Sunday, January 8, 2012

Busy Season Soundtrack 2011 Edition: Relevant?

FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2:

Timeliness, that is, having information available to decision makers before it loses its capacity to influence decisions, is an ancillary aspect of relevance. If information is not available when it is needed or becomes available so long after the reported events that it has no value for future action, it lacks relevance and is of little or no use. Timeliness alone cannot make information relevant, but a lack of timeliness can rob information of relevance it might otherwise have had.

Considering the text above, this post hardly appears relevant considering I have flipped the calendar page and am about to kick-off busy season 2012. But even though these songs reach back eight to twelve months, I assert that they are relevant since my musical tastes have not diverged significantly from this time.

I fully acknowledge this should have been posted sooner, but a benefit to the timing of the post is that it is giving me something exciting to think about: new tunes I'll be rocking out to in 2012 are on their way.

Without further ado, I present the 2011 Busy Season Soundtrack (direct link and Grooveshark widget) along with comments on selected tracks:

Busy Season Soundtrack 2011

Busy Season 2011 by James McConeghey on Grooveshark

"Animal" by Neon Trees - I actually don't remember if they played this on the Current or not, but it was more or less the audio equivalent of taking four shots of espresso with two five-hour energy drink chasers.

"Second Chance" by Peter, Bjorn, and John - Peter Bjorn? Or Pete Yorn? This won't help clear things up:


"Wait So Long" by Trampled by Turtles - I'm guessing Mumford and Sons paved the Current's airwaves for these.

"Walking Far from Home" by Iron and Wine - This song lulled me into an hypnotic state and forced me to add it to the list.

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes - I wonder how many millenials heard this song, threw all their participation trophies and 10th place medals into the trash, and had a "what does it all mean" crisis?

"I Want the World to Stop" by Belle and Sebastian - I've heard them be described as "sad bastard music," but these guys are pretty good.

What awesome songs of 2011 did I miss?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Cycle Count

As 2011 came to a close, I did what most accountants do before ringing in the new year: take stock of my (bicycle) inventory.

Perhaps it's surprising that I had 11 bicycles in my possession on December 31, 2011.

Yes, eleven.

But I assure you there are perfectly good reasons for me to hoard bicycles like the proverbial cat lady. If I were clever, I would rattle off 22 lines about 11 bicycles a la The Nails, but alas I am not:

#1 - Giant TCR: Every cyclist needs a good road bike.

#2 - Surly Long Haul Trucker: Cycling isn't all fun and games. I still need a commuter bike and a grocery getter to take care of business.

#3 - Pati's bike: Only makes sense that a cyclist's wife would have one, too.

#4 - Raleigh SC-30: For year-round cycling, a beater bike is a must to soak up the punishment of Minnesota winters.

#5 - Sears bike (Greenspeed): A fixed-gear conversion with drop bars just waiting to be flopped and chopped. How can any self-respecting Minneapolis cyclist NOT have a fixie?

#6 - Dunelt 3-Speed: The perfect bike for a Sunday ride with Pati.

#7 - Raleigh Superbe 3-Speed: Um....It's always good to have a spare 3-speed?

#8 - Raleigh Sports 3-Speed: There's got to be a legitimate reason to have three 3-speeds...Hmm...Wait, I've got it! This one is a women's bike, so I'm just avoiding gender bias here. That's valid, right?

#9 - Diamond Back MTB: So...Just like I need a spare 3-speed, I also need a spare winter beater bike.

#10 - Raleigh Hybrid: A third-string winter bike. This is no different than NFL teams that carry three quarterbacks on their roster. You really never know what could happen and it's important to be prepared.

#11 - Diamond Back Hybrid: This one is earmarked for a friend. Seriously.

Now that I've thought about it, is 11 really enough?