DMB = God

The first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band's "Crash" back in 1997. I knew little about music, much less DMB, but some of the cool kids I knew in 6th grade were talking about DMB and since I badly wanted to be cool, I bought the CD. "Crash" didn't make me any cooler, but it served as my entrance into music and would forever change how I listened to and played music.

68 minutes and 54 seconds of pure bliss. Here's why I love each and every track:

1) So Much to Say

Dave begins with an infectuous acoustic guitar riff, building up to an impressive overlap of bass, drum, violin, and saxophone. The lyrics were what first hooked me to the song - his alluring way of saying "I see you young and soft oh little baby / little feet, little feet, little hands little baby." His walk of punctuating "t-t-t-talk" and "b-b-baby." But, what keeps me coming back to this song was Carter Beauford's continuous improvisation with his drum lines and and Leroi Moore's subtle saxophone lines. The musicians blend so well in the song that unless you listen for their parts, they get overlooked by Dave's voice. When you listen for them, however, you realize that each member has so much to say.

2) Two Step

I had trouble warming up to this song when I first heard it, since there's a long introduction. Sure, the song starts off slow, especially after So Much to Say ends on a high note. But Two Step quickly crescendo's and accelerates you into a complex interplay of voice and instruments. My favorite lines: "Hey, my love, you came to me like / wine comes to this mouth. / Grown tired of water all the time / You quench my heart and you / quench my mind." The contrast between the pizzicato of Boyd Tinsley's violin and Moore's sax after Dave's vocals make this piece simply fantastic.

3) Crash Into Me

This song propelled DMB into stardom and won them a Grammy, but at its core, it's just a sexual song about a boy being attracted to the physical beauty of a woman. "Hike up your skirt a little more / and show the world to me." and "Oh I watch you there / through the window / And I stare at your / You wear nothing but you / wear it so well" provocatively explain how every adolescent (and older) male feels when he's attracted to a woman. It's voyeristic but innocent at the same time. The acoustic intro with running bass lines always attracted me as a bassist and the Beuford's snare keeps the song from getting too busy.

If you ever have a chance to hear the song live, it's even better - Dave often adds a few lines from the song "Dixie Chicken" by Little Feat, released in 1973. Beauford also has an incredible drum riff at the end, hitting his toms down to a big floor toms in rapid notes in perfect sync. Check out Crash Into Me, track 7, on DMB's Listener Supported CD #1/2 precisely at 5:35 on the track.

4) Too Much

It's a song about excessive materialism. "Ooh traffic jam got more cars / than a beach got sand" was my favorite line from this song. I tend to concentrate more on the instruments in this song, since their presence is purposefully felt throughout. Tim Reynold's provides some raw electric guitar. Moore's sax fade at 1:08 is a great transition back into verse. He totally hits his solo at 1:32 with Beauford providing great drum lines in the background. Dave's acoustic descending scale back into verse at 1:55 is utterly amazing. Tinsley takes over at 2:05 with an off-the-wall electric violin solo that has little breathing room but fits the part perfectly. And Dave's ascending scale leading back into verse at 2:28 really shows off his guitar skills. All motors are turned on for this fun song.

5) #41 / 6) Say Goodbye

Since #41 fades into Say Goodbye, I'm going to treat these songs as a singular unit. Hand down, these two songs are my favorite on the album. The lyrics are sensual, the jamming is amazing, and the instrumentals all demonstrated that DMB had true talent. #41 gets it name from being the 41st song Dave wrote. I've listened to this song hundreds of time and each time I find something new about it - either by listening for particular parts of holistically. I love Moore's sax on this song and how Beauford continually mixes up his drum lines. Even Stefan Lessard on bass has some great little runs and slides. Above all, the instruments complement Dave's voice so well. As his voice rises with the line "I'm begging slow, I'm coming here" the instruments instinctively follow. The song hits its high point as Dave croons "I'm coming waltzing back and moving into your head / Please, I wouldn't pass this by / I would take any more than / What sort of man goes by / I will bring you water." So good!

After the lyrics end, Boyd has a pretty classical violin solo, staying away from playing contiuous chords like usual. Moore is completely jazzy, switching off by playing on the clarinet and then back to sax.

Say Goodbye is a wonderful piece to link to and follow #41. It starts with a wonderful flute solo and some creative drumming by Beauford. The lyrics are an emotional rollercoaster - it's a song about two friends, with one wanting to have a one night of passion. Although the hope is that they can be friends after it, by the end he realizes that he has to say goodbye. The lyrics are alluring: "Stay here with me, love, tonight / Just for an evening / When we make / Our passion pictures / You and me twist up / Secret creatures" and "Just for this evening / Let's strip down, trip out at this / One evening starts with a kiss / Run away." The violin at the high point of the song is fantastic - long, emotional chords. The perfect song for a romantic couple, a breakup, or a make-out session.

7) Drive In Drive Out

The best part about this song is the ending. It's a jam session that you don't want to end. Moore and Tinsley play a simple descending and ascending scale, that is layered over with guitar, bass, and drums. They play it over and over, with Moore improvising on the sax, Beauford providing some wicked drum licks. I found it funny that at the end of the song, you can hear Dave scream "Cut, that was bad as shit!" I think they deliberately left that bit in there, but if this was a bad version, I can't imagine how amazing a version would be up to Dave's standard.

8) Let You Down

This is one of the quieter songs on the album and a nice contrast to "Drive In Drive Out." The focus here is on the lyrics: "I'm a puppy for your love / I'm a puppy for your love," as Dave continually begs "Forgive Me." It's not the best DMB song yet, but it fits nicely after track 7 and before things are kicked up with track 9.

9) Lie In Our Graves

The acoustic guitar on the song is addicting. The imagery is also great: "When we're walking by the water / splish splash me and you taking a bath / when we're walking by the water / come to my toes to my ankles to my head to my soul / then I'm blow away." The drums accent the lyrics perfectly and the sax and violin provide great solos between the verses. The bridge at 2:40 isn't busy with flashy solos, but patiently leads up, with chatter in the background, guitar strumming, and joined by violin at the end. It sounds like the song will end, but at 4:55 Dave starts the chorus again, this time with Reynold's providing some clever guitar riffs, Moore punctuating with his horns, all crescendoing to an even better finish than if the song simply faded away.

10) Cry Freedom

It's hard to say why I like this song. The lyrics are good and the violin and electric guitar particularly shine through on this song. I think it's because the song is incredibly soothing with a deeper message. "Hands and feet are all alike / But gold between divide us / Hands and feet are all alike / But fear between divide us / Hands and feet are all alike / Hear what I say / Hear what I say." Just listen to this song in its entirety.

11) Tripping Billies

I love this song. The chorus sends a great message: "Eat, drink, and be merry / For tomorrow we die." I was always a fun of all the violin solos between verses - Boyd must have loved playing on this song. What could have been a 3 minute song is extended out to 5, with some infectuous solos and jamming.

12) Proudest Monkey

When I first got this CD, I hated this song. It's over 9 minutes, it's slow, and it doesn't have a definiteable rhythm or hook like all of the other songs. For what it's worth, if you listen through, you can enjoy some of the jamming around the 5 minute mark. I don't expect anyone to fall in love with this song, but since it's at the end, you can just consider Tripping Billies to be the end of the album and call it a day.

In the end, Crash really did provide me with an inspiration for how listening to music can be just as emotional as playing it. When I listen to Crash, it triggers the gamut of emotions. And I've found that no other band has really had that impact on me. At the same time, DMB made me want to listen to more music, as I quickly kept up with Ska, Rap, Alt. Rock in middle school, and the mainstream pop of the early 2000s. It's hard to say where my tastes are given the plethora of one-hit wonders and wannabees performing on MTV these days. But DMB has a tried and true formula - a 5 person band that can jam for 3 hours on stage have that be the most amazing live performance time in and time out. So if DMB ever comes to your area of the country, I strongly recommend you go out and see them. You won't be disappointed.

Off to College

I've always been a fan of Page 2 on ESPN.com for its humorous take on sports commentary. So when front page news was Michelle Wie getting into Stanford it was only appropriate for Jemele Hill to provide some much needed advice for Wie as she prepared for life on the Farm. You can read the full article here, but here are my favorite excerpts:

Now, obviously you won't be the typical freshman because you're already a millionaire, you've got an entourage that's as big as most of your lab classes, and you'll be one of the few girls on campus who haven't shown off some silicone in the latest installment of "Girls Gone Wild."

To set the record straight, I have yet to meet a female at Stanford with fake breasts and Girls Gone Wild will never come to Stanford. Lies!

Join a student organization that matches none of your interests whatsoever. In college, you're supposed to get to know different kinds of people and learn useless skills. Student organizations help you with both. I did some preliminary checking on Stanford's Web site and I found an organization that would be perfect for you -- the Mariachi Cardenal de Stanford. It's an organization for student mariachis, and the best part is you have to take Music 157: Introduction to Mariachi Ensemble. That's the kind of class that, when your parents see it on your transcript, they will bludgeon you with a heavy object.

And I'm sure Michelle could use it to hone her violin skills, seeing as how every Asian baby learns to play a musical instrument. I dunno, but I see Michelle fitting right into the Ping Pong club.

I bet she'd also be a great RA. Everyone would come to her hall meetings. She's actually quite attractive, although her game face on the putting green leaves something to be desired.












And with pigtails and a sleepy yawn, she could fit right in with every other tired Freshman for 9AM chemistry.
I know you've got a ton of money, but no college experience is complete unless you sell some element of your body for a completely frivolous pursuit. The going rate for plasma on most college campuses is $20 to $30 per session. I once funded a spring break trip to Florida and sponsored a child in Uruguay with plasma money, but that's a story for another day. But can you imagine how much someone would pay for Michelle Wie's plasma? You could charge 60 or 70 bucks, easy.

I disagree. I donated blood Freshman year and all I got was an Xmas card in the mail at the end of the year. If Michelle really wants to rake in some money, she should consider being an egg donor. Every classified section of the Stanford Daily has listings for rich Palo Alto couples looking for an egg donor. For example: "$8000-$15000 for qualified, committed applicants. All Ethnic backgrounds welcome. Special need for Jewish, Asian, East Indian donors." And if you're tall, better! I bet Michelle could pay for her entire Stanford education with one egg. But then again, she has $20 million in the bank...

Anyway, I hope Michelle really tries to blend into Stanford. Hill is right - she should take classes, fail classes, stay up late eating Ramen, and enjoy all that Stanford has to offer.

This article further reminded me to take stock of the Unofficial 101 Things to Do At Stanford before you graduate. While the list, coming from the Alumni sponsored Stanford Magazine, is a bit more tame than the funnier Stanford Daily's version (Raise your hand in the middle of a lecture and ask a Nobel Laureate professor: “Why are you so arrogant? It’s not like you invented the wheel.”), I still think I should find out how much I've accomplished after 10 quarters on the Farm.

1. Throw paper wads from the balcony at Flicks. Definitely.
2. Hike to the Dish. Yes
3. Carve your initials into a table at the Oasis.
4. Learn the Axe cheer. I learned it Freshman year but I think it's the dumbest cheer and will refuse to re-learn it.
5. Fountain-hop. Freshman and Senior year!
6. Play Frisbee golf. Sadly no. I need to work on that.
7. Get to know a Nobel laureate. Nope, but Andrew Fire will be coming to speak in my dorm next quarter.
8. Go to an a capella concert. I saw all of Anna's Counterpoint concerts Freshman year.
9. Go on a Tahoe ski trip. Oh the horror of sleeping in a cabin with 50 other people.
10. Volunteer through the Haas Center. Of course.
11. Pull an all-nighter. Too many to count.
12. Learn a new language. A quarter of Chinese!
13. Go on your frosh dorm's San Francisco scavenger hunt. Completely debaucherous.
14. Attend a fraternity party. Sweaty and smelly.
15. Host a ProFro. Even better, I was a HoHo! And Max ended up coming to Stanford!
16. Hash. Worked at the Dining Hall for a quarter Freshman year.
17. Join in the midnight Dead Week Primal Scream. Yes.
18. Get kissed at Full Moon on the Quad. Too drunk to remember, but people say I did =p
19. Dance at the Mausoleum party. I can finally say yes to this, since they brought it back Senior year. Although it was pretty lame.
20. Do the Wacky Walk at Commencement. In June I will!
21. Storm the field after Big Game. Haha yeah right. We suck.
22. Visit the Cantor Center for Visual Arts. For class and for fun.
23. Take a freshman or sophomore seminar. History 48Q - South Africa: Contested Transitions. I got an A+ too :)
24. Study outdoors. The Oval is too distracting.
25. Attend a basketball game at Maples Pavilion. 6th man club this year!
26. Throw someone into the pool at MuFuUnSun. I dunked someone Freshman year.
27. View an item in Special Collections. As a history major...too many to count.
28.Hear the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Wow I haven't done this yet...
29. Vow to stop procrastinating. Every quarter.
30. Go to Senior Pub Night. A wee bit overrated, but still fun.
31. Rollerblade to class. I borrowed Harry's Freshman year and did this. I don't recommend it since the ground is really bumpy (although better rollerblades might have helped).
32. Attend a concert in MemChu. Saw Stanford's Symphony perform here.
33. Have brunch at Hobee's. When are you going to take me, Jenny?
34. Study abroad. Three weeks in Tokyo
35. Run Campus Drive. Yup!
36. Dance at Viennese Ball. Going this year!
37. Mentor a younger student. I'm an RA. Of course.
38. Go to Gaieties. Yup.
39. Go to the beach. Yup.
40. Learn to say CoPo, FroYo, CoHo, FloMo, ProFro and MemChu without embarrassment. Yeah, except CoPo must be a typo...
41. Fall asleep in Green Library. All too often.
42. See a play in the Nitery. Nope...
43. Play pick-up volleyball in the Oval. With sketchy grad students? I think not!
44. Bike Alpine Road. Yes, but only when I was trying to get to Arastredero.
45. Go to the top of Hoover Tower. Yes.
46. Eat dessert at Max's Opera Café. For my birthday!
47. Buy a Stanford sweatshirt. Every Stanford students has one.
48. Get into a bike accident. It was her fault!
49. Visit San Jose -- once. Okay, I've done it twice.
50. Catch yourself paying heed to the Honor Code. I think so.
51. Contemplate a Rodin sculpture. Only because it was a part of a clue during the Game.
52. Read a book for fun. Probably.
53. Plan a dorm program. Too many.
54. Complain about Wilbur food. Too often.
55. Buy clothes at the Gap. Socks and boxers.
56. Yell "Branner sucks!" All the time during Orientation Week.
57. Get to know your resident fellow. Yes.
58. Live on the Row. Well, not really, but I'm going to count it as yes, because when I went to debate camp in high school, I lived in SAE.
59. Ride a cable car. From the Wharf to Union Square!
60. Determine permanently and irrevocably the precise meaning of life. Hell no.
61. Go to Rinc-a-Delt. I don't know what they're talking about, sadly.
62. Study in a café off campus. I suppose Starbucks counts, but I've gone to Coupa Cafe a few times.
63. Volunteer to be a subject in a research study. All the time.
64. Invite a professor to dinner. Yes.
65. Attend a Women's Herstory Week event. I should really be a better person.
66. Vote. Yes.
67. Design a web page. Check it out!
68. Get a parking ticket. In downtown Palo Alto, yes.
69. Be an Orientation Volunteer. Sophomore year.
70. Write a letter to the Daily. I've done it twice. Once to protest a new housing policy and another to take out the hypen in Asian American.
71. Picnic in the Foothills. Sounds romantic.
72. Play the Game. Played and got my ass kicked. Planned one too.
73. Attend a reception at Hoover House. Nobody invites Undergrads :-(
74. Get to know an alum. Yes? My future boss graduated from Stanford Business School.
75. Attend a day game at the Sunken Diamond. I'm ashamed that I haven't.
76. Pose a question to a campus speaker. Maybe?
77. Go to the Dutch Goose on a Wednesday night. This is on the to-do list.
78. Ride the Marguerite. All too often.
79. Play sports with an Olympic athlete. Sadly this does not happen everyday.
80. Take an incomplete. I'm going to say yes, since I've done much worse with a Withdrawal.
81. See a Band halftime show. Ridiculous.
82. Go to Senior Dinner on the Quad. I will soon enough.
83. Eat peanuts at Antonio's Nut House (and throw the shells on the floor). Sounds stupid, but I'll give it a try.
84. Go to a career fair. Free Nalgene's and pens!
85. Play intramural inner-tube water polo. It was cancelled as an IM! Not fair!
86. Take a Spring Break trip with friends. Yup.
87. Lose a drinking game. All too often.
88. Raft on Lake Lag. Nope.
89. Go to Big Game at Cal. I skipped out this year, because, yes, we suck.
90. Play dorm vs. dorm paintball in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I should plan this for our dorm.
91. Donate blood. Freshman year!
92. Go steamtunneling. I did it last summer. If you don't know what steamtunneling is, check this Wiki article out.
93. Hike in Big Basin. Did some photography there.
94. Go on a date. Holla!
95. Take a class just because you hear the professor is great. I guess.
96. Attend a double feature at the Stanford Theater. Nope, just one movie.
97. Dance with the Band. On the band run!
98. Stay up all night talking in your dorm hallway. Oh the memories.
99. See the Stanford Improvisers. Yeah.
100. Attend a protest,demonstration, rally or sit-in. Supporting Stanford Workers!
101.Wear your cap and gown to The Graduate. I can't wait!

So I've done 75/101. 5 more and I "Bleed Cardinal red." I should have no problem knocking off about 10 more of these things before I graduate. All of those thoughts make me cherish the memories I have had at Stanford, and the memories I will have in 2007!

Peace!

Kicking Things Off

Finding Facebook posting inadequate and planning to never, ever, create a MySpace account, I've made a triumphant return to Blogging. I used to have a Xanga, even updating it everyday from Freshman to the middle of my Junior year of college. I've realized, that my life isn't incredibly exciting and furthermore, there's a lot I have to say about what's going on in the world. And my beliefs are constantly shaped by my experiences. So yada, yada, here I am with another blog to try and do that. Please comment if you like what you see or want me to write about something in particular.

Irony of the Day: "Bush Signs Bill to Preserve WWII Camps"
When I first read the article, I finally felt like Bush had done something right as a President. The National Park Service will administer a grant worth $38 million to preserve, research, and protect 10 internment camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. It's about time legislation like this was passed. After more than 60 years, the U.S. Government will no longer ignore the tragedy of internment, but protect and understand it. Good. Now here's the kicker: 1) Bush announces the new legislation at the Indian Treaty room. 2) Democrats Mike Honda and Doris Matsui of California co-sponsored the bill. I wonder if this bill would have ever been drafted in the first place without their representation. 3) I still can't get over the fact that it was President Roosevelt (Dem) who interned Japanese Americans in WWII and it was President Reagan (Rep) who signed a redress bill for surviving Japanese Americans in 1988. So who's side should Japanese Americans be on?

Reflective of this question is the current controversy over the refusal of Lt. Ehren Watada to deploy to Iraq and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACLs) refusal to support him [this is a PDF]. But hey, perhaps the best thing out of the new internment preservation legislation is that I could have a potential job in the future.

That's the story for now. Stay tuned for sports tomorrow!