Brad Barrish

I haven’t had a computer at home for over a week (!!) and now I do. I’ll explain more later, but the comments are back on (soon to be spammed again, I’m sure) and I will be updating the calendar section, etc. very shortly. Thanks to those who decided to email me. I’ll be emailing back soon. Amazing how shit piles up without a computer at home.

On Tuesday afternoon my grandmother had a heart attack while she was trimming the bushes. Less than a day later, with my mother, father, sister and her rabbi by her side, she passed away. On Thursday morning my brother and I got on a plane bound for our home in Kansas.

While it’s been rough at times, I find a certain amount of joy in knowing that she went the way she wanted to go, doing yard work, and with very little struggle or discomfort. She knew it was her time and she was ready. We should all be so fortunate.

Before I left Los Angeles, I wrote a eulogy for her. It started off with a quote by Daisaku Ikeda which says, “You mustn’t allow yourselves to grow old before your time. Please live with youthful spirit. That is what Buddhism teaches us to do, and how life ought to be lived.” I went on to explain that while my grandmother was not necessarily conscious of it, she embodied the spirit of a Bodhisattva. She had such a young spirit, which was absolutely infectious. She was always willing to listen or discuss whatever was on your mind, she helped make the world a better place in so many ways.

Kansas is so beautiful this time of year. Leaves are starting to change and you can feel a change in the air. It’s something that I miss, living in Los Angeles. While I’d never want to move back here, I do love visiting a certain times of the year. It doesn’t feel like home the way it used to. I still feel like it’s the place in which I grew up, but that’s about the extent of it. I have amazing memories of this house (and my grandmother’s house as well), but that’s kind of all that remains, aside from the fact that my parents and sister still live here. When I get homesick, it’s for my home in Los Angeles.

It’s getting late here. I’ve got another day and some change left in Kansas. I don’t know if I’ll post anything else about it while I’m here, but I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what home is and how important family is, so there you have it. I’m going to get some sleep now.

I was one of the lucky ones to experience Damien Rice last night at The Henry Fonda Theatre. Despite some diffuclties with the sound, which left Damien singing without a microphone on a couple of songs, the show was nothing short of honest and beautiful. It was one of those occasions when I felt so very lucky to be in love with music.

When I first heard O nearly a year ago, I was pretty blown away. I don’t know if it’s something about Ireland that makes for good songwriters, but I noticed a lot of similarities between Damien and Fran Healy (from Travis). Both songwriters have an immense gift for truly connecting with their audience. They aren’t afraid to talk about what inspired their songs, which can be intense at times. Enough comparisons though, Damien is certainly his own man. Having read quite a bit about him, I know that he travelled around Europe for some time, no doubt rounding up inspiration and reflecting, only to return to Dublin to make a record. You can hear the wandering, not only in his voice, but also in the music itself.

His music is not just terribly romantic and lovely, but so smart and simple. Vocal harmonies by Lisa Hannigan and Vyvienne Long add impressively to Damien’s near perfect voice and guitar workings. O will certainly be one of my picks for best album of the year, and the show was one of the best I have seen all year.

Best of luck to him tonight at The Shortlist Music Prize award show. He’s certainly deserving of the honor.

It’s not often that I sit down to write about music and feel like I just can’t do it justice. This is one of those times. When I took Ray Lamontagne’s CD home from work last night, it was because I thought I had heard or read about him somewhere. If for no other reason, I saw it was produced by Ethan Johns and that was good enough for me. When I got around to playing the album, it was pretty late and I was exhausted. The minute I heard Ray’s voice my jaw dropped slightly and I was transfixed. By the end of the first song, I felt like sobbing.

As the rest of the album played, I was shocked by the soulful purity of his music. And when I say soulful, I’m talking Otis Redding soulful. No, I’m not kidding. It’s been years since I’ve felt so moved by an album, or even a song. I listened to the album two more times in its entirety. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else and was on the verge of tears nearly the entire time.

It’s the kind of music that’s untouchable, precious - like it’s not even possible for something to sound so beautiful. The stark production and instrumentation only work to compliment Ray’s mesmerizing voice. There’s just enough of this and not too much of that. You’ll be reading about Ray very soon and I’d lay down a pile of money that a lot of people are going to be saying the same thing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go listen to the album again.

As much as I hate the state (no pun) of things in California, the recall is just ridiculous. Frankly, I don’t care, which doesn’t mean I’m not going to vote, but I’m voting against the recall when I go to the polls next week. Schwarzenegger is an ass and has no business being the Governor of this state. I’d link to a bunch of no-recall sites, but frankly they are no better than the pro-recall sites. Educate yourself about the real candidates and make an informed decision. Don’t be a sheep, think for yourself, fight the power, blah blah blah.

Today’s New York Times Op-Ed piece was a good one (free registration required). David Brooks shines a spotlight on the fact that we are getting so caught up in the drama of the candidates, fighting like little children for that coveted space in The White House, that we are forgetting about the issues. Yeah, it’s early in the presidential race, but can someone tell me what all of these candidates stand for or where they stand on the issues that matter to you? Was anyone else totally disgusted as they watched ten candidates attack one another’s character instead of talking about the issues that matter? It seems to me, and I think Mr. Brooks would agree, that we get what we ask for and while we sit around on our collective apathetic asses all we’ll get is the drama.

And while I’m on a bit of a political rant, I’ll say this: we need to finish what we started in Iraq. I was as opposed to going into Iraq as anyone, but if we pull out now, we’ll be doing far more harm than good. Who’s to say that we won’t benefit in establishing democracy in Iraq? Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t like the fact that there are kids over there dying for our country. I don’t like war and I don’t support our reasons for being there, but we’re there and facts are facts. I don’t have a good exit strategy and neither do the people who are running this country. My only suggestion is to read. Read about both sides and take it upon yourself to find out about what’s going on. Stop waiting for CNN to serve you the answers. Take a few minutes out of your day to learn a little something and then think for yourself.

I’ve seen “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” more than any other film, though “Almost Famous” is a close second. Sometimes when I read things on the Infosuperway I get disturbed. And it’s not things like kittens in a bottle that disturb me, but rather the amount of idle time that people spend figuring out that there is problem with the timeline in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off." Oh sure, it’s an interesting read, but…oh, never mind. [via Kottke]

A female co-worker announced this morning that there was “poo” on the women’s restroom toilet seat, located on the third floor. These are the types of conversations I hold precious. It’s not that I’m into poo or anything, but I do find poo funny. It should also be noted for the record that farting and burping are also endless sources of amusement. Yes, poo is gross when it’s on a toilet seat. It belongs in the toilet. You will not get an argument from be about that. There was laughter, and it wasn’t just from me. So then the co-worker proceeded to announce that she was making the trek to the first floor so she could sit on a clean seat, or at least place a cover on the seat without worrying about poo. A damn good idea.

Moments later there was another announcement that the 1st floor women’s restroom also had poo on the seat. I was dumfounded. How is it that two people missed the really big hole? I didn’t quite understand, but I was comfortable taking her word for it. She was trustworthy.

“It’s just not fair to the pee-ers!” she said.

I can’t say I disagree. It was at that particular moment that I was thankful I didn’t have to sit on a seat when I urinated. It was something I had been taking for granted for years. No more. From this day forth I will appreciate the urinal. Just thought I would share.

Sure, it’s an extreme example, but add this to my list of reasons why I thnk cats suck. [via The Drudge Report]

I just noticed the last two entries were mixes (neither of which are available anymore) and I haven’t actually written anything in a while. I guess reminiscing about my college days was something, but I haven’t commented much about anything going on in the world. I do pay attention, but that’s a lot of work in and of itself. I’ll give you some quickies:

1. I think the California recall is stupid. Assunig the recall happens, we're still broke and I still am living three doors down from an active oil refinery in the middle of Los Angeles.
2. I'm keeping my eye on Retired Gen. Wesley Clark as a very viable candidate worthy of some volunteer time. I like what he has to say and I will do anything I possibly can to insure Bush doesn't get a second term.
3. The RIAA just sucks. I could go on and on about how inappropriate and unethical their tactics are, but we'll just leave it at that.

Maybe if I get some more time I’ll expound on some things, but for now the quickies will just have to do. I did just update the calendar and list of stuff I’m listening to sections. Oh, and I have no idea why my bandwidth went through the roof after I put up a bunch of old songs. I guess people like the old stuff a lot or something.