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What is this blog?

And is there parking?

OK, so I ran out of steam on trying to critique the new TV season but...

some random comments on TV. Apparently, the theme song to Veronica Mars has changed. But, they had to change the song - because all the people Ronnie used to be friends with, she's now friends or at least allies with, or they're dead, exiled or participating in an "epic" relationship.

Speaking of TV... and music, is anyone else annoyed by the way David Kelly uses music? Since he doesn't have a laugh track, everytime there's something "funny" (or more like one of his characters acts weird or gets called out), the soundtrack plays this obnoxious "bump" music to get into the next scene. It's like he's saying, "okay, you can belly laugh at whatever obnoxious thing William Shatner or James Spaader just did or said..." so we can get back to the drama with the normal-looking/acting people.

As long as I'm getting random, now that Facebook has opened up membership to anyone, does anyone want to be a member of their club anymore. And yeah, I just wanted to join to check out pictures of the women.

More Fall TV Previews - Tuesday

Gilmore Girls - Watched an ep of this last season because Sonic Youth were on. It was embarassingly long-winded and I'm not talking about the eye-glazingly horrid performance by Sonic Youth and other indie-types pretending to be protesting troubadors (I'm not gonna explain it, as it would take all day). No, it's the lead actress who is long-winded. But it's nice that annoying people have their own show. It has a decent audience for The CW and maybe they'll stick around for the infinitely better Veronica Mars.
Friday Night Lights - I liked the soundtrack of the movie but I'm kinda doubting that Explosions in the Sky are going to be doing the soundtrack for the TV series. I'm not that into football to think that I would care about the drama of a high school team and I don't see any names associated with this that suggest it will be worthwhile. Pass.
Big Day - A show following a single wedding day. 24 for the Estrogen set... honey, please don't wake me up when this is on.
NCIS - A show that was past its prime in the first season so resorts to gimmicks. This year Mark Harmon has "lost his memory" -- is that like the oldest trick in the book for a TV show? I find the goth smart chick just so incredibly insulting to young people on soooo many levels. I'm planning on not being home when this is on.
Notes From the Underbelly - Sex and the City for pregnant chicks. **long sustained shudder**
Dancing With The Stars - I'm amazed at just how content-starved the viewing public must be to make this a hit. Hint: if you put good drama and comedies on TV, people will watch them. Until then, they'll eyeball whatever gimmicky reality TV show you can throw at them because watching "real" people (or E-list actors dance) and their spontaneous utterances is more enjoyable than or whatever crappy scripted show is being pushed on the networks.
The Unit - I get enough guys in cammies on cable news every night. Don't wanna see a drama about it.
Standoff - Two police negotiators handle prison riots, bank robbers with hostages, etc. etc. Ron Livingstone stars so it might be okay but there are so many other cop dramas out there, one more is going to be lost unless it stands out for other reasons and Livingstone is a bit bland for this type of role. This is the kind of show that will get a makeover mid-season and some scene stealer will be inserted to give the show some oomph.
The Knights of Prosperity - Hey, Donal Logue is in it and it's not a family sitcom.
House - I really find this show just as tedious as other medical dramas. I think House is winning the MurderSheWrote-Matlock demographic. He's like a cranky old person.
Law and Order: Criminel Intent - Performance artist Eric Bogosian joins the cast. Wouldn't mind seeing a few good scenes with him and Vincent D'Onofrio just to see what it's like.
Help Me Help You - Like Julia-Louise Dreyfuss, Ted Danson just won't go away.
Boston Legal - Get rid of everyone else but Shatner, Spaader and a few foils and this would be the best legal show on TV, perhaps best ever. In other words, please can Candice Bergen and the assorted personality-free young and beautiful lawyers that litter the script each week?
Smith - Another ripoff from the Brits (Hustle). Ray Liotta oughta make it worth watching once, though.
Law and Order: SVU. This is the one with the psycho from Oz and Richard Belzer and Ice-T. I've maybe seen it once and found it pretty mediocre. Everytime I see the title, I think it's about Sports Utility Vehicles.

My Fall TV Preview - Monday

Studio 60 on Sunset Strip: Long names are death to TV shows so they should shorten it. I saw this pilot and man it was fine until D.L. Hughley hit the screen. That guy can't act and he's in a show filled with some fine TV actors. Sorkin's shows always a cloying and manipulative but I'll probably watch again, if not to see Matthew Perry's hair stand on its end as much as to see if Amanda Peet can keep her fine sheen going.
7h Heaven - Never watched it never will. It's like bran cereal supposed to be good for you but oh so awful to contemplate actually eating.
The Class: I'll reserve judgement for now but the whole premise of a guy getting together his third grade class buddies sounds pretty lame. I can't even remember who was in my third grade class and probably wouldn't want to see them if I did.
Deal or No Deal: Wait -- the DEAL was that Howie Mandel would never be seen on TV again.
How I Met Your Mother: Watched it a few times. Harmless although Doogie Howser steals every scene he is in and Willow from Buffy is a bit lost here as the horny wife of the loser gym shorted drummer from Freaks and Geeks. That's the co-stars - I can't even picture the guy who is actually supposed to be the star of the show or the female lead. Ha ha.
Two and A Half Men - I guess the joke is which man is the half man. But in all truth, don't know, don't care. and really, this is as stupid a sitcom as Sisters.
Runaway - A sort of Fugitive Family from The CW. Donnie Wahlburg as a guy falsely accused of something who goes on the lam with his wife, his dreamy teen son (gotta stoke that teen girl demographic) and his toher brats. But do we really want to see a buncha kids and wife whine about life on the road week after week?
The Bachelor Rome - Um, must I even waste my time writing about this monstrous stupidity?
Heroes - Shouldn't this be on Friday nights when the geek demographic takes over TV programming because they can't get dates (where didya think Sci-Fi Friday came from?). Anyway, I suppose its sorta like X-Men but with lots more angst then even that.
The New Adventures of Old Christine - Not funny. The lead actress should be happy to collect royalty checks from Seinfeld for the rest of her life and give it up, sympathy Emmy or not.
What About Brian? - What about the idiot who greenlighted this lameosity? What about his Benz going up on E-Bay within a few months?
CSI: Miami - David Caruso has got to be one of the worst lead actors on TV. His "intense" delivery of nearly every line and his intense eye glaring has me rolling on the floor laughing. "Who....took... ... ... my... coffee" William Shatner's Kirk has now been eclipsed.

My Fall TV Preview - Sunday Edition

Brothers and Sisters: Refugees and rejects from other shows in a sort of soapie Family Stone. Count me... out.
Everybody Hates Chris: I don't know about everyone else, but I hate Everybody Hates Chris. Supposed to be funny cuz it's associated with one of those comics named Chris, but I don't care.
All of Us: I'm laughing because it's in its third season and I have never heard of it. It's on the CW so does anyone care?
The Simpsons: Creaky and aging, it's jumped the shark by becoming a "who's the hot guest star showing up in animated form" show. Bye, bye, Homer. We had lotsa laffs.
The Game: Apparently a ripoff of the Beeb's Footballer's Wives itself a ripoff of something else. It's on CW. Who cares.
Girfriends: Who? Is this an actual show?
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Ty Puddington is rapidly rising on the list of network stars who deserve to be run over by a beer truck
The Amazing Race: The Amazing Bore. Turn the sound off so you don't hear the constant bickering and you get a few seconds each week of some sites around the world. The host needs to be slapped around a bit.
American Dad: Go away, American Dad.
Family Guy: About the only show on the networks I would watch. Unfortunately, it is put in a crappy timeslot against whatever big serial show HBO is showing each week. I'll have to wait until these eps show up in repeats on TBS or Adult Swim.
Cold Case: Never seen it. Never want to.
Desperate Housewives: Watched this show for like five minutes. What's the big deal - it's yet another crappy network drama.
The War At Home: Michael Rappaport is probably a nice guy but he must be a masochist to be humiliated like this every week.
Without A Trace: I wish it would go away without a trace.

Reason #202813023 Why The Internet Exists

Toby craps on the rug on Vimeo

My unreleased tape....

I never got to release this back in the day so it's neat to see how it would have looked...

from cassette generator via boing

DC Punk Tour Now Up

DCist announces that Yellow Arrow's walking tour of Punk DC is now operational...

The website features video interviews about DC punk geography with Dante and Ian MacKaye...

The Greatest Rock and Roll Novel Of All Time...

is... KING DORK

It's also the funniest thing you'll read since Bukowski took a shit at the dog track.

New Band Name:

King Dork
with Jim H. on guitar
Fiona Deal on bass and under the sheets blowjobs
Devilhead Incoherent on drums and various implements
First album - I LOL/ed AT THE AIRPORT

Most over-rated and oversold rock and roll BOOK of all time -- THE BAT CHAIN PULLER by Kurt "uplift me" Loder...

Songs I Play

I've been playing around with a classical nylon string acoustic. Here are some songs I can do and not be totally embarassed:

"Cocaine" (the Taj Mahal one not that Clapton one)
"Me and My Uncle" (yes, but it sounds nothing like the Dead)
"Summer Lies" (Magnetic Fields)
"Such Great Heights" (Postal Service)
"Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone" (that's not the title but its an Eddy Albert / Elvis P song)
"Hitsville U.K." (The Clash - slowed down incredibly but maintaining the voice-guitar melody line)
"Jim, I wore a tie today" - Tex Ritter song
"Sing a Song For You" - Buckley, the Elder, song

Songs that still need more work
"Don't Cry For Me (argentina)"
"Dirt"
"Rock Bottom Riser" (Smog)

Playing around with some originals but my lyrics are pretty sucky so far... of course that never stopped most people

Ann Coulter in tie-dye?

Anthrax Ann talks about her love of the Grateful Dead...

Superbeer

Agony Shorthand music blogger and zinester Jay Hinman makes the funny pages with an AP story about his beer blog. The only thing I discriminate about beer is whether its cold or not -- Miller Lite or Belgian Monk Ale, it's all the same to me...

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Beer blogger Jay Hinman downs a Blue Moon Wheat beer at the Valley Tavern in San Francisco.

Recent Acquisitions...

Been awhile since I did one of these... Here's some stuff I'm thinking of picking up (or have already picked up) this weekend:

via AquariusRecords.org:


1 magazine + cd BELIEVER #35 2006 Music Issue $10.00

1 7" BISHOP, SIR RICHARD Plays The Sun City Girls $6.98

1 12" DEVENDRA BANHART White Reggae Troll $6.98

via Forcedexposure.com

Artist:	WELLS & MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ, BILL
Title:	Osaka Bridge
Label:	KARAOKE KALK (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50

Artist:	FIGURINE, JAMES
Title:	Forgive Your Friends
Label:	MONIKA (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	MONIKA 048EP

James Figurine is Jimmy Tamborello (Postal Service, Dntel) and these remixes feature tracks from his album Mistake Mistake.... by artists The Field, John Tejada and David Figurine. The album will be released on CD by Plug Research in the US, but this 12" is exclusive to Monika worldwide.

(yeah, I'm a Postal Service pussy)

Artist:	DENNY, MARTIN
Title:	Exotica Vol. III
Label:	REV-OLA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	CRREV 105CD

Artist:	CASTRO & THE YOUNG ELDERS, NICK
Title:	Come Into Our House
Label:	STRANGE ATTRACTORS AUDIO HOUSE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SAAH 042CD

"West Coast psychedelic folkie Nick Castro is currently making some of most dynamic and truly original sounds to emerge from the much-ballyhooed new folk movement. As 'freak-folk' and assorted hairy-fairy type labels grab the headlines in the underground, Castro strives for a solemn, serene sort of beauty, summoning utterly melodic incantations in song and sound. Gracefully immersing '60s/'70s British Isles acid balladry with Middle-Eastern traditional music and heady, pan-cultural communal jams, Castro succeeds in reaching otherworldly vistas and ocean-spanning folk transcendence. Following up 2005's lauded Further From Grace, Castro unfurls his sprawling third album Come Into Our House, easily his most far-reaching and deeply molecular outing yet. An East-meets-West melting pot of instrumentation -- from acoustic guitars, upright bass and piano to Celtic harp, Moroccan tabla and nyabinghi drum -- Come Into Our House is at once primitive and polished, elaborate yet elusive, effortlessly mating Bert Jansch-style folk song ('Winding Tree'), psychedelic folk rock ('One I Love'), Middle Eastern traditional music ('Attar') and Bay Area acid-raga ('Lay Down Your Arms') to a kind of organic studio musique concrete that Can forged on albums like Tago Mago."

And then finally, my one major label purchase via cduniverse.com which has a good price:

Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped (2006)

$10.08 (You Save $3.87)
The Wire (p.63) - "While it seems improbably that Sonic Youth have fully mellowed, RATHER RIPPED finds them at home with some old fashioned rock verities." Sonic Youth: Kim Gordon (vocals, guitar, bass guitar); Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore (vocals, guitar); Steve Shelley (drums).

A reason to rejoice

... or at least bash your head up against a concrete block.

Flipper show in San Jose...


Gary Singh of Metroactive blurbs his cherished Flipper memories:

My main experience with the band was in 1991. I presented bass player John Dougherty with a bottle of Bushmills at 469 S. Third St., where a bunch of us were partying before the show. The rest of the band was somewhere else. Dougherty was Flipper's replacement for Will Shatter, who had overdosed on heroin in 1987. Later that evening, Flipper played at Marsugi's, which is now the upscale Agenda Lounge. I joined in for the pre-show indulgences (at least the legal ones). Dougherty was making fun of me because I wouldn't do rails of speed with him.

Later at the gig, nobody was in a good condition—the band or the audience. After shooting up in the kitchen, frontman Bruce Loose made it to the stage, and the first thing he did was insult all the opening bands. He then proceeded to bash San Jose throughout the entire show. It was wonderful. Someone in the crowd finally shouted, "You suck!" Then Bruce replied, "How can you say what sucks? You live in San Jose!"

Os Mutantes disinterred

'Why be normal?' Brazilian rockers Os Mutantes were poised to take over the world, but they collapsed under the weight of 1960s free love and drugs. Now they're back. By Will Hodgkinson Thursday May 18, 2006 The Guardian 'Why be normal when you can go where the nuts come from?' ... Os Mutantes There is a rich lineage of great musicians who have been discovered long after their due. The Buena Vista Social Club took 40 years to find an audience outside Cuba. When the English singer Vashti Bunyan released her debut album in 1970, it was met with such deafening indifference that it took her 36 years to get round to recording a follow-up. Had Nick Drake known that his dismal-selling albums from the early 1970s would become cult classics, he might still be with us today.

Read the rest including how Devendra Banhart wrote to them asking to be a roadie here.

I have no idea nor care about Barry Bonds...

... but thought I would join in on the fun.

New Works I've Been Digging As OF Late

Ardent Fevers by Tanakh
http://www.alien8recordings.com/tanakh.php3

a million ways to say good bye by growth spert
http://myspace.com/growthspert (CD-R bought from the artist)

Demon by Envelopes
http://www.envelopes.se

'Sno Angel Like You by Howe Gelb
http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=100363

The Last Romance by Arab Strap
http://www.arabstrap.co.uk/

And To the Disciples Remain - Various Artists
http://www.amishrecords.com/main_home.html

Decline of the West - Holy Sons
http://sctas.com/2.0/HolyWest.html (LP only)

Black Knight, Black Tie - My Pal Foot Foot
http://www.myspace.com/footfootfoot

Oh...and....... Fiery Furnaces (Bitter Tea)-- and the new Danielson album (Ships) and that Tribute to Will Oldham and that indie compilation of songs for kids (See You On The Moon with
a new song by Great Lake Swimmers)

The Weekly I Have a Serious Shopping Addiction Posting

Chulahoma CD Black Keys Regular Price: $8.85 Sale Price: $7.69 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 days Format:

Bang Bang Rock & Roll CD Art Brut Regular Price: $10.49 Sale Price: $9.09 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 days Format:

Large Front

Powder Burns CD Twilight Singers Regular Price: $13.19 Sale Price: $11.89 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 days Format

Artist:	BORIS
Title:	Pink
Label:	SOUTHERN LORD
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SUNN 055CD

"The brand new studio album from Boris: Pink. Followers of the band already know that each release Boris will do something unexpected, entirely unique, and continually forging in a new direction. Pink is absolutely no exception! However, for possibly the first time these new recordings effectively combine all the strongest elements of what Boris is capable of into one solid, complete, concise album. The mega-drone of Amplifier Worship is apparent in songs like: (track 5), the balls-out punk rock is evident (track 4 and track 9), extreme dark-psychedelia manifests itself track 8 and 10) and the '70s fuzzed out acid rock is represented in foot stomping tracks like the title track and track 3. The clincher on Pink and new element that is brought to the table is an infusion of ultra-catchy melodicism into their already heavy foundation. The album opener and closer as well as title track contain infectious vocal melodies that, combined with intelligent song-writing, create a solidified, undeniable union. As with all previous Boris releases on Southern Lord, the packaging is uniquely psychedelic with the utmost attention to detail created by Stephen O' Malley . Pink come with a die-cut cover that when opened reveals 3 perforated acid-tab cards!"



SONIC YOUTH: Helen Lundeburg/Eyeliner 7" (SYR 001EP) 4.50
Two new non-LP tracks. " Two of the final tracks recorded at Sonic Youth's Murray St. studio before the classic quartet line-up was kicked out of NYC. For a time assumed to be lost, 'Helen Lundeburg' and 'Eyeliner' are both Thurston Moore-sung tracks that couldn't be shoehorned onto the upcoming Rather Ripped."



NURSE WITH WOUND: Thunder Perfect Mind 2LP (STREAM 1020) 13.50
Repressed! "This vinyl double album issue in a full-color gatefold sleeve is an extended version of Nurse With Wound's 1991 recording. In addition, this is the first-ever American release from Nurse With Wound. Thunder Perfect Mind was produced by Steven Stapleton with the aid of David Tibet, Cohn Potter, John Balance, Rose McDowall and others. It displays Stapleton's growing interest in aggressive rhythms as well as further refinement in creating textures.... '... At this point, and many others on the tape, the voice became nearly inaudible. 'The bungalow house,' it said, 'was such a bleak environment in which to make a stand: the moonlight through the dusty blinds, the bodies on the carpet, the lamps without any lightbulbs. And the incredible silence. It was not the absence of sounds that I sensed, but the stifling of innumerable sounds and even voices, the muffling of all the noises one might expect to hear in an old bungalow house in the dead of night, as well as countless other sounds and voices. The forces required to accomplish this silence filled me with awe....'' from Thomas Ligotti, The Bungalow House.



ESPERS: II CD (DC 310CD) 13.50
"From the beginning, Espers has been a living, growing thing. II finds the group at sextet size, with greater powers and capabilities than before. Still, the original spirit of the band -- the American ideal of the democracy (that is in no way reflected in its current government) -- rules Espers in everything they do, gives them true freedoms to reach for the spiritual and the fun at once, and to make their music from it. The sound of Espers II was achieved using a mad variety of instruments, from your standard, everyday Martin 6-string acoustics, Fender jazzbass and drumkit to more exotic implements such as doumbek, dholak and male & female larynx (which we assume are swung around in the air to produce a recorder-like sound). Espers at play tap into their shared spaces with joy and a sense of humor (and wonder, naturally). The musical outcome is a friendly new sensation -- as the record plays, it warms the room and dims the lights with dense yet agile atmospherics, allowing you, the listener to relax, despite and yet still in communion with the realities of our present day."

Shearwater
Palo Santo (2006)

Shearwater has transformed itself to the point of reinvention on Palo Santo, the band's fourth album. The first Shearwater release to be made up entirely of songs by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Meiburg, Palo Santo resembles previous Shearwater albums only incidentally. It's a thrilling, paradoxical record--icily warm, welcoming and threatening, sloppy and immaculate. The austere folk that was a trademark of previous Shearwater records makes periodic appearances in Palo Santo, but thorny for... [ read more ]

CD Our Price: $11.99