This one’s for the Relient K fans. Randomness would like to take a moment to give a virtual celebratory high five to its source of inspiration and our favorite Canadian, Matt Thiessen, for the release of his long awaited solo project, Wind Up Bird. This may end up being an album review, although that was not my intention when sitting down to write a blog on this TV dinner night. First, I just have to say how much I love the album artwork. A superfluity of bright colors…and a bird. A bird that looks a little annoyed with me, the bird watcher. As I take in the beauty of this bird (that also has his eye on me), I easily get lost in the sleepy-hollow folky tunes of this record. Yes, I have it on vinyl because sometimes I want to act like a hipster. But don’t worry folks, you can also listen to this in the typical compact disc format, which really is what I would have preferred because (un)fortunately this record turned out to be more enjoyable than I could have imagined it would be, and now I can’t listen to it in my car. For those who are curious, my top four favorite songs are Man of Stone, Oedipus, Clean Sweep, and Wind Up Bird, but really the whole album is quite stellar. It sounds like laying in a hammock on a perfect Indian summer day, with the sun shining through the fruit trees and the wind whispering sweet nothings as you get lost in a daydream. It’s just so beautiful, I think I’m gonna cry.
Two sounds that echo through the forest are the fact that Matt’s band, The Earthquakes, sound a little too calm to have a name like that, and maybe Matt Thiessen himself is the wind up bird he’s supposed to be singing about. I mean, really…will his witty ways never end? Wind him up and watch him go! Well…listen, rather. I must say…he must be his mother’s greatest triumph in life. Anyway, it’s always great when your favorite artist releases new music. I heard that this album was eighteen or nineteen years in the making so…I don’t know if I should say “Congratulations, Matty!” or “It’s about time, dude.” I guess it doesn’t really matter because he probably won’t read this. While I’m at it, I should also congratulate Matt Thiessen on his Cleveland Browns bringing home their first win in 635 days. Maybe they’re turning a new leaf over? It’s not impossible, but it’s not plausible given their track record. The Browns’ trademark move is to move quarterbacks around until the team fits together like they should. They need some serious help from a higher power, and hopefully Thursday night’s win inclines them to climb out of the pit of misery. Baker Mayfield may have more flags to plant out on the field…SOONER or later. While he may be in a minor light right now, he’s probably gonna be an all-star and break some records.
Ok, back to the music record. My favorite line of the whole album is a nonsensical phrase that sounds like a bird call, but is actually a line from an old folk song: “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O.” It’s just fun to say. Something that I find fun to eat is rainbow dippin’ dots. Tiny pellets of creamy ice bursting with juicy fruit flavors at sub zero temperatures. YUM! I could go for some right now, actually. This is the randomness in my thought balloon on this peaceful Saturday morning…yes, morning, as I was too tired to finish this blog that I started working on last night. And it’s a good thing I pushed pause on the writing mode because I would have definitely been breaking several of my rules of writing had I continued in my sleepy state late at night. No doubt the Randomness Compliance Team would have been knocking on my door with a copy of the rules straight from the archives. Maybe this drops a hint at what my next blog will be written about? We’ll see. Or maybe I’ll go outside and use sidewalk chalk to write a fairy tale…with no end or beginning. It’s an interesting idea to imagine. While I’m out sidewalk chalking it up, I might decide to take a stroll and crunch all the dry leaves that my footsteps encounter. That’s the most fun of all this time of year. Ironically enough, today happens to be the first day of autumn. Happy Fall, y’all.
Here’s the philosophical epiphany for those craving something of depth in this blog. Every day is a challenge to open up your eyes and become a little more aware. Get out of the shadows and live out in the sunlight. Gaze up at the moon every night and be in awe of the universe we are all a part of. Ask yourself how you got here and what you’re here for. Throw some new paint at the walls. Find what gives you sweet joy and chase it because we are indeed wonderfully alive, and life will pass us by so fast.
September 21-22, 2018
Blue Moon Muse 