inexplicably, unlucky, cursed in some way that would not be immediately apparent to anyone without a job or a lover or a family. I knew myself to be doomed to a life of dissatisfactions: my talents, whatever they were, would go permanently unrecognised..."

I'm sure none of you have ever felt that way. I mean, I haven't... but if I had (or if I did), Mr. Hornby uses just the right words to explain the inexplicable.

You Need To Watch This

At least three times. In the next 20 minutes. I'm not joking.