Listen: Podcast Apology

My sister is still in town so I'm otherwise indisposed to do normal things and meet normal obligations. That is why I've got no podcast ready for you this morning. It'll be ready Tuesday night, don't you fret. I may be late, but that's no excuse to forget the whole bloody operation.

In the meantime, I've got a few tunes to hold you over. In 1995, Sonic Youth release Washing Machine. The last track, "The Diamond Sea (mp3)", ran 19 minutes and 37 seconds. I listened to it again and again in middle school, struck dumb with the realization that not all songs had to be three and a half minutes long. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently covered "Diamond Sea (mp3)" for an acoustic iTunes session. Both are splendid. Make a list! Compare and contrast! Share with your friends!

Shallow Shoe Gaze

Last night, while waiting in line for a Michel Gondry opening, Shavonne drank in the rich tapestry of art hipsters. There was a negligible difference between them and this weekend's indie rock hipsters, but for the keen observer there is some variation. What are the contributing factors? Money? Passion? Borough preference? Who knows less about that which they feign expertise? Who is sobbing harder on the inside? Which precious community will win our hearts and minds?

Busy Bee

Shavonne and I have watched an obscene number of movies the past few days. During one of them, we began making predictions about which minority supporting character was most likely to die. Last night, we played the same game while watching (a disappointing) Akeelah and the Bee. Shortly after the Latino character announced his romantic intentions to Akeelah:

Shavonne: If any one dies in this movie, it's gonna be Javier. Or maybe anyone in Akeelah's family.
Steven: [laughs]

Cadbury and Tween Genocide

I left the office to grab a bit of chocolate so the last two hours of the work day would be bearable. All of the delis and bodegas were glutted with teenage girls. A lot of people milling about isn't a rarity. But when they are all sporting acne, braces, backpacks and poorly advised, stripe-y, goth-y leggings on their arms, you realize something is amiss. Fucking public school opened for bidness on Tuesday, so I've got a chief suspect and I can officially turn in my sleuthing credentials.

Fucking school-aged twats. Thank god for Dairy Milk:

the BENEFITS of chocolate...

Enjoying chocolate as part of a balanced lifestyle can play a part in making people feel calmer , more relaxed and generally happier. Chocolate gives us an emotional boost, which triggers similar 'good feelings' to those we experience when listening to music, or being in love!

Delicious AND pseudoscientific! Thanks for encasing the technical bit in speech marks, Cadbury Bureau of Chocoscovery! I'll take one cocoa handjob and some 'good feelings' please!

Linkology: 09.05.06

* Pubic hair panties
* Banksy pwns Paris Hilton
* 16 buildings simultaneously demolished (YouTube)
* Artificial skeletons of cartoon characters
* German sex-ed book with creepy illustrations of birth
* Keith Olbermann pwns Rumsfeld
* Fight off Teletubbies with a chainsaw
* Adam Stennett's mouse art
* Online petitioners are trying to get Nike to make Marty McFly's self-lacing kicks (YouTube)
* Two tourists sneak onto unguarded "Lost" set
* Charm City Cakes is the focus of the Food Network's excellent show "Ace of Cakes"
* Noah Kalina took a picture of himself every day for six years (YouTube)
* Adorable panda sneeze (YouTube)
* Amazing libraries around the world (Trinity College in Dublin makes me horny)
* Dude wears 121 t-shirts to break world record
* Guide to electronic music

Listen: Podcast, no9

My sister is in town so I'm a little late with this one. Lucky for me, it's a holiday weekend, so I'm hoping none of you noticed. Shavonne jumped on the mic and helped me out and for that I am grateful. Even if she did rock this shit in her jammies and a mouth guard.

“Love Me or Hate Me” by Lady Sovereign
“Holland, 1945” by Neutral Milk Hotel
“Paris 1919” by John Cale
“Notorious” by Turbulence
“Atlantis to Interzone” by The Klaxons
“Feelin’ Good Again” by Robert Earl Keen
“Hoppipolla” by Sigur Ros
“We Feel Safer at Night” by Takka Takka
“Rollin’ and Tumblin’” by Bob Dylan
“Grey Cell Green” by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
“Nightswimming” by REM
“Get Myself Into It” by The Rapture
“Bump” by Spank Rock

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode nine:

no9 :: Clive Owen Is Hot, Spank Rock Spanks

Here's some links that I mentioned in this episode:

* McCarren Pool Parties
* Wikipedia entry on "chav"
* Wikipedia on Rastafari Movement
* "Children of Men" trailer
* New Yorker article about the difficulty of interviewing Bob Dylan

That's it for episode nine. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in next week.

Zoinks!

I've made 100 posts on this temporary blog. I gotta get my act together. I am working on a re-design for the "design" section of the site. So the blog is, like, an October thing. Hagurgle.

Yesterday, Dubbs and I were bored so I decided to see if the Klan has a website. Yeah. But, news of all news, there's a White Nationalist Internet chat show.

Cracker: Fucking immigrants!
Honky: The borders!
Cracker: Let's eat to the point of discomfort!
Honky: Fat...

We were bummed that the hosts ended up sounding like your run-of-the-mill Neo-Con pundit. We expected more ludicrous, overt racism. Saved by the Emmy's. Schmageggy.

Listen: Podcast, no8

Rick Rubin! Rick Rubin! Rick Rubin! An abbreviated, spotty, grossly inadequate career retrospective of America's greatest producer of the last 20 years. We got old school hip hop, we got metal, we got country, we got pop. Rick Rubin does it all. Meditate on these tracks, motherfucker:

"Rock the Bells" by LL Cool J
"Brass Monkey" by The Beastie Boys
"Raising Hell" by Run-D.M.C.
"Postmortem" by Slayer
"Wildflowers" by Tom Petty
"Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine
"Toxicity" by System of a Down
"Inertiatic Esp" by Mars Volta
"99 Problems" by Jay-Z
"Beverly Hills" by Weezer
"Delirious Love" by Neil Diamond
"The Long Way Around" by The Dixie Chicks
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode eight:

no8 :: Rick Rubin! Rick Rubin! Rick Rubin!

Here's some Rick Rubin ephemra that I mentioned in this episode:

* Rick Rubin on Wikipedia
* "The 'Song Doctor' Is In", a Washington Post article about Rubin
* American Recordings website
* Video (YouTube) for Spank Rock's "Rick Rubin"

That's it for episode eight. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in two weeks from now!

Bear Lake Photos

I've uploaded some Bear Lake photographs to my flickr photostream. A side-by-side comparison would likely reveal a great degree of similarity to last year's offering.

Linkology: 08.23.06

* David Brent's Microsoft UK training videos
* Awesome Japanese game show "Silent Library"
* Steal This Film, a documentary about Swedish piracy
* Six horrifying parasites
* Gigantic yellow jacket nests in Alabama
* 10,000 reasons civilization is doomed
* NY Times discusses pedophilia online (1,2)

Oaxaca Photos

I've finally uploaded the best of my Oaxaca photos to flickr. They are available for your perusal. A few of them have comments, so if you see a white-bordered rectangle on top of the picture, roll your cursor over it for additional information.

My Oaxaca photo album.
Shavonne's Oaxaca photo album.
Sharis' photostream.

I also compiled my photographs of protest graffiti around the Zocalo. The photos and a brief explanation are available here.

Ogre Battle

How has this gem (YouTube) escaped my attention for so long? Thank you Internet Gods, I am your grateful servant.

Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Sleep!

Listen: Podcast, no7

We love podcasts, yes we do! We love podcasts, how 'bout you? Listen as I thrill you with my ability to fill out a vague online survey for a German graduate student. The tracks:

"Digital" by Joy Division
"The Only Answer" by Mike Doughty
"Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups
"Lights Off" by Mason Proper
"Angels and Darlas" by Say Hi To Your Mom
"Long Distance Call" by Phoenix
"Smiley Faces" by Gnarls Barkley
"Store Bought Bones" by The Raconteurs
"Days" by Bears
"Truth No. 2" by Dixie Chicks
"Why Are You Looking Grave?" by Mew
"Faster Gun" by The Wrens
"Breathe" by Alexi Murdoch
"She's Lost Control" by Joy Division

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode seven:

no7 :: Which Proves My Point: Germans Love Podcasting

Here are a few links which I mentioned in this episode:

* Video for "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley
* Video for "Smiley Faces" by Gnarls Barkley
* Video for "Steady As She Goes" by The Raconteurs

That's it for episode seBen. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in two weeks from now!

Linkology: 08.18.06

*I fucking love Samuel L. Jackson
* Mexican fishermen found after drifting at sea for a year
* Lullaby versions of alt.rock for hipster babies
* Awesome Wired profile of The Pirate Bay
* Temporary Wolverine claw piercing
* Top 10 Grossest Candies
* Tiny animals on fingers
* Derelict London

Uneasy Updates

Last night's Kid Dervin show went down a storm. I love/hate it when the blackout catches you out, your head still full of ideas and initiations, b'c it typically signifies a good show. Plus, I got a chance to propogate my favorite anti-feminist myth: women's vaginas are pared down Sarlacc pits.

Also, I saw that pedo on the train again this morning. The "candy day" guy. He was alone, but he did look up from his NY Post when a gaggle of six year olds on a field trip boarded our carriage.

Casa Del Improv

So much of blogging is letting someone do the dirty work for you. Some other guy types something and you just link to it. Bam! Instant content. This was copied from Brendan:

Tonight, at Under St. Marks, Kid Dervin and Penny will be hosting the Casa del Improv, featuring Scotchatory Tape and Rubella.

If you're in NYC and can make it, that would be awesome!

Tonight August 16th, 8:00 PM
Under St. Marks Theater
94 St. Marks Place (btwn. Ave A and 1st Ave.)
$5 admission

I'm lazy. But that shouldn't stop you from watching us do some make-'em-ups. I think we'll be on at roughly 8:30.

Dan Savage, We Salute You

In case you doubted the mettle of America's greatest sex advice columnist:

Okay, okay, I get it. So I'm back at work, sitting in a cozy bar, sifting through a gigabyte or two of email, sipping fine tequila. Now before anyone lectures me about advising under the influence, please note that writing an advice column is a lot like bowling: Not only can you do it drunk, you're probably better at it drunk. My good friend Miss Manners won't even look at her keyboard until she's ripped to the tits. And Abigail Van Buren II? Her assistant has to leave a trail of shot glasses full of Grand Marnier from her bed to her desk in order to get that crazy bitch to bang out a column.

Anyway, to the mail!

Stars Hollow Welcomes You

During my vacation I began each day in a pleasant mood, a startling achievement for a notorious night owl. Whether I was in Mexico or Michigan there was always something fresh to eat and the smiles of someone I love to greet me. The days were filled with potential, either of an adventurous or lazy nature.

In New York I'm surrounded by assholes on the train, screaming and crying at a volume that is unforgivable in the morning. In the absence of a hot meal, I can at least look forward to an over-priced cup of coffee. And the morning is brightened by a single, muted beacon of hope: an ad for the upcoming season of Gilmore Girls that adorns the phone booth in front of my office building, with it's smiling mug shot of Lauren Graham. Fuck Calgon! Lorelai Gilmore, take me away.

Listen: Podcast, no6

I'm back from my vacation and my podcast hiatus. Even when it's a day late, "Pleasing To Your Ears" blows doors down. I will not be abated. The tracks come courtesy of my Top Overall Artists on Last.FM. The tracks:

“The Fallen” by Franz Ferdinand
“Dead Disco” by Metric
"Dancing Shoes" by Arctic Monkeys
"Hotel Expressionism" by The Streets
"6' 1"" by Liz Phair
"A Get Together To Tear It Apart" by The Hives
"All Alone" by Gorillaz
"Young Americans" by David Bowie
"Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" by Wolf Parade
"The Cemetery" by Architecture in Helsinki
"Lord, Send Me An Angel" by The White Stripes
"Like Eating Glass" by Bloc Party
"Everything Is Alright" by Motion City Soundtrack
"I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say" by The Subways
"Punchlines" by Mates of State
"Power of Love" by Huey Lewis

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode five:

no6 :: Top Overall Apologies and Artists

Also, here is the link to my Last.FM page. You should sign up. It's ill as shit.

That's it for episode seis. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in two weeks from now!

Back

Back.

Photos and poorly-planned podcast to follow.

Kid Dervin show this Wednesday.

Not a very friendly link. I'll remind you later in a more suitable fashion.