for your consideration... 'Carrier Pigeon', Rummikub and a creek at night
From music to games to late night creek sits, Advice Columnist Corbin Lanker offers you a few topics for your consideration as summer draws to a close.
In conversation with my editor-in-chief and publisher of this fine media outlet, I was reminded that I needn’t only write Dear Corbie articles as my title is “Advice Columnist”. This exchange encouraged me to believe that I could use this authorship as an opportunity to advocate for the things that I love. Thus, I present to you: for your consideration..., a collection of things for you to consider, but mostly an opportunity for me to share that which I think people should be thinking about or up to (which is to say, what I’ve been thinking about and up to).
Carrier Pigeon
I have heard tell that we are in the midst of a ‘brat summer.’ While I cannot tell you what that means (I have asked many of my peers and found their answers to be utter nonsense), I can tell you that if a musical album should be the theme of a season I believe we should be entering Carrier Pigeon late summer. Or early fall. Frankly, the naming convention is beside the point.
Carrier Pigeon is the debut album of indie-y, folksy Odie Leigh. Leigh is one of a generation of musicians born from the pandemic and a meteoric rise to fame on TikTok. Strangely enough, her first popular offering was based on a bet with her two rapper roommates during the pandemic to see who could be the first to go viral. At the time, she wouldn’t have considered herself a musician, but joined the bet out of spite eventually producing a hit that would roll her into a vibrant catalogue of singles and EPs with 2024’s Carrier Pigeon representing her first full length album. The interplay of the themes within Carrier Pigeon exhibit a remarkable prowess for lyrical interplay for this artist’s young career.
The album is a dwelling, sumptuous meditation on desire and relationships. The album could be an anthem for cuffing season or anyone caught in confounding relationships, with songs evoking want paralleled with self-consciousness and frustration. The songs push the boundaries of Leigh’s typical simplicity featuring upbeat horns and moody clarinets on some tracks alongside her more typical acoustic guitar offerings. Leigh’s voice wavers between singing and speaking, giving the sense that she is telling her audience a story of experience of which she is still trying to understand. The album’s tracks move from self-analysis and frustration to something resembling love in “No Doubt” before tempering into lost interest in “My Name on a T-Shirt.” The songs possess specificity to give weight to each emotional wave, but hold just enough back to leave it ambiguous as to whether these relationships existed beyond Leigh’s psyche.
The clever, engaging lyrics and catchy rhythms have left this album simmering on the backburner of my mind for weeks. Give the album a listen! It’s worth your 33 minutes and 48 seconds.
Rummikub
Looking to gather with a few friends to playfully compete? May I recommend Rummikub! Fans of playing cards will immediately recognize the game’s basis in the rummy pantheon of card games.
Rummikub follows many of the same rules as other versions of rummy as players receive tiles that they must remove from their hand by assembling them into sets (groups of the same number) and runs (sequential numbers of the same color).
Where Rummikub separates itself from other rummy games is its ability to engage players with one another. Where most rummy games require that players only play on their own cards, Rummikub is the opposite, beckoning players to play off of other players’ runs and sets going so far as to allow players to rearrange played cards of other players to their own advantage!
Perhaps if you are not all that game-oriented, this all sounds like nothing special, and maybe it won’t be, but I do believe that Rummikub combines a relatively simple set of rules with a game dynamic that keeps all the players engaged which results in a competitive or cooperative style of play dependent on the mood of the room in which it is played. Best of all, Rummikub is marketed as a standalone game, but it can be easily replicated with two decks of cards. I encourage you to try it if games are your cup of tea.
a creek at night
The summer night air has become cooler as of late, perhaps finding its way into previously closed windows. Given the turning of the season past its hottest peaks, it is important to make time for one’s favorite summer activities. That may mean rushed camping trips, long walks on Sunday afternoons, impromptu barbecues or finding a patio table at your favorite restaurant. All of these are wonderful summer activities of which I encourage all to partake, but that’s not what this is about. This is about an ever-important summer activity: wading into a creek at night.
Creeks are lovely. Cool water flowing on an unbearably hot summer day. Shallow enough to sit half covered and comfortable, but deep enough to be fully immersed. Time spent alongside and in creeks can constitute the best part of a well-spent summer; however, I believe it behooves all of us to find our way into a creek at night. I have indulged in this treat on a number of occasions and it has never failed to enliven my spirit. Cicadas and crickets screaming as feet are immersed into black waters. Silhouettes of herons against the warm dark sky above. Perching on a rock and consulting the moon. Flesh and water coalesced, but invisible to any eye. These are some of the treasures of a night creek visit. I implore you to try it.
If you venture to explore a creek at night, I suggest the following:
Visit a creek you know well;
Consider forgoing light sources and allowing your eyes to adjust to the dark;
Be slow, quiet and diligent to your surroundings. It can be dangerous out there! Express patience and caution;
Bring towels and a change of clothes to warm up after;
Allow yourself to be enveloped in the water;
Take time to take everything in;
Forgo alcohol or drugs. These needn’t lubricate your experience and cloud your judgement;
Travel with those you trust and love most.
With this in mind, find your way to a creek in the dark of night before the water turns too cool.
wait up! consider sending a request for advice to dearcorbie@gmail.com. i’d be thrilled if you do.
until next time,
corbin t lanker
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