association of international glaucoma societies. i promise you it's good. make sure the sound is turned up really high.

it's five o'clock! WELCOME WEEKEND!!

::: May or May Not, "Five O'Clock" ::: check out this band, may or may not. some sweet pop stuff going on there. they're playing next saturday at magnetic field and next sunday at cake shop, with graham smith of kleenex girl wonder both times. the pita will be at one of those shows.

clearly this is going to be the most retardo pita post ever (see below). guess why? cause i was at fat baby last night, and there were free drinks. fat baby! nice name. it's kind of a cross between 151 and libation. basically it's a nicer darkroom. cool space. jukebox looked good, if a little hipster-heavy. not as cool as swim was, which is the gold standard of bars as far as i'm concerned.

:::Lady Sovereign, "Random" ::: i am all about this song suddenly.

check it out: a great slide show of photos of linda wells (editor of allure), starting with her at age six and ending with her wearing chanel mittens. i wouldn't mind chanel mittens.

you heard it here first, folks: handicapped pets. especially the cat in diapers. omg is right!

finally, a NSFF (not safe for family) IM conversation between tamar and me:

tamz (11:23:53 AM): eugene mirman's so funny
tamz (11:24:04 AM): i can't find the cd i had of his
cat (11:24:16 AM): i used to have one but i think i gave it away
tamz (11:24:27 AM): actually some of his stuff is hilarious
tamz (11:24:30 AM): and some of it is embarrassing
cat (11:24:37 AM): yeah, now i wanna listen
tamz (11:24:43 AM): would you sleep w/ him?
cat (11:25:07 AM): uhhhhh
cat (11:25:09 AM): no
tamz (11:25:15 AM): ok but
tamz (11:25:20 AM): like as opposed to someone way worse
tamz (11:25:41 AM): i would TOTES sleep w/ demetri martin
tamz (11:25:43 AM): over him
tamz (11:25:45 AM): FOR SURE
cat (11:25:55 AM): i can't keep my alt-comics straight
tamz (11:27:25 AM):http://www.demetrimartin.com/main.html
cat (11:28:17 AM): yeah, he looks fuckable
tamz (11:28:21 AM): omg
tamz (11:28:26 AM): CERTAINLY not in those beard pix
tamz (11:28:29 AM): NO fuckin way
tamz (11:28:30 AM): but
tamz (11:28:30 AM): omg
tamz (11:28:33 AM): esp in person
tamz (11:28:35 AM): jesus Christ
tamz (11:28:39 AM): he has the most gorgeous puppy dog eyes
tamz (11:28:47 AM): he was sorrrrrrta eyeballing me
tamz (11:28:49 AM): once
tamz (11:28:50 AM): at a show
tamz (11:28:53 AM): we were standing quite near each other
tamz (11:28:55 AM): and i COULDN'T HELP
tamz (11:28:56 AM): but
tamz (11:28:59 AM): eye him back
tamz (11:29:13 AM): and it sucked bc he basically gave me the girl version of blue balls
cat (11:29:19 AM): !!!!!!
cat (11:29:21 AM): heee
tamz (11:29:32 AM): he gave me vagina ache
cat (11:29:33 AM): i might have to post this on the pita
tamz (11:29:40 AM): no
cat (11:29:44 AM): hahaha YES
tamz (11:29:46 AM): vaginache
tamz (11:29:47 AM): ha
cat (11:30:00 AM): i am laughing my arse off
cat (11:30:18 AM): i just had to put my hungover head DOWN on my DESK and DIE
tamz (11:30:27 AM): haa
tamz (11:31:48 AM): pic
tamz (11:33:05 AM): pic
cat (11:33:23 AM): ACK TOTES CUTE
tamz (11:33:29 AM): ljaf;ldja;g
tamz (11:35:15 AM): pic
tamz (11:35:19 AM): can't even handle it anymore
tamz (11:35:20 AM): fdjajfd;slakjflsk;ajsda

the volunteering on saturday was quite fun. we were stationed at the ronald edmonds learning center, m.s. 113, in brooklyn. i was part of the book-throwing out and -organizing team in the group that was cleaning out a supply room whose contents dated back to the 50s and included things like spirit duplicating fluid and typewriter lube. when we were close to finished, a teacher came in, looked around and started yelling (literally) about how great it was. "this is GRRRRREAT!" she bellowed, over and over. and then she went around to each of us and gave us gigantic, sincere bear hugs. it was pretty awesome, as most hugs are. a great public shoutout of thanks to eileen, angela, mom, dad, stu, holly, amy, and randi for their generous contributions to new york cares, and to leigh ann for organizing team awesome.

last night was wolf parade at the bowery ballroom. now, i think they are a great, great band, but ultimately i did not reach concert nirvana. despite the filled-out instrumentation, they were better at their pianos show a while back, which felt more intimate and intense, yet natural, if that makes sense. they seemed nervous last night, and took way too long between songs, which is annoying when it means the audience has to listen to itself. a few really irritating hecklers kept yelling for "grounds for divorce" -- does it really matter, bro? frat boys are allowed to be music fans too, but when the bartender is yelling at you that you have ruined his night, sorry, but you just suck. anyway, i think wolf parade is amazingly talented, and the new songs were some of the best. said the gramophone has one of them, from a montreal show. one last complaint: bands should really just never, ever mention blogs or bloggers. EVER. you can read more reviews of the show here, here, here, here, here, and here, and see pics here and here.

oh, and openers think about life were simply horbz. we were laughing at them inside of ten seconds, and brian declared them to be the worst opening band he'd seen all year, possibly ever. picture a poor man's tim harrington sporting b-cup man-boobies spazzing retardedly about the stage over some really pretentious musical wankery. he later appeared to watch wolf parade off to the side of the stage with one of his man-boobies hanging out of a slashed t-shirt. very odd.

robbie williams is awesome.

eugene mirman is punk. [via jami]

and then last night i was complaining to roommate harry about the sudden but mild foot cramps that were seizing me, and i mused that maybe it was the three-inch heels i had worn that day. harry replied that i would get no sympathy from him (or words to that effect), and that he simply could not discourage the wearing of high heels. "high heels are hot. every guy thinks so," he said. i will remind myself of this with each trip to the bathroom i take today, feeling like a chinese concubine in the hot pink vintage pumps tamar brought back from some virginia thrift store. see, harry can talk the talk, but he definitely doesn't walk the walk. ah, well, beauty is pain, right?

also, there's just a couple of days left to sponsor me in the serve-a-thon i'm doing this saturday. i'll be painting murals and line games at a school in brooklyn for new york cares, and you can make a donation online, if you're so inclined.

::: Other Passengers, "Bank" :::

it is october 19 and i still don't know what i'm doing for new year's eve. help! this is very distressing to me. this time last year i had my gbv tickets in hand. new year's eve has become my favorite holiday, and it's also a few days after a landmark birthday (guess). what to do?? the black crowes and my morning jacket are playing MSG, but who wants to spend new year's in a stadium? not me, despite cormi's review of the my morning jacket show he saw, in which apparently a milky white substance exploded from every orifice of his body at once, and may in fact still be spurting. i think i've seen them enough at this point. please, dear readers in other cities, tell me if there are any rock shows worth flying in for. i may end up in vegas watching hootie and the blowfish, and no one wants that.

in other news, rhett miller's second solo album, due in february, will be called "the believer." unfortunately i can only conclude that instead of the vomit-inspiring love songs heard on "the instigator," this one will be all about GOD. a bunch of us are going to the joe's pub show on november 22 (he's also playing the 23rd), so we shall report back.

1. the john vanderslice show at knitting factory. he should tell death cab for cutie how to do tender without it being wussy. never realized how adorable he is, either. this show totally gave me the warm fuzzies.

2. michael making me a delicious dinner of homemade pesto and pasta in his cozy clinton street apartment. one reason i love living on the lower east side is having so many friends here, especially those who cook for me (hi holly!). and now i have one more, who will cook for me and also serve delicious sparkling red dessert wine and show me cool music videos and make me like sufjan stevens.

3. the rapture show at tribeca grand with birthday boy jeff and blogless wonder tricia. no hassle, no problem, yes dancing, yes guitars! (and yes $9 drinks. can't win 'em all.) friendly people there. i didn't take the cute blond boy up on his peyote (what??) but he was fun to talk to. in short: good times.

4. holly festooning me with her throwaway goods after a delicious diet-wrecking sunday-night dinner of steak, fries, and mushrooms. i got three pairs of shoes, a down comforter, and a couple of highball glasses. not a bad haul.

5. talking to new roommate taylor (replacing kurt, who is in the sudan for two months -- not awesome) and hearing him utter the following sentence: "they looked at me like i had potatoes falling out of my ears." i think taylor and i are going to get along famously.

craig finn's "most gonzo jams of the most gonzo decade". oh, and for those of you who are not obsessed with "lost," the hold steady reference came on this week's episode, when fat-guy hurley asked an extremely cute record-store employee if she wanted to go to the show. she said yes but for saturday night, so i guess no concert scenes for us. shame.

cute band alert! i caught derby at the living room a couple nights ago at the behest of catonia. these portland boys play a sort of pretty, upbeat, slightly ragged indiepop. not bad, not bad at all. pretty impressive, in fact. they even got the crowd to join in the hand-clapping! and i sighted jack rabid lingering outside. that's cred, people. check 'em out on myspace.

hey, i know what we need: mp3 players in our boobs!

at the risk of sounding like the crazy lady at work who is obsessed with the weather all of the time, how do you like this rain?? i fully agree with arnetta barker of bed-stuy, who told the new york times in their "it's so goddamn rainy" story, "if you have the right equipment for the weather, you're not reluctant to go outside." i have been getting good use out of my pink rainboots, my raincoat, and my chinese umbrella, and i feel just fine. but ladies, don't be a dumbass! leave the suede at home! (i'm talking to you, myrna.)

yo, rick moranis has a country album.

took a trip down to delaware this weekend for a mini review-nion (phrase credit: holly). it was homecoming, so you would think the streets would be teeming with rowdy young'uns, but instead it was a ghost town. it's possible the kids just don't hang out at the deer park or the east end anymore, but there are only so many bars in town, and so many thousands of kids. so weird! of course, it was raining the entire time. it was also "journalism homecoming," which meant a panel discussion entitled "what's up with online?" (i never did learn). panelist cormi did hilariously admit, "what i do is ridiculous," which was probably the highlight of the event.

it's a good thing we didn't go down expressly for that event -- it was also pete's 30th birthday, and we celebrated extravaganza-style, with lots of liquor and matching t-shirts. we started out at the east end, where a drunk bartender called me "grandma" and randi "aunt jemima" (what?) before getting on the bar to dance. then we went bowling. i bowled stunningly badly, but i did provide the highest humor of the evening when, while axl rose-ing around the bowling floor, i managed to lose my footing and fall in a most spectacular fashion, such that i was actually parallel to the ground upon landing. the entire bowling alley completely lost their shit and no one was able to come to my aid because they were laughing so hard. how embarrassing. but who knew they greased the lanes? despite my bruised ego and elbows, it was a great party/night. i managed to annoy just about everyone by taking video of them bowling before i wiped out; my favorites are of kelly and cormi. unfortunately there was no video taken of my wipeout.

bob mould rocked last night the way only aging rockers with permanent hearing damage can. he was not fucking around at all. no banter, he just blazed through song after awesome song, starting with the first three songs off "copper blue" (omg) into some new solo stuff, some more sugar stuff, some older solo stuff, some husker du stuff, etc. i cannot overstate how good. i mean, that guitar sound plus that voice is one of the perfect musicks in this world. and he had the rock moves, too, oh yes. i was pretty much in a constant state of awe. i told coolfer before mould went on that i wouldn't be happy if i didn't leave with ringing ears. reader, my ears were only ringing a little bit, but i left very, very happy. i suggest everybody check out bob's new album, "body of song," which contains some really great material (going on the latest mix: "underneath days"), but above and beyond that: go see him live. as dfactor put it, "sometimes you just need to get pummeled with loud guitar rock." get your fix.

::: Bob Mould, "Egoverride" ::: strange, considering this is not the most critically lauded album (i think), but i may have reached the apex of the show's permanent concert nirvana during this song. it rocked so hard.

so awesome: giant pink bunny erected on italian hillside. it's "knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool" and its innards are spilling out. the artist's statement says "it has fallen out of the sky to its death." it's supposed to be there for 20 years, decaying even more.

in other news HOOOOORAY for the new darkness single streaming on their myspace. their new album is highly anticipated in pita-world.

i am not ashamed to say i like marah. actually, okay, i am a little ashamed. but i like them, or at least i did at one time. and now they're coming out with a new "punk-folkish live-in-studio recording" and a CHRISTMAS ALBUM. which is so exciting i can barely contain myself. there are a couple of mp3s from each album on their label's site. [via maria]

not hating at all (and certainly not dying for an invite, noooooo ma'am), but does anybody else find it funny that the gawker comments section is as barren as barbara bush's uterus? there's been more activity in the pita comments, which by the way i instituted several weeks before the gawksters did. my fingers are SO on the pulse, man.

finally, we all know blogger hype is a powerful thing. i would like to get the buzz machine started on my new favorite band, rump posse. their debut album, "steamy scandals and love handles," contains many gems, but one stands out from the rest, and i am sure with the proper marketing and promotional support, this band can be as big as the arcade fire.

::: Rump Posse, "One Last Thrust" :::

last post about china! it's late and i'm tired, though, so i will just tell you that on our last day we bought more purses, ate some awesome dumplings, walked around the hutong, saw some more temple-y things (including a huge buddha at least two stories high), ate some awesome duck, and caught some chinese lite metal. their fans reeeeeally got into it. hooray china and ridiculous day-by-day recaps! (it's over now.)

::: Clem Snide, "Chinese Baby" :::

tamar told me i had done clem snide a great disservice by not including them in one of my china updates. i would like to say that this about.com lady has done them an even greater disservice, but this article is so awesomely bad (what a great job vh1 did coining that term) that i don't really believe that. the opening paragraphs are the best, before she gets into the actually very fun story of totally bombing a phone interview whilst hiding at her law-firm job. i think this is my favorite sentence: "It's the tender malapropisms followed by a good LA LA LA LA that make Clem Snide a great band." heeeeelarious.

brief, factual weekend report: friday night brendan benson played to a heartbreakingly empty irving plaza, and i achieved concert nirvana (finally! it's been a while), because his songs are just that good. saturday night i sang "my michelle" by guns and roses and "love in an elevator" by aerosmith at kurt's very fun going-away/birthday party at ibop karaoke, and the crowd really did go wild. today harry returned from wherever he was, saw that the lovely holly had delivered me some new ikea furniture, gleefully (and unironically) asked if he could put it together, and immediately set to work. i say: hurrah for harry! in other words good weekend, folks.