Alright, it's 9:30 am on Yom Kippur, I have the day off, and have already been somewhat productive.

Cleaned up a bit after the very fun Bates Ladies, Etc. get together at our place yesterday. I am still craving apple cider donuts, those things are tasty.

Did some MTV pilates, made up a pot of smoked sausage & beans for lunches for the rest of the week, and have a load of laundry in the washer and the dryer. That's pretty decently productive.

On the list for the rest of the day: do some writing, learn some quantum mechanics, take a nap (this is serious business given the next item on the list), go see Sunny Day Real Estate with my brother tonight at HoB. Boo to there being a Sox game at Fenway tonight, though, I think we'll have to park around Gov't Center.

Also this weekend, enjoyed some amazing drinks at Eastern Standard and had a great time hanging out with folks. Yay, drinks! I do wish I had more money to be able to enjoy that place more often, but I like that for $20, plus tax & tip, it's possible to drag out 2 delicious drinks for quite a while.

Holy shit! Pavement! Touring! Pardon me while I flail around in glee for a moment.

I am totally going to attempt to buy some tickets for their first reunion show, in NYC, about a year from now.

You have no idea how very, very happy this news makes me. They're the one band of my all-time favorite bands that I never got a chance to see live.

So I finally started watching True Blood (verrrrrry slowly, since I'm Netflixing it and only get 2 episodes on a disc. I really wish Netflix made everything available for stream-instantly).

My thoughts so far: Um, wow, Anna Paquin is seriously not a good actress. Unless maybe the books are so poorly written that she's actually doing an amazing character study or something? Hot mysterious vampire guy is hot and mysterious. It would be awesome to get some plot going (other than OMG-everyone-loves-Sookie and OMG-vampires-exist-here-is-a-pound-of-exposition). I am having major Twilight flashbacks, what with the mind reading and the potential for stalking... too bad there are no sparkles in this. The music in the show is terrible. Like, are they making it that bad on purpose? Not to mention the opening credits; I'm used to much more effort from HBO in its opening credits, these are so bad I thought I was watching Showtime. Nitpicking aside, I am enjoying it and will keep watching. It just makes me long for the days of HBO of yore, when we had Rome and The Wire and Oz.... there is a reason why we no longer bother to pay for HBO with our cable.

Also, this report from a teenager in England really disturbs me, if for no other reason than the line on page 3 that states most teenagers today have never bought a cd. Never?! *shakes fist at kids these days*

That just kind of blows my mind. And here I was listening to NPR this morning (via podcast) interviewing Mac and Laura from Merge on the 20th anniversary of Merge records, getting all nostalgic for the days when I would order vinyl albums straight from record labels. And when I got the latest news on music from listervs. I got my illicit copy of Belle & Sebastian's "Tigermilk" from someone on the indie-pop listserv way back in the day after If You're Feeling Sinister came out...

Because my brother totally rocks, we are going to see Sunny Day Real Estate (!!) at the House of Blues in Sept. Real emo!!!

Oh my god, this is so me.

Also, thanks to incandes_flower for burning onto a cd a mixtape I made for her in 2001. It is quite possibly the best mix I ever made. And now I remember how good Magnapop was.

Oh, and also, there may be hope yet for some of us with soul-crushing student loan burdens. I'm sketchy on the details, but it looks fairly promising.

Went to see Glasvegas last night, and they were totally rockin'. I love a good show. And it was fairly prompt! I love getting out of a show at a reasonable hour on a work night. The drummer didn't have a kick drum and stood the entire time.

So thanks to Netflix we've been discovering comedy that we otherwise might not check out. Our latest discovery is The Whitest Kids U'Know. It is killing me with hilarity. I think about this sketch randomly through the day and get the giggles, though I caution that even though the naughty words in it are bleeped for tv, I don't think it's all that safe for work, depending on your work situation:

Well well. To make up for the crappiness that has been February, today was actually a banner day. Got tickets to see The National in May. We went up to Salem to poke around and get a lay of the land, and while there three marvelous things happened. One: Went to a couple of bookstores with the vague hope of finding a book that I have been hotly anticipating for a year. Since it's not supposed to hit shelves until March 1, I was prepared for disappointment. But lo! One store had it on shelf early. Then we found a cupcakery in Beverly that has amazing cupcakes. Like, better than Lyndell's. And it was supposed to close at 2:00, but somehow was still open when we got there a bit past 3:00. These cupcakes are so good, seriously you guys. And then, on our way back to Somerville, the radio played a brand new My Chemical Romance song (shut up, I love them). Finally, we topped our day with a Metafilter meet-up and the Cinematic Titanic show at the Somerville Theater. Success!

Oooh, Glasvegas is playing the Paradise in March.

Anyone want to see some Scottish rock with me? Tickets are only $15, but it is on a Tuesday night (March 31), which sucks.

Also, The Main Drag (of Rock Band 2 fame!) is playing on Feb. 12 (a Thursday) at TT's. I would love to go to this, but the band doesn't actually go on until Midnight, which is the lamest thing ever. I like them so much that I'd consider taking the day after off or taking a half day to sleep in.

Another show I'd like to see:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- Middle East upstairs, Sunday, Feb. 15

So the 4 week Treasury bond interest is at 0%? That is crazy.

In less important news, but amusingly dramatic shenanigans: Billy Corgan has officially gone off the deep end. I've been following news of the disastrous SP tour, and according to this recent interview, he's taking his toys and going home with a big middle finger thrust up.

( snippet of crazy )

It's true that the way a lot of people listen to music has changed since the advent of mp3 players, I won't deny that. But to think that there's no place for an album anymore is a convenient cop out when the truth is it appears that the Pumpkins aren't capable of producing a cohesive, strong album anymore. Sure, there's a lot of crap out there, and plenty of people listen to a lot of terrible music, and lots of people listen to only singles they hear on the radio. That's always been the case. It was the case in the 90s, it will always be the case. Not everyone cares about music that much. But to think that no one cares about albums at all any more is foolish. Just because the last Pumpkins album received a tepid reception at best doesn't mean that everyone is stupid for not recognizing its inherent genius, it means the album itself is flawed.

Ok, guys, srsly. The My Chemical Romance website is hilarious. They are blogging and twittering and posting photos, and... I love this band.

I know I can't be the only one who will enjoy this... ahem... visionofblue and eclecticavatar

Dear Smashing Pumpkins: You are not Sonic Youth. You never will be. Cut the crap.

And can I have my money back?

That show... sucked. They did play my second favorite song ever (Mayonaise), and it was really good, but holy god, so much pointless noodling. And I have a pretty good tolerance for noodling and noise- I have all the SYR recordings for god's sake, I can handle some well-done noise, but this show was mostly unlistenable crap with some songs thrown in. There is a right way and a wrong way to do meandering instrumental experimentation. Last night = wrong way.

The highlight of the evening was dinner before the show, where Drew & I cracked each other up making up a vampire story. I had such a crappy day yesterday, today has got to be better. Right?

Time to write!

Just got back from seeing The Who. They were totally awesome. And they played Baba O'Riley, which is one of the greatest rock anthems of all time.

I am weird. I get nostalgic for time periods during which I was decidedly not alive. During the concert I really wished that rather than seeing them in 2008 at the Fleet Center (I am too young to think of it as the Boston Garden and too old to think of it as TD Banknorth Garden), I wished I could have been seeing them in a dirty English pub in the 60s.

Drew introduced me to the best comic books ever this weekend. Seriously, the best ever. They are called Scott Pilgrim, and they are about an emo-ish guy in Canada who has girl problems, often wears Smashing Pumpkins t-shirts, and has awesome kung fu fights sometimes. It is amazing. And soon to be a motion picture starring Michael Cera.

Speaking of Smashing Pumpkins, I spent waaaaaay too much money this weekend on tickets to one of their shows here in November. I am crossing my fingers that they might play Starla!

So, there are some things that used to be awesome but are now too overplayed to be awesome anymore. These things include: pirates, monkeys, robots, ninjas, zombies, and hobos (hobos' popularity and subsequent overplayedness both due to John Hodgman). What, I ask you, is going to be the next awesome thing?

My latest song obsession: Geraldine, by Glasvegas. I love that guitar sound and want more of it! Why do Scots make such great music?

Tonight: seeing The Wedding Present at the Middle East. incandes_flower is my indie rock hero as usual for getting me out to more shows.

This weekend was perfectly fantastic. Friday night involved boxed sangria and silliness with the aforementioned incandes_flower and tenillypo. Saturday we saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was absolutely adorable, and later went to an awesome birthday party. Yesterday we spent the day at the ren fair with dr_alycat and cook_ting, and it was tons of fun. I wish I could be a professional tiger handler.

So much indie rock in one weekend! Saw Dressy Bessy last night at TT's, it was a great show. The Built to Spill Don't Look Back show in NYC was also awesome.

Our New York trip: fun and exhausting.

Thursday we arrived in the city, dropped our bags off at our weird "b&b" (bed, no breakfast, surly owner), and headed over for our long, long wait for The Daily Show. They overbook their reserved tickets, so you're not guaranteed to get in even if you have tickets. We got there wicked early, waited in line for a looooooong time, but it was worth it because we did get in. The actual taping of the show is so fast, it really is just about the time it takes to watch the show without commercials. Jon Stewart is awesome and comes out before the show to take some audience questions. The show was conveniently about five blocks away from the venue for Built to Spill, so we left the taping and went over to the concert. I had been hoping to get there after the Meat Puppets finished their set, but we were early and had to sit through them. Dinosaur Jr. rocked out, and then Built to Spill played Perfect From Now On, and they were amazing, and it was all I hoped for. It's my favorite BtS album. After that we met up with the rest of our traveling group in Times Square, went to a really crappy bar, and headed back to Brooklyn to sleep.

Friday Drew & I went to the Central Park Zoo, it was raining so the giant bunnies were not outside and I felt a little cheated. Yes, the highlight of every zoo experience for me is seeing bunnies, even though I have three perfectly good bunnies at home to see all the time. But the polar bears were adorable. We then hit the Met, which I've been to a couple of times, so I hit my museum tolerance pretty quickly. Since it was raining, I think half the population of the city was hanging out inside the Met, making it kind of claustrophobic. We fled the museum to meet up with friends and commence to drinkin'. Continued drinkin' at Vol de Nuit. Got a tasty late dinner at a place called Acme, and by the time we got to Brooklyn our store of energy was spent. Why does it take so friggin' long to get anywhere in New York?

Saturday we had brunch in Carroll Gardens, waited forever for an F train to take us into Manhattan, scored The Best Cupcakes I Have Ever Had, Ever at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, and went to The Strand for some book action. By the time all this was done, it was pretty much time to catch our bus home. Ok, seriously, those cupcakes? They were divine. They were better than Lyndell's. I would take the 4 hour bus back down to New York just to get those cupcakes and then come right back. Nom nom nom.

So that's that. It was a ton of fun, but involved way too much public transportation. If it hadn't been raining I would have walked much more and probably wouldn't have burnt out so much on getting around town.

I am so obsessed with this song right now: M.I.A.: Paper Planes. (youtube link)

I am so loving Borders' "reserve in store" feature. You can search online to see if a book is in stock (or "likely in stock") at locations near you, and then they will send you an email when your book is ready to be picked up! This is amazing. Though I'm not getting my hopes up too much, I went to the Downtown Crossing location yesterday in the hopes of picking up the first book by an author I've just discovered, and was disappointed. But I did find out that there is a brand new book by said author, and it's the third in the series (I'm currently reading the second in the series because I couldn't control my book impulse buying). I love finding new authors for historical fiction mysteries! Especially when they are readable and don't suck. I did check out Porter Square Books yesterday, too, but they didn't have what I was looking for. Where is this newfound middle-class guilt over where I buy things coming from? I'm trying to be a responsible consumer, but it's hard to get away from convenience and cheapness.

Also, with apologies for harping on NPR so much lately, but this blog post on the All Songs Considered blog is really interesting. What is the sound of this generation?

Bostonites! I am going to see Tullycraft at PA's Lounge next Thursday (the 12th). They make just about the best twee indie pop ever, there are keyboards and jangly guitars and fun catchy choruses. It's twee without being overly precious. Anyway, if anyone wants to join me and see some awesome music, I'd welcome the company. And it's only $8! And I will be driving so I can give you a ride home after! Poking around the opening bands' website, I just learned that I totally went to high school with someone in one of the opening bands. Neat!

In other music-related postings, Okkervil River is really, really good.

I caught a bit of the MTV Movie Awards last night, because I am still 12 years old sometimes. I fundamentally don't get Coldplay's popularity. All their songs sound the same to me.

Also, Vampire Weekend is boring.

The Silver Jews were pretty great. I say "pretty great" because the sound mix could have been better, but then again we could have been sitting in a better place for more optimal sound. I was surprised to hear a handful of songs from American Water- I've been listening to that album for so many years, I figured it was too old for them to play anything from it. But I heard Smith & Jones and Random Rules, and I was happy.

We're currently waiting for Broken Social Scene's annoyingly long sound check to finish, but to be fair, De La Soul's set went about a half hour longer than it was scheduled for. We caught the tail of them, and I was really shocked to see the place completely packed- poor Animal Collective must have been lonely playing at the same time. We spent most of De La Soul's set finding some decent dinner that was not fried (and succeeded).

So this is probably my last ATP post, because I'm already sleepy and kind of drunk, so we'll be done with music after Broken Social Scene. But I have to say, this festival has been immensely enjoyable. Lots of great music, enough day time diversions. I'll be happy to get to London tomorrow to take an actual shower, since our 2-person room here at Butlins only has a bathtub. Washing your hair in a bathtub? It's difficult.

Oh, and yesterday we caught the last two songs from Okkervil River's set, and they were so good. I really wanted to check them out, but couldn't miss what was probably the only chance I would take to see Ghostface Killah. But I will definitely check them out when we get home.

Sitting and listening to Polvo at the moment. They are totally rocking- it's kind of amazing that so much sound can come out of guitars, bass, and drums. I've always loved how percussive their sound is- lots of big drums and feedbacky, angular guitars.

Before this we heard Jens Lekman, which was just awesome. Trumpet, violin, keyboard, guitar- soaring orchestral indie pop. It was very bouncy and happy, and it gave me much joy.

The general spirit of the crowd today seems much more subdued. I think the kiddies' 3am bedtime last night, coupled with actual sunshine outside today, is making things a bit sparser in terms of show attendance.

After this we have Silver Jews and probably Broken Social Scene (I want to stay as far away from Animal Collective as possibly, otherwise some egregious hipsterness might rub off and I'll start popping my collar and wearing sunglasses inside).

Saw The National a little while ago- so awesome!! Whenever I start to despair that indie rock isn't interesting anymore, I discover bands that create amazing sounds. Fuzzy guitars, a little violin to add some depth in the background, lots of quiet-loud-quiet. So good!

It has been a long day and Arrested Development is on ATP tv, so this is probably it for tonight. More music tomorrow!

Also, there are a lot of characters here. Officer Mancuso from A Confederacy of Dunces would have a field day here. Seriously, when did the indie rock ensemble change from retro ts under shabby cardigans to costumes?

Blogging from the music festival, because I am a huge nerd.

We are currently watching Iron & Wine, they are really good. The acoustics here are surprisingly good. Very pretty and melodic.

J Mascis has been wandering around here all day.

Earlier we saw Ghostface Killah. I don't think I've ever been to a hip-hop show, as sad as that sounds. It was interesting... I'm not used to that much audience interaction, I'm used to shy indie rock boys staring at their feet while they play sensitive guitars.

The ATP/Explosions in the Sky tv programming has been really good, too. We caught the movie "King of Kong" today, a documentary about dudes trying to break world records for Donky Kong scores.

Alright, Iron & Wine is really good, and I keep accidentally deleting this entry as I type, so that's all for now.

OMG. Paying for wifi at ATP was an excellent idea. The Cotswolds are awesome and adorable, but we've been pretty cut off from the intarwebs for the past week. As Drew mentioned, the accommodations at Butlins in Minehead are miles better than Camber Sands in the way of choices, but there is a certain intimacy that's sacrificed. And with the increase in people,there is a concommittant increase in egregious jerkdom from fellow festivalers.

Today we saw: Mono- Japanese instrumental rock band. I was expecting something totally different... I neglected to do my homework on the band and was expecting something more angular and aural---assaulty. Instead, it was beautiful swirls and stacks of sound. Gorgeous and exhilerating. Jenny says: Two Thumbs Up!

Next, Dinosaur Jr.- classic indie rock. Lots of fuzz and distortion, big wailing guitars. I could have used louder sound on the vocals, but the massive guitars were what the people wanted anyway. Lou Barlow was rocking the hell out, and it was awesome. As we sat drinking beers near the main stage later in the evening, Drew pointed out that J. Mascis totally walked right by us. INDIE ROCK!!!

Explosions in the Sky- instrumental atmospheric rock. They did not play the Friday Night Lights theme song. But it was still awesome. Sonic architecture that soars around you and then crashes with big drums and guitars. Very nice.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and hoping that this laptop can hold enough of a charge for some live blogging from the concerts!

Also- the roads to Minehead suck with an unholy passion. Tiny windy roads should not involve trucks with houses on them coming at you from around a bend! I love England so much, but after a week, I do miss tap water that tastes like chemicals, and straight roads. I'm sorry England. Pasties and Cornettos pretty much make up for it, but I love the taste of chlorine in my water.

On gray, wet, cold morning such as this, my morning commute music is often debatable. Do I want to wallow in the grayness with depressing music? Or fight it off with cheeriness? This morning I tried to construct for myself the ultimate, most irresistibly happy playlist. It did indeed chase away the gloom. And now I want more suggestions!

So what I'm looking for are songs that make it practically impossible to be glum. Not songs that make you happy because they are so good, or songs that remind you of good memories, but songs that exist on their own as gleeful little entities. ( What I listened to this morning )

In book-related thoughts- I'm reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Can it really be 100% true? It's detailing exactly the kind of "corporatocracy" that I believe exists, but to have it all spelled out as "this actually happened, I really did this" makes me wonder about the veracity of the source. Oh god, I'm such a librarian.

Ugh. March is killing me with the dreariness. Snow?! I just want a week of sunshine and 40-50 degree weather. Is that too much to ask?

A metaphorical beam of sunshine in my life is Night Falls over Kortedala, an album by Jens Lekman that is just superb. My latest acquisition in Mission: Listen to Music by More ATP Artists. I'm so pleased that I like this album so much, especially after finding out that I really don't care for Animal Collective. Now it will be easier to figure out which stages I'll absolutely need to stake out for good spots!

When it gets nice out (which I assume the way things are going will be June), I'd like to start letterboxing or geocaching. Treasure Hunt!

In gearing up for the Slathered-In-Awesomecakes that will be All Tomorrow's Parties, I'm starting to download some albums by artists who will be there that I've never heard before. So I got the latest Animal Collective (Strawberry Jam), because Pitchfork has been creaming their pants over this band for years, and I gotta say, I just don't feel it. It's interesting, and I can appreciate that they're doing something unique, but I don't feel like they're writing songs so much as crazy aural architecture. It just feels kind of pretentious and cold to me. But they do sound like they might be a really great live experience. And they sound like maybe they'd blow my freakin' mind if listened to while stoned

I am hoping that Stephen Malkmus actually tours with the Silver Jews, because, um, Stephen Malkmus and Lou Barlow at one festival? Indie Rock Gods!!

I've been slowly getting some vinyl converted into mp3 (technically, I guess it's mp4s or whatever the iTunes format is). I can't stop listening to "On Avery Island," it's been so long since I last heard it, and it's still one of my all-time favorite albums.

Also, we have been researching haunted pub/inns for the one night in England that we still have unscheduled. I'm getting scared just reading about some of these places, I won't get a wink of sleep! But it's too neat to pass up the chance.

I learned today from the Boston Globe that I am wasting my life. There is a community access tv show in Cambridge called Adventures with Jenny, and it involves a girl named Jenny talking about stuff while her pet rabbit, Banana, sits there with her. Grennie and I need to be staaaaars!

Also, Freezepop is playing the Middle East tomorrow night.

So I spent a lot of this past weekend talking about these books, but I'm gonna do it one more time. Over the past week I devoured two books by Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary. And they were so, so good. A little heavy handed with the thesaurus at times, but I was thoroughly charmed by the characters and absolutely compelled by the stories.

And now I really wish I had a modicum of talent for writing, because I'd love to write a thrilling historical novel. I truly lack any kind of creativity whatsoever, but it would be really fun. I'm now reading Raybourn's blog, and the idea of doing all kinds of research and then writing a book sounds so neat. You'd think that someone who spent her entire life with her nose in a book would have picked up some writing skills.

So that's that. This weekend was fun, even though I did imbibe a bit too much yesterday in boozeahol. Also, Drew is the bestest and I have a usb turntable coming to me! I'm super excited to get all my vinyl into mp3s. And then I can burn non-iTunes music onto cds for people! I know y'all want your very own copy of the 1998 Sub Pop Singles Club.

I will never understand why some songs get stuck in my head. On a fairly regular basis lately I've had Richard Marx in my head. Where does that even come from? And earlier it was Air Supply, but that's acceptable because Air Supply is sweet. But now- the Dead? Why is Casey Jones in my head? Get it out!

Also, you know a book was delicious when you finish the first in a quasi-series and need to run out to Borders the next day to get the next book! Silent in the Sanctuary, here I come!

Being all posty about shows, hows about a list of upcoming shows I'd like to go to, if anyone wants to keep me company?

April 3: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks (Paradise)
April 20: Neil Hamburger You know you want more Neil Hamburger! (Middle East upstairs)
May 9: Clinic (Paradise)

And of course, there's Rush in February July.

I'm reading Bill Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" right now; it's about the history of the English language. Really interesting, and chock full of neat factoids, but I'm put off by the organizational style of the book. In that, it doesn't feel like it has much organization. So I'm balancing it out with a light read about a Victorian lady solving murders with the help of a sexy mysterious stranger.

Also, Supernatural last night kicked some eff'n ass! What a great show. It brings me much joy.

So posting about the NKOTB reunion got me reminiscing about shows past. And because I've been slowly concocting a list over the past couple of days of Shows Past, I now give you

( a semi-comprehensive list of every show I have been to that I can recall )

Oh hai intarwebs! Nice to see you.

I almost forgot to report in on the Ted Leo & The Pharmacists show I went to Saturday night. Suffice to say: Rock was enjoyed. Ted Leo officially had the best stage banter I have ever heard, ever, in the history of going to shows.

Also, the Roxy's labeling of shows as "sold out" is highly suspect. I've been to plenty of sold out shows, and that was not sold out, despite what their posters said.

It was a great show!! I think I like going to shows again. I could live without ever seeing another opening band, though.

Mates of State last night was just fantastic. I'm so glad my Craigslist ticket purchasing went through! The MFA is a great venue, I'm really excited to see more shows there. First, seating is a good thing. Second, despite the ridiculous number of silly looking hipsters (just say no to faux-hawks!) and the "dude I'm so drunk" guys behind us, the crowd was actually really good. Third, those are some nice acoustics, and the sound was done properly. I am kind of a stickler for proper sound mixing at shows, and it's so rarely done well, it was a big treat to be able to hear the vocals and each instrument as they were meant to be heard. The show was pretty short, but it was nice to get out of a show before 10:00, because I am old and I like to sleep before working in the morning. So, yay!

Also, some of you may giggle at this tidbit: the Mates of State husband/wife duo met in Lawrence, Kansas. Hee! I am a nerd. Speaking of Lawrence, Kansas- who watched last night's Supernatural? I want to discuss!

Strangely, I have been enjoying watching the baseball games lately. Go Sox!

Last night's New Pornographers show was solidly entertaining. They played really well, played all the songs I was hoping to hear, and the crowd was overall pretty great (there was a Dancing Too Hard Guy, of course, and he was taking it to the limit, but he was far enough away to not be a bother). Good show!

Now to see if I can finagle a couple of tickets to tomorrow's sold-out Mates of State show at the MFA.... someone on craigslist is selling a pair, and they offer pick-up in Davis Square, so maybe I'll get lucky! ETA: damn, tickets were already claimed.

Upcoming shows I'm interested in, anyone else interested in coming along?

Nov. 15: Yo La Tengo @ MFA (the early show at 6:30)
Nov. 19: Spiritualized @ MFA (8:00)
Dec. 1: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists @ Roxy (6:30)

So, ( Smashing Pumpkins show )

So, along the lines of my rant last week about music and how awesome the 90s were, I've become obsessed with finding old music videos on YouTube. This is what I spend my time doing while Drew plays Halo. I... have a problem. A problem that you can now enjoy!

Lots o' vids behind the cut. I don't vouch for their work-safeness, though I don't think there's anything glaringly bad in any of them. And if you're willing to watch YouTube at work, then you're either super discreet or your work doesn't care anyway.

( Music videos! From the Olden Days! )

I am also working on a compilation of trip-hop vids. Because trip-hop makes me happy.

Last night I caught the season premiere of How I Met Your Mother. The only thing I really have to say about it now is please, please, please can laugh tracks go away? I will laugh when something is funny, I don't need canned laughter to help me out! It seems so out of place and disconcerting, especially now that I'm usually watching laugh-track-free shows like The Office, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and cartoons. Anyway, it's a cute show, I'll give it a chance.

Switching gears to consumption of other mass media- The Onion AV Club posted an interesting music list last week (via Metafilter when I finally got around to reading the thread). I have to agree with much of the list, though I'd argue that Helium's Magic City should be replaced with Built To Spill's Perfect From Now On. I do think that one could argue the same "199_ is the new 19__" with almost any year (other than 1999, that was a crap year for music. Can I tell you how glad I am that numetal and rap-rock are mostly dead?). I mean, 1994 had: Beastie Boys' "Ill Communication," Beck's "Mellow Gold," Bikini Kill's "Pussy Whipped," Jeff Buckley's "Grace," Built to Spill's "There's Nothing Wrong With Love," Green Day's "Dookie," (shut up I love that album) Hole's "Live Through This," NIN's "The Downward Spiral," Nirvana's "Unplugged," Pavement's "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," Pearl Jam's "Vitalogy," Portishead's "Dummy," Sebadoh's "Bakesale," Smashing Pumpkins' "Pices Iscariot," Soul Coughing's "Ruby Vroom," Superchunk's "Foolish," Stone Temple Pilot's "Purple." Oh god, is that what's going to be playing on "classic rock" radio stations when we're 40?

I do contend that Ok Computer is one of the top 10 best rock albums of all time. Or at least, of my lifetime.

87 degrees and 60% humidity is not an ideal condition for kung-fu outside. But on the plus side, it feels really good when you're done!

Picked up the new Rilo Kiley and new New Pornographers albums yesterday, and they are both so good! Especially the N.P., it's a perfect summer album. So good!!! And I get to see them both play in Boston in the next couple of months! Also, note to those in Boston, on Sept. 9 Neil Hamburger and Pleaseeasaur are making an appearance at the Middle East. I must attend!

Anyone up for doing anything tonight? Not like anyone checks the LJ on the weekends, so we'll probably call around later, but you know, I'm just covering my bases.

Wow, where did my morning go?! I got the best reference question ever today, it was to find some "beach reads" lists for this summer, and I just spent way too long browsing around looking at book info (I never get to deal with fun books at work, though I've come to find some of the law books fun, in a sick "I like doing securities research" kind of way). And because I am a huge nerd, I am going to share with you some news that made me squeal with glee in my office and clap my hands: There is a new sequel to Gone With The Wind coming out!!!!.

Hooray! I read Gone With the Wind in 7th grade, and conveniently, the sequel "Scarlett" came out a year later. I loved, loved, loved those books so much. I used to re-read GWtW once a year until maybe my sophmore year of college. Seeing Galway in Ireland last fall fulfilled a years-long dream I've had of seeing that city, which started with reading Scarlett. This is totally the awesomest thing ever.

Speaking of summer reads, I've been on a big "summer music" kick lately. I need some new indie-pop! Any suggestions? I think I like things way more twee than anyone else I know, but jangly, Beach Boys-inspired pop confections are just made for the summer.

Oh goodness. I can't take much more of the new White Hat Jocks At Indie Rock Shows phenomenon. I am too old for that crap. Spoon is not music to grind to your nasty girlfriend with, dumbass, and if you yell for Rush people around you will make fun of you all night. Ugh. I totally indie snobbed out, but I bought Telephono on vinyl back when it was their only album, I'm allowed. I have so little indie cred left, Spoon is one of the only bands ever that I actually loved back before anyone else was paying attention.

So anyway, the show was very enjoyable, though I would have liked at least one song from A Series of Sneaks. But they rocked. I appreciate the fact that even though they've been OC'd, they haven't changed dramatically or become really annoying (Modest Mouse, I'm totally looking your way). And hey, if having people who only love "I Turn My Camera On" and "That's the Way We Get By" sells more albums for them, power to the Spoon, they deserve it.

Northampton is farther away than I thought. Time for sleepies.

So, uh, who wants to go to England last-minute? 'Cause All Tomorrow's Parties the weekend of May 18-20 is an indie rock wet dream, and they only have 4 or 6 bed chalets left. Check out this crazy line-up. Shellac? Built to Spill? Yo La Tengo? Architecture in Helsinki? Daniel Johnston? So many other freakin' awesome bands?

Seriously, guys, we'd be going for sure if they still had 2 bed chalets left, but we can't swing the cost of a 4 bed chalet for just us. If any of you all have any interest in an impromptu trip across the pond, it's 588 pounds for the chalet, split 4 ways that's not too bad for 3 night's stay plus entry into the show. If anyone wants to come with, we are 100% seriously into this idea and would be willing to plunk down money later today. British Airways is running some spring deals, so flight actually isn't too pricey.

Takers?

Tonight's kung-fu class was awesomely hard. I have not exerted myself to the point of wanting to puke before tonight. Well, maybe back when I played field hockey, but that was a lifetime ago. Sunday night the German au pair in my [kung-fu] class and I went to see a band that a couple of guys in our class are in. It was what you'd expect from a band playing at All Asia, but it was fun and a very enjoyable time. I'm almost making friends in class! It's only taken a year!

Good god, the bunnies are going insane tonight. Beeferton kocked a baby gate over onto himself and it scared the ever living crap out of him. Now Robo is doing lord knows what, but there are suspicious sounds of a bunny getting into trouble in the other room.

I'm starting to get more psyched for my trip to DC for work/conference, as a plan is forming to meet up with some college friends and catch up. Hooray for having something to do after enduring a day of conferencing/working like crazy out of our DC office to catch up on the reference requests that are sure to build up. And hooray for seeing old friends!

Other news: Guitar Hero II rocks my socks, but I really suck at it.

Oh, and also: Book Club: put it on your radar for Saturday the 28th starting in the afternoon. Unless I hear objections from the peanut gallery. I'll send out an official notice soon. The book is World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

Just returned from an awesome Apples In Stereo show. I had lost track of them after Tone Soul Evolution was released way back when, and am really impressed with how far they've come since then. What a phenomenal performance! Back in the late 90s they were outshined by Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control, but those bands are now long gone. Bill Doss of OTC was playing with the Apples tonight, though.

Indie rock shows make me really happy when they're spot on, but I have such a hard time getting myself out to shows. As always, major props to incandes_flower and J. for getting me out to a great show!

Friday night involved girly dancing time at the Common Ground for My So-Called 90s night. We'll have to do that again sometime, that was totally fantastic.

Ack! I just spilled a bunch of White-Out on my black pants. Googling presents a cure of spraying said pants with WD40. I question that, but apparently a damp paper towel only makes the situation worse.

So this weekend involved admitting to myself that I often have truly terrible taste. For instance, I think I might enjoy My Chemical Romance as much as I enjoy Dashboard Confessional. Not as much as I love Blink-182. I may actually be a 12 year old boy.

In other questionable taste news, I discovered that I could really like Supernatural. Or at least the fanfic written by Supernatural fans. I also enjoyed an episode of Battlestar Galactica, so I'm not writing off the show entirely just yet. It's really Baltar (sp?) that makes that show.

Also, Achewood is utterly hilarious.

Drew got me Bose headphones for Christmas, and they are the best things ever. My T ride this morning was so enjoyable, I was in a little cocoon of music. I went totally crazy on iTunes last night and bought a bunch of music, and it all makes me very happy indeed.

Purchased:

Sarge: The Glass Intact-- One of my favorite albums of all time, my copy of this on cd has been MIA for years now, so I'm finally replacing it. Of course, the law of missing cds dictates that it will turn up sometime this week. Elizabeth Elmore is a brilliant songwriter. I'm so sad that the band she formed after Sarge broke up, The Reputation, is now defunct, too. Given that she was playing in these bands while going to law school, I suspect that she now wants to practice law. I'm hoping she continues to write some songs now and then.

Rainer Maria: Catastrophe Keeps Us Together-- Apparantly Rainer Maria just broke up, too. I've enjoyed Rainer Maria for a long time. How can you not like a band that names itself after a somewhat depressing German poet? Listening to this reminds me of discovering Look Now Look Again in the punk rack of WRBC, and binging on emo back when it was closer Fugazi than Fall Out Boy.

Rilo Kiley: More Adventurous-- While I had heard of them for a while, I thought, for some unkown reason, that I wouldn't like them, so I'm just now getting around to giving them a try. Jenny Lewis has a fantastic voice! I am hooked. Of course, they're probably now defunct, too, as I know she has a solo album out and has been touring on her own.

Tegan & Sara: So Jealous-- I've been a bit put off by their appeal to the "Indigo Girls crowd," which is not to say "lesbians," but rather, those who like chicks singing folkishly boring songs. But Tegan & Sara are not boring, which is more than I can say for the Indigo Girls. I actually saw these ladies open for Ryan Adams at the Orpheum a while ago, which still stands as the most amazing show ever because the entire time he was on stage the Orpheum was completely silent. No woo guys, polite clapping between songs, you could hear a pin drop in that place.

So that's that.

Drew just bought me the Angels & Airwaves album so as to keep me from insisting on listening to their songs when they come on satellite radio (which, incidentally, is quite often).

I would be embarassed, but what the hell. I own my love for Blink-182 and their side projects. Take that, indie cred!

Sad news. Sleater-Kinney broke up. No more rock 'n roll fun.

So, a little more detail on NYC, though Drew hit the highlights of our many wonders of serendipity.

For lo, the hotel was not where/what I thought it was, but it was super cheap and had comfy beds, and that's all that matters. So on Thursday we arrived in the city, checked in, then headed down to Chelsea to attempt to find the club. It turned out to be in a converted church, which was a great venue to see a show, not such a great venue to try to find, as it was devoid of signage and addressage. And what on earth is up with New York's casual disregard for street numbers making any kind of sense? I don't know how a street ends with number 121 and picks up a block over with number 20 (and this is all West, not going West-to-East or vice-versa, which I could understand). So we found the club, realized that our Must Get To Show panic was for naught, as the ticket time was the door time, and found ourselves some absolutely delicious Mexican food at a little hole in the wall place. Seriously, the best enchiladalas I've ever had. Yum yum. So then the show, Architecture was fantastic, there were lots of high school kids.

Saturday we wandered, ducked into a bookstore to kill time during a torrential downpour, and then met up with our walking tour in the Lower East Side. The tour was entertaining and interesting, and was a good way to see parts of the city we otherwise wouldn't have ventured into. After that we headed on a semi-wild goose chase to find Waikiki Wally's. Got a teensy tiny bit lost and ended up stumbling onto The Library Bar. It turned out to be lucky we did, as we killed time there, figured out that the tiki bar was about a block away, and still managed to show up for tiki time about 15 minutes before the place opened. Go me. But we tikied, we headed back uptown for some comic books, dinner, and beer, and collapsed for sleep and listening to high school kids in the room next door play poker until 6am, at which point they kindly called us (for the 7th time that night) and informed us they were going to McDonald's. We informed them that we weren't their friends.

Sunday involved aforementioned cupcakes, walking from the Upper West Side to the Village, wandering around there exploring and hanging about, then visiting Vol de Nuit. That place was spectacular, and well worth the very weird opening time. What bar opens at 4:00 on a Saurday? Anyway, we then headed back towards our hotel, drank some more, grabbed some pizza, and hotel-ified.

Yesterday morning we walked around for a couple of hours, through the park and through a huge street fair, then drove home through sunny and un-trafficy Connecticut, which was not Teh Suck this time.

Yay!! I *heart* New York.

Off to kung-fu, here's hoping I didn't fall too far out of shape this weekend.

PGMG tonight at the Middle East. It's a $10 show, you can't go wrong! Boston folks should totally come and enjoy some rock with me.

Well now, in the tradition of taking books and screwing with them for the stage, it appears that High Fidelity is hitting Broadway. In light of a certain someone's recent feelings about musicals, I may be on my own for this. Of course, they're chaging the setting from London/Chicago to New York, so I anticipate it being nothing like the movie, which was actually fairly close to the book. Lovely. Instead of selling Beta Band records they'll be selling Nickleback mp3s!

For something completely different- an interesting article. via AskMe