Hello loyal followers! Monkey Monday is back, and monkier than ever! Today we got some furry flyers, some twangy tunes, some food, and more! If you’re a student and currently on fall break, I hope you’re getting some much needed rejuvenation. If you’re not a student on fall break, I appreciate you regardless, and hope you can tackle this week with a big’ol smile on your face!

Monkey Monday #3, here we go!

Byron and Baron

When I’m at home, I tend to spend lots of time with my dog Diana. One of her little doggy quirks is getting obsessed: she will see some creature come out of some place, and become obsessed with that place for the next 3 weeks, expecting to find a snack. As of late, her obsession had been the fire pit. So one day when we were outside, I didn’t bat an eye to her crazily sniffing around the pit.

What I failed to realize, was there actually WAS something there this time. It wasn’t until I saw her fling some black object out the pit, into the air, and into the grass did I understand the situation. I hurried over, yelling “Diana, leave it!” (which of course, she did, because she’s a good girl.)

What I found in the grass was a tiny little bat! I had never seen a bat near our house, much less in the daytime. It was moving around a little bit, obviously alive, but clearly something was wrong, as it couldn’t fly, and was literally out in broad daylight. The first thing I did was lock Diana in her kennel inside, as I didn’t want her going dog-mode on this poor little guy. I quickly googled what to do with an injured bat, and I learned I couldn’t do anything but bring him to a professional.

So I did the next best thing: made him a little box to stay safe in until I could figure out what to do next.

With a better view, I could confirm my suspicions that there was something wrong with his arm, as it was all crooked and messed up. I tried to give him some water, but he wouldn’t drink any.

I called around to see if any places could take a bat, and they all pointed me to the wildlife rehabilitation center, which was an hour away. I worked in a couple hours, there was no way I could make that. But I couldn’t just let my new friend Byron perish.

Against my Dad’s advice, during rush hour, I drove an hour into the cities, determined to get care for Byron. I called my coworker, told her I was taking care of a bat and might show up late, she was cool about it, probably more confused than anything.

Byron ended up hanging upside down in the shoebox the whole ride there. I kept checking on him at red lights, and he seemed to be doing okay, just sleeping, which was a good sign. I was glad that he felt safe enough to get some shut-eye. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of my precious passenger prince, but you can picture it.

Once we made it there, I quickly rushed him in, and after I filled out some paperwork I left him in the hands of the experts. They said they would let me know if he dies, and to this day I have not received any word of his passing, so I have good reason to believe that Byron pulled through. I also somehow made it to work on time.

About a week later, while I was out in the backyard with Diana, I was jumpscared by yet another bat, this one hanging from our clothesline.

He was just hanging there, menacingly, in the daytime. With caution, I mowed the backyard, around him, constantly looking over to see if he flew away. Alas, he kept hanging. He seemed alive, but at this point I was getting worried.

Eventually, after I finished mowing the lawn I went over and tapped the line that he was hanging on. After a few good taps he fell to the ground.

So I scooped him up with our pooper scooper, and after further investigation, he had recently passed on from this life.

So naturally, we gave him a proper funeral and burial.

Thus concludes the saga of Byron and Baron. Bats are really sweet, cute creatures. Just don’t touch them! Rabies is very serious, and can kill grown adults very fast if not treated.

-Nate

Pick of the Week

For this week’s recommendation, I got Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, by Big Thief.

The first time I tried listening to this album was back in winter 2022, when I was snow blowing my neighbors driveway. I listened to the first 30 or so minutes of it, and was not a fan, so I turned it off and never gave it another listen.

Back in August, Hailey and I went to visit my grandparents for a weekend. it’s about a two and a half hour drive, and on the way home Hailey told me she was going to sleep. I decided to take this time in the car to listen to something new. I thought of this album, and decided I was ready to give it another shot.

And WOW I am so glad I did!

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is a modern folk banger. The album cover is a bunch of cute creatures sitting around a bonfire singing songs with a guitar, and the music sounds exactly like that. It’s warm, gentle, twangy, exciting. There are 20 songs, and lots of variation. Lots of the songs, like the opener Change, the title track Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You and Sparrow, for example, are all soft beautiful, cozy folk tunes. Others, like Time Escaping, Spud Infinity, and Red Moon, are upbeat, fun, "travellin’ ‘cross the ol’ trail” sounding music, and I love it. It was just the right thing for my quiet drive across Minnesota.

I like this album alot! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy, but also vulnerable, in a peaceful kind of way. If you want to get back in touch with the side of you that takes a nap on the living room floor with a stuffed animal in your arms while your mom is working from home, give this a listen!

-Nate

Is it Ripe?

Bright Eyes. Where do I begin with Bright eyes. Lead by Conor Oberst, alongside Nate Walcott, and Mike Mogis, make up what is a strong contender for my favorite band of all time. They are responsible for my favorite album of all time (more on that next week), and have made me cry on numerous occasions. Only reason I can’t confidently rank them at the tippy top, is that they have like 9 albums, and I have not listened to every single one in such depth that it doesn’t feel right to put them all the way up there. But just about everything they’ve put out, I’ve listened to and loved.

All that being said, when I heard they were releasing a new album this year, I was very excited, as I’d never been able to experience a brand new Bright Eyes album, even if they are past their prime. When the time finally came, at 11pm central time on a Thursday, I threw my beats over my ears, sprawled out on my bed, and hit play.

One thing I want to address before we dive into the music, is Connor Oberst. For a long time, he has displayed very worrisome behavior onstage, and it has continued to escalate recently, to an especially concerning degree. I don’t wish to go into detail, you can do research if you’re really curious, but you can feel his instability leaking into this album, which drastically affected my listen.

We start with Five Dice, which is a classic Bright Eyes intro, meaning it’s weird, and meant to scare you away. And honestly, when compared to all the other album openers, this is probably the tamest one. After that, we get to the lead single, Bells and Whistles, which is a pretty standard Bright Eyes tune. It has a sense of growing up, which fits Bright Eyes well, given that this album is coming out 25 years after their debut.

As we go down the tracklist, Conor and co. really hit their stride, even this late in their career. El Capitan is awesome, and sounds like something out of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, or Cassadaga, which is awesome. The next track, Bas Jan Ader is also fantastic. Then we get to Tiny Suicides, which is a classic Bright Eyes devastation of a song, and a contender for my song of the year, and is doubly harrowing given the light of Conor Oberst’s situation.

The album starts to slow down a bit, with a few misses here and there for me. A lot of the later songs have an almost scary tone to them, like at any point we’re going to witness a train wreck.

That being said, I really like this album. While I don’t think it’s the best Bright Eyes work by any means, it’s still a high quality body of work that they’ve put out. It feels fresh, and inspired, which at this stage in their career is awesome to see.

While the future looks a little bleak for this band, as Conor definitely needs some help, I’m really happy we got another album from them.

Favorite Song(s): Bells and Whistles, El Capitan, Bas Jan Ader, Tiny Suicides, Tin Soldier Boy

-Nate

Ripeness: 7

Interview Time!

Parin’s Palette

Ballboy Ben’s Ball Update

Barber Nate strikes again!

As of writing this (Saturday night), I have just messed up my a friend of mine’s hair pretty badly. It was a humbling experience, and I may retire the clippers for good.

That being said, I need a morale boost. So I’m going to share a successful haircut from earlier this week from my friend Josiah! I was really stoked to cut his hair, it looked so fun and wavy.

This time, I really wanted to prioritize the consultation process. So before we got to any cutting of hairs, we talked about what he wanted. He told me he wants to obliterate the sides and back, buzz it really short, and keep most of the length on top, taking off whatever is necessary to keep it looking nice.

So I went to work! The first thing I did was scissor cut weight off the sides and back before I went in with the clippers. It might not have been necessary, but I’m not the most confident in what my clippers can handle.

Then I put his hair up in cute little clips so I could clear the back and sides completely for my clippers.

After cleaning up with the clippers, I let his hair down and began blending the top into the sides/back.

Then, I scissor cut the top (without tension, gotta let those curls fall naturally) until we were satisfied!

-Nate

Ashley’s Aviator Animal Action

Quan Quotes

Verse Of The Week