California Stars

First off, to the three other people who like Wilco and AP at the same time: Yes, yes all my blog titles are also names of Wilco songs. Not that I think my blogs are anywhere near as great as Wilco songs or anything like that. I just happen to really enjoy Wilco and I am not very great with the clever one-liner titles (I'll leave that to Panic At The Disco). So, there ya go. Wilco. Rock it.

Anyway, this particular Wilco song (technically a Woodie Guthrie song used on the Mermaid Avenue series Wilco did with Billy Bragg) not only happens to be one of my favorites, but it's also very appropriate.

In the true AP staffer jet-setting fashion (please read that with appropriate levels of sarcasm), I am off to Los Angeles this evening. I'm excited because I believe it's the first time I'm traveling for work where it doesn't involve me meeting up with a tour bus. I'm going to be attending Book Expo America this weekend, hoping to get some good ideas for future coverage.

Among work-related activities, I also hope to hit up the Farmer's Market and, most definitely, an In-N-Out Burger. (Are you noticing the trend I have in talking about food? Yeah, I like to eat.)

Suggestions for other places I should dine are welcome.

The High Heat

Waiting for the weather to finally warm up in Cleveland (we're talking constant temps in the 70s and 80s) has been extremely painful. We'll get one--maybe two--days in a row that are mostly sunny with temps hovering somewhere around 64. Then we'll get seven straight days of rain. Ugh.

Good thing there were plenty of great new albums that dropped this month to keep me somewhat preoccupied while I wait for the sweltering summer heat I so enjoy. Here are the top 5 albums I was stoked for in May:

1. Charlotte Sometimes Waves & The Both Of Us (GEFFEN)

2. Death Cab For Cutie Narrow Stairs (ATLANTIC)

3. We Are Scientists Brain Trust Mastery (VIRGIN)

4. 2*Sweet Sleep Without Dreams (SELF-RELEASED)

5. Mates Of State Re-Arrange Us (BARSUK)


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PS: Before my blog titles start getting really strange and/or really obvious, two points for anyone who can identify the thing they have all had (and will continue to have) in common. Current AP employees need not apply.

Misunderstood

When people not super-familiar with AP find out we're located in Cleveland, I usually get a response something along the lines of:

"Why?"
"Have you always lived in Cleveland?"
"And you moved to Cleveland for that job?"

Well, you know what? Cleveland ain't that bad, folks.

Sure, if you had asked me 2.5 years ago if I would ever live in Cleveland (or Ohio, for that matter), I probably would have given you a blank stare and/or laughed. I've established a pattern of being on the move, but Ohio? (First off, it's a Big 10 state, but that's another blog entry for another time...)

Well, Cleveland may not be as big or exciting as some cities, but it's a pretty decent place to live. Aside from it being fairly cheap (though that's getting less and less everywhere) and easy to get around in, people in Cleveland know good food. And there is usually fun things to do, as long as you know where to look. For example, this Memorial Day weekend I was able to find combinations of both. Not counting the two baseball games I saw (our AP party Friday, then the Sunday afternoon game where I got my first sunburn of the season), I also attended Greek Fest in Tremont on Saturday and the Cleveland Rib Cook-off at Tower City on Sunday.

The food at Greek Fest was amazing--I still have some pastries in the fridge, and the stuffed grape leaves were fantastic. And I voted Smokin' Joes then Texas Thunder then the Carolina Rib King the best ribs at the cook-off. Not too much beats good smoked ribs, and the people watching at both events was phenomenal.

I did leave the rib cook-off well before Seether took the stage, though. It probably would be too much to ask for a decent rib cook-off band (wait, is that an oxymoron?) in ol' Cleveland...

Someone Else's Song

So, David Cook won American Idol last night.

Let me just start by saying I absolutely abhor American Idol. I have held this position since the very first episode debuted (the summer after my sophomore year in college, so evidently this show has already been on for quite a while). When it started, I thought it was a terrible affront to the music industry. Things have changed so much in the music industry even in the six years the show's been on that I'm not sure that's really the case anymore (or if it were ever the case, for that matter. I thought I knew everything when I was 20.) Plus, some 90+ million people voted for the finale--the battle of the two Davids (Cook and Archuleta, if you're out of the loop)--and can 90 million people really be wrong? (Yes, but that's beside the point).

Now, you may be asking yourself why I know so much about a show I dislike and presumably don't watch.

Well, there are two reasons for that: A.) I don't have cable and there is not a lot on Wednesday nights. B.) My mom was slightly obsessed with this season...

Insert all the "your mom" jokes you like (actually, MY MOM thinks those are funny), but she was pretty shamelessly addicted to this season. I happened to be on the phone with her for the last 20 minutes of the finale, and she regaled me with all the details of the last few weeks of the season, including how Simon and Randy had already called Archuleta the winner on Tuesday night after the final performances. She's been a HUGE Cook fan since the beginning, so she of course was disappointed with that prediction, but she thought perhaps Cook would end up doing better on his own, without being tied into the Idol contract. Everyone said that Archuleta had the better voice but that Cook was the complete package. Archuleta is also 17, so there was the novelty of a teenager Idol.

Aside from thinking he is incredibly cute (my mom actually said she wished Cook lived in Cleveland so I could figure out a way to meet him. Sheesh!), David C. did his original audition in, wait for it.... Omaha! Even though he's from the Kansas City area, he began his Idol journey in the Cornhusker State, making him an automatic champion for the Midwestern people.

Until my mom reminded me, I had forgotten that he had auditioned there. I actually watched that audition show because I really wanted to see if anyone I knew showed up. After that show, I will admit that I was a little drawn in and watched the first few episodes, but I hadn't seen the majority of the season. It is pretty sweet that someone who auditioned in Nebraska ended up winning. The middle of the country (or the "fly-over" area as many on the coasts like to refer to it) rarely gets the credit it deserves.

Not that supplying the newest American Idol is as important as being the home state of the next President (don't worry, though, Obama and Illinois will take care of that soon enough).

But there is something to be said for a show that can rally an entire country. Chalk it up to our nation's love of competition, cheesy "reality" drama and our TVs. But any show that can have my normally sane and super cool mother put a contestant voter number on freaking speed dial is really something.

She's A Jar

You know, I really hate starting blogs. The first entry is always the hardest. You want to make a good impression and also set the tone for following entries. You wanna be witty and clever and a little snarky, but also come off as well-spoken and educated.

Um, well... I can't promise you any of those things. Proper blogging has never been my strength, but as the only female in the editorial department, I'm going to try my best to hold my own.

So where to start? I guess the essentials...

I'm Rachel and I'm the managing editor at AP.
I oversee the film and style sections, as well as the Op-Eds and New Releases, plus I try to keep everyone else on schedule, too.
I have lived in four states (Nebraska, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio, in that order--but some for much longer than others).
I have a cat named Daisy-Face.
I play in a weekly euchre league. (What?! You don't know what euchre is? Google that bizness!)
I love, love, love Nebraska Cornhusker football.
My favorite band is Wilco.
I like going to see the Tribe play at the field formerly known as the Jake.
I have a younger brother who is going to be a famous filmmaker some day.
I know how to sew and bake pastry.
My hometown literally has two stoplights.
I've never had a proper cast, but I've broken both my nose and my foot.
I love traveling.

Anything else is gonna cost you dinner and two martinis.

Anyway, I guess "stay tuned" for updates on my (mostly musical and work-related) exploits as I (not so) patiently wait for summer to finally get to Cleveland.