Video from Government (Re) Issue show

Just came across this video on youtube from the GI benefit show for John Stabb at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Here's hoping more gets posted/released.

Vintage WHFS recordings

My buddy Joe tipped me off about some blogs that have posted vintage recordings of radio shows on WHFS from the '80s and '90s. I haven't yet checked them out, but some look pretty promising -- some for nostalgia sakes and some for the music. I believe (not that it's all that earth-shattering) that DC was able to build and sustain the scene it had in large part due to 'HFS. Without that easy way to access much of the music that was under the radar at the time, it would have been much harder to get the word out. Most people I know from the area who were hip to non-mainstream music in the '70s and '80s were so because of 'HFS.

Here are the links:

WHFS and other great music -- various shows from 'HFS and other stations from mostly late '80s.

Camarillo Brillo -- Weasel show from '83

Some new music-related sites

In the last few months I've learned about some new (to me, anyway) music related sites. Check 'em out:

Jango -- search engine for music

Seeqpod -- search engine for music

Slacker -- internet radio a la pandora

Songza -- search engine for music

Welcome to 2008

2007 is dead, long live 2008! Well, maybe it should just live for a year... 2007 has been an exciting and eventful year for us. Of course, first and foremost, Jane was born in May, so that was the most exciting thing that's happened to us this year. We've now been in our new house for a year, and we really like it. And there was also some excitement (and anxiety) for me job-wise with our re-org and then my resulting promotion.

We had a fun, but busy, Christmas and New Year's. Jane enjoyed her first Christmas although we're sure she was not aware of what was really happening. She did really like playing w/ the wrapping paper (ie, grabbing it, crumpling it, and stuffing it in her mouth). And she looked very cute in her Christmas dress. We spent a lot time with family and friends over the holidays, and Jane loved all the action and attention.

Looking forward to 2008, we have 2 weddings we'll probably be traveling for, and my sister is graduating from college, so we'll be heading out of town for that too. And Jane will be turning 1yr old this year too. Otherwise, I don't need a crystal ball to know that we'll have plenty of stuff to keep us busy and happy.

Jane at 8 months

It's hard to believe that Jane is already 8 months old. It's amazing to watch her learn and develop. She's able to sit on her own (when we put her in a sitting position), she's been very grabby in the last few weeks, and we think she is teething because of her prodigious amount of drool. And she is (slowly) growing more hair! She is really a lot of fun these days.

Click here for the slideshow.

What to do during a writer's strike

This is definitely true at our house as we tear through (and get current) on Battlestar Galactica.

A Lucky Strike For Netflix?

'Tis the season...

Here's a live clip of the classic Pogues song, Fairytale of New York, from 1988.

The SS music venue saga continues

In the last several weeks, it seems that the new all-consuming pasttime in Silver Spring has been debating who the county should partner with in order to get the SS music venue built. The county agreed to have Live Nation build a Fillmore branded club. Then Seth Hurwitz came along and offered a new, arguably more attractive offer. Now seemingly everybody in SS is lending their voice to a more and more discordant crescendo about who should have the right to build and run the thing.

So, here's a series of links and summaries of the latest info...

First, check out Steven Pearlstein's column from Friday's Post. So far, I think this is the best summary and view of the situation.

Sample quote: "It wasn't too many years ago that even street musicians would refuse to perform in downtown Silver Spring. Now things are so hopping that you've got Live Nation, the country's biggest live music outfit, and Seth Hurwitz, owner of the District's 9:30 Club and operator of the Merriweather Post Pavilion, in a nasty political catfight over the right to operate a new music venue there."

Next, for context, check out the links to letters submitted both for and against Seth Hurwitz.

For Hurwitz: From Howard Co. executive

Sample quote: "While I do not know all of the details of this situation, I understand that Seth Hurwitz and I.M.P. Productions have expressed a desire to be involved. Certainly, you must do what is best for Silver Spring and Montgomery County, but having worked with Seth over the past four years, I believe he would be an invaluable asset to this project."

Against Hurwitz: From owner of Ram's Head

Sample quote: "Practically every show we have tried to book in Baltimore, Seth Hurwitz (the Nations top club owner) has “blocked’ due his fear that it may hurt his club in DC, nearly 40 miles away. Apparently, Seth has the answer as to why the people in Baltimore would prefer to drive to DC than to see the same show in their hometown?!? For goodness sake, there is enough population between the two cities to support more than his club and mine. I have never, and will never, block a show from playing in the DC market. Anyone living in the area knows there are plenty of people to fill two very small venues."

It's nutty! Read the comments on those "For" and "Against" pages too if you want to witness the real back and forth around this. I still say that Hurwitz missed his chance, and the county should stay with Live Nation. I love the 9:30 Club and have been going since it was on F St. I would love to have a similar club in SS. But a deal's a deal, bird in the hand, all that good stuff. Just get it done!

Seth Hurwitz in WashBizJournal

Here's a profile of Seth Hurwitz from a few years back in the Washington Business Journal. In the midst of all the discussion around the SS Music Venue Saga, this article is interesting reading.

Stage presence
As the region's dominant music promoter, 9:30 Club co-founder Seth Hurwitz relishes his place in the spotlight, and at home

Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade

On November 17, we went w/ my brother and his family to watch the Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade. Here are some pictures.

Rev. Horton Heat

It's always a good time going to see the Rev. He doesn't disappoint, and the show on Nov. 15 was no exception. The line up was pretty packed: Nashville Pussy, Hank III, and the Rev. Maybe because of that line-up the crowd seemed to be more edgy than a usual Rev show.

We totally missed Nashville Pussy, mostly because it was a Thursday and we couldn't get down to the 930 club that early. We were bummed. I haven't seen them in years so I would've liked to have seen what they're up to now.

I've never seen Hank III and have always wanted to, so I was a bit excited when they came on. They started off by playing a bunch of hopped up, sh*tkicker hillbilly music which sounded pretty good. The bad was entertaining to watch, especially the bassist who had a maniaical grin on his face the whole show. He was also channeling a sort of Misfits-like look w/ a mohawk that hung down over his face a la the devilock. After the hillbilly set, Hank III launched into a full on hardcore/metal set. I wasn't so into the hardcore stuff as much. To be honest, it just sounded like a bunch of noise. I know -- showing signs of old age!

Next, the Rev came on and immediately launched into several songs from Liquor in the Front to start the set off. Of course, they smoked! We had a great spot right up front and could see all the action. One new thing they did for this show was go into a set of covers representing the 50s, 60s, and 70s. It was very cool. From the 50s, they did That's All Right (Elvis), then the 60s was King of the Road (Roger Miller), and then a great and surprising cover of Paranoid (Black Sabbath). Rocked the place. So, the Rev can count 6 more satisfied customers! One unfortunate thing happened where my brother was taking pictures during the show (frowned upon) and had his camera taken away. They put it in the 930 office and told him he could pick it up after the show. Per the staff: "The Reverend doesn't like to have his picture taken." Turns out they took the camera during the last song, so no big deal. We'll be back next year!

Next Stop: Silver Spring

This is sorta interesting... it's a trailer of a new PBS special about the restoration of the Silver Spring Railroad Station. Here's the youtube description:

"Next Stop: Silver Spring" (from director, Walter Gottlieb)is about the history and restoration of the B&O railroad station in Silver Spring, MD. Scheduled to debut on WETA TV in March 2008 and also to be released on DVD. It is a sequel to the documentary, "Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb," released in 2002. The trailer features the theme song, "Next Stop: Silver Spring" written and performed by Sharon Freedman Gruber. Reserve an advance copy of the DVD by emailing finalcuttv@aol.com. Visit our blog www.silverspringtrain.blogspot.com

Soul City

So, I'm reading Sweat, by my good friend Joe, and I just got to the part early in the book (I'm a slow reader) that discusses the Soul City video. And here it is.

What's in a DC identity?

In the WashingtonPost, there have been some recent articles/postings regarding what it means to be living in DC. On one hand, there was a Marc Fisher post from his blog that disputes the fact that, as is usually said, "nobody's from here".

Then, there's an article here that sort of contradicts that by playing into the idea that most people that live in the DC area are not from here. This article asks "transplants" to name aspects or places about DC that remind them of their home. So that kind of made me think they were implying that DC can be viewed as a place that is representational of the country. Or that it should be viewed that way. As is appropriate for the capital of the country. That idea would make it okay that nobody was from here and give the city more of an identity, although one that fits in w/ the "DC-as-only-a-government-town" identity. (And it also provides DC with an identity that is not "look how many things we have that NYC has! We're cool too!")

But as Marc Fisher points out, the identity suggested in the second article is not really accurate. His post was refreshing, since it is a common thought that most people that live and work here were not born here. I, for one, was born in DC and have lived in the metro area my whole life. Sometimes I wish I had at least lived in another city somewhere else, but I'm not losing sleep over it.

Monkey Man

Via the HypeMachine, here's a link to Amy Winehouse covering Toots & the Maytals on Jools Holland show.

Crime in the old 'hood

We still pay (distant) attention to what's happening in our old Columbia Heights neighborhood, usually via listservs, blogs, etc. It seemed like Shaw was really the hot spot in terms of scary amounts of shootings and gunfire. But things have been bad down in CH lately, at least from what's coming into our browsers. The below links are to stories on the washingtonpost.com, but we also heard about these incidents from the various listservs we still subscribe to. Call us vicarious DC residents, for lack of a better term. Or maybe the interest is that we lived there for 2 years (not a huge amount of time in terms of residencies) and still are curious to see and hear what's happening there. What new development is opening? What ridiculous thing will Jim Graham say or do? Is the crime getting better or worse? It appears that crime is getting worse... Pretty bad when a drive-by occurs a block away from where a cop car is stationed and on watch.

Halloween violence

Then, 2 days later...

First Halloween in the Spring

Our first Halloween in Silver Spring was a good one, and a learning experience. Both Liz and I haven't participated in a Halloween, ie, giving out candy, in many, many years. So we were not sure what to expect not only because we were in a new neighborhood but also because we haven't done this a while. It went well but we had a couple of lessons learned.

Lesson 1: When your side of the street has no sidewalk, kids will not come to your house. This may necessitate you chasing kids down in order to give out your candy (see Lesson 2).

Lesson 2: Buying too much candy is always better than not buying enough. But in our neighborhood, it appears that 10 bags of candy is way too much.

Lesson 3: When you leave a bowl of candy out on your front stoop in order to try to get rid of the excess, the kids will swarm around the bowl like sharks (I watched safely from inside). And in that situation, the oldest girls will always try to maintain order by insisting that the other kids only take 2 pieces of candy. Usually not that effective to try to regulate candy in a "free market" front stoop (I watched safely from inside).

Lesson 4: Dressing your infant daughter in a ridiculous costume is awesome (but that kind of goes without saying, don't it?).

The Fly

Recently, I re-watched The Fly on HBO. Not the original Vincent Price movie, but the David Cronenberg remake w/ Jeff Goldblum. I've always liked the movie but hadn't seen it in a long time. Funny thing is -- and this is admittedly slightly twisted -- after watching it now as a parent, I looked at it in a different way. So consider this my Halloween-themed post.

In the movie, Seth Brundle becomes merged at a DNA level with a fly, ultimately becoming a human-fly. It's pretty gruesome and frightening, but you feel empathy for Seth. Seth and the fly are sort of combined as a gene splice. So, in my slightly twisted way (see above), I thought of producing a kid as a same sort of gene splice w/ my wife. And obviously I don't think it's gruesome or frightening (well, maybe a *little* frightening), but loosely the same idea.

And I think the movie touches on this when Seth realizes that his unborn child is being carried by girlfriend Veronica. After finding out, he decides that the best way to correct his problem is to horrifically combine himself (plus the fly), Veronica, and his unborn child into one being, in that way mixing up all the DNA together. Which again made me think of what a child is -- a combination of many generations of DNA. But of course, normally a child is it's own entity. Seth even makes the comment that by doing this he would be creating the ultimate family unit (or something to that effect).

Dunno, after writing this out it all sounds more than slightly twisted, but somehow I related this to producing another human and combining DNA with my wife. Horror movies often deal with science-gone-bad, or paranoid technology fantasies that produce terrible results. Same thing w/ The Fly. So I looked at it as a comment on gene splicing and manipulating DNA and how doing something as unnatural as that will only lead to trouble. Let mother nature take care of things in the proper natural way.

In any case, I do like the movie a lot, even though after watching recently I found Jeff Goldblum to be more annoying than I remember him being. He got a lot of praise for that role as I remember. Anyway, that's sort of my disjointed take on The Fly and babies.

Up I-95 for the 95th

This past Saturday, we went up to Lancaster, PA to celebrate my grandmother's 95th birthday. It was a really nice family get-together. Most of my dad's side of the family were there, so everyone got to meet Jane. The event was also used as a way to have a family Thanksgiving too, with all the trad Tgiving food. My Aunt Rosa knocked herself out preparing all that food! Jane was great on the ride up, while we were there, and on the way back -- it would've been hard to imagine her being easier.

My grandmother has always been an active lady, mentally and physically. At 95, she has definitely slowed down but is still lucid. It's great to see her, and we had a couple of photos of her w/ her three great-grandchildren. Four generations -- wild!

It was a long day, but a fun one, and the kind of day we don't have often.

Today was spent chilling a bit and watching the Redskins squeak by.

Jane at 5 months

This week Jane hit the 5 month mark. She's continuing to smile all the time (as you can see in the pics), she's getting good at propping herself up while on her tummy (although for short periods of time), she gets *very* talkative now (well, not talking... how about vocalizing), and she loves to thump her legs down on her bed while we're trying to get her to sleep.

Click here for the slideshow