Endless Pajama Lark

Playlists

2009-07-17T13:11:54Z

Catching up a bit here--we were on vacation from Friday to Tuesday.

Last Thursday's rotation: Burn Your Fingers on the Sun (Australian psych/shoegaze compilation), Robyn Hitchcock, Neko Case, the Dead Girls, MyuuRy, more Robyn Hitchcock.

Last Friday's rotation: Badfinger, the Jackson 5, the Hollies, Mojo Presents Motown Nuggets (Motown compilation), the Kinks, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, John Fogerty, Sly and the Family Stone, the Left Banke, Colin Blunstone.

Tuesday's rotation: Colin Blunstone, Emitt Rhodes, the Beatles, Carla Thomas, the Zombies, Chris Isaak, the Hollies, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

Wednesday's rotation: NPR, Bill Kirchen.

Thursday's rotation: Josh Ritter, Eleni Mandell, Neko Case, the Toasters, the Boondogs.

And then there's this:

Bill Clinton Backs Same-Sex Marriage (The Nation)

North Vs. South 2009

2009-07-16T18:15:59Z

The North Vs. South Music Festival lineup is listed on the Davey's Uptown calendar now. They're going to operate two stages in two rooms at Davey's, which should work out OK as long as soundchecking doesn't bleed into the sets happening in the other room. Maybe they should go to the Crossroads and explore the use of the Brick, Czar Bar, and Crosstown Station--all easily within walking distance of each other--but I'm not on the planning committee. Anyway, the festival offers some promising highlights.

On Thursday night, August 20, Grant Hart is the big name, playing late. I'm also looking forward to the Service Industry (from Austin), which features ex-Cher UK leader Mike McCoy, the local band Red Kate, and Minneapolis pop band the Hard Left (if they're on the final schedule--there's a question mark by their name). I also want to catch the second show of Faster Horses, the new band started by Tony Ladesich of Pendergast and Sandoval. They're listed as "the Masses," an earlier tentative name for the band.

On Friday night, August 21, I most want to see Austin's Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves, who scrapped a recently scheduled gig here.

And on Saturday night, August 22, I will be thrilled to see the awesome Minnesota band the Magnolias, as well as Austin's excellent Grand Champeen, St. Paul's smoking Little Man, and Minnesota folk duo the Bitter Spills.

I had heard that Jim Crego would be doing a set, but I don't see him on the schedule, which is a major bummer. I'll have to find out more about that. And I'll have to check out some of the other acts on MySpace to decide if I want to see them. But even if I don't find any more, I'm happy to have this annual injection of talent from the far ends of I-35 into our local scene.

And then there's this:

Lost in Translation (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate): "It's easy to look at Sarah Palin as an iconic feminist, a path-breaking working mother, or noble rabble-rousing populist. But when the dust settles, the lesson may be that she was simply a woman who made no sense."

Flashback: Palin Said That Women Complaining About "Excess Criticism" Don’t "Do Us Any Good" (Think Progress)

Franken's First Move: Co-Sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act (Talking Points Memo)

Coal-Loving Missouri Senator McCaskill Doesn't Think Strong Climate Bill Will Pass Senate (Treehugger)

The City Notifies Wal-Mart That One of Its Dead Stores Is a Nuisance (David Martin, The Pitch)

Facebook's Identity Crisis: Too Many Old People (PC World)

The Dong Show: Top 10 Moments in Male Full-Frontal (Salon): "In popular culture, and movies in particular, there's been a rather conspicuous double standard. Sure, boobs and vaginas are great, but where, egalitarians might ask, are all the penises?"

6 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Were Shameless Rip-Offs (Cracked)

Dinosaur act

2009-07-09T12:58:17Z

Too many meetings and appointments yesterday, so Wednesday's rotation was reduced to this: Burn Your Fingers on the Sun (Australian psych/shoegaze compilation), Robyn Hitchcock.

Live: Low.

I often dream of trains

2009-07-08T13:17:08Z

Tuesday's rotation: Antipodean Screams, Vol. 2 (Australian garage compilation), Eleni Mandell, Burn Your Fingers on the Sun (Australian psych/shoegaze compilation), the Boondogs, Robyn Hitchcock.

And then there's this:

Al Franken Takes His Job Very Seriously (Salon): "Just a few minutes into Sen.-elect Al Franken's first public appearance inside the Beltway since he finally won the longest-running contest of the 2008 election, it was already clear that anyone hoping for six years of laughter out of the comedian-turned-junior senator from Minnesota would be disappointed."

Decoding Sarah Palin (Slate): "Decoding her Facebook message to the nation."

Sunscreen's Shady Business (Mother Jones): "Can sunscreen really provide perfect sun protection?"

Beating like a drum

2009-07-07T14:09:05Z

Monday's rotation: The Rough Guide to World Party (world music compilation), Chris Isaak, Josh Ritter, Robyn Hitchcock, Burn Your Fingers on the Sun (Australian rock compilation), Eskimo Joe.

Now to see what Tuesday brings . . .

And then there's this:

Rush Limbaugh Is Still a Big Fat Idiot (Joe Conason, Salon): "Perhaps Al Franken should be grateful to the wingers who have defamed him so relentlessly. It will certainly be easy for the real Franken to vault the low bar set by their dire predictions for his political future."

King of Hype (Blurt): "It's been a long time since Michael Jackson penned a hit song, but he did write one last nationwide sensation: the script the mainstream media has followed since his death. Jackson, we're told, was the 'king of pop,' who had 'the biggest selling album of all time,' and 'broke MTV's color line.' Every one of these dubious factoids was devised by Jackson or his agents."

Should have posted this on Friday

2009-07-06T18:45:50Z

Thursday's rotation: Funkadelic, the Dead Girls, Bill Kirchen, Ronderlin, Idlewild, MyuuRy, the Toasters, David Fagin, The Rough Guide to World Party (world music compilation), Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford.

Live: Jon Dee Graham and the Tiny Horse.

Friday, live: Stone in Love.

And then there's this:

It Came from Wasilla (Vanity Fair): "Todd S. Purdum tracks the signs—-political and personal—-that Sarah Palin was big trouble, and checks the forecast for her future."

Palin's E-mail Battle with McCain Camp (Salon)

Fox Hosts on Franken Victory: "In Denial"; Franken and Nation Crazy; Coleman Originally Won (Media Matters)

The Prurient Trap (Charles Blow, New York Times): "The Republicans used sexual morality as a weapon and now it's shooting them in the foot."

Census Bureau: We’re Working with Bachmann to "Explain the Rules of the Census" (Think Progress): "For the most part, people put more information on a credit card application than they do on the Census form."

Colbert Suggests Cynthia Davis Needs to Starve (Pitch): "Stephen Colbert made sport of Missouri state Rep. and hunger advocate Cynthia Davis last night."

Top 10 Ironic Ads from History (Consumerist)

Antipodean Screams

2009-07-02T13:10:43Z

Wednesday's rotation: Aretha Franklin, the Poem Adept, Neko Case, the Boondogs, Antipodean Screams (Australian modern garage comp), Charlie Parr, J Church.

And then there's this:

Sarah Palin, a "Little Shop of Horrors" (Salon)

Classic TV Gets Porn Parody Treatment (Variety): "Over the last year, Hustler Video Group has without much fanfare trotted out a parade of titles derived from classic TV shows, including the recently released parody 'This Ain't Star Trek XXX.'"

What it is

2009-07-01T13:12:03Z

Tuesday's rotation: The Kitchen Gorilla, Eleni Mandell, Josh Ritter, David Fagin, Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford, Eskimo Joe, Cheap Audio, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin.

And then there's this:

Mika Brzezinski's Double Standard (Jamison Foser, Media Matters): "MSNBC's Brzezinski complained of a 'double standard' in the way affairs by politicians 'are judged,' insisting that Republicans are treated more harshly than Democrats. Brzezinski's claim is pure bunk and cannot be allowed to go undisputed."

Obama Woos LGBT Leaders (Salon): "The president welcomes 300 prominent gays to the White House. But when will his rhetoric translate into action?"

Pat Boone Goes Birther (Salon)

Ray Davies Says Kinks Film In the Works, Reunion Unlikely (Rolling Stone)

I wanted to be a millionaire

2009-06-29T22:31:19Z

Thursday's rotation: Idlewild, the Dead Girls, Funkadelic, Ronderlin, J Church, The Poem Adept, MyuuRy, the Toasters, A Camp, Mitch Easter.

Car music over the weekend: Mitch Easter.

Live, Friday night: Summer Breeze. Set list: You're the Biggest Part of Me, What a Fool Believes, You're No Good, Baby Come Back, Summer Breeze, Rosanna, Right Down the Line, She's Gone, Leather and Lace, This Is It, I Keep Forgettin', Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Blue Bayou, Billie Jean, Peg, Over My Head, Love Will Keep Us Together, I'm Alright, Private Eyes, Islands in the Stream, Taking It to the Streets.

Monday's rotation: Mitch Easter, Chris Isaak.

And then there's this:

Remind Me: Which Political Party Is "Decadent" and "Sick"? (Joe Conason, Salon)

Michael Jackson's Celebrity Suicide (Bill Wyman, Salon): "Born to stardom, he never knew what it was like to live or even behave normally."

The 13 Most Unintentionally Disturbing Children's Toys (Cracked)

Rock and roll music

2009-06-25T04:24:29Z

Wednesday's rotation: Idlewild, Neko Case, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, Bill Kirchen.

And then there's this:

NPR's Omsbudsman: Why We Bar the Word "Torture" (Glenn Greenwald, Salon): "Anyone who believes that NPR is a 'liberal' media outlet--and anyone who wants to understand the decay of American journalism--should read this column by NPR's Ombudsman, Alicia C. Shepard, as she explains and justifies why NPR bars the use of the word 'torture' to describe what the Bush administration did."

Totally Looks Like

2009-06-24T18:37:32Z

Gross.

from TotallyLooksLike.com

Jubilee

2009-06-23T22:28:19Z

Tuesday's rotation: Idlewild, Eleni Mandell, Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford, Bill Kirchen, Cheap Audio, the Boondogs, the Kitchen Gorilla, Charlie Parr.

Historical conquests

2009-06-22T22:20:56Z

Monday's rotation: Idlewild, Chris Isaak, Mitch Easter, Josh Ritter, The Rough Guide to World Party (world music compilation).

And then there's this:

Obama: Stop Protecting Wall Street Bankers from Main Street (Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Salon): "The president needs to stop shielding financial executives from the pitchfork-wielding public."

Suddenly It's OK to Call a Judicial Nominee a Racist (Jamison Foser, Media Matters)

The Need to Tax the Wealthy (Dean Baker, The Economist): "The quest to increase taxes on the wealthy is not a gratuitous attack on upper income households; it is driven by the need to raise more revenue to run the government. The best way to increase taxes on the wealthy, in addition to allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, would be to apply a modest financial transactions tax (FTT)."

The American Way (Bob Herbert, New York Times): "Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 120,000 Americans have been killed in nonterror homicides, most committed with guns. Yet the idea of doing something about the insane number of
guns is a nonstarter."

What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons? (Jimmy Carter, New York Times)

Plastic. Fantastic? (Mother Jones): "Can we learn to live with (and even love) plastic?"

For Bands, Bonus Songs Become New Norm (New York Times)

Why Is Gmail Still in Beta? (Slate)

5 Massive Hit Songs That Almost Didn't Get Released (Cracked)

Triumph Visits Bonnaroo

2009-06-20T20:47:24Z

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is back! And he recently visited Bonnaroo. Hilarious! The video is in two parts.

Post-electric blues

2009-06-19T13:27:27Z

Thursday's rotation: Sage Francis, Idlewild, Chris Isaak, Funkadelic, Ronderlin, J Church, M. Ward.

Why am I doing this? I haven't been on LJ much lately--I even stopped reading my Friends pages in May, for the first time in the nearly seven years I've been here, after falling hopelessly behind--and I'm trying to do something to get myself back in the habit of posting something, anything. So this is what it is for now.

Wednesday's rotation

2009-06-17T22:28:46Z

Wednesday's rotation: Thee Fine Lines, Lucinda Williams, The Kitchen Gorilla, Sage Francis, The Poem Adept, A Camp, Aretha Franklin, Elana James.

Live: Lucinda Williams.

To go home

2009-06-16T22:15:10Z

Tuesday's rotation: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Franz Ferdinand, Thee Fine Lines, Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford, Cheap Audio, J Church, M. Ward.

This tornado loves you

2009-06-16T13:00:36Z

Monday's rotation: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, the Dead Girls, Mitch Easter, Funkadelic, Neko Case.

Live: Deer Tick, Jenny Lewis.

Television, the drug of the nation

2009-05-21T04:47:55Z

The news from the upfronts is all out now, and it looks like my consumption of network TV shows will be down next fall. That's a good thing--there's been a lot of good TV in the last several years, but I've been watching too much. It's too early to closely examine the new offerings for the fall, but at this point only a couple of them sound enticing. But it's not too early to look at the renewals and cancellations. This is how it goes for me:

Sunday: CBS is bringing back The Amazing Race, and Fox continues the record run of The Simpsons. Unfortunately, Fox is also getting rid of the long-running and underrated King of the Hill. Over at PBS, they don't take part in the upfronts, but I can only assume that Nature will be back for another season.

Monday: How I Met Your Mother returns on CBS, but they've let go of Worst Week. Heroes will be back in the fall, but I'm canceling it--after a decent but overrated first season and two more weak, sometimes abysmal seasons, it's overdue for the cut. The much better Chuck returns in the spring (whew!).

Tuesday: I've got nothing on Tuesdays in the fall, as Fox is moving Fringe to Thursdays, and the CW has axed Reaper. In the spring, ABC is bringing back Scrubs (really?!) and Better Off Ted.

Wednesday: Fox has the new show Glee on Wednesday nights, and if it's as good as the first episode surprisingly was, I'll keep watching. Lost will return for its final season in the spring, but Pushing Daisies is long gone.

Thursday: Thursday is my big night. Fringe moves here, and NBC's comedies are on my list--The Office, Parks and Recreation, SNL: Weekend Update Thursday (couldn't they just call this SNL Thursday Update?), and the promising new Community. 30 Rock will be back later, but My Name Is Earl and Kath & Kim are gone.

Friday: Shockingly, Dollhouse will be back. Good news there! Everybody Hates Chris has ended its run. I assume PBS will bring back the best news shows on television, Bill Moyers' Journal and Now on PBS.

Saturday: Saturday Night Live is pretty much a lifelong habit, through all its ups and downs. Talkshow with Spike Feresten is being replaced by Wanda Sykes' new late-night show on Fox.

And that's that. Cable adds to my load, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Not catching up

2009-04-07T22:23:29Z

I think one of the things keeping me from posting more often is that I feel like I need to go back and catch up, and for that I need enough time and energy to sit down and really write, and thus it never happens. So I have hereby decided to ignore, for the most part, the idea of "catching up" in any significant way. Nonetheless, some of the following bullet points may serve that function.

Last night we saw Howard Iceberg and the Titanics play the Rural Grit Happy Hour at the Brick. Good set.
Other bands I've seen since posting on March 17: Eleni Mandell, Teenage Bottlerocket, the Dead Girls, the Klangs, Thik Lizzy, Little Man, Animals with Armour, and Betse Ellis of the Wilders. I also saw the Poison Arrows open for Teenage Bottlerocket, but despite good influences I wasn't really sold.
We're trying to clean the house in anticipation of my parents' arrival on Thursday. It got out of hand again. Maybe this time we can keep it cleaner.
We are proud new owners of the Litter Champ. It seems to be working so far. We needed something like this because although we use a flushable wheat-based litter in most of our litter boxes, we had to set one up with clay litter or suffer the consequences (poop on the floor). We needed somewhere to put scoopings from the clay litter box until trash day; otherwise the odor was intolerable.
I recently got a minor raise and a new computer at work. In an economy more inclined toward layoffs and cutbacks than raises, I'm happy for that.
The Hitchcock series at the Tivoli recently concluded. I saw and enjoyed them all: The Lady Vanishes, Saboteur, To Catch a Thief, and Marnie (yes, they deliberately chose some of his less-heralded films). And then I found the Birds Barbie doll at Big Lots. It's so cool!

And then there's this:

Oh, What a Lovely Class War! (TruthOut): "My goodness, how they howl when the proverbial shoe is on the proverbial other foot. You'd think the Red Army had just left Moscow and was preparing a frontal assault on the Federal Reserve. So what are conservatives, Wall Street and financial television commentators shouting? Socialists! That's right. Spread the word: Socialists are swarming over our nation's Capitol and making off with the means of production, otherwise known as campaign contributions and the federal budget."

The Culture Warriors Get Laid Off (Frank Rich, New York Times): "Here is one piece of good news in our global economic meltdown: Americans have less and less patience for the intrusive and divisive moral scolds who thrived in the bubbles of the Clinton and Bush years. Culture wars are a luxury the country can no longer afford."

The Real AIG Scandal (Eliot Spitzer, Slate): "It's not the bonuses. It's that AIG's counterparties are getting paid back in full."

Merrill Lynch Bonus Payments Dwarf AIG (TruthOut)

AIG Is Chump Change--Let's Find Corporate America's Hidden Billions (Joe Conason, Salon)

Michele Bachmann: I Want People "Armed And Dangerous" Over Obama Tax Plan (Huffington Post)

Rampage Nation: The Press No Longer Cares About Epic Gun Violence (Eric Boehlert, Media Matters)

Obama Signs Wide-Ranging Conservation Law (AFP): "President Obama signed legislation on Monday expanding and protecting US public parks and wilderness areas from oil and gas development, billed as the largest US conservation measure in more than 15 years."

Politico Cited Criticism of Obama's iPod Gift By "Etiquette Expert," But Queen Requested It (Media Matters)

Fox News Edits Clip To Suggest That Biden Recently Declared ‘Fundamentals Of The Economy Are Strong’ (Think Progress)

Tucker Carlson's Jerk Store (Jamison Foser, Media Matters): "It seems Carlson has spent the past four years seething--and looking for an opportunity to finally put Jon Stewart in his place. "

The Husband Of Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Is A ‘Protector Of The Palin Brand’ (Think Progress)

Cantor, ‘Democrats’ Attend Britney Spears Concert During Obama Presser (Wonkette): "The office of House Republican Whip Eric Cantor has confirmed that instead of watching President Obama’s press conference, Cantor attended a Britney Spears concert."

scratchtasia @ 2009-04-01T08:24:00

2009-04-01T13:24:51Z

SXSW crumbs

2009-03-17T18:27:00Z

Though Kansas City is hundreds of miles away from Austin, our live music scene gets a little boost every year when South By Southwest rolls around: a number of bands opt for touring routes that take them through the area, booking gigs in either Kansas City or Lawrence. So even if I can't go to SXSW (the only year I've managed that was 2007), I can catch a few bands along the way.

Last night I saw San Francisco's Love Like Fire, whose stuff reminded me a little of late-period Lush. Other SXSW-bound bands I'll be seeing soon include Wyoming punks Teenage Bottlerocket, Twin Cities rockers Little Man, Omaha indie-popsters Little Brazil, and local boys the ACBs. I also wish I could manage to see the Silversun Pickups and Gentleman Jesse and His Men, but I can't get to everything. I further wish I could see Stop Nadya Stop and Mustafa Rogers, but that's impossible considering that I just made them up.

Many more bands are coming through that I'm either not that interested in--the Von Bondies, the Queers, Dri, Scott H. Biram, the Spinto Band, Hamell on Trial--or know almost nothing about: Chairlift, Yacht, the Poison Arrows, the Black Lips, Tub Ring, Handsome Furs, Black Diamond Bay, the John Henrys, Sleepy Sun, the Hard Lessons, the Magic, Cotton Jones, Me and My Arrow, Human Highway, Abe Vigoda, Bonne Finken, Tigercity, the Prids, 20 Dollar Love, Bishop Allen, the Defibulators, Miniature Tigers, Maps & Atlases, Vampire Hands, Tub Ring, Crystal Stilts, Rad Racket, Everthus the Deadbeats, the Woes, the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, etc. I should look a few of these people up. If you want to recommend any of them, feel free.

Granted, this is nothing like the bewildering array of options in Austin this week, but I'll take what I can get. Love Like Fire were very good.

And then there's this:

Worst Week Ever: Republicans Unhinged (Paul Jenkins, Huffington Post)

Dump the GOP (William Rivers Pitt, TruthOut): "In his inaugural address, he promised to reach out a hand to anyone willing to unclench their fist. The GOP responded not only with clenched fists, but with swinging clenched fists. It seems early to give up already, but facts are facts, and Obama needs to withdraw his hand and just wave these people off."

They Sure Showed That Obama (Frank Rich, New York Times): "In the stimulus battle--just as in the presidential campaign--Barack Obama has once again outwitted the punditocracy and the opposition."

GOP Stimulus Myths (FactCheck.org): "Many claims of Democrats slipping in earmarks for frivolous projects aren't true."

Why the GOP Should Shut Up About Earmarks (Slate): "Six out of the top 10 Senate earmark hogs are Republicans."

Wealthy Idiots Meet Idiot Reporter (New Republic): "I've seen a lot of dumb news reports in my life, but I'm not sure anything can quite match this one from ABC News. The premise of the report is this: Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on people who make more than $250,000, so the reporter has gone and found people who earn a little more than that sum who plan to decrease their income so that they come in underneath the magic line."

Continuity of the Wrong Kind (Editorial, New York Times): "The Obama administration should not be invoking state secrets to cover up charges of rendition and torture."

Female Candidates Line Up for 2010 (Politico): "A slew of formidable female candidates, mostly Democrats, are lining up to run for the Senate in 2010."

Vacationing Missouri Legislators Should Give Us a Break (Editorial, Kansas City Star): "House Republicans have continued their pattern of making low-income and disadvantaged Missourians bear the brunt of the state’s fiscal difficulties. The House Budget Committee this week said 'no' to a deal that Gov. Jay Nixon worked out with the Missouri Hospital Association to expand Medicaid coverage to 35,000 low-income adults. It wouldn't cost state government a dime."

Wild Thing (New York Times): "Neko Case's songs are full of claws, wolves, tornadoes, birds of prey and the occasional gust of wind. But her voice is the real force of nature."

The Wizard of Watchmen: "Alan Moore talks about his career, his favorite characters and his bad influence on the comics world."

Why Normund Gentle Is the Greatest American Idol Contestant Ever (VH1)

Back from the dead

2009-02-18T19:03:17Z

I am sad to note the cancellation of the beloved local American Idol rip-off series, Harrah's Lucky Break. Andrea and I were devoted fans, and we will miss its shoddy production values, karaoke-quality vocal performances, random bored crowd shots, suspectedly drunken hosts, and anything else that contributed to its unintentional hilarity. We will also miss the elderly woman in the red clothing who showed up weekly and always made it on camera. (I secretly hoped they'd give her a chance to judge, but it never happened.) I will especially miss the frequent judging appearances by Lurlene the Trailer Court Queen. And I also want to note for posterity that one week a young woman sat behind egomaniacal blowhard Craig Glazer (who was judging) and mocked him mercilessly with facial expressions and hand gestures, and it was pretty much the best show they ever had. I have no idea who this mystery girl was, but she rocked and should have been a regular feature.

So I guess we've replaced Lucky Break with American Idol. Andrea has watched it for a few years now, but I've never bothered until now. The drama-queen antics of Tatiana del Toro have almost filled the void of awfulness left by Lucky Break's absence. I wasn't really paying much attention at first when Andrea had it on, but I've been sucked in to where I can appreciate it in a Vote for the Worst kind of way.

On a happier note, the Tivoli and UMKC have a Hitchcock film series coming up that skips past the obvious (Psycho, Vertigo, North By Northwest) in favor of some slightly less-celebrated selections: The Lady Vanishes, Saboteur, To Catch a Thief, and Marnie. I've seen them all--heck, I have them all on DVD--but I'm not going to pass up a chance to see them on the big screen.

In personal news, I was sick for almost exactly a week there. It was the flu, and it wasn't much fun, but I did get to make a big dent in my DVR recordings.

Monday night I went to music trivia at the RecordBar, and since none of my rotating cast of teammates showed up, I had to play by myself for the first time since the first week. I'm happy to say that I managed to win, despite some solid competition from the other teams. It's more fun to have at least one teammate to socialize with, but not having to split the cash prize with anyone is pretty sweet too.

Right before I got sick, I went to see the Dead Girls' Lawrence CD release show at the Replay Lounge. My honest assessment: they've been better. But it was fun to hang out, and Bill was even still in town after the Ultimate Fakebook reunion show of a couple nights earlier. Bill joined the Dead Girls for a butchering of Guided By Voices' "Teenage FBI," which they'd done so incredibly well at my birthday bash. But it was all in fun. (Our original plan that night was to see Stone in Love at the RecordBar, but it sold out before we arrived.) The Dead Girls' new EP is very, very good--surprisingly hushed and different from what I expected, but in a good way. There's even a nicely done cover of Big Star's "I'm in Love with a Girl."

Last night we saw Marah at the RecordBar. I enjoyed parts of the show very well--the first couple of songs, and the first song where the lead guy switched from acoustic to electric guitar. But most of the show was tension-filled, as nagging sound problems, miscommunication with the sound guy, and temperamental artistry brewed to the point where we expected a Ryan Adams-style meltdown at any point. Reinforcements were brought in to take care of the sound issues, but just after things were starting to go more smoothly, the band ended the set.

Tonight we are going to Columbia to see Mark Olson and Gary Louris. They have an early show, and Marah has a late one. But we'll have to miss that, in order to get back home at a reasonable hour and meet our work commitments tomorrow.

And then there's this:

Fundamentally Flawed Stimulus Coverage (Jamison Foser, Media Matters)

Bristol Palin Stammers the Truth (Salon): "In a Fox interview, the new teen mother makes an almost unwitting argument for reproductive choice before Mom barges in and twists her words."

Fox Passes Off GOP Press Release As Its Own Research--Typo and All (Media Matters)

Memo to Limbaugh: Try CTRL+F Before Blasting Dems for Purportedly Unsearchable Bill (Media Matters)

Joss Whedon Just Wants to Be Loved (Salon): "The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer talks about his new series Dollhouse, the perils of sex trafficking and life as a cult icon."

JayDoc

2009-02-07T04:55:20Z

Last night's Ultimate Fakebook reunion show benefit for the JayDoc clinic was a lot of fun. I must admit I had a better time at my birthday thing, but it was great to get to see them again, that they got such a large crowd, and that they got to so many more songs. All the stagecraft was fun, too--the stage fog, the giant lighted "UFB" sign, the new rock box, and especially the confetti cannon on loan from the Flaming Lips. (Apparently there was a hole in the hose, so the confetti didn't go as far as it was supposed to, so loads of it ended up on Bill, who could barely open his mouth without getting confetti in it.)

I really do miss that band.

I saw the Republic Tigers (playing before UFB) for the first time and wasn't impressed. I have their EP that preceded their full album, but it (with standout track "Buildings and Mountains") didn't prepare me for what they sounded like onstage--overly glossy, samey discofied rock. It was cute that they did a cover of "Heart of Glass," but the execution wasn't that great.

So, let's see, what else? Our guest cats, Frankie and Harley, have been moved to their new home with Andrea's mom. They've been renamed Sugarheart and Heartflower by Andrea's niece--Shuggie and Flo, for short. They'd been getting better about coming out of their shells while staying here, but they were scared all over again when we moved them. I hear they make a lot of noise playing around at night, though. I think they'll be OK before too long.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Lola are sick--Jackson to a greater extent than Lola. They've both been to the vet (it's been a very expensive week), but we don't really have any answers. Maybe it's just a virus passing through. The rest of the cats seem unaffected, thankfully.

I also put together a desk for Andrea's mom--one of those Sauder you-assemble-it things.

Can't think of much else.

And then there's this:

Herbert Hoover Lives (Frank Rich, New York Times): "The nightmare is that we have so irrelevant, clownish and childish an opposition party at a moment when America is in an all-hands-on-deck emergency that’s as trying as war."

David Cay Johnston: More Corporate Tax Breaks Will Not Stimulate the Economy (Democracy Now)

Dobbs, Master of Fear-Mongering, Warns That Obama, Pelosi Are "Fear-Mongering" to Pass Stimulus Bill (Media Matters)

That Could Be Senator Stormy to You (Politico)

Joe the Plumber Black Velvet Painting on eBay--Only $250 (Salon)

The gym

2009-01-31T01:39:23Z

I hear that Taylor Swift song every single time I go to the gym these days. Every single time. At least it's better than when I was hearing that damned Soulja Boy song every single workout.

There's a guy at the gym who looks exactly like Toby on The Office. I hate him!