the week in review

I spent a lot of time (a lot of time) on the review of the 25th anniversary re-issue of R.E.M.'s Murmur.
a lot of time.
but I got it done (finally), and it'll run in the Voice (print edition) either next week (the official release date is Tuesday) or the week after.

I've now seen LeBron James play live and in-person (as they say).
I'm keeping the ticket stub.

it's been a long while since I've been to an NBA game and not that I had high expectations for the Izod Center (formerly Continental Airlines Arena, formerly Brendan Byrne) but I was still disappointed by the ads posted at every available sightline, the music (loud) played during game action (as in, constantly), the cheesy dancers and assorted Nets-sponsored time-out entertainment.
except, the T-shirt drop.
I didn't come close to grabbing a shirt (we sat about as far as possible from the court), though they appeared have at least one launcher that could've reached, but it was the first time I'd ever seen free T-shirts dropped from the overhanging catwalk (with individual parachutes).
yes, I am often easily amused.

televised college basketball I missed: UNC 77, Kentucky 58
televised college basketball I did not miss: UNC 84, UC-Santa Barbara 67
(I caught a good portion of some other games, too)

I went grocery shopping (more than once), to the post office (more than once), made a big pot of soup (enough to last all weekend, at least), recorded a Possibly 4th Street with fellow Alabamian A. A. Bondy (see above) and interviewed Walter Egan for the Tusk book (Walter's first two albums, Fundamental Roll and Not Shy (both with Lindsey Buckingham handling some production and guitar work), packaged together for the price of one, will serve as the album of the coming week - see right).

besides Walter's work, and A. A.'s American Hearts, and Tusk and the Murmur re-issue (of course), McCoy Tyner's Echoes of a Friend and Sahara (though eMusic (see above right) is really the way to go for buying jazz mp3s), the Army Navy debut, the self-titled Conor Oberst, Yeasayer's All Hour Cymbals, Robyn Hitchcock's I Often Dream of Trains, A. C. Newman's The Small Wonder, Bound Stems' The Family Afloat, Marnie Stern's In Advance of the Broken Arm, Metallica's Death Magnetic, Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul, Blitzen Trapper's Furr, Los Campesino's We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, Ra Ra Riot's The Rhumb Line and the Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready To Die all got earbud play.

listening to a bunch of music ain't genius, baby.