Tom Waits live in Atlanta

For The Particular Tom Waits fan, you might enjoy NPR's offering of a complete concert from July in Atlanta. I have friends who went to this and raved, and listening to it now, I can understand why. Its a different band then when I saw him at the Ryman a couple of summers ago, and I like 'em better. Flick Topmost Patterns. PS: Sorry there's no song breaks- you gotta do the whole thing.

What's Goin' Ahn?

Jackpot! I have recently acquired a couple of Big Star bootlegs with various rough mixes, alternate takes and demos, not to mention a few songs I've never heard before.

Raise your hand if you've ever heard Chilton singing "I Got Kinda Lost."

That's what I thought.

On top of that, I now have Thank You Friends: The Ardent Story. This kind of power-pop Frequently Takes Practice.

If You Need Me...

I'll be here scaring all the fish, drinking myself into oblivion by noon, and turning 40.

Hyphenation

Add to your Netflix lists Gentlemen. I am probably 8 years behind the times with you BBC-loving fools, but I am very taken with this series, in which a stoic police officer, his even-more-stoic one-legged side-kick, and not-quite-as-stoic-but-plucky-and-non-lesbisciously-tomboy'ish female driver solve muuuuuurders (why always murders? What's wrong with an interesting breach of the peace, or loitering with intent?) on the south coast of England during the Second World War. One episode to the disc, which is annoying, but at 1 hour 40 minutes, understandable.

This Chokes Me Up Every Time

Learned Edumacation

So while you bastards have been having babies and spending time with your families, I've been reading. Because of my shame over my low showing on the 1,001 Books You Should Read List and the realization after studying said list that I have read very few 'modern' novels, I decided to pick up a few and edumacate myself this summer. The results:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day, etc.). An interesting narration that wouldn't be out of place next to P.D. James The Children of Men on your bookshelf. Not an apocalyptic view of the future (present?) but an interesting meditation on the moral aspects of cloning. The plot unfolds in such a way that things are made clear at the author's leisurely pace. The novel is relatively short and is one I thought about for a good bit afterwards.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. I was no big fan of Roth's early work, but decided to give him another try. The history geek in me loves this alternate history 'what if' novel that deals with Roosevelt's defeat in the 1940 election by the Nazi admiring isolationist Charles Lindbergh. Roth puts forth an extremely plausible alternate reality of life in America for Jews under a government that actively avoids fighting in WW2 and begins usurping the rights of everyday Americans. Excellent.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth. Another winner, this brilliantly written exploration of one 'perfect' family's American Dream turned nightmare is highly recommended by your learned correspondent. A baby boomer's generational navel gazing has never been rendered quite this movingly, in my humble opinion.

And finally, Saturday by Ian McEwan. This is similar in theme if not tone to the Roth book. Only this baby boomer navel gazer is a little too affluent and has a little too much self-awareness going for him to make it very relatable for me.

All in all, a good summer of reading. Up next, I finally tackle The Watchmen and Don DeLillo's Underworld.

TRON 2 (TR2N) Teaser At Comic-Con

Taken from a cell phone, so it looks awful, but still ...

Listen to the crowd when a certain somebody makes an appearance.

Oscar-Winning Animation

From Drawn:

You can watch a full-length, high-quality version of Ryan, Chris Landreth’s Oscar-winning animated short film from 2004, in the YouTube Screening Room. The film is an animated tribute to Ryan Larkin, who was one of the most influential animators of his generation.

I've wanted to see this for years. Here it is.

Frankie's Gun

I adore this song. The band is the Felice Brothers, who strangely enough are actually brothers (three of them are, anyway). The fourth guy is named Christmas. They've clearly listened to the Basement Tapes a time or two. Enjoy.

Pow!

A fully automatic machine gun from Nerf. Only $40!

From Gizmodo:

N-STRIKE VULCAN EBF-25
(Ages 6 years & up/Approximate Retail Price: $39.99/Available: Fall 2008)
The top-of-the-line blaster for mission supremacy, the NERF N-STRIKE VULCAN EBF-25 blaster is a 25-dart belt-fed fully automatic blaster that will intimidate any opponent. This impressive blaster comes complete with a fold-up tripod to steady your aim, 25 sonic micro darts that whistle through the air when launched and a 25-dart belt. The NERF N-STRIKE VULCAN EBF-25 blaster features the Tactical Rail System allowing players to customize their blaster for each mission - for example, players can use the green 'night vision' Tactical Light accessory (sold separately) for nighttime missions. Six "D" batteries are required but not included.

I can see one of these in my future.

New Westerberg? New Westerberg!

49 minutes of new Westerberg music for .49 over at Amazon.com.

I'm on it.

Journey To The Edge Of The State

Our summer vacation was a smashing success. We broke the trip up on the way out with a one day stop in Nashville to pick up some more family. By Thursday afternoon, we were in the mountains, dividing our time among Dollywood, Splash Country, Ripley's I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Aquarium, and our lovely cabin. (Those are my children in the photo, cooling off in a mister fan at D-wood.)

Dollywood was a very pleasant surprise; the employees were - without exception - extremely polite and the grounds were immaculate. My son rode his first (and probably last) roller coaster, and my daughter was pissed that she was too short to ride ...

Splash Country, technically part of Dollywood, was a bit of a disappointment, just because it was fucking packed. It also reinforced my belief that I would never, ever want to see 99.99% of the human population naked. (And it didn't help that my brother-in-law Matt reminded me that we were basically bathing with all those slobs.)

Ripley's Bullshit Or Not Aquarium was pretty cool, but my kids got bored half-way through. Things did pick up again, however, when they realized they could pet the horseshoe crabs. Gatlinburg was nice, but Pigeon Forge made me think of Panama City, and not in a good way.

Anyway, we're back. The Johnny Cash rest stop was a welcome sight on the way home, and I must say, the Man In Black keeps his restrooms as clean as an operating room.

Similar But Different

Andy's recent post reminded me of Dave's find from back in December. It deserves another shot, I think.

Oops!

From today's Wall Street Journal. I look forward to seeing how this is explained away during the inevitable prosecutions of mortgage bankers.

FDIC Faces Mortgage Mess After Running Failed Bank: Subprime Lender Made Problem Loans On Regulators' Watch
By MARK MAREMONT
July 21, 2008; Page A1

Federal officials heap much of the blame for the subprime mortgage mess on lenders, claiming they recklessly made too many high-cost home loans to borrowers who couldn't afford them.

It turns out that the U.S. government itself was one of the lenders giving out high-interest, subprime mortgages, some of them predatory, according to government documents filed in federal court.

The unusual situation, which is still bedeviling bank regulators, stems from the 2001 seizure by federal officials of Superior Bank FSB, then a national subprime lender based in Hinsdale, Ill. Rather than immediately shuttering or selling Superior, as it normally does with failed banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. continued to run the bank's subprime-mortgage business for months as it looked for a buyer. With FDIC people supervising day-to-day operations, Superior funded more than 6,700 new subprime loans worth more than $550 million, according to federal mortgage data.

The FDIC then sold a big chunk of the loans to another bank. That loan pool was afflicted by the same problems for which regulators have faulted the industry: lending to unqualified borrowers, inflated appraisals and poor verification of borrowers' incomes, according to a written report from a government-hired expert. The report said that many of the loans never should have been made in the first place.

Hundreds of borrowers who took out Superior subprime loans on the FDIC's watch -- some with initial interest rates higher than 12% -- have lost their homes to foreclosure, data on the loans indicate.

Until You Find The Graphic Novel ...

In an apparent attempt to get everyone up to speed before March '09, Warner Brothers recently unveiled the premiere episode of Watchmen Motion Comics. I think you'll need the QuickTime Player, but I'm not positive. I'd wait until at least 1:30 CDT to attempt a download, this is taking forever. (It was either this or iTunes, and I know you Luddites too well.)

Girlfriend in a Coma

One of the many highlights of the venerable BBC Radio show "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue," (several episodes available on Audible.com for those wishing to join me in chortling out loud on airplanes), is the game "One Song to the Tune of Another," in which each contestant must sing . . . you get the picture. I thought I would share with you this gem: Tony Hawk singing "Girlfriend in a Coma" by The Smiths, to the tune of the music hall classic "Tiptoe through the Tulips."

Florida Takes Precedent

Fer you, dudes.

Who Needs Batman?

I kid.

I'm back in town, by the way. Full trip report later.

The official Watchmen site is up, and nerds like Mike and me can watch the new teaser trailer. Fap fap fap fap fap fap ...

Real [Great] Animal

The great Alejandro Escovedo has a great new album out. It's great. I Find That Playing it at high volume makes it even greater.

Every word is true........

Saw The Dark Knight last night at midnight, which was a first for me and a movie opening. But I'm a teacher, and that's the kind of stuff summers are for! Every word praising Heath Ledger in particular and the movie in general is earned. He totally lost himself in the role-you are never really cognizant that its an actor playing the Joker, it just IS the Joker. A performance for the ages and a movie that really had me thinking about good, evil, and what constitutes either in the post 9/11 world. I will probably see it again in the theater, something I haven't done since 1977.

Nothing's scarier than people..

Summers in skool were the shortest of seasons, but with yards to mow, houses to A/C and road trips to pay for, summer in the south now seems to last forever. Just took the garbage out, nearly 11 pm, and I was sweaty before I got back to safety. Except for movies and baseball, summer is an unwelcome house guest that stays and stays and stays.

This from an OK but under-managed site www.scaryforkids.com. Batman out this weekend. Looks good, they should consider hyping it a bit.

Mixin'

This hovers around the border between sorta interesting and sorta waste of time. (Thus, perfect for the blog!)

Help for Jay and Mike

From Slowpoke.

Boo Fucking Hoo

Oil prices plummeted Tuesday, down as much as $9.26 a barrel, as investors feared that the nation's financial woes could cut into demand.

The rest here.

And the Band Played On

Gin and Titonic ice cube molds. Classic.

Waiting for the Hold Steady is Gonna Kill Me

Yes, I the dumb one have designs on getting the new Hold Steady, which I may or may not choose to share with you Bastards. It's out on iTunes, but I'm waiting to buy it on CeeDee for some reason (though I may go vinyl if it comes with a free download). Hopefully that will happen this weekend. In the meantime, here is the first single, "Sequestered in Memphis." Hey, don't we know some guys from Memphis!

By the way, Dave, they're in Carrboro sometime in early August. If it's not sold out, I'll probably head that way.

First Music Video With No Cameras

Radiohead, naturally.

Two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images up close, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.

I'm Back!

Back home after a loooong stretch away. We were in WA, ID, and MT for a week visiting family and hanging out, and then up to NY to see Caroline's family. While there we took in a Yankee's game (an 18-7 drubbing of the Rangers with the 'Stache hitting a grand slam), checked out Arthur Ave. in the Bronx, spent a day at the Museum of Natural History and met up with a fellow Durhamite randomly at some restaurant in the East Village. The Hartleys threw a fantastic 4th of July pool party with four grilled tenderloins and a keg of Yeungling. Then Caroline and I tooled around New England, with stops in Providence, RI, Kittery, ME, Portsmouth, NH, Montpelier and Burlington, VT and Albany and Lake George, NY. Vermont must be one of the most beautiful places in the country. Photos will be showing up soon on Facebook. I hope you Bastards are having a good summer.

First baseball game

Ah, to be be young enough not to be disenchanted by $8 beer. . . .

Pimp my stroller

Finally a use of technology I see the point of.

3-D

Great Saturday matinee today, Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D. Probably no better than a juvenile action ride if you wait for video, but caught at a big-screen theater, it's a blast.

(Full disclosure: Sadly, Ana Beatriz Barros does not appear in this film.)

A marriage made in heaven

Barkevious Mingo, meet Virada Nirapathpongporn. Virada Nirapathpongporn, meet Barkevious Mingo.

Jonesy's Jukebox And Another Related Find

I swear this is my last post for today. Feast or famine, fellow bastards! Indie 103.1 is now streaming Steve Jones's radio shows (Jonesy's Jukebox), going to back to January of this year. The really cool thing is, they're including the music he plays. (They weren't able to that on a limited run podcast a couple of years back.)

Also, while looking for photos of Steve Jones, I found Brad Elterman's site. He photographed many pop culture icons of the 70's and 80's, including, but not limited to, Phil Spector, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop, and some dude named Mothersbaugh. Definitely worth a look.

Open Letter From NWA

This is kinda long, but fascinating. It's a letter sent to one of my coworkers who happens to be on NWA's Frequent Flyer Mailing List.

Dear ***** *****,

An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now. Visit www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem. We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

Robert Fornaro
Chairman, President and CEO
AirTran Airways

Bill Ayer
Chairman, President and CEO
Alaska Airlines, Inc.

Gerard J. Arpey
Chairman, President and CEO
American Airlines, Inc.

Lawrence W. Kellner
Chairman and CEO
Continental Airlines, Inc.

Richard Anderson
CEO
Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Mark B. Dunkerley
President and CEO
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.

Dave Barger
CEO
JetBlue Airways Corporation

Timothy E. Hoeksema
Chairman, President and CEO
Midwest Airlines

Douglas M. Steenland
President and CEO
Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Gary Kelly
Chairman and CEO
Southwest Airlines Co.

Glenn F. Tilton
Chairman, President and CEO
United Airlines, Inc.

Douglas Parker
Chairman and CEO
US Airways Group, Inc.

Catchy Friday

Who can disagree that a kick in the teeth is good for some? Have a good weekend, all. First baseball game for the boy wonder on Saturday, weather permitting.

Paul Anka Does The Cure

From I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, Paul Anka's swinging cover of "The Lovecats!" Sadly, I actually kinda like it.

More Forgotten Memphis Music

"Up In A Tree" - Nail

Best left forgotten ...

Going way back to 1993, Nail was a pre-Subteens, pre-good band that Kram and I played in during the golden age of grunge. (I met Joe and Dave around this time, too.) I was explaining to the wife that listening to this stuff now is kinda like looking at my old artwork from grade school. Enjoy or don't. This song makes me cringe the least of the four or five that we recorded at Easley.

Alison Krauss Is A Force Of Nature

The Robert Plant & Alison Krauss show came to town last night, and it was AMAZING. Listening to Krauss on CD is like looking at a 3 x 5 photo of the Grand Canyon; she was absolutely fucking mesmerizing. And Plant, of course, is a living legend. They filled out the set with some Zeppelin ("Black Dog," "Hey Hey What Can I Do," "The Battle of Evermore"), solo Plant ("In The Mood"), and the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack ("Down To The River To Pray"). One of the highlights was the goosebump-inducing "Trampled Rose," which is WAY too subdued on the CD. Singing it live, Krauss really let go, creating one of those rare concert moments in which everyone shut up to hear her haunting wail.

Lively

Lively is a new virtual world from our masters at Google. According to the AP:

The Mountain View-based company unveiled a free service Tuesday in which three-dimensional software enables people to congregate in electronic rooms and other computer-manufactured versions of real life. The service, called "Lively," represents Google's answer to a 5-year-old site, Second Life, where people deploy animated alter egos known as avatars to navigate through virtual reality.

The difference between this and Second Life is that Lively is free (don't know if you can 'buy' stuff), and it can be integrated in to social networking sites like Facebook. Naturally, sexual content is already starting to pop up. Geek out!

Forgotten Memphis Music

The Moves - "Are You Ready!"

The Moves were a short-lived band (1998?) fronted by Daniel Jones, former Subteens drummer and flake extraordinaire. As I recall, Daniel abruptly departed our little dysfunctional family at the height of our creativity, citing as his reason for quitting that no one talks to the drummer. I'm not sure where he is today, but I don't think he's playing out. The last time I saw him he was delivering sandwiches to my work group, but he didn't see me.

Still, great song. I should explain that it was intended as a brief set opener.

What A Dick

From Wired News:

Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA officials maintains.

When six pages were cut from testimony on climate change and public health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last October, the White House insisted the changes were made because of reservations raised by White House advisers about the accuracy of the science.

You can read the rest of this depressing article here.

A Moment of Patriotic Reverence

Happy Birthday to the country that invented baseball, rice crispies and Intelligent Design.

Map of the Week

The above purports to show the prevalance with which each state is mentioned in country music lyrics. Of unknown provenance and reliability. I'm surprised Arkansas isn't bigger, and I am surprised Maryland is on there at all.

Don't sue me Dave

After reading this article I am a bit nervous about having invited only Joe, Jay, and Mike to my beach house this weekend.

The Dark Stuff

Check out this amazing interview with legendary music journalist Nick Kent, courtesy of The Generalist.

Introducing The Hip, Now Sounds Of ROBOTBOY

From ROBOTBOY's official bio:

1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1