If nobody else is going to do it...

My favorite albums of '08, in no particular order:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yestsin - Pershing
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
The Whigs - Mission Control
DBT - Brighter than Creation's Dark
Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal.
Okervill River - The Stand-ins
Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

Honorable Mentions - Clash Live at Shea, Bowie Live '72, Latest addition to Dylan Bootleg Series

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but those are the ones that I remember playing over and over throughout the year.

Adios 2008!

Crazy year, huh? Our Bastard, Inc. 401k and stock portfolios fell apart, but a new mini-bastard entered the picture, so I'd call us ahead on the balance. Play it safe tonight (leave the lethal intoxication to the amateurs) and here's a virtual toast to a great 2009.

Shocked, But Not Surprised

You know, it's just amazing what you can find on the internets these days.

My Phone Shoots Video?

Really, really shitty video, but still ... I had no idea.

My kids got scooters for Christmas. (No, he doesn't wipe out.)

File under: Makes sense to me

From a law suit filed against Wal-Mart, alleging negligence, gross negligence, false imprisonment and assault, by two women who claim that they were punched in the face by an unknown female assailant, during the Black Friday "Blitz" sale:

Upon information and belief, integral to the design of the sale was emplacing in the shoppers a feeling of anxiety. Each member of the crowd would experience fear of being smashed, while vertical, or trampled, while horizontal: that fall to the ground would be a prelude to burial thereunder. Afterwards, once inside the store each shopper would have a feeling of emotional freedom and release that would cause him or her to do more purchasing.

I often feel emotional freedom at Wal-Mart, no choking or trampling needed.

Peter Sellers

My father-in-law reminded me of this last night, the end credits for Being There. Hilarious, but if you haven't seen the movie, it won't make much sense.

Stranded In Canton On YouTube?!

Finally available, and for free.

From a review in Variety:

Surfacing after 30 years, celebrated photog William Eggleston's pioneering experiments with black-and-white video teem with drunken denizens of Southern nightlife. Fitting an early-model Sony Porta-Pak with a prime lens and an infra-red tube, Eggleston approached his lurching subjects with the same close-up intensity that informs his famous still photographs. Certain sequences of lost weekends seem to surge out from a murky oblivion, although co-director Robert Gordon's 77-minute curatorial re-edit softens the edges somewhat.

More of a curiosity than anything else for me, but I've wanted to check this out for years.

What the kids are not listening to

My wife has been playing this Neko Case song a lot the past few days, and it is now firmly stuck in my head. Singing backup in this video is one of my longtime favorite unfairly-obscure Chicago singers: Kelly Hogan, who I believe is now semi-retired, and tending bar at the Hideout in Chicago. I will attempt to further the popularity of one of her CDs.

What the Kids are Listening To

I think Fall Out Boy is making a conscious effort not to get pigeon-holed as emo rockers with their new CD, Folie a Deux. Pretty good stuff.

DOA

"To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material." -Roger Ebert

Compiling a Metacritic score of 28, The Spirit may be this Christmas' film equivalent of congealed salad. I think it's a mortal sin to cast Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson and fail to make a watchable movie. Looks like Jay was right about this one. Guess I'll have to wait 70 more days for another good comic book movie.

A tad windy

It can get a bit windy in Galway during rugby season.

Les Kooks

On a whim, I Found The Pounds to buy the delightful "Konk" by the Kooks this weekend. With all their British pop goodness. It's hard not to compare them to the Arctic Monkeys (catchy choruses, constant hooks and the singer's accent). Lurker, I would be willing to bet 5% of Jay's paycheck that you're going to really like them.

Photos

The Boston Globe website has its pictures of the year here, here, and here. Well worth checking out.

Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas

Feliz Navidad, Bastardos. My sometimes annual Xmas mix is on its way up Faster Than Prancer can Comet on Vixen. I'll put up a couple of supplementary mixes as well. Hope yours is a good one.

I Want A Pair

From CNN.com:

Sales of the shoes made famous by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi have soared, with requests pouring in to the Turkish shoemaker from across the world, media reports said Monday.

As a result, Istanbul-based Ramazan Baydan has had to recruit an extra 100 staff to meet orders for 300,000 pairs of the "Model 271 brogues," Britain's Daily Mail said.

Read the rest here.

Happy hols chaps

Safe travels and noggy goodness to all.

Baring Down for the Holidays

My son came armed with the Barenaked Ladies holiday album. It's a few years old and definitely has some filler, but it's a nice diversion after hours of watching that Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet.

It's The Thought That Counts

I was going to get this book for you bastards, but buying and sending four copies got too pricey. Looks good though, doesn't it?

Bastard, Can You Spare A Dime?

My place of employment has permanently cut salaries 5%. (And suspended 401(k) matching and annual merit increases.) Yay. But at least I have a job ...

Gervais on Sharks and Nazis

I'm back from a long 4 days in Louisville, Kenfucky. No more work for me until all the presents are opened! The one highlight of the trip was watching Ricky Gervais' comedy special. Not surprisingly, he's fantastic at stand-up.

I turn my back for one minute and Jay's off working on a solo project. I guess LBU gets your sloppy seconds from here on in.

Morrissey coming to Durham; Dave shrieks like a vegan asexual girl; then remembers he'll be out of town that week.

March 11 (Wednesday) at the brand-spanking-new Durham Performing Arts Center right in downtown. Who wants a ticket? They go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. and I'm hitting it then. Send me an email (Joe and Andy) if you want to go.

UPDATE: Idiot Dave will be performing with Anyface that night in New Orleans. Hope to catch another date. Dammit.

Another LBU Spinoff

52 LPs that I can't or couldn't stop listening to. That's one every week Joe, with a brief background of the band and album, along with the cover and a featured song.

Rock 'N' Roll Snob

"Rod Blagojevich is clearly the stupidest governor in all of our 50 states"

Very interesting, and amusing article here about Blagojevich, Obama, and Jesse Jackson Jr.

I've long since come to the conclusion that Rod Blagojevich is clearly the stupidest governor in all of our 50 states, and he may be the stupidest governor I've had occasion to write about in the four decades when I've been co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. And a stupid man (or woman) in high political office can be very dangerous to all concerned. I have long said that as a political operative I would prefer a smart opponent to a stupid opponent. If you're pretty smart yourself, you should be able to figure out what another pretty smart person will do. But whether you're smart or stupid, it's hard to figure out what a stupid person will do. That's even more true when the stupid politician is your political ally. Stupid people do all sorts of things that are against their own interests. Like tell the press on Monday that you wouldn't mind being taped, even when (as we learned on Tuesday) that you've been saying all kinds of things that you should have known could easily send you to the slammer.

Look Around You

I caught an episode of this comedy on BBC America a few years ago and then never saw it again. Look Around You is a pitch-perfect homage to the educational programs of the seventies and early eighties that I'm sure we all remember. Andy, I defer to you to explain who Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz are ...

We've all had days like this

First the Godfather. Now this. A sadly under-used prop, I feel.

Catchy Friday

Spectacle

I've discovered an interesting series on Sundance called Spectacle. It features Elvis Costello interviewing notable musicians/celebrities. This week was Lou Reed, which was fascinating, but produced one of the least noteworthy duets in the history of bad ideas: Perfect Day, with Elvis crooning beautifully and Lou sounding like someone experimenting with methods for ruining a duet. Thankfully, there's no public version available, but this short clip is from the episode. Others available on the Spectacle site.

Faces!

I promise that if they play Memphis, I'm there. From Classic Rock magazine:

Ronnie Wood has confirmed that the original line-up of The Faces (Rod Stewart, keyboard player Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones. Bassist Ronnie Lane passed away in 1997) are already rehearsing for a full tour that will take place next year.

And More.

I'm on the road for work (what the fuck?) the next couple of days. Please try not to miss me too much.

If You Don't Hear From Me For a Few Weeks....

....it's time for my annual egg nog party. Andy can tell you all about it. The nog is a recipe from the 1950s when men were men and women were groped at office parties. It has a pint each of bourbon, vodka, and rum with some sherry thrown in for good measure. I'll be making it tomorrow and living it down for the next several days at least. Have a good weekend!

Lost Anyface EP surfaces; media goes into frenzy

OK, not really. But this is a 'lost' EP. Actually, can something be lost if no one is looking for it? This was a fully recorded effort that was mixed but only existed on cassette. The fidelity is lacking as it was dubbed from the tape, but I am really happy with the performances, most of which were live in the studio. The songs:

1) Pophead- lots o' feedback and nice drums
2) Stolen Iron Heart - written and sung by bassist Johnny. The vocal is a little overwrought, but it is a nice melody.
3) Long Ago Blown - one my all time favorite compositions, and killer drums from Paulie.
4) Happy Fight - the only Young Brians composition I ever recorded without them.
5) Jolene - Johnny sings the Dolly Parton classic. Nice solo.
6) Holly Hates Rock and Roll - my favorite recorded vocal, the whole song, solo and all, done live in the studio. Enjoy MoFos, and let me know what you think.

FourX The Pleasure.

Biblical Scholars Surprised by the Nature of the Second Coming

The image of Jesus found in the grain of an acoustic guitar. It seems our savior is full of surprises.

Subteens Still Hanging In There

Courtesy of BullyRook.

Ugh

Well, that was awful. Fortunately I had Skybox seats thanks to an old friend, so instead of suffering through the misery of a 30-point loss in constant rain, I suffered through the misery of a 30-point loss with free beer, boiled shrimp and chili dogs. It wasn't very good beer, though.

And Texas got screwed!! Fuck the BCS. Oh well. Could be worse, I could have gone to LSU.

Oh Dear

I know I'm the primary comic book geek among us, but I am capable of picking and choosing. This movie will suck beyond all reason, in ways that previous bad comic book movies have lacked in their sucking. I've seen the trailers, and The Spirit breaks the first rule of comic book movies: Thou shalt not take thyself too seriously. Exhibit A ...
I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Dig Yourself

You can bet your last dollar that Nick Cave is always the coolest motherforker in the room. I know this is a little dated, but I had never seen the video. And maybe it's me, but Mr. Cave reminds me a little of Brad Pitt here.