amazing clip of early B-52's.
Their first two albums are very slept on.
They became a jokey novelty act as time wore on, but the early stuff had a dark cellar.
Altered Images!
I had a huge crush on Claire Grogan.
Considering it was the 80's, I coulda done much worse.
Devolution:
Love and Rockets!
One for Bobo.
Alcohol is your yoga, baby.
Ride
Not crazy about them, but this is one of those songs I'll dig through the stacks for.
Verve
They got famous for a Rolling Stones sample, but their first album A Storm in Heaven was great.
Los Campesinos!
New album out now!
bonus track:
youtube comment:
Some of his vocal mannerisms remind me of a gay Ross Millard.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
to love a dead band is so boring
from the youtube comments:
Thank you Arcade Fire (to exist), cause if they're not on the earth I think that my favourite band could be The Libertines, The Velvet Underground or The Clash...And to love a dead band is so boring.
Arcade Fire is alive and it's fantastic !!!
PS: sorry for my bad english I'm french
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
gratuitous update to placate bobo
Garfield - Garfield = actual humor
crazy computer-generated mazes.
Printable, for the puzzle fans among you.
Here's one for Ivan!
The Tragedy of Britney
If I were a more motivated poster I'd shop together a tragedy/comedy mask from different phases of her career.
Note to parents:
If you want your children to grow up happy and well adjusted, don't prostitute them to the media.
Coffee Quiz!
I got 74% on the Barista quiz.
I'll run it by the wife tonight.
She lived in Italy & spent her youth working in cafes so she ought to crush me.
crazy computer-generated mazes.
Printable, for the puzzle fans among you.
Here's one for Ivan!
The Tragedy of Britney
If I were a more motivated poster I'd shop together a tragedy/comedy mask from different phases of her career.
Note to parents:
If you want your children to grow up happy and well adjusted, don't prostitute them to the media.
Coffee Quiz!
I got 74% on the Barista quiz.
I'll run it by the wife tonight.
She lived in Italy & spent her youth working in cafes so she ought to crush me.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Registry
The wife and the Burl are registering here as I speak.
I've opted out of the decisionmaking process, selecting implements for wrangling poopy diapers not being my forte.
It looks like they have a web thingie, so take a look if you want.
I've opted out of the decisionmaking process, selecting implements for wrangling poopy diapers not being my forte.
It looks like they have a web thingie, so take a look if you want.
Grill Pan
My best kitchen investment in years.
Two recipes anyone can make flawlessly:
Grilled Asparagus (stolen from The Naked Chef)
Get a bunch of thin young asperagus, clean and snap off the woody bits at the bottom while preheating the pan on High.
Grill in a single layer until charred, then flip and repeat.
Dump onto a serving plate, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with kosher or sea salt.
If you're cooking at Tim & the Burl's house, crank up the overhead fan and open all the doors and windows to placate the fire alarm.
Serve hot.
Grilled Chicken Thighs (adapted from Mark Bittman)
Rinse, pat dry and trim a pound or so of boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Combine in a bowl with pepper, salt, 3 cloves of garlic minced, olive oil & the juice of one lime (or half a lemon), stash in fridge for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat pan over medium-high, grill thighs until browned, roughly five minutes.
Turn and repeat, roughly four minutes.
Serve with rice, or turn into tacos.
If you're feeling adventurous you can make a pan sauce, although it's one culinary task complicated by the grill pan's unique physiognomy.
Two recipes anyone can make flawlessly:
Grilled Asparagus (stolen from The Naked Chef)
Get a bunch of thin young asperagus, clean and snap off the woody bits at the bottom while preheating the pan on High.
Grill in a single layer until charred, then flip and repeat.
Dump onto a serving plate, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with kosher or sea salt.
If you're cooking at Tim & the Burl's house, crank up the overhead fan and open all the doors and windows to placate the fire alarm.
Serve hot.
Grilled Chicken Thighs (adapted from Mark Bittman)
Rinse, pat dry and trim a pound or so of boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Combine in a bowl with pepper, salt, 3 cloves of garlic minced, olive oil & the juice of one lime (or half a lemon), stash in fridge for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat pan over medium-high, grill thighs until browned, roughly five minutes.
Turn and repeat, roughly four minutes.
Serve with rice, or turn into tacos.
If you're feeling adventurous you can make a pan sauce, although it's one culinary task complicated by the grill pan's unique physiognomy.
Perception of Value
Evolution of the Bargain Table
What it used to be
Real books that publishers moved at a deep discount to clear warehouse space for new product.
What it is
Crummy books cheaply made expressly to sell at bargain prices. In the business we call these "made remainders".
When I started as a bookseller the ratio of real to made remainders was 90/10.
Now that ratio has almost flipped. Few of the 'remainders' carried by the big chains these days ever a career with a legitimate publishing house. They put up a brave front, but they're just scraps stitched together to meet a price point.
This same dishonest tactic is metastasizing through retail culture.
Visit any Mervyn's and you'll be bombarded with bogus "sale" prices.
The fiction at play here is MSRP, Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price.
A manufacturer markets a $20 pair of pants they "suggest" Mervyn's sell for $40.
Mervyn's displays it at 50% OFF, a steal at $19.95
And someone who would scoff at paying 20 bucks for a 20 dollar pair of pants is suddenly on board.
What it used to be
Real books that publishers moved at a deep discount to clear warehouse space for new product.
What it is
Crummy books cheaply made expressly to sell at bargain prices. In the business we call these "made remainders".
When I started as a bookseller the ratio of real to made remainders was 90/10.
Now that ratio has almost flipped. Few of the 'remainders' carried by the big chains these days ever a career with a legitimate publishing house. They put up a brave front, but they're just scraps stitched together to meet a price point.
This same dishonest tactic is metastasizing through retail culture.
Visit any Mervyn's and you'll be bombarded with bogus "sale" prices.
The fiction at play here is MSRP, Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price.
A manufacturer markets a $20 pair of pants they "suggest" Mervyn's sell for $40.
Mervyn's displays it at 50% OFF, a steal at $19.95
And someone who would scoff at paying 20 bucks for a 20 dollar pair of pants is suddenly on board.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
a vision of horror
While cleaning house the other night I caught sight of myself in the mirror.
Ugg boots, novelty boxer shorts patterned with cartoons of holiday drinks, a 10 year old Too Much Coffee Man tee-shirt and electroshock therapy hair.
YEAH BABY!
Ugg boots, novelty boxer shorts patterned with cartoons of holiday drinks, a 10 year old Too Much Coffee Man tee-shirt and electroshock therapy hair.
YEAH BABY!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Steve Gerber 1947-2008
RIP
I had the full run of Howard the Duck, bought off the comic rack of the local convenience store in the days when that was their only distribution source. It was unlike anything else published by the big boys, but had enough of a traditional superhero sheen to appeal to my youthful self.
Nowadays genre-bending comics driven by one creator's vision are a dime a dozen, but back in the day something as quirky and personal as Howard the Duck was a rara avis.
True Customer Tales
A druggie goth looking gal I see once every few weeks just came in.
She looks like she's 45 but is probably in her late 20's, sporting acres of questionable tats and always at least a little bit of a pain in the ass.
She wasn't as hyper and spastic as usual today, which I take as a sign she couldn't find any meth.
She brought up a couple of things from our card rack (25 cents each) and we had this exchange:
her:
If a card is written on, do you still sell it?
me:
we try not to put them out if they're used, we throw them out.
her (holding out postcard):
Well this one's written on, can I have it for free?
me:
No.
her:
Why can't I just have it? I want to use it in my ZINE.
me:
What, your zine isn't worth a quarter? Content isn't worth a few pennies?
Gimme a break, it's a QUARTER!
her:
{starts digging in change purse}
She looks like she's 45 but is probably in her late 20's, sporting acres of questionable tats and always at least a little bit of a pain in the ass.
She wasn't as hyper and spastic as usual today, which I take as a sign she couldn't find any meth.
She brought up a couple of things from our card rack (25 cents each) and we had this exchange:
her:
If a card is written on, do you still sell it?
me:
we try not to put them out if they're used, we throw them out.
her (holding out postcard):
Well this one's written on, can I have it for free?
me:
No.
her:
Why can't I just have it? I want to use it in my ZINE.
me:
What, your zine isn't worth a quarter? Content isn't worth a few pennies?
Gimme a break, it's a QUARTER!
her:
{starts digging in change purse}
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Neil Gaiman 4 Free
vote here..
Interesting experiment.
I think stuff like this will work for creators who are passionate about their work and inspire equal devotion in their fans.
I backed Neverwhere, which uses a generic fantasy idea as a handy rack to hang his sensibility on, to good effect.
American Gods is a better book, but not as accessible.
Interesting experiment.
I think stuff like this will work for creators who are passionate about their work and inspire equal devotion in their fans.
I backed Neverwhere, which uses a generic fantasy idea as a handy rack to hang his sensibility on, to good effect.
American Gods is a better book, but not as accessible.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Perception of Value
I hit a library sale this morning with my boss.
He had a hot tip on a big donation of quality goods, so up I got at the crack of dawn.
While we were arranging my membership with a disorganized volunteer (a five dollar donation gets you in the door an hour before the lumpen masses) a belligerent toad of a guy got sassy with the boss. The liberal traitors may have undermined our glorious victory in Iraq, but he'd be DAMNED if they cut in front of him in line at the library sale!
So I'm filling out my thing and this guy keep jawing, getting more and more worked up, which is patently ridiculous if you know my boss.
He's a meek looking balding fellow, about as confrontational as Woody Allen and not much bigger. By the time I finished and paid the bosses efforts to talk down our bilious companion in line had driven him to a borderline foaming rage, and he threatened to hit him. This brought a mild response from the volunteers but inspired me to turn around, loom over him and say in a cold, dead voice "nobody's cutting in your line, so calm down."
This had an understandably salutary effect- his greasy mop of hair couldn't crest my rib cage, even with the help of a pair of thick soled army surplus boots. He sank resentfully back into his pool of bile.
It was an interesting result.
Despite my great bulk, I'm about as lethal as Gandhi. The most violent act in a notably mild life is probably watching the whole Gatti/Ward trilogy in one sitting.
The boss, on the other hand and in spite of his stereotypically nebbishy deportment, is a 20 year student of akido, a certified black belt equipped to transmute any aggressor into a groaning pretzel of torment with three deceptively delicate sweeping movements of his arms.
Is it just me, or is this the psychology of the entire right wing in a nutshell?
He had a hot tip on a big donation of quality goods, so up I got at the crack of dawn.
While we were arranging my membership with a disorganized volunteer (a five dollar donation gets you in the door an hour before the lumpen masses) a belligerent toad of a guy got sassy with the boss. The liberal traitors may have undermined our glorious victory in Iraq, but he'd be DAMNED if they cut in front of him in line at the library sale!
So I'm filling out my thing and this guy keep jawing, getting more and more worked up, which is patently ridiculous if you know my boss.
He's a meek looking balding fellow, about as confrontational as Woody Allen and not much bigger. By the time I finished and paid the bosses efforts to talk down our bilious companion in line had driven him to a borderline foaming rage, and he threatened to hit him. This brought a mild response from the volunteers but inspired me to turn around, loom over him and say in a cold, dead voice "nobody's cutting in your line, so calm down."
This had an understandably salutary effect- his greasy mop of hair couldn't crest my rib cage, even with the help of a pair of thick soled army surplus boots. He sank resentfully back into his pool of bile.
It was an interesting result.
Despite my great bulk, I'm about as lethal as Gandhi. The most violent act in a notably mild life is probably watching the whole Gatti/Ward trilogy in one sitting.
The boss, on the other hand and in spite of his stereotypically nebbishy deportment, is a 20 year student of akido, a certified black belt equipped to transmute any aggressor into a groaning pretzel of torment with three deceptively delicate sweeping movements of his arms.
Is it just me, or is this the psychology of the entire right wing in a nutshell?
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
True Customer Tales
Older, not obviously crazy lady brings a dollar book from the sale cart to the counter.
"What's this book about?"
I scan the cover and note the title- Organic Chemistry Molecular Modeling Workbook by Warren J. Hehre.
"It looks like an organic chemistry workbook."
"But what's it about? I'm not gonna buy it or anything, I'm just curious."
"I'd say it's a workbook for people taking an organic chemistry class. And it includes a CD."
"Oh. I'm not gonna buy it or anything."
"Mmmmmhmmm."
"What's this book about?"
I scan the cover and note the title- Organic Chemistry Molecular Modeling Workbook by Warren J. Hehre.
"It looks like an organic chemistry workbook."
"But what's it about? I'm not gonna buy it or anything, I'm just curious."
"I'd say it's a workbook for people taking an organic chemistry class. And it includes a CD."
"Oh. I'm not gonna buy it or anything."
"Mmmmmhmmm."
why do people wear ugg boots in public
I do not understand.
And the various knockoff companies encourage this grotesque behavior by making them in various pastel colors.
It's nauseating!
I can understand wearing a hideously uncomfortable shoe because it looks smashing, but I'll never get wearing something that makes you look like an escapee from a Prehistoric Man exhibit just because it's comfortable.
Unless of course you can rock them like Raquel.
And the various knockoff companies encourage this grotesque behavior by making them in various pastel colors.
It's nauseating!
I can understand wearing a hideously uncomfortable shoe because it looks smashing, but I'll never get wearing something that makes you look like an escapee from a Prehistoric Man exhibit just because it's comfortable.
Unless of course you can rock them like Raquel.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
superbowl
How did this become a de facto national holiday?
We might as well close the store a half hour before kickoff time, because the entire downtown goes DEAD except for the bars.
It's like Christmas Day in February, only with steroids instead of gifts.
We might as well close the store a half hour before kickoff time, because the entire downtown goes DEAD except for the bars.
It's like Christmas Day in February, only with steroids instead of gifts.
Your day is going better than you think
One of the nice young gals at the coffee shop was weeping this morning while slicing my bagel.
Seems that last night her boyfriend of several years confessed to cheating on her a few months ago.
With a Tijuana prostitute.
"I thought he was a nice guy!" she wailed.
Ouch!
Seems that last night her boyfriend of several years confessed to cheating on her a few months ago.
With a Tijuana prostitute.
"I thought he was a nice guy!" she wailed.
Ouch!
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