Friday, March 30, 2007
Pistols making-of DVD
Just finished watching Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bullocks. It's a making-of video for Never Mind the Bullocks with recent interviews with the living bandmembers and a lot of contextual history. I gotta say I wasn't expecting it to be as interesting and entertaining as it was. Some of my highlights: the interviews with Chris Thomas and Bill Price, the producer and engineer, respectively; many of the DVD extras, including Steve Jones giving instruction on how to play songs off the record; and some of the live footage. I thought the studio scenes were really interesting, when Bill Price was breaking down the songs as he faded the different instrumental parts in and out. If you do Netflix, add to it your queue.
Week from hell
I've been meaning to tell about a truly wretched week that Liz and I had about 2 weeks ago. But I'm just now getting to it... not the best at this blog, I guess. Anyway, I had just gotten back from a guys trip to NYC, which was not wretched, btw. Liz and I had just found out that the tumor removed from our dog, Lucy, was in fact cancerous but necrotic, or dead. So, it was quite a shock to learn that it was a cancerous tumor, but good news that it was necrotic. Honestly, I think we both realized that the chances of the tumor being cancerous were pretty fair, but you always try to hold out hope. Lucy seems pretty healthy though, and the prognosis is pretty good. We just need to watch the area where the tumor was removed to see if anything develops there again. So ... we're holding out hope.
So we had the cancerous tumor in the dog. Then come Monday when I got up to go to work, I felt terrible -- really sick. My boss, however, was on business travel, so I felt I had to go in no matter how crappy I felt. The next day, I felt so bad that I could not go in. 102 degree fever -- laid out. Liz then got sick, which was probably the worst thing that could've happened because since she's pregnant the only drugs she can take is Tylenol, pretty much. And she got it way worse than me. She couldn't keep anything down, had a nasty cough, and the fever. And of course when I did go back to work on Thursday, it was all hell craziness busy going on. Liz got it so bad that she had to go to the hospital on Friday because she was dehydrated and her fever would not subside. They hooked her up to an IV and she went through four bags of fluid. Needless to say, I was really worried.
The baby seemed to be doing okay -- they had Liz hooked up to a baby monitor the whole time. I was finally able to get away from work, wheeled over to the hospital, and luckily just as I got there they told her she could go home. So we did. Gladly. And on top of that it was rainy, cold, and then started sleeting on the way home. I seriously wondered if about 4 other shoes were gonna drop that night. Or at least I thought for sure my basement was going to flood. But it didn't, thank God. It was that kind of week.
Liz is now doing much better, I'm feeling much better, my boss is back from travel, which is good. The baby is still doing well, and Lucy is too. So all's much better now. But, boy, I felt the proverbial black cloud was over us that week. Quite a scare.
So we had the cancerous tumor in the dog. Then come Monday when I got up to go to work, I felt terrible -- really sick. My boss, however, was on business travel, so I felt I had to go in no matter how crappy I felt. The next day, I felt so bad that I could not go in. 102 degree fever -- laid out. Liz then got sick, which was probably the worst thing that could've happened because since she's pregnant the only drugs she can take is Tylenol, pretty much. And she got it way worse than me. She couldn't keep anything down, had a nasty cough, and the fever. And of course when I did go back to work on Thursday, it was all hell craziness busy going on. Liz got it so bad that she had to go to the hospital on Friday because she was dehydrated and her fever would not subside. They hooked her up to an IV and she went through four bags of fluid. Needless to say, I was really worried.
The baby seemed to be doing okay -- they had Liz hooked up to a baby monitor the whole time. I was finally able to get away from work, wheeled over to the hospital, and luckily just as I got there they told her she could go home. So we did. Gladly. And on top of that it was rainy, cold, and then started sleeting on the way home. I seriously wondered if about 4 other shoes were gonna drop that night. Or at least I thought for sure my basement was going to flood. But it didn't, thank God. It was that kind of week.
Liz is now doing much better, I'm feeling much better, my boss is back from travel, which is good. The baby is still doing well, and Lucy is too. So all's much better now. But, boy, I felt the proverbial black cloud was over us that week. Quite a scare.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
The Good, the Bad and the Queen
It's been quite an eventful week. Some might say it was a bad week. I might be that someone. I'll catch up on that later.
But for now... Scott and I went to go see The Good, the Bad and the Queen this past Wed at 9:30. (NPR has a recording of the show on their site.) It was a sold out show. I hate going to sold out shows. But there was nothing we could do about it. I guess the 9:30 is not gonna book many bands that they don't think will sell well...
Anyway, GBQ is a supergroup, or project band, or a not-full-time band made up of Damon Albarn (singer from Blur), Paul Simonon (bassist from Clash), Simon Tong (guitarist from Verve), and a dude named Tony Allen (drummer for "afrobeat" guy Fela Kuti, I think). I picked up the record a few weeks ago, and although it's something I didn't think I would listen to much, I found I was listening to it fairly often. It grew on me. It's very mellow -- atmospheric, sort of melancholy sounding, but also dub-y. Most basslines could come right out of a dub or reggae song. I don't like the term background music, but some might call it that. I'm not that someone. I don't like the term background music b/c if it's just for playing in the background, then I don't really see the point in listening to it or buying it. (This is not the last rant today -- stick around!)
Anyway, the show was good. It was especially cool to see Paul Simonon on stage as Scott and I were huge Clash fans. He was just too cool. Easily the most animated of anyone on stage. Slinking around, doing a sort of skank w/ his bass. And I guess he didn't give a damn about the DC smoking ban, cos he was smoking away. Gotta give him props for that. Some of the songs came across better than others, I thought. The slower, less beat driven songs just kinda laid there for me. But the songs with heavy dub basslines were very good, I thought. And that was most of 'em.
Damon Albarn was surprisingly not annoying. I was never a huge Blur fan, but liked several songs. I never hated them, but Damon Albarn always seemed a bit, uh, pretentious and annoying. But he seemed to be enjoying himself a lot, making sort of self effacing expressions and even smiling several times. In general he didn't seem to be taking himself as seriously as I thought he would. The sound was very good too I thought.
The crowd, on the other hand, was pretty freaking annoying. Granted, I was sick, and I have already said that I dislike sold out shows, so I was already predisposed to be annoyed. But it just seemed like so many of the people there were a bunch of yo yos. The best example I have: after one song, a guy behind me yells "don't ever stop taking risks Damon!" WTF? First of all, he had to yell that to try to make himself look cool, b/c there was no way "Damon" ever heard him. Second, that's just an idiotic thing to say. Other things: what's up w/ half way thru the show, walking into the middle of crowd and planting yourself (you're taller than I am) right in front of me?? This happened a coupla times, and once it was a girl who did it... I'm not tall, but now I feel really inadequate.
Anyway, it was a good show and it ended before 11:00, which I was quite happy about considering my aforementioned sickness. And the fact that I'm an old man and it was a schoolnight.
But for now... Scott and I went to go see The Good, the Bad and the Queen this past Wed at 9:30. (NPR has a recording of the show on their site.) It was a sold out show. I hate going to sold out shows. But there was nothing we could do about it. I guess the 9:30 is not gonna book many bands that they don't think will sell well...
Anyway, GBQ is a supergroup, or project band, or a not-full-time band made up of Damon Albarn (singer from Blur), Paul Simonon (bassist from Clash), Simon Tong (guitarist from Verve), and a dude named Tony Allen (drummer for "afrobeat" guy Fela Kuti, I think). I picked up the record a few weeks ago, and although it's something I didn't think I would listen to much, I found I was listening to it fairly often. It grew on me. It's very mellow -- atmospheric, sort of melancholy sounding, but also dub-y. Most basslines could come right out of a dub or reggae song. I don't like the term background music, but some might call it that. I'm not that someone. I don't like the term background music b/c if it's just for playing in the background, then I don't really see the point in listening to it or buying it. (This is not the last rant today -- stick around!)
Anyway, the show was good. It was especially cool to see Paul Simonon on stage as Scott and I were huge Clash fans. He was just too cool. Easily the most animated of anyone on stage. Slinking around, doing a sort of skank w/ his bass. And I guess he didn't give a damn about the DC smoking ban, cos he was smoking away. Gotta give him props for that. Some of the songs came across better than others, I thought. The slower, less beat driven songs just kinda laid there for me. But the songs with heavy dub basslines were very good, I thought. And that was most of 'em.
Damon Albarn was surprisingly not annoying. I was never a huge Blur fan, but liked several songs. I never hated them, but Damon Albarn always seemed a bit, uh, pretentious and annoying. But he seemed to be enjoying himself a lot, making sort of self effacing expressions and even smiling several times. In general he didn't seem to be taking himself as seriously as I thought he would. The sound was very good too I thought.
The crowd, on the other hand, was pretty freaking annoying. Granted, I was sick, and I have already said that I dislike sold out shows, so I was already predisposed to be annoyed. But it just seemed like so many of the people there were a bunch of yo yos. The best example I have: after one song, a guy behind me yells "don't ever stop taking risks Damon!" WTF? First of all, he had to yell that to try to make himself look cool, b/c there was no way "Damon" ever heard him. Second, that's just an idiotic thing to say. Other things: what's up w/ half way thru the show, walking into the middle of crowd and planting yourself (you're taller than I am) right in front of me?? This happened a coupla times, and once it was a girl who did it... I'm not tall, but now I feel really inadequate.
Anyway, it was a good show and it ended before 11:00, which I was quite happy about considering my aforementioned sickness. And the fact that I'm an old man and it was a schoolnight.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
New bar coming to the Spring
From the Silver Spring Scene, here's a report of a new bar and restaurant on GA Ave in an old firehouse station. That's pretty cool, 'cause as it stands now, there ain't too many places to get a beer around here.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Joe Englert
Friends of mine already know about my semi-fascination with Joe Englert. As an armchair observer of DC and participant in DC nightlife, I would definitely say that Englert has done a lot for DC. In fact, I'd say he's done as much as anyone has for DC.
When we were all younger, his bars and clubs were our bars and clubs of choice: 15 Minutes, Insect Club, Planet Fred (later the Lucky Bar), Crowbar, Big Hunt, etc. All those places were go-to places and we had a lot of fun there. When we reached "club age," we first went to the standard places (the only places if you asked us) -- places that weren't Rumors or whatever other mainstream bars were going on at the time. We mainly wanted a cool place to hang out that played cool music. Those places were Poseurs and then Backalley Cafe and then Cagney's.
But after those three places closed up, it seemed like there wasn't a place to go hang out and dance as well. But then 15 Mins opened up, and we were there what felt like every weekend. We'd see Joe at 15 Mins, and he'd give us passes or would say hello at the door. We'd see him at Planet Fred all the time. There was a lot of youth mis-spent there. We felt like regulars -- felt like we belonged.
Now, Englert is working on fixing up H St. NE. He's got six bars going on now, and is working on luring in more businesses. I gotta say I'm rooting for the guy. It seems like he's really got some work cut out for himself at H St. I went with Scott to see Retisonic at the Red and the Black about 6 months ago. The Atlas District (what they're calling the strip on H St NE) right now is still pretty desolate and rough. But who knows -- if anybody can pull off revitalizing the strip, it might be Joe. If I had the energy, motivation, and balls, I'd love to do what he does.
(Oh yea, and his favorite band is the Pogues, so he's okay in my book right there. As a matter of fact we saw him when the Shane MacGowan movie showed at Visions. He was there with his wife, Lynn, who went to my high school. Small town.)
Some Englert links:
Wash City Paper: Englertification
The Goodspeed Update
Wash Business Journal
WaPo on Atlas District
Some Englert H St Bars:
Red and Black
Palace of Wonders (Showbar)
Rock and Roll Hotel
When we were all younger, his bars and clubs were our bars and clubs of choice: 15 Minutes, Insect Club, Planet Fred (later the Lucky Bar), Crowbar, Big Hunt, etc. All those places were go-to places and we had a lot of fun there. When we reached "club age," we first went to the standard places (the only places if you asked us) -- places that weren't Rumors or whatever other mainstream bars were going on at the time. We mainly wanted a cool place to hang out that played cool music. Those places were Poseurs and then Backalley Cafe and then Cagney's.
But after those three places closed up, it seemed like there wasn't a place to go hang out and dance as well. But then 15 Mins opened up, and we were there what felt like every weekend. We'd see Joe at 15 Mins, and he'd give us passes or would say hello at the door. We'd see him at Planet Fred all the time. There was a lot of youth mis-spent there. We felt like regulars -- felt like we belonged.
Now, Englert is working on fixing up H St. NE. He's got six bars going on now, and is working on luring in more businesses. I gotta say I'm rooting for the guy. It seems like he's really got some work cut out for himself at H St. I went with Scott to see Retisonic at the Red and the Black about 6 months ago. The Atlas District (what they're calling the strip on H St NE) right now is still pretty desolate and rough. But who knows -- if anybody can pull off revitalizing the strip, it might be Joe. If I had the energy, motivation, and balls, I'd love to do what he does.
(Oh yea, and his favorite band is the Pogues, so he's okay in my book right there. As a matter of fact we saw him when the Shane MacGowan movie showed at Visions. He was there with his wife, Lynn, who went to my high school. Small town.)
Some Englert links:
Wash City Paper: Englertification
The Goodspeed Update
Wash Business Journal
WaPo on Atlas District
Some Englert H St Bars:
Red and Black
Palace of Wonders (Showbar)
Rock and Roll Hotel
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Mason's first birthday party
My nephew, Mason, had a party for his first birthday 2 weekends ago. His actual birthday is Feb 7. Check out some pics from the party.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Maybe I'll listen to the radio again...
Apparently, there is a new format on the DC radiowaves. WARW 94.7 has changed from classic rock to a new format they are comparing to "WHFS circa 1985". Very interesting, I say (skeptically), but I haven't listened yet. Also, Weasel is staying on as well as a few other DJs, including Cerphe. Oh yea, and they've got some goofy angle where they're promoting themselves as a "green" station and call themselves The Globe. Dunno 'bout all that. I'm all for saving the environment, but that seems a bit over the top. But I guess the question is: does anyone really care about the radio anymore??
I guess at the end of the day, one even halfway decent radio station in the area would be nice. As it is now, we ain't got much. Usually when we listen to the radio, it's either NPR, DC101 (pretty weak), or (the old classic rock) WARW. Wish I could get WRNR, but that doesn't happen too often. Most of the time I'm listening to my mp3 player in my car.
Read all about the new format on Marc Fisher's blog or at dcist.com.
I guess at the end of the day, one even halfway decent radio station in the area would be nice. As it is now, we ain't got much. Usually when we listen to the radio, it's either NPR, DC101 (pretty weak), or (the old classic rock) WARW. Wish I could get WRNR, but that doesn't happen too often. Most of the time I'm listening to my mp3 player in my car.
Read all about the new format on Marc Fisher's blog or at dcist.com.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Baby moment
Tonight, for the first time, I felt our baby move. Liz has been feeling the baby move around a lot in the last few weeks, and when we're at home or together and she feels it move, she puts my hand on her stomach so I can maybe feel it as well. Never happened before. But tonight it did. Gotta say, all cliches etc recognized, it was amazing. Doesn't really make sense in a way. It really starts to make this whole thing more real though. Guess that's a contradiction, but it's a strange (and exciting) feeling.
Extras
Just watched the latest episode of Extras tonight. This could be the funniest show on TV right now, although the Office is right up there too. The latest Extras episode featured the kid from Harry Potter in a scout uniform, plus -- the best part -- very un-PC treatments of disabilities. The episode before featured David Bowie doing a great song ridiculing Andy. I was "havin' a laugh." Definitely.
Here're some youtube clips.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Gettin' busy
Man, things have been busy for us in the new year so far. So, here's some stuff that's been going on... it's been a while since the last post.
Baby stuff: Things are going well so far. We had the 20 wk sonogram, and everything is looking normal. Liz and I are just hoping for a healthy baby. But otherwise, Liz's friends and family have been great -- donating hand-me-downs clothes and baby gear, furniture, etc. Liz is feeling good and starting to show, although she's been knocked-out tired at night. We've decided not to paint the nursery room in the new house -- bright green is an excellent color as far as I'm concerned (and don't have to paint). Speaking of painting...
House stuff: I've been trying to get painting done in our bedroom, but it's been slow going. We finally decided on a color, but had to use primer to cover old paint. So, I managed to get the primer up while it was so warm, so we could air out the room while it dried. (The doctor says Liz should avoid breathing in paint fumes.) Now I'm very close to having the room all taped up and ready for the real stuff, but still need to worry about the fumes. So gotta figure out best time to do that.
We're zeroing in on a couch for the basement. There's been much thought and time spent debating what the right one should be -- most of that done in my head w/ Liz getting annoyed on the sidelines. Oh yea, and more painting to be done in the basement. Trying to get it ready for TV room/rec room use.
Did some spackling (!) to patch up the walls from previous owners' nails, hangers, etc, and repainted that as well. Then, there's pictures to hang. Oh yea, still gotta finish installing a towel rod and shelf in the upstairs bathroom. Never would've thought I'd want to/have to do all this stuff! I guess it can be fun... not the painting really.
Plus, on top of those (mostly self-imposed) projects, we still are trying to rent or sell our condo. That is the first thing that needs to happen. And we've also got to get our cars registered in MD (and get MD driver's licenses). Whew.
But, I was able to take a sort of last minute trip up to NYC w/ Scott to visit Tom, my nephew Isaac, and his dad, Errol. It was a fun trip. It was freezing up there this weekend though. I was hoping the warm spell might hold out while we were there but it pretty much ended right before the weekend. Me and bunch of friends are heading back up in March.
That's the latest for now.
Baby stuff: Things are going well so far. We had the 20 wk sonogram, and everything is looking normal. Liz and I are just hoping for a healthy baby. But otherwise, Liz's friends and family have been great -- donating hand-me-downs clothes and baby gear, furniture, etc. Liz is feeling good and starting to show, although she's been knocked-out tired at night. We've decided not to paint the nursery room in the new house -- bright green is an excellent color as far as I'm concerned (and don't have to paint). Speaking of painting...
House stuff: I've been trying to get painting done in our bedroom, but it's been slow going. We finally decided on a color, but had to use primer to cover old paint. So, I managed to get the primer up while it was so warm, so we could air out the room while it dried. (The doctor says Liz should avoid breathing in paint fumes.) Now I'm very close to having the room all taped up and ready for the real stuff, but still need to worry about the fumes. So gotta figure out best time to do that.
We're zeroing in on a couch for the basement. There's been much thought and time spent debating what the right one should be -- most of that done in my head w/ Liz getting annoyed on the sidelines. Oh yea, and more painting to be done in the basement. Trying to get it ready for TV room/rec room use.
Did some spackling (!) to patch up the walls from previous owners' nails, hangers, etc, and repainted that as well. Then, there's pictures to hang. Oh yea, still gotta finish installing a towel rod and shelf in the upstairs bathroom. Never would've thought I'd want to/have to do all this stuff! I guess it can be fun... not the painting really.
Plus, on top of those (mostly self-imposed) projects, we still are trying to rent or sell our condo. That is the first thing that needs to happen. And we've also got to get our cars registered in MD (and get MD driver's licenses). Whew.
But, I was able to take a sort of last minute trip up to NYC w/ Scott to visit Tom, my nephew Isaac, and his dad, Errol. It was a fun trip. It was freezing up there this weekend though. I was hoping the warm spell might hold out while we were there but it pretty much ended right before the weekend. Me and bunch of friends are heading back up in March.
That's the latest for now.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
National Park Seminary
If you've ever driven by the National Park Seminary in Forest Glen, you'd say "what the heck is that -- some kinda weird cult compound" (that's what I said anyway). It's a cluster of buildings made up of a strange combination of castles, pagodas, elevated covered walkways, and generally out-of-the-ordinary looking buildings.
It's been in a state of disrepair for a while (and some, including me, would say it looked pretty cool that way).
So, now it's being redeveloped and semi-restored to build a sort of planned neigborhood. Check out the developer's site for lots of photos, plans, schedules, etc. Try to take a look at the photos, especially the historical ones and the current state of the buildings. I thought those were really interesting. I had no idea that the campus used to be a women's college back at the turn of the 20th century. Kinda wild...
It's been in a state of disrepair for a while (and some, including me, would say it looked pretty cool that way).
So, now it's being redeveloped and semi-restored to build a sort of planned neigborhood. Check out the developer's site for lots of photos, plans, schedules, etc. Try to take a look at the photos, especially the historical ones and the current state of the buildings. I thought those were really interesting. I had no idea that the campus used to be a women's college back at the turn of the 20th century. Kinda wild...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Settling in and Christmas
We're all getting used to our new routines in the new house -- we being me, Liz, and Lucy. Lucy is doing well, but she has been, uh, medicated -- doggie prozac to make the adjustment period easier. I finally unpacked and shelved the vinyl and CDs -- six boxes of CDs. We're now down to just a few more boxes to unpack. So far though, everything is going really well, and we're really happy in the new house.
Christmas was fun. We got a tree a week before Christmas -- first time in about 3 yrs. Strung the lights, hung the ornaments. Marty, Joanna, and their kids came over on Sunday (Xmas eve day), and we walked over to Tastee Diner (Silver Spring version) for some breakfast. That was fun -- haven't seen Declan and Rosie in what feels like years.
On Christmas day we had our families over for a successful first gathering in our new place. Liz went all out and cooked up some tastee fritattas, plus we had ham and fruit salad. Seemed like everyone had a good time, and we were glad everyone could make it.
Liz always gets the best presents for me: guitars, mp3 players... this year she got me a Roku Soundbridge, which I got set up tonight. This thing rocks. Basically, if you have a wireless router set up, the Soundbridge can hook up to your PC (or whereever you have your music files stored) and play them through your stereo without any wires. And it sounds great! I have the computer set up in the basement now, and the stereo is in the living room on the first floor, so I can play digital files over my stereo very easily. The next big project will have to be transferring all my vinyl to digital so I can stream it over the Soundbridge... I won't project a deadline for that one.
Amir and Elaine also came over for dinner on Friday night which was nice. Always nice to be able to have friends over. After dinner we chilled, and then Amir, Greg, and I went and checked out the Quarry House in SS. Def a spot to return to -- good jukebox, good vibe.
Anyway, future house stuff on horizon includes putting up some towel racks, maybe purchasing a rug for the basement, deciding where to hang the framed prints... I think that's enough for now. Oh yea, maybe some painting. And I gotta buy a snow shovel before it's too late.
Christmas was fun. We got a tree a week before Christmas -- first time in about 3 yrs. Strung the lights, hung the ornaments. Marty, Joanna, and their kids came over on Sunday (Xmas eve day), and we walked over to Tastee Diner (Silver Spring version) for some breakfast. That was fun -- haven't seen Declan and Rosie in what feels like years.
On Christmas day we had our families over for a successful first gathering in our new place. Liz went all out and cooked up some tastee fritattas, plus we had ham and fruit salad. Seemed like everyone had a good time, and we were glad everyone could make it.
Liz always gets the best presents for me: guitars, mp3 players... this year she got me a Roku Soundbridge, which I got set up tonight. This thing rocks. Basically, if you have a wireless router set up, the Soundbridge can hook up to your PC (or whereever you have your music files stored) and play them through your stereo without any wires. And it sounds great! I have the computer set up in the basement now, and the stereo is in the living room on the first floor, so I can play digital files over my stereo very easily. The next big project will have to be transferring all my vinyl to digital so I can stream it over the Soundbridge... I won't project a deadline for that one.
Amir and Elaine also came over for dinner on Friday night which was nice. Always nice to be able to have friends over. After dinner we chilled, and then Amir, Greg, and I went and checked out the Quarry House in SS. Def a spot to return to -- good jukebox, good vibe.
Anyway, future house stuff on horizon includes putting up some towel racks, maybe purchasing a rug for the basement, deciding where to hang the framed prints... I think that's enough for now. Oh yea, maybe some painting. And I gotta buy a snow shovel before it's too late.
Friday, December 08, 2006
New House: One week in
So, it's now been one week since we moved into our new house. We're loving the house -- the extra space, the kitchen, the yard, the 'hood -- but we're still surrounded by boxes. Judging by our last move, it may take a while before everything finds a home, but it's okay. The worst is over!
Some quick observations about our new 'hood... it feels colder than the city (not sure if that's because it is actually a lot colder outside now than it has been); the sounds of sirens and helicopters have been replaced by the stray train horn -- fine by us; and it is generally much quieter, which is slightly strange, but I think we'll get used to it. :-)
Some quick observations about our new 'hood... it feels colder than the city (not sure if that's because it is actually a lot colder outside now than it has been); the sounds of sirens and helicopters have been replaced by the stray train horn -- fine by us; and it is generally much quieter, which is slightly strange, but I think we'll get used to it. :-)
Monday, December 04, 2006
PLEASE scoop your pooh.
Thought this was funny. Made me think variously of our dog Lucy (because she has a stuffed Pooh just like this one) and Steve Shook (because he dressed like a giant Pooh one Halloween).
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Packin'
It's beautiful outside (sunny and 60 degrees), it's a four-day weekend (Thanksgiving), but we're surrounded by boxes and spending most of our time indoors. Gotta be done. We're moving this Friday. Moving sucks, but we've made some good packing progress so far. Luckily we did a big purge the last time we moved, and our condo is not that big so we think we can get things done pretty easily. In less than a week we'll be in our new house... wild!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Rip It Up and Start Again
The other night I went to go see J. Forte's band play, J. Forte and the Secret Pop Band, at Galaxy Hut. It was a good time, and I got to see a bunch of the "TR+" crew (people I used to work w/ at TR and their various significant others and the whole extended TR family!). The opening band was Greg Shook's new band, The breakUps, who did a bunch of 60s garage rock style r-n-r (complete w/ nice covers). J and the SP band put on a good show w/ all his new stuff -- good tunes! I always enjoy an earful of some secret pop.
Anyway, Steve Shook and I were talking after the show about the book, Rip It Up and Start Again, which is a new-ish book about the post punk scene from roughly '78-'83. I finished reading the book about month ago, and after talking about it with Steve I started thinking about it again. Even though I'm not into a lot of the bands that were covered in the book (Throbbing Gristle, Swell Maps, Pere Ubu, Slits, Scitti Polliti, all the Rough Trade stuff, etc), I found it to be a really good read -- very informative, well written, well researched. And even though I didn't like or wasn't familiar w/ the bulk of the bands written about, I was still interested in a lot of the ideas behind the music they created and the scenes that drove those ideas. Of course, the book covered stuff that I did and/or still do like to varying degrees -- PiL, Specials and all 2-Tone, Aztec Camera, Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads -- so that was enough to keep me reading. The "social history" aspect of it though was pretty interesting since I really had no idea what was behind a lot of those scenes (the book focuses mostly on the UK stuff). Bottom line: I'd recommend this book to anyone who's at all interested in that time period of music.
One point that the author makes is that there has never been a more diverse, creative, fast-evolving, anything-goes period in pop music history. Interesting idea, I think, and thinking about it in an objective way, I might have to agree. Even though I don't like most of the stuff that came out then that would be considered post punk, the author, Simon Reynolds, really conveys his enthusiasm for what was happening then, in terms of capturing the spirit and mindset of the bands. For example, dub and reggae was a big influence on most of the music that came directly after the Pistols broke up. Then things progressed from there incorporating all sorts of styles and ideas -- dance music (disco), industrial, goth, ska, electronic, ultra produced pop music.
Anyway, it prompted me to complete my Post Punk Chronicles collection (on Rhino) by buying the CD I was missing from the three CD series, Scared to Dance. Can't say I love it, but I'm happy that I now know, for example, what the Pop Group sounds like -- bloody 'orrible! But there's some cool stuff on it, like Killing Joke and Echo & the Bunnymen.
So, check out the link to Simon Reynolds's site, and also I found a site called Post Punk Junk which has mp3s of old post punk stuff (and beyond) and, of course, junk.
Anyway, Steve Shook and I were talking after the show about the book, Rip It Up and Start Again, which is a new-ish book about the post punk scene from roughly '78-'83. I finished reading the book about month ago, and after talking about it with Steve I started thinking about it again. Even though I'm not into a lot of the bands that were covered in the book (Throbbing Gristle, Swell Maps, Pere Ubu, Slits, Scitti Polliti, all the Rough Trade stuff, etc), I found it to be a really good read -- very informative, well written, well researched. And even though I didn't like or wasn't familiar w/ the bulk of the bands written about, I was still interested in a lot of the ideas behind the music they created and the scenes that drove those ideas. Of course, the book covered stuff that I did and/or still do like to varying degrees -- PiL, Specials and all 2-Tone, Aztec Camera, Joy Division, New Order, Talking Heads -- so that was enough to keep me reading. The "social history" aspect of it though was pretty interesting since I really had no idea what was behind a lot of those scenes (the book focuses mostly on the UK stuff). Bottom line: I'd recommend this book to anyone who's at all interested in that time period of music.
One point that the author makes is that there has never been a more diverse, creative, fast-evolving, anything-goes period in pop music history. Interesting idea, I think, and thinking about it in an objective way, I might have to agree. Even though I don't like most of the stuff that came out then that would be considered post punk, the author, Simon Reynolds, really conveys his enthusiasm for what was happening then, in terms of capturing the spirit and mindset of the bands. For example, dub and reggae was a big influence on most of the music that came directly after the Pistols broke up. Then things progressed from there incorporating all sorts of styles and ideas -- dance music (disco), industrial, goth, ska, electronic, ultra produced pop music.
Anyway, it prompted me to complete my Post Punk Chronicles collection (on Rhino) by buying the CD I was missing from the three CD series, Scared to Dance. Can't say I love it, but I'm happy that I now know, for example, what the Pop Group sounds like -- bloody 'orrible! But there's some cool stuff on it, like Killing Joke and Echo & the Bunnymen.
So, check out the link to Simon Reynolds's site, and also I found a site called Post Punk Junk which has mp3s of old post punk stuff (and beyond) and, of course, junk.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Closed. Settled. Bought.
It's now ours! Today we settled on a new house in Silver Spring. Now if we can sell our condo... We won't be moving until December, which I'm sure will be on us in no time. Because of our change in location, I've added some links on the left to some blogs about Silver Spring. So in addition to obsessively reading about new developments in DC, I can now do the same for SS. Sweet.
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