Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
two uptown hipster summer block parties down, one more to go. bastille day @ barbette has gone from being a fun neighborhood novelty to full-on local tradition, marked by run-ins with those friends i never see for whatever reason ... weather was ideal after last year's wilting near-one-hundred degree heat - the mid-eighties were back with no rain - but the block really started rockin by the time i made it over to the bmx stage, where i ran into my pal darcy from work. the two of us are always good for a furious volley of fun snark, which was intensified by the inclusion of a guy i've known from around uptown since my mailboxes etc. days - which brings us to the mid-nineties - but most recently from the gym. he's a big, built, shaved-head dude whom i was already successfully chatting up (including the very forward - for me - question of whether he's done everything he wanted to do before his upcoming Big 4-0 ... vive la liberte!) when i finally connected with darce. she + i had a hell of a blast tryin to figure him out for the rest of the night, with his gorgeously mannish tall galpal (one of maybe 3 african-americans at the event - ah, minneapolis ... how you frustrate me), through the rollergirl demonstration and the not-completely-repellant performance by mallman's new band ruby isle. of course the bell's 2-hearteds were flowing all night, so by the time we were fixin to round up our other work comrade kimmer, who had finally made it back to the neighborhood after being kidnapped by kung for the previous 24 hours, i got good and bellige when some blond female stick figure - was she dressed all in brown lace? that's how i remember it - swooped in and stole our manly project away from us with promises they'd come to darcy's later - after i'd invested an evening's worth of effort into him ... ! grrr. of course poor darcy + kim had to bear the brunt of my angry-gay-man act, but thanks to their generous tolerance and indulgence that did not prevent us from enjoying a very testy, i mean tasty post-party meal of darcy's signature green bean pesto back at her place. i of course had to be up at five the next morning for work so i left by eleven, thankfully out the door just in time to bid my goodnights to our bald test subject and his stick figure as they arrived: as i walked away she told me to 'make good choices...' what the hell kind of schtick is that??? go figure.
speaking of matters of liberty, resistance + revolution ... was encouraged by the times article about the new populism: it seems the democrats are finally coming together around what is beginning to form into a forceful message about social justice and economic equality here at home, addressing the growing sense of middle-class financial insecurity that i have been experiencing and observing for several years now. was hanging out with a friend from work last night who described not being able to make ends meet despite working full-time. (maybe it's because we go out too much?) i have to admit that my own poverty is somewhat self-induced, choosing as i have not to commit to a full-time career; but, when i think about it my reasons for that choice are based on a sense of social alienation that i have felt in all of my previous attempts at grown-up employment, never feeling truly comfortable with my alternative identity in jobs dominated by even well-meaning mainstream hetero and/or team-sports, corporate-ladder-consumerist oriented co-workers. too much dealing with unpleasant, unaccountable, and even inept management types has brought me to a point of organizational disillusionment that has left me too exhausted to even consider another foray into that world. is this an issue to be taken up by congress? or a good therapist? at this point i'm hoping time will tell, but it doesn't help when the stories have been coming in about what would appear to be a campaign of harassment involving hundred-something dollar fines levied against peaceful, productive, middle-class citizens who dared to 1> walk their dog off-leash on a frozen lake (me); 2> ride their bike on nicollet mall (my friend boone - did you HEAR THAT??? not a warning but a FINE for NOT burning fossil fuels in rybak's minneapolis!); or 3> going fishing one time with her family, who had a fishing license, because she didn't have an individual license, on a lake where the family has kept a modest cabin for years. (previously mentioned full-time co-worker - again, not a warning, but an immediate fine) ... i tell ya.
it never fails - i splurge on the new york times one time and it changes my life ... also discovered slint and grizzly bear from their article about pitchfork.
speaking of matters of liberty, resistance + revolution ... was encouraged by the times article about the new populism: it seems the democrats are finally coming together around what is beginning to form into a forceful message about social justice and economic equality here at home, addressing the growing sense of middle-class financial insecurity that i have been experiencing and observing for several years now. was hanging out with a friend from work last night who described not being able to make ends meet despite working full-time. (maybe it's because we go out too much?) i have to admit that my own poverty is somewhat self-induced, choosing as i have not to commit to a full-time career; but, when i think about it my reasons for that choice are based on a sense of social alienation that i have felt in all of my previous attempts at grown-up employment, never feeling truly comfortable with my alternative identity in jobs dominated by even well-meaning mainstream hetero and/or team-sports, corporate-ladder-consumerist oriented co-workers. too much dealing with unpleasant, unaccountable, and even inept management types has brought me to a point of organizational disillusionment that has left me too exhausted to even consider another foray into that world. is this an issue to be taken up by congress? or a good therapist? at this point i'm hoping time will tell, but it doesn't help when the stories have been coming in about what would appear to be a campaign of harassment involving hundred-something dollar fines levied against peaceful, productive, middle-class citizens who dared to 1> walk their dog off-leash on a frozen lake (me); 2> ride their bike on nicollet mall (my friend boone - did you HEAR THAT??? not a warning but a FINE for NOT burning fossil fuels in rybak's minneapolis!); or 3> going fishing one time with her family, who had a fishing license, because she didn't have an individual license, on a lake where the family has kept a modest cabin for years. (previously mentioned full-time co-worker - again, not a warning, but an immediate fine) ... i tell ya.
it never fails - i splurge on the new york times one time and it changes my life ... also discovered slint and grizzly bear from their article about pitchfork.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
did i ever 'blog about the internet jukeboxes in waikiki? the ones that allow you to find and play pretty much any song you can think of? dangerous. cleared the room at the maddog saloon when i played the 10-minute remix of lcd soundsystem's "yr city's a sucker" over new year's - it was during the day so there weren't that many people to begin with, but seriously, every single person left during the song, including the bartender - except one guy, who applauded loud, slow and pointedly when it was finally over. beware.
BATTLES show on wednesday rocked - went stag, which i think was the key to its success, allowing me to bike hardcore down lake street / up cedar and to enjoy the show on my own time / terms. the fact my now-legendary 7th-caller skills got me in for free courtesy of radio k probably didn't hurt either. (did you hear her shout out congrats to 'tom-A-hawk in uptown' ??? i think it helped that i paid into my karma by giving $20 for their emergency pledge drive june 29th...) smoked up before the show and was psyched to discover POS' punk outfit BUILDING BETTER BOMBS was the 1st opening act! i bet kdogg was jealous =) someone actually asked pos where they were from. i wish i'd told pos to ask that person where he was from. next up was SINGER, who fed my recent psychedelic jones with heavy jammy rawk. ducked out to smoke up again before the headliners went on and pos walked by, lookin at me like he knew what i was up to ... BATTLES dominated with their solid, stoney wall of math-noise (one of them is from don cab - the main guy who played his guitar frets and keyboard simultaneously), their hit 'atlas' was a joyous, transcendent, almost levitating experience. whoo!
so al franken's fundraising has made him a force to be reckoned with in the senate race - regardless of whether i think he's carpetbagging or not, i support him if only strategically, as a democrat who actually has a chance to oust bush lapdog coleman; plus, i witnessed franken shake my birthday bro kevin's hand at this year's gay pride parade. there was something about that moment besides the obvious that made me wish i'd gotten a photo of it - it was probably kevin's poise and just-so hair, but it seemed iconic, like that classic shot of a young bill clinton shaking hands with jfk...
it's been a full-on 60's revival around here the last few days: got csn/y's 1st album and 'so far' plus a best of buffalo springfield collection, all on vinyl, and was cranking them last night, followed by my entire i-tunes joni mitchell collection bringin me into the 70's. also got me down to cheapo's relatively new vinyl basement for the 1st time, which is kind of like going back in time itself, mainly because of the prehistoric environment they built around the stairs, but i have to say i was impressed with their refined curatorial approach ... it was rolling stone's flashback 1967 issue that got me goin, learning more about the era and the bands suddenly brought all this music, which otherwise had all seemed so cliched and almost depressing to me, vibrantly back to life - a welcome, exuberant, earnest, EMOTIONAL alternative to my splintered, cynical indie dance/rock exhaustion. maybe also at its root is the undeniable similarity between our times and the vietnam era ... stop, children - what's that sound? love is coming to us all.
while i'm catching up on odds + ends, and to follow up on posting my new musical creations, and speaking of lcd soundsystem, i realize i never posted the short film my myspace bud aj inspired me to make right before the world came back to life this spring:
BATTLES show on wednesday rocked - went stag, which i think was the key to its success, allowing me to bike hardcore down lake street / up cedar and to enjoy the show on my own time / terms. the fact my now-legendary 7th-caller skills got me in for free courtesy of radio k probably didn't hurt either. (did you hear her shout out congrats to 'tom-A-hawk in uptown' ??? i think it helped that i paid into my karma by giving $20 for their emergency pledge drive june 29th...) smoked up before the show and was psyched to discover POS' punk outfit BUILDING BETTER BOMBS was the 1st opening act! i bet kdogg was jealous =) someone actually asked pos where they were from. i wish i'd told pos to ask that person where he was from. next up was SINGER, who fed my recent psychedelic jones with heavy jammy rawk. ducked out to smoke up again before the headliners went on and pos walked by, lookin at me like he knew what i was up to ... BATTLES dominated with their solid, stoney wall of math-noise (one of them is from don cab - the main guy who played his guitar frets and keyboard simultaneously), their hit 'atlas' was a joyous, transcendent, almost levitating experience. whoo!
so al franken's fundraising has made him a force to be reckoned with in the senate race - regardless of whether i think he's carpetbagging or not, i support him if only strategically, as a democrat who actually has a chance to oust bush lapdog coleman; plus, i witnessed franken shake my birthday bro kevin's hand at this year's gay pride parade. there was something about that moment besides the obvious that made me wish i'd gotten a photo of it - it was probably kevin's poise and just-so hair, but it seemed iconic, like that classic shot of a young bill clinton shaking hands with jfk...
it's been a full-on 60's revival around here the last few days: got csn/y's 1st album and 'so far' plus a best of buffalo springfield collection, all on vinyl, and was cranking them last night, followed by my entire i-tunes joni mitchell collection bringin me into the 70's. also got me down to cheapo's relatively new vinyl basement for the 1st time, which is kind of like going back in time itself, mainly because of the prehistoric environment they built around the stairs, but i have to say i was impressed with their refined curatorial approach ... it was rolling stone's flashback 1967 issue that got me goin, learning more about the era and the bands suddenly brought all this music, which otherwise had all seemed so cliched and almost depressing to me, vibrantly back to life - a welcome, exuberant, earnest, EMOTIONAL alternative to my splintered, cynical indie dance/rock exhaustion. maybe also at its root is the undeniable similarity between our times and the vietnam era ... stop, children - what's that sound? love is coming to us all.
while i'm catching up on odds + ends, and to follow up on posting my new musical creations, and speaking of lcd soundsystem, i realize i never posted the short film my myspace bud aj inspired me to make right before the world came back to life this spring:
Friday, July 13, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
was feeling very laurel canyon this morning, playing my acoustic guitar and singing as the cool summer sun fluttered leafy shadows on my shuttered white window blinds. thinking about the two neighborhood house parties i attended this weekend, like david crosby going to joni mitchell's, wandering from the hot + steamy art geek dance party friday night at darcy’s-on-the-mall, to saturday night’s dudewarming for the 24 year old rockers who just moved in next door ... slept for 15 hours last night, a nap that continued through the evening’s storm + rain, which led to my early morning wakeful trance and sank back into sleep again, creating amazing dreams before i rose ending with a snippet of a diva dance song i unearthed from my subconscious, an angelic voice gently waking me with the words don’t waste your time ... open your eyes to me ... echoing through my head as i got up and started to walk around sometime before 8 a.m.
rode my bike down to the east shore of lake calhoun to see fireworks on 4th of july, the minikahda club does the main display from their perch on the west shore; plus hopkins, saint louis park, and edina’s shows can also be seen from north to south right above the same treeline. very smalltown-in-the-city, very neighborhoody, very nice.
barack obama worked out at the downtown yw (where i work - and work out - sometimes) in a surprise visit 1st thing in the morning a couple saturdays ago - i was not there to meet him, but my co-worker na’il, who was subbing for that shift and pissed about having to work so early, got to shake his hand. and i got to shake the hand of na’il ...
maybe the laurel canyon vibe started when i recorded a new song recently w/ baby: a dirty, scratchy, grungy version of my most recent original ‘at the foot of the mountain theater’ - it’s a folkie americana-inspired bit of revisionist patriotism that you can hear, along with my 1st mac recording ‘self is just a concept’ at my new myspace artist page ... ! please keep in mind that these are very rough drafts of the type of music i would like to make, so tell me what you think - and be kind...
rode my bike down to the east shore of lake calhoun to see fireworks on 4th of july, the minikahda club does the main display from their perch on the west shore; plus hopkins, saint louis park, and edina’s shows can also be seen from north to south right above the same treeline. very smalltown-in-the-city, very neighborhoody, very nice.
barack obama worked out at the downtown yw (where i work - and work out - sometimes) in a surprise visit 1st thing in the morning a couple saturdays ago - i was not there to meet him, but my co-worker na’il, who was subbing for that shift and pissed about having to work so early, got to shake his hand. and i got to shake the hand of na’il ...
maybe the laurel canyon vibe started when i recorded a new song recently w/ baby: a dirty, scratchy, grungy version of my most recent original ‘at the foot of the mountain theater’ - it’s a folkie americana-inspired bit of revisionist patriotism that you can hear, along with my 1st mac recording ‘self is just a concept’ at my new myspace artist page ... ! please keep in mind that these are very rough drafts of the type of music i would like to make, so tell me what you think - and be kind...
Thursday, July 05, 2007
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