Lotus Eaters

Last summer before I left for the Land of Oz...I mean, D.C....I went to watch a great new band perform in Milwaukee. And now the Lotus-Eaters have finally released some rough demos for my east coast enjoyment!  Ok, full disclosure, my friend Zach is a member of this "psych and garage band", but I honestly think they have a great sound and infectious energy. If you're in Milwaukee I highly recommend cracking open a PBR and letting your hair down at one of their rockin' live shows. In the meantime, enjoy a listening party on a couch nearest you.


Like what you hear? Check them out on Facebook and see them live!

Random but relevant...

The day of my own personal Lotus-Eaters listening party I also caught up with some books I had not seen in a while. That day in particular I was traversing the great American landscape in a camper with John Steinbeck and his dog Charley when a surprisingly relevant passage jumped out at me:


"When a city begins to grow and spread outward, from the edges, the center which was once its glory is in a sense abandoned to time. Then the buildings grow dark and a kind of decay sets in; poorer people move in as the rents fall, and small fringe businesses take the place of once flowering establishments. The district is still too good to tear down and too outmoded to be desirable. Besides, all the energy has flowed out to the new developments, to the semi-rural supermarkets, the outdoor movies, new houses with wide lawns and stucco schools where children are confirmed in their illiteracy. The old port with narrow streets and cobbled surfaces, smoke-grimed, goes into a period of desolation inhabited at night by the vague ruins of men, the lotus eaters who struggle daily toward unconsciousness by way of raw alcohol. Nearly every city I know has such a dying mother of violence and despair where at night the brightness of the street lamps is sucked away and policemen walk in pairs. And then one day perhaps the city returns and rips out the sore and builds a monument to its past" (Steinbeck, John. Travels with Charley: In Search of America. New York: Penguin, 1962. 182).

I love how Steinbeck has me drowning in melancholy one moment and laughing hysterically the next. There were mostly bursts of laughter, however, which led to some awkward moments on the metro.

And look at that lovely citation. The English major in me just will not die. Yes, I know, I didn't indent the block quote. But what can I say?  I'm a rebel.

Peace.