Yeah you know me

Constant sorrow

2011-05-01T01:59:00.002-05:00

If Cash were still alive, and if he got it on and knocked up the soundtrack to O' Brother, Where Art
Thou, and if their illegitimate bastard child played out in the obscure-ish artsy bars of St. Louis, it would sound so much like Elemental Soundshake that they'd be out of a gig and would have to go back to their day jobs. Lucky for them that hasn't happened, so they get to continue doing their thing. Lucky for us, too.

PS: Random country-folk cover of Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love? How awesome / hilarious. Ahhahahaha. So entertained.

Potato, potato

2011-03-10T20:01:00.002-06:00

I think I wrote about this once before, the only difference being that tonight I threw in some green and red peppers I had lying around, which made it look purdy. And my new phone is all fancy pants & shiny and makes posting fotoes easy (as opposed to the last one, which was terribly tedious).

Ole, ole ole ole

2011-03-05T01:47:00.002-06:00

So. Went to see some rock music tonight. You know how I do.

The first band... What can I say? That reinforce every gut reaction I have about opening bands. It's like in a kung fu film, when you kill some kid's father, and he wants revenge. But you're a master, so you gotta be like, "No. Go and train for ten years, then come see me again." It wasn't that they were bad, really (except of course for the parts where they were, in fact, bad), it's just that they needed practice. At times they seemed unsure of themselves. And if you want to be a rockstar, gosh darn it, you have to OWN it. But, bless them, they tried. And isn't that enough? The answer of course is no, it isn't, but I'll give them points nonetheless.

Headlining were some Irish dudes I didn't know, and I was only there to see them cause I'd scored free tickets. The Coronas was their name, and I walked in expecting nothing. I quickly realized that they indeed had something. My first clue was the first song, which it seemed I'd heard before. Still, I took my time and played it safe, hoarding my best dance moves carefully. I let them do a few more while I figured out what they were about. As it turns out they are about rockin' Irish music, and I'm real glad I went in spite of it all (that being going solo, and a six mile roundtrip walk in the rain cause I didn't feel like biking). I toyed with the possibility of starting the dancing as the floor was wide open, but elected not to so as to save myself from embarassment. I kind of regret that decision as I missed my shot to show my conviction, though I more than made up for it later. Four girls that had a table up front jumped up for some song they knew, and I'd thought they'd snatched my thunder... But lo, they and the rest of the crowd that jumped up only danced for the one before becoming timid again. The time was mine. And I had a target. I saw that the not-lead-singer guitarist was quietly working his butt off, to the point that he was soaked with sweat, and I felt that deserved a bit of recognition. So. I sauntered over and stood right in front of him (he didn't see me). I took one foot, and brazenly put it up on the stage (he didn't see me). He played his little heart out, and I let loose. I worried that I was in over my head, but there was no turning back at this point. I am committed. I have to see this through to the bitter end. Nevermind how self-conscious I feel... as if I naked and on display, dancing with myself. Miraculously, somehow it all worked out in the end. Didn't go so far as dancing with any of the pretty girls there, but I did warrant a mention by the lead singer, and got a compliment on my moves talking to him after the show. I'll call that a win.

Other highlights:
~Seeing a guy on a bike huffing and puffing up a hill (one I know well, mind you), randomly yelling encouragement at him out of the night, his sense of semi-recognition that I was probably a cyclist on foot and not a jerk or weirdo, and his definite recognition as he passed and I could see the problem was he rode a fixie and said something to that effect.
~The first post ever entirely from a phone (sorry if there are typos and junk, I can hardly see what I'm doing), and still getting in music references even though I am without a computer.

A series of tubes

2011-02-03T19:59:00.006-06:00

You guys...

The internets are running out. No, seriously. At least, internet addresses are going to be exhausted before the end of the year. This is according to a Wiki article I've partly glanced through before I got bamboozled by the jargons. Do you have any idea what this means?? The interwebs is going to implode! Interwebpocalypse! We've all been so busy preparing for all the other kinds of apocalypses (if you just got here: zombiepocalypse; land-capable sharkpocalypse; raptorpocalypse) that we've been taken completely unaware of this threat. How are we supposed to get to the emails? It's so much faster than snail mail, and involves less licking - I can't bear to go back to the paper age. And what about the facebooks? Will we be forced to start having real relationships in person? I won't have it. It's all these kids today using the technologies that has brought this upon us. This is the worst thing to happen since the Y2K, and surely you all remember it took us to come back from that disaster. We are one more step down the road to the machines taking over, and I for one do not want to be a battery.

Be afraid!

Akrobatik - Internet MCs

Who's gonna save your soul now?

2011-01-24T18:58:00.003-06:00

This one time I almost ate some dude's soul.

Not that this is what I set out to do, mind you. I didn't wake up in the morning and give a quick run through of my To Do list: pay bills, do dishes, buy eggs, eat some souls. It was pretty much an accident. It's one of those situations anyone could find his or herself in. One minute you're hanging out with friends havin' a good ol' time, the next minute BAM. Some poor sucker's soul comes sweeping towards your mouth, like when you were a kid and spoons could fly like airplanes. Everything started off innocently enough. I was visiting a local watering hole to partake in some good wholesome karaoke. After a bit of cajoling from the aforementioned friends who threatened to not let me leave until I sang, and helped by enough libation to make me not be terrified at how horrible an idea singing in front of people should be, I was primed to start things off. I put on some big pink sunglasses so as to not be able to see the danger I was in, and proceeded to do my best Lenny Kravitz impersonation. Somehow the world did not seem to implode on account of my performance, though perhaps that would have been better than what happened next. The people that sang after I warmed it up weren't so terrible, I mean they were no me but they made some good picks, enough that I could get into 'em a bit and sing and dance along. And that's when it happened. One of those friends stands up at the mic and starts in with some Tenacious D. Which just so happens to blow my mind a little bit. Still new to this karaoke thing and that was a selection that had completely escaped my notice. I accompany him from across the room as he sings the greatest and best song in the world. Everything seemed to be going fine until it got to the line "plaaay the best song in the world, or I'll eat your soul". And that was when I came up behind some dude at the next table as I sang along. BIG MISTAKE. Evidently he was too surprised to get that it was just a song, cause his eyes bugged out about a mile. He abruptly stood up, left his table of friends behind, and went to go sit down with MY table of friends where apparently he thought it was safer from rabid soul eaters. I wasn't sure what to do at that point, I was worried I had broken him or something, and what do you say at a time like that? "Oops"? So I did the best thing I could come up with, which was to sit down with his friends to half apologize / half finish singing the song. Seemed like the ideal choice.

Call Yourself a Man

2011-01-10T21:48:00.003-06:00

I'm a big fan of life's great simple joys. The way the wind sounds or the sun looks as they stream through the trees, for example. I think it's a rather nice outlook to have for the preservation of sanity and enjoyment of life without always being caught up in the superficial. One of the great simple joys of being a man, I find, is the ability to open jars. Given that in our present day and age there is not typically much cause for me to exhibit my strength and skill by hunting, opening jars is one of the last remaining vestiges of manhood. I have upper body muscles, therefore no lid shall stand in my way. It appeals to my inner caveman. So why is it, then, that I so often find myself doing dishes while also making pasta? On the Mohs scale of jar-opening hardness*, pasta sauce jars rate at about 7.2. Not really all that difficult, because as I mentioned I happen to be a man. But with wet hands this task becomes near impossible. The hardness may as well have jumped up to >10 (that's the range of nanocrystalline jars, also known as hyperjars). Makes me feel like an infant. By now you might be thinking to yourself, "But couldn't you just wipe off your hands? Or wait for a while until they've dried?" The answer to that of course is, "No, you fool." Wiping off your hands doesn't actually work, as anyone who has ever attempted to do so in a public restroom can tell you. The paper towel dispenser / air hand dryer industry is a sham, by the way. It's completely futile. As to the second question, I don't want pasta later, I want it NOW. Perhaps some of you are possessing of enough foresight to begin cooking before the first pangs of hunger start to set themselves upon you, but my brain does not function that way. I can't even be bothered to get my procrastination done on time, because I'm always putting it off til later. As a result instead of figuring out what sorts of things I could put in my mouth I'll just lay around, gradually growing weaker while also increasingly hopeful that someone will pass by and drop something delicious within arm's reach. This is always a mistake, as my metabolism is a force to be reckoned with. It's fierce. When I don't feed it, it gets quite upset with me. Should you threaten its supply of sustenance it just might murder you in a shadowy alley. Finally, just before it threatens to turn against me (I wonder what the name of the concept of being killed by an aspect of your physiology is?), I make a last ditch desperate stance to cook something. Sated, the beast goes back to sleep for another four hours. I really ought to plan my dishwashing / pasta making schemes better, so I can help myself avoid some of these near-death situations.

*I promise it's a real thing. It's one of the lesser known contributions by Friedrich Mohs. You think diamonds are hard? Try opening a jar of them sometime. You pretty much can only get into them by scratching the lid off with other diamonds, but oh wait, they're all in the jar. Don't ask me how anyone ever got the first jar of diamonds open. I really have no idea. Some people feel the Mohs scale is a bit archaic as it is a purely ordinal scale, and would prefer to switch to rating things on their absolute jar-opening hardness, but I like the old ways myself.

Favourite Worst Nightmare

2011-01-09T06:24:00.002-06:00

As an adult I like to think I've largely outgrown the effect of most bad dreams. I simply expect them to not have the same power over me as they did when I was a child, but every so often I find I'm proven wrong. And it's not that what I just dreamed about was among the more terrifying or disturbing things I've witnessed while sleeping... But it was solidly unpleasant and odd, for scene after scene. Somehow when you put it all together and look at the whole that makes it worse than any one of the pieces. Plus at the end it involved me being awake at 6:30 on a Sunday morning and it's twelve degrees outside, and that is not okay on so many levels. Did have some good news in it though. And a little bit about Jesus. Not the part about getting nailed to stuff, either, just about Jesus being Jesus, and going for a walk. At first it was historically inaccurate: Jesus and one of his boys were trying to get away from something to someplace else so they had to travel under cover of darkness. For a moment it looked like any typical walk you or I might go on, then my dream fact checker chimes in, he says "Hey, ancient Jerusalem didn't have sidewalks. Or streetlights. Come on. Keep it real." All that disappeared to be replaced with what he thought was a more factual representation, including a rocky arid landscape blanketed by almost pure darkness. And sandals. They then continued on their way, but now I was terribly concerned that they would walk right into or off a cliff (could they have even a few streetlights, for safety?), or that they would get blisters. Then there was another part about playing ultimate, or trying to. Couldn't throw or catch or even run worth a damn. That's what sitting around for weeks and eating pie will get you. I predict this will be repeated in real life in about eight weeks. And it isn't like I'm the best player ever or anything, but relatively speaking I should have been smoking people right and left. Instead I was so very mediocre. Can't say I care for that at all. Especially when the wind picked up to a strength capable of carrying off small dogs and little girls in red slippers. So not at all helpful. But then my friend got married and bought a house, and it was kind of out of the blue, but I was happy for him. That was nice.

Matt & Kim - Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare

Scary post

2010-12-26T20:25:00.006-06:00

Usually I use this blog as a means to talk about nothing. It is an object of whimsy. An avenue for nonsense. Today I am going to make a marked change speak to you about something deeply personal and deadly serious:

There may be such a thing as land-capable sharks.

This was first brought to my attention a few weeks ago through the writings of one Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half. Her blog is well worth a read if you routinely find yourself wanting after you finish three-quarters of a hyperbole, or even a full one; she'll give you 50% more for the same great price. At the very least, you should go here and here and see what she has to say on this particularly subject. My own post will be merely for the purpose of elaboration on her good work, with my personal touch.

I'm not a big advocate of the punch line-type joke, but there's one in particular by a guy named Demetri Martin that I like enough to keep in my figurative pocket. It goes a little something like, "I'm afraid of sharks, but only in a water situation. If I saw a shark on the street, I'd be like 'What. F*ck you!' It's like the opposite of how I am with lions." I found it appeals to my desire for power over nature, which is not so much because I want to subject everything to human control, but rather because at some point in my life I have watched Deep Blue Sea and at least one Jaws. Sharks are f*cking scary. In the water we are utterly powerless against them. But ho! look how the tables turn once we're on land! I can call you dirty names and tell you off. Hilarious.

But now that some foolish scientists have decided to play God with nature's perfect killing machine they have brought doom upon us all. Where shark attacks were previously limited to those people silly enough to venture off splashing happily into the oceans, now they can strike anytime, anywhere. There'll be shark attacks in, like, Ohio. People'll be all, "What happened here? Was this a shark attack? But... this is Ohio. Aren't we supposed to be safe? It was probably just a wayward bear." We are never safe.

Unfortunately for us, it's not as simple as mere death incarnate in the oceans and now on land. Land-sharks are smart. Land-sharks are subversive. (Shark fact: the brain- to body-mass ratios of sharks are similar to mammals and birds; recent studies have indicated that many species possess powerful problem-solving skills, social skills and curiosity) For years, land-sharks have been working their propaganda into our popular culture in an effort to lower awareness to the threat they represent. I submit to you exhibit A: Street Sharks. Masquerading as an innocent children's cartoon, these sharks misrepresented themselves as heroes to a generation of impressionable youth. Grown to adulthood, these impressions will serve to blunt the edge of any anti-land-shark legislation and preparedness efforts, thus paving the way for an easy take over by our new shark overlords. Our prospects for survival look grim.

So by now you may be wondering "Is there any hope?" The answer is no, not really. The reason for that is in terms of apocalyptic scenarios, the Land-Capable Sharkpocalypse is by far the worst. Likely to be easiest of all to deal with would be a Zombiepocalypse, that being dependent of course on the speed and intelligence of the zeds. If television and movies have taught us anything it is that any reasonably well-stocked and well-armed individual could expect to survive and possibly even carry on a meaningful existence in the face of hordes of reanimated corpses. A Raptorpocalypse would admittedly be more frightening due to the higher level of ferociousness of dinosaurs, but I for one am fairly confident that on a good day I could out-fight and/or out-think a velociraptor. It certainly worked in Jurassic Park, and despite the inaccurate failings of the author it contained some potentially workable strategies. But when we come to sharks, we're dealing with apex predators. They are stronger, faster and smarter than us. Our best bet, and these are merely defensive measures to slow them down, are to widely disperse a large number of fishing nets, shark cages, and deep sea diving suits. That just might buy us enough time to implement our only real chance of a plan: we have to go into space.

God, I hope there aren't such things as space-capable sharks.

...Remember when I was all "this is is something deeply personal and deadly serious"? Yeah, that was a total lie. I would like to apologize to all the gullible skunks who may have fallen for such a dirty trick. I also apologize to myself for the destruction of my own credibility. What happens if I DO ever need to talk about something deeply personal and deadly serious? I've kind of dug myself into a hole here, now, haven't I?

New Music Monday: It's the real hip-hop

2010-12-20T20:07:00.007-06:00

I've been drifting away from hip-hop of late as I've been exploring the many derivatives of rock for the last few months. There's a lot out there in the world of classic, indie and funk rock that I've yet to experience (which, honestly, is more than enough to rate a new music post in their own right, and in all fairness I should be writing first instead of posting this, and I feel bad for neglecting it now that something new and shiny's come along... I promise I'll give you some love and attention soon, rock... please don't be mad).

First up is the little track that sparked this whole thing, and fits true to life. It was as I walked through and caught the sound of this song on KDHX that made me think I ought to have a listen to what's being broadcast over the airwaves.
1982 - The Radio

Next is something you may have heard, or maybe not. Anyone with any exposure to hip-hop knows what Nas sounds like, and anyone with any exposure to anything knows who the Marleys are. But did you know Nas and Damian put out an album together? I was unaware. Hate me if you want.
Nas & Damian Marley - As We Enter

Hip-hop for Beatles fans, what what! Eleanor Rigby is my jam, lovin' that they sampled it, and the use of strings on urban songs? Fugedaboutit.
Evidence - Let the Beat Flip.

And now because we've established that dancing is awesome, a little something to get the blood flowing. B-boys and b-girls, stand up. Diggin' the strings on this as well, and the oldie soul sample is just killer.
JR & PH7 - Freedom [feat. Bambu, Rasco & Trek Life]

The subtitle of today's entry is, as many of them are, a quote from a song. This particular one is by Mobb Deep, only I didn't know that when I wrote it down cause I ~~don't~~ didn't listen to him. Nearly had an aneurysm trying to sort out where it came from. You guys, BLOGGING IS DANGEROUS, holy geez. Having obsessions is hard.

Dedicated with love to my B*tch of All Trades. And on our next episode: the most frightening post of all time.

One of four (thank you)

2010-12-19T10:41:00.003-06:00

You know how when you're in a new car, and it's got that wonderful new car smell and feel? I have that feeling right now, only it's about a band. I love new band smell.

Canasta. Oh, Canasta. There was a lot to like about this show, and it all starts here. I first noticed them before the show started and before I knew who they were. There they were, sitting off to the side of the room, quietly, as if nothing at all was about to burst forth. "Hmm. Christmas sweater." is what I thought to myself. Then, slowly, there were more. "Apparently there's a theme on. I wonder why no one told me?" Not that I am particularly fond of Christmas sweaters, or even happen to own any. Heck, it's not even like I'm all that big on Christmas celebrations on the whole. But still, maybe it would have been nice to know ahead of time, Canasta. Maybe there could have been a memo. Anyway. I'll certainly give them that they had their own thing going on, and that's what being an indie band is all about: doing your own thing, independently. No matter if what you look or sound isn't mainstream. In this case, the look was ridiculous (hey Canasta, the Griswolds called, and they said quit pinching stuff from their closets) to the point that at times I was overcome. Couldn't even look at them. Just had to turn away and laugh. The sound, however, was superb. And infectious. From the start of the first song, they made the crowd come alive. And when I say "crowd" I really mean just one guy, but he danced so intensely that he made up for everyone else. I went up and danced along, couldn't leave him up there alone and unchallenged, but you knew that already. Canasta totally owns doing their own thing, with the musical prowess and the vocal chops to do whatever they want, and do it well. This included a completely rearranged rendition of a Christmas song that was so infused with their style of awesomeness that I couldn't even tell you what it was, and a wonderful cover of Elton's "Bennie and the Jets" that makes me wish I could take them home with me, or at least borrow the lead singer's voice to bring out to karaoke sometimes.

Canasta - Mexico City

Jon Hardy and the Public is everything a typical indie band is not. If The Man had a band, this is what I would imagine they'd look and sound like. Guys in ties and suit jackets + a girl in a dress. Competent guitarists + keyboardist + horn section, but lacking a vibrancy, or urgency, or energy, or soul. I mean, don't pull out a baritone sax if you don't know how to use it, kay? Go home and listen to some Tower of Power, then come back and we'll talk. The shame of it is had I not known what was to come from the next two acts and been unexpectedly blown away by Canasta, I probably would have liked them just fine. Some of their songs were in fact perfectly danceable, but if I stopped to wander away from the stage and talk to someone I didn't feel like I was missing much. I suppose I can give them one more chance to prove to me that they can rock, but they better bring it.

Elsinore was originally scheduled to be the headliner; due to an unfortunate incident involving a drunk driver after a show in Columbia that put the drummer out of commission the band had to drop out, but lead singer Ryan Groff stepped up to go solo for the remaining dates on the tour. Having seen Ryan perform with Elsinore countless times I felt I knew exactly what to expect, and it turned out I was pretty much dead on: soft spoken guitar, beautiful singing and masterful whistling. Ryan's got a pretty little voice, easily one of the best I've ever seen live, and he knows how to hypnotize a room. Without the band behind him it makes for a much mellower sound, which made quite the juxtaposition next to the other acts in the lineup. Such a change in the energy flow between bands is potentially a huge buzzkill and the kind of thing I'm rather particular about, luckily Ryan is supremely awesome. It's quite possible he's a minor deity, or more likely some sort of wizard. Despite the absence of the band, at times I could almost feel their presence and danced along to the energetic parts of songs just as if they were there. About the only thing that was surprising was his magical looping pedals, which I'm pretty sure he used to layer his whistling over itself. Magical Masterful Looping Whistling sure is a mouthful, and it's quite an earful as well.

With four bands on the bill I was quite afraid that the sets would be frustratingly short, and most importantly that I wouldn't be able to dance properly to Jumbling Towers (it's nice to jam along with songs you know). It's even fun to jam along with songs you don't know (they put out a new EP that I don't have yet), especially when the new man in the band is dancing up on stage. Now that's what I call exciting.

Bonus: After JT finished the sound guy turned on some music while the crowd made its way out and the band packed up. I thought it was likely some old classic rock band I'd not yet heard of because they started fifteen years before I was born, but it turns out they'd come through St. Louis just last week. Mental note: Mount Carmel might the best thing since Grand Funk Railroad. Further investigation required.

Try to freeze time, try to freeze time for your mind

2010-12-15T21:47:00.006-06:00

I used to think that "time machine" was the answer to everything. Well, everything involving the question of time, at least. Things involving the question of space were another issue, for which I had another answer at the ready: "instantaneous teleportation device". As soon I managed to get those two babies up and running, whew boy, I'd be unstoppable. I would only use this technology for the purpose of good... er... good for me. But then, one simply drawn yet confusing web comic later, my world came crashing down.

That's the bad news. The good news is, a webcomic for cynics! I am in heaven.

Update: The morning after I wrote this, I walked into work to find someone's new book for a little light reading was The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. I nearly flipped my grits when I saw it, innocuously sitting on the desk like it wasn't up to something, when I know darn well the universe is having fun with me.

Also, after further reflection on this comic, I realized that not only has the character killed himself, he's done so without causing the usual paradox because he has killed his future self. That is just messed up (yet also genius!) in a way I don't want to wrap my brain around.

Get up and dance to the music

2010-12-14T22:25:00.006-06:00

You should all be aware of the fact that I like dancing. Seriously, you should. If this is a surprise to you, there is a distinct possibility that you may be dead. You'll probably want to check with someone to make sure. Here, I've compiled a few simple questions to help get you started:

Alright, now that we've got the issue of being dead / alive settled it's back to the topic at hand. Throughout my life I have had a few formative experiences that have shaped my views on the subject of dance, whether that be as a participant or a spectator. These experiences have all been in the area of music, or in many cases specifically music videos.

Late 80's, artist and song unknown - I have vividly vague memories from when I was maybe four years old of watching a concert performance of some kind on television. Vivid, because I clearly recall the astounding effect that was imparted upon me. I danced along like a wild child with that man who was onstage, and I knew I was good. Nothing could stop me in my uninhibited youth. Sadly, this time was all too short as I would soon enter the Period of the Great Shyness and wouldn't dance freely for another ten plus years.

Circa 1998, Michael Jackson's Dangerous album - Growing up as a boy I didn't exactly have a lot of choice in my musical leanings. In the house or the car I simply listened to whatever was on, and that's all there was to it. In my own room I had a little more freedom, though there were still many things which were off limits. One album I did acquire that did seem to be acceptable was Dangerous, on cassette. I wasn't moved to the point of doing any actual dancing, cause gosh was I shy. But somewhere, deep down, the seed had been planted...

October 29, 2003, Core Project - Some life events leading up to this date resulted in the decline of the Period of the Great Shyness. Though it was to be followed with the Period of the Lesser Shyness, nonetheless this was an important change as I was no longer deathly terrified of all strangers. Now my fear can be managed to a reasonable level and is no longer life-threatening. Coupled with this in that same preceding time frame was an equally important Magical Musical Awakening. For the first time in my life I began to make my own, good choices about what things I would listen to. Some of my notable discovers that still have ramifications to this day were jazz, rock and hip-hop. The days of angst-fueled listening to rap and nu-metal would draw to a close, to be replaced with the smooth sounds of Tribe, the Roots and RHCP. Together, these two things created a perfect storm, and the time was ripe for something new. When I happened across the jazz/hip-hop fusion of Core Project, it was on. I can't say with certainty that this was my first concert, but it was the first time in I began to frequent shows, explore the live music scene, and borrow and incorporate the dance moves I saw. Something beautiful began to grow...

Feelin' nostalgic... Core Project - The Verbal Assault

June 3, 2007, Berlin Whale, The Bureau, So Many Dynamos, Jumbling Towers, and Say Panther - It's one thing to dance like no one is watching. It's something I've taken to heart and made my own, with great success. The thing that I find equally amusing and hard to understand is that people seem to think I look good while doing it, cause I have no clue what I'm doing. When I say "like no one is watching" I include myself in that as well. The simple trick is to flail around in a dance-related fashion, in time with the music. But, that's not what this day wass about. One this day (and it was a glorious day) I first began to grasp the the wondrous concept of dancing badly, in public, on purpose. Now you can't do this to just anything, mind you. It works best when listening to highly infectious and energetic indie rock dance party songs. All the better if you are surrounded by a crowd of excited indie rock fans who like to have fun with themselves. Even more so if it's a song with lots of weird time changes.

Berlin Whale - Igloos

2009, The Marx Brothers - After a couple friends turned me onto the old timey humor of the Marx Brothers, life became much, much funnier. Little did I know that the boys knew about more than just the standard vaudeville shenaningans. Watching A Day at the Races changed the name of the game. Vivien Fay kills it. It's the spinning she does that sets it off. Unfortunately there's almost no info out there about her, but the point has been made: ballet rocks.

2009 - I don't know for a fact that it was this video that inspired me to get off my duff and have a go at swing dancing, but let's just go ahead and say that it was. I want those moves! And I want that outfit. Maybe after I go study for ten years I'll have the skills to pull it off and challenge the master.

And I think that pretty well takes us up to today. Well, other than the latest thing which is to go to the club and start dance fights, but that's a story for another day.

Everything's comin' up Cooley

2010-12-04T09:22:00.004-06:00

Once upon a time I was spoiled in having a guaranteed good show every week. Mondays were for Madahoochi. Times were good, and music was plentiful. But then, tragedy strikes! Two members of the band packed up and moved to Florida, and life became cold and dark. Where ever would I go to get my jam on? There was no one able to fill the void that Madahoochi has left in my soul. Luckily it turned out all was not lost, as the band still gets back together to rock the house every few months. It's not quite the same as those good ol' days at what became my regular bar among the regular fans, but it is enough to get me by while I search for a replacement scene. Last night it was time for Cooley & Company at the Bottleworks. I have to admit that I went in with low expectations; not because of any failings of the band, but rather the limitations of the space. I feel that it is really not well set up in a way that is conducive to large crowds of frenzied dancers as the stage / floor area is fairly small. I planned to go anyway, of course, as I have to take my Madahoochi where I can get it. I only invited a few people, as I was feeling lazy and discouraged, but somehow it turns out that things then started going my way. First nearly everyone I invited then invited people of their own in turn, and some of those people invited people, until there was a great big degrees of separation mish-mash of friends. It enabled me to be quite more of a social butterfly than I was anticipating. I also bumped into a few guys I know from other shows, so I ended up feeling pretty darn popular. Then in the midst of my fluttering about I somehow found myself with some prime dancing real estate when the Taco Guy moved out of the way to deliberately open a space for me to dance directly in front of the stage. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. I proceeded to do my thing, which is to dance like no one is watching, only apparently people were watching cause girls started commenting on my moves*. It didn't register until the next morning that these comments were also a type of opportunity and that maybe I could have talked to them. That would have required a situational awareness that I simply do not have. I continued on, oblivious, dancing and fluttering the night away, deftly moving along to the music and dodging the girl who little by little dropped her drink. Extra dancing on the encore song, when they killed the place with a James Brown cover. Nothing like a funky jam ftw.

*Also, I had a lady comment on my shirt. I couldn't come up with anything cool to wear, so I thought I'd just throw on a t-shirt from this band Public Property that played with Hoochi one time. Usually I am against wearing band shirts to shows, but I decided this time I didn't care, plus they're kind of related. Two or three guys there noticed and commented or nodded as well, in the realm of "hey, I know that band." And you know, talkin' about bands? That's something I can deal with. But ladies askin' me if I really am public property? Um... don't exactly know what to say to that. Gotta be careful going out wearing anything the least bit risque. Mental note: only bring out the Cuddle Slut shirt when I'm feeling extra thick-skinned and sassy.

"Cookin' with 'lectric" just doesn't have the same ring to it

2010-12-02T19:02:00.005-06:00

I sure do miss having my good ol' gas stove sometimes - cooking on an electric burner just makes me feel silly - but that doesn't mean the end of adventures in cooking. Tonight I made up a pot of something sorta tasty and possibly worth writing down, if for no other reason then at least for posterity's sake so I can make it again in the future. Considering how little I looked at the recipe* that was my original inspiration and the almost complete lack of measuring done throughout the process, I figure it's smart to make a reference. I'm sure it could use some tweaking, but that'd be easier if I know what I'm tweaking it from. This evening's adventure is dedicated to P Smoth.

Ingredients:
~oil
~one onion, chopped
~garlic powder
~thyme
~cumin
~cajun seasoning
~cayenne pepper
~salt
~water
~one cup each of black beans & great northern beans**
~a whole bunch of red potatos, peeled and diced***
~stew-friendly vegetables, which in this case was a bag of french cut green beans discovered in the freezer
~sausage, sliced
~around a cup brown rice

Directions:
In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent (about two minutes). Add vegetables, garlic powder, thyme and cumin; cook they start to get tender (today, that meant two to three minutes after they'd thawed). Add the beans, cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper, along with enough water to cover everything; bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for forty minutes. (Note that if you started cooking only when you felt the pangs of hunger, you effed up.) Check back occasionally to make sure the beans are still covered. (Or forget about this entirely because you wandered off to do other things while you try to forget about the fact that you're hungry now and you don't feel like waiting for forty freakin' minutes; hope for the best upon your return to the kitchen.) Add potatoes, rice and sausage, and more water if necessary; continue to simmer for a while longer until the rice is done, at least twenty to thirty minutes. (If need be, curse your own name at the foolishness of how you failed to plan the amount of time this would take; hope that you won't wither away to nothing before your meal is done.)

*The webternets lives in my room. The cooking obviously must be done in the kitchen. For some reason picking up my laptop and carrying it into another room so I could see what I should be doing just seemed like more than I could be bothered with, as was the idea of scribbling down the recipe on a piece of paper. After walking back and forth a few times I quickly grew bored with my cross-apartment commute. I had the important details in my head by that point (that mostly being how long the beans needed to cook), but beyond that I didn't put in much effort. This would be the main reason why I didn't measure any of the seasonings I was putting in. I like to call this "cooking by the seat of my pants".

**One cup each seemed like a good idea at the time. I remember thinking "what a nice, round number!" It didn't seem like all that much when I started them soaking. Dried beans are very small and light, you see. After I drained them, though... whew, that's a lotta beans. Felt like I'd used a whole sack of 'em. I began to wonder if I'd gotten myself in over my head... I also got a song stuck in my head, thinking about sacks of beans.

***On a recent grocery trip I bought ten pounds of potatoes. Ten pounds is kind of a lot for one person to go through, but my thought was maybe I'd finally be able to cook a large enough batch of something that I'd have some leftovers after I finish dinner. For ages I'll try out some new thing, and it'll be super tasty. I'll be all, "Woah! This is good! And I made so much that I'll have some to eat tomorrow!" Then I'll proceed to demolish the entire thing. It's so good that I can't stop myself eating until it's gone. I gradually started increasing the amount of what I made. I could take a large plate and fill it to overflowing, and still I'd only taken half of it. "Surely this will be enough now!" I thought to myself. By the time I finished that plate I'd be stuffed... and yet somehow I would go back for the rest and finish it again. It was ridiculous. Buying ten pounds of potatoes is my attempt to cook such huge amounts that eating it all in one night is thoroughly impossible. I have to use a lot of them at once, otherwise they'll go bad, you dig? I think it's finally working. Anyway, that's not at all what this note was meant to be about. Because I had so many beans I felt like I had to add a lot of something else. Totally lost count of how many potatoes I put in there trying to balance things out. I'm guessing about two cups worth.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Apache Rose Peacock

Oh snap! Cold snap.

2010-11-26T16:50:00.007-06:00

Being dependent on spending time outside for the purpose of both fun and transportation, I'm not such a huge fan of the fall and winter. Due to the fact that I've lived car-free for so many years, and that I do not have the finances necessary to alternate hemispheres every few months, I have now grown accustomed to their existence and have ceased calling for their destruction. Cold happens. Fine. (For me this is an example of my growth as a human being; I used to view cold as a personal and grievous affront. I found it insulting on a deeply intimate level.)

But that does not mean I appreciate Mother Nature giving me the run around, temperature-wise. I will admit that part of me enjoyed the rash of unseasonably warm November days we've experienced, but in the back of my mind I feared it would make things harder for me in the long run. My fear was that I would get cold, like all of a sudden, and I wouldn't be ready. Spread the chilling out graaadully over a few weeks, and I don't so much care. I got tights and gloves and arm gloves (aka arm warmers) and leg warmers and a balaclava. I got gear out the wazoo. So bring it, cold weather, and we'll see who defeats who. But no. Mother Nature had to get all tricksy, like, "Now it's 70°! Isn't it glorious! Hooray!!" only to turn around and say, "Now it's practically freezing, brrrr," and that was like over the course of ONE DAY mind you, which is hardly enough time to get acclimated. This was then followed by, "Hey, how 'bout some SNOW? Snow, snow, snow, all over everything. That's fun, right?" Not to mention between the cold and the snow it rained for forty days and forty nights, and that shouldn't even be POSSIBLE because this has all happened during the course of one month.

All of this has been leading up to me wanting to tell you that I have a sore throat. I am none too pleased about it. I had about eleven cups of tea while I was at work today, and I was only there for four hours. There is a distinct possibility of a regression in the tenuous peace that exists between myself and winter and I may get really, really cranky when it gets cold. I may even go into hibernation. Those bears might be onto something.

For the record there is a time when it is and when it is not to use the term "Oh snap!" I have [re]created a flowchart for you in the event that you become confused and wish to avoid an awkward situation. Like the one I'm in now. Looks like I blew it.

Also, here's a song about bears. There's an unwritten post somewhere about this song, and some other songs this guy sings, and some other bands who may have played with him. Perhaps I'll come back around to that sometime.

Jonny Corndawg - The Life of a Bear

2010-11-26T08:25:00.004-06:00

Remember to bathe, boys and girls! Even while you are in dreamworld, bathing is just as important. Otherwise you might find yourself enhusked in a layer of dirt so thick that washing is no longer an option and you'll have to husk yourself clean like a human corncob. Is "enhusked" a word? I bet the dictionary says no, but the vividly disturbing imagery from the dream I had says yes.

Moral of the story: Don't be dirty, mmkay? Even after waking, the unsettling feeling of being unclean remains. If it wasn't 28° outside I might be tempted to find and walk through a car wash on my way to work. If you need help in not being dirty I found you an instructional video that may also improve your dance moves. (You're welcome.)

Pieces of a man

2010-11-21T09:57:00.004-06:00

In a fit of musical exploration I went to the Pageant last night to check out some bands I've never heard of. This is perhaps a bit uncharacteristic for me at this particular time of year as I tend to go into hibernation mode in Fall and Winter, but I was helped by the fact that we have relatively balmy weather and that I acquired magical tickets. Score two for the good guys. In the forty-eight hours or so preceding the concert I did a little research on the bands in question to make or break my decision on whether or not I should actually go, and it turned out to be rather enjoyable, though not entirely what I expected.

Headlining the gig was Wolf Parade, who definitely represent themselves much better live than they do recorded. Listening to a smattering of tracks from their latest two albums I judged them to be just so-so, but they upped the energy level quite a bit on stage. Sadly it was not enough to encourage more than a few sporadic and intermittent dance moves from the crowd, but having no expectations I found it enjoyable.

The show stealer, however, had to be the opening act of Ogre You Asshole. I picked out a video at random and it happened to be one of their best songs. I don't know what it is these guys do to my brain, but I like it. Going in I was more excited about seeing them than Wolf Parade. Other than one frantically dancing guy the crowd never really warmed up to them - maybe because it was early? - but for me it was pretty special walking in just as they started my current top pick of their songs. They finished their set with one I've not yet heard but I for sure need to listen to - the bass solo was especially awesome, it's hard to believe anyone can play a bass that fast using a pick. I also did not mind getting Kei Mabuchi's autograph when he walked up and sat down right behind me. Does it qualify as being a fanboy moment if I've been listening to them for two days?

Japanese guys! In a box! Playin' music and havin' fun with confetti. At least the video isn't game show-inspired.

That's the good news. The bad news is I'm having a near-existential crisis over the state of organization of my music library trying to figure out how to file this properly. In what language do I title the albums and songs? Japanese with Japanese characters? Japanese with Chinese characters? Japanese using the Latin alphabet? English translations of Japanese? I am not helped by the fact that I've found the file names and metadata and general info vary between using ALL FOUR of these. Arrg... Ultimately, I feel the best compromise between authenticity and function is to use rōmaji, but I don't necessarily feel good about it. Order... need order... order which keeps me from going to pieces.

New Music Monday: Club Thing

2010-10-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

An impromptu visit to the club for a little weekend dancing has clued me in to a few new bands to groove to.

#3. If Revenge of the Nerds were being remade today, the nerds would play this song to win the final event of the Greek Games in the climactic scene.

#2. Technically speaking when I heard the DJ spin this it was merely a reminder, as I found the track was already on my hard drive when I got home. Clearly it was a needed one. Now that it's gotten my attention for the second time, it's getting so much play. Sadly they aren't very prolific, the only work they've done basically consists of this track and a smattering of remixes. Put out a record already.
Flight Facilities - Crave You [feat. Giselle Rosselli]

#1. Fun songs + fun videos = win. WIN, I say.

Note to self:

2010-10-19T20:01:00.004-05:00

I'll often write myself notes because my memory for details can be terrible. If I don't write things down, they don't exist. Usually they reference some band or website that I mean to take a look at later. Sometimes I find them so long after the fact that they have lost all hope of being understood in context, leaving me to guess wildly at what their purpose may once have been. Today I found a short list that is particularly perplexing. At the top, a url that leads to a wildlife and nature photography website. At the bottom, "SR-71 w/ three engines". They have two, if you're wondering, and they're already one of the fastest planes ever designed. Can't find any evidence that any variants were made with such a modification, nor do I know why anyone would feel the need for more power. But it's the one in the middle that gets me: "hippopotamus top speed". Yeah... cause that knowledge was going to come in handy. For the life of me I can't think of a reason why that would ever be relevant. Was I considering starting a fight with a hippo, and wondering what my chances of escape were if things took a turn for the worse? Some days I'm too weird even for myself.

Update: Hippos have been clocked at 19 mph over short distances. Looks like picking a fight with one is out, unless perhaps I am on my bike while I do so.

The triumphant return of New Music Mondays

2010-10-18T08:46:00.004-05:00

Been on hiatus for a little while, which I understand had a few folks a little disappointed. Sorry 'bout that. Let myself get a little distracted by other things. Here's hoping getting back into this will bring a degree of focus and balance back to my life.
A while back I was at a party where a pretty girl introduced me to Pretty Lights. Well, that's not exactly how it went. If you want the truth, she gave me just the tiniest hint only to snatch it away as I started to get my groove on. Thought that was rather a tease move to make, but it would seem that's how some folks roll. Ahem. I digress, as it all worked out in the end. I managed to catch their name before she tried to shut my dance party down, which is a musical and dancing discovery that may rank right up there near Rjd2 in terms of sheer importance, and I used my fly moves to basically crush all comers on the dance floor (er... I mean dance yard... luckily my moves work just as well on grass). It was quite the night. I suppose it would have been nice to get the girl in the end, but life can't always be a Disney movie. Anyway, Disney movies don't know nothing about stealth disco. For reasons not entirely known to me, I perpetrated an incident of ninja-like dancing skill. Sadly, there was no video, but rest assured that it was hilarious, if for nothing else then for the fact that I spent a solid few minutes dancing practically IN someone's back pocket without being noticed.

Pretty Lights - Look Both Ways & Understand Me Now

Color Me Marcus, pt. 4

2010-09-11T18:33:00.000-05:00

Today on my way home I moseyed on by my friendly neighborhood garden center in an attempt to continue the theme of plants native to China that relate to kung fu. Next up on my list of a green growing friend to acquire was a chrysanthemum. Last time I stepped through the place I struck out but they suggested they might get some stock in the fall. This time I pulled off the win; not only did they have some on hand, I pretty much got first dibs as they'd only come in half an hour or so beforehand. They didn't even all have price tags yet cause they figured no one would come in wanting to buy them. I, of course, like to stir things up. Now that this is crossed off my To Do list, I'm all set to hold my very own Chung Yeung Festival, just like in the movie. Well, as soon as I get like eight million more, and an Imperial Palace to put them in. Just T's and I's to cross and dot.

Hello, my name is William T. Mumsford.

Deerhoof - Flower

I ♥ killing zombies

2010-08-25T22:50:00.003-05:00

Well now, hooray for this.

You think you've got me figured out

2010-08-14T16:50:00.008-05:00

Last night I stepped out to see some old favs at the Firebird, where a good time was had indeed. Headlining the show was adopted band friends Elsinore fresh off the release of a spanking new album Yes Yes Yes. They hail from Champaign, but they've been coming to St. Louis so long they're practically local. As always, lead singer Ryan Groff was masterful with use of his powerfully sweet voice. Notable stops on the rest their tour are at Lincoln Hall in Chicago on Friday, August 20 and the Strutt in Kalamazoo on Friday, August 27. I suggest you take a listen and think about going to check 'em out if they're comin' through your town. I'm already waiting for them to come back again.

Moving backwards through time leads us to Jumbling Towers, one of the thankfully long-lasting local indie rock acts. Too many good local bands have fallen, cut down in their prime by whatever circumstances make bands break up. Where I used to have a stable of St. Louis bands to choose from, with someone playing a show practically every week, now there are so very few. Keep on trucking.

And last we come to those that played first. Opening things up was Dear Vincent, a band of complexities. The only group I can think of offhand with so many layers of instrumentation is Lost in the Trees. Dear Vincent doesn't quite have the depth as Lost in the Trees - and this is hardly a fair comparison to make considering Lost in the Trees is an indie rock orchestra - but they've definitely got a lot going on. I'd say there's reason to go see them again just for the sake of picking apart some of the different sounds that they used, as I'm sure I missed quite a bit. It just so happens that they play some pretty decent music. They sure restored a bit of my faith in opening bands and did a good job of getting the crowd warmed up and into the show. It also happens that the drummer is a cyclist. And that sometimes he follows me around. I bumped into him twice today while I was out and about. It was strange.

My only complaint about the evening was the lack of crowd participation. I've seen folks get into the groove in a rather serious way at both Elsinore and Jumbling Towers shows, so I figured the two of them together would produce some epic indie dance action. Plus Dear Vincent was so good starting things off I had high expectations. Alas, it was not to be. Maybe there was something off about the energy level of the place or of the bands, or the length of the sets (personally I felt like they were a little short). I did my best to hold it down on the dance front, and kept up the fight solo, front and center through two whole sets, but things did not jump off as I had hoped. And boy, do I feel self-conscious about it after the fact. Dancing like no one is watching while everyone else is dancing is one thing, but doing so while the whole crowd just sits back and chills is something else entirely. Obviously they can see you, cause there is no where to hide!

A whole mess of sound

2010-08-13T06:36:00.004-05:00

At least the spirit of music isn't dead in the Loop. For four days in September 9oish bands will descend onto the neighborhood for a festival of epic proportions. Well, epic for St. Louis, anyway. The PLAY:stl fest runs the 15-18, though it remains to be seen how this will compare to the RFT Showcase. The low, low price of $20 gets you in to see all this glory. I'll admit it's a good deal, but that's versus a simple five spot for the RFT. And this thing is sponsored by Sam Adams. Again, I have to admit that it's a good beer, but we've got plenty of good beer a lot closer to home. I'm not convinced this is not a plot masterminded by Joe Edwards. Now that the RFT deal has moved elsewhere he's free to make a bunch more money off of anyone wanting to see a pile of bands in the Loop? Just a little wild speculation, though it remains to be seen what the real story is. Now that the schedule is up there are a whole lot of bands I don't know... but that could be good! If they're cool, what an intense period of new music discovery it would be. Most notably I see Art Majors are playing, been looking forward to seeing them for a minute. Might be worth checkin' out...

2010-08-07T19:52:00.000-05:00

Hoe. Lee. Cow.
How amazing is this??
I have been transported back to my elementary school computer lab, and I love it.

Color Me Marcus, pt. 3

2010-08-01T21:14:00.004-05:00

At some point a ways back I had made decisions to teach myself origami and to decorate my room with it. It seemed like a cool and different sort of thing to do, dig? I'm not up to trying anything so fancy as a dragon or an Oliphaunt or a peacock, mind you. I just did a few simple designs. Nor was I committed enough to attempt folding a thousand cranes, even if it would get me a free wish. But that was enough to give me an idea... After a brief stop at the locally-owned hardware store I picked up a few nails and some fishing line. I put the nails into the walls near ceiling height and strung the line across, and planned to hang some cranes using paper clips (for ease of use). I quickly realized, however, that the fishing line is damn near invisible, making it possible to make the cranes appear as if they're hanging from nothing at all (and also terribly tedious to work with as you can hardly see what you're doing). I abandoned my paper clip plan and instead suspended the cranes with more of the fishing line. What else was I going to do with the rest of that spool, anyway? I took a couple pictures that hardly do it justice; the end effect is that I AM MAGICAL. It's pretty sweet. Also, not caring as of yet to go out and buy origami paper, I've been making cranes out of interesting and colorful pictures I find in magazines (my personal favorite so far being one about the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden) and in one case a salvaged piece of wrapping paper. Takin' the sentimentality to new heights!

Color Me Marcus, pt. 2

2010-07-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

My honey jar has an alter ego. Mild-mannered yet delicious food turns super-powered crime fighter extraordinaire. He has a cape! And while you go about your business, he watches over this city, protecting us all...

Erykah Badu - Honey (Captain Planet remix)

Color Me Marcus

2010-07-17T21:07:00.007-05:00

Today I decided I was going to roll over to the farmer's market.

But today, I wasn't there for the usual. Today, I was looking for something a little different...

Today I got bamboo*! I've named it Mr. Shoots. As you can see, Mr. Shoots is already adjusting to his new home and making friends. Mr. Shoots, meet Buzz...

I've been wanting plants for a while now, but at the old place I was always afraid there was too little light to grow anything properly. I wasn't sure what kind of plant to get, until I settled on bamboo as a nod to my appreciation for kung fu cinema and Chinese culture. Perhaps this will be the start of something wonderful! I'm already thinking about what I'd like to get next...

*Well... make that "Lucky Bamboo", which is not related to bamboo and isn't native to Asia. Dang.

Music gets down in your soul, makes you want to lose control

2010-07-17T15:03:00.003-05:00

Last night I stepped out to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band courtesy of some free tickets I lucked my way into (thus continuing the tradition of going to see RR for zero dollars). I have to say that the energy level was a bit lower than the last time I saw them perform, and that was a little disappointing. I like my music lively so I can dance to it, but things didn't really pick up until the encore. All and all, it was still a good show. The highlight has to be the covers they played: Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" (which was originally made known to me through the version done by RAtM), Jimi's "Foxy Lady", and a sort of cover / mash-up of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Fun stuff. Love that pedal steel.

Next up, a series of Color Me Katie-inspired posts.

In with the old, in with the new

2010-07-13T01:35:00.006-05:00

An assortment of cycling-related stuffs from the interwebs, some old and some new.

~Bikes + contortionists + engineers. I think I've got an idea of how this works, but even still this is... this is... I would say this is hard for me to bend my mind around, but that would be in poor form (cause I hate puns).

Read more @ Toxel...

~Cyclists + musical instruments + parades. Why didn't I think of that?? Gonna need to find a fleet of cargo bikes in this town, and stat.

Justin Ancheta Performs at the 2010 Bicycle Music Festival Parade from John Hamilton on Vimeo.

~Cyclists + vandalism + gamer nerds. Looks like some creative-minded people up in Portland went off the deep end. And that make me so happy! I don't think you could get much more classic than this.

Read more @ Bike Portland...

~Cyclists + indie musicians. I don't know how I missed posting this one... Only reason I can think of for depriving you of Coco Love Alcorn's awesomeness is I was keeping her in my pocket for a rainy day to blow your mind. Between this and her song "Intellectual Boys" I could be looking at my future wife. Also, someone to keep in mind next time I've got some spare cash to drop on a record / merch buying spree.

There now, all caught up.

It's Showtime!

2010-07-08T15:43:00.004-05:00

Woah... whoever made this music video watches way cooler movies than I do. Here I thought I was doing with Death Race 2000. Clearly I ain't seen nothing yet... So very glad these kids are coming to do their thing at the club this weekend. I am all over it.

Sweet Inspiration (times two)

2010-07-07T14:11:00.002-05:00

Caught wind of a couple things lately that take my general feeling of being a fairly physically capable guy and just shake it to pieces.

First, I've been reading an account of the Pedouin family's trek on a quint tandem. Five people. One bike. 7,000 miles from Kentucky to Alaska, by way of Florida. And the trip is for no reason other than just to do it. In and of itself this feat would be impressive enough, riding clear across the country and all, crashing with folks where they can and sleeping outside where they can't. But then they have two extra degrees of difficulty that are sure to wow the judges. Of this family of five, three of them are young girls, at the outset aged 6, 4 and 2. I'm sure most of the energy for this comes from the parents, but I still have to admire the tenacity for sticking it through. If that wasn't enough, neither of these parents are what I would call actual cyclists. About all they had going for them was that they knew how to ride a bicycle, but nothing approaching serious strength or endurance or distance. They gave themselves just three months time to warm up, and the mileage they do is quite paltry, frankly (I could crush them on my worst day). They seem to be getting it done, though, and good for them.

Second, I just caught this trailer for a documentary called "The Ataxian. This guy Kyle Bryant has Friedreichs Ataxia, a neuromuscular disorder that affects muscle coordination. Instead of sitting around and letting it rule his world, he's doing a 9 day, 3,000 mile bike race. I am blown away that he's got so much heart as to make the attempt. This ride crushes strong riders. It takes me a year to do three grand. Just... wow.

Ultimate!

2010-07-04T16:06:00.004-05:00

Fourmingoes versus Low Five. I don't believe I've ever seen myself on video. I had no idea this is what I look like...

America!

2010-07-04T11:08:00.005-05:00

It's been a little while since I've had any adventures in cooking. I went to a sweet BBQ last night, and while I left the heavy lifting in the cooking department to the grill masters, I did whip out a couple recipes to contribute in the area of sides. One of 'em was something new that I tried out, and apparently it was pretty tasty cause it got destroyed. Managed to get only like two bites of it myself cause I didn't realize it was going over so well. Luckily I took a little off the top for myself before I headed over there, so I'm set.

Show me potato salad! (w/ bacon):

~3 lbs red potatoes*
~3/4 cup sour cream*
~2/3 cup mayonnaise*
~1 tsp salt
~1 tsp mustard
~1/2 tsp garlic powder
~1/4 tsp black pepper
~5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
~1/4 cup chopped green onions*
~1/4 cup chopped green pepper
~1 cup chopped apple*

Cut potatoes into cubes; place in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool to room temperature. In a large bowl combine all ingredients (be sure to fold in sour cream and mayonnaise thoroughly). Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

*Kinda fudging on some of the measurements here. I put in the amount of potatoes that I had, and then based some of the rest on how it looks and feels.

Penultimate baked beans:

~30 oz pork & beans
~~1 garlic clove, minced
~1 pkg onion soup mix
~1/2 cup water
~1/2 cup BBQ sauce
~1/2 cup brown sugar
~2 tbsp mustard
~1/2 lb mostly cooked bacon

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients except bacon together and spread in a 9×13 dish. Top with cooked bacon. Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for 30 mins, then uncovered for 15 mins.

This is the one that everyone killed, even though I didn't follow the recipe completely (hence the "penultimate" as opposed to the be all and end all of beans. As is, I apparently took the championship in the "best side" category. I wonder what would happen if I'd put everything in there? Probably could have taken over the world, or at least a few other BBQs. Personally I thought this maybe wouldn't mind baking for a little longer without the cover, but what do I know? Thought about throwing in just a hint of vegetables too, for variety, but I'll save the experimentation for when it's not my first time.

Chicagofalcon

2010-06-27T14:31:00.004-05:00

Chicago land sure gets a lot of good funk... somebody'd better start working on that magic bike tube.

The Budos Band @ Chicago Folk & Roots Festival, July 10

Caribou w/ the Budos Band @ Millennium Park (which I am supremely jealous of, btw; someone should be nice and give it to me), July 12

Living a lie

2010-06-16T22:34:00.007-05:00

Actually, St. Louis has plenty of good shows. Why, this weekend there happen to be three gigs in two days that I'd love to get myself to. Friday night is looking particularly interesting, with Lojic @ The Pageant and We Landed on the Moon! @ The Firebird. The former doesn't play much here these days, but I've been going to see them since I was a young buck, and they've got a new album out that coincides with the kick off of their Midwest tour (aw yeah, they still know where they're from). WLotM! is a much more recent find, but they sure know how to rock the house, and are generally upstanding and awesome individuals. Tough choices. Sadly I just took my time machine to the shop, or this whole situation would be much easier. Both of these bands are definitely worth checking out, and it kills me that their St. Louis tour dates conflict. My current hope is that their set times don't conflict as well, cause I will surely attempt an unprecedented double-header concert night. You only live twice, right? I'll rest when I'm dead. It's not living a lie if you're not living at all.

Chicagogorillas

2010-06-16T21:05:00.006-05:00

Reppin' the Midwest with some of the best from Chi. Man, Chicago is a beast when it comes to hogging on some good shows*. I'd liken it to 98 pound lightweight and a silverback competing for the same bunch of bananas. There's just no contest. I'm maybe gonna have to move there or something. New news out this week on stuff going on in the Animate Objects family. Actually, though I've been listening to them for a while now (that's some good underground / conscious / eclectic stuff there for you, if you didn't know) I didn't know there was an AO family. Just took a listen to some of S Squair Blaq, The Square Black Frames, Sonar Soul and Danya and the Fail, and that is some underrated hotness right there. Generally I use last.fm as a gauge on where an artist falls on the popularity-obscurity scale; these are so far towards the end that I'd have to label them "bands that don't even exist yet". So good, though. And the greater family as a whole is pretty busy in the next few weeks with shows and listening parties and all sorts of friendly goodness.

Couldn't do this right without putting some links in, aye? Start here to put some sounds in your ear. Then when it's seeped in real good and deep, jump over to look at the tour dates (both of those I'm listing below are FREE, by the by). If you don't want to get up and go, I suggest you get yourself to a doctor. You might be dead.

June 19, Chicago, IL, S Squair Blaq w/ Animate Objects, Takin It to the Streets @ Marquette Park

June 25, Chicago, IL, Animate Objects"High Notes for Low Fives" listening party @ Lokal

Prom Night

2010-06-11T22:58:00.004-05:00

This is how FBC gets down.

Oh, and while I'm thinking about bikes, someone can go ahead and buy / build this for me, please, kay thanks.

Five bucks, five bucks, five bucks

2010-06-06T06:55:00.009-05:00

Whooo/ugh. That's the sound my body makes the morning after having fun at a kick ass show, but one which also kicked my ass. Partied it UP last night at the RFT Showcase, and though I had some reservations it definitely turned out to be a win. As I awaken, recover, and put the pieces of myself back together into some semblance of normality, I figure the best way to make sense of things is to do a run down of my own awards. You know, for posterity.

Best Bar: Hair of the Dog is what I would have to affectionately call a "rough in the diamonds". What concerned me most about the showcase's move from the Loop down to Wash. Ave. was the areas lack of pure venue spaces an overabundance of upscale snooty places. (More about that shortly.) HotD, on the other hand, is the kind of bar that wants you to come in and make yourself at home, no need to worry about taking off your shoes or spilling things on the rug. It's lived in. And they have shuffleboard!

Worst Bar: Lucas Park Grille - I've been out to the Showcase for a few years now, and like any good festival the beauty of it is the carefree come (and go) as you are vibe. This place was way too highfalutin. The first clue was the hostess asking people just ahead of us if they had reservations. Then the patio where the bands were meant to set up had almost no space for folks coming in to watch the bands; most of the tables in the place were set up for diners. That would be fine, if you want to be a restaurant. If you want to be a venue (even for a day), be a venue and let people come hang out. If you want to be a venue AND a restaurant, that'd be fine with me too, Cicero's and Blueberry Hill both have a system down with separate spaces to suit your tastes whether it be eating or rocking out. There are many different right ways to arrange things; this was an example of the wrong way.
Honorable mention in this category goes to Lola. The space is fairly new and nice, but I'm turned off by the fact that they also seemed to not have a sense of their own identity. I think more people were there to eat than to hear music, and I didn't really get the feeling that the music revelers like myself were welcome. Also the waitress with the frou-frou artsy trendy hairdo did not excite me. I just want to go to a bar for some tunes and drinks, not look at you attempt to be a runway model. (I didn't think of it until just now, but she kinda totally reminds me of Helen Strangé from Boomerang.)

Best Band to Get Me in a Dancing Frame of Mind: The Dive Poets came along at just the right time. Their set was the first at a venue as opposed to an outdoor stage, and being inside / in the evening it had finally cooled off enough for me to start drinking. I miss the fiddle, but they still brought it.

Best Band I've Seen Tons of Times: Jumbling Towers, how I've missed you! I used to kick it at their shows fairly often way back in the day, but it's been quite a long time. They rocked some new shit, they rocked some old shit, and I rocked my shit all over the floor right up front. People came in and packed the place during their set, which was great, but no one was dancing! That just wouldn't do. So, me being me, I scooted my behind up to the stage to help with the motivation. I only made small strides with the folks who were up there, but I did find a few possibly old school fans who knew their songs. Definitely going to have to get back into them.

Best Band I've Seen Tons of Times, But Missed: The Feed.

Best Band I've Never Seen: The Monads - Going to see them was a hard choice. They played at the same time as The Feed, and in this case I elected to go with new-and-potentially-awesome over tried-and-true-goodness. I wasn't sure to make of them while they were setting up. Upright bass, banjo, electric violin, giant bag of beach balls... Okay? They turned out to be real lively. I could see myself getting ragin', footstompin' drunk to this band in a good ol' Irish bar. ...if only I could find the perfect Irish bar in which to do it. The floor is open to suggestions.

Best Band I've Still Yet to See: Art Majors played after Jumbling Towers and I heard a little bit of them, but by that point I was tired and tapped out. It'd been a long day, and I no longer had the ability to properly cleanse my aural palate to differentiate between bands. It didn't help that no one in the crowd was into them enough to start moving, that might have convinced me to stick it out a bit longer. Gotta make a mental note to see them properly at some point.

Best Band for a Funky Good Time: Teddy Presberg kills. Literally. I saw someone drop to the ground of a funk attack, and I don't think they pulled through. DOA. Funkamedics could not resuscitate. The man is cooler than anyone has any right to be. My name is Teddy Presberg, and I'm gonna lay some riffs with this guitar in my lap for a lil' bit, izzat okay witchoo? Yes, please, Teddy. Gimme some more. And who else could pull of playing a show barefoot in such a shiny new bar? (He was at the aforementioned Lola) Bonus points for his man maiming folks with the bongo / drum solo funkassault.

Biggest Letdown Band: UG Project - From what I'd read about this group's style and genre-bending, I was really looking forward to something interesting. I ended up only catching maybe the end of one song at the end of their set, but my snap judgment from what I heard was underwhelming.

Best Friend: I didn't go very far out of my way to promote this thing ahead of time, and so did not attempt to bring a big crew down to check things out. I suppose it could have been fun having a pile of people to hang out with, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. Almost seems better to go solo, or nearly so. I did invite Julie, who was awesome enough to come down, hang out, and pretty much follow me around to whatever band I wanted to see. I think she had a good time, so things worked out well for all parties involved.

Update: Official fotoes.

They don't want music

2010-06-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

RFT Music Showcase! Tomorrow! So excited! So many bands coming that I would like to see. So many, in fact, that Ima make a spreadsheet (cuz I'm a nerd). The question is: Should I go see old favs, or explore potential new goodness? Oh, the pressure...

Ice cream has come to save the day

2010-06-04T19:58:00.003-05:00

Milkshake Party #2! I don't remember if I took the time to post about last year's Milkshake Party #1, what song I would have chosen if I did, or what kind of "fancy" milkshake recipe it was that I whipped out to impress my adoring fans, but I couldn't let this one go by. Spent a little time in the lab doing research, since I figure one always has to come bigger and badder than the year before. Not as much time as I would have liked, mind you; so much of my schedule this week has been wrecked by bees (!). Gonna try to do something pull off something special just the same though. Making a run for supplies... tonight? Yes. Of course. The party's tonight. Depending on how tasty things come out I'll be back later to post a recipe or two.

New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream

Sweet Inspiration, Times Two

2010-06-03T14:11:00.009-05:00

Caught wind of a couple things lately that take my general feeling of being a fairly physically capable guy and just shake it to pieces.

First, I've been reading an account of the Pedouin family's trek on a quint tandem. Five people. One bike. 7,000 miles, from Kentucky to Alaska (by way of Florida). And as far as I can tell the trip is for no reason other than just to do it. In and of itself this feat would be impressive enough, riding clear across the country and all, crashing with folks where they can and sleeping outside where they can't. But then they have two extra degrees of difficulty that are sure to wow the judges. Of this family of five, three of them are young girls, at the outset aged 6, 4 and 2. I'm sure most of the energy for this comes from the parents, but I still have to admire the tenacity for sticking it through. If that wasn't enough, neither of these parents are what I would call actual cyclists. About all they had going for them was that they knew how to ride a bicycle, but nothing approaching serious strength or endurance or distance. They gave themselves just three months time to warm up, and the mileage they do is quite paltry, frankly (I could crush them on my worst day). They seem to be getting it done, though, and good for them.

Second, I just caught this trailer for a documentary called The Ataxian. It's the story of this guy named Kyle Bryant riding in the Race Across America, a one week 3,000 mile trip from coast to coast (on quite a sweet looking recumbent trike... I never cared much for them, but his kinda makes me want one). Pretty intense, right? It takes me a YEAR to do three grand. The guy this documentary is about has a degenerative nerve disease called Friedreich's ataxia with symptoms that will make things much harder for him (and unfortunately, is quite possibly going to kill him). Talk about heart. Dude's got it out the wazoo.

Speaking of Heart, I've been on a kick lately thanks to some recent conversation. Who knew classic rock still tastes so good? Considering today's subject matter, and Kyle's story in particular, this one seems terribly appropriate.

Heart - Magic Man

2010-05-30T17:43:00.002-05:00

The trick with eating chips & salsa is finishing the bag and jar at the same time. Otherwise you'll be trapped in a never ending cycle of buying one, then the other, so that the pairing of tastiness will not be disrupted. I wish that they came in quantities perfectly proportioned to each other, cause this might go on forever.

Slow ride, take it easy

2010-05-12T06:48:00.004-05:00

This Saturday May 15th is the 3rd Annual Blessing of the Bikes & Dutchtown Bike Tour. Too busy to make it out myself, and who knows what the weather will be doing, but still interesting, worth sharing, and inspirational! ...by which I mean I feel inspired to go listen to Foghat.

Nationally annual Bike Blessings attract thousands of people and are generally held in April or May. The Blessing portion of the event is modeled after a similar, long running event in New York, that has been conducted for twelve years. The Dutchtown Bike Tour is a unique ride, focused on exploring the joys and history of city parks, and their relation to the scheme of city living. The St Louis event will begin promptly at 9:30 AM, Saturday, May 15, in the St Anthony of Padua church parking lot, 3140 Meramec, 63118. Come on your bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, what-have-you. After the short Blessing Program, participants will go east one block to Urban Eats Café, located at 3301 Meramec, to pick up their free Bike Tour Map for a ride around Dutchtown’s Historic Pocket Parks, through two scenic housing developments and the Cleveland High School grounds, accompanied by a narrative written by local historian NiNi Harris.

This year's event will also be adding the option of a Guided Tour of the route, led by St Louis Bike Fed volunteer, Bob Bailey. The tour can be self directed with the route map, or you may take the guided tour if that's more your style.

The first 50 people to arrive at the Café will also receive a free bottle of water and an energy bar for their ride, compliments of the Charless Home & Bethesda Health, plus a Café Coupon. If the Dutchtown Pocket Park tour isn’t long enough for veteran bicyclers, there is an extended ride available also, through the Christy Greenway. Riders can also pre order their lunch for when they expect to arrive back at the café.

Other participants in the event are The Charless Home and Maryville Gardens Apartment complex, which are opening their beautiful grounds, as part of the route and as an example of well-treed and planned urban living communities.

At the end of their ride, cyclists can return for Happy Hour and an art show at the Urban Arts Collective at Urban Eats Cafe, with Naomi Silver opening her Mayshow of work, In the Mood, from 4-6 PM. along with 4 other artists currently in the rotation.

For more details, check out the flyer.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up

2010-04-26T19:35:00.003-05:00

Thing 1. Janelle Monáe + Erykah Badu @ the Fox Theatre on June 9. :-O. WANT.

Thing A. This video makes me want so many things. New shoes. New pants. New moves. Janelle Monáe, I think I love you.

If you don't cook, you can't eat

2010-04-20T23:46:00.002-05:00

I have vague but fond recollections of the things I used to eat and enjoy as a child. I didn't have an opportunity to learn how to cook at the time though, so for the most part all of those things are effectively lost and forgotten to me. There was one thing in particular that I liked enough to cobble together a passable meal about a year or so after I'd left home, but not being all that into cooking at the time it fell into disuse and I eventually forgot about it again. While shopping at the farmer's market a couple weeks ago I happened across some of the main ingredients and, on a whim, decided to bring some home and see what I could do with them. A quick search on the webternets turned up something that looked like a fairly close approximation, the name of which not only do I not recall, but neither does the author who wrote the recipe I found. I've made it a couple times now, and I've gotta say I'm kinda digging it. I would have one helping for dinner and another for dessert, it's so good. In fact that's kinda what happened the first go 'round, and the seemingly huge pot I'd made that I was sure would result in tasty leftovers was instead polished off in one sitting. Nom nom, recipe (original). It's a little different than I remember, and I've been further tweaking based on my own preferences and the things I happen to have on hand at the time... I guess I should jot some notes down for posterity.

Polish Sausage, Cabbage and Potato something or the other

Ingredients:
~1/4 cup onion, chopped
~1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped or sliced
~1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
~1/2 cup water
~4 tablespoons butter or margarine
~1/2 ring polish sausage, sliced
~6 medium red potatoes, peeled and diced
~1/2 large cabbage, washed, cored, and coarsely shredded
~1 tsp seasoning salt
~1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
~1/4 tsp cumin
~1/4 tsp paprika (I think...)

I'm fudging on some of these numbers a bit; I didn't really measure things and kinda went more by sight / taste.

Instructions:
1. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the margarine or butter until tender.
2. Layer cabbage, sausage, and potatoes and balance of butter and margarine in the pan. Add seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika and water.
3. Cover and simmer on low heat until cabbage is desired tenderness, stirring occasionally. This should only cook about 20 minutes or the time it takes to make the potatoes tender.

Hints & variations:
The second time around I chopped up most of the bell pepper and added as usual, but some I sliced and set aside to add after the potatoes, cabbage and sausage, maybe halfway through the cooking time. When it was all said and done, they were a little crisper and had a little more flavor since I'd left less time for it to be cooked out.

Cartoonize your life

2010-04-19T22:39:00.002-05:00

Tour de Parks
Find more Bike Rides in St Louis, Missouri

Back when I used to spend more time reading the paper the Family Circus was not one of my favorite comics, but I did always like the strips where Billy would wander about leaving a dotted trail behind him. This week, my life resembled a cartoon in that I had a big red line showing everywhere I'd been, courtesy of mapmyride. Had myself a good week of cycling while the weather was nice, which turned into a not so good week for nutrition. It turns out suddenly revving up to roughly three times my weekly mileage makes my metabolism go buck wild and then I eat everything in sight because I am hungry all the time. Note to self: make sure you are well stocked on groceries before attempting any amazing feats of athleticism. Even with the near-disaster, riding is fuuun, and I love mapmyride. :-)

This just in...

2010-04-01T07:35:00.002-05:00

Tryin' to keep up with the news more these days. Good to stay informed and whatnot. A brief rundown of stories of interest:

~1. A Japanese multinational conglomerate (headquarters pictured) investigates how some of its customers were accidentally sent back in time to the year 1999.
~2. The Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay evades authorities in St. Petersburg.
~3. The Russian Federation shrinks the country in time after a much-discussed Presidential decree.
~4. A member of the Rothschild banking family of England heads for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on a boat made from 12,000 plastic bottles.
~5. If you are reading this, the latest record-breaking experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have not yet caused the end of the world as we know it.

Green Heaven

2010-03-31T17:33:00.000-05:00

I saw today where a friend had posted this video. While I do value the contribution the artist has made to society both in terms of a piece of artwork and as a statement to bring people to a greater awareness of the world in which we live, I'm not entirely sure it's something I can get behind as a viable transportation alternative. Of course there are unsustainable costs to our continuing to live in a car-centric culture, but likewise are there costs to living in a horse-centric culture. Simply our infrastructure from one to the other is not necessarily a good and green idea. I don't know what all of those costs are, mind you, but the post and the discussion it sparked have now got me interested. I thought I'd try and do a little research and comparison.

Upfront the base MSRP of a 2008 H2 is around $53K. I'm not at all sure what a decent horse would run (looking into it); whatever it is would not accurately reflect what the cost would be if everyone ditched their cars and started riding them. With such a rise in demand the price would go up as well. In addition to what it costs at the outset, there is the cost based on mileage - which, for cars, is not limited to the price of gas x miles per gallon. Maintenance and depreciation figure into the equation as well, and these "hidden costs" raise the dollar figure significantly, though offhand I don't know by how much. I remember someone did... a study... or something, that took everything into account. Have to see if I can find that again. I have no idea what the cost per mile for a horse would be, either, but that's also something I'm looking into.

As far as environmental impact is concerned, according to one study driving cars results in emissions of about 2 to 5 tons of CO₂ each year, depending on vehicle model and fuel efficiency¹. My assumption is that horses are more efficient than cars, but by how much remains to be seen. I know that with livestock production there are more hidden costs associated with things like land and resources required to grow feed, but not being a horse person I don't know how those would apply. Also, waste would be an issue. As far as the "poop-poop-a-do" is concerned, at least it's biodegradable and could maybe even be used as fertilizer. (Except... how much poop can a horse poop? How many people are there who drive cars, and how high would that pile of poop reach when it's all added up? Would it be less or more than we actually need? Cause if it's more, then it kinda defeats the purpose and becomes more of a waste than a resource.) Although horses would not be putting out CO₂, they and/or their waste would, I think, release other not-so-nice like methane and nitrous oxide. I hear tell those are even worse in way of their greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. Fifty times worse, in the case of methane. Which brings up the question: do manatees emit methane? Cause if they do, manatee farts are destroying the planet. Kill the manatees, save the Earth!

In the midst of this research, I found a few fun facts:
~Apparently there is a tax break that applies to purchasing giant gas-guzzling behemoths. It wasn't originally meant to favor large vehicles over smaller and more efficient models, but with the letter of the law that's how it works out these days. Ew.
~It's more environmentally friendly to live meat-free than it is to live car-free. While looking for research on what would happen if the world rode horses I came across an interesting article on being a Prius-driving vegan vs. a meat-eating cyclist. It's not a very large difference, only about half a ton of carbon dioxide in favor of vegans, but still it's a surprising and not exactly pleasant thing to learn. I LIKE meat. But it would seem the best of us would be a vegan cyclist... though I don't know that I'm ready to take that step just yet. Another thing to keep in mind.

1. Am I going to have to start citing sources for blog posts? This is not something I had ever contemplated... In this instance the study in question is by , and is based on driving about 8,300 miles annually. I haven't actually read the study itself; the numbers I give were pulled from an article I found on it.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Green Heaven

New Music Monday: Naked in the rain

2010-03-29T23:32:00.002-05:00

Erykah Badu's latest album releases tomorrow. If the rest of it sounds as good as the track, I'll be quite happy to listen to it. Sister is still the Queen. While the video for the song is quite striking, before you check it out I suggest you set it up by watching the one that inspired it.

From Erykah, "[S]hot guerilla style, no crew, one take, no closed set, no warning, two minutes, in downtown Dallas, then ran like hell... I was afraid. But I was ready."

And from Questlove, "People were so stunned they forgot to break out camera phones."

The correct answer is TIME MACHINE

2010-03-26T18:06:00.004-05:00

I sure do wish I had bit more wiggle room in my schedule this weekend.

Thing 1 that I'd like to check out is City Sound Tracks, this music festival event type jobber being hosted by... Trailnet? Metro? Alls I knows is, BANDS are playing, soma which I LIKE, half of it is in my NEIGHBORHOOD, and I'm BUSY for most of the day. Drat. Maybe I'll wander over and check it out, thought, since I could literally (okay, practically) fall out of bed and land in front of one of the stages. Who knows, might find something good.

Thing A is People's Settlement: Stand Up! Stand Together!, this ongoing protest dealy happening downtown. From what I can tell the event is kind of anti-everything. By which I mean there are a selection of groups involved speaking out on a wide variety of issues, so anyone with any sort of interest in political action and change can most likely find something they agree with. I sure hope they're not actually anti-everything, cause that gets real old pretty quick. Still, nice to see folks being passionate about something. Don't get enough of that these days.

The Juan Maclean - No Time

New Music Monday: Arms are too short to box with God

2010-03-15T22:21:00.005-05:00

Turns out there's a terrible flip side to things when music is your religion. Sure, it's nice perpetually having a fat beat rocking on the soundtrack of life. And I certainly get a kick out of having music for everything. But sometimes - and I hate even to admit this - there can be too much. This the reason for my near tardiness this week, and very nearly pushing things off as a matter of fact. It's not because I haven't been listening to music, or that I haven't found anything new. On the contrary: it was cause I've been listening to so much stuff, both new and old, that I felt like my aural palette had become over-stimulated. I liken it to drinking too many different kinds of wine all at once. It's difficult to properly sort out what is "good" from what is simply "new", feelings get jumbled from song to song and artist to artist... Try to digest to much, and your brain explodes.

Luckily at the very end I did manage to settle down and find something to nod my head to. I recently happened across an interesting article about the DORF Matrix, a bit of reflection and theory on how skewed the music habits of NPR's listeners are, in particular when it comes to black music. (Woah! It's gettin all racial up in this piece! Except, don't worry, cause it's really not. ~M) The gist of the argument is, 1. black artists are underrepresented, and 2. the black folks that are represented weirdly come from music that regular black people don't actually listen to. According to this article, the NPR crowd - which is predominately white and college-educated - mostly listens to music which falls into the DORF categories, those being artists who are Dead, Old, Retro or Foreign. I have to say that I don't know enough about NPR or its listeners to speak on this with any authority, but I find this to be utterly fascinating. I feel like this should be posted on Stuff White People Like, for one. But also, in all seriousness, having had some experiences in my day hanging out with a largely white and college-educated crowd, I've seen some things that lead me to believe this theory may have merit. And, loosing track of seriousness again, there was mention of making a DORF drinking game which I think would be hilarious.

Anyway, this articles cites a whole pile of examples to back up its assertions in black musicians that have gotten airplay and recognition on NPR. I didn't come close to looking at all of them, but I did happen to click on one link that made a reference to retro hip-hop. I do loves the old-school stuff, after all, and I've got to keep my ears open for the good stuff that stays true to its roots. Can't be having that mainstream garbage made by sellouts and fools in my house. The link in question led me to a song by the Brown Bag AllStars outta New York, and left me wanting more. A little investigation into these record store employees by day, emcees by night led me to their blog and a few more songs that they've posted there. One of those I find incredibly striking, in that it is easily one of the most beautiful hip-hop songs I've heard in ages. In fact, I can almost remember the last time and place when I heard something so moving. Five or six years ago now I heard a track by a group called Pitch Black, and it knocked me out. I loved the use of strings in a hip-hop song, and to me the sound of the melody is just killer. I've only just realized that this song by BBAS is the first thing I've heard of that caliber in the last five years. I ran out and bought the Pitch Black album based on just that one song - kind of out of character for me - and then proceeded to be a little let down by the rest of their offering. It had its moments, but nothing else that rocked me so hard as that. In fact, I had to pull out Pitch Black and BBAS and listen to them back and forth and side-by-side, over and over, and it's quite eerie how alike they are. Definitely going to try and start some dialogue about this. But that is where the similarity to BBAS ends. I've been listening to a few more tracks by them, did that listening to too much music thing, gave em a break for a minute, came back for more, and find that the quality is steady throughout. Everything I've heard by them is just as awesome as that first song.

Pitch Black - It's All Real
Brown Bag AllStars - Brooklyn Queens Expressway

And for those of you interested, the article and the follow-up piece.

In the daylight anywhere feels like home

2010-03-14T00:00:00.010-06:00

Hooray! Daylight Savings! I'd long planned to make a mix or maybe suggest it become a national holiday to commemorate the occasion, cause I do indeed love my outdoor time. Completely stoked for having the extra hours for more riding and frisbee-shaped-object-related activities. Only that whole wiping the music library thing means it's much harder finding proper songs than it used to be. And there are SO MANY hoops to jump through for instituting national holidays. Geez. So I wasn't sure it was gonna happen. But maybe, just maybe I can pull something off. Gotta find something to keep myself occupied. Am I actually celebrating having daylight by doing stuff outside? NO. Cause it's cloudy and dreary and RAINING. I mean, I'd only been planning on that play time since the beginning of Winter, Mother Nature, it's no big. Ho hum.

Who Loves the Sun? mix:
Matt & Kim - Daylight
Beck - Sunday Sun
Harlem Shakes - Sunlight
Deerhoof - Sunnyside
Ohmega Watts - Groovin' On Sunshine

2010-03-12T22:51:00.003-06:00

There is such a thing as Cuddle Rabies?!? OH NOES.
I have to go.
...to the doctor.
...cuz I'm prolly infected.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)

Things just got to get better

2010-03-11T21:41:00.002-06:00

Google Maps now has biking directions! It remains to be seen precisely how useful they will be... a preliminary test looks like it calculates time based on a slower rider than I, and reading a little about how it works it seems it will take into account and try to avoid big hills (which don't really bother me all that much). Still, it's interesting, and about time. Can't wait for a stretch of decent weather so I can test it out a bit further. Ahwoooo!

Further reading: It's time to bike, and biking directions added to google maps.

Space tourist

2010-03-10T07:26:00.004-06:00

Janelle Monáe is steppin out. The closest she comes to the Lou is is Chicago. How come they get two shows? Lucky sons a guns... Sure wish I could make a run up there to see her do her thing. I didn't get this before from listening to her, but watching this video I suddenly feel like I'm looking at something put out by Outkast. And I like it. Girl's got moves. Crazy moves. That reverse Moonwalk thing? Yes.

03.15.2010,The Black Cat,Washington DC

03.17.2010, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA

03.18.2010, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA

03.21.2010, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA

03.22.2010, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA

03.23.2010, Viper Room, West Hollywood, CA

03.24.2010, Viper Room, West Hollywood, CA

03.29.2010, Schuba's Tavern, Chicago,IL

03.30.2010, Schuba's Tavern, Chicago, IL
03.31.2010, Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN

04.02.2010, St. Andrew's Hall, Detroit, MI

04.05.2010, Smith, Atlanta, GA

04.06.2010, Smith, Atlanta, GA

04.09.2010, Joe's Pub, NY, NY

04.10.2010, Joe's Pub, NY, NY

New Music Monday: It's the rhythm you've been waiting for

2010-03-08T19:12:00.004-06:00

Continuing the theme from last week, today's New Music Monday is on a girl with a funky 'do. I've been diggin' on Noisettes quite a bit these last days, and I'd love to tell you all about them. Only I have no idea where to begin. Is it soul? Rock and roll? Indie rock? Experimental? There's just so much going on, and each of the songs bounces between genres, sounding so distinct from the last that my brain is having trouble keeping up. It's just too much for me to wrap my head around. I like it, though. I don't care what it is, I just want more.

Noisettes - Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)

2010-03-01T22:37:00.005-06:00

The Karate Kid.
Classic 80s cinema at its finest, right?
Except now it's being remade.
At best I would have mixed feelings about doing such a thing with a movie from my childhood.
(Well... okay, I just being born the year it came out.
But still, I saw it when I was a kid.
And it was new to me, so...)
But this... this is being remade with Jackie Chan.
And set in China.
And I'm all for Jackie Chan / movies set in China.
Only neither of them have much of anything to do with karate.
So I'm kind of bothered and upset by this right now.
Damn you Hollywood.

Oh, and that Tenacious D song "Karate"?
Also terribly inaccurate.
"With karate I'll kick your ass"?
Okay, I can see that.
"Here to Tiananmen Square"?
Um, no.

New Music Monday: Here come the future girls

2010-03-01T19:10:00.004-06:00

Hello, is this Deltron 3030? I think I've just found your soul mate. Her name is Janelle Monáe, and she's got an interesting thing going. Of course if you're not interested I could maybe call Gnarls Barkley, but I figure the two of you have more in common. I bet one day you could make beautiful robot babies.

I'm not sure I'd agree with Sean "P Did-all Puff Diddy" Combs when he says she's one of the most important signings of his career... I mean, she's certainly got something, no lie. I've also got to give the girl points each for daring, creativity and theme. But the eclectic futuristic thing has been done before, ya know? And while it was a cool concept, it didn't change the world. In any case, she released an EP a few years back called Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase. Her first full-length The ArchAndroid - which will cover the second and third parts of the story arc - is scheduled to come out in May. The dance party rocker and nerd comic fanboy in me are having fights about which is more excited. Furthermore although she can stand on her own, how much better will this be featuring guest spots by Saul Williams (!) and Big Boi? The future, ftw.

Deltron 3030 - 3030
Janelle Monáe - Violet Stars Happy Hunting

Alright, it's gig time, what t-shirt am I gonna wear?

2010-02-28T12:45:00.003-06:00

This weekend I stepped out to the Firebird for what turned out to be a perfectly awesome rock show.

We Landed on the Moon!: The flexibility and energy of this band is amazing. It is of course always great to hear someone playing some good music, which they surely did, but what really got me is how much fun they have doin' their thing. It's infectious. But not like "oh noes! I am disease-ridden!" More in a good way. Like, there has been an outbreak of rock n roll. People everywhere are coming down with it. Symptoms include smiles and wild dancing. Pleased be advised there is no cure; the only available option is to let the disease run its course, so if you find you are suffering the effects of this illness please report to the front of the stage for treatment.

Blind Eyes: What can I say about them? Local band, three white guys in standard arrangement. I was not wowed. I'm not knocking the idea of three white guys in a local band, mind you. I can think of at least one such group that has always impressed. But them... I believe I heard someone refer to them as "Bland Eyes", and that pretty well sums it up. My attention was not grabbed by the complexity or energy of the music, or by the depth of the lyrics. I did think they had a slightly interesting sound with their use of a blues guitar in a rock band, but it wasn't strong enough to stand out and make up for the band's overall shortcomings.

Elsinore: And speaking of complexity... I don't have any of their records, but I've now seen Elsinore a good three or four times. They're not local, but they come through St. Louis somewhat regular. It's only at this last show that I'm beginning to understand how much they've got going on in some of their songs. Somehow they managed to blend a beat that kicks with something as beautiful and sweet as a sea breeze. It's only because of their lead singer, I feel, that they are able to pull this off. The rest of the band is fairly adept as well, but it's he who really brings it all home. I was of two minds, torn between wanting to dance around and just bask in the music; ultimately I settled for dividing myself in two and using each half of my body to do both at the same time. The stage presence wasn't quite as strong as I've seen it be in the past - the last time they came through the lead singer was cracking jokes and bantering back and forth with the crowd - but I'm more than willing to forgive that as they were on day 28 of 28 of their tour.

But wait, there's more! Have some video goodness...

When I die, I sure hope I don't have pie all over my face...

Never had it so good

2010-02-25T20:28:00.005-06:00

Wish my commute was that easy. The next bicycle I buy will have the power of flight.

In other stuff on the interweb developments, huzzah for the Pitchfork RSS feed. I am all caught up on music news (which goes along with my general theme of being more aware of news in general) and it's good times. Plenty of stuff that I won't post on the blog but will be shared on that Buzz thing...

2010-02-23T17:41:00.002-06:00

I'd been having some virus drama for a while that was a perpetual annoyance as none of the programs I could find were able to get rid of it. Finally today I got around to trying a factory restore. I'd been reluctant to do something so drastic, but enough was enough. Sick to death of corrupted programs and crashes, and with this shiny huge new hard drive backing up my data seemed to be less of a problem. Boy am I glad I did. I didn't lose anything important, and I even downloaded the latest versions of the programs I use most. Included in that list was The GodFather, which is an awesome but cumbersome way to alter tags and file names of mp3s. With the amount of music I have dumped into random folders and the obsessive methods I have when it comes to organization it's definitely a must have. While I was looking around I came across Tag&Rename and decided to check it out since it had better reviews. Turns out this works way better. So much more powerful and intuitive. Should be much easier to make headway on the Great Reorganization now. How friggin sweet. Thanks you, cnet. I also played around with personas finally, so Firefox is now all infused with music. The only downside is I forget which theme it was I'd been using for Firefox, I seem to have lost the ability to add IMDB and Meriam-Webster to my toolbar search engines, and my FoxyTunes controls are a little wonky. Gotta see if I can work it out.

It feels like I'm watching something dyin'

2010-02-22T19:25:00.008-06:00

What is "indie"?

A sound? A philosophy? A label affiliation?

An important question for one who is particular about the labeling of genres and ideas. By the dictionary's definition of the term (here being "independent") - along with a bit of contextual assumption - I imagine its meaning to be something produced and distributed without connection to the mainstream establishment. As a person living an eclectic and slightly Bohemian lifestyle, this is a definition I find terribly appealing. Not that mainstream is inherently bad, mind you, but I feel at times it can be somewhat unwieldy, sometimes archaic and possessing of values that don't align with my own. Arguably this definition of indie could be applied to just about anything, which threatens to make even indie itself begin to become unwieldy, but for simplicity's sake I'll restrict my thoughts here to music. (Though I must admit a deep interest and admiration for indie news - even if it does at times lean a little to the left, I have to respect its telling of the many things that would otherwise not be reported.) Thinking just of independent music quickly runs into a large problem, in that so little of what is being produced today remains truly independent of the mainstream labels. Additionally, the depth of knowledge and history required to define what is and is not indie is simply out of the grasp of the majority of the population. I confess that I can be more than a little obsessive when it comes to the definitions and organization of my music library, but even I have never gone so far as to look up and define the status of individual labels, nor do I have any interest in doing so. Because of this it is my opinion that this once meaningful term has now become corrupted. Which makes me sad. I think of myself as traditionalist and appreciative of the old-fashioned, and I don't like how so many of the old ways and aspects of cultural have fallen by the wayside.

Another way to look at it is in terms of a sound or a genre, but there are issues with this outlook as well. "Indie" is commonly used as a definition specifically for rock music, but what about hip-hop? There's a strong movement in hip-hop for artists and the general style of art that remains independent, perhaps better known as underground. There are some deep-running feelings about it. Just look at how much controversy got stirred up when Nas came out with "Hip-hop Is Dead." He sure got people all riled with that one. I'm sure there are ways the term could be applied to many other genres as well. To be thorough and safe I typically classify my music as "indie rock" and leave it at that, but... if I think about it too much it leaves me with an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach that, at best, this is not specific enough. At worst, I worry that it means nothing at all. Certainly there is enough breadth that it's difficult to justify fitting all these wildly different-sounding artists under a single umbrella. I can't say I'm very happy at the thought of yanking the rug out from under what forms such a significant percentage of what I listen to, though.

Ultimately, what I'll likely have to do is largely leave things as they are and not think too hard about this. Flawed as it is, were it to be taken away I don't know that there's something better to replace it. If this requires wearing blinders, or even screwing my eyes tightly shut and hiding under the bed, so be it. (I will not be sticking my fingers in my ears, it should be noted, cause then I wouldn't be able to hear the music.) As long as I don't read many more disturbing articles like the one that prompted this rant I figure I should be safe and able to sleep at night. The alternative is just too unpleasant to consider.

Paste Magazine - Is Indie Dead?

By the by, though so far I've only been reading this one article (which is fabulously well-written), I think I might be in love with this magazine. I'm considering grabbing a subscription, I'm so impressed by my first look. We'll see how good the rest is as I read further.

Beck - Already Dead

My heart explodes into a thousand downloads

2010-02-22T17:55:00.008-06:00

Today's edition of Stuff on the Interwebs is brought to you by the letter J. Once again no New Music Monday as the Great Reorganization continues. In a quick search for an appropriately fitting bit of music I did however stumble across this little thing that I can't recall having heard before. But first! Cool art, made out of interesting stuff no less.

For a long time, one of my uncles has had these rhinoceroses that he's kept around the house. Ever since I was a kid I recall looking at them and thinking they were kind of neat, but there was always this small voice in my brain that wondered why he had them. Finally not too long ago the subject came up and I asked him what the deal was. Apparently he likes them. They're tough, and not to be trifled with, they've got thick skin and they get along just fine doin' their own thing. Maybe you have to be there, or maybe you have to know him, but I find this perfectly hilarious. I think he wants to be a rhinoceros when he grows up.

Prolyphic & Reanimator - Artist Goes Pop

15 amazing used tire sculptures

They call me quiet, but I'm a riot

2010-02-15T08:03:00.000-06:00

o.O? The band formerly known as "The Gossip" apparently has changed their name to "Gossip". ...the part of me that likes things to be organized doesn't know how to handle that. Should I find all the locations where the old name occurs and change them to the new? Should I be steadfast and stick with the original? Or should I change the info only for music they've released from the point in time at which the new name was used?

Arrgh. Can't decide... can't decide, brain aneurysm!

No New Music Monday this week. Still in the midst of reorganizing an entire library of music, rebuilding playlists I've destroyed, etc, and it's a beast. Roughly 4.3 gigs filed and in place, 58.5+ left to go. Gonna be at this a little while. Maybe this'll tide you over for a spell.
Gossip - Heavy Cross (RAC remix)

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Now playing: The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (LA Riots remix)
via FoxyTunes

2010-02-11T20:56:00.005-06:00

I'm not much of one for the technology that the kids seem to go crazy over. These days it's all about the iPhones and gPhones and xPhones and zPhones, BlackBerrys and CrackBerries, the PS3s and Wiis, the texting and tweeting and twixting. Me, I prefer to do things the old fashioned way. There have been some new shiny things happening lately that are worth a little attention. Without further ado, and in ascending order of cool/useful/geekness...

#3. WolframAlpha: This could be the search engine to end all search engines. I'm not sure how handy this will be for me - I've got a feeling it could have way more information that I would ever actually need. But if I ever need to quickly slap someone with facts, this would be the place to go. With a quick test query of "Silver Spring" (for those keeping score at home, that's where I was born) this thing figured out I meant the city in Maryland. The data that shows up - on the results page, mind you - includes population, location, elevation, weather... it's completely nerdy that I'm excited by this, I know, but I am okay with that.

#2. Google Buzz: It's all anyone can talk about today. Honestly I've got mixed feelings about it, and I can see how it might get a little annoying... so far the incessant updates about posts and people I don't care about but am somehow automatically subscribed to does not thrill me. But it may prove useful. I have a Gmail window open on my browser at all times anyway, so... Let's see if this will keep me as informed of goings-on as Facebook without all the useless chatter (so, so bored with that).

#1. Cooliris: Ooooh, look at the pretty. Browsing pictures and videos has never, ever been this slick.

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Now playing: Midnight Juggernauts - This New Technology
via FoxyTunes

New Music Monday: Talkin' all that jazz

2010-02-08T18:38:00.000-06:00

Unintentionally - for I am not supposed to be letting myself get sidetracked by new music right now, and I promised myself I'd take a little break - I find myself with some fresh finds. Here I thought I was going to do this bi-weekly and use the word "fortnight" more often. Oh well. This week, we're gonna kick it with some new oldies.

Sarah Vaughan: In the midst of a recent Amy Winehouse kick I happen to take a look at some of the similar artists listed on her last.fm page. Randomly (or subconsciously?) I clicked over to see what Sarah Vaughan is about. (Amy does count her as an influence, after all, and drops her name in at least one of her songs.) I usually have to be in just the right mood to appreciate such mellow stuff, but her voice is so soulful and sexy that I couldn't help but fall for her.

Sarah Vaughan - In a Sentimental Mood

Marva Whitney: As mentioned in my recent post about the Ghetto Funk Power Hour there was one artist on that first listen who really grabbed hold. Mr. Griptite closed out the hour with Marva Whitney. What could have been chalked up to the excitement of the moment was proven to be more that. A quick search and listen on Hype Machine showed me that she is a standout. She may not be well-known among those of the interweb generation, but DAMN sister's got soul. And she shows that she can throw down the jazz flavor as well. I'm sold.

Marva Whitney - Sunny (with James Brown)

Either of these ladies would be worth investing in a time machine so I could go back and see them at the height of their glory. Unless of course anyone has a spare laying around that I could borrow for such a purpose. I promise I'll bring it back nice and shiny.

When disaster strikes...

2010-02-03T19:02:00.004-06:00

It's a tough time when a dear loved one is near death. For me right now, that someone is my hard drive, and I would appreciate any and all support during this difficult time. So full of music, and pictures, and life. I am less than thrilled (see: full on panicked) at the thought of loosing the entirety of my music library, plus all the amusing pictures I've saved over the years (cause when the apocalypse comes, we'll be judged on the number of funny pictures we have accumulated). Luckily I'd managed to get it working again and save most of the super critical stuff, and it's shiny new replacement arrived today. Now begins the monumental task of reorganizing the whole she-bang. The good news is I found some old but decent speakers I haven't used in years and got them set up, so when I listen to tunes while I work I'll have a little wattage behind them instead of puny laptop speakers. Oh-rah.

Ghetto Funk Power Hour

2010-02-03T00:56:00.006-06:00

Man... soul sure is blowing up for me lately. It's takin' over my world. I like it. The other day I got a newsletter from Daptone with a blurb about the debut of the Ghetto Funk Power Hour radio show. It's hosted by Binky Griptite who rolls with one Sharon Jones, so you know he's got some soul cred. I took a little listen and, oh glory of glories, it was good. I have to admit that he doesn't strike me as the most proficient of DJs and there are some kinks there to be ironed out, but the soul was all classic. It makes me sad that I was born in the 80s, I feel like I missed out on so much. How sweet would it have been to listened to this stuff in its heyday? There was quite a lot of good and I may have to dig through again for research purposes, but there was one artist who's thoroughly grabbed my attention. More about that after I've had some time to digest her funky soul goodness and do up a proper new music post.

It's late and I'm feeling so tired

2010-02-02T07:04:00.003-06:00

I thought naps were supposed to be a good thing. It would seem this is not always the case. First, I had this weird dream where I wanted to get dessert so I went walkin' about to find some. Only I headed into this rougher residential neighborhood, so of course I wasn't going to find anything. I wanted to turn around and head back, but had just passed some random person and was worried about them watching and judging me when I immediately went past them again. Figured I would turn at the corner, walk over a block and then head back on the next street over. It was all going beautifully, until for some reason I found myself walking uninvited into a random stranger's house. Luckily no one was home and I was about to leave, but my luck ran out when someone returned and found me standing there. He wasn't too pleased to find me, and told me so by pulling out a gun and shooting at me. And at a cat, just for good measure. It wasn't so bad though. I could understand where he was coming from. And it turned out the bullets were actually BBs. Once he calmed down and I got patched and drugged up, we watched infomercials and listened to music for a while.

More importantly, that stupid nap has whacked out my sleep schedule. I've been awake for like the last six hours (ugh), and so bored. Spent some time playing around under the hood of the blog. Finally figured out how to put icons on the sidebar, been meaning to get around to that for ages. Small victories. Oh, and I stumbled across Corinne Bailey Rae. Just read that her husband died of an accidental overdose while she was in the middle of recording her second album. How sad. I've yet to listen to it, but the first is still as good as I remember.

Let's hope I'm not so messed up that I can't get something productive done today.

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Now playing: Corinne Bailey Rae - Trouble Sleeping
via FoxyTunes

New Music Monday: Baby, you know I got soul

2010-02-01T07:39:00.007-06:00

For my next trick, I will attempt to make New Music Monday a semi-regular occurrence. Perhaps bi-weekly, so I will not be under quite so much pressure to go through so many songs that I can come up with an opinion about someone I haven't heard before ever seven days (that's a little bit of pressure). Aiding me in this, on my left I have last.fm - for a geek about being organized, having so much information about who, what and when I've been listening to stuff is like pure heaven. On my right, I have blogger - I've just discovered the ability to post-date posts (and have them automatically published), which to me feels a little like having a time machine.

Now then. Some black folks are still mad about how Elvis Presley stole our music and made it big. I can't claim to know much about that, it was way before my time, and I've not taken the time to go back and study about that period of musical and cultural history. My appreciation for Elvis pretty much starts and stops with that remix of A Little Less Conversation; other than that, to me he just doesn't sound like someone to get excited about. I used to wonder if the reason he didn't move me was cause he's white. I mean, let's face it, there are simply some things that white folks just aren't good at, like clapping on two and four. Not that I like to perpetuate stereotypes, but this is something I've seen many a time with my own two eyes. This week I have found some white folks who clearly know what it's all about, so I'll have to lay to rest my previous theory about why Elvis ain't got no soul. Mental note: next time I see Mos Def I should ask him what he was singin' about.

Alice Russell: I can't now recall how it was I found out about this lady, but based on who she's worked with I imagine she must have found her way into my library in connection with the Quantic Soul Orchestra. I've been diggin' on those cats for a while now, and if I remember correctly I also had a solo track or to by Ms. Russell floating around. I believe I must have listened to it, but I guess I just wasn't yet in the right place to hear it. Listening to her makes me think of soul food (the slap-yo-momma kind), she's so full of life and power and emotion. She's also so incredibly vibrant she makes me think of classy sassy black ladies, or perhaps a diva who's been at this for years. Surprise! Turns out she's a white girl. Not only that, but she's from Britain. I knew they were famous for rock, but soul? Well then... shut my mouth. In light of these developments I would like to offer my profuse apologies to all the white people and specifically white girls who I ever spoke or thought ill of. In the future Iy'll even take it easy on teasing you about the clapping thing.

Alice Russell - Hurry On Now
And for further knowledge, check her out behind the scenes @ SXSW '09.

Leigh Jones: This is one currently in my brain's inbox for checking out in the immediate future, on the recommendation of one Peevee Wonder of Animate Objects. Actually, he suggested everyone google her. Me, I take that to mean I should last.fm and hypem her (I swear to Bob, if I ever hear anyone seriously use those terms as verbs I'm gonna go poke the interwebs in the eye with a big pointy stick).

Vol. 2, the indie rock mixtape challenge

2010-01-30T14:52:00.006-06:00

This is a message for the indie rock kids. Go check the short version if you're pressed for time, or if you hate jokes, or if you didn't care all that much for High Fidelity.

As Mr. T would say, any fool can make a mixtape. I can give you a few examples: I personally have seen trained seals put together decent stuff. I heard about a monkey hitting tracks at random on a laptop for an infinite amount of time with an infinite number of mp3s once creating a complete mixtape. A reasonably intelligent dog probably wouldn't do half bad. Hell, I bet even a Neanderthal who was slightly ahead of his time could do something not so terrible. That's all well and good if mediocrity gets you going, but that's not what I'm striving for. I'm a perfectionist. How 'bout a little eardrum-blowing bliss, hmm? How 'bout a mixtape that brings lots of people to my front door, trying to get into my house for merrymaking at my place. Yeah. I'll have a couple helpings of that. At least, that was how I looked at this before starting some research in preparation. There is an entire world out there that I was unaware of; I'm now trying to understand and incorporate some new ideas. I first found there exists a surprisingly lengthy wikipedia article about mixtapes, touching on history, legal issues and culture (I particularly liked the section about aesthetics... and yes... I did read the entire thing... kind of a dork that way). Going deeper, I decided I would watch High Fidelity, which expands greatly on the aesthetics aspect. Jack Black and John Cusack imbue me with a new level of energy and enthusiasm. I feel I am ready to accomplish something magical...

And so, that is why I am today issuing for myself the Indie Rock Mixtape Challenge! Here's how this party works:
1. Blab for a little bit about what you dig, in terms of genres (or sub-genres), moods, tempos, instruments, artists, actions to accompany listening, etc. If you've got no clue where to begin, you might cheat a little.
2. Armed with my trusty library of indie rock songs and a few handy last.fm tags, I create your custom mixtape of choice.
3. Listen to mixtape. Have eargasm. Rinse, repeat as necessary.

As there are now just four weeks left until the sure-to-be-awesome mixtape party, I figure it's time to get crackin'. That could be either a lot of time, or a little, depending on how demanding and complicated I decide to be. Or how distracted I get by other music, or shiny things I find on the ground, or hard drive death and its subsequent loss of data, or interesting stuff on the interwebs... Also! Still waiting on Perry, o' fearless leader, to put out the guidelines for this.

Participation, of course, is optional. If you elect not to play the game but still want a little something something I can make you a mixtape that's a bit more random and follows whatever whimsy floats through my head at the time.

PS: So entertained by the things that can be found on wiki. :-)

Wavin' bye to the train or bus

2010-01-29T17:13:00.004-06:00

Share the Road - Buses and Bicycles from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.

Woo, safety first! For me this is mostly common sense ish after nine years of transportational cycling, but still it's handy to know and nice to see. I wish Chicago would come down and visit sometime. More seriously, I wish more people in autos had the presence of mind to be aware so two-wheeled folks like me don't get runned over. Somehow that nearly happened twice (!) on my commute this morning. Baffling! It's only two miles. Takes me a whole eight minutes. And today I only used one street. And a smaller one, at that. Le sigh. As if dealing with cold snaps wasn't enough. Good thing I ride defensively.

Don't get hit by the bus mix:
DJ Trackstar - The Playboys - Bumpin Bus Stop
Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus
Bus People Express - Augusta Georgia
Rjd2 - Bus Stop Bitties
Beastie Boys - Mark on the Bus

Hmm... surprisingly funky.

Together we... will forever be... high fidelity, definitely, switching the melody

2010-01-26T23:04:00.006-06:00

Just got through watching High Fidelity. This is where I was going to jabber on for a bit about mixtapes, as the whole reason I decided to watch it is I'll be participating in an impending mixtape swap. Wanted to be fully prepared this time 'round. But hell, how can a fella even remember what he was going to say? My mind is blown after watching this thing. This movie has so much that I want, so much that I need, so much that I want to be. Sure, it's nice that it's got John Cusack, still lookin' all fresh. And yeah, it's nice when a flick has a feel-good ending. That's not what gets to me, though. As someone who likes to think of himself as an appreciator of and whose world revolves around music, the depth of knowledge, the breadth of selections and the passion bamboozles my brain. Somebody get me Nick Hornby's address so I can mail him a thank you and a giant gold star for writing the book. This one has earned a place near and dear in my heart. Now excuse me while I go watch it a dozen more times. But before I go I'd like to pose a question to the universe (or anyone out there who reads this thing):

What are your all time top five favorite movies about music?

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Now playing: Jurassic 5 - High Fidelity
via FoxyTunes

You can't imagine how much fun we're having

2010-01-26T18:05:00.006-06:00

Finding some entertaining things on the ol' interwebs this week. Which is good, considering some of the not-so-pleasant things that have also been out there lately. News coverage on Haiti and ill-advised Supreme Court decisions is gettin' me down.

The creatures in my head... Disturbing, but it's like a car wreck. I am compelled to keep looking. And it's worth it. Some of these are burst out laughing funny. I wonder what it's like in his mind, but I'm a little scared of what's in there. What does it say about me that I am so intrigued?
See Mike Draw... Apparently discontinued, but still amusing. In particular I like I is made a cartoon, as I am a lolcataholic. Hello, my name is Marcus... it's been a few months since my last cheezburger, but the temptation is always there...
Apokalips... This one's an oldie but a goodie. You had me hooked at the brilliant zombie ploy. It can't go wrong!*

*Don't be naïve, of course it will go wrong.

Lying alone in the hospital

2010-01-20T20:30:00.003-06:00

Bleh. Don't much care for hospital visits. They kinda creep me out, to be perfectly honest. Could be it's the smell. Or maybe it's the doctors. Or it's the sickness and pain and death, perhaps. And let's not forget about the bills. Whatever the case, I highly suggest avoidance of frostbite, as recovery is not nearly as much fun as we've been led to believe. Don't ask. In fact, I don't know why I'd even bother to create a mix for this. Not for the happy memories, that's for sure. I think it's because I listened to the original version of this Metric song today, for the first time. You ever hear a song that you know but don't know how you know, cause you don't know it? I feel like the universe is out to get me. Freaked me out something fierce, that's for sure. When I sat down and actually listened to this, though, that made everything better. Music takes me to a happy place. Gotta love that Candi Staton, and it's been too long since I listed to anything from Miseducation.

A playlist in two parts...
1:
Friendly Fires - In the Hospital
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Faunts - It Hurts Me All the Time
Metric - Monster Hospital (acoustic)
Bad Fathers - Hurting
Candi Staton - Too Hurt To Cry
Lauryn Hill - When It Hurts So Bad
Gentleman Auction House - A Hospital of Heaven
2:
Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
N*E*R*D - Things Are Getting Better
David Bowie - A Better Future (Air remix)
Gnarls Barkley - A Little Better
John Legend - Each Day Gets Better

To hell with the princess, I'd rather mess with Metroid

2010-01-20T08:00:00.005-06:00

Holy interweb phenom. A while back a friend clued me in on the literal music video craze that's been sweeping through youtube. Some of them are pretty much terrible, but there are a few that are nothing short of amazing. Who knew so many people still appreciated good old classic rock? Now that's love. I think my favorite, though, has to be this one. Amusing lyrics, good vocals that sound decently close to the original, and oh yes I totally dig this song. How can you not like Men Without Hats? For the other, it's getting all dramatic in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario might have to slap a ho. Enjoy.

Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance
Sage Francis - Mario Bros Freestyle
Remix Artist Collective (RAC) - Super Mario Bros (RAC mix)

Mix o' mixes

2010-01-19T23:31:00.003-06:00

As promised, here comes the Mix o' Mixtapes. Only this is gonna be a hard one. I'm all out of the mood and forgot most of the tracks I had been thinking about. Also, simultaneously listening / crafting / filtering stuff for various other mixes (as opposed to my usual method of focusing on one thing) does not make this simpler. And I really wanted to watch High Fidelity before I started this. It's a movie about mixtapes! Or mixtape culture, or something. Who cares. It's got John Cusack! He sure is dreamy. All who disagree should go watch Better Off Dead before they try and tell me different. Anyway, I'd given myself the impression that I'd seen it and thus all I needed to do was refresh my memory, but apparently I was thinking of Empire Records. Go figure. I did at least read the wiki article about mixtapes. There is WAY more going on than I ever knew. Crazy.

LL Cool J - I Can't Live Without My Radio
...cause you need your radio to play your mixtapes, duh. Let's hear it for the boomin system.
Midnight Juggernauts - This New Technology
...oh, the irony. This ain't yo momma's mixtape. CDs are the future. Er... were the future. I have a remix of this one by Memory Tapes, but while the double whammy would have been awesomely sweet I have to go for the superior version.
The Kills - Tape Song
Wyclef Jean - The Mix Show
N*E*R*D - Tape You
...hey wait, I think he's talking about a different kind of tape...

Before I can actually listen to this I've got loads of indie rock, electro, soul and Russian hip-hop (o.O?) to make my way through. Not used to this makin mixes blind thing, but sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. Guess what? I am not a robot. Reserving the right to come back and edit this later. Most likely I will, in fact, until I'm happier with this.

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Now playing: Marina & the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (acoustic)
via FoxyTunes

Guns, Cars and Sitars

2010-01-15T10:56:00.014-06:00

One day I'm gonna buy a big tv. And then across from it, I'm gonna put another big tv. And I'm gonna play these videos on each of them all day long. Won't need to watch any other car chase scenes for a good lil bit.

I promised myself that the next mix I'd try and do my would be about mixtapes (got to catch up to / outdo someone... a mix about Bea Arthur's death? Whuaah??), but this just had to be done. And it was laughable easy.

Do It For The Love... Of Destruction! mix
100dBs - The Chase
Moving Units - Crash 'n' Burn Victims (Felix Cartal remix)
Now, Now Every Children - Cars
Audioslave - Getaway Car (sometimes you just gotta go where the mix takes you)
Animate Objects - Riding (In Fast Cars With Your Momma)
DJ Shadow - Mashin' on the Motorway
Target Market - Killer Cars
Queen - I'm in Love With My Car
Dan the Automator - Theme From Don [feat. DJ Shadow]

New Music Mhursday

2010-01-14T17:48:00.011-06:00

A-whoops. Maybe if I was better at posting on a regular basis, I could do a weekly thing about what I've been diggin (or not). And it'd be all alliterative and awesome. Think about how nice that would be! But I'm just me, sooo... Mhursday it is. I'm sure it's fine, because in the words of

Florence + The Machine: I have no idea where this one came from, but girl's got a big ol' voice. It's surprising to hear that much power coming from a vocalist these days, but especially so from one so young. And who knew white British people had soul? First Amy (she may be a hot mess in her private life, but she's got pipes and you know it), then Duffy, now Flo. Been listening to her take on quite a few covers and it puts quite the interesting spin on things. A lot of those have been of the rock and indie variety, but you can tell she's into history as well. Mad respect for anyone who's into Candi Staton. I just can't. Get. Enough. Wanna hear more, know more, and maybe marry her.

Florence + The Machine - You've Got the Love (Candi Staton cover)

Eternia: This one caught my attention from Bob knows where on the interwebs. It's terribly hard to find good female emcees these days, people that have a sound that says style, a sound that says class, a sound that says this is hip-hop. And if that's what you're looking for, don't stop, cause you won't find it here. I'll give her that she's got something going for her, and I'll likely give her at least a second listen before I put her away and forget about her, but after hearing what she has to say on Get Caught Up I can't say I'm all that impressed. Certainly I can't understand why anyone would go so far as to claim Eternia is "the best female rapper alive"*, as I saw someone comment on last.fm. That's the kind of bold statement that, I feel, deserves a bit of inspection. There are a lot of subjective and hard to measure variables that could qualify one as being among the best emcees alive. To list a few: 1. A firm grasp of the four elements (if you don't know what those are, go back to hip-hop kindergarten). For that, the first that controversially comes to mind would be Fergie; I know, I know she quite possibly ruined the Black Eyed Peas, and she really went off the rails with that solo shit she pulled, but for a while there BEP was one of the rare contemporary hip-hop groups that incorporated break dancing. For that, they will always have my respect. Even if it's locked away in a time capsule from the days of their first two albums. 2. The ability to tell a compelling story that draws in the listener. When it comes to this, I have to say it's hard to be better than Brother Ali, Aesop Rock, Immortal Technique (though he will get a little too into it for my tastes), or Slug (more for the early- to mid-2000s; wasn't so much diggin on that When Life Gives You Lemons...). All of them make me feel like a little kid listening to a bedtime story that I don't want to end. The skill to lay absolutely dope verses over some fresh beats. Jean Grae, Psalm One or Lauren Hill (back when she used to be about hip-hop, before she went all crazy and came out with Unplugged) can all do this in a way that'll get the crowd jumpin. I do have to give Eternia at least some credit on this aspect; her flows and beats do not suck. But on my first listen, it didn't sound like she was talking about anything. Nor did it seem she was bringing an energy that I could connect to, and the beats started to sound a little repetitive and mechanical. Give me something original and laced with fire. Maybe I'm being a little hard on the girl, but I'm particular about my hip-hop. After all, someone's gotta stand up and make sure the world isn't overrun by a bunch of crap rappers.

Eternia - Foul Child

*Technically, she said "raper", but we'll go ahead and let that potentially tragic typo slide.

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Now playing: Black Eyed Peas - They Don't Want Music [feat. James Brown]
via FoxyTunes

I love to move in here

2009-12-30T22:49:00.003-06:00

Err... No. I don't love moving. It involves the one thing I hate more than all others: packing. Packing sucks. It means you have to go through all your crap and realize just how much junk there is to clean or throw away. And when that's done you have to take whats left and somehow manage to put it all in boxes. Ugh. What a pain. Even if you get through all that, then you have to tape all those boxes up, and don't ever (and I mean EVER) put the tape down. Cause you'll only lose it. Probably it'll wind up in a box, which you will then tape shut. Yeah, don't even try to wrap your mind around that one, it's like trying to understand an M.C. Escher painting, just know that I speak the truth. In spite of how much I hate moving, somehow I found myself doing just that a few weeks ago. The good news is, shiny new place! And while the unpacking similarly sucks, I now get to organize and find places for things, which I LOVE. You don't even know.

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Now playing: Moby - I Love To Move In Here (Holy Ghost! remix)
via FoxyTunes

Buy this car to drive to work, drive to work to pay for this car

2009-12-12T07:32:00.002-06:00

I'd like to see someone do some number crunching, myself, before I wholeheartedly accept this as fact. But still, how interesting. Might be worth a read...

"The best all-around alternative to the automobile for short trips is probably the bicycle. . . . The cyclist obtains the equivalent of 1,000 passenger-miles per gallon--noticeably better than most sub-compacts--and consumes food, not petroleum. If, following Ivan Illich's suggestion, we attribute to the automobile not only the time spent behind the steering wheel, but also all the time spent earning money to purchase, maintain, fuel, and insure a typical car, and compare that aggregate figure to an equivalent number for a bicycle, the bicycle emerges as considerably faster for all urban trips."

from Denis Hayes, Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-Petroleum
World (1977)

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Now playing: Metric - Handshakes
posted with FoxyTunes

Outta gas, still burnin (cont'd)

2009-12-06T13:46:00.003-06:00

There were none of last pot's crazy wheeled contraptions. There were other unconventional things. That, I expected. But the dinosaur, that was a surprise.

Does anybody like real music, sweet music, soul music?

2009-12-05T22:30:00.010-06:00

My name is Marcus... and I like music. Is there an anon. group out there for me, I wonder? I should check that out, maybe get some help.

I don't listen to the radio much in this modern age as finding stuff on the internets is more suitable to my schedule and attention span. Between last.fm and hype machine I really, truly do not need to spend any more of my time discovering new music. (Really. Have I mentioned the addiction?) Sometimes, though, it really comes through. The other day on KDHX I caught the sound Choklate, just a taste, but enough that I wanted to look into it further. After listening to her latest album To Whom It May Concern, I am floored by how amazing this artist is who was nowhere on my radar. For the most part she's got this neo-soul flavor thing going, but mixed in at times is a bit of hip-hop and - slightly surprising - a hint of disco. My favorite track right now is "The Tea", which reminds me of Jamiroquai's style. Makes me want to get up and dance.

And because everything is degrees of separation, I was reminded to take a second listen to one of my longtime notable favorite emcees, Chali 2na (Choklate and Chali did a little something something together). Been diggin' him since back in the J5 days, of course, and also some of his collaborations (Chali + Galactic = fantabulously zawesome, that was easily one of the all-time best shows I've been to). Somehow I hadn't paid a great deal of attention when came out with his solo work Fish Outta Water. I don't know if on his own he quite brings the depth that was standard from J5, but it's definitely worth a few listens. I should slap myself for sitting on this for so long without putting it into heavier rotation.

A little closer to home...
Loyal Family isn't a... label? Production / promo company? I don't even know how to identify them, I know so little about them. I think they may have had something to do with a music festival I went to once upon a time, and maybe with a band(s) that I'm into. Not terribly sure, though. Whatever the case, they sure seem to be getting up to a lot lately. Checking back over the blog I see quite a few quality shows that I would have loved to see, had I not been so busy having my head up my bum. That's the only inexcusable reason I can think that I missed freakin' Digable Planets comin' through town. Gah. How silly of me.

Eleven magazine, formerly dedicated to expanding the musical horizons of the Wash U set, is trying to get all big for its britches. They'll now be aiming for a wider St. Louis audience, focused predominately on indie rock, rock, hip-hop, soul and funk. Yes, please, and yes, yes, yes and yes, I will take the works. I figure more exposure of the scene can't hurt, 'specially if they're going to hit pretty much all of my favorite genres without any uninteresting dead weight. Something new to keep an eye on.

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Now playing: The Roots - Good Music
via FoxyTunes

Outta gas, still burnin

2009-12-03T18:40:00.015-06:00

I can ride my bike with no handleb... hey wait, that's no bicycle.
I've got an idea. Let's invent some stuff. But not just any stuff, mind you. I'm talking weird stuff. Let's make it so weird that it barely has a purpose, and so cumbersome that it can hardly be considered efficient. But we'll make it real expensive, so people'll feel like they HAVE to buy it. Cause people are suckers! They'll buy anything. As long as it's new, they have to have it. Having stuff, it's their drug, and I'm your pusher man. If I was making this up, it might be funny. If only, if only. But it happens to be one of those strange truths of the world, if not the thought process then at least the end result.

4. With this one, I can kind of see where the design makes some sense. Sure, you'll look like a weirdo, but a weirdo who's making the most of what he has. Now that's what I call a leg (er... arm) up on the competition.

3. If a tricycle and an elliptical bumped uglies and had a bastard love child, this is what it would look like. Congratulations, it's a... beast.

2. Just when you think you can count on the ingenuity of human-kind, someone comes along with something to screw it up. Why would you want to use some of the largest muscle groups in your body, when instead you can just go for some much smaller and weaker? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to engineered imperfection.

1. And finally this must be my favorite (to hate). If you like running, if you like complications, if you like tools that actually make your job harder and slow you down, then the treadmill bike is here for you.

Here's to hope that the weather is decent when I step outside for biking on the interstate. Figure I might as well check it out since it's right there and all. With some careful planning and placement, I could roll directly out of bed and onto the bike, I'd be practically halfway there already. Decided to go with the more legal method instead of rolling with the FBC's patented brand of crazy. It's fun times, but it was too cold and wet for me. And I didn't know they would have fire on a bike trailer. Couldn't have guessed that one. Live and learn.

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Now playing: DJ Shadow - Mashin' on the Motorway
via FoxyTunes

Whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not

2009-11-26T23:42:00.002-06:00

What do you know? You don't know nothin'.

It so happens that I love blowin' up people's perceptions, expectations and assumptions. Today, that means putting away way more food than anyone would guess I possibly could based on the way I look. While the rest of my family was finishing up dinner and thinking about what to have for dessert, I went back and had more dinner for dessert. My aunt was all "whuh... again? Seriously? Where's he going to put all that, I wonder?" And I was like "yes, the wiry guy IS cleaning off two plates of food back-to-back, booyah." Life was fat, happy and thankful. Then I had to go sit down for awhile, and explode. And then I had dessert for reals; the infamous rum cake so drenched in liquor you get tipsy on the fumes alone + some unidentified yet terribly tasty oatmeal thing. Gotta figure out some sweet, sweet talk to get someone to pass those recipes along to me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - Still Take You Home
via FoxyTunes

Dreams, dreams, I wonder if you have the same dreams too

2009-11-20T07:57:00.003-06:00

I've got to be more careful about what I do / think about / eat before I fall asleep. For starters, let's make a rule of no more chili at bedtime. Even if it is super tasty. Probably a good all-around quality of life thing, that one.

Last night I dreamed about an island. There were a bunch of frogs who ate some people. Or... maybe that was a movie I never saw called Frogs. But last night I did have a dream about an island - one of those pretty tropical ones - that involved a primitive level of technology, except we did have a turntable for spinnin' records, a pretty girl that in typical fashion I was afraid to talk to, and, most notably, an ornery shark. I'm afraid of sharks, but only in a water situation. If I saw a shark on the street, I'd be like, "WHAT. Eff you! You effing shark." And there'd probably be some posturing and collar popping involved. Or... maybe that was a joke I heard called Personal Information Waltz. But there was a shark, and I fought it, and I'm pretty sure I won. He was all "I'm on yur island, takin over yur beech and chompin at you with mah teef" (cause sharks talk just like lolcats, I'm pretty sure), but I whacked him with a log until I emerged the victor. I wonder if this whole dream came about because last night while digging through boxes I found a 1991 Escape to Paradise calendar? I've no clue why I have the thing, or where it came from. Note to self: Stop. Having. So much crap. I also found a book about airplanes and two Life magazines from 1986 & '88. Tally ho. Time to get rid of much junk.

...and something found amongst the leftovers was another scarily weird dream I had...
Individuals with super powers. Most of the cast of The View. Joy Behar belching, loudly.
I don't even wanna know what it means.
I can't remember at this point what all the super power stuff was about, but I do recall that Joy Behar's belching disturbed me greatly.

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Now playing: Lily Allen - Littlest Things
via FoxyTunes

Do lawyers have lawyers? Do landlords have landlords?

2009-10-22T17:55:00.005-05:00

Twenty-first century things that are NOT VERBS: facebook, friend, google. And if you try to tell me that they are, I'll fight you.

Things that are tasty: [Last week] country-fried chicken with a hint of cayenne pepper, brown rice, steam vegetables, fried potatoes. [Now] pork loin and vegetable stir-fry (marinated with apples & applesauce*, hoisin, teriyaki and honey). [Later, maybe] Chocolate chip & coconut cookies. (Though I would like to say for the record that chocolate chips are possibly the work of Satan. It's the only explanation for chocolate that doesn't melt when you put it in an oven. And yet it does when it gets on your hands. Does that seem right to you?) Nom om om...

*Adapted my banana bread recipe to make a vegan loaf for a friend last week. Applesauce works as a substitute for eggs, see. I don't think I've ever eaten applesauce in my life, which is probably why I wandered the store like a little lost child trying to find it. Since most of it's left, figure I gotta find something to do with it.

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Now playing: Metric - The List
via FoxyTunes

Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies

2009-10-08T10:24:00.003-05:00

This weekend I took a few friends camping trying to get my outdoorsy fix in before the fall temps came on (and didn't quite make it... brrr). Somehow it worked out that I did all the planning / prep / cooking for out meals. Fine by me, though I would have worried a little and made an effort to be more prepared had I known I'd have such responsibility. It all more or less worked out in the end, so no big. Personally I didn't think I did anything all that special, but it's been said that what I made was "extravagant camping food." For breakfast, there was banana walnut pancakes, which I swear is easy like falling out of bed: pancake mix, walnuts, bananas. Look at that! You're done. Just don't forget the spatula like I did. You might have to make do with an ice scraper scavenged from the car. How traumatizing. Dinner was a bit more involved. I have a long standing tradition of eating Zatarain's over the course of a trip when I go camping and that was something I wanted to continue, but this time I elected to try my hand at making something from scratch. I settled on a recipe for chicken and sausage beer jambalaya that I found online that I then played with a bit (enough that I felt the need to re-write it when I got home). I got a decent amount of compliments, so I guess I did pretty good. Near as I can remember this is the way it went down:

Chicken and Sausage Beer Jambalaya

~1 lb chicken breasts, diced
~1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
~1/2 bell pepper, chopped
~5 stalks celery, chopped
~1 large white onion, chopped
~2 cloves garlic, minced
~1/4 cup vegetable oil
~2 cups white rice
~2 1/2 cups water
~1 1/2 cups (12oz) beer
~1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
~1 teaspoon thyme
~a handful of chopped parsley
~salt to taste
~lots of cayenne pepper
~flour to coat chicken

Start off by cutting up the chicken into appropriately-sized pieces. Place the flour in a plastic storage container (season the flour with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, cajun spice, etc). Add the chicken to coat. Vary the amount of cayenne pepper to suit your tastes. This is the sole source of heat you are going to add and it will cook into the rest of the dish some, but be careful as it will carry further than you might think. Heat the oil in the bottom of a large skillet. Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. Set aside. Now place the onions, celery, garlic and bellpepper into a large pot along with a bit of oil and saute them until the onions are transparent, scraping the bottom of the pot often. Add the rosemary, thyme and parsley and cook for a minute or so. Place the sausage slices, chicken, and a little water into the pot and mix well with the vegetables. Add the rice, beer and water to the pot and stir until it comes to a boil. Taste it at this point and adjust the salt if necessary. Turn heat low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes (until the rice is tender). Stir the mixture frequently, always scraping the bottom to keep things from burning (break the chicken up a bit with the spatula as it cooks. It should break up naturally as the dish cooks, but this just helps things a little).

And the original inspiration.

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Now playing: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Road Trippin'
via FoxyTunes

Put on your red shoes and dance the blues

2009-10-06T07:18:00.002-05:00

Every time my absent-minded professor of a roommate forgets or misplaces something, I wonder to myself if he'd lose his head if it weren't attached. And then I think about those puppets from the Labyrinth with the detachable body parts (Ed: our crack research team turns up the information that they're known as the Fire Gang). The moral of the story: as he forgets things on a nearly daily basis, I spend an awful lot of time thinking about crazy puppets. And David Bowie. Is that weird? I submit that it is le awesome.

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Now playing: David Bowie - Let's Dance
via FoxyTunes

You think my life's a dream, I'm dreaming my life away

2009-09-28T14:11:00.003-05:00

Where is the line that distinguishes between a dream and a nightmare? I suppose it's a relative thing depending on the individual. Many of mine I find to be rather strange and sometimes also a little frightening, but what's perhaps the most odd is the things that do and do not scare me. The other week I was starting off on a zombie craze - sparked by a discussion about what would happen if it was zombies versus vampires, then fueled by hearing about Zombie Squad going out to see Zombieland this Thursday - and I had a dream that the zombiepocalypse had come. One might think an army of the undead wanting to eat my brains would cause at least a little tossing and turning, but I slept like a baby. Didn't even work up a sweat, and I survived, for those keeping score at home. But then last night I had a dream I'd grown a neckbeard. It was this big, horrendous looking scraggly thing, and I had this sudden realization that it was there... living underneath my face, maybe trying to control my brain... definitely cause people to look at me, judge me, laugh at me. Now, I'm not one to get so hung up on what others think of my style, but beards are something I take very seriously. In a way I feel it defines something of what a man is all about. Furthermore, I'm terribly attached to mine; other than one minor shaving mishap that resulted in partially taking it off in order to even things out, I haven't seen my entire face since before puberty. It is thus that I've attained my untouchable status as the only surviving member of the beard clique. (Once you shave, you're out. Forever. Might as well be dead.) I woke up before things were resolved, but I do remember there was a frantic search for anything that would rid me of the monstrosity. Think I'll make sure I'm well stocked on shaving gel and razors, and keep a close eye on things for a while.

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Now playing: Cut Copy - A Dream
via FoxyTunes

Bicycle races are coming your way

2009-08-11T22:20:00.006-05:00

A-whoops. Don't know for sure that I can do either of these, or if I want to, but here's the haps on cycling things coming up this weekend.

First up, on Saturday we have the World Naked Bike Ride. I'm torn between making a reference here to "Naked in the Rain" or "Naked Pictures (of Your Mother)". Oh, can't decide... can't decide! I love how easily my life has a soundtrack for everything. For the low, low cost of no dollars you'll get the chance to ride and make friends with all of the crazily dressed and non-dressed cyclists of St. Louis. The pre-ride party kicks off at Black Bear Bakery @ 7p; the ride itself @ 9p.

Following that, on Sunday there is the Urban Assault Ride to benefit Trailnet and Bicycle Works. Registration is still open for this scavenger hunt & obstacle course shin-dig for those folks willing to plunk down $65. For those not, I'm sure it's a spectacle worth seeing. I envision something like kooky Japanese gameshows come to life right before my eyes, and I would like to say that I am a full supporter of bike jousting in the case of it involving someone other than me. The fun starts in Forest Park near the tennis courts @ 9a, with assorted checkpoints scattered throughout the city.

Like I say I'm not sure that I can do either of these, my plans for the weekend are pretty up in the air, but if anyone goes there's a possibility I may show up and bump into you. In other developments, there are a couple more cycling things in the pipeline, which I will get to later.

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Now playing: Queen - Bicycle Race
via FoxyTunes

Please keep quiet and don't spoil the ending

2009-08-05T19:44:00.003-05:00

I just watched The Search for Spock, and the question in my mind is: what's the big deal? This is what the trekkies are gettin all worked up about? I mean, sure, we get to watch Leonard Nimoy kicking out the jams. Sure, there's the whole William Shatner versus Christopher Lloyd (spoiler alert!) battle to the death. I for one am all about the celebrity versus celebrity battles in films, my personal favorite being the time when Bruce Lee KILLS Chuck Norris. And I did dig seeing that time-traveling, taxi-driving, toon-murdering bastardo get what's coming to him. (And ol' Billy gave him what for, too. If you haven't seen it yet and I ruined it for you... too bad. It's twenty-five years old. Get with it.) But on the whole I felt it a waste. An angry planet as a plot device? Please.

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Now playing: The Aquabats - Stuck in a Movie
via FoxyTunes

...hands in the air like it's good to be alive

2009-08-04T21:07:00.006-05:00

In other cycling developments, an assortment of things I've seen lately that I think are worth sharing:

#1
ARTCRANK...
Saturday, August 29 @ someplace or another (trying to figure out exactly where and when)
...is a showcase of bicycle-inspired original, affordable poster artwork. It's a bike art party open to all, with free admission. And posters are priced to let everybody go home with at least one original work of art. ARTCRANK has held packed shows for the past three years in Minneapolis, and the first-ever show in Denver this year was a huge success. Now, it's coming to St. Louis.
ARTCRANK St. Louis will be a one-night event featuring original poster artwork created by St. Louis area artists and designers. The event is scheduled just before the start of the Tour of Missouri, so excitement about cycling and bikes will be at a peak. All we need is a group of talented and motivated artists to create bicycle-themed poster art.

#2
What: “Spoked!” - A Juried Art Exhibition
When: Opening Reception (public invited): Friday, September 4, 2009 - 7 to 10 pm
Encore Viewing Party (public invited): Saturday, September 5, 2009 - 7 to 10 pm
Tour of Missouri Race & Special Events (public invited): Monday, September 7, 2009 - 12 to 6 pm
Exhibition: Through Friday, October 2, 2009
Where: Soulard Art Market & Contemporary Gallery
2028 S. 12th Street, Saint Louis, MO 63104
(Corner of 12th and Russell, across from McGurk’s Pub)

www.SoulardArtMarket.com

Admission is free. Refreshments will be provided, featuring Schlafly beer.

Working in conjunction with the Tour of Missouri, which is a world-class cycling event, we are proud to announce our exhibition “Spoked”. We sought out bicycle themed artworks from some of the area’s most talented and respected artists for inclusion in our show. Our gallery is on the race route and we have special hours and events planned that are sure to draw a crowd. The eyes of the world will be looking our way and we’re gearing up for the liveliest show this town has seen. Get stoked about Spoked!

#3 Sometimes people are so effing awesome that I never get tired of watching in amazement. Moving house via pedal power.

#4 Safety first

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Now playing: Flobots - Handlebars
via FoxyTunes

No Handlebars

2009-08-04T19:52:00.011-05:00

Official deets for the Big Lebowski Ride

Step 1 - Meet @ Pat's (6400 Oakland) at 6:30 for pre-ride food and beverages. An alternate meeting spot will be Turtle Park for anyone more inclined to hang out outside.
Step 1.1 - Be there with bells on. Come dressed as your favorite Big Lebowski character or in your best bowling wear, cause there's a prize for best costume.
Step 2 - Roll out at 7:30. Ride to the Old Post Office Plaza, with sights including the Meeting of the Waters fountain and the City Garden. On my own, I do like to do a pretty healthy pace. And I'll be honest, for me "healthy" usually is "as fast as I can, and what's all this nonsense about 'pacing yourself' actually mean, anyway?" If you cannot ride at said pace, I would suggest doing it peloton style. If you cannot ride at said pace even while drafting (and it does make a huge difference), or are too worried about crashing to ride that close, I would point out the more beer I find myself drinking, the slower I will be. All that said, I'm not planning to go nuts and I'll make sure that we don't drop anyone. Don't be scurred.
Step 3 (and this is the part I figure we'll play by ear the night of)
Option 1 (13ish miles) - Return from whence we came. Also known as the "no fun option". But hey, that's just me.
Option 2 (13ish miles) - Head over to Washington Avenue for bowling @ Flamingo. Word on the street is they have $2 White Russians and bowling games.
Option 3 - Option 3 is dead. Le sigh. And I was really looking forward to the dancing like no one is watching, too. The floor is now open to awesome suggestions for an alternate. My first thought is Atomic Cowboy, where my boy DJ Uptown spins hip-hop and there's no cover.

Things to bring:
~Lights, head & tail
~Lock
~Sumthin comfy yet portable to sit on
~Snacks & drinks, if that's your thing (but no glass bottles)
~Helmet (this is a recommendation, but I'm nobody's daddy)
~Camera ('specially if you know where its charger is)
~Lots o' water (weather dot com says it's balls hot)

If there's anything I've forgotten, I'll come back and post it here.

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Now playing: Flobots - Handlebars (DJ Shadow remix)
via FoxyTunes

Mental notes

2009-07-28T01:33:00.002-05:00

Dear Self,

Please do not lock yourself outside at 12:30 in the morning with no one home to let you in. Especially not if you're decked out in cycling clothes for a midnight ride because, while aerodynamics and moisture wicking are great qualities, you will look like a bit of a weirdo if anyone sees you standing out there like a little lost puppy. In any case, we are not a fan of breaking into our own apartment.

Sincerely yours,

Marcus

Birds... crashing into my window?

2009-07-26T18:14:00.002-05:00

Not that I needed yet another way for the the interweb to take up more of my time with new music, but alas, I have found one. It's not my fault! There is but one person who is entirely (in my mind) to blame for pushing this on me. (Er... maybe it was more of a nudge, really.) .: shakes fist :.

Introducing: Marcus @ last.fm

Also, wtf is with birds banging into my window?
Do not like. Is creepy. Life does not need to resemble Alfred Hitchcock, thanks.

Personal Information Waltz

2009-07-22T12:30:00.005-05:00

"Whenever something good happens to me, I wait two weeks before I tell anybody, because I like to use the word 'fortnight'"
-Demetri Martin

Jokes are funny and sometimes can be used as an excuse, but if you want the truth I was just too lazy to write this post right away. I wanted to, but time gets away from you... And then it was too late to write about it so many days after the fact (is it weird that I'm embarrassed at the thought of tardy postings?), and I wasn't sure what to do, but then I remembered this joke. "Aha!" I thought to myself, "I don't have to admit to laziness! I can claim that I was just waiting." Demetri Martin saves the day. It's kind of like having a time machine.

Two weeks ago I went to check out a show at the Firebird. Indie rock and ice cream? Yeah, I'll take some of that. There were four bands on the bill, two I'd never heard of, one I knew in name and online listening only, and lastly one I'd seen a while back and remembered enjoying. In no particular order...

~Opening the show we're The Dive Poets. I have a friend who is married to one of these guys and she'd invited me to one of their previous shows, but upon first listen it didn't sound like my cup of tea. It came across as a little more country, and while I will listen to it in small doses it's not exactly something that gets me excited. Boy was I wrong. They were surprisingly upbeat and danceable and far less country than I thought. Wouldn't know how to describe their style as all I have are two week old memories (they don't have an album out for me to buy... jerks), but it was good. Still kicking myself for skipping the last one. Most def gonna have to check them out again.
~The Tight White Pants Band. Oops, I mean Via Dove. Can't say I enjoyed them much. They were fairly decent musicians... I think. I was a little distracted, cause their pants were so tight, and so white. Hard to focus on anything else. I found myself wondering if they knew they were at an indie rock show. Or if they knew what indie rock actually is. I might have liked them say ten or so years ago, but now something this heavy and angry just makes me feel old. And that's all I've got to say about that.
~Elsinore was the band I've seen before, and they did not disappoint. I didn't know if I should be more entertained by their music, or the witty comebacks the lead singer had for every random thing yelled at the stage by someone in the audience.
~Finally, the band of the evening has to be Lost in the Trees. I wish I could put them in my pocket and carry them around with me. Unfortunately that would never, ever work, cause this was the biggest damn indie band I've ever seen. A guy on the drums? No surprise there. A guy with a guitar? Typical. But that's where any resemblance to your usual group stopped, and what started was almost like high school band just kept on going. There were xylophones, and horns, and a string section. There were instruments I didn't even recognize and had to look up when I got home. There were so many of them that they have to travel in a school bus. I didn't know where to look or what to listen to. I'd be watching the lead singer, when suddenly the brass would hit like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the stomach. (I'm being overly dramatic, but seriously, you could feel it.) I'd notice the cellos and violins were still there, and then they'd just go nuts, bows were flying over the strings like mad. And just who writes music like that these days, anyway? It's nothing so simple as a melody and a bass line with some lyrics sprinkled on top. With this many things going on the music has to be arranged; as it turns out, the lead singer just so happens to be a composer. Apparently he decided an unusual indie band was the way to go. Needless to say I was impressed. I'd go see them again, if only they weren't from North Carolina... le sigh. Bought their album and have been listening to it the last couple weeks; it's good, and it's growing on me, but it just can't do them justice.

Lost in the Trees @ last.fm
The Dive Poets @ myspace
Elsinore @ last.fm

Zoooom!

2009-07-18T18:12:00.002-05:00

I love the feeling you get from being out biking, checking to see how fast you're going, checking to see what the limit is, and realizing that yup, you are speeding.
Life rocks.

Adventures in Cooking

2009-07-13T08:02:00.002-05:00

This one time, I had a revelation. I'd known for years that I like to eat. I've long since gotten over that childhood thing where I worried about what I was eating and would be terribly picky about it. Mostly I think of this as a good thing, though it has led to some... interesting situations. Like when I ate some casserole thing that had yet to be baked. And then went back to have another serving. Little embarrassing, that one. Still haven't quite lived it down. Anywho, what occurred to me is the relationship that eating has with cooking: if I learn to cook, that will increase the number of tasty things I get to eat! Don't know why it took me so long to think of that one. There are a couple things I cook fairly often, my specialty being a stir-fry so mean that it will beat you up and call you names. Last night I found myself in the mood to try something new. I think that was helped by recently having had some raspberries forced on me. I dig fruit, but I don't believe I've ever had them before. I only agreed because I promised myself I'd come up with something cool to do with them. Standing in my kitchen I decided that pork chops would be the way to go for this little experiment, so I proceed to look around for some interesting recipes. Now, here's the thing about me - while I feel that I am perfectly capable as an adult at following instructions, I find that I oftentimes don't. I notice I'll do this thing where I'll find two recipes that look promising, and then I will follow neither of them. Instead I'll do a mashup, flipping back and forth between them as I go, and also will just make up some parts based on how I feel. In the past it's turned out surprisingly well considering my lack of cooking experience, which weirds me out a lil bit to be perfectly honest. Don't entirely understand how my luck can continue to be so good. Clearly I don't know what I'm doing, and sometimes I don't even bother to measure the ingredients. Yet it all came together last night turning out to be a success of delicious proportions. Enough yapping, guess I'd better make a note of what I did before I forget.

Ingredients:
about 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
about 1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
about 1/4 teaspoon salt
about 1/4 teaspoon pepper
(I was surprised to actually find all these things in my house, as I don't buy herbs.)
2 boneless pork rib chops
a little bit of butter
about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
about 1/4 cup apple cherry juice
some unsweetened raspberries
somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
about 1 tablespoon flour (the recipe called for cornstarch, I think to get the sauce to thicken, but it's not something I keep on hand)

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine crushed thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Rub evenly over pork chops. Melt butter and olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook pork chops for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, turning once.

Mash raspberries with the back of a spoon. In a second skillet, combine raspberries, juice and butter. Bring to a boil over low heat, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is reduced to desired consistency. Spoon sauce over pork chops.

I served it with brown rice and steamed broccoli. And then having way more raspberry sauce than I needed, I saved the rest to put on top of the coconut walnut brownies I made for dessert. Nom om om om. Now to figure out what I can do for next time with the raspberries I didn't use. Maybe a marinated chicken stir-fry...