Thursday, May 31, 2007

b and b and b


so, last night the spurs beat the utah jazz - my least favorite team east of the mississippi! and the spurs...boring. i mean, kinda. sure sure they are good, damn good too and i want to rally around them but how come? the easy answer for my friends who know me and my love (later i will get to that) of basketball is that of the lakers abscence beyond the first round - losing to the suns who also choked later. but the spurs? borrrrrrring. sorry, boring. genobli and duncan and frenchy parker cannot make me feel excited like the suns do or golden state did. instead, i get to see another year of san antonio win (they will) and it just rings of the nba sucking that much more. what happened? many things like 17 year olds getting drafted and ginormous contracts...sure but how about the fact the nba just has not progressed in any way whatsoever. do we all know too much about the players - the owners (hello cuban!) and pretty much everything? that too me is the problem and in this information society where we supposedly know more with the information at our fingertips...i wishing i knew less. i don't want to know what lebron's shoe contract is paying him - can't i just watch his mad skills? and the kids got 'em. in fact, go cav's! please, somebody other than the spurs so i can feel like i am not watching the same old shit called the nba. if the most exciting thing for me about this years playoffs is to watch kenny, sir charles, magic and ernie on tnt...well, that is sad.

tomorrow, more music. i promise. and baseball too!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

i love you you big dummy


here it is, blam! the record that made me rethink everything about music "lick my decals off baby" . i swear to god, this record sounds better and better with every turn of the clock...and i can thank washburn for telling me over and over how seeing the magic band during this time was beyond mindblowing and just making me listen to this stuff. here, check it out right about here although from a different record - here is the magic band really kicking it hard...

holy mother of god.

Friday, May 25, 2007

dutronc v. fromage!?


i work for a french company. i like french food. i like french pop music and i love jacques dutronc. this is his story and i did not write it (i edited it).
ah, french pop - so good! songs such as "et moi, et moi, et moi", "les playboys", and "le cactus" (a huge personal fave!), are many of this guys greatest hits. other songs include "mini, mini, mini", "le responsable", "j'ai un tigre dans ma guitare", and "l'opportuniste".

dutronc's songs combine american and british musical influences with french lyrical themes. many of his early songs feature a british garage sound comparable but no where near the same to that of ray davies of the kinks. dutronc's "la fille du père noël" and david bowie's "jean genie" share a riff likely derived from the yardbirds' accelerated version of bo diddley's "i'm a man" (the belgian singer arno recorded a medley of the dutronc and bowie songs ("jean baltazaarr") with the american singer beverly jo scott that highlight these similarities). however, dutronc is distinctive for his mocking attitude toward late 1960s french youth culture. dutronc's biggest hit was "il est cinq heures, paris s'eveille", with the classical flute player roger bourdin performing an essential part. in this song, dutronc paints an evocative portrait of the french capital in the early morning hours.
In 1973, "et moi, et moi, et moi" was adapted with english lyrics by ray dorset, leader of mungo jerry. "alright alright alright" became a uk # 3 hit for the group.
also in 1973, dutronc began a second career as an actor in the film antoine et sébastien, directed by jean-marie périer. in the following years, dutronc devoted most of his energies toward his acting career. he has appeared in films directed by the mighty jean-luc godard, claude lelouch and maurice pialat.

dutronc returned to music in recent years, and also has enjoyed a resurgence of popular interest in his music. since the early dutronc songs had a classic late-sixties freakbeat backing (provided by session musicians), his songs were played in the hip retro clubs of the uk and usa in the late 1990s, a practice which continues to this day. strangely, most of the people who will be dancing to the likes of "le cactus" will have no idea what the words actually mean and when translated by the ex colleague the french frau, it is about when life gets sticky - read, cactus. look at that 45 cover! he is celebrated in the 1997 cornershop song "brimful of asha" with the line: "jacques dutronc and the bolan boogie/the heavy hitters and the chichi music." oh yeah, those nutty punkers the black lips destroy one of his songs on the 'let it bloom' lp. they do not speak french well.

he currently lives in the town of monticello on the island of corsica. enough already, download his greatest hits here!! ciao!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

4th time around



to my favorite! happy birthday to you mr.zimmerman!

"everyting is broken"

"reaching out and touching her hand, whispering your secret emotion"

"i ain't no monkey but i know what i like"

"can you please crawl out your window"

"all i really want to do, is baby be friends with you"

i stood there and hummed,
i tapped on her drum and asked her how come
and she buttoned her boot,
and straightened her suit,
then she said, "don't get cute"
so i forced my hands in my pockets
and felt with my thumbs,
and gallantly handed her
my very last piece of gum

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

when the world hands you lemons, put them on ebay and i will bid on them


i love ebay. i really do and i buy and sell stuff there all the time. i sell junk (soon a keytar like the one you see above!) and buy brian eno bootlegs (!). i leave feedback and try to be funny but thanks to jbh turning me onto this genius of a man who left feedback for people prior to ebay not allowing ANYBODY to leave feedback for ANYONE, this guy set the bar high for funny shit on ebay. just read some of the notes this guy left...HI-larious! this is the gold standard of ebay silliness. and i use his stuff all the time...so do other ebay pals of mine as recently ms did the same thing.

ha, ha, ha - keytar.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen



today i listened to the new spoon record (d/l right here y'all). i was told it is a "grower" and i agree. well stated and furthermore, great to just hear good songs, well written and assured. what does that have to do with running? not a lot but a great lead into my new venture.

i have a great friend who knows way too much. i mean, she is smarter than most, creative and has an incredible restrain about herself that i find very admirable for yours truly is learing the great art of shutting up these days. and frankly, i barely say a thing these days to anybody! i rarely call anybody on the phone, i don't seem to email people and see what's up and now i just don't seem to have it in me for any effort for people. i am already a selfish one and now it is at a different and higher level than ever. back to my pal - she came over recently although we watched a movie, we chatted about jogging and running in general. she's a runner and spoke about how running is so good for clearing your head. i don't fancy myself a runner or even close to but i am game so that is a new adventure for me. and running to a garage sale is my objective this weekend before heading over to the other side of the pass for some m.i.a., manu chau, bjork action. then when we do make it to this god damned music festival, maybe i will jog back to my car and sleep inside it. i don't know but running makes me feel i am moving faster than usual and that is an accomplishment! running from what? a medic girl shot!

Monday, May 21, 2007

p/R


a couple nights ago i watched american hardcore after many people in the know told me not to saying it is so bad. it was, and maybe worse. i just don't want this to be about what i saw vs. what the movie conveyed, instead i am just going to tell you that i am tired of punk rock as a lynchpin to a sub-culture 'unexplored'. i am soon to be forty-5 and if i hear anybody my age within fifteen years say "punk rock today is not the same. these people who call themselves punk rockers today are not...". how embarrassing. my first punk concert was 1978 (weirdos, plugz) and it was less than two years after that when i heard people seven or so years my senior telling me how punk was dead and gone. they were right and wrong but one thing for sure, i am not sure what is so nostalgic about punk rock right now or for that matter, the last five or so years!? punkers from the past are sounding more and more like hippies every turn of the documentary or countless book documenting the 'glory days'. whatever.

so, i am feeling this new hotshit band, pissed jeans so off to ballard to check them out. i love the guitar sound on their records and heard they ripped it up live so i had to go due to all of this nostalgia of punk and rock. after one song, they had amp trouble - both the bass player and the guitarist! then they got it going again and they hit some grooves that were slanted and jagged - especially the exceptional drummer and guitarist. the singer, well, lead singers and i have issues...i just have trouble with them and the theatrics, read, what else can i do but sing/yell. this guy held his own and the bass player was, well - he played very diligent and controlled but that was the last thing i wanted while hearing furious guitar playing. all in all, pissed jeans hit some targets and were very good however i'd like to see them one more time and ideally a house party would be fun. oh yeah, they played loud (love that!) and played for only slightly over a half hour (love, LOVE LOVE THAT!). i went outside of the sunset tavern and watched matthew eat two hot dogs and erin eat two veggie dogs. street food was discussed and i talked with a guy from germany. lovely evening. party with me punker.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

for a minute there, i lost myself



i have decided to start this up again and welcome back! i am writing to you and you know who you are - no names necessary. i will tell you this, i miss you terribly - think about you all the time (s/s, nod^bowl) and will look forward to our next visit.

so, hmmm - in the near future i will be writing about new favorite place to dine at, basketball playoffs, this insane record i got at the thrift store, a band which i am very excited about seeing 'pissed jeans' and my visit to sanfrancisco. as my friend j in sf says, "barry bonds is a dick but he's our dick".

she nailed it.