god knows when but you're doin' it again

I feel like the Midnight Cheater what Cheats at Midnight (or 3pm, whatever) because I keep making these tiny posts with vacation pictures in them. But I've got all these pictures AND I have these awesome links so really.. it's more of a peanut butter and chocolate thing rather than a Trojan Horse vacation slide show, right?!? Right. So endeth the rationalization portion of this post and so begin the Links To Awesome:

I started subscribing to Willamette Week's music blog Local Cut for a couple of different reasons. 1) They asked if they could use one of my pictures (Wonder Ballroom) in a story. They didn't use it because I didn't read my email in time, but obviously they have discerning taste and impeccable manners.
2) I would read about a band on Fluxblog or Said the Gramophone or elsewhere only to find out months later that said band was from my very own city (Blitzen Trapper, I'm thinking of you). I figured it was my civic duty to be better informed as Portland has a ridiculous number of bands.
3) They are often funny.

Recent Local Cut posts enjoyed by me: Dear and Far (about the strange relief of finding out M. Ward didn't up and move to New Hampshire) and this Menomena tour diary entry The Further Adventures of Menomena (Western USA).

I LOVED this post at You Ain't No Picasso -- it's his special birthday mix titled My 21st mix: Songs No One Should Grow Up Without. It got me thinking about songs that mean a lot to me and how I came to find them. Anyway -- it's a great post.

I'm neutral on The National, but I thought both this concert review and this comparison with Spoon were good reads, ably illuminating each side of The National fence.