Marmalade Daydreams

I love being a teacher -- not only do I get to hang out with a bunch of twelve-year olds all day around whom (once a baseline level of mutual respect has been established) it's completely acceptable to be goofy and make bad jokes (wonderful for an exceedingly goofy jokester such as myself), and the inherent sense of accomplishment from "shaping young minds", but, on top of our ten "sick" days, we get all of these sweet vacations. I'm currently in the lobby of the Gold Miner's Daughter, at the base of Alta, a ski resort that's near the top of my short list of favorite locations on our planet. In case you don't know, Alta is home to the best snow in the region with the greatest snow on earth -- it regularly gets dumps of "champagne powder", snow so dry and light that its crystals effervescently sparkle in the air as a ephemeral memory of some lucky schusser's flight down the steep walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon. If that weren't enough, the GMD is an amazing spot -- regardless of its complete lack of pretention, it has a happening bar scene, great food, a couple of hot tubs and a decent pool table. Plus, since the dorms were full, I got a private room with a king-size bed for the same price. Nice.

Must be off to slumberland soon to ensure some early runs before it gets too soft tomorrow (spring skiing conditions as the temperature is expected to near 50 F), but wanted to quickly relate my experience last night seeing Sonic Youth at Webster Hall. The fifth time I've seen this veteran group of audionauts, and by far the best -- their explorations, setting layers of guitar dissonance and explosions over rhythms alternating between open-ended spaciness and tight funky rock, unfolded like a great page-turner -- I was continuously in a state of disbelief at how much I was enjoying myself, couldn't wait to see what they'd play next, and, despite wanting it to go on and on, I was completely satisfied at show's end. The superfans that I was standing next to were freaking out at the song selection and said they'd never seen a show like it. Kudos to Kim, Thurston, Lee, Jim, and Scott -- at the top of their game after 24 years. If anyone reading this happens to be in Burlington tomorrow (or in Mexico next week, or Japan in April...) do yourself a favor and blow your mind. For the rest of us, here's a clip of them playing one of my favorite songs from their last album at CBGB's before it closed. Concise perfection, and I love Kim's dancing.