saturday, march 30, 2002
i went to yr concert and i didn't feel anything: i would just like to announce that i think i have officially Had Enough of le tigre. they work their feminist dance party/aerobics class thing just a little too hard if you ask me. their first album rules, and is perfect gym music, but i don't need to be ordered to jump up and down to the beat at the very beginning of a show (before the band even comes out). EVER, people, ever. never do i need that. there are so many things wrong with that kind of behavior that it is beyond the scope of this paragraph. also, there was an extremely humorous interlude where ms. hanna informed us that there was a lot of shit going on the world, a lot of really bad shit, but that we were all in the room together, and it was a beautiful thing. vanessa and i shared a pretty hearty laugh over that one. god i am such a Jaded New Yorker.

friday, march 29, 2002
more cool closeup pics of the tribute in light from quarlo.

forgot to mention that i saw panic room the other night, from the front row. lots of Cool Shots and edge-of-your-seat suspense. (just moment-to-moment though; you know basically what's going to happen.) forrest whittaker uses his lazy eye to familiar "thug with a heart of gold" effect; jared leto goes booyaka crazy while looking hott. the little girl looks a lot like a female culkin, to the extent that it took me and some other people a good 30 minutes to realize he was a she. that's bad casting, yo. but: fun ride; good movie.

happy weekend and/or religious holiday you might celebrate. i'm out.

wednesday, march 27, 2002
as opposed to goth style, which is basically black clothing accompanied by piercings, "emo is more like mr. rogers." heh.

incredible wtc lights photos, taken from the very base. really cool. [via rion]

gat-damn wilco shows sold out in 10 minutes. i was not one of the lucky ones. perhaps i have a fan at nonesuch records?

more proof of the onion's sheer (if only occasional) brilliance: drugs now legal if user is employed.

i swear to god i checked jon's handy-dandy alphabetical archive before i wrote him 75 words on desaparecidos. alas, my eyes must've deceived me, because apparently someone else beat me to it. dammit. must work harder. my review is there anyway because slatch is cool. yay slatch. i like the little record reviews. am going to try to write more of them, and am saying so here to hold myself to it. and so that i might have an excuse to buy more new records. see how that works?

monday, march 25, 2002
jeez, ben kweller's getting some good press, huh? weirdly enough, while shopping in brooklyn with the mistress of thrift on saturday, i found a 99-cent advance cassette of his old band radish's major-label debut, the one that had them comparing him to kurt cobain. also, did you know that little ben is a landlord?

damn, i am tired today. and sadly, i did not win the pot o' dvds that was the prize for my oscar pool. (our household did get the four that nate, the bastard winner, already had.) i knew i should've cheated. damn. the show was entertaining enough, as usual. jennifer connelly was the worst ingrate i've ever seen. not only was her speech piss-poor, but she looked vaguely annoyed the rest of the evening. perhaps russell's 'tude rubbed off on her? it looked to me like a few people took the grand occasion to do some psychedelic drugs: john travolta, renee zellweger, and elijah wood were all definitely tripping their faces off. another hilarity-providing (yet messed up) feature of the evening was the usual antics of the control-room staff: why, oh why, you wailed every 10 minutes, after every mention of a black person, do they feel the need to cut to one of the four black people in the audience?? every single time! so shameful. that is my Oscar Report. here's salon's.

gbv back on matador; folk implosion dropped from interscope.

friday, march 22, 2002
ha! real world stephen arrested for prostitution; slap victim irene laughing her ass off right now. [thanks randi]

possibly the best gbv concert photos ever.

perfect timing: the 17 most hated aspects of the concertgoing experience. includes absolute truths like "the abnormally tall guy" who chooses you to stand in front of every single time. what's missing from the list: the people who are determined to push their way forward. this is fine if it's not that crowded, and if the leader is skilled in scoping out a decent-sized patch of floor. in a very packed show, these people will stop right in front of you. case in point: last night at the horrible roseland a couple did this, stopping right in the middle of our seven-strong group and making it literally shoulder-to-shoulder, boob-to-back tight. leigh ann was getting me a drink at the bar, so i boldly said, "someone's standing here [ha!], so i would appreciate it if you would move on." she told me she was taking her time. as she moved on (yeah that's right! you go!) she gave me a dirty look as i entered into a "right on, those people suck" conversation with the guy next to me. later a frat boy practically sat on randi and tried to get all cutesy with gail. my sympathetic neighbor and i had another "what is these people's deal" exchange, and then i tapped him on the shoulder and informed him that he was crushing my friend, and that it was an asshole move. he eventually relocated. guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as rhett would say.

oh, so ryan adams put on a great rock and roll show last night. the two-hour set included hits, greatful dead songs, doors songs, rollling stones songs, and something that might've been called "celine dion you're killing my buzz." also some very bad jokes. a good mix, i would say, of rockstar moves and silly shit. elton did not show, but who cares about that. the only bad thing i can think of to say is that instead of slowing down "ny, ny" he should've, in leigh ann's words, "kicked the shit out of that song." leona naess was really good too. i was impressed. she went from folksy-pretty melodies to p.j. harvey-style rockin'. i think i will actually pull out her album that i got free months ago and listen to it now.

pretty amusing fake strokes interview. especially the pictures. [via the modern age]

wednesday, march 20, 2002
pictures of the year. so many breathtaking photos. look look look. [via listen missy]

john chabalko has some illuminating things to say about the upcoming bob mould album, modulate. i present his email in its entirety because i am out of any other content:

i was *way* *way* let down. not good.

i listened to it once. i don't think it should be allowable for ex-rockers to write new songs and talk about "cd-rom's." that particular lyric was more disturbing to me than when neil young said, "my software's not compatible with you" on silver and gold.

big fat poo

tuesday, march 19, 2002
here is that all-lego white stripes video everyone is talking about. via fred, who thinks that is enough for an update. (it is not.)

big juicy ben kweller article! oh the things you'll learn. those of you who are unfamiliar with the wonder of ben kweller please take a moment to download some songs, if you ever do that sort of thing.

monday, march 18, 2002
discovered on friday that the best way to dance onstage with the band is to make your mind up in advance. when travis asked for a little help during "ice of boston," amy, betsy and i were totally prepared, threading our way to the front and bouncing around onstage for a glorious four or so minutes. amy and i got kind of sweaty. betsy was wearing a scarf wrapped around her neck several times, so i imagine she did too. (heh, yes, fashion is funny.) holly was cowering by the bar, as far from the action as possible, afraid. other highlights: the extended finale-version of "ok joke's over," complete with springsteen stylin' and travis writhing around on the floor. note: despite travis's apology for the subpar thursday show, it looks like it was pretty crazy. and here are somebody's pics from friday. i was too wimpy to attempt pics due to that one time i got thrown out, so i merely steamed every time the girl in front of me busted out her cybershot.

leanne, i would characterize my vocalizations regarding the langley schools thing as laughs, not "sarcastic comments." sheesh. i have downloaded a couple of those tunes, i'll have you know. plus, i don't believe you even own a turntable. stop frontin'! nyah.

yeah, the music issue is good. but i didn't really agree with that guy's predictions about the future of music. or maybe i just found them to be pretty stupid. people will be able to find hundreds of unofficial remixes online but will pay for the official version, or for a version optimized to the acoustics of their living room? or for official LYRICS?? as the saying goes, puh-leeze.

i can heartily recommend the fascinating breeders article, though. made me excited for the record despite its horrible name.

two hundred bucks for white stripes tickets? what is wrong with people?

friday, march 15, 2002
these are definitely the coolest pics yet of the wtc lights. [via lightningfield]

kitty did not deserve that.

this is awesome: slate "fixes" the rest of spielberg's movies (thanks randi). i saw the rerelease of e.t. last night at a free screening. it is still great despite the hokey digital tweaks. e.t. is the cutest alien ever. except maybe for gizmo.

tonight: death and dismemberment! (travis designed the tour poster, you know. multitalented, he is.) check out armando's excellent photos from the atlanta show. i desperately want to dance on stage with the band.

thursday, march 14, 2002
ew, ew, and ew: can he just STOP already?? rhett miller and oh-erica are on page 131 of the april issue of lucky, in wedding gear. it's just sickening. this is not what rock stars are supposed to be doing. but i suppose i should not complain. it has provided me with hours (well, dozens of minutes, anyway) of paste-up fun. i have already affixed my own and betsy's photocopied head onto the bride's body in pursuit of what we used to call "wax art" back at the review. next up: color copier.

wednesday, march 13, 2002
i finally got my shit together and wrote a little something for slatch's fine reviews site, 75 or less. on the virgin voyage i sink deeper into the cult of bob pollard. i don't think there's any going back, either.

tuesday, march 12, 2002
last night i dreamed that i smelled nate farley's tattooed arm. today gbv added another show at warsaw, and i am going to be insane about it and go to both. as well as the towson, md., show which will be part of a seeing-friends-in-bumblefuck weekend and is therefore not that ridiculous.

hilarious fashion don'ts from vice magazine, via leigh ann, who has not updated her pita in over a month, sadly.

bill werde gets the scoop on the ramones and talking heads getting into the rock&roll hall o' fame.

boohoo, i didn't get to see any instrument-smashing last night. i finished my article around 9:30 (unfortunately no trail o' dead references could fit into that word count), called to make sure i could still get in, but they told me it was sold out. and tonight's show appears to be as well. damn damn damn. foiled again.

monday, march 11, 2002
remember back when bush was getting elected and we were all joking/worrying about him getting us into world war three? ha!

jami has finally posted part 3 of our retail photojournalism adventure #1. check it out; it's funny. is it me or does that hat have something of a beatnik quality? i finally gave it back to jami, its rightful owner. it kept sliding down my head throughout the day; i just am not a hat person, really. the only hats i really look "aight" in are skullies. (i really like saying "skullies" by the way.)

did you know it could be illegal to take pictures in the subway? [via lightningfield]

procrastination is so evil. i have to write the mofo man-magnet article for holly either tonight or tomorrow night and all i really want to do is go see the trail of dead trash their instruments. maybe i can go tonight and see if i can draw any indie-rock men (HA!) to me using eidetic imagery. maybe i can name-drop ...and you will know us by the trail of dead on the lifetime television website. that will be fun. yes. this is a plan.

friday, march 8, 2002
woohoo, wilco's coming back to new york. and playing a proper rock venue this time. thanks for the heads up, ryan.

it's kind of funny...weezer's doing really well (right?), so there's no way their label can drop them. but apparently interscope is pissed that they are doing their own marketing now. that rivers sure is a clever boy.

thursday, march 7, 2002
holly and i battled the lazies last night by going to see training day. this is a grade-a police thriller, y'all. good, fast plot; enough funnies; absorbing characters. slightly unbelievable at the end, but satisfying nonetheless. denzel is a fantastic villian, and ooh, is ethan hawke a great hero. he should totally win the oscar (even though he is NOT playing a supporting role). i think denzel is my pick for best actor, too.

today's post cover is just a bit much, don't you agree? it looks like the newspaper version of a jerry bruckheimer movie. the post seems to be the biggest believer in the news-is-entertainment school of thought. i always wonder why people read it, but i guess that's why. this story even tells you immediately that the hostage drama is "straight out of 'dog day afternoon,'" because otherwise you might not understand.

this woman hit a man with her car, drove home, and parked the car in her garage with the man's legs still protruding from the windshield. he was stuck there for two days and died, then she and her friends went and dumped his body in a park. *shudder*

uh, on a lighter note, if you're at all proficient at asteroids you can get some good my morning jacket mp3s (in the "download" section). that is, if your definition of "good" includes "sleepy, pretty country-tinged indiepop." i am currently listening to them on headphones, which i'm feeling a little odd about.

also, george bush waved at stevie wonder. it just will never end.

and finally, i bet mike c will be interested to know that next month's playboy will feature a bunch of real world/road rules hos. (mike, where are the recaps?! they are going buck wild this season and you have nothing to say?)

tuesday, march 5, 2002
britney spears has never heard of yoko ono.

stuck in utter couch-sloth mode last night, holly and i somehow landed on animal precinct and were instantly hooked. filmed in new york, this is basically cops but with pets. the most ridiculous thing we saw last night was this poor dog (cute!, of course) with a huge, melon-sized tumor swinging from its head, just below its chin. there was also a cute old man who started to cry when he thought the officers were going to take his sad-eyed old dag away from him.... this is just how i like my tv: fascinating, hilarious, and sad all at the same time. reality tv at its best!

monday, march 4, 2002
saturday night at the oneida show: my favorite part of this stellar evening, besides hanging out with jami and fred and juli (if you can forgive the URL-dropping), was when jami's friend kathleen, in retaliation for the bitchiness visited upon jami in the bathroom by natasha lyonne, reached into her drink and flicked some beer at the starlet's skinny, bare-backed fashionista friends. hilarious! instant classic.

if you are a fan of ben kweller, you should buy his new album, which comes out tomorrow. and by "buy" i mean "slap down twelve of your own hard-earned bucks for," not "borrow catherine's copy and burn for you and your roommate." if you like him, he deserves your support. i will get off my soapbox now.

paula jones will now box tonya harding in place of amy fisher. for the next one, i'd really like to see monica lewinsky fight linda tripp. from the looks of that special last night, she would be totally up for it. of course, linda would probably kick her ass.

if you can spare the effort, why not take the lazy test? i'm 36 percent lazy, which is pretty lazy, but i did look up the word "inchoate" in the dictionary during the course of the test so i think i'm doing okay.

yesterday's hits today....(see below.)

friday, march 1, 2002
here we have rhett talking some more about his upcoming solo album (amy, please do not go into a tizzy over this). i predict there will *not* be any ryan adams collaborations.

ooh, isaac brock solo album due out in may.

pitchfork whips out the 10.0 for the new ...and you will know us by the trail of dead record, which i would agree is pretty good (and which is getting almost universal acclaim) but still not really for delicate folks like my roommates. and definitely not a *perfect* record, for crikey's sake. you can listen to the album on their site if you are so inclined. i think i am going to have to go see them when they're here soon; last time i tried that something unspeakable happened.

david gallagher really wants to be the most famous david gallagher on the internet. i think i prefer my relative anonymity. up until recently, you had to get to page 2 of a google search of my whole name before you got to anything that can even link you to this page. (weirdly, if you just type in my first name, the pita is third.) recently i've become more findable, but it doesn't distress me too much. i'm pretty sure the casual reader doesn't know my last name, or, if i've been careful enough (which it's possible i haven't...?), the exact corporation i work for. it's just better that way. you never know which bored co-workers might try googling you, find your site, and get you fired.