Life is made up of a million possibilities. It’s like a large scale choose-your-own-adventure novel. Everyday choices can alter your very existence. By going to the store and flipping to page 190, you could find the love of your life, by flipping to page 180 you end up eaten by wolves. hose pages were metaphorical by the way. This week Carlye, the Jewish princess, and Brian, the Gentile giant, have some big decisions of their own … will taking the road less traveled make all the difference?
Carlye: Jack’s Mannequin, or Rosh Hashanah?
I’ve got a pretty rough decision ahead of me this weekend. You see, tomorrow night is the first Star Course show of the year – Jack’s Mannequin (Andrew McMahon from Something Corporate’s side project). However, it’s also the first night of Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year.
It’s a hard decision because I’m basically obligated to go to both Jack’s Mannequin (I’m a junior manager for Star-Course) and Rosh-Hashanah services (I’m a Jew and my family will kill me if I don’t go). So, although it may seem counter-intuitive, I’ve designed a Jack’s Mannequin (JM) vs. Rosh Hashanah (RH) point-counterpoint-within-a-point-counterpoint for your reading pleasure:
The Music:
JM: Sounds like Relient K and Ben Folds’ (sans his style of lyrics) musical love child.
RH: Traditional blowing of the Shofar – an instrument made out of a ram’s horn.
The winner? Rosh Hashanah. A man is specifically trained to blow a horn for as long as he physically can – I can’t knock a dude with stamina.
The Scene:
JM: Even though you probably sit there through many torturous anthro lectures, Foellinger Auditorium is a surprisingly good concert venue.
RH: Families, friends, hours of praying and lots of brunettes.
The winner? Jack’s Mannequin. Music in English is easier to understand than prayers in Hebrew.
The Extras:
JM: With three openers (Daphne Loves Derby, The Hush Sound and Copeland), it’s like a mini-music-festival.
RH: Binge-eating challah bread (absolutely amazing), matzo ball soup and apples with honey the entire weekend … yum.
The Final Winner?
It was a hard decision but … I think it’s going to have to be Jack’s Mannequin. (After all, what kind of music section would this be if I advised you against seeing a concert?) But, feel free to join me at Hillel on Saturday and Sunday afternoon while I make up for lost time from the night before – we’ll break bread together. Or, in this case, challah.
Brian: Ludacris or Indie Cred?
I can’t wait for this weekend; Pygmalion is the culminating moment of my life. I’m going to get so many one-inch buttons to put on my messenger bag. People will be so impressed by the variety of bands they never heard of which decorate my satchel.
Most uber-pumped for? Man Man. They’re on Friday and are the least accessible at the fest; no Garden State-poseur-lame asses there. Man Man has four drummers and they drum with more drums instead of drumsticks; I’m uber-pumped…
I wanna li-li-li-lick you from your head to yo’ toes
Wait, what was that? Ludacris? Oh man, he’s playing at the Assembly Hall on Friday too. I put him in my mixes between Pavement and Mount Eerie for a chuckle, but that’s it.
We can do it in a library, on a pile of books, but you can’t be too loud
Hmm, that’s kind of cool…er… anyway, Man Man at Pitchfork Fest this summer screamed for like 30 minutes. Hmm, that doesn’t sound as cool as it initially did. I want to dance this Friday all of the sudden; dance in a bump and grinding motion.
Sauna, Jacuzzi, in the back row at the movie
No! Get out of my head! I can’t go see you; I hate arena concerts, mainstream music and Crash, the movie you co-starred in. Nothing about you is appealing, nothing but your mad flow and crazy beats and ability to make music both hilarious and insightful. No, I need to see Man Man and wear girls’ blazers and drink PBR. I need to … I need to…
move from the bed down to the down to the to the flo’
Well, I’ll check out Ludacris; it is pretty ironically hilarious, and how indie is that? I just won’t tell anyone about it.
