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An overcast, rainy day in summer fills me with something epitomized by this album.
It’s not sadness, or if it does contain sadness then it’s a bittersweet aknowlegment of time’s passage. A fond remembrance of earlier times without longing. Nostalgic without yearning. A wistfulness of formative episodes and the path traveled since.
In the book “In Portugal” of 1912, A. F. G. Bell writes:
The famous ‘saudade’ of the Portuguese is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning towards the past or towards the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness.
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Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at Frederick Meijer Gardens. The first half of the gig was great!
Then Alex Ebert smoked and drank a little too much and wound up bumbling around the stage, apparently forgetting that he was performing a show.
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I was really happy to finally see Tiger Army wsg The Bellfuries at The Majestic, Detroit, MI (June 15th, 2016).
They rarely play anywhere but the West Coast it seems, and last time our paths were due to cross (in Arizona) the band broke up two weeks before my trip!
The Bellfuries are a sweet band too. Check them out!
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Taj Mahal opened for John Hiatt and was great!
I admire JH’s pedigree of songs covered by great artists, but personally he’s just an awful, country-sounding singer/twanger.
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Holy crap! Not sure how I’ve avoided noticing Denim (DVNM) for so long, but new fave GR band, for sure!
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Musicfest NW in Portland, OR, feat. Twin Shadow, Belle & Sebastian and Beirut (August 22nd, 2015). Lax security and some distraction tactics from Jane allowed me to sneak onstage for the headliner ;)
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Nosebleed seats for Aerosmith at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI (August, 4 2015). The band still puts on a great show, but man of the match for me was Buck Johnson on backing vocals, keys, acoustic guitar & percussion. I hope I’m half as good as Steve Tyler at whatever I’m doing when I’m 67, but it sure would be nice to have someone as competent as Buck behind me to fill in the gaps!
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The New Pornographers at Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI (7/15/15).
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I made an Income Property ROI Calculator with sane defaults.
There are several of these lying around the web, but most present the user with a slew of empty required fields which I found frustrating.
This calculator uses conservative defaults based on the West Michigan real estate market, but all values can be changed and saved as a single link.
Help me make it better by contributing on Github.
(Source: awestmoreland.com)