More Little Joy

Yep, I LOVE Little Joy. Their debut album is one of my top 3 of 2008. Here's another track.

- Joel

Little Joy

I'm sitting at home, casually watching Oklahoma and Oklahoma State trade touchdowns, still waiting for my feet to warm up from a snowy/rainy seat at the Kansas/Missouri game, happily thinking back on the past three days of Thanksgiving with my family, and looking for new music. I've found a lot of fun stuff, and this band may be the best of what I've found tonight.

They are Little Joy. This quote from Pitchfork's review of their self-title debut album says it best, "Little Joy is not going to stop the world or change your life, but it's one of the sweetest, most listenable, consistently enjoyable records of the season."

Watch the fan video of the song "Brand New Start" below.

- Joel

One of My Faves

Vampire Weekend put out my second favorite album of this year. They deserve all the hype.

- Joel

Little Drummer Boy

This version is by the band Low. I'm usually a skeptical of modern versions of classic Christmas tunes, but I really like this one. The video is a little strange, but the song is great.

Download it here.

- Joel

Fun Winter Song

Check out this song by the band Boy Least Likely To. It's a chill acoustic song called "The First Snowflake." This will be released on December 15 as the first single to their album which won't drop until March. Enjoy.

- Joel

More Traditions

#12 - Basketball at the Sheridan Center - since we no longer celebrate in Dodge City, we've moved it to the North Kansas City Community Center
#13 - Playing Knock-Out (the basketball version)
#14 - Half court shot contest and Dave pays the winner
#15 - Go to a movie as a family
#16 - Hang and knock down a pinata - we almost missed this one this year
#17 - Friday night Mexican dinner - used to always go to El Charo's in Dodge City
#18 - Dave reads the tradition list at the Mexican dinner
#19 - We all eat Atomic Fireballs - almost missed this one this year
#20 - Clogged Toilets - happens every year, I won't name names
#21 - Guys play poker
#22 - Girls play Nerts (a fast-paced card game)
#23 - Celebrate Aunt Mary's birthday
#24 - Do puzzles
#25 - Go to the park - it used to be the park down the street from Grandma's house in Dodge City

More to come...

- Joel

More Traditions Accomplished Today

Tradition #5 - Thanksgiving Day 5K - my cousin Eric ran a 15:41 and placed 5th (this just officially became a tradition this year because it's the 3rd year in a row to run the 5K)
Tradition #6 - Cinnamon rolls & Coffee Cake for breakfast
Tradition #7 - Thanksgiving meal
Tradition #8 - Name Cards at every place setting - it's always a surprise where you sit
Tradition #9 - "Nut Cups" - little baskets with nuts and candy at each place setting
Tradition #10 - Men of the family do the dishes after the Thanksgiving meal
Tradition #11 - Frisbee golf (this also officially became a tradition this year)

More traditions to come!

- Joel

Thanksgiving Traditions

More traditions have been upheld tonight. These are in no particular order or importance.

Tradition #2: The men of the family play the card game Hearts.
Tradition #3: Electronic games. This years it's Madden and Rock Band on XBox360. Back in the day it involved bringing Nintendo or other systems to play on my Grandma's old TV in Dodge City, KS.
Tradition #4: Chex Mix. We always have homemade Chex mix. My aunt brings her spicy homemade mix from Odessa, TX. That arrives tomorrow.

- Joel

PS - Here are the two ovens.

Thanksgiving Night 1

Above is a picture of my new scarf. I bought it last weekend at Standard (Daniel's store). I plan to wear it every day of Thanksgiving break.

In the Thomason house, Thanksgiving has started off with a bang. My mom went to cook dinner tonight and found our oven to be broken! Not a good thing. So we are replacing the oven the night before we need to cook the turkey (and we'll have almost 30 people at the celebration). But all great holidays involve some sort of adversity. This is ours.

In the meantime, we are missing Tradition #1 - Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Chili Supper.

- Joel

One More

© Joel Thomason

Greg Gillis is in the mask. Hipster girls love him. After second thought, a few other shots from that night turned out ok. You can see them on my Flickr page.

- Joel

Girl Talk Photo

© Joel Thomason

Unfortunately the title of this post is not "Girl Talk Photos." For a multitude of reasons - I'm not a great photographer, I was distracted by dancing, it was dark, I'm not a great photographer and didn't pay close attention to apperture/shutter speed - only one photo really turned out from my trip to see Girl Talk over a month ago. Yep, it took me forever to get the photos developed.

But stay tuned for lots of Thanksgiving pictures, as well as a running tally of my family's numerous Thanksgiving traditions. It starts tonight!

- Joel

Reading List

I just finished Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green by Johnny Rico. It's a soldier's memoir of his time spent deployed in Afghanistan. I finished the book tonight and still need some time to digest it before I decide what I thought about it. As of now, I'm neutral.

Here's what is next on my reading list:
Animal Farm by George Orwell - an allegory on the dangers of communism
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee (photographs by Walker Evans) - a journalist's narrative on lives of three sharecropping families in the Depression-era Deep South

- Joel

Stream Kanye

You can now stream Kanye West's new album, 808's & Heartbreak, on his blog. Like him or love him, you cannot deny that Kanye is a creative force in popular culture these days. I've only listened to a few tracks, and I'd give it a so-so rating - too much auto-tune (which I could say about most hip hop these days). The underdog, College Dropout Kanye fresh off the car accident was a lot more likeable than the modern day Kanye. I'll probably still buy this album (sigh)....

- Joel

Creative Writing

Check out this website called Da Font. You can download really cool fonts for free. Another shout out to Cassie who told me about the website. I think it's going to be addicting. They have over a thousand to choose from.

- Joel

Shout Out

Shout out to my sister. She's got a new blog. Love you, Abby.

- Joel

New Music

Beach House - "Used to Be"
Good stuff. I love this song.
- Joel

New Music

Horse Feathers - "Curs in the Weeds"
Nice strings-heavy indie folk.
- Joel

Trillionette

My friend Cassie made a great addition to the new slang. Yesterday it was trillion (someone who is trill) and trillionaire (someone who is the most trill).

Today it is trillionette - a female who is the most trill. Cassie is definitely a trillionette.

And to respond to my sister, I'm not making up a word, I'm making up a slang definition of a word.

- Joel

New Slang

No, I'm not talking about the song by The Shins that changed Natalie Portman's life in Garden State. I'm talking about taking the word "trill" to the next level. It's catching on in Dallas. I first heard it used in the Clipse song of the same name. But now we are kicking it up a notch....

Trillion = a person who embodies trill characteristics

Where "trill" was an adjective, "trillion" is a noun. For example, "Keep holding it down, trillion." Or, "What's up, trillion?" I think you get the idea.

So go forth and use trillion. Maybe a trillionaire is someone who is the trillest.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

Photo
Trey Kazee. A friend of my friends in Dallas. I met Trey this year on my trip to the State Fair with the crew. Check out his Flickr.

- Joel