June 2009
191 posts
Led Zeppelin: “Good Times, Bad Times”...
Interviewer: Mistake or not [to go electric at the Newport Folk Festival] what made you decide to go the rock-‘n’-roll route?
Bob Dylan: Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I’m in a card game. Then I’m in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She...
May 2009
292 posts
In an effort to procrastinate from actual work, I just rummaged through my closet and found several journals from my middle school summers—the ones where all of the entries are addressed to Paul McCartney. These are some of my favorite paragraphs and, despite the Hemingway-style sentence structure, I didn’t edit any of them except to snip out the dull parts about how many Chef...
Eddie & the Hot Rods: “Do Anything You...
“[A]nd the reality had left me bewildered and let down, like a child opening a...”
– I just finished the first chapter of Tana French’s In the Woods and I’m in love with the way this woman writes. If anyone needs me, I’ll be doing my best rotisserie impression in the sun-drenched courtyard until I’ve made my way through the remaining 411 pages.
Thank you to...
Dear Bonnaroo
Why did you have to schedule Wilco and Elvis Costello at essentially the EXACT SAME TIME? See, I have this, like, lifetime concert wishlist and both of ‘em—along with R.E.M. and Nicky D. Lowe—are in the top five1 and now I’m forced to choose between the two. Both of them have brand new albums coming out in June and both of them have spent an equal amount of time rocking my...
“It’s hard to recover/When you’re the disease”
– Robyn Hitchcock, “Railway Shoes” __________
I dunno why, but that line’s been lodged in my head all day and can probably be applied to my ADD-fueled existence on a number of levels.
Regardless, I just launched the last piece of today’s assignment across the...
Turning Led Zeppelin Lyrics Into Insults: Volume 2
You let the Dark Lord ride in force EVERY NIGHT
-“Battle of Evermore”
Not Wings: “Love Take Me Down (To The...
So That Just Happened.
The coffee shop downstairs has inexplicably started opening at noon and as soon as I saw the owners putting their umbrellas out on the patio, I nipped down to liberate a pair of Diet Cokes from the fridge, like I was gonna build an ark for phenalalanines.
Anyway, I’m in full-on deadline mode today, which means my ratty Sox hat, a wrinkled Nick Lowe Jesus of Cool tee, and a deep-set scowl. ...
“Yeah, they used to write their numbers in your coloring books.”
– My sister, on my history of dating older dudes
“I don’t know anything about the New York Dolls so you’ll be stuck...”
– My friend Clare, on attending a Dolls concert
I adore her.
“R.E.M. is part lies, part heart, part truth and part garbage.”
– Peter Buck
Despite my affinity for the New York Dolls, I’ve rarely listened to their 2006 reunion album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This. The other day I was in the gym and decided that—rather than spin From Paris With Love (L.U.V.) again—I’d queue up the new stuff. It didn’t win my heart musically, but it does boast a surprisingly literate set of lyrics with...
Sammy Hagar: “I Can’t Drive 55”...
I'm Not Proud of This. OK, Maybe A Little.
A Partial List of Things I Have Eaten While at the Coast:
-Bacon Cheeseburger -Bleu Cheese Burger -Styrofoam Cup Full of Fries (2) -Cardboard Carton Full of Peanuts (2) -Lobster Tail with Bowl of Butter for Dipping -Farfalle Pasta with Roasted Peppers -Moose Tracks Ice Cream (1/2 Gallon…but not in one sitting) -S’mores Pop Tarts (3) -Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries...
“Her boobs looked like saggy eggplants.”
– My sister, describing her 3rd grade swim coach.
Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit:...
“I feel like a good test to see if an adult has lost their inner child is if they...”
– Green Day’s Mike Dirnt
Superchunk: “Slack Motherf*cker”
...
Lightweight, Party of One
Half a drink and I think it’s a good idea to lean over to the guy beside me and whisper “You know I’m naked under these clothes.”
Ouch, Man
I just walked past Abercrombie and heard a dance version of “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs.
How much Motrin do you take when your soul hurts?
“That makes you look like Whitney from The Hills. She’s the ugly one.”
– My sister, giving her opinion during my fitting room fashion show.
Bill Withers: “Lovely Day”
...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-5-24) →
Elvis Costello (122)
R.E.M. (90)
Nick Lowe (86)
Let’s Active (49)
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (40)
Note: Last.fm is a liar. My #4 Artist last week was actually Paul Collins’ Beat but for some reason, the auto-importer doesn’t dig him as much as I do. This doesn’t bode well for Jules and the Polar Bears.
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Wait Till I Break Out the Ducks Deluxe
I may be the only person on this beach listening to now-defunct British pub rock acts.
My Brinsley Schwarz brings all the boys to my towel ensures that everyone keeps
their distance.
Just remember that if this were North London in 1970, I’d be…um…still struggling to get anyone to make eye contact with me.
The Replacements: “Ye Sleeping Knights of...