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thursday, may 31, 2001
... and, after sending record-store-hating holly and nate on a red herring trip to daffy's, a whole bunch of compact discs. what else...found my local community garden open for the first time...
... renewed my determination to finish "infinite jest," saw a few local bands at the ridiculously convenient mercury lounge, plus the only event that warranted a mention in the ol' datebook (drum roll please)... rhett miller! this show was a little more folky than usual, i would say. here's a setlist. i must say rhett did not play my favorite songs on this night, so i decided to let him have the pleasure of my company backstage after the show. he actually leapt to his feet when i appeared. i have a picture of us which shall be distributed on a need-to-know basis. there is this, though, for public consumption:
oh! but i must say that more even than rhett, i was blown away by this cute little brooklyn kid, ben kweller. he's like a young beck. looks about 12, plays his heart out on the acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica...such catchy little ditties! and such huggy love between him and rhett! i even bought his CD, which contains a radically great reworking of a particular vanilla ice hit. and his website is so very cute, too. this is him:
without punctuation, all is chaos. this corner of the universe, you see, desperately needs a slash:
weirdness on the subway platform the other morning: above the new david byrne on the headphones, i hear a sonorous voice talking sort of preacher-style. i locate the source, a normal-looking guy with a rolled knit cap and a leather jacket with a fake-fur collar, and hear "a real man doesn't need women....women [blah blah blah, miss this part] ... spawn." at once amused and angry, i glance around and several women are giving him the evil eye. i turned down the volume to listen more, because how often do you hear this kind of vitriolic hatred of an entire gender? and if this guy is going to the trouble of publicly espousing his views i might as well listen, at least for a second, and give him the evil eye too (or maybe the finger), even if it does make me feel strangely vulnerable. but he moved down the platform and i couldn't hear any more, and once he got on the train he shut up. i was kind of disappointed. but my thirst for deviant viewpoints was satisfied somewhat when i got to the broadway-lafayette station. apparently someone worships a being called Big D:
thursday, may 24, 2001 who's your inner rock star? it said mine was britney spears, and i was horrified, so i went back and changed some answers; now it's bjork and i feel much, much better. pretty stunning news from washington, huh? ange is talking about lobster rolls and now i'm dying for one, having only on my recent trip to cape cod been introduced to their existence. a new mayonnaise-based salad is enough to rock my world, oh yes. as president of the unofficial nyc old 97s fan club, i must urge all existing and potential members to make your reservations now (if you have not already done so) for the rhett miller show at fez on monday, because it will sell out, and you will be sorry. which reminds me: i have an extra ticket for the placebo/idlewild show that night at irving plaza (rhett miller trumps british glam-rock and, though less decisively, scottish pop-punk). if you want it, speak. this is a funny story on the words that are banned at certain magazines. if i were editor in chief i would ban "moniker" (ugh!), "equal parts [x and y]," and "finely tuned."
tuesday, may 22, 2001 anyway, the upshot of this is that she ended up leaving the momma cat and a black-and-white kitty she estimated at 5 months old. and since i do feel geographically responsible for these cats in a way, i must send it out to the pita readers of the greater nyc area: kitties for pick-up! this woman is going to have the daddy neutered and tested and give the kitties to bide-a-wee (um? weird name!) and leave a flyer on my door about the other two. or something. i had grown a bit tired of the situation by the time i went back inside, to be honest. but i know where there are really cute cats so if anyone wants...especially if anyone wants an adult kitty, b/c they're harder for places to adopt out and it kind of presents a moral situation for the rescuer....um. okay. it seems that a family of cats has moved into the construction pit next door. saturday night i counted three adults and three kitties, possibly more. they look pretty healthy, all told. i wonder how they ended up there. perhaps recently abandoned? if i didn't think one cat was enough, and if i wasn't afraid of staggering vet bills, i would rescue one. i don't know if they'll still be there tonight, because the workers were back on site this morning. look how cute they are:
very good interview with rivers cuomo of weezer that i picked up from josh. "simple pages" off the new album must be among the greatest songs ever written. i watched a lot of movies this weekend, including part of lock, stock and two smoking barrels. now, i am desperate to know: does anybody remember that bass riff that recurs several times in the film? who does that? i must know. it's so killer. and the answer does not leap out at me from looking at the soundtrack. other movies i saw that i could stand to sit through to the end of: startup.com: documentary tracing the birth and downfall of an internet company. especially in these busted dotcom times, not necessarily a dull subject, but here, yeah. of the two founders, one is an icky goldman sachs refugee who works out a lot and doesn't know how to treat his girlfriend, and the other is a boring dad type with no backbone. the film spends too much time on the "drama" and not enough time explaining what is actually happening. the whole thing was shot on digital video and looks it. i would say filmmaking skills not so good. but oddly watchable nonetheless, so perhaps that is success. still, i'm glad i didn't have to pay for this one (thanks nate).
sunday, may 20, 2001 other things in the times magazine that i'm mentioning here to mark them for future reading are this story on the porn industry autuers and maybe this one about the trial of kathleen soliah/sara jane olsen and the symbionese liberation army.
friday, may 18, 2001 review kids, can you believe it?? when betsy reported that there had been a melee at our favorite college watering hole, i did not realize that it was closing for renovations, with the aim of opening as a more upscale-like restaurant: our beloved deer park, all tattered curtains, sticky floors, and stopped-up toilets! (well no need to wax nostalgic on the plumbing, i guess.) i really don't know what i would do if i had to spend an extended period in newark without the deer park. hopefully the plan will fail and it will remain as divey as ever. but what if it doesn't, and i never got to say goodbye? and more important, never bought a t-shirt? oh kiddies....guess who's playing at fez memorial day? go on, guess! what is up with this cold, gray friday? how depressing. but it means i feel like a movie. maybe a skip-out-of-work-early movie. but i have no idea what's out. suggestions? or any words at all?
thursday, may 17, 2001 apparently the x-files will not die a graceful death. so sad.  soon i will investigate the "night" setting on the cam.
anyone who's lived alone will be able to appreciate this. new album from depeche mode finds them "trading in the cache of self-righteous angst for the glowing warmth of quiet desperation." or so says werde. but you know, when i link to these washington post pieces, my favorite thing is the little number they have at the bottom that i can call and hear a "sound bite." this one did not make me want to rush out and buy a new depeche mode album, but it did kill 30 seconds or so. funny fake exchange between warring publicists: apparently hell hath no fury like j. lo's magical butt. *spike, to the scooby gang, in this week's beyond-fabulous buffy
tuesday, may 15, 2001 yankees kicked some serious baltimore ass friday night. it was like 14-4 or something. muchas gracias a eileen for the tix!
leanne has hot, sweaty, sexy pictures from the old 97s in-store in SF...yum.
sunday, may 13, 2001
saturday, may 12 Hello there catwoman! that was/is some very weird shit. i have no idea what it means. cue keanu *whoa*.
friday, may 11, 2001 sure to be as big as "how to dance properly" so i might as well link it now: how to impress your date.
thursday, may 10, 2001 dispatch from holly: "maybe i too can have boobies." for when you see that beck lookalike on the f train but fear and social politics prevent you from striking up a conversation: hey you it's me. although you'll die an old maid before the site loads.... i bet a lot of girls can relate to paranoidgirl.net. i know i can. [via mad orange fools] twang, fire, depression. will i ever stop linking to old 97s articles? only time will tell.
wednesday, may 9, 2001 interview with the new pornographers, the indie "supergroup" that includes neko case. their album? mass romantic? it is one of the handful of truly great cd's i've heard in the last few months. it is glorious: full of huge hooks and changes and choruses and everything i need in my music. just chockful of great songs that will be featured on many mix tapes to come. it makes me very, very happy. i bought it on jami's recommendation, and if you're the type to do that, i want you to buy it on mine. scientist tries to show that it is possible for "highly motivated" gays to reverse their orientation. uh, nice try. completely bunkytown. (won't you take me to...?) i also love the definition of "good heterosexual functioning." what are they smoking over there at the times? in one sunday they print yet another unnecessary dave eggers story (he's not even cute!) AND a story in which they seem to think that the onion staff could be part of the nyc media elite. the onion! is it really that surprising that they resemble my college newspaper colleagues? which is not to say i don't want to hang out with them, but i damn well know we're not going to be hanging at lotus. little missy linked to this thomas pynchon site, which looks so insanely comprehensive and great i just can't even deal right now. kind of reminds me of reading his books, i guess.
tuesday, may 8, 2001
monday, may 7, 2001
friday, may 4, 2001 rhett miller says some stuff. like: "It's a weird life. You're either schlepping to the van or you're giving kids an excuse to get sloppy drunk and go home with each other. In the midst of it all, you've got to hope that you are connecting with some people or providing some kind of soundtrack they can relate to that makes them feel not so alone. You've got to find little flashes of nobility amongst all the ignoble crud that makes up this lifestyle." i think i need to speak with him. did i mention old 97s, june 15, irving plaza? you should really be there. i mean that. i want everyone i know to go. is that possible? will you go? saw the promise ring last night, and now i don't ever need to again. love the bouncy pop songs on record, could not stand the lead singer's bouncy movements. too much shoulder shrugging. and head wagging. i found it really ridiculous. but they did play "jersey shore" so i guess i was happy. tonight it's back to the rock. i hope i'm ready. thing that is wrong: the mcdonald's on broadway and 51st, which opens at 10 a.m., does not "do" breakfast. !! mcdonald's sux, all right.
thursday, may 3, 2001 good mindless time-waster: the hero machine. but why does mine look so gay? oh man, is this nasty. 75 percent of manhattan supermarkets are pretty much disgusting. we're talking layers of slime, "rodent-defiled" potato chips, dead mouse bodies, hanging goat carcasses ... and the list goes on. is your grocery one of the 10 grossest? o for the bright shining supermarkets of suburbia. the kid and i made a most serendipitous discovery last night: did you know there's an arcade in chinatown with old-school games like ms. pacman, centipede (my favorite!), and galaga, plus new, slightly weird versions of gauntlet and pacman, and also crazy dancing games, pinball, etc.?? so fun!
wednesday, may 2, 2001 good, long interview with the editors of blender, the new music mag from the publisher of maxim. i'm still kind of curious to see it (hundreds of reviews per issue), but it doesn't sound that exciting to me at all. do i want to see covers of faith hill and limp bizkit? noooooooo i do not. yesterday i thought about telling you that aaron sorkin also had crack, that ru-486 can be effective in treating psychotic depression, that holly p. has written a fine piece of journalism that may help you in your swimsuit shopping... but i just wasn't feeling it. and sometimes no update at all is better than a lame update. i will try harder today. stay tuned. the new york observer asks the question, are magazine editors hot or not? and i'm sorry, but jane pratt just looks scary in that picture. |
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