highlifer

90's nostalgia

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 02:07:00 +0000

Twice this year I have witnessed live music moments that made the crowd explode in ecstasy.

1. David Guetta at WMC in Miami playing Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was rainy, it was cold, and everyone danced with a sheer frenzy, myself included. At the time, I thought that it was that David Guetta controlled a crowd like few djs I'd ever seen. But then,

2. Polyphonic Spree at 9:30 Club, playing a fairly straight up cover of Lithium. The hippies had mostly been loving them all along, but this really exploded it to the next level. Myself included.

I've been in the throes of 90s nostalgia since hearing Mother Love Bone on KEXP (Kings of Leon are the new MLB, discuss) since buying the Afghan Whigs greatest hits comp, since hearing Chris Cornell on Howard Stern. But if someone would have told be 6 months ago that something would happen that would make me want to play "Nevermind" again, I'd have denied denied denied.

I'm also making a cd for a friend's 9-year old son, so I'm putting PUSA's Peaches on it. Here come the 90s!

England, Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 21:12:00 +0000

God, FINALLY, I finish! Maybe I just don't want to let the trip go.....

Upon awakening on Saturday, we had but one goal - get ourselves to Stamford Bridge. We contacted the guy we found on Craigslist, who told us to meet his mate Bill at the Southwark train station in 15 minutes. Between the 3 of us, we were $30 short, so we also needed to find a bank. Despite the fact that there was a known ATM at the London Bridge Train station, and that we could then hop a train and go one stop to the Southwark station, I, obviously out of my mind, was determined we could walk. Of course, we promptly got irretrievably lost, couldn't find an ATM or anyone who could point us in the direction of the train, and finally had to catch a cab, where we luckily found an ATM and got the tickets. That sucked. Then, I needed to go back to the apartment, so Tom and Montie waited at a pub, the Bunch of Grapes, while I ran back to get whatever it was I needed (I can't remember at this point.) When I returned to the pub, it was determined that I needed to try the Wells Banana Bread Beer, which we all tried and was rather delicious. And we ate bacon sandwiches and just generally had a relaxing time. We left there by Noon and the pub had a good crowd, again of people of all ages and types. Really my favorite part of England.

Now, off to Chelsea. Since traffic was nuts, we decided to take the train, but this quickly fell to pieces, as the station where we were to switch was closed. Going to the next stop brought such an incredible crowd that it quickly became obvious we would NEVER catch a train, so we ran out and caught a cab, making it to Stamford Bridge in plenty of time.

And what a beautiful day it was! Even though our seats were towards the back, we could see perfectly. The West Ham fans were nearly as loud as the Chelsea fans, despite being outnumbered about 8-1. Much of my favorite chant, Who Ate All the Pies? to Frank Lampard. Who is not fat, but whatever. The only score came from Geremi on a penalty kick, which I missed because I turned my head to compare Anton Ferdinand and his lazy defensive ways to former OSU Buckeye Terence Dials.

You can really get a better handle on soccer watching it in person - watching how people behave off the ball says a lot. I briefly came around to Arjen Robben for his all-out play that day (though I'm back to hating him) and truly watching Drogba is something to behold

After the match, we were caught up in a swarm of people so we decided to get a bite to eat before heading on. We went to Bodean's again, just cause it was nearby, and we also thought we could stake out the possibility of watching the OSU-Michigan game, which was starting at 8 that night. This was not to be, but the manager of the Bodeans could NOT have been nicer. No surprise there.

So we finally headed back to Soho to see what was up at Bodeans, and to find the Phoenix, which was hosting the How Does it Feel party which had been tipped to me as fun, as well as having Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake as the guest dj that night. The plan was that we would watch a little football, I would go check out HDIF, text back, and then Tom and Montie would meet me there.

Bodeans was absolutely packed and there was a line outside. Many of the people inside were from the Michigan Business School and they were dorks. Outside were a wide variety of Midwesterners (100% Americans) so we quickly decided to join the college students and went down the street to the deli for a few cans of Carslburg and just watched the game through the window. I am convinced it was way more fun this way (definitely cheaper!) After a quarter or so, I headed off to the Phoenix. Here, I finally got to try Miller's gin (YUM!) and went off to mill about. Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling the vibe. The party was in the basement of a nice pub. It was filling up fast. The sound was terrible. No one was paying attention to the music and NO ONE was even thinking about dancing. Everyone looked like the usual crowd upstairs at the Ottobar. Both one of the doorpeople and the bartender were vaguely rude. After about 1/2 hour, I decided to just go back to Bodeans, because Tom and Montie were REALLY not going to like it. Upstairs, I ran into Mike and Amber, who were trying to hook up with us - what luck! So I went the few blocks back to Bodeans.

The game was good, but I found myself getting restless. I had noticed some posh Indians earlier and Tom had said they were all going down the street to this bar, funnily called The Amber Bar. So I suggested to Amber we go check it out, and we did. This nightclub was also in the basement and it had the vibe I wanted. The usual diverse group of people, loud music, tons of dancing. A delicious cocktail (or two) called a Toblerone, which was Frangelica, Bailey's Kahlua, cream and honey. We danced we laughed we looked at people, we met the guy above. Then the boys called us and said the game was over, OSU had won, and they were ready to go back to the hood. We couldn't convince them otherwise, so off we went. I'm finally gonna make it to the Rose.

The Rose was also crowded. Unfortunately, my drinking was kinda over, as 2 gin drinks and 2 milky drinks pretty much did me in. Mike told us how he had seen a fox walking down the sidewalk earlier! A Fox! The Rose's bartender told us that was common, and that they tended to be Cheeky fuckers. The Rose had a great jukebox, and the last song I heard before we headed home was the perfect end to our vacation, Jesus and Mary Chains' Just Like Honey.

When can I go back?

My favorite Amsterdam picture

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:14:00 +0000

All around the centraal area, there were herring stands with pictures of fancy Dutch lasses preparing to swallow one whole. We took a picture of that, but Montie's head is right where the Dutch girl should be. Perfect!

Amsterdam day 3.2

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:09:00 +0000

Here are all the big fluffy babies I saw on Friday in Amsterdam. What's not to love?

Amsterdam, day 3.1

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:32:00 +0000

In case you were wondering as to how we entertained ourselves doing nothing but walking around, I hope these pictures of Amsterdam architecture help clear that up.

And that is what we did. Tom, Montie and I were up relatively early - since they were showing our house to prospective buyers and we wanted to be up and out before people started traipsing in. Montie had been raving about the Dutch pancakes (a combination of pancakes and crepes) so we went to the pancakery by our house. I had pancakes with a cherry topping (and a macchiato) and they were much better than I might have thought.

So, more wandering. All of us did a little shopping, Tom and Montie for chocolate, me for shoes. (Click on the yellow ankle boots on the third row to see the ones I bought.) Then we found an amazing record store probably the best one of the 3 we visited. (I still haven't played all of the cds I bought, and I'm not sure Tom has either.)

Wander, wander, wander, look, look, look, and then we were hungry again. We saw the Pancake Bakery (more on that in a minute) and ate pancakes again - and the first ones were good but these were amazing. What we also realized was that this place was just blocks from the Anne Frank House, the tour guides had said the crowds are slimmest right before close, and it was ....right before close. So we headed there for our tourist attraction.

The front of the house is very modern, and we didn't have the spirit yet (Tom: Couldn't they hear the Nazis coming up these metal stairs?) but as we kept going, and once you got into the house itself, it was quite chilling. Being in Anne Frank's room, with the news clippings on the wall, and seeing the growth chart that her father measured them with was beyond heartbreaking. All this little girl wanted was to be a famous writer, and I can only hope that she somehow knows what she has meant to the world with her writing.

Whew! So enough of that. We went back to the house, packed up, and back to London. Another one of those delicious train sandwiches, and we went to bed

Amsterdam House

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 00:18:00 +0000

I'm having some isses with picture adding, so let's take a commercial break and look at our house and street in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:14:00 +0000

Happy Birthday, Tom!

Today, we started with a leisurely brunch at Cafe Luxembourg. Very tasty and relaxing, as well as full of Euro-people watching. Then Mike and Amber went one way and Tom, Montie and I another. We didn't really have any agenda, we just wandered around and looked at things. One of the places we wanted to check out was Fat BeatsWe didn't buy anything because we didn't want to deal with packing vinyl, but Montie and I mentioned that we both could have weeded our own collection to sell at Fat Beats for waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than we could get for it in the US and A.

Tom discovered while he was there Black Petewhich he claims has given him a new lease on Christmas. I managed to find a treasure trove of Black Pete wrapping paper, so if you are getting a Christmas present from me, look forward to meeting Black Pete. I've enjoyed learning about Black Pete's history, and the controversy around it.

So, then, shop and walk around we did. We mostly just window shopped, then ate some sweets (and of course a macchiato). We found another record store, where Tom bought Lily Allen and I bought Jimmy Sommerville. Perfect! Then, while I browsed Dutch children's books, Tom and Montie bought us wine and meat and cheese (pictured above) which we then took back to the apartment, listened to music and relaxed and enjoyed.

Tom chose an Argentinian steakhouse for his birthday dinner. Damn, I've eaten a lot of meat on this vacation! After that, Montie, Amber and I took a walk to the red-light district while Mike and Tom went gambling. (Tom won! 300 euros!) There was a LOT to look at, which surprised me that we were actually gone for an hour. The ultimate plan was to go to the American sports bar at (2 a.m.!) for the WVU-Pitt game. I was skeptical about this from the get-go, but once we decided to go back to the house before going to the game, I knew I was done for!As it turned out, the ladies went to bed while the dudes went back for the game. I think WVU won that one!

Amsterdam, Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 01:40:00 +0000

No pictures today.

Around noontime we needed to head to the airport. This morning, I think we were all getting a little snippy. I think the thought of getting on a plane was weighing on us a bit, as well as being a smidge tired. We just grabbed a sandwich at the train stop, but it was a great sandwich. Can't remember the name of the sandwich shop, but I could eat that cold train station sandwich every day.

Easy Jet was a great way to get around. Oh, and, due to the England-Netherlands friendly, our plane was full of soccer hooligans! I probably could have organized myself better to actually get to that match, but, oh well.

Our apartment in Amsterdam was amazing. We got it through City Mundo which I would recommend for anyone.The house was 3 floors tall- kitchen on the bottom, living room with GIANT windows overlooking the canal and small bedroom and toilet on 2nd, bedroom and bath on 3rd, attic bedroom and toilet on 4th. You could have fit 12 people in there comfortably.

We learned our lesson in London and had a cab driver take us to our house. Since Montie had been several times before, we let him be our leader. After an initial freak out that had us trying to go to every coffee shop as well as trying to catch the soccer match, things calmed down. We ended up going to a tapas restaurant and ordering one of everything on the menu. All was delicious, and most agree that this was their favorite meal of the trip. Lots of wine, lots of little food and just good times. After this, we went out drinking, but the bar was kind of disgusting. It felt like Papa Joe's during my college years at OSU. Kinda dirty and full of drunk frat boys. This must be what people say when they tell us Amsterdam was filthy. Finally, we just headed home.

England Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:46:00 +0000

Today, Mike and Amber were going to see Spamalot, so Tom, Montie and I set out on our own. We had decided to go to the Tate Modern. I wasn't sure if anyone would be up for a museum, but all were - Montie had been before. It was great. The Carsten Holler slides were unbelievable. I think my favorite exhibit was the little boxes.Online can NOT do this justice! It was really clever and is what has most stuck with me too. AND I got my Tate pencils back! (I had one once that was taken away by a gatekeeper at Coachella. I was so sad, I loved that pencil! Now I have 3!!)

It actually started raining while we were in the museum, the first rain we'd seen during our whole trip. It was slight though, and we cabbed it back to Soho where we could do some shopping. We ate a good burger with cheddar and drank a pint and got directions to the Borderline
where we were going later to see Dale Watson. Told it was right around the corner from Foyle's bookshop, we found it, then I went back to Foyle's. Or at least the ground floor of it. What a great bookstore! I could have spent an entire afternoon in there.

I also went to the Topshop, a place I'd heard about not only from a teen novel I read, but from the news - both Michael Jackson and Lindsay Lohan closed it down while we were there. Wow, did I heart the Topshop. It was like a bigger, better H & M. Since Tom and Montie were with me, however, I didn't really get to shop too much - but I did get some cool socks and some Christmas presents. Thank God shoes were so expensive in London, or I'd have been in big trouble.

We tried to go to Gordon's again, but it was waaaaaaaaaay too crowded, so our next stop was Leicester Square, where the Casino Royale premiere was ready to begin. Unfortunately, Daniel Craig came first, and I wasn't quite situated, but I did get a glance. We got to see all the movie's stars come in, including Eva Green, Caterina Murino (what an ass on her!) (Unfortunately, pantylines too.) Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Caine, ex-Bond girl Michelle Yeoh (beautiful and the prettiest dress too.) and hilariously, Chris Cornell. Yeah, I saw him at Stache's! Rumors abounded that the queen was coming, but we didn't spot her - as it turned out there was another red carpet on the other side of the square for stars who were attending but not in the movie, that featured Paris Hilton, Elton John, and Sting, among others.

We then met up with Mike and Amber. Amber was craving a steak so we went to the closest restaurant, the Aberdeen Steak House, which I sense was the British equivalent of Ponderosa. Exactly.

Now, off to the Borderline to see Dale Watson. Little did I suspect that it would be sold out! Amber mananaged to sweet talk our way in however, to the very crowded basement bar. It was good fun for all, however, and just so amazing to see the huge crowd of folks, of which I was probably on the young end to average by age! You couldn't get that many old folk out on a weeknight in this country if Johnny Cash rose from the dead. Hearts to England.

After leaving, we really wanted to keep drinking a few. Montie had been dying to go to Camden, so we caught a cab up there, but unfortunately, Tuesday night was pretty quiet there, and our drinking options were few and far between. The bar we decided to hit was actually really cool - The Lock Tavern. I wish I had discovered this place earlier - they have amazing djs on the weekends, including Simian Mobile Disco on the previous Sunday, and Fila Brazilia and Zero 7 (!!!) the day we left. What a hidden jewel!

At this bars close, we headed back to SE1.

England Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:21:00 +0000

Monday started with a trip to Tom's motherland, Stamford Bridge, home of the Chelsea Blues. There was always a hope that tickets would be available for the West Ham match but that didn't happen. Later, we realized we should have bought the Arsenal tickets that were available and sold them for a profit, but we didn't think about it at the time.

After spending beaucoup hours and pounds at the Chelsea Megastore, we walked out (HAHA! As if!) trying to find Kings Road. After wandering for the usual forever, we grabbed a bite to eat and then finally found where we were going. After a little window shopping, we went our separate ways - Mike and Amber to go see Borat, Tom, Montie and I to the Rough Trade store. We went to the branch in Soho on a little street called Neal's Yard - the whole street was cool. Tom and I dropped $$$$$ but got some cool stuff we couldn't get in the states. (My favorites, a Hacienda comp and "Warm Leatherette.")Shopping was cool up there (I window shopped at Paul Smith and Ted Baker, two of my favorite designers). Then I needed something sweet so we got coffee and dessert. (I developed a slight macchiato addiction there, but I've shaken it pretty well.) Our next stop was one that had been recommended to us by a coworker, Gordon's Wine Bar. Just check out the website to get the idea, but this was Tom's favorite place. Then we headed home and decided to try and find some Indian food. Close to our house was Tower Tandoori. Tom ordered his food as "hot as you can make it" so the owner's son told him he would make him a special sauce, but he had to eat it all. Suddenly, a giant bowl of sauce appeared, and it was bubbling. In it's own juices. Made from African Chilis, this sauce was hot. I was convinced Tom was going to have a heart attack. Luckily, he gave in at about the 10% point. We loved this place; both staff and food were delightful. Tandoori trout - delicious!!!

We went back to the apartment, then Tom and Montie went to the Rose, where they met Mike and Amber, while I stayed in to get my fill of British TV, particularly I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

England Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:41:00 +0000

After getting in at 5:oo I was afraid I'd sleep the day away, but I was actually up shortly after the sun, and starving. I decided to walk to the Marks and Spencer, and upon heading out the door, there was Montie! So we got him in and situated, and I headed to the store. Which was a little too whole Foods and not entirely serviceable, but I did get some pastries, chips, water, soda, juice and delicious little things that were like Mini-Ho-Ho's with orange flavored cream. And the newspapers of course. We all got ready and decided Picadilly Circus would be a good starting point today. We had a great cab driver who pointed out about a million things on the way, including Trafalgar Square and we decided to walk back that way. The only thing on the agenda was that I wanted to watch Arsenal-Liverpool. We found the ESPN-Zone style sports bar, and then walked around. The weird armless statue above was there, as were, of course, the lions.

We decided to head to a pub to kill time, but en route, I saw the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery, where the Pet Shop Boys photographs were. Since it was free to get in, I ran down to check them out. It was a small exhibit, so I'm glad I hadn't gone out of my way to do this, but since it fell in my lap, I'm glad I went! then to the pub, Called Chandos. They served only Samuel Smith, but lots of varieties. Good! Cheap! We hit it a few more times during our trip, it was a good meeting place. It was here that I discovered the most delightful of British snacks, the toasty. Essentially a grilled cheese sandwich, it is indeed the best of all pub snacks. British food is the best!

Liverpool-Arsenal was nothing to speak of, Liverpool got totally outplayed. We hung around for a bit to watch American football, but finally, Mike and Amber headed back and Tom, Montie and I decided to wander about. We found the American sports bar that Montie knew about, Bodeans, where I had the jacket potato pictured above - a baked potato with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and beans. YUM! British food is the best!!!

After this, we headed home, where I got to watch the Pete Doherty doc on BBC.Even Tom was somewhat moved and interested, probably helped somewhat by his appearance with Shane McGowan. British TV....also the best.

And so to bed.

England Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:38:00 +0000

2 weeks ago today we landed in London. Due to some computer problems in our apartment, my original plan to blog each day was foiled, but let's see if I can catch up now.

After landing at 7 a.m., we dumped our luggage until noon, when we could check in to our apartment. Our apartment was by the London Bridge, so we decided to walk across it. Once there, it was a short jaunt to the Tower of London, so we decided to go inside, a tourist thing that I normally wouldn't do, but with time to kill, it seemed like a fine thing to do. It was actually great fun!

The pictures above are from the Tower of London. The Ravens are cool - the rumour is as long as they stay alive on the tower grounds, the monarchy will stand.

Inside the Tower are the dungeons, complete with tons of medieval weapons (a mace! a lance! Swords aplently!) as well as models of the brave horses. And the crown jewels. Which looked extremely fake. But sure enough, a few days later, there was the Queen opening Parliament wearing the jewels.

After the Tower of London, we checked into our apartment and took a serious nap. We missed Chelsea (and Drogba's hat trick) but the nap was sorely needed. Upon waking, we decided to head into the city proper. My plan that night was to go to Fabric so we decided to take the train nearby and get food, then I'd head to Fabric and the others would go elsewhere. The closest train stop, however, was Downtown/Financial district and it was totally dead. We weren't that far from Soho/Covent Garden area, but we couldn't get our bearings. The biggest lesson of London - let cabdrivers take you everywhere. You can't figure it out. I never quit trying,and I never figured it out. So after wandering around in desolation for a good hour, we caught a cab, went to Covent Garden and had a delicious meal at Livebait.
I had the halibut with tagine and it was delicious. And a blackberry caiprinha which was doubly delicious.

Then we went our separate ways - it was about 11:30 and I had to get to Fabric by midnight so as not to get stuck in a queue. Mike, Amber and Tom went to our neighborhood pub, The Rose. Fabric really was great. I was there mostly to see Ellen Allien and the bPitch control group - they were in one room, the middle sized one. I was a little traumatized upon getting there and realizing she wasn't on until 3. I wasn't sure if I could make it. But the room was so awesome - you really couldn't get bored. If one room got boring, just move to another one. I liked everything in bPitch control room, and also liked Rex the Dog in the smaller upstairs room. The main room was a bit too traditional techno for me and I didn't spend much time there. (The crowd was very different in the 3 rooms too - big room mostly cheesy Euros and Arabs, small room mostly Germans and Thais (I don't think I heard English in this room all night) and the small room, punters. After Ellen Allien, I went upstairs for BBC dj Rob da Bank, who played the same stuff I'd hear at Taxlo. Does dancing to Song 2 every get old? After that, it was 4:30 and I thought I should head home.

The cab driver couldn't find my street. This was the only time it happened on the whole trip. So I said, just drop me at the London Bridge tube stop, and I'll find my way from there. Generally, to get to the tube, we had to walk through a tunnel. (Remember, at this point, I'd been in London less than 24 hours.) So I walked through the tunnel, only to see I was right by the water, which meant I'd gone the wrong way. (He'd let me out at the main tube entrance, where we'd always used the rear.) So, back through the tunnel I went, and to my apartment where, at 5 a.m I went to bed.(No one tell my Mom about me wandering through underground tunnels atSouth London at 5 a.m.)

Just a really dumb peeve

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:08:00 +0000

I've been trying to get my house organized, and have been getting rid of lots of crap that's been piling up over the last 9 years. This month - 2 mirrored closet doors.

In order to get bulk trash picked up in Baltimore, you have to fill out an online form, then they email you and verify the date. It's a pretty easy system really.

But everytime I fill out the form I am baffled by one thing.

The City of Baltimore bulk trash pickup asks you to fill in your City and State.

Hey, dumbass, I'm in Baltimore! Can I schedule you to pick up my sister's trash in Columbus, Ohio? Maybe my friends in Florida have some bulk trash to be picked up. Of COURSE I'm in Baltimore! Why do I have to type in the city and choose my state from a DROP DOWN BOX of all 50 states?

I know, it's the little things.

We Are the 80s

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 01:31:00 +0000

July 13, 2006. Madonna at Wachovia Center, Philadelphia.

A few years back I saw Madonna and found the whole thing to be a bit hollow. But this tour was getting great reviews, and I'd enjoyed the brief sneak-peek at Coachella.

First off, this is no concert. This is a show. Like a Broadway revue. There's no room anywhere for spontaneity, everything is choreographed within an inch of it's life.

The first part of the show had an equestrian theme. Madonna rode a mechanical horse. She rode her dancers. All the while, gruesome videos were playing showing horses falling down. The music was good, but the videos were vengeful- I pictured Madonna planning on showing that horse that threw her earlier who the fucking boss was. It was like horse snuff films.

The second part was the social conscience part - a little ham-handed, and the cross part to "Live to Tell" was not so controversial.

Finally, the disco part. Lucky Star! Hung Up! Really, it ended high. (Even though since the show, I've decided I prefer Get Together to Hung Up.)

Madonna felt, I believe, as warm as she possibly could to the audience. There was a little interaction.

My biggest disappointment - the crowd was full of really really really really aging lesbians. I didn't really see that coming. Can Madonna no longer throw a circuit party? I'm thinking not.

Read Rebecca Traister's awesome article about one of the NY shows.

David Lee Roth, Ram's Head Live, July 16

Now, David Lee knows how to throw a circuit party! I'm convinced of this! Just not at Ram's Head Live.

My youth was filled with love of DLR. Dig if you will the picture of a teenage girl named Jamie, a name that was never found in displays of pencils or jewelry or "This is So-and-So's Room" signs in the late '70s. Imagine that the first place, other than the bionic woman, who used that name in pop culture is Van Halen, and imagine that you mooned over that song, and DLR for many years to come. Imagine that you loved men with chest hair, and DLR showed his off by wearing sparkly vests and no shirts and posing provocatively. Well, welcome to my teen years.

Still, I was incredibly apprehensive to go to this show. It was at a smallish (less than 2,000 seats) club. DLR's act had worn beyond thin in the last few years. His painfully unfunny stints on Howard Stern. His even more painfully unfunny attempt to follow in Stern's footsteps in the radio world. Could he still kick? Would he try?

Well, he kicked and succeeded. He could still sing. He looks pretty damn good in tight pants and sparkly vests for a man of his age.

But the hairy chest! It is gone!

Throughout the last few years, I've been convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that DLR is gay. He's never been linked to anyone for any length of time. Random groupies. If you get right down to it, he's pretty flaming. But the manscaping! Oh, God the manscaping! That beautiful chest hair, waxed away. That was the last piece of evidence I could possibly need. DLR is gay.

The show itself was nothing but hits. He had a hacky backing band who had spent lots of time locked in their bedrooms learning Eddie Van Halen riffs. The crowd of aging dirty-butts loved him. No one seemed to notice or care how gay he is. He makes that cheesy grin constantly. He mugs WAAAAAAAAAAY too much. Joey D. thinks that he mugs so much and so cheesily because he is used to playing larger venues, and he can't dial his expressions down to a smaller room. I think he's out of his mind and unbelievably cheesy.

But Jamie's Crying? It still totally rocked.

One more word on indie rock

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 03:04:00 +0000

Have you heard the new Snow Patrol song, Chasing Cars? Does it sound just like something from Sebadoh's Bubble and Scrape or is it just me? Like a little like Soul and Fire?

The Music I'm too old for

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:29:00 +0000

Fall Out Boy. Love 'em. Know I'm old enough to be the mother of 90% of their target audience but love 'em.

Ridiculously gay dance music. Love it. Want to go to Ibiza and dance my ass off with all the other 19 year olds.

So I'd always thought that my taste in music would never mature. But recently I discovered that there is a type of music I feel too old for.

Indie rock.

I discovered this during Broken Social Scene at Merriwether Post last week. I'm not a fan of them at all, and really not of headliner Belle and Sebastian either, but I'd gotten the tickets for my friend Jeffrey for his birthday, and because I thought I could entice my husband, who had inexplicably decided he loved them after hearing "Funny Little Frog" on an airplane headset. (I couldn't entice him.)

I looked around at the crowd, and made the observation: "There is no one here who hasn't been, or isn't going, to college." The crowd just looked so similar. With hipster clothes on that showed a disdain for fashion, just a little bit of disdain, but still were very studied. Everyone was very quiet and polite, for the most part. And danced like the whitest little studious types around.

Broken Social Scene had sounded OK when I heard their cd, but live they were so fucking serious. And smug. And bearded. Bearded like Jeff Daniels in "The Squid and the Whale." An unstudied, studied beard. And they had this chick singer who Could. Not. Sing. Her voice was so thin and delicate. Just like the crowd watching them.

I actually rather liked Belle and Sebastian, who had a much fuller sound in person than I would have thought. I might have thought a large venue would just swallow them up, but they had great energy and they do write some delightful songs.

But my epiphany stands. When confronted with free mp3's from Okkervil River or Wolf Parade, I don't even contemplate clicking on them. I'll go to Fall Out Boy's Myspace page, or download new tracks from Underworld. But college rock. I think I've finally realized I'm not in college anymore.

Maybe I was never that into it in the first place. I do hold "Slantend and Enchanted" as on of the Top 10 records ever. But I almost never play any other Pavement cds, and don't even own any Steven Malkmus or Silver Jews or any other descendets. I like '90s era Columbus, Ohio rock (Gaunt, New Bomb Turks, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apts., Scrawl, ) but more because I grew up with these people. Without the social connections, I doubt I'd ever think of them either.

I'm also dying for TV on the Radio's "Return from Cookie Mountain" but not (yet) enough to pay import prices for it. Unlike those Everything but the Girl and Birthday Party imports that I bought with pride in the '80s when I made about 1/8 the money I do now. Or the Ellen Allien or Miss Kittin import mixes I bought, or the mash-up cds I bought when they were still only popular across the pond.

Yes, I believe it to be true. I'm officially over indie rock. I want my music to just be about having fun, and not about being the smartest, or the hippest, in the room. I'm over ironically being unironic.

Philadelphia shows

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 03:26:00 +0000

Echo & the bunnymen, June 29

So Interpol=Joy Division. She wants Revenge=Bauhaus. The Editors=Echo and the bunnymen. All of these bands sound like a mix of the 80s with one heavy influence. But, as Mr. highlifer said, they should all just hang it up because none of them are going to put on as great of a show as Echo did 27 years after their founding.
Ian McCullough looked as foxy as ever. Perhaps this is because the stage stayed mostly dark all night. but more likely because he has some serious stage presence. You can't take your eyes off of him even if he's in silhouette.

More importantly, he hasn't forgotten why he's still touring. Even though what I've heard of the new songs makes them sound better than anything since Ocean Rain (really! and what was the last band you could say THAT about?) he hasn't forgotten why he's touring big clubs to begin with - because of 25 years of hits. The setlist was packed with them. Each one sounded amazing. I'm particularly enamored with Over the Wall, always one of my favorites. And The Killing Moon. Surprisingly, Bring on the Dancing Horses, never one of my favorites, has been the one that's stuck in my head still almost a week later.

Seriously, if you think you might want to see this, go. Don't let anyone mock you. This isn't a reunion tour, this is someone who really could bring in new fans if new fans would give it a chance. And I'm not saying that as an old person. And I can't wait to see the Editors again in a few weeks.

I also saw the Boredoms. let's just say their name fits them.

Coachella 2006

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sun, 14 May 2006 18:38:00 +0000

This year was different for a couple of reasons - we had more people with us being the biggie. of course, we are the "experts" so we know what time we need to leave to get there by a certain time, the way out, other things to remember.

Except this year traffic was a huge nightmare. It took us at least an hour longer to get in than last year.

The first thing I want to see on Saturday may be known as the Mike Lupica position,
since for the second year in a row, it was something I learned from that WFMU show. (Last year Radio 4, this year Lady Sovereign.) I mostly wanted to see Lady Sovereign because I'd bet Tom that the woman we saw in the restaurant the night before was not Lady Sovereign because she was about 5'9 and Lady Sovereign is so wee. But the tent was so crowded that it was hard to tell her height (the woman in the restaurant had definitely cultivated the Lady Sovereign look.)

The crowded tent, however, was surely a sign of things to come. Another thing we knew is that some tents are crowded and most are not. At least that's how it had been in the past. This year most tents were extremely crowded - it was nigh impossible to just wander in and check something out.

We also needed to get the newcomers oriented so we wandered around to give everyone the lay of the land. I caught a little bit of the Zutons while we were checking out the swings in the middle of the area - their pop was a lot more powerful than I thought. I checked out a moment of Lyrics Born (too righteous - I'm sure it was fine, but I'm not much in the mood to be enlightened at an outdoor festival.)

Wolfmother is the first thing I saw in its entirety. The next big thing tag fits them well. Everyone has already said it before, they are just the new Sabbath/Zeppelin - but they have their own power too. Three people make a ton of racket. I do NOT like the song about the Apple tree that sounds like the White Stripes. We also made acquaintance with other Coachella returnees around us, who joined us in saying "Man, is it really crowded this year or what?"

I separated briefly from my friends, and we were meeting at the Animal Collective stage. Which was just a whole lotta racket that I couldn't get away from fast enough (Tom rather liked but the rest of us, ICK.) So we did some eating, and then dug in for the long haul.

Tom was mostly there for My Morning Jacket, but I'd already seen them twice and found them to be too hippie for my taste. I wanted to check out Kanye West, and TV on the Radio was one of my don't misses. So I wait and wait for Kanye, who is at least 15 mintues late. This is another new thing this year. In 2003, Ladytron was late but no one else. In 2005, Mike Patton's stupid band was late, but no one else. This year, lateness was common. Not sure what that was about, but again, when I tell my friends a great thing about the show is that it is not too crowded and it runs like clockwork, well so far neither of these things are happening. At least it wasn't 50 degrees and raining!

I caught the beginning of Kanye, then ran over to TV on the Radio, who had already started doing "Dreams", my favorite song of theirs. In person, they sound less like Peter Gabriel, and more just like themselves. It was a dynamic set, with songs being done with very different arrangements from the cds. Wish they were touring on their own (though I'm sure that'll come soon) rather than with 9 Inch Nails. Other Coachella people tend to really like this set too - they are getting some of the best buzz. (As are My Morning Jacket.)

I head over to the My Morning Jacket stage to catch a little Damian Marley. Tom was not a fan of the cd, but I found him more interesting than I might have thought - a nice combination of traditional reggae and dancehall/dance.

Next, Devendra Banhart. A great thing about Coachella is the ability to check out things that you're not sure if you'll like or not, without wasting it on a whole show. I don't usually like folky music, but something about Devendra has always intrigued me. I have also spent a lot of time trying to determine if he's hot or not, and if he's a legitimate hippie or it's all an act. I'm still not sure about his legitimacy, (Tom saw him walking around and said he looked VERY stylized) but as for his hotness? YUM! And it wasn't just me, some screaming girls essentially followed him out of eyesight when he was done.

Carl Cox had a 2 hour set, which would have been ideal if I was at a club, but it's tough to give 2 hours to anyone with so much else going on. So I decided to check out a little Franz Ferdinand before settling in to get my spot for the night at the dance tent. I was so glad I did - the Killers had kind of dampened my enthusiasm for the big 80s retro acts, but Franz played with a lot of energy - and I was also surprised at how many songs I recognized from just their 2 albums. I guess we can thank the BBC for that.

Now back to Carl Cox. So much energy - the day is really building nicely. Bonus points for playing Underworld's "Two Months Off." Following Carl are the Audio Bullys - a dance act most known for their version of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang My Baby Shot me down." The Audio Bullys are 2 guys - a dj and an mc. The djing was adequate at best, but a little choppy, but the mcing was awful. Flat, unenergetic, and when the camera was on him, he looked damn miserable to be there. They both huddled right at the turntables. A shame they got such a good spot - I finally decided to run over and take a peek at Depeche Mode.

Who were pretty boring too - and despite reports to the contrary, I thought Dave Gahan looked fat and old. The two songs I heard were dirgy and drony and going nowhere, so I headed back to suck up more Audio Bullys and wait for Daft Punk. High point of my return was the appearance of Santino from Project Runway, who was spotted by Tom, and was so nice to both of us, as well as all of his fans.

We were all there for Daft Punk, and Daft Punk indeed. What a show. Energy for almost everything, but especially "One More Time" was through the roof.

At leaving, it took forever to exit, and forever again to find our car, despite our best efforts, incuding taking a hint off the Coachella message board to take a picture of your car to aid finding it on the way out. It was well after 3 (nearly 3 hours after the show ended) to get to our hotel. Sigh. So we prepared better for the next day.

The focus of Day 2 was Madonna and Tool. What a funny combo - considering Madonna fans and Tool fans are natural enemies in the wild, it was surprising that they day was as calm and conflict free as it was.

We got there early enough to check out Murs, who I've seen before but never enjoyed this much. His lipsyncing to Coldplay was a high point! As was his apology to young fans when he swore and talked about sex, but he assured them that someday, they'd be thinking about sex too.

After that, we peeked in an Amadou and Miriam (my friend Kirk said it best - they took some good Afropop and crackered it up.) And James Blunt (Yawn.) So we relaxed on the lawn for Ted Leo, who was a real fan, singing Daft Punk songs and his wiry punky pop. I heart Ted Leo. (No Since U Been Gone tho.)Tom did not heart Ted Leo, and napped on the ground beside me.

After Ted Leo, I checked out Phoenix (apparently Sophia Coppola did too) but they were pretty dull. Here, there was a real lag time. I met Tom at Matisyahu, which was fine, but I think that guy is a bit of a joker, so whatever. We met at the beer garden, which was, you guessed it, too crowded. So we wandered around and did our t-shirt shopping.

I took a peek at Paul Oakenfold (what a cheeseball! Although he's grown his hair out and now somewhat resembles Grant Hart) but I just don't like his technique. Coachella message boards said he was a trainwreck, so it apparently wasn't just me.

Gnarls Barkley was my other don't miss. What a show! Dressed like a troup of the Wizard of Oz, complete with Danger Mouse as tin man, a string section of winged monkeys and backup singer Dorothy's, and Cee-Lo as the "Mean Ol' Lion." I hope my predictions are correct and "Crazy" is as huge as it can be in the states. Their cover of "Gone, Daddy Gone" was a pleasant surprise to me and the crowd loved it.

Next, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Another band that always brings it. But I'd seen them before so I only checked out a couple of songs, before heading off to Seu Jorge. Who may be good, but too mellow for a festival - after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs I just couldn't pay attention. The Editors were next door, but I was meeting my friends at Seu Jorge to head to Madonna. So I just kept running back and forth. The Editors were surprisingly energetic, and the songs sounded great. Can't wait to buy the album and see them on their own later this summer.

Ah, Madonna. Apparently there were about 30,000 people checking her out in an area really made for less than half that many. Even though I'm going to check her out alone later, to see her at the first festival appearance of her career seemed like a don't miss.She....was quite late. Which was a blessing because I could hear the Editors more. She played 5 brief songs, used some salty language, danced and left. I'm mostly psyched for the full show later.

Ending the event was Scissor Sisters. I love them, but I think they made some new fans. Ana was funnier than ever, Jake looked awesome in his gold lame suit. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I don't like that they interrupt the super awesome gay disco for the ballads. Maybe one ballad to end the set, but to tone it all down in the middle really messes with the momentum.

Summary: Best: Daft Punk, TV on the Radio, Gnarls Barkley.

Will I go again? Oh, probably. We'll see. I'll be interested to see where they take it next year - more poppy? (there's been a lot of backlash about the Madonna/Kanye additions.) I spent most of my time in the smallest tent this year, and less time at the big stage (I never saw one thing on the Main stage in it's entirety.)

3 Generations of UK Rock

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 01:44:00 +0000

n 1986, I moved from Ohio to New York (well, actually Passaic, NJ) with my ex-junkie, skinhead, thief boyfriend, who was from there. It didn't work out (see ex-junkie, skinhead, thief)but it was great fun while it lasted. My big memory was that when I told people I was moving, almost to a person, they said, "But you'll miss the Pogues!" (who were playing Columbus the day after i moved.)Which is ridiculous even if you liked the Pogues, which I didn't.

So 20 years and 2 Shane MacGowan solo shows later, I finally see the Pogues. And....eh. I still don't like the noodly Irish instruments, i don't get how they are punk when they are just the Chieftains with a with a drunk lead singer. Gogol Bordello kills the Pogues in the ethnic punk category.)And Shane really played up the drunk part, but I (and the guy behind me) definitely think he was faking. He was drinking clear liquor (gin? or was it water?) then, towards the end, he "chugged" from a bottle of (wine?) but most of the liquor missed his mouth. The guy behind me shared that as "Frat Boy Non-Drinking 101" - wear it and people will think you are REALLY drinking when actually you are faking it out. However, props to them for singing "Fairy Tale in New York" despite it's general Christmasness.

Ray Davies, 61, is the hottest old rocker today. Paul McCartney? Pussy. Mick jagger? Tries too hard. Ray Davies? Just charisma and talent, complete with 4 or 5 costume changes. Lots of early Kinks ("I'm not Like Everybody Else," "You Really got Me.")Plenty from the new cd, which fit right in with the classics. Sadly, not enough from the early 80's era, (no "Destroyer" no "Come Dancing")but no real complaints. The energy, the desire, could compare with anyone - this is the show to beat this year.

Finally, the Arctic Monkeys show was a can't miss, since I sold my extra ticket on eBay for more than I paid for 2, but even at that, I was impressed. They were tight, they were loud, they were British. Sometimes they were a little too Strokesy, but the whole package felt much stronger than either of the times I'd seen the Strokes. Believe the hype - they aren't boring like fellow Brits Oasis or Blur, There's nothing else I can tell you that you haven't already heard. (Although the bass player did wear a polo with an upturned collar, which was a bit Steve Sanders.

RIP Nikki Sudden.

She Wants Revenge

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 01:51:00 +0000

Ok, there are homages and then there are blatant ripoffs. She Wants Revenge is a blatant ripoff, mostly of Peter Murphy, with a little Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division thrown in. And I couldn't love it any more!

First off, despite their dead serious stage demeanor, I feel as if they're coming into this blatant ripoff with a sense of humor. They can't be serious, can they? Three of the songs on their debut album are Joy Division titles. They have to be kidding on that, right?

But despite, they, even more than Interpol, have captured the chilly feel and all of the details of early '80s new wave. And live: just as good.

Vegas Baby

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 01:49:00 +0000

Getting old (may) mean that you can't make the transition to West Coast time as quick as you used to. More on that later.

The best new slot machine was at our casino, the Sahara. It's Family Feud. If you get 3 "Survey says" across the payline, you get to play a mini-version of the Feud for bonus pay. Within my first hour, I'd hit for $50, which is satisfying for me.

Ostensibly, we were there for a wedding. A friend of Tom's on his 2nd marriage, and his new wife, who at 26 is 14 years younger than him, and on her 3rd marriage. The little wedding in the chapel was fun and simple. We didn't know anyone else in the small group, but even still. It was a somewhat joyless affair. We went to a chain-y Mexican restaurant in the Aladdin afterwards, and everyone was very quiet; there was no sense of celebration. The best man left before even eating to go to a show. Tom and the groom caught up on gossip. No one mentioned the wedding.It was weird. I give it 2 years. Frankly, the only reason we went was to be in Vegas for the Super Bowl.

That night we went to see Joe Rogan at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. Everyone in Mandalay Bay looks like they just stepped off the set of Growing Up Gotti. We got to Mandalay Bay about 8:30 and the show wasn't starting til midnight. We went to Rum Jungle to drink. Tom played the slots and I wandered around the Mandalay Bay shops. the Ultimate Fighting Championships were that night and there was an enormous crowd. Eventually, however, instead of going clubbing or getting more drinks, I snuck over to the sports book and pretended to study Super Bowl odds and took a 15-minute nap. Pathetic. But Joe Rogan was damn funny.

Sunday was, of course the Super Bowl. We made our normal pilgrimage to Circus Circus to check out the rotating bar made famous in Fear and Loating in Las Vegas. It was closed, so we played the slots some, and observed a guy having a meltdown on his wife/gf, which involved throwing chairs, drinks and screaming. I was preparing myself for gunplay, and was ready to hit the floor when security FINALLY came. This knocked us off our mojo for a bit. I did, however, win my parlay bet - $110 more!! And I've still got all my World Cup bets that could yet pay off.

However, I went to bed about 8 p.m. and woke up WIDE AWAKE at 3:30 Vegas time (the time I normally get up on the East Coast.) NEVER have I had such a hard time making the transition. I had a massage on Monday morning which was wonderful and also involved a sauna/jacuzzi/steamroom which I could have never left. We closed it out with dinner at Mix, (delicious) and took the redeye home.

Mostly, you gotta love a vacation where you come home with only $100 less than when you left.

Happy 2006!

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 01:12:00 +0000

So my resolution is to write closer to every day. I'm using Firefox now, which makes posting easier, so we'll see how this goes.

I ended 2005 with a terrible cold and flu. I had felt so bad for so long that I was literally crying and ready to die for a time on Dec. 26. When I finally went to the Dr., I was told I may have asthma. This has made me feel incredibly better.

Over the summer, I was told I had pnuemonia. I had been having coughing jags that sometimes made me throw up. I was somewhat freaked out that I had such a serious disease, and cant' figure out how I had gotten it. Worse, even after I was mostly better, my chest still hurt often. And I was soooooo tired. So to find out that it may have been something else all along, something that is controllable, is really a relief.

The mental relief has been the biggest. For 6 months, I've been so tired, and sniffly, and I just thought I'd gotten old overnight or something. This new diagnosis, coupled with a puffer, has me feeling today like I haven't felt in months.

It really is a whole new year!

Month of Music: Energy

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 00:42:00 +0000

Gogol Bordello/Throw Rag/Scotch Greens, Ottobar.

I worry about people who can't like Gogol Bordello.Those people don't
know how to have fun. (Actually, my husband doesn't - he thinks they
are fakers, even to the extent of thinking they are not really
Ukrainian/gypsies/whatever.) This is the 3rd time I've seen them, but
the first time with a big crowd. A big, moshing crowd. Punks, Moms,
Nerds, Regular People, young and old, dancing like their life depended
on it. It was so hot in the Ottobar, beers were flying, feet were
dancing, I loved it! The only drawback was a little bit of "hipper
than thou" going on - my favorite was this guy who was hitting on a
woman by saying "Oh, you work for Fader? That's the first place I
heard about these guys, 8 months ago." I wanted to say, "I first heard
about them in the oh-so-hip New York Times 3 years ago." Yeah, I know
I'm losing my edge, but I WAS THERE. (More on that later.) Opener
Throw Rag intrigued me because of their poster advertising Lemmy and
Jello Biafra on their cd. They ACTED like they were great, but in
fact, they were rather awful. I see they are from the California
Desert, which means they, like fellow desert dwellers QOTSA before
them, are just dreadful poseurs. Scotch Greens = Rancid cover band.

Sage Francis, Ottobar.
Sage was my big discovery at Coachella this year, and yes, I know I'm
a bit late to this party. It was great to see the bar sold out, and
everyone knowing all the words. Sage told his usual silly jokes, ( I
think it was, "How many emo kids does it take to change a light bulb?
1 to change the bulb and 4 to cry about it."). He also had incredibly
strong, political raps, and the crowd was singing right along with
them. Rappers Grand Buffet(coming back to the Ottobar in February)
also did a guest set, and they were more hilarious. The whole tour was
sponsored by knowmore.org, a worthy group for certain. While I was
there, I thought it was all so cute that people actually think that
they can make corporations clean up their act. Later, however, I found
a bit of energy to do some boycotting of my own - maybe Wal-Mart isn't
going out of business because I won't buy anything at Wal-Mart, but at
least I can sleep better at night.

LCD Soundsystem/The Juan McLean, Sonar.
Somewhere recently (on MAD-TV or Saturday Night Live maybe?) I
remember a skit about how the nostalgia curve kept shrinking, and
eventually people would be looking back fondly at the day before
yesterday. That is how I felt at this show. If this show had been over
the summer, it would have been huge. As it were, I felt like it was a
retro act, even though the cd has barely been out 6 months. First, The
Juan McLean show that even though their cd appears to be about dancing
and having fun, they are deadly serious about it (see !!!)These people
all need to take something out of the Junior/Senior or Fischerspooner
playbook and have a sense of humor already. Secondly, while I, as an
old person, appreciate a show that ends at a decent hour and doesn't
meander on endlessly, is it too much to ask of a headliner that they
play more than 6 songs, 1 of which was a cover?An awesome cover of
Nilsson's "Jump into the Fire." but a cover nonetheless. It felt more
like a set that would be part of the Mix106 Jingle Bell Jam or some
other showcase show. Plenty of cowbell, plenty of dancing, and "Losing
my Edge" is one of the great songs of the '00s, but all in all, a
shadow of what I had been expecting. Time for a new trend!

Month of Music: Second chances

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 01:20:00 +0000

Gang of Four-Sonar. I mean, how can you miss them if they won’t go away? However, this show was the best of the three I’ve seen, and even included, for the first time, “I Love a Man in Uniform,” considerably different without the female vocal. Each show has actually been longer and more energetic. However, one more show veers them into Pixies territory, so I’ll be satisfied with 3.

Reigning Sound-Iota, Arlington. The Reigning Sound show I saw in Columbus in the spring was one of the greatest I’d seen this year; one that so moved me that it caused me to almost cry. This show they were opening for the Detroit Cobras, who Greg Cartwright also plays with. So as they were setting up, the Husband, who’s not seen them before and is NOT a fan, says, “I didn’t know the Reigning Sound has a girl in the band.” “They don’t” I say, but indeed they do. The band I’d seen in Columbus was largely touring with Freakwater. This incarnation was founder Cartwright, a drummer and, well, to say the girl bass player was mediocre would be kind. Oh , and she couldn’t sing. To the Husband, I say “Who knew with 2 weeks of bass lessons, I could have been in the Reigning Sound?” And he says “Make that 1 week of bass lessons.” I didn’t even stay til the end of their set it was so bad and disheartening. After returning home, I discovered that said girl bass player is actually from Ohio and dates a friend of mine. Well, she still sucks, I’m going to have to stick to that gun.

My Morning Jacket-TLA Philadelphia. My Morning Jacket are the new Meat Puppets. A hippie band for frat boys who think they are indie rockers. However, my trip to Philly did get me to see the Bodyworlds exhibit that I can’t recommend enough to everyone. Worth every cent.

Acid Mothers Temple-Ottobar. The greatest rock band today. They played for about 90 minutes, and about 7 songs. Loud as hell walls of sound that made me wish I still had the energy to trip. As you’d look around, the whole crowd would be smiling,(at a rock show!) and I don’t think the whole crowd was tripping either – it’s just that overwhelming. No throat singing like last time, but, who’s complaining really. Plus, they’re so funny – cracking jokes, sticking the guitar in the ceiling.

Miss Kittin – I/O lounge, Miami, Florida. Supposedly, but Miss Kittin cancelled due to Hurricane Wilma. My travel companions got there earlier in the day, but I had to work –left Baltimore at 8, got to Miami by 10.To find my travel companions had spent the day drinking and were passed out cold. Decided to go out anyway Was at club at midnight. Somewhere between the time I left here and the time I got there, she cancelled. Since I’d already cabbed into downtown Miami from South Beach, I decided to stay for Otto von Schirach, the opener, who I knew nothing about, but was told by the guys in front of me that he was “live.” I also decided to drink kamikazes and beers as fast as possible, which got me very drunk, since after work, I’d gotten right on the plane and basically had nothing to eat. The club was small (it would have been AWESOME to see Miss Kittin there) and it was Pop Life night (Pop Life = Taxlo, complete with a nearly identical playlist). So, what I remember through the liquor haze is that Otto played Kid 606 style beats through a Dell laptop. The beats were fast, and he “sang” at about half speed through a vocoder thingy, Prince songs, and “I’m too Sexy.” Some of this he did while wearing a long gray beard. Fun enough, but not my cup of tea. Later in this trip , I did get to watch Hurricane Wilma blow down Collins Ave., and got stuck there 2 extra days. (if only it had been 3, I could have seen Carl Cox. But I guess if I couldn’t get out, he couldn’t have gotten in.)

Kylesa/Coliseum/Torche/Triac-Ottobar. Missed Triac, but the last few times I’ve seen them, they’ve been better than ever. Torche was like Ozzy Osbourne singing over “Slip It In” era Black Flag. Except not that good. Coliseum-traditional Florida death metal. Kylesa is like Mastodon, Junior, only with a super super hot girl guitar player. Only she….can play.

Peanut Butter Wolf-Ottobar. Halloween Saturday in Baltimore is probably not the greatest time for a show, there’s just too much else going on. Tops – there were 40 people there. This can go several ways – the artist can be a dick, and take the low turnout out on those who did show up. They can be smoking, so that you tell all your friends how smoking it was, and the next time there’s 400 people. But Peanut Butter Wolf did something I’ve never seen before – he bought a round for the entire bar. Really! I think he is good, but not as great as, say RJD2. It did allow the Husband and I to trot out one of our favorite arguments. My take: The ONLY difference between, say Miss Kittin or Felix da Housecat and Peanut Butter Wolf or RJD2 are the types of records they spin. Both are spinning records, sampling, and relying on some preprogrammed stuff. The only reason I like the former and the husband likes the latter is that I like house and disco and he likes rap and soul.He maintains that the “hip hop” djs rely less on programmed beats, so are better live performers, and that the “dance” djs have almost everything prerecorded and therefore it’s not really a “live” set.
Feel free to weigh in on this one.

noreply@blogger.com (jamie) — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 22:14:00 +0000

So you know those days where you're so sick you think you might not make it. But you HAVE to go to work, because there's a big meeting, or you're the only one covering a shift, or there's a deadline that you can not miss?

Then, a month or so down the road, you wake up with a little bitty headache, or maybe a hangover, or maybe you're just feeling out of it. And you think, "Remember that sick day I didn't take, well, I'm going to make up for it now!" And you call in sick, and spend the day watching Price is Right, and fiddling on the internet, and reading, and if you're feeling really ballsy you even go out to lunch?

Who amongst us hasn't done that? Be honest!

Well, that's what Terrell Owens is doing now. He's cashing in on that Super Bowl he played in with the broken leg, and calling in sick on a sore ankle. So why don't you all shut up and cut him some slack!