Today was not a good day at work. I slept fitfully, then had to sit through two stressful, depressing meetings. Fiscal crisis is part of the scholarly life, but it feels much worse here at the U of A than it did in California because the cupboard here was bare to begin with. I hope things get better in a few years but I'm not going to bet on it.

Coming on top of yesterday's conflict between good friends and my general despair at the direction of the American Presidential campaign, the news we received this afternoon put me in a pretty dark space. But then Nils Bernstein came to the rescue:

**OCT 26: PAVEMENT "CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN: L.A.'S DESERT ORIGINS"

Warm on the heels of the insanely successful "Slanted And Enchanted" re-release, we're reissuing PAVEMENT's second record as well. "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins" is out October 26 and features a whopping 39 (yes, 39) extra tracks, making it probably, objectively speaking, the best reissue of all time (name a better one and you get an autographed Interpol CD - I'm serious). 11 of these tracks are completely unreleased studio songs that have never even been bootlegged, and essentially amount to a great lost Pavement album. As a budget-priced double-CD, this is an early Xmas gift and then some. Again, NO ADVANCES, though I will have promos a few weeks before release and will do what I can to help you cover this.

Advances? Who needs advances? I'd gladly shell out big money for this one. And to have it come out on my family's highest holiday -- Skylar's birthday and our wedding anniversary -- makes it seem like divine intervention. I can already feel the first ripples of the joy that will tear me in two.

Mode: Scorpio!
Muse: Range Life - Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain