Wednesday, November 29, 2006

free reading


we're winding down, sweetheart.

articles this week in the Village Voice (on The Rum House, a Times Square piano bar), two in Riverfront Times on the New York Dolls (one here and one here), and then a longish interview with lead singer Mat Devine of Kill Hannah in New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

enjoy (or at least try to).

ADDENDUM(B): it seems that the official weekly count is five, not four, pieces, as The Pitch in Kansas City saw fit to reprint a previous offering on The Black Keys.

(and I feel weak from overexposure)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Monday, November 27, 2006

today's news

Mike Shula was fired as head football coach at the University of Alabama today (I thought they'd give him another year).

Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from Kid Rock (seemed like a good match to me).

the DJIA fell 158 points (it was overdue).

my iPod is somehow missing two (of the best) songs from Centro-Matic's Fort Recovery album: "Patience for the Ride" and "For New Starts."

and mere hours after turning in two pieces (a Hidden Cameras feature for Cleveland Scene and a short Owen Q and A for New Times Broward-Palm Beach), currently leaving just two assignments between now and the end of January (the lightest workload I've faced in, well, years, and one of those may disappear shortly (more on that later)), I'm bored shitless.

sure, I have books to read (currently Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson by Jonathan Coe), and a new blog (The Last Concert I Ever Saw) to update, and old interviews to transcribe and, perhaps most importantly, book projects to sort through and evaluate and decide upon (casting my fate to the wind as it were), but still, following a momentary yet palpable sense of relief (after all, I've been attempting to decrease the workload for some time now), I've already gone squirrely.

boy, that didn't last long at all, did it?

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

update time

I'm more than aware that recent blog entries have lately consisted of little save for blurry photographs (more to come), lists (ditto) and quoted poetry (absotively), though it is neither guilt nor a burst of newfound energy that has brought about tonight's scribbling.
no indeedy.
instead, credit (or blame) the prospect of an unhurried breath.
granted, I am supposed to leave town (not going far - don't worry) in less than eighteen hours and there are packing and dishwashing duties to perform.
but yea, verily, my head is untroubled (kind of).
because two fairly sizable pieces - one on the New York Dolls for Riverfront Times and one on a local lounge act for Village Voice - have been written, turned in and are now, I believe (I hope), mostly out of my hands. those pieces, as well as a lengthy Q and A with Chicago's Kill Hannah for New Times Broward-Palm Beach and a shorter one with New York Dolls drummer Brian Delaney (also for Riverfront Times, should appear before Thanksgiving is seven days gone.
and it's been a long, or at least involved, time coming.

I missed Robert Pollard's show at Bowery Ballroom a week ago Monday due to illness (exhaustion, workload) and soon thereafter Bob pulled a muscle and cancelled the rest of his dates.
I never really considered, at least seriously, attending New Found Glory's Tuesday show in town (despite a nice recent conversation with the band's Chad Gilbert).
on Wednesday, I re-interviewed Hidden Cameras leader Joel Gibb for an upcoming Cleveland Scene piece, ate a lovely dinner with my lovely spouse, then returned to the Bowery Ballroom for the most enjoyable show I've seen since Lambchop.
Thursday saw a return of illness (exhaustion, workload), so I skipped a Damien Rice showcase.
and Friday was just one of those days where it does not pay to get out of bed (of course, you never know until you, you know, get out of bed). so bad, in fact, that sometime before midnight, in the Union Square subway station (following the Robyn Hitchcock show at the Hiro Ballroom), I loudly stated my intention to quit writing about music (keep your ironic cheers to a minimum, please).
disappointment, embarassment, more disappointment, more.
Saturday was better: an ingestion of my last slab of Dreamland ribs (the perfect Christmas gift!), visitation with my friend Will during Auburn's 22-15 victory over Alabama, followed by Charles Bissell (Wrens), Bobby Bare Jr and Centro-Matic at the Mercury Lounge. a late night, but worth it.

this week, a medium-sized piece on the Pernice Brothers (that I'm not unhappy with) in Phoenix New Times.

last book read: Robert E. Lee by Roy Blount Jr (from the Penguin Lives series) (if I read a word of it outside the New York City subway system I'd be very much surprised)

oh yeah, and I started another blog - The Last Concert I Ever Saw - because what the world needs now is another blog, sweet blog.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

songs of yesterday and the day before that

"that's entertainment" by Paul Weller (from Catch-Flame!)
"big me" by Foo Fighters (from Foo Fighters)
"no action" by Elvis Costello (from This Year's Model)
"stain yer blood" by Paul Westerberg (from Besterberg)
"maimed happiness" by New York Dolls (from One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This)
"n.y. doll" by Robyn Hitchcock & the venus 3 (from Ole! Tarantula)
"follow these eyes" by Hidden Cameras (from Awoo)
"declarations of faith" by Zwan (from Mary Star of the Sea)

e. e. cummings' greatest hits

and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease
by means of skillfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat—
Olaf (upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"

from "i sing of Olaf glad and big"

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

it's a pretty good day in america

unfortunately Johnny Sain, three-time All-Star (and vastly underrated pitching coach), passed away after a long illness on Tuesday (and I don't feel so good myself (seriously).

but it looks like dem Dems are in charge of both houses of Congress, some guy named Rumsfeld quit his job (am I the only person in the country scratching a bald spot at the timing of this? I mean, if Bush fires Rumsfeld two weeks ago the Republicans still control the Senate and are no more than ten seats behind in the House, right?), and finally (finally) after weeks and weeks (seriously) of toil and trouble, the long-awaited Lindsey Buckingham feature finally (finally) made its appearance at LA Weekly.

finally.

god bless, you know.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

get off of my property you brain-eating zombie bastards

(yeah, I'm watching South Park)

kind of a big week pub-wise, with three (count 'em) features in three (count 'em) different alt-weeklies.

you can read about The Decemberists signing to Capitol Records in Philadelphia Weekly, a long interview with From First To Last (who just got booted off their current tour with Atreyu) in Riverfront Times, and a home-themed feature on New Found Glory in New Times Broward-Palm Beach.

read 'em and weep.

conducting interviews this week with Joel Gibb of Hidden Cameras, Mat Devine of Kill Hannah, Mike Kinsella of Owen and Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers (three down, one to go). and going to see The Wrens and The Walkmen tomorrow night to begin a pretty full weekend.

last book read: Woodrow Wilson by Louis Auchincloss (from the Penguin Lives series)
book before that: Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry (also from the Penguin Lives series)

if Christmas was tomorrow I'd want a Capt. Spaulding action figure (from the Rob Zombie movies).