Friday, May 28, 2010

possibly 4th street: damien jurado


there's a strong possibility that I've lost count, but I think this is Possibly 4th Street #29 that's been published.
recorded on October 1, 2008 in Brooklyn's J.J. Byrne Park around the Old Stone House of Gowanus.

both performances, though I'm especially a fan of "Go First," are strong and studio versions can be found on Damien's Caught in the Trees album.
but we release this week in honor of Saint Bartlett, his latest, which is now available through Amazon as a $5 download.
and if you want to try before you buy, track two, "Arkansas" (because Damien loves him some place names as song titles), is available for free.

enjoy.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

more free lady gaga


yes, lots and lots of free Gaga.

the Lady's got a new song called "Vanity," and this is your chance to pick it up free.
follow this link to her website, click download and then save after you've entered the code.

it's first come, first served (each code will only work once), but here's NINE new chances (you only need one):

Cnwwbf32zh
CnWWgrVWWd
cnwWp4VFnr
D3FKnCdN77
D3fNgpQrFg
D3fnhNGC9N
d3FwTRGbJF
D3FYZ77V24
D3G2Fht2MJ

good luck!

Monday, May 24, 2010

free lady gaga #'s 3 through 8


yes, lots and lots of free Gaga.

the Lady's got a new song called "Vanity," and this is your chance to pick it up free.
follow this link to her website, click download and then save after you've entered the code.

it's first come, first served (each code will only work once), but here's six new chances (you only need one):

4V2MzYPyQQ
6N7MQQGCpQ
7bQnF4yRc6
7mcDbNHbFD
7W9MqHd3Wg
9c2kvnyHvf

good luck!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

what I'm reading


"Perhaps the stress of the tragedy was getting the better of him, or perhaps he sensed an opportunity, but at this point [Jesse] Jackson began to spin a small fiction that would grow in the days ahead, one in which he imagined himself playing the approximate role that Abernathy had in fact played on the balcony. 'And I immediately started running upstairs to where he was,' Jackson said. 'And I caught his head. And I tried to feel his head. I asked him, 'Dr. King, do you hear me? Dr. King, do you hear me?' And he didn't say anything. And I tried to — to hold his head. But by then . . .

"The SCLC staffer Hosea Williams glanced from his room window and saw Jackson speaking to the press. Curious, he wandered out to the courtyard and listened. Jackson's account gave Williams pause, because in all the confusion he couldn't remember Jackson ever getting near the fallen King, let alone cradling his head in his arms. Some people at the Lorraine couldn't remember seeing Jackson at all after the shot was fired, while others said he'd hidden somewhere behind the swimming pool's privacy wall until the ambulance arrived.

"Williams was thus already suspicious when he thought he heard Jackson tell the television reporter, 'Yes, I was the last man in the world King spoke to.'

"It's possible that the older and more seasoned Williams felt a stab of jealousy over the brazen way in which the young Jackson assumed the limelight. But the baldness of this apparent lie so infuriated Williams that he climbed over a railing and pushed his way toward him, yelling, 'You dirty, stinking, lying . . . !' People standing around the Lorraine had to physically restrain him from assaulting Jackson. 'I was gonna stomp him in the ground!' Williams fumed."

- Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

yes, we have video


one of my most cherished interviewing moments: the late Hank Jones talks about reaching "a different level" while playing on 52nd Street with Max Roach, Curly Russell, Miles Davis and Coleman Hawkins.

free gaga #2


Lady Gaga's got a new song called "Vanity," and this is your chance to pick it up free.
follow this link to her website, click download and then save after you've entered the code.

it's first come, first served (each code will only work once), but I've got a few of these so check back often in case this code's already been picked off.

today's code is 3Kp22hqWgf

good luck!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Hank Jones, jazz pianist, has died


he was 91.
our condolences go out to friends and family of this very kind, very talented man.

here's an interview I did with Mr. Jones backstage at Birdland during the summer of 2008.

and if you'd like to listen to Mr. Jones' work today, you could do worse than 1979's Bluesette.

Friday, May 14, 2010

free gaga


Lady Gaga's got a new song called "Vanity," and this is your chance to pick it up free.
follow this link to her website, click download and then save after you've entered the code.

it's first come, first served (each code will only work once), but I've got a few of these so check back often in case this code's already been picked off.

today's code is 24YYN63gb9

good luck!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

twitter and going on 50 updates


I've amalgamated all Twitter accounts (amalgamated, by the way, is the hands down winner for word of the day).
everything (everything) - Tusk news, Going on 50 updates, Not Working notices - will all go through HERE.

in other news, the first Going On 50 piece to leave the apartment, this with John Flansburgh, the youngest of the two Johns who comprise They Might Be Giants, popped at the Village Voice this morning, perfectly timed (if I say so myself) with Mr. Flansburgh's 50th birthday.
happy birthday, John.

I am still interviewing 49 year olds as well as those who have lost jobs since the recession began.

also, I bought some kosher Coca-Cola yesterday (the bottles have yellow caps) my mistake. I am not a fan.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

on the meaning of cinco de mayo


despite a total lack of Mexican heritage, the 5th of May has always been special because it is the birthday of my favorite brother.

but three years ago, approximately a year before the start of my latest stint of unemployment/full-time freelance writing, the date took on a new meaning.

it wasn't May 5th - in fact, it was probably just before, and closer to, Memorial Day when the woman who sat behind me in my last office job exclaimed, Oh no!

now this woman, also without so much as a drop of Mexican heritage, was a constant source of either amusement or annoyance or open-mouthed astonishment. such as the time she paid her veterinarian $1500 as a retainer towards future dental work to be performed on her non-show housecat (that would be the astonishment right there).

but when you hear, Oh no! in a loud, obviously distressed voice directly behind you, you really don't have time to process the many whackadoodle moments generated in the cubicle directly behind you (a lovely view of the back of my head she had).
no, your immediate reaction is to jump out of your seat for fear that her soda had exploded, her coffee had spilled and was headed your way, or perhaps some irreversible and costly mortgage processing error had taken place that you wanted no part of.
but whatever the cause, when you hear, Oh no! you pay attention.

and this is what followed the day I heard the woman behind me exclaim, Oh no! just before Memorial Day weekend in 2007:

We forgot to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

and that might well have triggered astonishment or even annoyance, except that she pronounced Mayo like the shortened version of mayonnaise.
as in, Oh no! We forgot to celebrate Cinco de May-o!

which immediately sent the holiday into the top slot in the May 5th memory bank (sorry brother).

Monday, May 3, 2010

last night's dream




which I only remember courtesy of the 5:30 a.m. thunderstorm that forced me awake.

I'm at my first day at work in an admin job and Bob Mould (who is 40 in real life, by the way) works in the cubicle next to me, though he looks like Glenn Tilbrook (longer, curlier hair). and we're discussing our respective 33 1/3 books (I wrote Tusk; don't know that we talked about his subject as much as he talked about his process; or maybe I just blathered on and on and on and Bob didn't get a word in edgewise; could've happened that way).

and at the risk of self-promotion, Amazon is offering pre-orders of the Tusk book (out next month theoretically) for just $7.38. and I really can't imagine that a new copy will be available any cheaper.