monday, march 31, 2003

please note the peace banjo. i went to see clem snide (above) and ted leo this weekend, that's right, southpaw friday and saturday nights, and ms. sweater, it's not that bad! you must've been smoking some unkind shit. although my ears were hurting for quite some time after both shows.

werde wrote a story about the michael moore-directed system of a down video not getting play on music television and why that is. it's interesting, opinionated, and good readin', but for some reason bill couldn't get it published. where is the liberal media when we need them?

scott's new word-freak site, enlumine, is ready for your perusal.

kempa updated. so did metascene fred.

thurston moore's protest records.

"the club is open": Robert Pollard and the Social Functions of Popular Music and Debates of Artistic Value in Rock Music: A Case Study of the Band Weezer, 1994-2001. via largehearted boy.

friday, march 28, 2003

what if i linked to travis morrison every day? would you stop reading? luckily, today i have an excuse. he has a new song up, as well as a new well-reasoned response to the war.

speaking of war, i'd totally sign this were it not for that pesky "defending our freedom" part. i just don't think that's true. sorry mom. i will, however, send books to soldiers in support.

oh my god this is hilarious: a brief catechism of rock shows, part 1. my favorite part: "It is crass to post to your Web site while attending a show, even between sets or from the bathroom."

r.e.m. is touring the u.s. in the fall. they're playing liberty park in the new york area, which i approve of even though i've never been there. at least it's not MSG. with special guest tba (wilco and sparklehorse are opening some dates, though).

rolling stone creams its jeans over the new white stripes. personally i like it, but that's kind of it. there's no way it's better than any of their other albums. and it hurts my ears when meg sings. and the rockingest song was written by burt bacharach, for crap's sake! i'll let you know if i have a breakthrough.

the web diarist as pitchman. don't worry, trusting reader. i would never be such a giant tool.

tonight: eeeeeeef!!!

wednesday, march 26, 2003
if america walked up to me right now and said, "catherine, can we marry you and travis morrison?" i would say, "yes, america, you can marry me and travis morrison right now." even if i had to discuss our sexual issues on fox tv in front of fat, annoying "experts," yessireee.

i am currently obsessed with lifter puller, a good, what, nine months after picking up their 2-disc almost-everything retrospective. it seems that the guy from the mountain goats at some point wrote a very good explanation of why they're his favorite band. next month the lead singer's new band, the hold steady, will play the mercury lounge with the oranges band and palomar, in addition to shows in philly and baltimore. i say you go if you can. BREAKING NEWS: i should've mentioned that it was msr. matos who introduced me to this band many moons ago. also: it's often difficult for me to leave the house on time in the morning, for various nefarious reasons but particularly because i have that moment of truth where i have to decide what to put in my cd player. it's going to directly affect my life for the next half-hour, after all, and that's at least. what if the train gets stuck? or apocalypse comes a-knockin'? in case of disaster or delay, then, oftentimes the same thing stays in there for days. i'm not sure but tomorrow i might take out lftr pllr (and the abbreviation is great, too, no?) and put in this other john vanderslice album i just got that i'm listening to now. it's also pretty great. so that's the extra-special last item for this not-so-special music edition of the pita: listen to john vanderslice. that's your assignment. hey, by the way, why don't any of you fuckers ever write me anymore? doesn't anyone want to play scrabble with me? did i get boring? do you like watching the war better? ugh. sometimes i need to quit while i'm ahead. good night.

brooklyn's the natural history has a new album coming out in may (get it!) and a show at northsix on april 15 (go!) and a couple new excellent mp3s on their site (grab 'em!). seriously. great. band.

oh, hell, i'll just make it the all-music edition, mmmkay? the gossip also have a new album coming out in may. i still need to see them live. i'm sure they tear shit up. they run a cassette-only label, because it's "punkr." i guess mp3s are out of the question.

tuesday, march 25, 2003
oh man, is it me, or do all the protest songs being released pretty much suck ballsack? here's the latest.

i forgot to mention yesterday that michael moore, in his silly and stuntish speech, used the (non)word "fictition." twice. hey michael, this is the english language. english language, michael moore. it's almost dubyan, isn't it?

"an official at the moroccan embassy could not confirm the presence of monkeys in the coalition of the willing." oh man, that article is full of funnies. gotta love comic-relief journalism. [via the morning news]

two things that are totally bunz: 1. people and newspapers referring to "watching the war" on tv. i'm kind of glad i don't have cable at this point. granted, i read news stories and look at slide shows all day, but i don't think it's quite the same. 2. hot hot heat getting their single "bandages" banned in the UK because of the "prevalence of the word 'bandages' in the song." come on, it's not exactly "bombs over baghdad," is it?

wait, so now we have 24-hour air patrols over nyc instead of random jet whooshes and helicopter passes making us wonder what the hell is going on. i guess that's good? someone help me out here.

based on the truly abysmal slogans that were rejected (and accepted) for the mta's new terrorism-awareness ad, i conclude this must be the same agency that does all those truly horrible manners-promoting ads, too. such as the latest offender, "would it break your heart to move into the center of the car?" (gag.) korey kay & partners, you just suck.

godspeed you! black emperor held as possible terrorists.

monday, march 24, 2003

saturday's reason for drinking was tamar's big-ass promotion. we hunkered down at a window table at the magician and made a night of it. it took three hours for my hotly anticipated songs to come on! i entertained myself by talking medieval weaponry with the bartender and playing paparazzi. i was amused to find later, upon announcing to holly that nick zinner of the yyy's was in the house, that our group had been viciously making fun of his hair, blissfully unaware of his famousness.

awwww, how did i miss that rhett sang in a mastercard commercial during the oscars last night? guess i was too busy yapping about how unutterably awful renee zellweger looked and wondering what mysterious god produced queen latifah's breasts. also eating too many potato chips. for the record, i was brought to tears by both chris cooper and adrien brody, impressed at the coolness of susan sarandon with her simply flashed peace sign, horrorstruck at the size of catherine zeta, disappointed for julianne moore, and thrilled for eminem.

mark your calendars in big colored felt-tip pen: wilco and sonic youth to play a summerstage show on june 26.

did everybody see travis morrison's interesting statement on the war? well, he's added more, so go look again. it's sorta refreshing to see somebody go against the grain of popular thought in the name of idealism, no?

thursday, march 20, 2003
i suppose everybody will be having "war sex" now....bets on how long it'll take new york magazine to do a story on it? also, i hate to say it, but that was a good speech last night. (however, not so good that it warranted the WB cutting into the last 60 seconds of angel so they could prepare me for it for 16 minutes instead of 15. gah!)

you are a loser if you go online just to check your friends' away messages. no question about it. if you teach a class that includes analyzing away messages, you are an even bigger loser.

i want ozzy checks.

finally, everybody go buy the april issue of nylon. somewhere in the middle, on one of the arts pages, is a nice writeup of deli life. woooooh, and big thanks to shelly r., hands-down the coolest editor i know!

wednesday, march 19, 2003
i was working late almost 48 hours ago and was too swamped to gather in the important people's offices with tvs along with my somber-faced coworkers to watch the president announce war. it was depressing enough just walking by and hearing bits and pieces. since then i've become a news junkie, of course. to make sure i don't miss anything important, i've returned to the today's papers column in slate, which you can get emailed to you at some ridiculous hour of the morning. also helpful: what you should and shouldn't worry about.

photoblog from a cnn correspondent in northern iraq. [via largehearted boy]

hilariously unhelpful illustrations from homeland security. [via eileen]

is there an oscar blacklist? could be verrrrry interesting this year, esp. with michael moore a good shot to win best documentary. (have i really not seen bowling for columbine yet??) i'm hoping for good antiwar stuff, not only because we need it, but also because i will need the entertainment, especially with the no red carpet.

say it with me, people: O-NEI-DA. sunday night at luxx i came to some sort of understanding about oneida. it took me several shows, but i feel like i finally get them. whew! we also saw a band called neptune, who looked like they stepped straight out of mad max. they made their own instruments out of scrap metal! all of them! wow. good times with the girls on a sunday night.

did you realize that there was a minor controversy over cbs's use of a translator who put on a fake iraqi accent during its saddam interview? now cbs news wants somebody who can do a voiceover with a pakistani accent....hmm... [thanks vanessa]

in other old news, there is to be a new magazine called good music. seems like it should do well. lord knows there are enough snobby, middle-aged rob gordon types in the world.

oh, and i saw willard friday night, after some southern food with vanessa and staci. it was very, very funny and highly enjoyable, though not really scary at all. reminded me a little of falling down in that "repressed white guy goes nuts" kind of way, but darker. recommended.

thursday, march 13, 2003
do you want a housing update? well, uh, despite my headache, bodily stress, and carpal-tunnel twinges from writing emails and IMs to try to coordinate and satisfy a long chain of people's wants and needs and revised wants, i think we're all set. perma-roommate to move in in may. actually we're not quite "all set," but i'm going to keep that on the d.l., if you know what i mean. i did go to the gym without too much internal grumbling to work off some of the accumulated aggravation, though, so i guess today was good for something. i think i reeeeeally need to do some yoga this weekend and just like breathe.

mcdonald's to offer wireless internet for cheap. have i complained about the phrase "WiFi" yet? it's so inherently wrong. [link via 6:01 a.m.]

did your heart jump the other night when Nerdy-Cute sang? someone took the trouble to put up an unintentionally amusing (and you know, very boring) fansite for the love of him. i don't know about getting his freakin' name.com though. that doesn't seem right. and then we have lecherous broads for clay aiken. i predict Nerdy-Cute will go all the way.

fun buttons.

tuesday, march 11, 2003
oh crap, we need a roommate! know anyone? let me know.

the superbowl is gay. [via everyone who is anyone]

ebay to dump half.com! quick, buy all my unwanted cd's and stuff!

so in addition to roommate stress, i've been preoccupied lately with scrabble. i am not nearly as good as i should be.

friday, march 7, 2003
so the french kicks last night were pretty good. the lead singer has wisely come out from behind the drum kit and replaced himself with an equally gay-seeming, enthusiastic drummer. he also looks like a cross between pauly shore and eric from that 70s show: nice. while the performance was not too polished, and dude has a ways to go as a frontman, there were moments of grandeur that brought pure smile to my face. like that lovely falsetto. at first i thought their record was kind of bland, but now i love it. it's subtle, a grower. idlewild, the headliners, confidently, easily rocked the house. i wish they would be a little sloppier, actually. i wish roddy woomble would wail sometimes. and i long for the days when they were a bit more punk and a bit less modern rock wannabes. but maybe that's just me.

it's just really lame to have a policy of no antiwar clothing, even if you are a privately owned shopping mall. [thanks bets]

from this billboard story i learned about travismorrison.com (!) , where there is available for download a new song! it's...different. also we learn that the final tour will unearth some rarely played gems. i will of course attend every feasible girl, playing the role of insane fan till the bitter end.

whoever wrote this story about a woman taking a bite out of man's, um, undercarriage...is really proud of this sentence: "He says for some still-unknown reason the couple got into a fight Monday night, and Ms. Burnette then went nuts."

another use for duct tape in an apocalypse-type scenario. also, don't forget to plan your end. [thanks to the morning news]

wednesday, march 5, 2003

we just cannot get enough of michael jackson lately, huh? here is the latest insanity: he slaughtered 42 cows in order to put a voodoo curse on steven spielberg and several other hollywood types, and he actually looks like a gray alien underneath his fake nose.

the onion has pint glasses! i want one.

last night on american idol, all three of the judges basically reached under the table, one at a time, took out giant fire hoses, and blasted their love-juice all over Nerdy-Cute Redheaded Boy. it was quite amusing to watch. later, after two episodes of 24 (one of which brought me to TEARS and was great if soap-operaish), though he clearly won't need my help to get picked tonight, i did utilize a few of my 3000 nighttime and weekend minutes to register my extreme pleasure with Nerdy-Cute, aka clay aiken, despite his love for jon secada and peter cetera. i voted thrice, i think. the world is ready for another rick astley.

switching gears rather abruptly: mclusky are in the latest cmj monthly talking about how a few fans have told them that lightsabre cocksucking blues is their favorite song to fuck to. i would take issue with its 111-second length, but lead singer andy falkous has another concern: "that's a real stop-start rhythmic kind of sex. you'd need someone with a high hat keeping time in the corner of the room." heh. in any case it's a great song.

will ferrell, jack black, and judd apatow (creator of freaks and geeks) to make a movie. whoa. [thanks catchdubs]

glorious news from matador: new gbv album by august!

celebrity gum-chewers, via hip clicks. i saw avril chewing at the grammys while she waited to find out if she won best new artist (denied! ha!). i guess this is the kind of "very rebellious" behavior she likes to engage in. (several revealing details about avril's lameness in that rolling stone cover story.)

another item for the "hate" side of your love/hate relationship with gawker: weblogs do not need interns.

and finally, my thought for the day: why do people always fart on the subway when it's rainy outside and humid in the train cars? it never fails.

monday, march 3, 2003

this weekend was all about illicit entertainment. friday night i went with jami to her friend mike's surprise birthday party in the slope. we turned off all the lights and crouched in the kitchen as he called out for his "deaf doggie." then we jumped up and scared the pants off him. later i asked (with a certain excitement i guess) if that was the new white stripes playing. and he was all, "yeah, i'll go burn it for you right now," and i had it in my hands half an hour later! his birthday, and i get the present! whatta guy.

the other illicit entertainment was the newyeah yeah yeahs, which i played approximately five times per diem. i wake up with these songs playing in my head. this album is unimaginably cool. you might think you can imagine it, but you can't.

saturday i joined a new gym (finally! a long-delayed return to a somewhat-healthy lifestyle!), bought groceries (like, more than just coffee filters!), gathered my entourage and hit up stu's special birthday blowout, held at the Cheesiest Bar on the Lower East Side, which i'll have you know is a pretty crowded field. lots of halter tops and 20-year-olds. pictures remain unpitacized because i have this great knack for capturing folks at their worst. but it was good times, good people, good lord was i out till 3 a.m. again?

yesterday i woke up and proceeded immediately to jami's house to watch cable tv, play with her adorable kitty, provide feedback on an essay she wrote, eat pizza, and stare out at the sky and city laid out around us. that roof is so excellent. i also came away with her eggplant-and-bright-orange sneakers and a great book that's already making me forget that i still have that one last chapter of the little friend staring me down. also carrying my boss's flame-print umbrella and someone else's sneakers, i declared myself a "walking stuff store." which was incredibly funny at the time.

so did you see six feet under last night? was it not the most brilliant thing you've seen in a long time? i know of no other show (okay, there is buffy) that can make you cry within the first two minutes. that episode was amazing in every way. also, isn't it funny how alan ball is a total stoner? interview by jami.

and then randi and i went to see rilo kiley at the knitting factory, which is one of the worst places to see a show in the city. why oh why is it always so unbearably hot in there? have they got any kind of ventilation system at all? it's insane. we lurked on the back edge so we would not die of heat stroke, and also so that we could be the first ones to leap out the exitable windows if and when panic broke out (we don't like crowd-surfing). the band was pretty good, though perhaps not as perfect as on record.