One of 2006's best (and oddest) bands, The Knife

Not to be outdone, here are my top ten albums of 2006. You can see the list with commentary and a bunch of other categories right here. This was the first year that I wrote a full commentary for the list, and it was INDEED a great year in music. Don’t forget that this is the list as I composed it in December 2006.

1. AFI – decemberunderground
2. The Knife – Silent Shout
3. Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
4. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
5. Matisyahu – Youth
6. Big City Rock – Big City Rock
7. Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche
8. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
9. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
10. Girl Talk – Night Ripper

Make sure to check out tk’s top ten albums of 2006 as well.

“What is the link between situations, the body, and language, such that words come to us to say in situations?”

This is the most perfect articulation of the general problematic that I am after. Jerald Wallulis quotes Gendlin saying it [need to get citation]. He goes on to quote Gendlin:

“And how do just the right words come – the ones that might make the situational difference we need?”

Gesturing will be part of the answer to this.

As Wallulis reads Gendlin, “when they [the right words] come it is because of a successful bodily sensing of one’s situation” (276).

—

notes from Mohanty’s “Experience and Meaning”:

a few parallels or points of potential conversation between Brandom & Gendlin (maybe): 177, 181

Mohanty and Gendlin agree that simple experiencing is useless (181)

important sketch from Mohanty that Gendlin likes of the problem with the experience-language split as typically philosophically handled:

“Trying to understand the genesis of meanings through symbolization, one seems to be faced with the following dilemma: if felt meanings were already independently and completely there (in an experiencing), then symbolizing could only copy them, capture them; as in Plato’s picture, one catches birds from an aviary. If, on the other hand, they are entirely dependent on how we choose to symbolize, then they would have no important role to play, for everything would be up to the interpretations one makes and the result would be a sort of nihilism” (182).

very helpful. where mohanty missteps is in wanting clear demarcation of the passage from old to new.

a question that Gendlin can answer better than phenomenologists like Husserl: “How are we aware of our meanings?” (184)

Gendlin himself (in reply to Mohanty) on language and experience:

“Rather than a concept about experiencing, we can think (from, into ….) experiencing. Doing so is not replaced by concepts about it. On the other hand, experiencing always involves concepts (symbols, forms, differentiations…); it is symbolized at least by events and interactions in situations with other people. Direct attention in the coming of a felt meaning (….) is also a kind of symbolizing…” (185).

rejecting a level 1 simple/incomplete/preconceptual/pre-expressible level of experience, Gendlin writes “…experiencing is always with and after language, concepts, and social forms, but it exceeds them, for example when we are at a loss for words or a course of action” (186).

a felt sense for Gendlin has to be allowed and encouraged to come to us, and this coming is unusual. what is usual is “when we speak directly from our prereflective engagement” (186). [a kind of better/worse way of speaking, then...]

“We can also let a felt sense (……) come, and enter there. Once it has come, many kinds of further steps become possible. But its coming is itself a further symbolizing; even without a felt sense, there is no unformed experiencing.” (186) NO UNFORMED EXPERIENCING.

“…there cannot be a line between experiencing and forms or symbols” (186-7).

‘carrying forward’ is meant to capture more complex conceptual patterns than same/different or old/new (187-189).

IOFI = ‘instance of itself’ = “an experience is an instance in an unseparated multiplicity of ways. From a bit of experience (however formed) one can move to endlessly many old and new stated universals which it instances.” (189)

—

more on Wallulis & Gendlin:

Wallulis helpfully translates Gendlin’s “. . . . .” as “bodily sensed more than can be said” (277 et al)

Gendlin:

talks of situation and body (and language) as a mesh. he follows but moves on from Heidegger and MP here. “The body is now what we act and speak from” (283).

inspiration for a method (not giving up in a post-structuralist fashion but not continuing on naively): “Let us carry the tradition forward by regaining the words to say what we mean, rather than only to deny the old mistakes” (283). This is Gendlin’s critique of Derrida and possibly Foucault. It also speaks to his desire to not silence ourselves, to encourage thinking with, moving on from, speaking with/from the more. very hopeful, very open-hearted.

wants our idea of understanding to go beyond sameness and difference, to be thought of as exact and different and more intricate than our concepts (285). very nice example of wanting to hear comments (285). bringing together the ‘individual’ and ’social’: “Understanding is said of individuals, whereas the point makes more differences in the language and the world than one person can find” (286).

[this call for dialogue and exact and different unfolding around a point, along with the closing discussion of personal & philosophical thinking always implicit in each other, speaks to correspondence with ck.]

the ‘felt sense’ or ’situated thinking’ is resistance of the kind Gadamer also wants, it protects from frozenness and reducing all options of order or sense to conceptual patterns and distinctions. “One main power of situated thinking is that its intricacy ‘offers resistance’ to the imposed routines of action and thought” (287). this reminds me of Dewey and i wonder what it says to Foucault. for Gendlin, the “very coming [of the felt sense or . . . . .] frees the person from the imposed thoughts and routines which alienate use from how we are already living in our situations, and from what we can soon say if we enter the implicit intricacy as we read and think” (287). as he says at the beginning of his reply to Wallulis: “…I agree with Gadamer that speaking occurs within tradition in a particular way, namely that it can move the tradition forward; we are not within it in the sense of being caught in it” (282).

indeed, the more, the many ways of making an exact point (in dialogue, e.g.), this dynamism and openness that is still entirely and so very meaningful, must be possible for us to do what we do all the time with words with practices and with each other. and with our hands.

—

new outline possibilities:

start with MP, Witt, Heid, Dewey. this constitutes a kind of philosophy of language. how does this get continued/carried forward in Agamben, Gendlin, Brandom? What happens when this carrying forward crosses with empirical embodied philosophy and study? with gesture?

I want to argue two things: (1) this kind of philosophy of language exists and is what we want (2) gesture (as a phenomena) confirms this kind of thought about language, thought, meaning, body and situation; the kinds of questions being asked in gesture studies enrich this approach and can move it forward – empirical, interdisciplinary, specific, etc.

Today, I am thankful for many things. Here are five of them:

• Amazon.com’s MP34FREE promotion
• Watching football in HD
• Good friends with good blogs
• Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
• This video that swept through the internet this week

Enjoy your day! The madness continues tomorrow.

I love this time of year. The leaves have all turned colors. The air is crisp. And pies are baking in the oven. In my family, Thanksgiving means pie season! My mom hates to make pies, so she only does it at Thanksgiving. But she makes everyone’s favorite, so we end up with about a dozen pies. What’s not to love about a dozen pies? (I think Joscelyne Cutchens agrees.)

"Homemade Pie" by Joscelyne Cutchens. Creating Keepsakes, Nov. 2009

I also love this time of year because there’s a built-in reason to be more consciously grateful for all I have in my life. I’ve made it a tradition to write down each of the things I’m grateful for as I think of them throughout this month. The list gets pretty long, and I realize how truly blessed I am and how great my year has been.

A few years ago, I decided to add to that tradition by letting the people in my life know how grateful I am that they are the people in my life. To that end, I’ve been making thank you cards and sending them to arrive the week of Thanksgiving. Inside the cards I write a little note about why I’m grateful the person is in my life. Each year the list for cards gets longer too, and I’m grateful for that. You can never have too many great people in your life.

"Thankful" card by Mandy Douglass. Creating Keepsakes, Nov. 2009

This year, I’m grateful to be at Creating Keepsakes with all the wonderful, creative and caring women who work here. They’ve made my new job a joy, and I’m grateful they are in my life. (In fact, I may even create a card for each of them based on the Mandy Douglass design above or this Becky Higgins design below.)

"So Thankful for You" card by Becky Higgins. Creating Keepsakes, Nov. 2009

And all of us at Creating Keepsakes are grateful for you. We love that we get to share your creativity and passion. We’re grateful for your support. We’re grateful you are open and honest in sharing with us what will make Creating Keepsakes a better magazine for you. Thank you for being the people in our lives who give us a reason to come to work, to create and to share our passion for scrapbooking!

Don’t forget to photograph the fabulous feast you enjoy today, like Christi Spadoni did for the layout below!

"Aunt Sheila's China" by Christi Spadoni. Creating Keepsakes, Nov. 2009

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

—Lara Penrod, Senior Editor

P.S. In the spirit of Black Friday tomorrow, we’re offering an incredible sale at our shop. The sale consists of discounts of over 60% off select products PLUS free standard shipping and handling (on U.S. orders only) on purchases of $25 or more. You’ll even find books and CDs as low as $5. The sale ends at midnight on Monday, November 30. Check out ShopScrapandPaperCorner.com for these great deals.

what’s interesting here: history of phil context; method; basic formulation of problem & thesis.

PROBLEM: How do we say things? (say in the sense of showing/expressing). How do we make meaning, say something that counts, use language in an original (subjective) and successful (intersubjective) way?

THESIS: We say things with our hands. In saying, we use our hands. Research in gesture (spontaneous co-speech hand gestures in particular) adds a dimension not previously considered in the foregoing formulations of the problem.

problem in more detail & context / notes on method:

At this historical stage of the Western philosophical tradition, we need accounts of language use and practices of meaning making and signifying that are non-representationalist, non-foundationalist, not prey to subject-object metaphysics, embodied, and post-linguistic turn (or post-linguisticism) in the sense of acknowledging and thematizing in some way the ‘more’ of our world and sense-making that is not necessarily or singularly linguistic. Thinkers in the Continental tradition coming after structuralism have worked with the notion of expression as situated, embodied, social and historical; we now must take seriously the subject-centered (solipsistic, idealistic) and foundationalist pitfalls of phenomenology without giving up hope for the reliable ability to say something intelligible to someone else (as in extreme post-structuralism). The pragmatist tradition can be productively carved up into camps that hold up experience as the ground for meaning and those that turn to language for the same purpose; the limits and secret (and not so secret) courtship of foundations have been demonstrated for both of these views (cf ck).  We want to say something (about how we say something) that will hold in tandem the role of experience and of language without mis-valuing either. Anglo-American (non-pragmatist) philosophy of language appears to remain largely committed to traditional reference, logic and truth-conditional based approaches to meaning making. The massive critique of these approaches found in Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Dewey, cognitive linguistics, embodiment studies, Johnson & Lakoff, and Brandom will be marshaled and deployed in my project.

The kind of account I’m after must be inter- and intra-disciplinary, a picture built by converging evidence from Continental and American philosophy, embodied philosophy of cognition and language, cognitive linguistics, and ecological/dialogical psychology.

My contribution to this vast question of how we make meaning and how we can offer a responsible and good conscience account of this today fixes more narrowly on instances of speaking (and gesturing) in dialogue with others. This account will need to address: saying something new; expression; communicative intent; the accomplishment/microgenesis of  (verbal) thought and the role of our bodies and of the more-than-linguistic in the creation of these phenomena. Put in terms of some of the research questions and theoretical divides in cog ling work on gesture, I am concerned primarily with the production side of thought and communication and the role of imagistic thinking in these processes of thinking-for-speaking(-and-gesturing). Put in terms of Continental philosophy, I am focusing on the appropriative act by which from out of my being-in-the-world-of-sedimented-signs-and-sign-systems I think and speak (something of my own, though always for others). Put in the idiom of embodied philosophy of meaning, I am interested in how we enact meaning (e.g. Varela, Thompson and Rosch), given that our meanings are informed by bodily interactions with environments (Dewey, Johnson) and given that as language users our meaning-making acts (such as gestures) are cognitive, communicative and embodied (Gallagher). In response to folks like Rorty, I want to say that something worthwhile can still be said about the processes of creating and tracking meaning-change. Very much following Gendlin (who follows Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Dewey, Gadamer) I want to say something about the more. Warily tracking Brandom, I am fascinated by the mechanisms by which we make the implicit explicit and the trumping of representation by expression (I think I have to think these last two thinkers in some kind of tandem.)

outline:

1. Problem: description of phenomena, historical context of asking the question, how to ask it now
2. Philosophers concerned with this: (Heidegger?), MP, Agamben, Gendlin, Brandom, (Butler?)  [Others concerned with this: Vygotsky]
3. The Body in Saying/Expressing: Johnson, embodied philosophy, embodiment studies
4. Saying/Expressing in Dialogue: Stawarska + the dialogic club
5. GESTURE as privileged case study and as posing questions that will bring together the previous framings. Adds a dimension of language and meaning not previously considered. McNeill, Muller, and specific research questions (processing models, communicative vs informative, etc.)

Beyond the low-hanging fruit…

As we approach Thanksgiving, I’m compelled to say a little something about gratitude. After all, gratitude is the very definition of giving thanks. Many of us (myself included) often experience a lapse in gratitude. We get caught up in the business of work and the mostly silly dramas that govern our lives.

I once heard a parable that I’d like to paraphrase here:

Every day a group of men set out to forage in the savannah by their village. They ventured far in order to get to the forest and its abundance of resources. Half way existed a lone, large tree in which they took a break to rest and eat lunch. “A shame this tree,” one man said. “It has no fruit for eating.” The others agreed. “And its wood isn’t suitable for building either.”

The men failed to realize the great benefit the tree provided. In fact, the old tree was a refuge. Though dead and barren, it provided shelter from the noonday sun without which their journey would have been infinitely more treacherous. This critical benefit was lost on the men.

I recall a company meeting at my previous agency. We’d had a tough year. Morale was low. The employees were skeptical about their agency’s future. Many used the setting as a forum to voice their complaints: Management was inept, they cried. Our clients are bound to mediocrity. Woe is us!

During my turn to speak I told the story about the old tree. Though our agency was, in fact, beleaguered I wanted us to appreciate all that we had: jobs, community and a place to voice our grievances freely and without fear of reparations.

In some respects I was talking to myself. I shared many of my fellow’s misgivings but I wanted healing words. Not apathetic ones. We’d had plenty of those already. Change was needed. And change would come. But on that day I needed gratitude. I worked for one of the greatest advertising agencies in the world. It had been hobbled but it was still there. Despite our weakened position, so were we.

That first winter for the pilgrims was a brutal one. Many did not make it. Yet, a precious few did. With help from the Indians, they not only survived the second winter; they thrived. Despite their many hardships the frail community held a great feast. The rest is history.

Steff\’s Twitter

The Happy Soul Industry on Amazon

First, a note about the direction of CKTK. We will be posting our end-0f-the-decade thoughts soon. Also, our top albums of 2009 lists will drop in mid-to-late-December. To lead up to those, we will be posting our top ten albums of the year lists from 2005-2008, sans commentary. We will, of course, link to places online where that commentary is posted if it’s floating out there somewhere. We will also be creating new content, so that the site doesn’t just turn into “Listapalooza 2009″.

These lists will appear unchanged from when we originally wrote them toward the end of each year. This should show you a little bit about what to expect from each author, and hopefully, it will inspire you to go back and listen to some of those great albums that you’ve forgotten from those years.

Without further ado, let’s start it off with ck’s top ten albums of 2005:

1. Sufjan Stevens – Come On, Feel the Illinoise!
2. Alkaline Trio – Crimson
3. Junior Senior – Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
4. Beck – Guero
5. Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams
6. Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree
7. The Rocket Summer – Hello Good Friend
8. The Decemberists – Picaresque
9. PANIC! at the Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
10. Sigur Ros – Takk

I am thankful for:

My fabulous family ♥ my hilarious friends ♥ my lovely beau ♥ NYC ♥ smart television ♥ nice weather ♥ yummy restaurants ♥ people who don’t smoke ♥ people who don’t make excuses ♥ people who read ♥ people with good table manners ♥ babies ♥ laughter ♥ Central Park on Sunday ♥ carbohydrates ♥ steady employment ♥ social media ♥ the jaw-droppingly amazing world of fashion blogging ♥ these lovely pink hearts ♥ writing ♥ dogs ♥ Carmex ♥ sweet tea ♥ hot dogs off the street ♥ warm cookies ♥ heart-wrenching memoirs ♥ fashion photography ♥ Etsy shopping ♥ sleeping in ♥ this holiday season!

Calvin Klein is having a contest. It sounds lovely! Put together a Polyvore set that shows how you will dress for your very own festive affair, It must include at least 2 CK pieces and the CK logo.

Selected sets will be featured daily on the Calvin Klein Facebook Fanpage and five winning sets will be chosen by the style experts at Calvin Klein to receive calvinklein.com gift cards.

Here is an example

One 1st Prize Winner – $500
Two 2nd Prize Winners – $300 each
Two 3rd Prize Winners – $100 each

Sounds sooo cool! For more details click here.

Alright, ladies and gents! I am officially on Thanksgiving vacation. See you when I get back!

Scrapbooking and Lisa Bearnson go hand in hand. There’s no way we’d be able to think of one without the other. Lisa is to scrapbooking . . . well, what jelly is to peanut butter. Does it get any better than that?

Although Lisa’s style may have evolved over the years (both on her pages and in fashion), those who know her well also know she is very much the same amazing Lisa who started this magazine so many years ago! She’s sincerely one of the most genuine and selfless people ever. We are incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to work with her and to be a part of such an amazing venture. We’d like to show our appreciation to Lisa by sharing with you a look at her pages and projects throughout the years. Enjoy!

(Nov/Dec 1996) This card from the first issue of the magazine represented a new start and a time in Lisa’s life to shine and to allow others to shine as well.

(Sept/Oct 1997) Scrapbooking has always been about family and preserving family memories. It’s all the better when you can get your family involved in the memory-keeping process.

(Sept/Oct 1998) Lisa taught us to record important facts about our loved ones and to do it in fun, new ways!

(July/Aug 1999) And remember how she taught us about capturing the everyday moments too, because we’ll want to remember them—and so will others.

(February 2000) We learned that recording traits and characteristics will not only be special to our immediate family but to the generations to come as well.

(May 2001) Lisa also inspired us to create clever announcements and to record our special occasions.

(April 2002) She shared personal memories so we could get to know her and her family better.

(March 2003) Lisa said to let kids be themselves in photos, because that is who they are. And really, who wants perfection all the time?

(October 2004) She encouraged us to capture the milestones in life and to do so wholeheartedly.

(December 2005) We learned that it’s important to record our blessings—because the world could use a little more happy!

(April 2006) Whatever our traditions and no matter what time of year, Lisa encouraged us to document them.

(June 2007) We were reminded to scrapbook the little moments in life, because often those moments are the ones that mean the most.

(May 2008) So that future generations would know about our loved ones, Lisa invited us to think about those who came before us and the impact they had on us and the world—and to capture them in our scrapbooks.(December 2009) Above all, Lisa taught us to appreciate the life we have and to treasure the moments we get to spend with the ones we love.

Lisa, here’s to all your new adventures and a huge THANK YOU for what you’ve done for this hobby! We love you.

—Joannie McBride, Assistant Editor

首都圏高速道路運営のBANGKOK EXPRESSWAY PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (BECL)は取締役会の決定を得て、高速道路のシステム補修を7千9百万バーツ（付加価値税VAT含まず）で、BECLの大株主であるCH. KARNCHANG PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (CK)に委託することを決定。（Info Quest 11月24日配信）

1. What did you do on the weekend?

2. How’s the weather? (as you’re reading this)

Kami menyediakan berbagai PARFUM merk TERKENAL dengan kualitas-1 (KW1). Parfum ini memiliki aroma dan kemasan, baik bentuk botol maupun kotak, sama dengan parfum original. Yang membedakan dengan parfum original adalah ketahanan wanginya, parfum kami ketahanan wanginya tidak selama seperti parfum original.

Parfum-parfum ini dapat Anda dapatkan dengan harga yang sangat terjangkau, yaitu Rp. 45.000 untuk semua brand yang kami jual.

Selamat berbelanja parfum sesuai dengan karakteristik dan aroma yang Anda sukai.

Berikut adalah list dari parfum yang termasuk best seller kami :

Louis CK apparently finds distaste in stuffed animals.

The Setting: Merriam Theater, Philadelphia, PA.

The Situation: My friends and I have just finished enjoying a hilarious night of stand-up by Louis CK.  If you don’t know him, Louis is the kind of comic whose jokes will make your grandmother not only faint, but spontaneously combust, and then after that her ashes will explode.  He has been quoted as saying that the Catholic Church exists “solely for the purpose of boy rape.”  He also once said, “I don’t have a gun, but if I did, I would shoot a baby deer in the mouth and feel nothing.”

Awesome, right?

And that’s just skimming the surface.  I admire Louis quite a bit for having the balls to say crazy shit that could enrage countless people.  I wanted him to know how awesome I think he is, and he was in the lobby signing autographs, so I waited for my turn to meet him.  Finally, it was my turn.

What went down:

Me: Hi!  Great show!  I really love your work.  Could you sign my ticket for me?

Louis: Sure.

Me: (as he is signing my ticket) You know, some people would say you’re a terrible person, but I think you’re awesome!

Immediately, I sensed this had come out wrong.  Louis’ face scrunched up a little bit. Did I just…offend the king of offensiveness?  ”Please don’t take it the wrong way!  I just mangled my words, I didn’t mean it like that!” I thought.

Louis: Well, uh…they’re entitled to their own opinion. (He hands my ticket back to me)

Fuck.  He took it the wrong way.

Louis: Next in line, please!

Sweet.  I just unintentionally insulted my comedy hero.  Luckily, I had time to time a quick photo with him, but currently, I am unable to find it.  So sad.

By Wendy Osher

Contemporary Hawaiian musicians, Cecilio & Kapono, are sharing early Thanksgiving cheer with the homeless community and transitional residents of Maui County.  The duo will visit Wailuku’s Ka Hale A ke Ola Homeless Resource Center on Friday, November 20, 2009, where they will perform a free concert and talk story with residents.

C&K traveled to Molokai as part of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Artist in the Community Program. The performance was one of several pre-Thanksgiving concerts being offered by the musical duo in Maui County. Courtesy Photo MACC.

The visit has become an annual holiday tradition for C&K who will also perform at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center this Saturday.  Earlier this week the musicians visited Molokai as part of the center’s Artist in the Community program, which involved working with music and Hawaiian language immersion students from Molokai High School.  C&K finished their Friendly Isle visit with a free concert for the entire community in Kaunakakai on Monday.

“Every year we look forward to visiting Maui to perform at the MACC,” explained Cecilio Rodriguez. Henry Kapono added, “But our favorite thing about this visit is participating in the Artist in the Community program because we get to meet so many island residents up-close and personal. At first we thought we were giving something to the community, but it turns out we get just as much as they do—maybe even more.”

The upcoming Maui Arts & Cultural Center performance begins at 7:30 pm on Saturday, November 21. Ticket prices begin at $12.  There is also a VIP meet-and-greet package. For tickets, phone 242-SHOW or buy online at www.mauiarts.org.

So.  This is a possibility for how the blog could look. We will, of course, have to play with it and decide what kinds of widgets and extras we need, as well as checking out different themes.

I was thinking of posting all of the top 10 lists from the decade in order to get some content on the page. Then, whenever you/I are ready, we can begin developing new content. I was thinking we could launch with our tops of the decade lists.

If you have a wordpress account, let me know and I’ll make you an admin so you can tweak the site. If not, what are you waiting for?

Coochie, coochie, coochie, coo!

Cute article in the December issue of Vanity Fair, by Jim Windolf entitled Addicted to Cute. In it, the author discusses the “tsunami of cute” rolling over modern America. “We’re drowning in puppies and kittens and bunnies and cupcakes.”

Try living with three little girls, Jim.

But seriously (if serious is possible in a story like this), the author is on to something. Cuteness has become more than just the providence of young girls and their grandmothers. All one has to do is look at how many immensely popular websites are devoted to cuteness or what the keeper of YouCan’tMakeItUp called “bittersweet sadness and heart-splosioning adorablosity.” She’s talking about a collection of photos featuring small animals in casts. Kittens with leg braces!

Windolf’s essay opens with a discussion about a YouTube video called “Hahaha.” Perhaps you’ve seen it. It’s about a laughing baby. It has over 100 million views. Apparently YouTube officials showed it to Queen Elizabeth when she visited their headquarters in London. She said it was “lovely.” 100 million views? Queen Effen Elizabeth? It’s a laughing baby, folks.

Where all this gets interesting is where you least expect it. Take the phenomena of the Mini Cooper and the Smart Car. These adorable vehicles come off the assembly line smiling and America can’t get enough of them. Low gas milage? Sure. But it’s their unabashedly cute aesthetic that is driving sales.

And speaking of cars, Wildoff points to the GEICKO Gecko as a commercial manifestation of the cuteness pandemic. Over the years the popular spokes-creature has evolved from skanky reptile to adorable critter. His color has been warmed, his scales diminished and his eyes widened. Bigger eyes are a surefire marker of cuteness. Just ask the Japanese. Hello Kitty!

Finally, consider our President, Barak Obama. That smile. That gleam in his eye. All that hope! Could the guy be any cuter? Yes he could. By adding the perfect American family, right down to a dog named “Bo.” Let’s face it: the edgiest thing about our President is his skin color. Obama is the Commander in Chief of Cuteness.

So, what is up? Is cuteness backlash to the crippling financial crisis? Lord knows that’s been depressing. Is cute the antidote? Can puppies and cupcakes take our frazzled minds off staggering unemployment and underwater mortgages? Do laughing babies and big-eyed lizards placate the unemployed? Obama’s been in the Oval Office a full year. If nothing else, Cash for Clunkers was a cute idea. Public Health Care not so much.

Whether cuteness is spoiling our country or merely distracting it, we can hardly avoid its presence. Or can we? I recommend a good zombie movie. Try Dawn of the Dead, the original or remake. Of course zombies are my answer for everything.

follow Steff on Twitter

The Happy Soul Industry

When we graduated from college in 2008, my friend Cory wrote a series of lists of events from our college years for the Whitworth Forum. He wanted to do a list of the top 10 songs, but thought someone more into the scene should do it. Enter yours truly. What follows is unchanged from when I originally wrote it in late April 2008.

When Cory asked me to write this column a few months back, I couldn’t believe it. My reaction was something to the effect of, “Are you kidding me? I don’t think anyone can actually do that list justice.” Yet here we are, three weeks from the end of the school year, and I’m giving you the Top Ten Songs of 2004-2008.

First of all, this list is useless if you can’t listen for yourself. For your convenience, I’ve posted a link to a YouTube video of each song as it is on the album. Some of them are official music videos, while others are just set up by fans so that people can hear the song for free. I also have to give you a caveat – I realize this list is every bit as subjective as my Top Ten Albums lists are at the end of each year. These are songs that I love desperately, but I realize that not everyone will enjoy them as much as I do. If you disagree with me, that’s great! Post your suggestions in the comments. I will admit right up front that there are a couple of genres that I have missed. Specifically, I can’t stand country music and I don’t think there were very many great rap songs in the past four years. Again, if you think one of them deserves to be on this list, write it in the comments. Prove me wrong.

One final note before we dive in – It’s an absurd idea to try and narrow your iTunes library down to the ten best songs of any era, especially a full four-year span. It is absolutely insane. But I have to recommend it – read this column, agree or disagree with me, and then go make your own list. I’d love to see it, and hopefully we can all discover some great new music together.

Anyway! On to the list!

10.) The Decemberists – Sons & Daughters (unfortunately, I could only find a live version. It still gives a pretty good impression)
The closer to The Decemberists’ 2006 album “The Crane Wife” is the opener to my list. It really is the perfect closer; from its mandolin-led ensemble of acoustic instruments to the way it builds and its final, hopeful refrain: “Here all the bombs fade away.”

9.) The National – Start a War (I have to apologize for showing you scenes from The Notebook; it was the only way I could get the studio version)
This song rumbles like an earthquake, and lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice and melancholy lyrics are at the epicenter. The quiet intensity of this song makes the speaker’s broken relationship all the more poignant, and the progression makes his admission even more heartbreaking: “You were always weird, but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now.”

8.) The Rocket Summer – So Much Love
I will always remember where I was when I heard this song for the first time. I was driving back from Best Buy after picking up The Rocket Summer’s third full-length album, 2007’s “Do You Feel.” I had anxiously unwrapped the album in the parking lot and flipped it on. “Do You Feel” opens up with some immediate rocking, and I knew after one track that this disc would be Bryce Avery’s finest hour. He didn’t disappoint. The next track, “So Much Love,” is everything you could ask for in a fun summer song – a sweet horn solo, a gigantic piano lick, and some inspirational, simple, and somehow profound sing-along lyrics. Above all, though, it’s just a blast. You can imagine Avery jumping around the studio, yelling at the top of his lungs: “You look like the songs that I heard my whole life coming true!”

7.) The Killers – When You Were Young
When I first heard this song, my first thought was, “Yeah, this is pretty good. But it doesn’t sound like The Killers.” I was right about one part. The Killers listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen before recording 2006’s “Sam’s Town,” and The Boss’ influence shines through (especially in lead singer Brandon Flowers’ performance). What I was wrong about, however, was how much this song would grow on me as I kept listening to it. This would have been hands down the best straightforward rock and roll song of this period, if not for the song coming in at number five.

6.) Gwen Stefani (feat. Akon) – The Sweet Escape

Every couple of years, there is a new undeniably catchy pop song that captures the ears and hearts of America’s music critics. Not just pop music consumers either; these songs are loved by snobbish elitists and 13-year-old girls alike. There were a few great ones to choose from in this time period (including Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”), but “The Sweet Escape” was the finest. Akon is pretty dispensable on this one, but Gwen Stefani proved that she was more than just B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

(#5-1 after the jump)

5.) Foo Fighters – Best of You
Foo Fighters have been at it since 1995. In their tenth anniversary year, they released an album called “In Your Honor.” More than any other song on this list, I have to implore you to watch the video. It perfectly sums up the themes that must have been running through Dave Grohl’s head while writing this song – joy and angst, agony and ecstacy, passion and pain, despair and hope. This song expresses more raw emotion than most of today’s rockers would dare to write about, and it does the job in four minutes and sixteen seconds.

4.) Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
This seems about right for the best song on the best album to be released during my college career. “Chicago” charmed indie rock fanatics and soundtrack composers alike (see “Little Miss Sunshine”), and it made a genuine low-level celebrity out of Sufjan. There are so many highlights on his 2005 album, “Come On, Feel The Illinoise,” that it was difficult to choose one. But with the xylophone intro, soaring strings section, and Sufjan’s softly warbling voice directing it all, “Chicago” was the biggest and best of them all. It seems to be the least likely line for an anthem, but there it is: “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

3.) Band of Horses – The Funeral
When Band of Horses first recorded this song, singer/guitarist/songwriter Ben Bridwell didn’t even want to put it on their debut album, 2006’s “Everything All The Time.” Bridwell thought “The First Song” or “The Great Salt Lake” would be the radio hit. But it was this one which, like “Sons & Daughters,” is remarkable for its simplicity. “Every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral,” Bridwell chirps over crunching guitars and crashing cymbals. If only every song about loss could be this reverent while simultaneously expressing so much anguish.

2.) Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
Arcade Fire are an enigma, and they like it that way. This song is partially about hiding “underneath the covers,” but also about exposing the mythology of parents’ rhetoric. The themes that seem melodramatic on much of their 2004 album “Funeral” actually work to great effect here. The thumping heartbeat of the song, coupled with ornate instrumentation and the growing urgency in Win Butler’s voice make this song one to remember – and, perhaps as important, one to play really, really loud.

1.) The Format – If Work Permits
Nate Ruess has just about the most distinctive voice in indie rock, and he makes use of it at all volumes here. Starting out with the sound of crickets and a finger-picked acoustic melody, Ruess unfolds two stories: one about an abused friend who becomes scared of love, and one about the speaker’s roller coaster relationship. As the song builds and unfolds, so do the stories. The moral? Any kind of love means making yourself vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean you have to be afraid.