Jenville

From time to time, I have something I'd like to let you all know, and now I finally have a place to put it. Welcome to the new and improved, JENVILLE 2.0!

This poor site has been gathering dust for years because I've just been too busy to give it the overhaul it desperately needed. In addition to the new look, the site is now running on Drupal (surprise, surprise) which should make it a lot easier to update and maintain. That means you can leave comments (nice ones, of course) and keep up to date by subscribing to the RSS feed.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the old Jenville, all the articles are accessible in the pink column on the right.

To celebrate the sites relaunch, I've finally posted the "Saver" video that Liam created last year. But don't tell Arlo you've seen it (read on to find out why).

So please stop by from time to time. I look forward to hearing from you.

In the summer of 2007, Arlo spent some much-anticipated time in front of his Uncle Liam's green screen, this time, in full Superhero regalia. Liam turned on the lights, camera, and fan and just let Arlo monologue for as long as he liked.

The result is the brilliant and little-seen "Saver!" video.

Unfortunately, the fast flying and running action scared 3-yr-old Arlo to death and he ran out of the room crying when he saw it (an ending made even more unfortunate by the fact that Liam stayed up all night editing it so that Arlo could have it to take home). Arlo refused to ever watch it again, a stance he's sticking with to this day. So don't tell him you've seen it... he doesn't even want to know the awesomeness he's missing.

Arlo has been obsessed with Queen's "We Will Rock You" for months now. Here's what happens when his obsession meets Uncle Liam's green screen and video directing magic.

If you haven't already, check out LiamLynch.net and start watching Liam's podcast, Lynchland.

XL is the latest installment in my end-of-the-year compilation tradition. Although this compilation may be “x-tra large,” the title actually refers to the fact that I turned forty in 2005 (XL = 40, get it?).

Music didn’t come easily last year. I had to fight for it. Because it is difficult for me to listen to most music while I’m writing, and because I was writing pretty much non-stop for much of the year, I went for long stretches with no music at all. I also didn’t have time or energy for my usual music exploration, so relied on my good friends and family to point me to all the new music I did
manage to hear.

Here's the track listing:

1. Brendan Benson | Spit It Out
2. The Decemberists | Sixteen Military Wives
3. Of Montreal | Don’t Ask Me to Explain
4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away
5. Tubeway Army (Gary Numan) | Me! I Disconnect from You
6. LCD Soundsystem | Daft Punk Is Playing at My House
7. Spoon | My Mathematical Mind
8. Luke Temple | Old New York
9. Devendra Banhart | This Is the Way
10. Iron and Wine | Naked As We Came
11. Paul McCartney | Jenny Wren
12. Fruit Bats | Canyon Girl
13. Death Cab for Cutie | Your Heart is an Empty Room
14. Jon Auer | These Times
15. The Futureheads | Decent Days and Nights
16. Dan Zanes | All Around the Kitchen