It’s been a few weeks now, and headlines about the tragedy in Japan have started to fade to sidebars and back pages.  But imagine if your whole neighborhood had been taken out by water, your house gone.  Today would feel the same as three weeks ago. If you needed help to rebuild your house, too many helping hands would be not enough.  If we can’t get over there, the Red Cross offers us an awesome alternative.

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund, or click the red cross above.

We have 9 songs just about finished… We’ll add 3 more to the record and most likely drop 1. (That’s probably more math than you expected.) I’m so excited to say that without a doubt, this is the best batch of songs we’ve ever recorded. We’ve obviously had some time to work on them, (one Wednesday night at a time,) but I think that’s made this process more successful. Jawbox’s J. Robbins or Bill Barbot said the secret to a good band is getting a full-time job, and I think that has been true for us. We’re honestly just doing whatever we want… It’s no surprise moody pop songs are the result. That’s just who we are.

We’ve always struggled with the difference between our studio recordings and live shows/live record. I think that gap will be significantly smaller, because we practiced most of the songs in a small room for months and months. I feel the same as when we recorded Gravity Gets Things Done:  We’ve put together our favorite new songs… There’s a strong chance no one out there will ever hear them… So we’d better love them or there’s no point.

When I listen to the rough mixes, I barely hear the band we used to be. Bear in mind that most people probably think it all sounds the same, but from the drum set I hear all kinds of different stuff going on. The biggest difference is obvious: Gabe’s guitar is gone… He’ll lead all the songs from the Rhodes piano from now on, which means all the guitar glory is coming from Cam alone. (The equation behind our songs is simple: The Pale Pacific sound like 3 guys doing whatever and Cam doing something interesting.) The result of Gabe’s new stationary role is our foundation is more singular… We’ve solidified our roles. Once we realized that, we had all this new room to mess around with each of our parts, which has made Wednesday nights something I ALWAYS look forward to. (What do we sound like on a Wednesday night? I bet the people around us at the practice space think we’re the worst band on the planet. In most moments, I don’t think we’d disagree.)

Anyway, it’s getting there, slowly. I’ll start grabbing little snippets to post here so you can hear the songs as they progress!

-Greg

10. Lululemon Relaxed Fit Pants
Skinny pants are leaving faster than I thought they would, and Oprah is leading the charge. I’m okay with that, due to the fact that I don’t wear scarves, so skinny jeans don’t look right on me anyways. Also, I have a strict rule that people with muffin tops like mine shouldn’t wear tight pants.

9. Miraclebody Jeans by Miraclesuit
8. Magaschoni Embellished Leggings
The biggest upside to relaxed-fit pants is you can wear things underneath them. I’m positive both of these things could be worn underneath your relaxed fit pants and no one would notice. So that’s one more nail in skinny jeans’ coffin.

7. Five-Year Netflix Membership
This is the gift that keeps on giving, though for a specific amount of time. Still, my only memory of the last 7 years is watching Netflix movies. And getting married. So two things.

6. A Course in Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever by Marianne Williamson
I love it when authors stretch the sentence “eat better and work out” to 50,000 words. I also respect anyone who can wrap the two biggest Oprah-isms, weight loss and spirituality, into one best-seller. I assume Oprah commissioned this book to be written so she could put it on her list.

5. Williams-Sonoma Mini Croissants
The fact that these are mini means you won’t gain as much weight eating them, obviously, so it’s a nice tie-in to #6… They’re probably also invented by Oprah, so she makes money every time she eats one. And they’re mini, so she eats quite a few, making more money. Harpo wins again! They’re also the perfect companion for ‘lil smokies… And I’m always on board when ‘lil smokies are involved.

4. $1900 Jessica Leigh Diamond Earrings by Dana Rebecca Designs
This was a tough call for me… I couldn’t decide whether I should include these earrings, or the $2500 Oprah wristwatch on my list. On one hand, you have narcissistic wristwear, on the other you have a product she (probably) had nothing to do with, therefore making it an actual “thing” she stumbled upon and liked. Because of that, I guess I have to go with the earrings. The only downside I see is these weren’t made by Seattle’s Tincture Designs, which has the hottest chick in the game wearing her own chain. Because she made it… She’s a jewelry maker. So I guess I’d just say that while I appreciate jewelry making it onto her list, Oprah has completely overlooked the best jewelry out there right now. How dare you, sir.

3. $2500 Oprah Watch by Philip Stein
On second thought, how could I leave you off the list, ridiculously-priced-thing-that-no-one-wears-anymore? It’s too good. And while we’re talking about Oprah-themed things on Oprah’s list, how weird is it that Oprah Magazine isn’t on it? It MUST have in the past… (Answer: in 2002. Also, 2003.)

2. Hope in a Jar by Philosophy
I’m always amazing by Oprah’s brilliant use of cross-promotion. I assume this is her follow-up to that movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire.

1. Garrett’s Special Limited-Edition Favorite Things Tin
I’m almost positive this is the reason 2010 is the final season of Oprah’s show. The world has folded in on itself when there’s a Favorite Things Tin on the Favorite Things list. It’s like when the bad guy met himself at the end of Timecop, which I’m sure you remember did NOT go well for him.