Green Week

The mass-market has gone "green", or so they say.
All this week on TV, in print, and around the interweb, the already over-buzzed green movement has reached new heights. We've seen the tipping point.
If I had a dollar for every time I've seen a CFL, the marketing poster-child, or heard the vague phrase "enough energy to power X homes" this week, I might have enough to buy a tank of gas.

Sadly, it's all spin. Nobody wants to be left behind. Example: the new Chevy Tahoe commercials:


[Hybrids are feathers, SUVs are bricks]

Do people really believe they're making a tangible positive effect on the environment by changing their light bulbs or buying a Tahoe? Or are they obeying what the media tells them? And for those who do believe they're helping, are they victim of smoke and mirrors marketing? Is it even about conscience? After all, the Prius is the new status symbol.

I can't answer these questions, which are distractingly more about sociology than saving the earth. But as of today, I am living carless. Am I better than you? (that is, of course, another motivation for many people to live green) Yes. Just don't tell anybody that I don't recycle.

Ingrid

Ingrid's time has finally come. There was never much love: it was a purely physical relationship. I'm looking forward to new pursuits and collecting on the insurance money she left me.

Rest In Peace. Or don't; whatever. See if I care.

Jens Lekman @ Logan Square Auditorium, 3/31/2008

My second concert in the second city was conveniently located right in my neighborhood.
Jens Lekman is a renowned name in Swedish indie pop - a genre with talent to spare already. He injects quite a bit of humor in his work, but I'm hesitant to peg Jens as a comic artist, because I don't want to suggest his act becomes tiresome quickly like the Flight of the Conchords or Weird Al Yankovic.
Jens writes songs with over-the-top melodic ties to an earlier era and storytelling dripping with sardonic sweetness. It's the most original cliché you'll ever hear.
After announcing he wanted this show to be special (and to refrain from recording it on your digital P&S), he began a magical, short, hour. The crowd had more fun than they'd had all weekend; I hardly remember that I in fact remained standing still.
I can't guarantee the magic will come from the record alone, but if you get a chance, pick up his latest: "Night Falls Over Kortedala" and to hear a taste of his wonderful storytelling, check out his SXSW performance as recorded by NPR's All Songs Considered.

Supporting the show was fellow Swede Mikael Carlsson (as The Honeydrips) and midwest-born Marla Hansen.