Innervisions

I picked up a vinyl copy of Stevie Wonder's Innvervisions last night. It is, in a word, fuckingsublime.

People keep on learnin'
Soldiers keep on warrin'
World, keep on turnin'
cause it won't be too long.
Powers a-keep on lyin',
while your people a-keep on dyin'
World, keep on turnin',
cause it won't be too long.

This Is Amazing ... And A Little Creepy

Either of you guys remember that Michael Crichton movie (with Albert Finney) called Looker? It's just a matter of time now, boys ...

The Monster Engine

Dave Devries creates paintings from children's drawings. Apparently, he was inspired when his niece drew a monster in his sketchbook.

More here.

My Newest Addictions

Having soaked myself to the bone over the holidays (God, how I love drinking beer and watching college football), I decided to go on the wagon for the month of January. Once I got over the shakes and the nightmare hallucinations of Jay's mother pole dancing to Abba, things got a little easier, but I'm ready for January to die. Actually, I have my dissertation proposal on the 7th of Feb, so I'm thinking of extending it until then.

In the meantime, I'm preoccupied with these:

The Hold Steady - Uncut's album of the month last month. I have it on order and will post it to the ftp when it arives.

Midlake (from Texas). Great song, weak video.

The View. Evidently the next big thing out of the UK.

Now there are some customer reviews I can use!

Sent to me by my esteemed colleague in mischief, Mr. Andrew Hetherington of Washington D.C., here are some fantastic Amazon.com reviews. I wonder if they're being sarcastic........

Bring a change of underwear before you start reading.

M. Ward

Either of you ladies heard of this guy? I know Lurk Miker hasn't.

Museum Of Bad Album Covers

Translation: "Dear Mother ... A bouquet that never wilts"

Yikes. I think this site made the rounds a few years back. Funny, creepy stuff.

Plenty more where these came from.

Duck Dodgers In The 24½th Century

Ian is a big fan of Cartoon Network's Duck Dodgers. So, from the mid-20th century (1953 to be exact), here's the original seven minute short in all its glory. Enjoy.

Bonus trivia: the theme song for the new Duck Dodgers series is sung by Tom Jones, but do you know who the band is?



The Flaming Lips!

Apparently 'Journalism' includes Merlot and Pancetta.

Finally getting around to a short report on my interview with John Wesley Harding, which will be published in the March issue of Being There. I haven't actually written the article yet and I'm not sure if it will be a simple transcript of our conversation or something else, but I'm sure it will be absolutely brilliant.

Caroline and I took the subway to Brooklyn and got there an hour or two early to get the lay of the land. We stopped into a bagel shop for a bagel and coffee, and as we were leaving noticed a group of people walking down the street. One of the men had a cute baby strapped to his chest. As my gaze went up from the baby's face, I realized that it was JWH who was carrying the baby! I stopped him and explained that I would be meeting him in a couple of hours and after an initial bit of confusion (I honestly think he'd forgotten our appointment), he kindly introduced us to his baby and his mother and step-father. He made sure I knew where the bistro was we would be meeting and continued on. I thought it was funny to run into him out of all the people in Fort Green!

At the restaurant we split a bottle of Merlot and enjoyed some fantastic pancetta and mozarella crepes and talked about the recording of his new album (with the Minus 5 as his backing band), fantastic Seattle folks like Kurt Bloch, and how much the music business has changed. We also discussed his writing (novel #2, By George, to be published in August) and the differences in writing songs and writing novels.

He was a very gracious and open guy, who truly seems to be having the time of his life. Our lunch turned out to be more of a 'chat' than an 'interview' which was great because he made me feel very unselfconscious in my role as 'journalist'. He's a great talker, and even though I'm sure he'd heard some of my questions many times before, gave expansive and detailed answers. He also gifted me with a copy of his new DVD (of a Seattle concert performance) and asked all about New Orleans and my own musical history. A great experience.

If you're interested in his music, I'd recommend Adam's Apple, Here Comes the Groom, or New Deal as great places to start. His highly acclaimed novel Misfortune is just fantastic, and if you're a fan of Dickens or any other 19th century literature I guarantee you'll love it.

Remember Rock And Roll Confidential?

"Sure, Shattyrd brought the rock, but they were most proud of their 160 degrees of surveillance."


"Wait! They're trying to spell something! S..E..N..D..C..O..C..K."

This guy's output has slowed considerably, but I still check back every once in awhile.

Enjoy band mediocrity here.

Yes, SOLD

We closed yesterday and John Doe closed this morning.

I'm overwhelmed with relief, happiness, and a paranoid fear that none of this actually happened. But mostly I'm happy. What the hell am I going to worry about now?

Thanks for listening to me bitch for the last eight months. Your reassurances along the way that the house would sell significantly contributed to my grip on sanity, as I begrudgingly respect you guys.

Raise the roof.

Coke Adds Life, Calories

The other night, I saw someone on TV talking about giving up soft drinks to lose weight. Intrigued (it doesn't take much), I did the math. One Coke a day for a month is 3,720 calories. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories adds up to one pound. Holy cellulite, Batman!

Over a year, a person could lose almost 13 pounds, just for giving up the White Man's sugar water. Where do I sign?

He's too young, he's too inexperienced, and he says 'extra ordinary,' but...

Is there anyone you really like better?


We're having winter storms down this way, so it's been a four-day weekend for us. Woo hoo!

Ain't This A Bitch

I can't even read my own freaking blog at work anymore! Damn you and your potty mouth, Joe! Seriously, I can't figure out what flagged us for the naughty Web site list, except maybe going underground. Mike Lurker, you got any theories?

He'p me!

My Stomach Hurts

Definitely NSFW. Definitely very, very funny.

Going Underground

Some people might say my life is in a rut
But I'm quite happy with what I got
People might say that I should strive for more
But I'm so happy I can't see the point
Something's happening here today
A show of strength with your boys' brigade and
I'm so happy and you're so kind
You want more money of course I don't mind
To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society's got
I'm going underground (going underground)
Well the brass bands play and feet start to pound
Going underground (going underground)
Well let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow

What've you got to hide, Jay?

I say keep it pubic. I mean public. You know, jay...if you wanted, I could e-mail you some pictures of naked ladies.

What Is Joe Looking At?

He's just noticed that he is not listed as a contributor on this blargh.

Why? That's right! He hasn't upgraded yet. Come on in, the water's fine. (And Dave hasn't peed in the pool yet.)

But seriously folks, do you guys want to take the LBU underground? It would prolly help put Joe's troubled mind at ease ...

CONTRACT!

You read it here first. Single Guy (aka S.G., aka John Doe) made an offer weekend before last! I didn't want to say anything until the contract was negotiated and the inspection was done, but there you have it.

We've got a few small things to fix, but we're scheduled to close a week from Wednesday.

Relieved? Nah. (Okay, maybe just a smidge.)

Children of Men: Best Movie in Ages

Go see this movie ASAP. Man is it a corker. Based on the novel by mystery writer P.D. James, Children of Men looks at a dystopian Britain in the year 2027. Due to an unexplained pandemic of female infertility, no children have been born since 2009. Clive Owen is a former activist who is enticed to smuggle a young refugee, and her secret, out of the country.

Not only does this have a great look, fantastic performances (Michael Caine as a dope-smoking former political cartoonist), and a thought-provoking premise, the visual sequences quite literally left me breathless on occasion. You'll love the world's slowest getaway scene and the long single-take scene in which a car is attacked is a wonder in this day of cheap CGI shit. The entire thing is shot from the interior of the car - you are there. Amazing.

I'm a junkie for '70s movies- films that told a story and developed characters and concentrated less on the more technical aspects of film-making. Much of modern cinema leaves me very, very cold. This movie was a refreshing change of pace and one I'll be thinking about for ages and ages.

UPGRADED!

Sweet success.

There really are some pretty cool new features, but the new Blogger is just easier to use overall. One thing in particular I really like is the ability to drill down to previous posts without reloading pages. (That was really a pain in the ass to me.)

I also like that we can add labels for posts, so we can categorize topics if we wanna. Music, current events, movies, Joe's mom ...

Finally, we can effectively limit who can read this train wreck. It can be set so that only we three can read it, or we can invite only certain people to have access. Maybe then "Joe" would lighten the fuck up and post some decent nudie pics ...

Of his mom!

To Upgrade Or Not To Upgrade?

I ALMOST upgraded to the new version of Blogger until I hit this page. Apparently, if I upgrade, you Bastards (and I mean that will all the respect that the title confers) can't post until you upgrade. Hold on there, Thparky! Dave, it looks like you have to have a gmail account to upgrade, but I'm not sure.

What do you guys think? Take the upgrade tour and see for yourself. There are some advantages, but maybe not enough to warrant the move. We'll create the Bastards United For Upgrading (BUFU) Council, table it, and see where it goes.

Best Christmas Present Ever?

Soozan gave me this book for Christmas.

In a word, DAMN.

Essentially a compilation of articles from Sounds magazine as punk was happening, the book has a certain immediacy that is lacking in other books about punk that simply "remember when." Part of the fun of this music and the surrounding culture was that nobody knew what the fuck was going to happen next. The Clash weren't rock royalty yet; hell, they weren't even the only band that mattered. They were just a bunch of unemployed musicians hoping to catch a ride on the Sex Pistols' coattails.

If'n you're looking for some reading material to pass the time and entertain, you could do worse.