[information leafblower]

Typepad!!

2003-10-09T10:12:00.000-04:00

After some much needed design tweaks and 3 unsuccessful tries at moving over my archives, I finally got everything up and running at my new site, including the archives. I still have some links to move over and some other small tweaks but for now all new posts will be made there and not here.

Thanks for visiting.

Radiohead @ MSG tonight!

I Might Be Moving...

2003-10-08T12:26:00.000-04:00

information leafblower is contemplating a move to typepad. I have a "beta" site up using their service right now but am not thrilled with the design. Feel free to check it out and drop me some comments on design, etc.

Panther Release Date

2003-10-08T12:24:00.000-04:00

And I'm not talking about the one they found in that apartment in Harlem. Apple today announced that OSX 10.3, aka Panther, will be released on October 24th at 8 PM. Like it's predeccesor, it will be priced at $129. To celebrate the release, Apple will be holiding some special events at their retail stores as well as at other authroized resellers.
Personally, information leafblower is waiting for Xmas when he hopes to pick up a new eMac and will most likely upgrade my OS then.
Apple also today released updates for it's iCal and iSync programs. I'll be downloading those when i get home tonight.

Supergrass Cancel MSG Support Slot with Radiohead

2003-10-07T17:48:00.000-04:00

Apparently Supergrass will be unable to open for Radiohead this Thursday and Friday at MSG. Thom Yorke and Co. have asked Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks to open instead. Crap. I have already heard the less than stellar "Pavement-lite" of the Jicks and was looking forward to some Richard III buzz from Gaz and Co.

The Sports Guy Weighs In

2003-10-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

Classic column up today. I love the Sox being the the second season if only for the increased output of one of my favorite writers (and fellow Boston sports fan) out there.

Highlights:
Did Grady Little even watch Trot Nixon during the regular season?(Important note: This was also the inning when my buddy J-Bug -- sitting in the first row behind the Sox bullpen -- was kicked out of Fenway Park for heckling Ricardo Rincon in Spanish. The J-Bug is 100-percent Irish. You couldn't make this stuff up.)

That brings us to Game 5: Pedro against Zito, winner takes all. Vegas listed the Sox as a minus-170 favorite, strictly on the fact that Zito was A.) pitching on three days rest; B.) was out partying Friday night; and C.) looks enough like Eric Roberts that it makes everyone uncomfortable.

The game starts. Pedro and Zito start matching zeroes. Tensions rise, especially as we wonder if Gabe Kapler is available to pinch-run on Yom Kippur.

Grady decides to bring in a defensive replacement for his No. 3 hitter -- Damian Jackson for Todd Walker, which (as I mentioned last Friday) constitutes about a 15-percent upgrade at best. It's like watching "The Handler" instead of "Hack" on CBS ... you're not really making or breaking your Friday night either way

Also, here is this week's TMQB column. Great stuff as always. I'm about at the point where I skip all the games and just watch Primetime and read TMQB to stay up on the NFL.

I'm Not Usually The Jealous Type

2003-10-07T14:23:00.000-04:00

This is what Googlism thinks of me:

information leafblower is jealous of those in attendance
information leafblower is on vacation through the weekend
information leafblower is dead tired right now
information leafblower is a tennis freak with great pics you won't see anywhere else

Bring On The Evil Empire

2003-10-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

Wow. Last night when Scott Williamson walked the first two batters he faced in the 9th inning, I was all set to write about how the Baseball Gods were angry at the Red Sox because of Manny Ramirez walking the first eight steps to first base after his 6th inning home run, and were exacting revenge by causing them to lose the game via their shaky bullpen. But current starter and former closer Derek Lowe pulled it out and the Red Sox won, advancing to the ALCS to face the hated Evil Empire beginning tomorrow night. There was some noise about the A's being mad at Lowe for some supposedly obscene gestures he made right after striking out the last batter, but they should have been more pissed off at Ramirez and that stunt he pulled. Hell, I'm a Red Sizzle fan and I was fuming. That crap was just like school in the summer. No class.
There are 500 different story lines being written about today so I'll just give you the link to all of them. Looking ahead, it seems like it will be Mike Mussina v. Tim Wakefield facing off in the Bronx for Game 1. Oh, and did you hear the one about Tim Hudson getting into a fight in a Boston bar? He was unable to pitch more than 1 inning in Game 4 because he hurt himself in the brawl. The club denies that kept Hudson from pitching, but what else are they supposed to say? The A's are now an incredible 0-9 in series clinching games when they can advance with a win.

PS - Peter Vescey agreed with my Alonzo Mourning rant yesterday.

PPs - Sorry for all the sports concentrated posts lately but it's the best I can muster here at work. They have some 'Surf Control" program here and I can't access many of the sites I go to for other info (like Whatevs dot org for example) so I am stuck with what I can work with.

Get Naked!

2003-10-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

Check it

It's Not About The Money, It's About The Money

2003-10-06T14:48:00.000-04:00

This is rich (pun intended). The Eastern Conference Champion Nets have decided to buy out Dikembe Mutombo's contract for $20 million dollars, thereby saving the team $7 million and making themselves more attractive to prospective buyers as the impending sale of their team nears. But this personnel move does not sit well with new free agent signing Alonzo Mourning. He says:

"I'm extremely disappointed," Mourning said after practice yesterday. "The purpose of this whole thing is to win and to get yourself in position to win."
"It goes to show you, the main objective, of whether you win a championship, that's our concern, the players," Mourning said. "The people in the front office are about making dollars."

This, after the club re-signed Jason Kidd for over $100 million for 7 years as well as signing Mourning, who has not played much in the last 2 years due to health problems, to a 4 years deal worth $22 million. The club also has a situation on it's hands with former #1 pick Kenyon Martin whose rookie contract runs out after this year and will need a new contract should the club decide to keep him. He's already gone on record stating he wants a max contract(which will cost the team around $90 million over 6 years) even though he has yet to even make the All Star team in the power forward deprived Eastern Conference. The team offered him a $66 million extension but he turned it down.
Mourning, it should be noted, bolted the Charlotte Hornets back in the day because they would not bow to his outrageous contract demands. Perhaps it's not just the people in the front office worried about making dollars.
More than ever, the NBA is all about the money.

Personally, information leafblower can't believe that the Nets would pay someone $20 million to NOT play for them. I certainly didn't get that kind of compensation when i was fired from my job.

Slow Life? Not quite...

2003-10-06T12:16:00.000-04:00

Oi. Super Furry Weekend has come and gone and left everyone involved with the usual glowing fuzziness that accompanies a few days of hard partying with good friends you don't get to see often enough. It kicked off Wednesday with the Carson Daly taping and dinner and drinks, provided a brief respite on Thursday as the band played DC and then picked up full steam on Friday night.
I left work around 6 and jetted uptown to meet Bill The Rhino to score his extra ticket for Saturday's gig as the guest list was tight and hard tickets are always good to have. I met up with Molly Wizzle in Midtown and we went to Union Square to scarf down some food at our fave "fast food" restaurant, Zen Palate. Service was unusually slow but we still managed to make it to the predetermined pre-gig meeting spot, Shades of Green Pub, in time. There we saw Karen(the SFA internet list moderator) and met up with Dizzy G and his brother Brendan. They drove in from Boston and other points North to catch the show. Pints were consumed, some catching up was done and off we went to the show.
Things got a bit hairy here as Molly Wizzle was not on the list as we were told she was (Irving Plaza had apparently cut the list unbeknownst to the band) so she was left out in the cold, literally, for the nights festivities. She insisted I soldier on and we agreed to focus on getting her a ducat for the next night's show. The mood was a bit somber when I finally went inside to meet Dizzy and bro, understandably, but we tried to make the best of it. And that was hard with the $6 Buds we were drinking ($5 per can plus tip), but we managed. Finally, at 9:30 PM the band came on and slammed into Phantom Power closer, Slow Life. Gruff put on his Power Ranger helmet for the last bit of the song, which was LOUD and groovy. The band seemed in great spirits and in good form as the dished out hit after hit after hit from their last 2 records. The stand out was, hands down, Piccolo Snare, with it's soaring harmonies and lush guitars. The accompanying visuals, made by Pete Fowler, of bombs being released from planes and then turning into white crosses during their free fall onto the ground were very powerful.
The second half of the set picked up the pace with Beach Boys ditty/death metal durge Recepticle For The Respectable and also Out Of Control. About the latter, Gruff described it as a "song written about the previous song". After a raucous version of Radiator-era b-side and fan favorite Calimero (a song I have told each of the members of the band, they can never, ever, ever take out of the set under penalty of death), they broke into show stopper and show closer The Man Don't Give A Fuck, complete with it's Bill Hicks sample of "All Governments Are Liars And Murderers" being played over and over again on the sound system and footage of both Dubya and Tony Blair being played on the video screens. Challenging stuff.
The band, save for keyboardist Cian, left the stage during the end of the song to ravenous applause while the crowd got their groove on for Cian's, patented techno breakdown that closes the song. Finally, Cian, got up to leave the stage and the music seemed to die down. Everyone though the set was over but then, the music gradually got louder until it was booming again. And then, the band comes back out on stage in their Yeti costumes and finished the song. I almost spit out the mouthful of beer I was trying to swallow. It was awesome! And more than anything, a complete surprise to yours truly and that's very hard to do to me at a Furries show.
About midway through Grandaddy's set, the Furries all came out to chat with everyone right outside the VIP lounge upstairs. I finally got to see Dav and chat with him a while. Before we knew it, the gig was over and they were kicking everyone out of the venue. The band retreated backstage to gather their things and those with VIP passes ran to the VIP lounge to hang out a bit more. During this time, I met quite a few Welsh people that had come over just to see the gig and chatted with them. They were all charming people and nice as could be. I met a woman that had gone to grade school with Guto back in the day, so I asked her to tell me something embarrassing about Guto from his school days that I could get him with and she told me a quick little story. When the band came out of the dressing room, I went up to Guto and was like "So I hear…" He turned to his old schoolmate and said, "Shit, why did you tell him that? Now it's gonna be all over the internet!" Well, almost….
After we all left Irving around 12:30, we went back to Shades of Green and settled in for some serious drinking. It was great! The pub was practically empty when we all got there but it soon filled up with friends and family from both bands. We all just chilled and drank our faces off. I was talking to Bunf about the Yeti costumes and asked him(with a straight face), "You guys are gonna do that again tomorrow right? I have to bring my camera and take pictures!" He replied, "Shit, we did it in fucking Louisville, hell yeah we're gonna do it again tomorrow!" Maybe you had to be there but it was the funniest thing I heard all night.
The next thing I knew, the lights came on and the barkeep said "It's 4 AM, go the fuck home!" Wow. Ever have one of those nights when you can just drink and talk and drink for hours and you totally lose track of time because of the great time you're having? This was one of those nights. Outside, good-byes were exchanged, and I went home to get some sleep even though I felt that I could have gone on for another couple of hours. I got home at 4:50 AM, and any of my friends could tell you that was the latest I've stayed out in a loooooong time.
Saturday, I scored tickets via Craigslist for Molly Wizzle and Coolfer, so we went to do it all over again. We took it easy that night and never hooked up with the band. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing as I had to get up at 9 AM to drive Ms. Wizzle to Queens and never managed to get back to sleep, so I was crashing hard after the gig.
I had to skip the in store on Sunday due to the Red Sizzle and some other commitments but I heard it was a blast. Today I'm back at work, a little worse for the wear but better because of it.

Cowboy Up!

2003-10-05T17:20:00.000-04:00

Red Sizzle Nation is all abuzz right now following their dramatic 5-4 win over the A's in Game 4, sending the series back to Oakland for tomorrow's Game 5. What did information leafblower say on Friday was the key to the series for the Sox? Production from Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Manny singled in the bottom of the 8th, sending Nomar to third and then Ortiz broke out of his 0-for-the-ALDS slump with a double that scored them both. It definitely didn't hurt that Oakland starter Tim Hudson left after the first inning with an injury.
The A's now own a major league record 7 game losing streak when trying to close out a series. They lost a wacky Game 3 to the Red Sizzle on Saturday night after Trot Nixon's walk off home run in the 11th inning. Trot is representing the North Cackalack if you didn't know. Pedro is starting in Game 5 so Boston has to be confident coming into the game.
The Sports Guy has to be feeling pretty good right now even if he wasn't very happy with Beantown manager Grady Little after Game 1.

Don't Take My Word For It...

2003-10-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

Tonight it's on to the break of dawn! (I really need to get some new lingo) SFA and Grandaddy at Irving Plaza. This will be tonight's premier rock/pop event in the city, just ask the NY Times and the Daily News.
If that's not good enough for you, check out The Guardian's list of the 40 best Bands In Britain. The Furries come in a very respectable 12, although how Dizzee Rascal is ahead of them I have no idea. Can't say I agree with their #1 choice, but numbers 2 and 3 are right on the money. And FYI, Oasis and u2 don't make the list. Interesting.

This One's Optimistic

2003-10-03T12:33:00.000-04:00

Although it's hard right now, Red Sox Nation is hoping and praying that the Red Fizzle's can turn around their sub par play in the playoffs so far. They lost again last night after getting dominated by Barry Zito, a pitcher that had been struggling coming into the contest. Game 3 is Saturday night in Beantown. The Fizzle's are confident they can win at home and send it back to Oakland. To do it they need a little luck and most importantly to forget about game 1. Personally, I think Manny needs to become a presence as does David Ortiz.

This picture got me more excited than anything. Wow, Vin Baker looks good standing beside the franchise. The C's are really looking forward to the upcoming season. Antoine Walker went on record saying the C's could win the East. I think they'll need a little help to do that but I think Celtic Nation is in for a great season. Especially if Vin Baker returns to his form of 3 or 4 years ago. I'm not exactly holding my breath about that but he looks good and is in shape. I'm pulling for him.
What does resident genius Danny Ainge think about this year? Forsooth:
According to Ainge, the key questions facing the Celtics season are: What can Marcus Banks and Mike James bring to the point guard position? What does Jumaine Jones bring? What does Baker add? Can Walker and Pierce have strong, injury-free seasons? Ainge added that the Celtics need big seasons from Banks, Jones, Baker, Walker, and Pierce to be Eastern Conference champions, a goal he believes is possible.

If You Want To Go Out...

2003-10-02T14:50:00.000-04:00

information leafblower is dead tired right now due to the events that transpired last night and MLB's decision to make the Red Sox play at 10 PM. Therefor, he is not going out tonight. HOWEVER, if information leafblower was going out tonight, he would definitely be at the following:

BLING KONG's foray into world domination begins Thursday at Pianos.
Be there or you will end up weeping bitterly for your loss. .

EVENT DETAILS:
Thursday, October 2
Pianos
158 Ludlow Street (at Stanton)
New York, NY
(212) 505-3733

doors open at 7:30
8:00 Cephalopod
9:00 Kid Lucky w/ Action Daddy
10:00 BLING KONG

all for a mere $6

Visit the Bling Kong web site.

From Last Call With Carson Daly To Last Call With The Super Furries

2003-10-02T12:32:00.000-04:00

Good Morning, lethargy, Drink Pepsi, It’s good for energy.

Before I get to the good stuff, memo to baseball commisioner Bud Selig:
What are you thinking by starting Game 1 of the ALDS between The Red Sox and the A's at 10 PM East Coast time? I got home from the bar (more on that later) at 1:25 AM and the game was just getting into the ninth inning. Of course the crappy BoSox bull pen gave the game away and they lost in the 12th inning, but that's not the point here. The point is the game ended at just before midnight west coast time. Too bad for you, as the game sounded like a certifiable classic. And you wonder why baseball is losing fans every year. How are Beantown fans supposed to stay up for the end of that game? There is nothing worse than going to bed without knowing if your team won or lost. In the Playoffs.
Oh, and they play the first game today at 1 PM west coast time. I'm sure both teams got plenty of sleep last night. But I digress

So….by some unforeseen stroke of luck, everyone knocked off from work around 5:30 yesterday which left me just enough time to get uptown to Rockefeller Plaza and NBC studios the see the Super Furry Animals tape an episode of Last Call With Carson Daly. I made it with literally two minutes to spare. There were 4 people in line behind me and they were the last ones to gain admission to the studio.
The show itself was very strange. They were taping the show to run next Friday (Oct. 10th) and those episodes are one hour long as opposed to the normal 30 minutes. Also on Fridays they bring in a "house band" which turned out to be a group of 14 year olds that called themselves the Billionaire Boys Club after some 80's movie starring Judd Nelson. Let's just say they don't warrant any further mention in the space and leave it at that. The guests were Rena Sofer from Coupling (oh, the irony), Vivica A. Fox who was promoting Kill Bill, and some animal guy. Finally the Super Furries were called to the stage. I snagged a spot in the front row and watched the band rock out on Golden Retriever. At the very end, the camera guy turned around to get some audience shots and it could practically hear the director telling the camera guy:
Director: Ok turn around and get a close up of some of the audience…
Camera Guy turns and puts the camera directly on me and start focusing.
Director: No you idiot, not the guy with the bad haircut, the hot girl standing beside him!
Camera Guy turns to my right and focuses in on the hot girl from out of town who is not sure what she just witnessed and seems somewhat confused by all the long haired Welsh men standing in front of her with instruments.
So maybe I'll get some face time when the episode airs, we'll see. For the record, I was wearing black and standing right in front of Bunf.
A brief aside…at the office where I temp, they have someone come around every day and ask if you want your shoes shined. Weird.
After the taping, the band and the usual suspects(myself, Wacky Jen, K Diddy, G-Spot and H to the Izzo) met in the lobby to plan the rest of the night. My famous last words were, "I'll come out for a beer but need to get home as I am broke as a joke". Ummmm…that didn't happen. After a quick stop at Max Fish, we all went to a restaurant, ate some great Spanish tapas and consumed some cervezas and sangria. The guys said the tour was going well and they were having a great time with Grandaddy. "I watch them every night," said Guto. They were all stoked about the recent New Orleans show because on the last tour they played to 30 people. On the current tour with Grandaddy, they played to 800. Sweet. Guto and I got to rappin' about the Welsh National team and the baseball playoffs. Then we all tried to figure out the best solo Wu-Tang record. Most of the SFA votes were for the GZA's Liquid Swords, but I had to vote for Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx.
After dinner we went to yet another bar, and the band bought all the drinks for everyone(not unusual). It was definitely appreciated by yours truly for reasons stated above. Gruff and I talked about his new John McEnroe circa 1978 look which he is totally rockin' and I tried to get in a few requests for the acoustic In-Store on Sunday. He was excited about the upcoming UK tour and also said that the Furries would be back in the States in Feb. or March for their own headlining tour. By then they should know a few more songs from Phantom Power. He said they just got Piccolo Snare down (and that replaced information leafblower favorite Herman Loves Pauline in the set! Argh!) and that a rockin version of Sex, War and Robots was next on the list. Blah, blah, blah, more drinks, a peek or two at the Red Sizzle game, etc. We all stayed until 1 AM when the band had to get back to the tour bus and drive down to Washington DC for their gig at the 9:30 club tonight. Damn this well paying temp job! I so want to go.
So I am at work today, slightly hungover and definitely tired but better for the experience.
Sorry for the lack of updates this week but between the Welsh invasion and work, time has been short.

Cheers all,
Remember, this is the thrilling conversation you've been waiting for.

Your Music's Shite, It Keeps Me Up All Night

2003-09-30T22:38:00.000-04:00

Is it my imagination
Or have I finally found something worth living for?
I was looking for some action
But all I found was cigarettes and alcohol

You could wait for a lifetime
To spend your days in the sunshine
You might as well do the white line
Cos when it comes on top . . .
You gotta make it happen!

Nice to know Liam's still alive and madferit. I wish the boys would get off their asses and release some new material. As always, nice fucking haircut.

Cheers to Whatevs Dot Org for the pic and also for this link. Hubba Hubba.

The Super Furry Animals Invade NYC This Week

2003-09-30T11:03:00.000-04:00

Super Furry Week is upon us!! Good thing I have a temp job so I can pay for all the drinks that I'm bound to consume in the next five days.

The schedule:
Wednesday - Carson Daly Taping
Friday - Gig @ Irving Plaza supporting Grandaddy
Saturday - Gig @ Irving Plaza supporting Grandaddy
Sunday - In-Store at Mondo Kims

It's on like Chaka Khan!

Welcome To The Monkeyhouse

2003-09-29T22:18:00.000-04:00

75 or Less never ran my review so I'm posting it here instead:

The 80’s are back! Or at least the Dandy Warhols would have you think so. Their latest hella good LP delivers more of their trademark noisy-drone-pop music for the masses, but this time the keyboards, synths and some of their idols (Nick Rhodes, Nile Rodgers and Tony Visconti) add a sexy, slinky, “couples skate” feel to the festivities. They said it best themselves: The Dandy’s rule OK. And they are still cooler than you.

Notes Of Interest From The Interweb:

2003-09-29T18:09:00.000-04:00

Baseball:
Congrats to the Detrizzle Tizzle's and their seemingly impossible late season surge. By winning 5 of their last 6 games, including their last game of the season yesterday, they keep the Mets in the record books and don't have to hear about it all summer. Congrats boys. By the way, the Oakland A's have a similar payroll and have made the playoffs for the last three seasons.
You have to feel for Todd Helton. All he needed was one more hit to win the NL batting title, but Rob Beck walked him after going 3-0 on him and he loses to Albert Pujols by .00022 percentage points. Damn.
Jim Caple has some good ideas about who to root for in the playoffs. If you need to get excited about October, check out the 10 best playoff games to jog your memory.
Fitba
North Korea? No problem. An easy 3-0 win and Mia Hamm didn't even play. Some of the other starters were rested as well so the US should be ready for Norway on Wednesday.
Football
MMQB says the Iggles are for real. Whatever. They're certainly not the Carolina Panthers.
Tennis
Seems like we've been doing too many of these stories lately, but tennis' female Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson, died yesterday.
Basketball
Somewhere, Coolfer is laughing. The Celtics invite waste of space Mateen Cleaves to camp. If he freakin' makes the team and Rusty doesn't, I'm gonna persecute them.
Ha! Want to know what's wrong with UNC basketball? Check it: UNC - now and then.
Apple
Apple's stock is upgraded due to back to school shopping. People love their iBooks! The Beatles lawsuit v. Apple could go on for years, according to Steve Jobs.
Oh, and that Music Match Store...not feeling it at all. All these Windoze based solutions get it wrong on the base level. See, the files you buy from Music Match are Windows Media files encoded at 160 kbz. Lame!
Shits & Giggles
Jack Black is the shiznit.

Big News. Or Is It?

2003-09-29T15:16:00.000-04:00

Wow…I was just getting ready to begin a typical post about the Women's World Cup and the upcoming baseball playoffs when I got confirmation on something I was researching yesterday. It took a while for me to find out for sure but I found it. There is no reason to beat around the bush so I will just come out and tell everyone.

Chuck Palahniuk is gay.

Again…wow. Leave it fucking Chucky P to have something up his sleeve to make everyone step back and gather their thoughts. So typical for him. I kinda feel like Jack at the end of Fight Club when he realizes that HE is Tyler Durden. Talk about a complete surprise.
For those of you not in the know, this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly has a four page article on Chuck written by Karen Velby and it apparently contains some heavy handed hints about Chuck's sexuality. I have neither seen the article nor read it. From what I have read on his website, Chuck did tell Ms. Velby that he had been living with a male partner for the last 11 years but that the info was off the record and not to be used in the article. Obviously, if this were info that Chuck didn't want to get out he wouldn't have brought it up to her so maybe it is a relief to him in some ways for everyone to know.
Chuck certainly didn't see it that way at first as he left a nasty audio blog on his website in regards to Ms. Velby and the article in question (which I did not hear) but it has since been removed. Since then he has left another audio blog apologizing to Velby and also asking his fans to lay off of the EW scribe. He has apparently decided to roll with whatever punches come his way. Respect.
I will be the first to say that this is somewhat of a surprise to me but in no way, shape or form does it make me respect the man or his work any less. Hell, I respect him more if anything, and anyone that reads this site on a semi-regular basis knows what a big Palahniuk fan I am.
And please, everyone, don't go back through all of his work and look for homoerotic undertones or any of that bullshit. I love Chuck's work because it's always fresh and it hits you in the face and makes you THINK. There's not enough of this type of stuff around today. Lets give him some space, let him deal with this and, most importantly, let him do his thing. The next time I see him at a reading or reread any of his books, I won't think any different about him. And neither should you.

Big Day Out

2003-09-28T10:21:00.000-04:00

What's the best thing about watching the Women's World Cup on TV?

Is it Julie Foudy or Shannon MacMillan (pictured above) or any of the other lovely ladies of the USA? The answer, faithful readers, is none of the above (although I would not fault you for picking the lovely Mrs. Foudy). The answer is studio commentator Heather Mitts:

Heather, how you doin'?
She should have plenty to talk about today as the US squad faces a tough test in North Korea. The North Korean women are fighting for their tournament lives, along with some respect, while the US needs a win or tie to ensure their spot in the quarters. A good deal of the US team's success can be placed on their ability to capitalize on set plays off of dead balls. The way things are heading now, the US could face Germany in the semi's which would be a tough road to the Finals. Still, if Mia Hamm continues her stellar play and Aly Wagner continues to come up big, The US should be OK.
In a related item, did the WUSA fail because it focused it's marketing approach on the wrong demographics?
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Cubs Win! Cubs Win! The playoffs beckon....And their pitching rotation is looking good.
> Speaking of winning, the Tigers won their own personal World Series last night as they came back from an 8 run deficit to beat the Twins and stave off loss #120. Their last game of the season is this afternoon. Go Tizzle's!
> Baby faced GM Theo Epstein deserves alot of credit for his personnel moves with the Red Sizzle's this year. The no-closer approach back fired on him but Ortiz, Millar and Mueller came up aces.
> Talent or no talent, the Lakers will face a long road in the media this year thanks to Kobe's shoplifting of the pooty.
> Pat Riley is banking mad loot on pot-head Lamar Odom.
> Peter May's Top 10 Storylines for the upcoming NBA season. Guess what's #1? By the way, rookies report for camp tomorrow!!!!.
> Yo!! How you been dawg? Bobby Hurley (the only man on the planet that has had more bad haircuts than me) is named as a scout for the Philly 76ers. Hot.
> How about my Carolina Panthers and second year coach John Fox?
> Pitchfork compiles a list of the 50 most common used CD's of the last 10 or so years. For the record, I own or have owned 21 of them.
> Apple is updating their logo. Not changing, updating.
> FOIL Scott follows up on my WKRP spot from yesterday:
I read your little mention of WKRP in Cincinnati and thought I'd weigh in. The episodes are pretty much butchered, music-wise, as you've said. The royalties are ridiculous. That's why we still have yet to see WKRP DVDs. Just to license the music for the DVD release is well over the million dollar mark. Ludicrous, if you ask me. The same problem apparently came up when they were releasing FELICITY season 2, hence the reason that those episodes have been butchered on the DVD release. They've been substituted with cheesy elevator music.
Thanks for reading and weighing in!! By the way, Scott's site is actually more on top of a Chuck Palahniuk story than I am. Apparantly there is a 4 page article in the Sept. 26th issue of Entertainment Weekly that takes potshots at Chuck (and his fans) and also claims he is NOT married although he stated he was everytime I have gone to a reading and have read this very fact elsewhere numerous times. Still, with Chucky P, you never know. I'm still trying to find out all of the facts, but I hope to have more info later.

That's all for now. It's rainy outside which probably means more house cleaning and some football and fitba TV action for later today.
Remember, I don't have an attitude, rebellion is a platitude. I only hope the verse is good, I hate verisimilitude.

The Undefeated

2003-09-27T11:18:00.000-04:00

Finally got to see Lost In Translation last night, at BAM no less, and was very glad that I did. Bill Murray is right at home in this movie. I hope all the Oscar buzz he is receiveing pans out for him. The movie was extremely funny and equally as bittersweet. I don't think the role was a stretch for Murray ( I kept thinking he played a somewhat similar role in Meatballs for some reason, but that's probably because I saw the Meatballs DVD for $4.99 at Best Buy and I was still kicking myself for not picking it up) but that doesn't take away anything from his performance. Scarlett Johanson was a very sexy and forlorn ingenuine and is also to be commended for her performance. I died laughing at the "Cameron Diaz" character. So spot on(as far as I know). The karaoke scene was also ace. All in all, a good time for a Friday night. Highly recommended. It's no Royal Tenenbaums but it's damn good. The Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack remains the only movie soundtrack I have gone out and purchased directly after seeing the movie. I literally walked out of the theatre, down the block into the Virgin Megastore and bought the CD. The Kevin Shields music in the film was good but not good enough to make me want to buy it. Downloading? Now that's a different story.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Even more spot on than the Cammy D impersonation was Jon Bon Jovi buying an Arena Football team.
> Ok, who out there is NOT pulling for a Cubs v. Red Sox World Series? Seriously, how monumental would that be? Can you imagine? One set of fans finally getting relief from years of torment while the other half gets burned yet again while being so close to the prize. Kerry Wood / Mark Prior / Sammy Sosa v. Pedro / Derek Lowe / Manny Ramirez. Well, my fingers are crossed. The Sox are in, but the Cubs are still fighting. They were rained out yesterday(royally screwing the fans), so they are playing two today. The Astros lost yesterday and start the day a 1/2 game back. Who out there is rooting for the Astros? They lose in the first round every year. They are just there to make the Braves feel better about themselves.
> In other baseball related news, The Evil Empire secured home field throughout the AL playoffs and the Tigers fell in 11 innings bringing their season long loss total to 119 games with 2 left to play. They had won 3 in a row before that. At least they are playing hard.
> In a move that surprised absolutely no one on this planet, Pedro has been named the Game 1 starter against the A's on Wednesday. Look for Tim Wakefield to start game 2 and Derek Lowe to get the nod at home in game 3.
> Peter Vescey is back! We are soooo close to basketball season.
> Remember when Bird and Magic wore those Converse Weapons and they were THE shoe to have growing up? Well, in what can be filed into the "worst. idea. ever." category, Converse has released a new, updated line of these shoes and dubbed them....wait for it...Loaded Weapons. You couldn't make something like this up if you tried. This special shoe related news item brought to the suffering readers of Catch Dubs because he seems to be over his bandwidth limit.
> Radiohead played the Hollywood Bowl last Thursday night. Reports from NME and MTV. No I Might Be Wrong but they did play Drunken Punch Up At A Wedding. They are in NYC in 2 weeks.
> REM drop the info on their bonus disc that will come with the first pressing of their forthcming Greatest Hits LP. I have most of this shit already.
> My favorite movie reviewer on the planet, Neill Cumpston, reviews School of Rock.
> Click here for your Matrix:Revolutions trailers.
> New stuff up at explodingdog.com.
> Sign the petition to get Invisible Monsters released in hardcover. Or don't. Your loss.
> Apple's 2nd quarter laptop marketshare rose almost 2 percent. Sweet.
> Crappy Rolling Stone celebrates the life of The Man In Black.
> Wow! See Jennifer Connelly and her incredible hulks. Not safe for work yo.
> Coupling drew in less viewers this year than freakin' Good Morning, Miami did last year in the place where sit coms go to die, aka 9:30 Thursday night slot on NBC.
> That guy that uploaded the Hulk movie and got caught was let off with probation. Music Industry...are you paying attention? Think he'll upload anything else to the web?
> More theories on why the music industry sucks as well as an interesting article on how reruns of WKRP In Cincinnatti are much different than the original episodes. To wit: "much of the (original) music has been replaced by generic instrumental music from a music library, or by sound-alike "fake" songs. Also, some of the dialogue has been redubbed by voice impersonators, usually when the actors were speaking over the music, but sometimes to remove references to songs that have been replaced." . This was obviously done so they don't have to pay royalties on all those songs now that the show is in syndication. I wonder if the WB will do this in the future?

That's all for right now. Women's World Cup action tomorrow. Check back for updates.
Remember, rocks are slow life.

Noise Pollution Solution!!

2003-09-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

Just confirmed....

Super Furry Animals
Special Acoustic Performance
Sunday, October 5th at 4PM
Mondo Kim's
6 St. Mark's Place * New York City

I will be there with reinforcements!

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps...NOT

2003-09-25T22:16:00.000-04:00

I tried NBC, I really did. Lord knows it was hard not to believe the (negative) hype, but it's a fact. The US Version of the BBC smash Coupling is a complete dud. The casting is truly horrible and completely mixed up, save for the lovely Sonya Walger (aka the only good thing about The Mind of the Married Man;pictured below), and the sets look like they are stolen from the local high school theatre department. What city is this supposed to be set in? The bar, which is totally central to the whole show, Coupling's Central Perk if you will, looks like fucking Eric Foreman's basement. I don't see what all the controversy about the shows dialogue or subject matter is...It can't be worse than The OC, Nip/Tuck or the upcoming Fox series Skin. Get a life people. Unfortunately, the writing has really been dumbed down for the US audience and the show lost all of the little nuances that make the UK show so great. It definitely doesn't help that the US show is 6 minutes shorter than it's UK counterpart due to all the fucking commercials and NBC promos. I hate to say it, but our version is simply a bad photocopy of a good show. Oh, and just for the hell of it, here is a negative review that plays up the obligatory Lost In Translation angle. How original.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Hmmmmmm....Speaking of "coupling" (how's that for a transition?) Who would you say had the better night? Nomar Garciaparra who hit a home run, his 27th of the year (anyone remember when that number was impressive for a HR total?), helping the Boston Red Sizzle beat the Orioles and clinch the AL Wild Card spot or Mia Hamm who scored 2 goals and assisting on another while helping the Women's World Cup squad crush Nigeria and all but clinch their trip to the quarterfinals of this year's tourney? My vote goes to Hamm. She has better looking legs. For those confused by this pairing/transition, you should know the two are engaged.
> Is anyone else completely shocked by this? How long will it last? Oh, I almost forgot...strange there was no mention of last weekend's Michigan game over at Whatevs dot org. He must have forgotten or something. I'm not one to talk though, my alma mater, East Carolina, got routed by Wake Forest. Was it a good thing that I got to witness the carnage in person? All I really have to show for it is a wicked sun burn.
> The Sports Guy weighs in on that Boston Red Sizzle documentary airing on HBO(I need a freakin' Tivo in the worst way!) as well as answering some more questions from his mailbag. There is even some Paradise Hotel buzz about Dave, who is a native Bostonian. Apparently he used to sell Crunch n' Munch at Celtics games back in the day and did some wacky dance thing while on camera to amuse everyone / draw attention to himself. To wit:
Q: You wrote a whole column about "Paradise Hotel" without mentioning that Dave is known in Boston as 'The Crunch and Munch Guy' from the Fleet Center? After seeing his idiocy at Celtics games, I think everything he says on "Paradise Hotel" is an 11 out of 10 on the Unintentional Comedy Rating because I can't get the thought of him dancing down the aisles yelling about 'Crunch & Munch' out of my head. -- Sam, Boston, MA
SG: I'm with you. Believe me, it wasn't an oversight -- I only have 725 words for those magazine columns, which doesn't leave me much time to mention anything, much less describing Dave's history as the most loathed vendor in the history of Boston sports. His consistent abrasiveness even inspired me to write a column about him -- for my old "Boston Sports Guy" website in January, 2000 -- that ended with this paragraph:
"As for the Crunch 'n Munch guy, I hope he's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, because they're almost up. I only hope he's there at the Celts-Grizzlies game tonight so I can sidle up to him and congratulate him on his new website ... all while desperately trying to pass the flu onto him."
Turns out that I was wrong about the 15 minutes: I couldn't have imagined that the 'Crunch N' Munch Guy' was destined to become one of the biggest losers in reality-TV history. I'm just happy to say I knew him when.
This just in, his last name is Kerpen and he's also done his dance at Fenway. Google searches rock!
Did anyone else watch Paradise Hotel on Tuesday? What a fucking crock of shit that 2 hours was. Only one guest was kicked off, and that was no big surprise, and then they make us wait until next week to find out who the final four are. That was a dirty trick. I'm not even watching the finale. It has Joe Millionaire all over it. Let down and hanging around. I will say, however, that Keith should do the right thing and boot Dave's ass off the island. He deserves it no doubt.
> This is the worst idea ever. Leave it alone, you've screwed it up enough!
> Johnny Fucking Cash to have his public memorial at the old site of the Grand Ol' Opry. I am 50 pages into Cash by Johnny Cash. For the record, it has been on my "Books to Buy" list for a while now.

I'm exhausted and should hit the hay as I HAVE TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW!!!!
More on that later...
Remember, I just want to be, darling, with you, The music's made that way. My eyes are blue, there's nothing I can do.

I Have A (Temp) Job!

2003-09-25T10:44:00.000-04:00

Hi all...I came back from my holiday in North Cackalack a day early to start a temp job at a prestigious ad agency. Woo Hoo! Hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things.
*fingers crossed*
I had planned a humongous post today but that will have to wait for now.

Cheers.
PS - I bought the new Outkast LP and started listening to the Andre 3000 disc on the commute in this morning and on first listen, it's not that impressive. Hopefully it's a grower.

Vacation, time to get away

2003-09-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

information leafblower leaves for vacation in the dirrty south today and will return at the end of next week. Updates next week are unlikely, as my parents have crappy dial up, but not all together out of the question.
Last night was fun. I have some pictures from happy hour and my friend Drew's birthday party but not enough time to post them.

Cheers.

Super Furry Fans take note

2003-09-18T18:20:00.000-04:00

KCRW 89.9 FM in the LA area

Friday, September 19, 2003
Super Furry Animals bring a mix of fun sounds to Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am PCT [2:15 NYC, 7:15 Caerdydd (Welsh time)]

The SFA / Grandaddy tour begins tonight in San Francisco! Woo Hoo!
Someone send me the set list.

My Dreams Have Come True

2003-09-18T17:07:00.000-04:00

The Sports Guy waxes poetic about "Paradise Hotel". Pure Genius. Highlights:
Like in any sport, the "guests" in "Paradise Hotel" are playing for something serious: the elusive "Ultimate Prize," which could be a box of Sharpies for all we know.
The sports parallels go even deeper. The weekly Roommate Switch features so much overmanaging that Tony La Russa would be embarrassed.
Dave and Charla had launched their own alliance and ousted their stunned rivals. Seeing their plan work felt like a Bengals Super Bowl run -- hard to believe it was happening.
There is more but I don't want to spoil it all. Have I mentioned I am (so ashamed to be) addicted to this show?
As if that wasn't enough "sports" buzz, here are some thoughts on Duke frosh Luol Deng and senior PG Chris Duhon.

It's Happy Hour Again!

2003-09-18T12:04:00.000-04:00

It's happy hour again/ I think I might be happy if I wasn't out with them / And they're happy it's a lovely place to be / Happy that the fire is real the barman is a she

Where the haircuts smile / And the meaning of style / Is a night out with the bass / Where you win or you lose / And its them who choose / And if you don't win then you've lost

What a good place to be / Don't believe it / 'Cause they speak a different language / And it's never really happened to me / {It's happy hour again} / Don't believe it / 'Cause they speak a different language / And it's never really happened to me / {It's happy hour again}

Anyone care to guess on the over / under of digital camera's in the house tonight? If I had a comments section, we could. Anyways, Coolfer and I will be in attendance tonight, hope to see you/meet you there.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Following up on my rant yesterday, University of Michigan officials have asked former Wolverine Chris Webber to reimburse the school $695,000 for legal fees and losses from NCAA penalties. "Such a payment would reflect Mr. Webber's long history of deceit, would counterbalance the harm caused the university by that deceit, and have the added benefit of discouraging other student athletes from making similar errors," Marvin Krislov, the university's general counsel, wrote. Webber "has never, to my knowledge, ever publicly expressed even a minor feeling of remorse for his conduct which brought both shame and financial loss to the university." Punk ass. Duke Rulez.
> Boston Red Fizzle. Yanks and Mariners won last night. Bah.
> The late, great Reggie Lewis will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame tomorrow night. Cheers buddy. Rest in Peace.
> Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell will have his number retired by the Celtics in December, bringing the team's total count of retired numbers to an astonishing 22. A few weeks ago, I pointed out how new Head of Basketball Operations, and resident genius, Danny Ainge had approached some of the players that have had their numbers retired about letting players use those numbers again if it would help the organization bring in and land free agents. Some players refused, but one who was willing might surprise you. It was Bob Cousy. Respect.
> This is fucking rich (pun intended). Every Miami Heat front-office employee, including coach and president Pat Riley, is being forced to take up to a 10 percent pay cut so the team can avoid further layoffs. The Heat are suffering large financial losses because of high player salaries, arena debt payments and other factors. The pay cuts impact every member of the organization -- except players. FYI - The Heat have 2 players that will make over $12 million this season. Think if they each gave $1 million back to the organization this issue would go away without affecting the "little people" in the organization?
> EmptyVee is streaming the new Outkast album.
> The "naked"(read: Spector-less) version of Let It Be will be released on November 17.
> Besides the new Outkast and forthcoming Ride compilation, this is the one record I'm dying to hear.
> Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) doesn't agree with the RIAA's unsavory legal tactics so he is introducing a bill that will require "the owners of digital media to file a John Doe lawsuit to obtain the identifying information of an Internet user, rather than simply requesting a subpoena." I take this to mean they will have to go to court and ask a judge for a subpoena for the info they want. Currently they just have to go to a court clerk and file some papers, skipping the judge. Right On!!
> Fuck the Industry dot org. I'm with ya fellas, but I am so buying the new Outkast.
> Slate Magazine on Quentin Tarantino's comeback. I hope Kill Bill kicks ass. I'm a big QT fan and have been from early on. [link from Whatevs dot org]
> Broadband subscriptions rose 72 percent in 2002. I was one of those converts.
> Yet another case of someone copying Apple.
> Dubya admits they have nothing tying Saddam to 9/11. Glad we invaded his country then.
> Speaking of Iraq...Many people that are in Isobel's path are having a hard time finding plywood because the US Army bought 660,000 sheets of the stuff to rebuild Iraq with. This has caused shortages on the East Coast and prices from wholesalers have gone up. As a result, some businesses have elected not to buy the over-priced plywood because they would have to sell it for more and face accusations that they raised prices due to the hurricane. Lame!
> This just in, Dick Cheney is still getting paid by Halliburton even though he is VP of the country. He was paid $162,393 by Halliburton in 2002. The U.S. vice president's salary is $198,600 annually. But hey, there's no conflict of interest here, right?
> AT&T's CEO can't get cell phone service in his house in Atlanta and has to go outside to make calls. In other news, a funny piece on Motorola's phones and some of their quirks. "Like many smart devices, my phone has an alarm to tell me when the battery is low. I suspect this drains a lot of the remaining energy from the battery in order to fulfill its prophecy more quickly, but normally I might consider it a useful feature."
> Man, CNN.com is on the cutting edge of journalism. They just revealed that Instant Messaging is mostly used for gossip and flirting in the workplace. Wow.
> Will Apple update iCal and iSync in the near future?
> I was all set to give Catchdubs some props for giving me a shout out (and for his guest lecture at NYU on blogging) but then he has to go and write something like "Go Tarheels". I mean, WTF? I thought you were representing Jersey? Shouldn't you be claiming Seton Hall or something like that?
> Les Yper Sound are having problems with their web hosting company. Yesterday, via email, Ryan called them "asshats". Let's hope their up and running again soon.
> I'm not the only one complaining about Radiohead's ticketing methods. Chromewaves feels the pain.

Hope to see some people out and about tonight.
Remember, I'm highly animated even though I'm decomposing...So tap your toes and clap your hands, C'mon trace the globe and shake ya pants, just twist your hip and do the dip, shake and bake, do whatever it takes.

The Luckiest Man In America?

2003-09-17T13:34:00.002-04:00

Or just the latest example of how athletes (particularly "star" athletes) plainly recieve preferential treatment and light sentencing whenever they face charges from law enforcement agencies? Chris Webber, former Michigan Wolverine and current All-Star for the Sacramento Kings (pictured above) learned yesterday that he won't face sentencing on criminal contempt charges until 2005 at the earliest. Until then, Webber has been ordered to perform 300 hours of community service for the youth of Detroit Presumably he won't be advising the kids on how to accept $280,000 from a universty booster and then lie to a grand jury about it.
Of course, Webber's case was helped immeasurably when the prosecution's star witness, Ed Martin, the man who gave Webber and other Michigan players the money in question, died from a pulmonary embolism before he could testify.
But this was just another step accelerating the downward decline of Michigan basketball. The first was, of course, the shellacking they received from the mighty Duke Blue Devils in the 1992 NCAA Chamionship game. I think they lost again the next year to some other school from NC, but I forget. Later, as the program was in shambles, they had to watch former recruit Mateen Cleaves lead in state rival Michigan State to prominance and a national title (even though he was later convicted of shoplifting a 40 once of malt liquor from a 7-11).
Still, Sacramento Kings fans everywhere must be jumping up and down with glee knowing their injury prone power forward will be free to play ball for the next two seasons. Maybe now he will have some time to practice taking a big shot at the end of the game.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> Find out if your favorite NBA player has committed any crimes at Cracksmokers of the NBA. They've got nothing on my man Paul Pierce.
> Dude, I know your happy, but keep your pants on.
> Boston Red Sizzle.
> The mighty get...mightier. 6-9 Josh McRoberts commints to Duke for the 2005 season. McRoberts has been compared to Christian Laettner and Mike Dunleavy, which is great because he will come to Durham with Syracuse native Greg Paulus, a 6-1 point guard that has drawn comparisons to Bobby Hurley. Go to hell Carolina!!
> Coach K on the ACC's expansion: "It sucks"
> The Flaming Lips are back in the studio.
> Juanes Addicion' tour movie to finally see the light of day.
> Pitchfork finally get around to reporting about The Matrix Suzuki. Faithfull information leafblower readers knew about this a few months ago. Funny how all these stories have the Matrix's manager commenting but no one from the band....
> Register here to see the Super Furry Animals on Carson Daly's late night show. And ask for an extra so you can get me in if I don't get tickets. Seriously.
> New, amazing stuff up at explodingdog.com. My favorite in entitled "How Did This Get In My Eye".

That's all for right now folks.
Remember, I know some things that I would rather not. Like the time ahead is all you've got.

information leafblower is listening to:

2003-09-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

12 Memories - Travis
Watusi - The Wedding Present
Almost Here - The Unbelievable Truth
Welcome To The Monkey House - The Dandy Warhols
2003 Glastonbury set(from BBC broadcast) - Super Furry Animals
and of course...
The Essential Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash

2003-09-16T15:09:00.000-04:00

Exhibit A of why I hate the post office:

This is the 4th magazine in the last 2 weeks that has arrived at my house in this kind of shape.
But I digress...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Boston Red Sizzle
> The WUSA, aka the US Women's pro soccer league, is folding after three seasons. This announcement comes 5 days before the Women's World Cup is set to begin.
> Hey Chris Wallace, will you take Vin Baker with you? Oh yeah, don't let the door hit you on the way out of the office.
> Do you live in Brooklyn? Do you have $250 million lying around? Do you want to buy the NJ Nets?
> Mike Kahn gives out some grades on his NBA Summer Review.
> NBA season preview for the Cleveland LeBron's.
> Time magazine on The Man In Black. [link via Chromewaves]
> Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, to release a new EP "available via paid downloads from leading online retailers". Sweet.
> Coolfer blows off some steam for the 2nd straight day. hehehe.
> The MTA gets off it's overpaid, lazy ass and will allow trains to use the Manhattan Bridge which is awesome news for us Brooklynites. [link via Gothamist]
> The British are torturing David Blaine by buzzing him with a radio controlled helicopter with a hamburger attached to it. Hot. [link via Stereogum]
> Apple Expo is going down in Paris as we speak(type/read/whatever) and Apple has a bunch of new products. Included are new Powerbooks in 12-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch as well as a wireless mouse and keyboard that uses Bluetooth. Apple Rulez.
> Here some irony for you. The RIAA subpoenaed contact info for all the people that they sued for downloading music but they have an unlisted telephone number!! Zug.com found it, and called them. Hilarious. If that wasn't enough, then he called Apple to see why his PC wouldn't run iTunes. Genius. [link via Boing Boing]
> Stealth Disco.
> And last but certainly not least, it's TMQB.

That's it for now. I have to go watch Bulls @ Celtics, Game 2 of the 1986 1st Round NBA playoffs at 4 PM. I believe this is the game where Jordan scores 63 but still loses. Good times.
Remember, tell everybody waitin' for Superman, that they should try to hold on the best they can.

Make it 'til Monday...

2003-09-15T15:40:00.000-04:00

I'm too stressed out to rant about anything today. My funds are low, last weeks unemployment check never arrived....Ugh. I need a fucking job.

NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> cost of war dot com
> Ever check out information clearing house dot info? Lots of coverage of Bush and Cheney's media manipulation. Eye Opening.
> Hey, when did Bush put himself on the face of the $200 bill?
> Pitchfork on the new Big Boi single "The Way You Move".
> Here's a recap of the Chucky P reading at Columbia U. yesterday. I was too lazy and couldn't be arsed to head all the way up there. And I have no more books for him to sign.
> Nick Cave on The Man In Black. Cash's private funeral was held today.
> Peter King's MMQB.
> Apple's Windoze based iTunes Music Store debuting in October?

Ugh. That's all for now.
Remember, I would like to change back now. To the shadow of, shadow of my former self. It follows me around. It follows me around.

ONLY IN NYC...

2003-09-14T12:41:00.001-04:00

I had a distinctly New York experience last night on my way to the Royale (with Cheese) Club to see/hear DJ Redboy spin and it was completely awesome.
While Coolfer and I were on our way to the club, we rounded the corner of 1st Street onto 5th Ave. and saw a huge crowd on the sidewalk that spilled out into the street making this huge comotion. Usually when i see a big crowd like that, I'll cross the street and continue on my way, but we went a bit closer to see what was going on, and I'm glad we did.
Basically, what we were seeing was about 40 people watching the "Sugar" Shane Mosely v. Oscar De La Hoya fight and having a grand old time. Someone had run their cable out the window of their 2nd floor apartment and put their TV on a fold up card table and everyone was gathered around watching. The bodega next door was open and people were going inside and buying beers in between rounds. Cars were double parked in the street, people that were biking by stopped to see what was going on...It was really cool. There was some guy asking all the new people stopping by if they wanted to bet on the fight. "What you got? $400? $500? Wanna Bet? Wanna Bet?" No one took him up on it...it was, after all, the middle of the 10th round. Anyways we watched 2 rounds and then continued on to the club. It was some shit you won't see anywhere else. I only wish I had my digicam with me.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB / WEEKEND EDITION:
> Blogger has done away with thier premium service and will be free to everyone now with some additions to their service. BUT. STILL. NO. FEEDBACK. CAPABILITES. I found one service that was accepting new people but they aren't compatible with Apple's Safari web browser, so no joy.
> Hey, you know with all these RIAA lawsuits going around, did anyone think of asking the artists what their thoughts on the matter were? After all, isn't that who the RIAA are supposed to be "protecting"? Or is it the big money major labels? I did read somewhere that all the money made from these lawsuits will be used for more lawsuits but can't confirm it with a link.
> God forbid me for typing this, but Moby has some really good ideas about what the labels should do to change the industry for the better.
> Are you going to be sued next? Find out here.
> Boston Red Fizzle.
> Jay Williams wants to play in the 2004 - 2005 season. Get at me dawg!
> Former alcoholic (and member of the starting 5 on my Favorite-Basketball-Players-of-All-Time) Chris Mullin talks about recovering alcoholic Vin Baker. Good stuff.
> Holla Atcha Boi! The Celtics will have 20 people in training camp even though they already have 14 players under contract. One of the 20 invitees? Rusty LaRue. I can honestly say that Rusty is my dawg. We grew up across the street from each other in Kernersville, NC. I got whupped on his backyard basketball court many times during my youth. Rusty went to college at Wake Forest and helped Tim Duncan win 2 ACC championships there. He also was the QB for the football team, helping them win the Independence Bowl and even pitched for the baseball team. During his junior year he became the first athlete since 1952 and only the second in ACC history to play football, basketball, and baseball in the same year. Check his full bio here. Anyways, he tried his hand at pro basketball after school and caught on with the Bulls. He was the guy at the end of the bench that was always on IR (even though he was healthy) when the Bulls won it all in 1998. Don't front though, he won a ring and guarded MJ in practice every day. He's bounced around the league ever since and didn't play last year so here's hoping he can keep living the dream this year. Last time I saw him was 2 years ago in the pre-season when the Jazz came to NYC. He dropped like 16 on Charlie Ward. It was sweet.
> Speaking of the Utah Jazz, they signed Jason Terry to an offer sheet.
> The Sports Guy on college dorm life.
> Knicks to trade for Nick Van Exel? Can you tell I'm dying for basketball season yet?
> Great. Just what I wanted to hear.
> NME on The Man In Black. Here's a transcript of his recent appearence on Larry King.
> Stop! Or I'll say Stop again!
> Uh Oh. The Beatles are suing Apple for trademark infringement. And they'll probably win.
> TMQB in his alter ego non sports gig waxes poetic on the greed of the 9/11 families that are lawsuit happy. A great read.

I just saw both new Outkast videos back to back on MTV. Yes you read that right. MTV played 2 videos in a row. Anyways, Andre 3000's video was awesome. It's kinda a take on Nirvana's "In Bloom" video except they don't tear down the studio and Andre plays the parts of each of his band members. It's sweet. The "Shake It Like A Polaroid Picture" part is fucking priceless. Big Boi's song is great as well. It's not that much different than Andre's, except he raps in it. Both songs are very Earth, Wind and Fire. And that is absolutely a good thing.
Remember, I get home in the evening and I ain't got nothing to say, I come home in the morning feeling the same way. You can't start a fire, can't start a fire without a spark. This gun's for hire, even if we're just dancing in the dark.
Someone has to get me an MP3 of Ted Leo doing this song!!

Where Do You Get Your Inspiration?

2003-09-12T23:14:00.001-04:00

One of these people wrote Fight Club, one of them writes a crappy little blog.

Could I be any less photogenic? I mean, I'm only getting my picture taken with my favorite fucking author (Bukowski is dead...).
Honestly, Chuck was just what I needed today. I was seriously depressed by Johnny Cash's passing. He was my dawg. Quite a few people contacted me today to make sure I heard the news. I did. I did.
But it was just awesome to see Chuck. He has this energy that is just contagious.
I arrived a B & N Union Square around 5:30, about 15 minutes before Chuck. Chuck ALWAYS shows up early to get the book signing underway. He's good like that. I took a seat in the 4th row and we were the last ones called up for the pre-gig signing. I now have 3 more signed 1st edition's. HOT.
Last time I went to see Chuck, I turned into that guy at the gas station in Beyonce's Pepsi commercial when he started signing my book. Completing a sentence was way beyond my capabilities. I was much better this year. I chose to tell him about my conversation with Amy Hempel in which she gushed mucho props his way and he returned the favor to me (he later named Amy his favorite author during the Q & A part of the night) and I could tell he was excited he turned me on to her work. HOT.
Chuck has been reading this short story entitled Guts during the Diary tour and it's been making quite an impression. Prior to tonights' reading of the story, 21 people during the tour had passed out while he read it. 2 more people bit the dust tonight bringing his total to 23 for the tour. And I'll be the first to say Guts is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. It's a three part short story that gets progressively worse. Part 1 deals with a peeled carrott, some Vaseline and an anus, Part 2 with some wax, a penis and masturbation and Part 3 with a pool, the water pump and a large intestine. Truly sickening. Some guy in the row in front of me taped the whole thing so maybe it will be available on video soon. Playboy bought the print version so we'll all have an excuse to pick up an issue in the near future. "I bought it for the ARTICLES dammit!"
Anyway, it was a great night. I learned some weird things about Chuck:
1) Both his grandparents died last year and he paid for their tombstones(the first his family has ever had) with the money from Fight Club.
2) Apparently, his agent is Edward Hibbert who appears occasionally on Frasier. I'm still trying to get confirmation about this, but Hibbert was in the house tonight.
For more Chuck P pics, go here.

As for me, I went to the Virgin Megastore afterwards and bought the Golden Retriever CD Single and the Phantom Power DVD. Then I travelled back to Brooklyn, bought some booze and turned up my iTunes very loud.

I am now sufficiently drunk and will listen to a little Phantom Power in 5.1 surround sound.
A truly memorable Friday night.

Cheers.
Remember, I might be wrong.

2003-09-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

Fuck. This ruins everything.
I am so depressed right now.

Story from CNN.
Johnny, I will drink heavily in your honor tonight big guy.
You will be missed. Say hello to June for all of us.

Hurt Video

BBC - Country legend Cash dies

AJC - Johnny Cash dead at 71

MSNBC - Country legend Johnny Cash dies

Ananova UK - Music legend Cash is dead

NY Times - Johnny Cash, Country Music's Bare-Bones Realist, Dies at 71

Billboard - Country Music Legend Johnny Cash Dies

We'll Meet Again (Charles/Parker)
appears on American IV: The Man Comes Around

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day.
Keep smilin' thro just like you always do
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.
So will you please say hello to the folks that I know;
Tell them I won't be long.
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go
I was singing this song.
We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day.

More later....

2003-09-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

Yo, tonight, it is ON!

9/12/2003 - 7 pm
Barnes & Noble
33 E. 17th Street
New York, NY 10003

Survivor + Spike Jonze = My Wet Dream

2003-09-12T02:16:00.000-04:00

&

They were both awesome tonight.
Ted played "Dancing In The Dark".
Coolness.

2003-09-11T14:45:00.000-04:00

Wow...If you search Google or Yahoo! for "9-11-01 Pics" my crappy, completed in like 2 hours website is #3 in the rankings!! Hotness. Currently my webpage is over it's bandwidth limit, but should be back up soon so you can see it. Now if I can just get all those people to come over here when they are done....
Nick Catchdubs has a great entry today, be sure and read it.
Looking back on everything let me say that first and foremost, I am so happy that Molly, Kitty and I moved out to Brooklyn. It's 100% better than downtown Manhattan was in the days after 9/11. Mentally, emotionally, physically. Everything. And we have a backyard now so kitty can watch birds and squirells all day.
Thinking back about my day on 9/11 I am still amazed at how calm I was throughout the whole thing.
I'm very glad to still be here today and I think I made it through everything relatively unscathed. I saw some things that will go to the grave with me, but there was much worse that I missed and I am thankful for that. I really wish I was blogging back then. I wrote journal entries in my notebook, maybe I will transcribe them here someday.
I ended up losing my old job the following February because of lingering 9/11 issues (my boss was livid at me for not going to work on the 12th even though we had no telephone service and I had no idea if my apartment had been ransacked or destroyed). Shit happens. Life goes on.
PS - I'm unemployed again and looking for work, help a brother out, won't ya?
But I digress...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> A fitting story for this day. Vin Baker has admitted he is an alcoholic. While not going as far as recanting all the venom I spewed his way last year, I have to see this as an encouraging step. Professional athletes as a whole are not wont to step up and admit to their shortcomings or face their demons in public. For this, Vin is to be commended. 10 and 6 is all we need this year buddy. Cheers.
> In other "Hellz Yeah" news for the Celtics, Tony Battie's knee seems to be recovering just fine.
> Can Duke freshman Luol Deng pull a Carmelo Anthony and lead his team to a title in his first collegiate campaign? [click on Andy Katz's column on the right]
> Is this a legitimate story or is Kim Clijsters a sore loser?
> Sometimes, it's the little things in life. Today I found out that Apple has pre-programmed schedules for the Celtics and the Blue Devils available to download for use with their iCal datebook software (free if you own a Mac running 10.2). Not only that, but they have tour dates for REM and Radiohead available too. Have I ever told you that Apple Rulez?
> On the fence about renewing .Mac? Go here for your answer.
> In the interest of fair time, more critical vulnerabilities revealed in Windows.
> Have I ever told you Rolling Stone fucking blows? Neither Johnny marr, nor John Squire made it onto their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists Ever. If I have to tell you what bands those guys were in, you're reading the wrong blog.
> The Super Furry Animals will be doing a live DJ set and meet and greet in Houston on Wednesday, September 24th at 6:30PM. Go to Cactus Music and Video on 2930 South Shepherd Drive and tell the band DJ Koldflow sent you.
> Johnny Fucking Cash released from the hospital. Only good news here today dammit!
> REM pay tribute to fallen comrade Warren Zevon in LA. Hindu Love Gods anyone?
> Billy Corgan = Jewel.

All right...I am in such a good mood today, I am going to give away some prizes to my faithful readers!
I have two copies of Love Songs for New York, a compilation CD with tracks from Moby, Andrew WK, Cornershop and more, which was released by the Village Voice to benefit the September 11th Fund. Both copies are brand new and still sealed.
To get them, just tell me what song the following lyrics came from as well as the artist that performs the song and the CD on which this track first appeared:

You want me? Fucking well come and find me.
I'll be waiting with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.

Email me your answers. The first two correct responses with all the info requested will get a copy mailed to their house. Good luck.

2003-09-11T12:02:00.000-04:00

This is what information leafblower saw two years ago today.

Very much looking forward to the Ted Leo / Rebecca Gates gig tonight.

2003-09-10T19:23:00.000-04:00

Has anyone else seen the rescue footage of the bear in the tree? In Missoula MT, some crazy bear got stuck in a tree so they shot it with a tranquilizer dart and it fell out of the tree onto a strategically placed trampoline, bounced once there and then did a total faceplant into the ground. Then some guy carries it like a sack of bricks and throws it into the back of a truck. Supposedly it is OK, but of course they are going to say that. PETA is gonna go nuts.

CBS 2 (NYC) has the footage in crappy REALPlayer in their VIDEO section. I'm scouring the interweb for glorious QuickTime footage. Check back soon.

2003-09-10T17:05:00.000-04:00

Oh Shit! Yo, this Saturday, it's on in Park Slope!!

2003-09-10T16:26:00.000-04:00

Whoa...Blogger has a new interface in it's post menu. Spellcheck? Hello! Where have you been for the last 4 months...
I really have a love / hate relationship with my mail carrier / postman. He brings me my unemployment checks every week so that I can eat and pay for broadband internet access, but he also rips and destroy's every magazine he delivers to me. Yesterday my new Macworld arrived with the back cover and last three pages ripped off of the magazine and stuffed into my mailbox. Today my ESPN Magazine's front cover is hopelessly shredded. Hey dawg, this is the pro football preview issue! Damn.
So the Evil Empire beat the Tizzle's 4 to 2 last night. The game was fun but not particularly exciting. The Yankees seemed determined to lose not matter how hard the Tizzle's tried, only to pull it out late. We left in the middle of the 8th inning, just gefore The Yankees scored 2 to put the game away. I mean, it's not like anyone there thought Detrizzle would actually win. The subway commute from the Bronx to Park Slope is hell so we wanted to get a jump on it. Besides, I couldn't afford any more $6.25 Bud Lights and $4.75 Hot Dawgs. Hideki Matsui made a great play in the 2nd inning that made Soprtcenter's Top 10 plays of the night. Check foto's from my fotolog for some visual stimulation.
Still, I was happy to find out that the Boston Red Sizzle's also got a W last night, and are winning 3-0 right now. Rock!
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> This just in, Jessica Simpson is hot as hell and "dumb as a stick". The Post weighs in on MTV's newest hit show.
> Stereogum and Whatevs dot org have Britney's new photos from Rolling Stone. Funny how no one is reporting how Madonna Kobe'd Britney for that smooch. And by that I mean pay her off with diamonds for helping out the cause.
> Yo, Jack Bauer knows what's up. He's sporting an Apple G5 in the preview for season 3 of 24.
> Snapple is now "The Official Drink of NYC" or something like that.
> The 12 year old settled with the RIAA for $2,000.
> Hey, did ya hear the one about how former UNC golden boy Joe Forte is a punk ass bitch and is getting cut by the Seattle Supersonics, perhaps ending his brief NBA career? It's very sad. Almost as sad as the Celtics drafting him instead of Tony Parker.
> Are the Pixies going to reunite? I am surprisingly on the fence about this idea. What if they suck? I like them and all but what the world needs now is a Smiths reunion. I know it's gonna happen someday.
> Someone named Dizzee Rascal won the Mercury Music Prize. I personally lost respect for that award when Parachutes beat out XTRMNTR for a nomination a few years back. It was then that I realized that there is no such thing as justice.
> Pitchfork has a lovely review of Waves, the forthcoming Ride compilation.

That's all for now folks.
Remember, sister luck is calling out someone else's name. What a shame.

2003-09-09T16:07:00.000-04:00

I'm out to see the Evil Empire v. The Detrizzle Tizzle's. Look for me on Channel 2.

Here is this week's TMQB Column. Hey, before I forget, thanks for reminding me the Dolphins have lost their last three games by a field goal in the game's waning seconds. Cheers.

Wanna comment on my RIAA story? I uploaded it at Blogcritics.com. Lay it on me. I entitled the piece
The RIAA = Zack from Paradise Hotel

2003-09-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

Today’s topic du jour seems to be the RIAA’s new tactic of suing people that download music from the internet. Of the 261 that are in the current crop of suits, everyone involved had apparently uploaded more than 1000 songs to the internet. Thus, it seems, people that strictly download songs are safe from the RIAA’s (misguided) wrath as their plan is to attack those who are responsible for making those songs available online. Among those under duress from the RIAA are a 12 year old NYC student whose mother said paid $29.99 for Kazzaa and a 71 year old grandfather whose computer was taken over by his grandkids and used for this “illegal” activity. Is the internet free or not?

So….a few questions:
1) Who exactly is getting sued here? The person that holds/pays for the ISP account being used or the person doing the act of downloading? Are both at fault?
2) What if a guest uses your computer to upload / download music without your knowledge? Who is at fault?
3) How do the record companies initiating the lawsuit know that the user that downloaded these songs didn’t erase them after listening to them a few times?
4) Do the 1,000 songs in question include live tracks or remixes that are not available to consumers commercially?
5) Is there really that much difference between downloading songs from the internet, burning a CD for a friend, or recording songs off the radio or webcast?
6) Aren’t the bootleggers hawking $5 burned copies of the latest titles down on Canal Street more of a threat to the RIAA and the artists they protect? Why are they allowed to sell these CD’s on the street with the police department’s full knowledge? Wouldn’t it be better PR for the RIAA to go after these real criminals?

The RIAA’s problem (along with the labels) has continually been that they think they can snuff out filesharing with bullying and scare tactics rather than embracing it and working together to come up with a model that can be universally compatible and yet profitable for labels (and hopefully artists as well). More than one record label has spent millions on Napster but yet they don’t have a new, legal, fee driven version available to the public yet. More importantly, why has it taken this long for the labels to put an alternative on the market? Apple’s iTunes Music Store sold its 10 millionth download this week. It’s a proven winner considering the minute market it is serving. Out of all Apple users (which currently make up 2.7% of the computer market), only those with OSX are able to use the iTunes Music Store, which I’m guessing cuts that number in half.
If I am the record labels, I get to working on a PC version and get it on the market as soon as possible.
But again, this battle isn’t going away any time soon. Why has it taken this long for labels to lower their prices? That’s should have been their first reaction, not raising prices even more. $18 (or $19.79 + shipping for that matter) is too much for a CD when DVD’s and video games are just a few dollars more.
Why are they supporting Clear Channel, whose illegal monopoly and unfair business practices directly lead to domination of the countries radio and concert venues? When the last time you saw a video on MTV? They are too busy showing the Osbournes and the Real World reruns. Does it ever occur to anyone that maybe people want to hear new and different things on the radio and people are using filesharing for this purpose? Kazzaa, Grokster and their ilk ARE THE NEW RADIO. Except you don’t have the labels, their promotional money or radio’s lame PD’s and MD’s making the music choices. What you want to hear is entirely up to you.

NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> The album cover for the forthcoming Ride album/compilation.
> Hot Damn! New Super Furry single news. One of the b-sides will be Sanitizzzed, a track I heard them record when I hung out with them at Bearsville Studio while they recorded Rings Around The World. This song is Hot To Def. Tons of la la la's, an amazing chorus and a great opening stanza:
Superglue all the cash machines
Sew them up
Think it over
Consider it already added to my collection.
> Cameron Crowe to release the next Low offering on his own label, Vinyl Records.
> Ugh. So typical.
> In news that will suprise no one, Grant Hill is having ANOTHER ankle surgery. Damn G. I still feel ya. They had some old Dream Team 2 games on last week (Mark freakin' Price was on that team!) and it's easy to forget how nice G Hill was on the court.
> Larry Legend doesn't waste time in Indiana. Send Ron Artest as far away from Paul Pierce as possible please. Cheers.
> Will the US Open try and move the mens final to Monday night? Not if Everyone Loves Raymond and MNF has anything to say about it.
> Has anyone seen this yet? Does it suprise anyone that alot of money didn't go where it was allocated to, bypassing mostly small business owners?

More to come later today before I head to the Bronx to see my hated Yankees take on the Detrizzle Tizzle's. In honor of Whatevs dot org, i will root for the Yankees to win(even if it hurts the Red Sox) so that the Tizzle's can take another step toward the worst record in baseball history.
Remember, Gertrude Stein said that's enough.

2003-09-08T19:01:00.000-04:00

Just announced!

Super Furry Animals
Live Free Acoustic Performance / In-Store
Thursday, September 18th at 6PM
Amoeba Music
1855 Haight Street * San Francisco

If there is no NYC in-store I am going to scream!

2003-09-08T16:35:00.000-04:00

From Gawker:

Quoth the NY Times' Bob Morris. "You're a blogger? God, blogging is totally the new DJing."

2003-09-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

Go and read this right now. The Sports Guy has regained his form. I laughed out loud at least five times while reading it. Highlights:

9:30: What country is this? How are you supposed to locate your Game Face at 9:30 in the morning?

11:10: Hench and I just spent the last five minutes wondering who has more of a noodle arm in center field: Bernie Williams or Johnny Damon (a k a, the Unfrozen Caveman Center Fielder).

11:14: With the score headed towards 21-0 on channel 709, Hench officially dubs the Pats game "The Abortion on 709." Sounds like a Lifetime movie.

12:38: Heading to the bathroom, Hench hisses, "In honor of the Red Sox bullpen, I'm going to take a leak."

After you read that, head over to Peter King's MMQB for more on Lawyer Milloy.

2003-09-08T10:51:00.000-04:00

Why Is This Man Crying?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your 2003 Men's US Open Champion. Crying like a baby. Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets yesterday for the title after overcoming a 2 sets to love deficit the day before, including a saved match point, to David Nalbandian. Roddick will be ranked #2 in the world today, behind Ferrero who took over the top spot when he beat Andre Agassi on Saturday. Not to worry though, Agassi says he will be back next year.
While it is very easy to hate Roddick (you know, dating Mandy Moore, the trucker hat, and the shout outs he's been giving to the freakin' Dave Matthews Band all tournament long), and, like fellow American Andre Agassi, he most certainly did receive the most favorable rain delay match scheduling possible, there is no doubt that he played the best tennis in this tournament and deserved the title. Yesterday Ferrero looked as flat as Agassi did on Saturday.
Agassi has to wonder what might have been for another year. Maybe it's not a bad thing that Agassi lost in the semi's. Had he won the tournament, he might have decided to retire, much like his contemporary Pete Sampras. Still, the future of men's tennis is here and a changing of the guard is not a bad thing. With Roddick, Roger Federer and Fererro, the men's game is in fine shape.

NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
> Apple announces new iMacs with speeds of up to 1.25 Mhz and USB 2.0. Also, there are new 20 GB and 40 GB ipods.. They are all available for purchase at the Apple Store.
> More on Robert Parish and his entrance into the Hall of Fame. I know football season is already here, but I can't wait for NBA training camps to open later this month.
> The Red Sox nation has to be excited right now. They rocked Roger Clemons on Saturday, and even though they lost yesterday, the Yankees are feeling the heat. With 3 weeks in the season to go, this should be fun to watch.
> Will they or won't they? ATL's finest, Outkast (aka "The Two Dope Boys In A Cadillac") have a new double album, Speakerboxxx: The Love Below, coming out on Sept. 23rd. Many of the things being said now are similar to the whisperings about the group before they dropped their classic album Aquemini. You know, "What's up with Andre? Is he in a cult? Is he gay? Is he on drugs?". I hope this isn't their final record together but we'll have to see how it plays out. Andre 3000's track "Hey Ya" was in heavy rotation on my iPod this weekend. It has a great line in it: "If what we say is "Nothing is forever" then what makes love the exception?" Go on and marinate on that for a minute.
> the NY Times magazine had a great article on the creators of the brilliant brit-com Coupling, which airs on BBC America on these shores. It's like Friends, except they've all slept with each other and talk about sex constantly. NBC is devloping the show for it's "Must See TV" line up on Thursday and the network has pinned it's post-Friends future on the show. Let's hope it's not another Men Behaving Badly. Here is a random quote generator from the British show.

That's all for now folks.
Remember, what is forgiveness? Just a dream? What is forgiveness? Everything.

2003-09-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

information leafblower's reading list for 2003 (so far):

Factotum - by Charles Bukowski
Septuagenarian Stew: Stories and Poems - by Charles Bukowski
What Matters Most... - by Charles Bukowski
War All The Time: Poems, 1981-1984 - by Charles Bukowski
Hey Nostradamus! : A Novel - by Douglas Coupland
All Families Are Psychotic- by Douglas Coupland
Americana - by Don Delillo
Reasons to Live: Stories - by Amy Hempel
Tumble Home: A Novella And Short Stories - By Amy Hempel
Speaking With the Angel - by Nick Hornby (Editor)
Jesus' Son - by Denis Johnson
You Cannot Be Serious - by by John McEnroe & James Kaplan
The Restraint of Beasts - by Magnus Mills
Diary - By Chuck Palahniuk
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon - By Chuck Palahniuk
Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods by John Reed
Reefer Madness - by Eric Schlosser
Porno - by Irvine Welsh
Nothing...except My Genius - by Oscar Wilde

information leafblower reread the following books this year:

Microserfs - by Douglas Coupland
Life After God - by Douglas Coupland
Invisible Monsters - By Chuck Palahniuk
Survivor - By Chuck Palahniuk

2003-09-06T17:42:00.000-04:00

Blogger has been acting weird today (couldn't log in this morning at all) so much of the following post is a bit dated but I wanted to post it anyway:

NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB / SATURDAY EDITION
> Robert Parish, aka The Chief, joins the Larry Legend and Kevin McHale in the Hall of Fame. My favorite Tarheel (did I really just type that?), Big Game James Worthy, joins him there. Respect to them both.
> The Red Sox are coming on strong as Pedro finally gets a W against the Evil Empire. Could this be Joe Torre's last stand?
> The men's semi's are set at the US Open. Agassi v. Ferrero and Roddick v. Nalbandian. information leafblower predicts either Agassi or Roddick will lose.
> In the "Where The Hell Did This Come From" category, Time magazine professes their love for Spoon The Rock Band.
> Guess what? Great White are charging a bigger fee to play charity gigs for the Rhode Island fire victims families than they stood to make at that fatefull gig. Unreal.
> In non-sucky band news, Primal Scream ready a greatest hits set and the Electric Soft Parade announce a UK tour to support their upcoming disc.
> Holy shit! These t-shirts are dopeness personified! Order them here but get in line after me!
> Wondering how Universal's new CD price structure affects artist's royalties? Of course you were. What does it mean for Indies?
> The new Travis single "Re-Offender" is pretty dope. I bought it from the iTunes Music Store for 99 cents. All singles should be available like this.
> Catchdubs went to a pimpin' Nike shindig.
> Yo, I know we're friends and all that shit, but you really need to work on your dance fundamentals. Cool? [link from Redboy]

2003-09-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

Oh my god! I just shat myself!

Hot off the presses from Chuckpalahniuk.net:

Chuck got a phone call from director Spike Jonze two weeks ago about a possible adaptation of, what Chuck thinks, may turn out to be his second novel, Survivor.

Not to mention, film website DarkHorizons posted something today about the Invisible Monsters film adaptation getting ready to shoot principal photography in November!

drool
drool
drool

2003-09-05T17:36:00.000-04:00

Dammit, Younes just lost the 1st set. This Nalbandian guy is good.

I need your help! Can anyone out there recommend a FREE comment/talkback system for my blog? Haloscan and backBlog aren't accepting new people. I feel so unwanted!

2003-09-05T17:13:00.000-04:00

Man...I went out to the USTA Center today to try (again) to get tickets for today's matches, and apparantly everyone in Manhattan ready my post last night and tried to do the same thing. The crowd out there was NUTS. There must have been 3,500 people in line to trade in their rainout tickets. I went from the Ticket windows, through the parking lot and back up to the boardwalk that leads you to the subways. Add in another couple hundred people like me just trying to pick up a ticket and get inside and that makes for a huuuuge market for a short supply of tickets. I tried for about an hour and a half to score a single ducat but it became apparent quickly that the $100 I was able to scrounge up wasn't gonna get me in the gate. Honestly, this isn't such a bad thing as I will now be able to eat next week.
Stayed up way too late again last night (two nights in row! Lookout!) but it was worth it as we threw a surprise shinding for Anna to celebrate her BDay. We bought a ton of stuff from one of Anna's favorite food joints, Leo's Latticini (aka Mama's). Let me tell you, if you are going to the USTA site or Shea Stadium, you would be wise to drop by Leo's and pick up a sandwich beforehand. They had some of the best Mozzarella I've ever tasted. OK, Shameless plug done.
So we had that and followed up with cake and Champagne (which, in my house, is always pronounced Champagna in tribute to Christopher Walken's brilliant reoccuring SNL skit, The Continental)

Anyways it was alot of fun and I am slightly hungover (two days in row! Lookout!) but what else is new, right? Glad you asked...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB;
> Represent! The Sports Guy gets off of his lazy ass and writes a TWO PART preview for the upcoming NFL season and it based entirely around Top Gun! Hilarity ensues. Part one and two. A sample for you:
Did you ever play the "How Much Would You Pay?" Game? Like, what's the maximum amount you would pay for a copy of "Madden 2004?" Or, how much would you pay to know for sure who killed JFK? Or, what's the most you would pay to see Zack from "Paradise Hotel" get punched in the face?
> In case you were wondering, Agassi cruised today, Ferrero was killing Hewitt, but not as bad as Roddick was beating up on Schalken. I'm just biding my time until Younes gets on the court. He plays David Nalbandian, the guy who took out #2 seed Roger Federer. Again.
> Michael Jordan turns down the new NBA franchise in Charlotte.
> Would you rather see Jake Gyllenhaal as Bruce Wayne or Jessica Simpson as Sue Storm? How about both?
> The MorningNews has a chat with the original information leafblower, Douglas Coupland.
> Lance Armtrong's wife is now back on the market. In other news, Cycling news is filed under the category of "More Sports" at espn.com.
> Here's a review of REM at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, as well as some thoughts on the new Radiohead single and b-sides.
> I'm too out of it to rant about how late the CD price cutting is, but I will definitely rant about it in the future.

Have a great weekend folks. I hope to have my Diary book report done sometime this weekend.
Remember, children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round.

2003-09-05T00:48:00.000-04:00

Today / tonight was Anna's birthday!! Although now that it's past midnight and it's officially over, we are still here drinking in honor of it.

The US Open finally got some tennis in today.
Quoth Smokey:

Carlos Moya,

YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT!!

This is my dawg, Younes El Aynaoui aka The Morocan Rocket.

Younes beat the # 7 seeded Moya in four sets earlier tonight. Just like information leafblower predicted a few days ago.

Agassi, Roddick and El Aynoui are playing in tomorrow's day session.
I'm going to go and try and scam a ticket.
Wish me luck.

I'm drunk.
Goodnight.

2003-09-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

Here is a mix I made last night:

SONG / ARTIST / ALBUM

Lit Up / Lush / Split
Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) / R.E.M. / Dead Letter Office
Falling / Matthew Sweet / Altered Beast
Re-Offender / Travis / Re-Offender(Single)
Ribcage / Elbow / A Cast of Thousands
Hey Ya (Radio Mix) / Outkast / Hey Ya CD Single
The Truth Is No Words / The Music / The Music
Street Carp / Deftones / White Pony
Never Here / Elastica / Elastica
On The Way To The Club / Blur / Think Tank
The Dope / The Dandy Warhols / Welcome To The Monkey House
This Time Around / Luna / Bewitched
Fearless / Pink Floyd / Meddle
Hannah & Gabi / The Lemonheads / It's A Shame About Ray
Dreams Burn Down / Ride / Nowhere
Valency / Spinanes / Strand
Judy Is A Punk / The Ramones / The Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack
From Red To Blue / Billy Bragg / William Bloke
Slow Life / Super Furry Animals / Phantom Power

2003-09-04T01:37:00.000-04:00

Whew...went out tonight and had a few....
Just saw Junior Senior on Conan.
They are a real BAND. Like a grown up, bald and fat Hanson.
Who knew?
Not me.

Yo, check out this discussion on Buzzgrinder.com about my "interesting response" to that stupid iTunes thingy.

PS - Red Sox = 3 games back. Go team, go.

2003-09-03T16:27:00.000-04:00

Being unemployed and all, I have been watching way too much TV lately. I pay the big bucks for alot of channels, youknowwhatImean? Unfortunately, I have discovered that TV programming in general really sucks. Take Sunday night for example. Around Midnight, I had flipped on the just finishing E True Hollywood Story of Anna Kournikova (what exactly has she done to be famous, other than being hot and dating the Moley-Moley-Moley guy?). MTV was in the middle of 2 straight hours (4 episodes) of Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Over on M2 (you know, where "It's All About The Music" or whatever their stupid, untrue slogan is) they too are showing an episode of Doggy Fizzle Televizzle followed by Snoop Dogg To The Extreme. Meanwhile VH1 has just started Driven: Anna Kournikova. Exactly who is programming these three channels? Are they asleep at the wheel?
What happened to Behind The Music? Did the labels get sick of paying all that money for their bands to be featured? Does anyone remember the Oasis:Behind The Music? They should have called it Oasis:Please Buy Our New Lame Ass Record So Noel Can Buy Another House.
Remember when MTV (an M2 and VH1 for that matter) actually played videos? I mean hours of just random videos, not videos as parts of lame ass shows like All Things Rock, Chart2Chart, Latest & Greatest and shit like that. Fucking lame. When I got DirecTV, I was pumped to get M2 as I thought I would get to actually see videos again. Little did I know that M2 is now what MTV was 5 years ago, before they started showing Road Rules and Real World 24 hours a day. Here's to M3.
In less grumpy news, I am really digging the new Dandy Warhols record Welcome To The Monkey House . It took a few listens but it has grown on me just like all their previous records have. We Used To Be Friends, The Dope, You Were The Last High and Heavenly are all standout tracks. The album is a keeper & definitely worth a listen.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> The rain is totally fucking up the schedule at the US Open. Andre Agassi got lucky last night as Taylor Dent was forced to retire before the start of the 4th set and just before the rain started back up. Although Agassi won, he was clearly not in top form but was able to pull through. This bodes well for him. I look at tennis majors in the same light as the NCAA Bball Tournament (aka The Blue Devil Invitational). You have to win 6 or 7 games(matches in this case) to win it all and you are bound to have one bad game(match) in there somewhere. If you can overcome this opponent and advance, you will be better because of it. In 2001 Duke played their worst 20 minutes of basketball all year in the first half of their Final Four game against Maryland, being down by as much as 18 points at one time. But they pulled it out in the 2nd half and went on to beat Arizona in the final(thank you Mike Dunleavy). This match might turn out to be the same thing for Agassi. *fingers crossed*
> In other tennis news, you would be surpirsed at the number of fathers on the mens tour compared to the number of mothers on the womens tour.
> Manilus, NY native Greg Paulus, who some are calling the next Bobby Hurley(and yes, they mean that as a compliment), has declared he will be a Blue Devil starting in 2005. Go to to hell Carolina. You too Notre Dame.
> Check out this audio interview with Chuck Palahniuk by Bill Richardson in crappy RealPlayer format. Also, check out some of Chuck's non-fiction writing. He has a collection of it coming out next year.
> The Shortlist Prize nominee list gets shorter as finalists are announced. information leafblower would vote for The Streets, but would guess that either Interpol or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will win. But Spoon actually deserves it.
> I am not making this up. Mike Piazza (yes, the Mets catcher) leaked a new Guns n' Roses track on the radio last Friday. I guess Axl is trying to gauge public interest after his tour went downin flames.
> This is not good at all. Not in any way, shape or form.
> Serena Williams, how they, uh...I mean, how you doin? [link from Whatevs]

That's all for now folks. We went over 1,000 hits today. I will have a drink in everyone's honor tonight.
Remember, All of the rumours keeping me grounded, I never said, I never said they were completely unfounded.

2003-09-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

TMQB on NYSE chairman Dick Grasso, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Spidey's webshooters. Oh, and predictions for each and every NFL team in haiku form. Hotness.

2003-09-02T12:36:00.000-04:00

I'm back! Did ya miss me? Will you at least tell me you missed me so that I feel important? Oh wait, 75 or Less already did that for me. It's hard to distill the genius of the Super Furries into 75 words or less but I think I did a respectable job. Keep your eye out for more reviews by yours truly in the future.
I didn't make it to the US Open on Thursday night. It was sold out. I've been to the Open the past 3 years and always buy my tickets at the venue(fuck you Tickemaster) and I've never had a problem before. So I missed Agassi. I was devastated, but drank my sorrows away at the Astoria Beer Garden which I had never been to before, even though I lived in Astoria for 3 years. It was soooo money, we had a good time.
We got home late, but I caught parts of the VMA rebroadcast at like midnight and let me just say that if Madonna really wanted to shock everyone, she should have kissed Missy Elliott. That shit was totally lame and not sexy at all. And I thought Madge was singing her Gap Ad, I didn't know that song was on her record. I was a bit confused at that.
Metallica are just a fucking joke. I never thought they would make Axl and the Gunners' permormance from last year look professional. Guto from the Super Furries put it best(although we were talking about Oasis at the time) when he sad that rich musicians make rich musician's music. That's what Metallica sounds like to me now(and I'm not even a fan). That song(not the preceding medley of old covers) they did was a joke right? Was it a cover?
How was everyone's holiday? Mine included some laid back action upstate at Lake George with my better's half's mom and some other relatives. Exciting, no? We drove back late Saturday night and saw some CRAZY SHIT on our way back. First, somewhere on I-87, around 90 miles outside of the city, there was a car on the side of the road ON FIRE. And by that I mean it was consumed in flames just sitting on the side of the road. I fully expected Jay-Z and Beyonce to pop out from some hidden place and get their "Crazy In Love" on. It was soooooo weird. At first I slowed down so I could get a good look at it, but then I thought to myself "What the fuck are you doing? Speed up before that thing blows up!!" and hightailed it on down the road. It was insane.
Secondly, after crossing the GW bridge and while making our way over to the FDR, there was a white Maxima that apparently couldn't make up it's mind whether to turn off to an exit or stay on the road because it rammed into the guard rail in between the two. We must have missed that by like 5 minutes. The cops weren't even there yet.
And lastly, and perhaps most disturbingly, on Adams Street directly off of the Brooklyn Bridge we witnessed a group of 5 or 6 guys totally beating the shit out of some big dude with sticks and things like that. I mean they pounded the guy. Molly got out her cell phone and dialed 911 but just as she did, the cops rolled up. Wow.
They say bad things happen in three's, right?
Not wanting to push our luck, we went home, parked, unloaded our shit, went inside and locked the doors.
I spent Sunday watching tennis on and off throughout the day. Younes El Aynaoui won the match of the tournament so far by beating 10th seed Jiri Novak 7-6, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. CBS just showed the 5th set tiebreak but it was awesome tennis. You could tell these guy had been going toe to toe for a while. Hopefully with all the rain they will replay that match and give us a break from that fucking Connors v. Krickstein match from 7 or 8 years ago.
I became an El Aynaoui fan a few months ago after I read an article in ESPN the Magazine (can't find the damn link) about his story. He wanted to train at the Bolleteri Acadamy in Florida but couldn't afford it so he took a job as ballboy/janitor/bus driver and still worked on his game in his spare time. He's 32 now and it's paying off. He currently ranked #21 in the world. It's hard not to pull for someone like that. He's playing Carlos Moya next and Moya better fucking recognize.
Yesterday, by my best estimation, I watched roughly 14 hours of the 24 hours of 24(the TV Show) marathon(2nd season). I had never seen that show before. It was DOPE.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> Yo, remember when Anna Kournikova was known for her game? Someone does.
> Peter May on the ongoing Larry Bird / Isiah Thomas / J Oneal saga. Rick Carlisle could be hired as early as today.
> This situation is screaming for a wise ass(no pun intended) comment but it's really not funny. Steeler's linebacker Joey Porter was shot in the ass on Sunday morning at a sports bar in Denver. Porter was just minding his own business and may have been an innocent bystander in some gang related activity through no fault of his own. The Steelers may have to redesign their defense because of this.
> Was Manny Ramirez fraternizing with the enemy this weekend?
>Another response to that stupid Itunes Music Store protest thingy. Coolfer chimes in as well.
> Radiohead and REM share the stage in Vancouver. information leafblower is jealous of those in attendance. Lucky bastards.
> Johnny Fucking Cash hospitalized again but he will be OK. Yo, he got ROBBED at the VMA's.
> Paul Weller, aka the Modfather, does a London instore. And plays old stuff by The Jam. information leafblower is jealous of those in attendance. Lucky bastards.
> Hellz yeah! The new Ride album of BBC Sessions will be released in the US. Hot Damn! I just like typing "new Ride album."
> Sofia Coppola, how you doin? The champagne that bears her name is great BTW.
> More Chucky P love, this time from the NY Times. And Chuck got so pissed at Salon.com, he wrote to them personally. I think he took it too easy on them. Rip them a new one Chuck!!
> A great articile on the Brooklyn Bridge and all the swaying it was doing when everyone walked over it during the blackout.
> The headline for this article says it all: No Outage for Bush, Utilities' Cash-Transmission Lines Work Great.
> Our friends Fiona and James are getting married in little under a year. Woo Hoo!

Cheers all.
Remember, summer's almost gone. Yeah, almost gone. Where will we be when summer's gone?

2003-08-29T09:02:00.000-04:00

Information Leafblower is on vacation through the weekend.
In the meantime, check out some of the links on the right.
Cheers all.

2003-08-28T16:28:00.000-04:00

Chucky P gets some "Diary" love from the Village Voice.

FYI - It's pronounced Paula - nick

2003-08-28T12:02:00.000-04:00

NOISE POLLUTION SOLUTION

Gruff Rhys is the Super Furry Power Ranger

Also check out this hotter than hot interview with my Super Furry homies Bunf and Guto from this year's Glastonbury Festival. In gorgeous Quickime no less! Bunf actually gives props to other bands! Usually, I'll name a band and he'll say "they're shite" no matter who it is. And he doesn't even have sunglasses on. Strange days indeed.
Lastly, our Super Furry Roundup comes to a close with news of their next UK single.

2003-08-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

Another day at the US Open is about to get underway...in case you were wondering:
Daniela Hantuchova won yesterday:

and Ashley Harkelroad lost:

Capriati and Agassi in the night matches tonight and I will be there!!
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
> The NY Times votes for the USTA to ditch the babe watch and focus on the tennis. This may not be a bad idea(wait, did I just say that?) as Daniela Hantuchova almost had a meltdown in her match yesterday. Her opponent started playing a slowed down/moon ball/Tracy Austin type game which frustrated her to no end. She started crying and yelling at the linesmen. Some people aren't ready for prime time yet. But hey, she won.
> Here are some other girls that like sports. How you doin'? All of you...[link from Whatevs]
> Larry Bird let everyone know who is in charge of the Indiana Pacers when he sacked Isiah Thomas yesterday. Isiah, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Thomas should have known he was finished after the Celtics beat the Pacers in 6 games in the playoffs last year. This really wasn't a big surprise as ex-Bird assistant(and former Coach of the Year) Rick Carlisle was on the open market. Better to fire Isiah now and get Carlisle in place as soon as possible. Training camp is one month away. J O'Neal is not a happy camper right now.
> Go Red Sox, go. Four games back from the Evil Empire.
> Man, I was all set to go off on MTV's new show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, about Nick Lachey's marriage to Jessica Simpson, but Slate and Gothamist beat me to it. Jessica Simpson, doing her best to reinforce the spolied celebrity and smoking-hot-babe-that-is-utterly-stupid stereotype, just can't seem to handle living on her own.

Some sample dialogue from the show for you:
"I didn't really have this upkeep thing," she says, amazed at how dirty skillets can get and the fact that flowers fester. Laundry bewilders her, too; she tends to toss clothes and towels over a balcony outside her bedroom onto the floor of the foyer. "Somebody's always picked up after me," she says.
"I need a maid, but Nick won't let me hire one because he wants to trust them. He wants to interview them and do all that thing first. Do you even know if there's, like, maids for like celebrities?"
> Yesterday, I found out some information that has shaken me to my very core. It appears Danny Ainge is not the genius I've made him out to be. If we was how could he let the Lakers, the Celtics arch rivals no less, sign basketball god Koko Archibong? It appears that Koko is the REAL Ultimate Power in basketball. Some facts about this amazing player:
1.    Koko is a mammal.
2.    Koko is the ILLEST basketball player ever.
3.    The purpose of Koko is to throw down pimp-ass dunks.
There you have it. I'm convinced. Also, in case you were wondering why everyone is so obsessed with Koko, I have the answer for you:
"Koko is the ultimate paradox. On the one hand Koko can dunk and hit mad treys, but on the other he is like a completely nice guy and hasn't raped anyone, not even once."
I stayed up all night over that one....
> I heard last night that gas is going up 19 cents tomorrow. But hey, what's 19 cents a gallon when President Bush wants "several tens of billions'' of dollars in the next year to rebuild Iraq. I mean, that's totally fine with me because everything is so fucking perfect here at home that the President can take a the month of August off for a vacation. It's not like several states lost power for a prolonged period of time because of our nations outdated and deregulated power grid. Oh, wait...
In case you were wondering "The Bush administration has refused to publicly project how much the U.S. occupation of Iraq will cost," but estimates are "$50 billion to $100 billion over the next three years." I forget, did the President throw out these numbers when he was giving all those speaches saying we had to go to war with Iraq over those WMD's they haven't found yet? I wonder how much good that money could do here at home...
> Hey, more good news! The nations deficit is projected to be $480 billion in 2004, which has been billed as a record. Didn't we have a surplus when he took over?
- But don't worry, Bush is determined to do his part for big business, environment be damned. The Bush administration relaxed its clean-air rules to allow thousands of industrial plants to make upgrades without installing pollution controls. I mean, we all drive SUV's, so what's a little more pollution, right?
> Yay Earthlink! They are suing some spammers in Alabama and Vancouver. Now if you could just lower my monthly DSL bill.
> Today, I will leave you with the Liz Phair digital desk calendar. [link from Whatevs via Stereogum]

Remember, I used to fly like Peter Pan, all the children flew when I touched their hands.

2003-08-27T15:43:00.000-04:00

Good people, faithful readers of ILB, I take care in what I post here for you to read. I try to be somewhat knowledgeable in any topic I write about or rant against. I believe that it is important to be informed so that I may pass this knowledge onto you. One of the things I hate is when uninformed people make judgments on shit they obviously have no knowledge about(and if I am ever in the wrong, PLEASE point it out to me). I am a fairly easy going sort of guy. But when someone sent me this link, I fucking lost it. How stupid can people be?
I have worked in the music industry for over 7 years. I have been on both sides of the coin: fighting for the producers that were my clients, thereby taking away things from the bands they were working with as well as being on the bands side while everyone reaches in their pocket and takes their cut, leaving the band with nothing. The music industry is in real trouble right now because they are using antiquated theories, promotional ideas and distribution channels while signing the next "mallternative" punk band or whatever to cram down peoples throats. I am currently unemployed due to the state of the industry and have decided, with clear conscience, to get out while I can. At every job interview I go to I tell people that the industry will have to be blown up and rebuilt before real change can be made. One real change that has recently been put into place has been Apple's iTunes Music Store. We all know how I feel about Apple, but that is not the issue here. Stupid people writing about areas in which they have no knowledge is the task of the day, so let's straighten them out shall we? My comments are in BOLD:

1) It's too expensive

Let's start simple: the iTunes Music Store is not a good value for customers. Bullshit. If it wasn’t, people wouldn’t use it (see Buymusic.com for example)Apple says many users are buying whole "albums" for $8-$12 each. That's less than the $16 store price much less, but used CDs at Amazon or ebay cost $5, CD’s on eBay may cost $5 but they might be scratched and people will charge you $5 just to ship the damn thing and those come with liner notes. CD’s you burn from a friend do not. If you don't care about liner notes, you can burn the CD from a friend for 25 cents and send the musician a buck. What makes you think the musician you send your dollar to will share this money with other royalty holding musicians on said CD/song? If 4 people in a band write a song or record, what makes you think this money will be split 4 ways? What if the band didn’t write the song, just perform it? It happens more than you think. Then you are sending them money for no reason. If you want to put money directly into a bands pocket, buy a ticket to a show, go see them and then buy a t shirt. That is how most bands eat each day, from merch money In both cases, you end up with a real CD, and you can always use iTunes to rip it onto your computer or mp3 player. And you don't have to deal with restrictions on how you use it.

2) AAC is lossy.

iTunes AAC files don't sound as good as CDs. AAC is a "lossy" compression format: it shrinks the sound file by throwing away subtle nuance and texture that a computer program thinks you won't be able to hear. The thing is, you can hear it. You might not notice listening to your iPod on the subway, but if you get home, lie back on the couch, and listen to your new iTunes album on a real stereo, it won't have the same nuance, punch, and presence that a CD has. A burned copy of a real CD will always sound better than a burned iTunes album. So don’t buy anything from the iTunes store. Go away.

3) "But I don't really care about compression"

Then you're in good company: lots of people just want to hear the songs they like and don't mind listening to compressed music. The majority of those people (the sensible ones) choose peer to peer filesharing programs like Kazaa or Acquisition to get their mp3s. Downloads are fast, there's a bigger selection, and peer to peer sharing doesn't prop up the music industry. Plus it's free. Yes, you also unknowingly get the privilege of downloading viruses and spyware with your mislabeled and incomplete downloads(if it is even the artist or song that you think you are downloading) from the above listed programs. And you have no idea what BitRate it was encoded with.

4) Apple and the Labels Get a Lot.

Apple says iTunes is "better than free" because it's "fair to artists and record companies." That's simply not true. Again, bullshit. First of all, Apple gets 3 times as much money as musicians from each sale. Why shouldn’t they? It’s their servers, bandwidth and promotional dollar. Apple takes a 35% cut from every song and every album sold, a huge amount considering how little they have to do. You really have no idea what you are talking about, do you? Record labels receive the other 65% of each sale. Of this, major label artists will end up with only 8 to 14 cents per song, depending on their contract. This may be so but it has absolutely nothing to do with Apple. Every recording artist on a major label signs a contract with the label and they, with help from their lawyer(who takes up to 5% of their income BTW), agree to terms with the label with regards to royalties. If the artist has a bad royalty rate(as most of them do), go bitch to the artist’s lawyer, not Apple. Many artists don’t see 50 cents from a CD sale, if they are getting 8 cents a song, that is a better rate for them! Many of them will never even see this paltry share because they have to pay for producers and recording costs, both of which can be enormous. MOST bands will never see this share. They will never see a penny from record sales either. Maybe they shouldn’t be spending $300,000 making a record and $500,000 on the first video from the album. This would reduce the amount they have to recoup. The White Stripes are a perfect example here. Elephant cost $5,000 to record. They made that back in their first week sales Until the musician "recoups" these costs, when you buy an iTunes song, the label gives them nothing. Again, this is standard in each and every recording contract for each and every artist on a major label today. How is this Apple’s fault?

5) Nothing changed

So why does iTunes give artists such a raw deal? Because it's the exact same deal that artists have always gotten from the big five record companies. True, and if the Big 5 didn’t agree to any of these terms with Apple or even want to have their songs available for paid downloading, there would be no iTunes Music Store. Period. End of story. Apple didn’t hold any of the cards in this negotiation, the Big 5 did. Despite huge new efficiencies created by internet distribution --no CDs to make, no distributors to store and ship them, no CD stores to build and run-- artists receive the same pathetic cut. Again, this is an issue for the labels and the bands’ lawyers, not Apple That is the disaster of iTunes. No, that is the music industry in a nutshell. Instead of using this new medium to empower musicians and their fans, it helps the record industry cartel perpetuate the exploitation. This is because they are all run by 60 year olds who don’t know what the internet is and they are afraid of it because it is stealing their money. So they want to destroy it, not harness it’s power. Apple might say it's not their fault: after all, they didn't write the unfair record contracts. EXACTLY. But when Apple supports and profits from an obviously unfair system, while telling customers that it's "fair to artists", they are just as guilty. There has to be a proven alternate option for artists(preferably in favor of the artists) in order to change the system. Apple is laying this groundwork right now. A system like this should have been put in place by the Big 5 (and not necessarily with Apple) 5 years ago. Then Napster never would have been an issue. But they didn’t and now, here we are.

In closing, you have the right sentiment here, but are going after the wrong people. How about Sony? They make CD burners that come in their own Sony brand computers. They also manufacture CD's for their music labels(Columbia, Epic, etc.) that are copy protected and won't play in their own computers.
Remember when the CD was introduced and they said prices would come down because of it? Been to Virgin Megastore lately? It's not happening.

But I digress....

2003-08-27T12:38:00.000-04:00

Well....I just finished Hey Nostradamus! It was very entertaining and a great read but overall, I thought Coupland's last book, All Families Are Psychotic, was more satisfying. There are many questions left unanswered at the end of Hey Nostradamus! that I would have like to have tied out, but again, it's a great book with some surprise twists thrown in for good measure. Basically it is the story of a "Columbine-type"(it's very unfortunate that this is now a term in our societies' lexicon) massacre at a Northern Vancouver high school from 4 different characters point of view. Two, Jason and Cheryl, were directly involved in the event, while the other two, Heather and Reg, were not but were still affected by it very much. Religion and the afterlife is discussed thoroughly.
I should note that I am a bit biased in my love for All Families Are Psychotic as it was a genuine return to form by Coupland after his two previous stinkers, Miss Wyoming and Girlfriend in a Coma.
Today I am startng on Diary. Hey, ever wonder what Chucky P does to answer all of his fan mail? I thought so...well, read on. [thanks emily]
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- We'll start with the US Open today because I am going out there tomorrow.
First of all, Jelena Dokic, how you doin?

-Today's NY Post examines some other Anna K-clones, and wisely, none of them want to be compared to her. They actually want to, you know, win some matches. Anna was still in effect last night as she announced she will be working for TV Sponsor USA as an entertainment reporter. Do I hear a second career calling her? Hey, it's better than the other options.
- On the Men's side of the draw, Roddick won, Agassi cruised and Michael Chang played in and lost his last career match. Ever. Ummmmm...Does anyone care? I don't. Chang was washed up at 18. Anna K should take note.
Everyone is ready to hand the title to Roddick, but don't count Andre out yet. Losing in the final last year to Sampras had to hurt and he will be on a mission this year. He wiped the court with former #2 player in the world Alex Corretja yesterday. FYI, Andre is the oldest #1 seed in the open era. That's unreal. I remember when he had long hair and acid wash shorts and took Ivan lendl to 4 sets in the early 90's.
- Man, I was so distracted on my Diary quest from yesterday I missed new columns from The Sports Guy AND TMQB. Unacceptable. It'll never happen again.
- Moving on to b-ball news, The US squeaked one out against Argentina. It was a close game throughout. The quest for the Gold Medal won't be a cakewalk. T-Mac is hurt and probably done for the tournament. That hurts the team a bit. They need a big 2 guard(Paul fucking Pierce anyone?) not AI or Ray Allen. Kobe also comes to mind, but he was busy kissin' and grabbin'.
- In other news, fallen UNC golden boy Joeseph Forte is done with the Seattle Supersonics. Serves you right you little punk ass bitch. The Celtics wasted a draft pick on you when they could have drafted Tony Parker. But I'm not bitter. Yes I am...Go to hell Carolina.
- The Jets signed former Rams back up QB Jamie Martin yesterday to back up brittle Vinny Testeverde for the upcoming season. The Jet's assesment of their new signing? "He has had flashes of competence." Awesome! Good for him.
- Pitchfork posted details of the new Ted Leo EP that's coming on October 7th that we've known about for ages.
- Wonder why this SoBig virus isn't going away anytime soon? Easy. It's making someone rich. Apple Rulez.
- Lastly...Is there anyone in America that has an ounce of sympathy for that big douchebag from Everyone Loves Raymond? For those that don't know, he held up production of CBS highest rated show(which I have never even seen once) because he wasn't happy with his salary of $150,000 per episode. CBS offered him $300,000 per episode and he turned it down! What an assclown. The shitty thing is, he finally got his way!! ARGH!! I'm so sick of rich, overpaid sitcom stars whining about how they deserve more money when they are on a hit show. Take your syndication rights and shove it up your......
But I digress.

Remember, a crack on the head is what you get for not asking, and a crack on the head is what you get for asking.

2003-08-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

Andy Roddick won in straight sets last night but he still lost all of his cool points for wearing a freaking trucker hat!!

2003-08-26T17:42:00.000-04:00

Barnes and Noble can go to hell. I went to three of them today searching for a copy of Chucky P's Diary and none of them had a single copy in stock. So on the way home from the subway, I decide to detour down 7th Avenue and lo and behold, there it was in the window of The Community Bookstore, the hood's mom and pop book joint. They had 2 copies left and one of them is now mine. I am already 1/3 of the way through Coupland's Hey Nostradamus! so I am going to be a big bookworm for the next few days. Damn, I love it! My two favorite authors release new books so close to each other. Rock!
Tonight will consist of some serious reading, a few beers, and some TV viewing inthe form of the Andy Roddick v. Tim Henman match at the US Open. Life is good my friends.
Even more so now that www.informationleafblower.com is up and running. Adjust your bookmarks if you feel the need.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Go Red Sox, go. Winners of five straight. Now lay off Pedro and let him do his thang.
- Lamar Odom is a Miami Heat. How stupid does that sound? What a lame team name....Hey Clips, my boy Corey Maggette is gonna break out this year. No worries.
- UNC preview from DBR. Can't wait for November.
- Woo Hoo!! Julie Foudy and Shannon Macmillan both made the Woman's World Cup team roster. Hotness. Literally.

That is all for today. Andre Agassi is wailing on Alex Corretja and I'm missing it. Tennis geek out.
Today I will leave you with the first sentence from Hey Nostradamus:
"I believe what seperates humanity from everything else in the world - spaghetti, binder paper, deep-sea creatures, edelweiss and Mount McKinley - is that humanity alone has the capacity at any given moment to commit all possible sins."

2003-08-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

The Park Slope Barnes and Noble is soooooo lame. I was there at 10 AM so I could purchse this:

but they didn't have it in stock. WTF? I have to go into Manhattan later today for physical therapy and will try my luck again on the Upper West Side.

Also, I would like to send my eternal gratitude to Stereogum for putting up the new Outkast song "Hey Ya." It's actually just an Andre 3000 song but damn it's so fresh and so clean. I sincerely think when you have the "Who Is The Best Band In The World?" debate that the "Two Dope Boys In A Cadillac" have to be included. They are on some outer space shit. Other than the Roots, who else is pushing hip hop forward? Let us not, however, bring up that Scooby Doo song....

2003-08-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

information leafblower is currently listening to:
Saturation by Urge Overkill
Let Me Come Over by Buffalo Tom
Trompe Le Monde by The Pixies
White Trash Heroes by the Archers of Loaf (RIP)
Second Coming by The Stone Roses

information leafblower is currently reading:
Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland

2003-08-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

This is one scary sight. Link from Whatevs.

2003-08-25T16:10:00.000-04:00

"Our Little Baby Is All Growns Up"

Trying to think of the line from Swingers when Trent is all fucked up in the diner....is that it? I watched the first half of the movie last night before I passed out. I never get sick of seeing it. It's so money!
Well...I finally took the plunge, SoBig virus be damned. Sometime in the next 48 hours www.informationleafblower.com will officially be online. This is not quite as exciting as it sounds as right now I am just parking the domain name and redirecting traffic here, but eventually I hope to design a site that will be one quarter as cool as Whatevs dot org. But only time will tell.
This virus seems to be fucking a whole bunch of people up. I've seen quite a few sites pleading with their readers to download any and all patches/fixes because their inboxes are getting slammed. My condolences to all Windoze users. Unfortunately, it might get worse before it gets better. Be careful everyone.
Quite a relaxing day yesterday. Lots of napping and just hanging around the house, good weather be damned. I was *a tad* hungover from the night before.
Before I get on with it I want to plug some new blogs worth checking out:
The first is from my friend Glenn(of rainy Stephen Malkmus gig and Siren Fest fame) who joins the blogging fray with Coolfer.com. He's gonna focus on the "industry" side of the music industry, which is bascially lazy A & R folks and parties with free beer. Glamourous, no? Keep an eye out for his future column comparing soundscan numbers from all the pro athletes that have released CD's in the last few years.
The other is DJ Benny Blanco. He's still a newbie so be the one to say you were there first man! Word. Let's get on with it...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- As a Dolphin fan, let me be the first to say "Muahhahahahhahahahhaha" to all the Jets fans. QB Chad Pennington severely fucked up his non throwing hand(nice pic!) over the weekend. Ha! Out at least 12 weeks is the estimate. Sucks to be you. This is the football gods extracting revenge for all those ridiculous columns that ran last year saying Hutchinson "Is the next Joe Montana." Please...
- MMQB thinks the NFL pre-season is too long.
- The US Open(aka my favorite NYC based sporting event) starts today. The mens field looks tough but if the seeds play out and we get a little help we may get an Agassi v. Roddick final. CBS must be praying for that because Lindsay Davenport is hurting and both the Williams sisters withdrew before the tournament(after CBS moved the Womens' Final to primetime to increase ratings). Sucks to be CBS.
- Dirk fucked up his ankle playing with the German National Team. Mark Cuban must be throwing shit out in Big D. Sucks to be Cuban.
- Popmatters compiled a list of the 100 best songs from the last 25 years and I had just settled in to pour through it when I saw that the La's masterpiece "There She Goes" was ranked #100...Shocked, I figured this list was not worth my time or the bandwidth it was taking up. If you think there are 99 better songs than that Lee Mavers classic, you are smoking crack.
- Salon.com must be desperate for readers so they decide to slam "Diary", the new novel by Chuck Palahniuk(released tomorrow!!!). Chucky P cult members ain't taking this injustice lying down and decide to fight back. The first rule about Salon.com is we do not read Salon.com.
- There will be a whole lot less headbuts given out in the future. Wesley Willis is dead. Rest in peace big guy.
- Blur(aka Damon's Inflated Ego) played a career spanning set at Reading over the weekend but still decided to play quite a few of the crappy songs from their so-so new album. But at least they played "My White Noise." That track is ace.
- Are new iMacs coming soon?
- The MTA loses $260,000 per year when cheaters bend their Metrocards and get free rides.
PS- They don't recycle old Metrocards because it only costs 7 cents to purchase new ones. Fucking LAME.
- The trailer for Matrix:Revloutions is available for download.
- Finally, save the date of September 18th. Gothamist and 601am are having another blogger-get-together/ happy hour.

Approaching 700 hits. Thanks everyone.
Remember, these things I do to make myself more attractive to you. Have I failed?

2003-08-24T19:39:00.000-04:00

Skipped the Luna show last night.
Instead, a bunch of friends came over. We had dinner, played cards and drank heavily.
Right now I'm reading the latest issue of Q Magazine. It has a great Queens of the Stone Age article in it:
"Queens is the culmination of all of our experiences," he(frontman Josh Homme) says. We flirted with punk and metal, then I was in the Screaming Trees. But I could never join a scene. I love Kylie and Bjork too. The scene is, Be yourself. Even if you like the Queens, don't copy us. Don't. Get your own."
"We are all here for the same reason." adds (Nick) Oliveri more prosaically.
"Music, girls, cars, crystal meth."

2003-08-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

OK....back to the state of New York's power grid...Let me first say that this week's Village Voice is a must read. That being said, unfortunately it doesn't reveal anything that really surprises me. Power companies have greatly profited from deregulation and they are pocketing the profits as they have have little incentive to invest that money back into the infrastructure of the power grid. But don't take my word for it:
- New York's Prince of Darkness lays the blame squarely on George Pataki's shoulders. Highlights from this article: "It's no coincidence that both the New England network and PJM—the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland regional organization (93 percent of whose users were unaffected by the blackout)—expressly rejected New York merger overtures in recent years. As Assemblyman Paul Tonko, the Energy Committee chair, put it in a report issued last October, Pataki policies have turned New York into a "regional pariah," with manic deregulation, skyrocketing prices, and both transmission and capacity disinvestment driving other, sounder systems away. While the PJM combine found $700 million in two years to invest in transmission improvements, New York was spending $90 million, a third of what it did in the '80s, even though the technology-driven demand on our aging downstate lines was soaring."
- The Bush Moneybags Behind the Blackout Probe tells us that, surprise, one of Bush's cronies is to blame for this. Highlights: "FirstEnergy, the big Akron utility, is the focus of the probe so far because its lines crashed in such a way as to trigger the system’s collapse. The company is an amalgam of seven other companies, including Toledo Edison, Cleveland Electric, Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Power, Pennsylvania Electric, Metropolitan Edison, and Jersey Central Power & Light.
With Abraham at the helm, the entire blackout affair has disappeared into a maze of technical gobbledygook. Nobody wants to talk about the politics involved because once again—as with Enron—one of Bush's pals and big fundraisers is at the center of the mess.
As independent advocacy group Public Citizen reports, "Top executives at FirstEnergy rank among the Bush campaign's top fundraisers. FirstEnergy President Anthony Alexander was a Bush Pioneer in 2000—meaning he raised at least $100,000—and then served on the Energy Department transition team. H. Peter Burg, the company's CEO and chairman of the board, hosted a June event that raised more than half a million dollars for Bush-Cheney '04."
- It's Deregulation, Stupid takes alook at energy deregulation. Highlights: "The Pataki critique grows louder day by day. On August 17, The New York Times' James C. McKinley Jr. reported that the blackout has revived an old debate in Albany. As it turns out, Pataki personally introduced deregulation of the state energy industry in 1996—a move that critics say has resulted in an antiquated and overtaxed transmission system."
- The NY Press also got into the act. Check out Finding NiMo. Highlights: "By the time National Grid bought NiMo, the deregulation process was already well underway in the U.S. In 1992, George Bush Sr. pushed through laws that weakened the Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUCHA), enacted by FDR in 1935. PUCHA was partially rolled back by the Bush legislation, which eliminated price controls. Bush’s laws later allowed campaign contributions from utilities, through a series of loopholes (which had been banned absolutely by PUCHA) and weakened measures designed to ensure that utilities allocated enough resources to maintenance and personnel. Bush’s federal measures were followed by deregulatory state measures. The admirable effects of those initiatives in California are well-known, but of course we had similar measures passed here in New York in 1999 as well.
That year, Gov. Pataki–who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from utilities, including significant contributions from Niagara Mohawk–pushed through legislation that removed caps on prices, promising that the increased competition would lower prices. It did not, and in the years immediately following the reform, the measure was generally considered a failure."
- And I don't give a shit what President Bush has to say about all of this. He still isn't telling the American People the truth about Iraq. Honestly, how can you believe anything that comes out of his mouth? All of this shit is going on and he is on a month long vacation!!!!
- Here's another "surpirse." The fucking White House made the EPA tell a big fat lie about the quality of the air in lower downtown immediately after 9/11. More here. Not to get overly dramatic on everyone here, but I was front and center on 9/11. After the towers fell, there was easily 5 inches of dust/soot/asbestos and god knows what else on EVERYTHING. There is NO WAY all that shit goes away in a week or so. I've read reports that even now people in Battery Park City get a layer of soot in their fridge and freezer every few days. This is only going to get worse when they begin building at the new site. If that ever happens.
Reports like these are the reason Molly, kitty and I moved the hell away from Fulton Street/Lower Manhattan. I'm terrified that 20 years from now I'm going to get some big lump of cancer or something similar because of the time I spent living down there after 9/11. I assume most of the brave people that took part in the rescue effort are fearing the same thing. Will anyone care in 20 years?
It took us until March of the following year to move out to Park Slope. We had to sue our landlord because they would not let us out of our lease or lower our rent even though they were renting apartments in our building for half what we were paying because everyone was moving out anyways. We would have just moved out and skipped the lawsuit but our landlord could have fucked our credit and kept us from ever buying a house, etc. The lawsuit(which was a class action suit filed by myself and about 45 other people in our building) was finally settled in November of that year. So things ended as happily as they could. I guess.
OK, I'm done for now. Thanks for listening/reading. I needed to get that off of my chest. It just sickens me how much politicians turn a blind eye to everything as long as they get their precious campaign donations. That is why I voted for Ralph Nader in the last election. And don't give me any shit about how that handed the election to Dubya. Why vote if you don't vote for the candidate you believe in and want to win? But I digress...

2003-08-22T17:49:00.000-04:00

Ah....beer o' clock.
Damn it's hot today. Sweaty upper lip hot. The subway platforms are sauna's.
Still undecided on if I should attend the Luna show tonight. I'm telling myself that it will all be new stuff so I shouldn't waste my money. It's not like I have extra to spare.
My item from eBay arrived today. You know, the one that cost me $6 to ship. Guess how much it actually cost the seller to ship it.
Seventy Three fucking cents. ggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrr.
I have a host of links about the fucked up state of NY's power grid from the Voice and NY Press but I'm in too good a mood to start ranting. However, there is always tomorrow. Provided I don't go out to the USTA center to see some tennis.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Travis Best signs with the Mavericks. But he doesn't get his $1.4 million a year. Ummmm....told you so. Danny Ainge is a genius.
- Armchair quarterbacks(that's not the right term here but I couldn't think of anything better) are questioning Wales' strategy on the heels of their loss to Serbia & Montenegro. Ryan Giggs isn't worried about their upcoming match with against the Azzuri.
- American(actually he's from Ghana) soccer prodigy Freddie Adu is the shit. He's getting looks from the mighty Manchester United.
- The best sports section, week in and week out, belongs to the Village Voice. I always forget to give them props. Bad me. Bad!
- Wanna see some screen shots of the new Windoze operating system entitled Longhorn(that's such a Dubya type term). Me niether but it's election time in CA and I'm all about equal time.
- ZDNet names the EMac one of it's back to school picks.
- Lastly I want to direct everyone to the tour diary written by Sean Nelson, currently serving as keyboardist for the Long Winters. Some may know Sean as a part-owner of Barsuk records. Others may even remember him as the talented frontman from Harvey Danger. Either way Sean is an awesome guy and an even better writer. It's a long read but it's worth it as he gives you a good idea what is like in the up and down life of being on the road. And don't even start hatin' on Harvey Danger. I am a big fan of their second record which due to a convergence of bad situations and circumstances, no one heard and was never given a fair shake. Give it a listen sometime.

We're already over 600 hits. Incredible. Thanks everyone.
Have a great weekend.
Remember, one awkward conversation can ruin my whole day, in the company of strangers with some vulgar shit to say. I always seem to miss the point completely. And here I am again.

2003-08-21T23:46:00.000-04:00

There is some strange shit going on outside right now. A helicopter with a spotlight has been circling overhead for the last 20 minutes or so. It's flying very low. Sounds like it's right on top of the building. Sirens come in and out of earshot. A few cop cars with their lights flashing have sped up the street.
I wonder what they are looking for? I'm assuming it's not conducive to my health so even though I want to go outside and see what's happening, I think I'll stay right here. I just went outside and doublechecked all of our locks just to be safe.

2003-08-21T16:53:00.000-04:00

"These days animals just seem infinitely wiser than, for example, politicians."

-Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys explaining the song "Venus and Serena"

My fotolog has been updated with a picture of our kitty.

2003-08-21T15:28:00.000-04:00

TOP 5 REASONS THAT information leafblower IS IN A GOOD MOOD TODAY:
5) Mojo article on Radiohead.
4) Saw a Pixies documentary on Trio last night entitled Gouge. Here's a list of people weighing in on the group during the show.
3) Johnny fucking Cash is hard at work on new material. Than Man In Black is 71 years young.
2) Had a job interview today that went pretty well. *fingers crossed*
1) My physical therapist says I *should* be able to snowboard this winter no problem. Fucking great news.
I'm in such a good mood I'm not even bringing up the fucking Red Sox.
NEWS OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Wales, the homeland of everything Super Furry, fall agonizingly short of wrapping up their bid for Euro 2004. Next time then. They have 3 more games to make it happen.
- Hehehehe. The Super Furries get a mention over on CNNSI.com. Scroll down for it. Classic!
- Is Detroit trading Uncle Cliffy to Golden State? They have to if they want to resign Memet Okhur next season. Have I ever mentioned I fucking hate the Pistons?
- Carmelo Anthony signs with Brand Jordan.
- Did you watch the US Men's Olympic Basketball Qualifying Team(that's a mouthful) beat Brazil last night? Not unless you paid for it. Lame!
- Ah.....The Sports Guy waxes poetic about Video Bo Jackson, the greatest player ever from a video game.
- Apple is giving away and 10 gig iPod every day until September 20th. All you have to do is sign up for the iTunes Music Store.
- Forbes thinks iPods will acount for 5% of Apple sales this year. In other news, Apple's get attacked by viruses too, just not as often.
- Buddyhead rag on the "40 year old rockers" The Mooney Suzuki for shacking up with the Matrix for their next record. Oh wait, I reported that here ages ago.
- Whatevs dot org has the new Return Of The King poster up. And Beyonce's nips.
- The fine folks at Les Yper Sound have a new website address. They were kind enough to send me an email about it a few days ago. Same great content.
- Finally, Chuck Palahniuk interview by Elizabeth Spiers(originally in the NY Post). Thanks to Whatevs dot org for the info.

See you tomorrow.
Remember, here's a gap in between, there's a gap where we meet...Where I end and you begin.

2003-08-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

Michael pointed out that humans are the only animals to have generations. "Bears, for example, certainly don't have generations. Mom and Dad bears don't expect their offspring to eat different kinds of berries and hibernate to a different beat. The belief that tomorrow is a different place from today is certainly a unique hallmark of our species."
Michael's theory is that technology creates and molds generations. When technology accelerates to a critical point, as it has now, generations become irrelevant. Each of us as individuals becomes our own personal diskette with our own personal "version." Much more logical.

- Written by Douglas Coupland, taken from his book Microserfs.
This blog takes it's name from Bug, one of the characters in the book.
His occupation, as listed on his business card, reads information leafblower.

2003-08-19T17:21:00.000-04:00

Man, eBay is getting out of hand. I just bought a new battery for my cell phone at a very reasonable price of $9.99. However, shipping on my new purchase is $6.00. Insurance, should I decide to get it, is another $1.80. Wait, did I buy this from Ticketmaster? The battery can't weigh more than a few ounces. Priority shipping from the USPS is a mere $3.95(and they will give you the packaging to ship it in). So the vendor just made another $2.05 from the auction. Then he has the gall to email me and tell me to "please allow reasonable time to receive your item" along the lines of "5 to 7 days". Shit, for $6 you should deliver it to me personally by hand! It's unfortunate that this seems to be becoming the norm on eBay. But I digress...
I tried to take my Blackout 2003 photos to Rite Aid to get them developed today. After dropping them off and waiting 3 hours for the "One Hour Photo Service" I walked all the way back up there and they tell me they can't develop Advantix film. Oh...my bad. I thought the type of film I was dropping off was obvious since I checked the Advantix film box on the drop off envelope. Argh!
More and more I'm finding I spend my time on the web reading, and primarily getting my news from, other people's blogs. It's not inconceivable that they could be the way news gets filtered to people in the future. I'd much rather read Camworld's (representing Park Slope!) account of what he saw that day than hear it from Fox fucking News. I also found some great stuff by Paul Ford and Amy's account of getting trapped on the Q train for 2 hours. Amy is also represting Park Slope. Brooklyn in the house! Nice.
Also, ESPN takes the piss out of the whole "New York really pulled together" thing that has gotten beaten into the ground by the press.
Before I get on with it, I want to officially declare this the summer of Luna, for no other reason than I have been listening to them non-stop for the last 2 or 3 weeks. It started with Pup Tent, then the Live Record, and now I am hooked on Bewitched. Days of Our Nights must be next. I couldn't possibly listen to Penthouse anymore than I already have as I listened to it for what seems like my last 3 years if college. It's permanently engrained in my cerebellum(or is that the cerebral cortex?). Oh, and guess what? Luna hits Park Slope's Southpaw this weekend. I just may have to attend! Even if they will play all new stuff and none of the golden oldies.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Ted Leo is such a punk ass bitch. He has the gall to go ahead and play last Thursday after the power goes out even though I can't attend. AND he did his cover of "Dancing In The Dark"!! It's not fair I tell you! Then he writes about it on his website and makes it sound like the most bestest gig ever. Damn!
- The Rolling Stones catalog, post 1971, will be available to purchase and download from the iTunes Music Store on September 2nd.
- Speaking of my favorite computer company, they will have new Powerbooks soon. Also, their webpage was updated yesterday saying the G5 is shipping.
- Oops, I forgot to give you the link to Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday. It's a well written, straight ahead look at the world of pro football. It's a good read but not as much as ESPN/Slate Mag's Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback (or TMQB). TMQB is always informative (not just about football) and extremely funny. It took me about 13 seconds before I laughed out loud at this week's column. And he always has a gratuitous cheerleader pic or two for everyone. Respect.
- Here is a look at the Celtic's depth at center for the upcoming campaign.
- Was Chris Mullin behind that wacky Golden State / Dallas trade?
- Holy shit! Nike spends $1.4 BILLION annually on their celebrity endorsements. That is some serious cash.
- Whatevs dot org has the new Kill Bill poster for you to look at. Scroll down a bit.

Cheers all. Thanks to everyone that comes here to check me out. We went over 500 hits(and 850 page views) last night. If you keep coming back, I'll try and keep it entertaining.
Remember, The sky is painted deep shades of blue, I hope for happiness. I think of you.

2003-08-18T11:14:00.000-04:00

What a weekend. The great thing is it's not over for my better half and I. She has today off. I see some girlfriend-mandated serious house cleaning in my future. Right now she is going through her closet getting rid of clothes, Beacon's Closet here we come.
Last night I went to see one of my favorite authors, Amy Hempel(scroll down), give a reading at Magnetic Fields in Brooklyn. I got the word from the ever-reliable Chuck Palahniuk website. The website folks are big fans, as is Chuck himself. He waxed poetically about Amy in this LA Weekly article. The reading was lot of fun. Amy read two short stories, both of which were excellent. I chatted with her after the event and she graciously signed both of the books I brought with me. Check my fotolog for a pic from last night.
I think it says alot about me that I enjoy going to book readings much more than concerts at this point in my life. I definitely get more excited about readings than gigs. But I guess that's beacuse I am an aspiring writer and already know I have no musical talent whatsoever.
Saturday, my better half and I went and picked up our friend Anna in the car(as subways were still not running at that time)and we went to Prospect Park for some serious hang time. We invented a game called "Go Fuck Yourself" which is basically "Go Fish" with a potty mouth. Needless to say that phrase was good for a laugh for the rest of the weekend. We also figured out that anyone with a child decided to "get their kid on".
When it got dark, we came home, drank some beer and then went out for some sushi at Blue Ribbon. While that may not have been the best idea considering the blackout and all, Blue Ribbon had a generator and was open for business the entire time, so there! Our meal was excellent and we came home and passed out soon after.
Speaking of the blackout, I read some interesting figures about the energy business from the New York Times. I can't find the article but it basically said that since 1995 energy usage has gone up 35%, spending on the grid rose 18% and energy companies profits have risen 400%. Funny that. But with our current president, these figures do not suprise me. Here is the blackout by the numbers and talk about how the nightlife was not really affected. The Post had a quick mention of an all night UNO tournament that sounded pretty hot. I know scores of people had a bad time during this whole ordeal, but I was home and had a stocked fridge so I had a fucking blast.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
- More mail bag responses from The Sports Guy. Did I mention he actually used the phrase "hilarity ensues" in his last column? That's my line dude!!!
- DC United's Bobby Convey joins the Tottenham Hotspurs. MLS in the house. This is fitba(aka soccer) news for those that have no idea what I am talking about.
- Here is a recap of what's happened this offseason in the NBA in case you need it.
- In the latest installment of "What in the fucking world are the Golden State Warriors thinking?" they are trading Antawn Jamison and a few other players to the Dallas Mavericks for Nick Van Excel and a few other players. Ummmmmmm...why?
- Proof that Kenyon Martin does not deserve a max contract extension.
- Meet Brandon Hunter the Cetics 2nd round pick from this year. Dude is gonna be a player.
- Hahahahahahahahaha. Vin Baker's webpage for Brand Jordan. For those that do not know, Vin makes $13.75 million dollars a year for three more years but didn't play last year because he admitted he is an alcoholic. He was a 4 time All-Star but now he has problems. And so do the Celtics since trading for him.
- Proof that Daniel Ewing was the best player for my Duke Blue Devils last year.
- Hear the new Travis single.
- The Man in Black is about to release a box set from his American Recordings Sessions. Johnny Cash fucking rulez!
- Details for Suede's Greatest Hits disc. Apparently there will be other songs besides "The Drowners" and "My Insatiable One" on the disc. It's called filler.
- New Rufus Wainwright album on the way.
- In more somber news, charges are coming very soon in connection with the Rhode Island club fire. Looks like the club owners and the tour manager are in deep shit.
- The blackout affected IBM's plant in upstate NY. The make parts for Apple there.
- The NY Times say that Apple's G5 is available starting today.
- Apple online store is in the Top 5 of B to B websites.
- Infoworld goes Apple crazy with 4 seperate reports on the company.
- There is a ton of new stuff at explodingdog.com. Hot.
- Lastly, some Episode 3 rumours for ya. Enjoy.

That's all for now. I hope everyone made it through the weekend unscathed.
Remember, She lives for the written word, and people come second or possibly third.

2003-08-15T08:49:00.000-04:00

Ugh....Can't sleep.

Yesterday was totally off the heazy. Power flickered and then went out at 4:11 PM. Nothing worked, especially my cell phone. Gradually everyone gathered outside their homes to trade what little information they had with the neighbors. I tried to go up to 7th Ave. and get some batteries but by the time I went up there around 5 PM, they were all out. All the bodegas were dark but they were still selling ice and other things, ringing people up by calculator. I came home and turned on the radio in my car and everyone gathered around to find out the dilly. The girlie was stranded on the Upper East Side and we decided she should go to a co-workers place nearby and wait it out there.
When it was obvious everyone wasn't in any real danger and the power wasn't coming on anytime soon, I did what any self-respecting Brooklynite would do in this situation. I grabbed a beer and went outside to sit on the stoop and chill. Luckily I had been grocery shopping 2 days before. I hung out with my landlords and the neighbors and it was actually a lot of fun. About 7:15 PM or so, my friend Glenn rode his bike over. He was out of beer. We drank the rest of my stash and then went out to wander around after it got dark. We went up to a friends place on 6th and Flatbush. Flatbush was insane. All kinds of people trying to get home. Regular Joe’s were out there directing traffic. Busses were PACKED and most of them said NEXT BUS PLEASE where the route usually appears.
We hung out there and then decided that since we were out of beer, we should go to a bar. The only problem, we only had $12 between us. It was comical how none of my friends had any cash on them. We went to O'Connors for some $2.50 Budweiser’s. We drank as much as our meager cash allowance would allow, saw some friends just getting back from the city and then went to Glenn's apartment to chill for a bit.
Once we were at Glenn's place I realized I hadn't eaten anything since 11 AM so I decided to call it a night. I came home around 11:30 PM and cooked some Kraft Mac n' Cheese in the dark. Luckily the gas and water still worked, I just had to light the stove by hand. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After I got my grub on, I crashed, or at least tried to.
Our power came back on at 4:35 AM, a little over 12 hours after it went out. The girlie and I are supposed to fly to Buffalo at 9:30 AM (45 minutes from now) and that's not happening. The first flight out we can get right now is on Sunday. We had planned to come back on Monday. It sucks, but we'll deal with it.
You know, there are times when I despise my existence living in New York, but at the same time you can really experience some amazing things here. Last night was one of them. It was history. And everyone was totally cool to each other. There were hundreds of people of all race, creed and color hanging out 5th Avenue and everyone was completely chill. In fact, they were nicer than usual. I think 9/11 really straightened everyone out. I'm still amazed at the acts of bravery and compassion I saw that day and yesterday wasn't that different. Neighbors pulled together, people directed traffic, helped the elderly, and pooled batteries, radios, food; whatever they had that other people needed. And we all went out and got drunk after dark.
Yesterday was a good day. I'm glad I was here to enjoy it.

2003-08-15T05:28:00.000-04:00

I have power again. YAY!

Time for bed....

2003-08-13T18:48:00.000-04:00

Another Wednesday, another physical therapy session.
I don't really have anything opinionated, witty or informative to rant about today.
I have a psuedo job interview tomorrow with a recruiter but I am not overly optomistic about it.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB
- Thank god. Tuesday Morning Quarterback has returned. He's like the Sports Guy if he was a professor at Harvard and watched too much damn (American) football. I'm a fan.
- Is Vince Carter ready to step up and quit being a pussy? In case you were wondering, he was drafted ahead of Paul Pierce. HA!
- Kobe shoplifted the pooty(I knew that phrase would come in handy). And his trial may take place during the NBA season as a result.
- Gregg Doyel on how the ACC's football expansion will water down the conference's strong basketball tradition.
- BoSox lose again, surrendering the Wild Card lead, and I am officially pissed off about it.
- CNN interviews Blur. I have concluded that exactly one half of Think Tank is pure genius and the other half is complete crap.
- Gorky's Zygotic Mynci return with a UK tour.
- The motherfuckin' Jigga Man cancels his Carling Weekend appearances. Reading what? Leeds who? Hey, you were forewarned: "First time they bust, he's breezin', talking 'bout "what's the reason?"
- Spoiler laden review of Kill Bill, Episode 1.
- Businessweek interview with Steve Jobs. Fuzzy math by Bloomberg puts Steve's salary at $219 MILLION per year for the last three years. The reporters figures are duly disussed and contested by Mac zealots not unlike myself. They put the actual number around $50 million per year. Not too shabby.
- Hehehehehehehe. I'm not running Windoze and not vitcim of the virus that's spreading like wildfire. Apparantly, there is already a new variation of it going around. Apple Rulez.
- Fuckers. Apple decides to give customers who by a new Nikon Coolpix camera a free 128 MB memory card. I bought my Coolpix 3100 last month. Damn.
- Summer is becoming a gay man's paradise on TV. Hey, even I watched Queer Eye For The Straight Guy last night.
- Words that sound dirty but really aren't.

I got some of this stuff from other blogs but can't remember who to credit so my apologies in advance.

Cheers all.
Remember, 29's my age, 22's my gauge, I'm writing rhymes on a page and blowing up in a rage.

2003-08-12T17:50:00.000-04:00

BREAKING NEWS:
Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference!
Jerry Finn has signed on to produce the next Morrissey album. I used to work for the company that manages Jerry and I confirmed this with an old co-worker. It is happening.
Not who I expected but unlike all the other Moz fans, I know Jerry is an ace behind the board so I'm interested to hear the outcome.

Information Leaf Blower is currently listening to:
Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
R.E.M. - Document
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
Luna - Pup Tent
Paul Weller - Days Of Speed

Information Leaf Blower is currently drinking a Magners.

2003-08-12T16:40:00.000-04:00

I'm selling my iSub if anyone is interested. Here's a review from a user. It is in perfect working order and I will ship it in the original box with original packing supplies. It's compatible with any slot loading iMac. No software neccessary, just plug and play.
Drop me an email(address at right) and make me an offer. Cash preferred but I'll listen to trades as well.

Cheers.

2003-08-12T13:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a good day. I finaly got my new knee brace. If you think this one is bad, you should see my old one. The new one should come in handy should I ever actually get a job interview. I can hide it under a pair of pants and not scare the interviewers off with visions of high health care bills.
Other than that, nothing exciting yesterday. Watched Paradise Hotel last night. I think the girlie and I are the only people in the country watching this trash. There has been zero buzz about the show in the media. The funny thing is I am soooooo not a reality TV watcher but every once in a while a show will grab me. Now I feel like I've invested so much time in Paradise Hotel(I call it Hook-Up Hotel) that I have to see it through(although it shows no signs of ending any time soon).
My girlie said the funniest thing last night: "What's up with us watching so much FOX lately?" She said this as she watched the OC premiere for the second time(it was rerun for a third time last night before Hook-Up Hotel). I forgot to give the OC props for their music selection, it was tight. Anyways, that was the funniest thing my girlie has said since we were watching Queer Eye For The Straight Guy and she said "This is football for gay guys!" So true, so true.
Yo, big ups to my homey, my stromey Whatevs dot org for the major shout out yesterday! 5 whole sentences! One included the phrase "rising to the upper echelon on my list of highly respected blogs ". Dude, you're gonna give me a big head. Oh shit, too late. And I didn't even have to pay him for it(this time). Ha! Right back at ya buddy. Making frends over the internet is cool. Especially when you have no life, like me.
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERNET
- The Flaming Lips touring drummer Kliph has an online diary(dare I say, blog) on their site. Click the News tab and then "diary" to see it. This is noteworthy because he is a big Super Furry Fan and has a few adventures with Gruff at Glastonbury and one of their warm up gigs. Hotness.
- More Super Furriness: Sunday Herald interview with Gruff and Bunf and a fan review of their recent Edinburgh gig.
- The albums nominated for this years Shortlist Prize have been announced. Check out Perry Farrell's lame ass list(I would link it but the site won't let me, just click around). It's like he said "Oh you need a list from me? Ummmmmm...who is playing the second stage at Lollapalooza? Just put them down." Loser.
- Yo, it's gonna be ON between Duke and UNC starting in 2004. Both are up for monster recruiting classes. Duke only got one recruit this year but do not weep for us true believer. Luol Deng was ranked as the #2 prospect in the country and will step in and start at the small forward. He's so good, NBAdraft.net has him projected as the #5 pick next year.
- Yo, fuck 2004 for right now, how about next year in the ACC? What's gonna happen? First check out the Blue Devil's schedule for next year. Then, if you have a half hour to kill, check out this preview. Some tidbits for you:
*During its run of five straight ACC Tournament Championships, Duke captured the 2001 NCAA Championship and accumulated an 82-12 won-lost record against its ACC opponents and 158-22 record overall. [that's an 87 percent winning percentage folks]
*UNC holds a favorable series won-lost record against every single ACC school, and the Tar Heels lead every conference series by a wide margin (123-92 in their closest competition - Duke). UNC also has the most ACC Championships (15 to Duke's 13) despite Duke's recent string of five consecutive ACC Championships and has as many Final Four appearances as Duke (13) despite Duke's many recent ventures to the Final Four under Coach K.
*Clearly, Duke will be better this coming season than the 26-7 team last season that, astonishingly, had the worst record for a Duke team since the 1996-97 squad finished 24-9(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
I know they will rebound this year so let me get this off my chest:
GO TO HELL CAROLINA, GO TO HELL!
Thanks, I feel better.
- There is a 6 minute audio exceprt from the mighty Chuck Palahniuk's new book, entitled Diary. The print version comes out next week.

That's all for now folks, back to the job hunt.
Remember, I take care because I know you'll be there.

2003-08-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

What a weekend...Friday night's dinner party was a success. Check my fotolog for pics. Copious amounts of wine and beer were consumed along with 2 bottles of champagne we had left over from New Years.
Saturday was a different story. Very hungover. Got in the car to run an errand and it breaks down in the left lane on Flatbush Ave. Nothing like causing a major traffic jam on a hot and rainy day. Joy. Tow truck arrived fairly quickly(thank god) and took my car to a shop in Cobble Hill. That was about noon. At 6 PM (and several hundred dollars later) I was mobile again. Not the way I wanted to spend Saturday, but hey, I'm unemployed, everyday is the weekend(or so I keep telling myself). I was exhausted by the time I got home. Caught Jerry McGuire on TNT(and was motivated to change ILB's tag line above) and went to bed soon after.
Sunday the girlie and I headed to a wedding reception/party(the couple in question were married in a small ceremony in Canada 2 weeks ago). Saw some friends and drank a few beers but nothing noteworthy. Had a great discussion on how Teenage Fanclub is the greatest band in the world. The girlie cooked sausage lasagne when we returned to the crib. It was ready by 9 PM so we grubbed and watched Sex and the City. That show needs more Mario Cantone(Charlotte's gay wedding planner guy) in the worst way. He is the best! But I digress...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB: (note new section name!)
- Super Furry love from the New Yorker.
- I converted quite a few Super Furry fans last time the band played Boston(it didn't hurt that I got everyone backstage to hang with the guys). Included in that group is my football loving friend Derek(he and Bunf bonded over their love for Aston Villa) and he has penned a great review of Phantom Power(click on the album review link on the right of the page). The Pill is Boston's (better?) version of Tiswas. [thanks emily]
- Watch Radiohead's video for Go To Sleep. In Quicktime no less.
- Pitchfork announces the Ted Leo tour dates with Rebecca Gates I talked about last week. Don't miss this show when it comes to a town near you! Free NYC show this Thursday at South Street Seaport! Free Rock!
- Paul Pierce passes on an invitation to play for the US Olympic Qualifying team. Don't even front on PP. He played last summer and his NBA season was a tad subpar because of it. He has his priorities straight. He wants banner #17 for the city of Beantown. Respect. PS - Travis Best is still looking for a contract.
- Crybaby Kenton Martin wants out of New Jersey becase they won't give him a max contract. Dude, you shot 3 for 23 in the biggest game of your life. Get Real. Perhaps you should increase your paltry numbers from last year. 16 points and 8 rebounds do not a maximum salaried player make. Oh yeah, you haven't made the All Star team yet. Maybe they will trade him to Portland for Rasheed Wallace?
- The citizens of Philadelphia shell out $200 million for a new stadium for the Eagles and then the team breaks with tradition by banning fans from bringing food into the stadium, something that was no problem at their old home, Veterans Stadium. Sickening.
- Apple on track to ship all G5 orders this month.
- Great NY Times article on the decaying Co-Op City and the price tag on the needed repairs.
- Injured dog takes himself to the Vet.

That's all for now, time to look for a job.
Remember, we just can't wait to make more mistakes, and to fall from grace and to stuff our faces with cake.

2003-08-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

Guests are arriving at any second(all three of them) but Friday wouldn't be complete without a new column from The Sports Guy.

Woot!

2003-08-08T17:05:00.000-04:00

New photo added to my fotolog.

2003-08-08T13:54:00.000-04:00

Friday! Like that means anything to me.
I'm unemployed. Everyday is Friday.
I had to go to my "Unemployment Orientation" in Downtown Brooklyn this AM. I stayed there for an hour, filled out 2 forms and handed them in with my resume. I have been unemployed for 39 days. It's flown by. Is that a good or bad thing?
Last night I was flipping through the channels and watched a bit of The Amazing Race on CBS. There were four teams of two competeing each other and to identify each team the show flashes the contestant's name and their marital staus whenever they appear on screen. I thought the latter was a bit strange, but maybe that's the hook for this season of the show? There were 2 male gay couples, both reported to be married in case you were wondering, one engaged heterosexual couple and a pair of males, Jon and Al, who were best friends. They are also clowns by way of vocation. For some reason, whenever their info was flashed on the screen it said:

Jon and Al
Best Friends / Clowns

None of the other teams had their occupations listed. I don't know, I thought it was funny, because these two guys were the biggest dorks. Maybe everyone is unemployed on the other teams? It doesn't really matter as Jon and Al were eliminated last night. But I digress...

NEW AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB:
- You MUST check out Morrissey's tribute to Linda McCartney. It at once both soothing and touching. And funny as hell.
- Booyakasha! New Ted Leo MP3 available for download. Thanks Lookout Records for your willingness to give away music from your fine roster. This has convinced me to buy both the Ted Leo records, along with The Pattern's first disc, via your website. All it cost me was around $10 for each CD and shipping only added like another $1.25. My shipment arrived super-quick. It's great to see a label not trying to make money on the CD's actual shipment. If I want that I'll got to eBay. End of shameless plug.
- Oh my god! I think I just spooged all over myself. Ted Leo is playing with the mighty Rebecca Gates (aka The Spinanes) at the Knitting Factory in NYC. I am SO THERE!! I love me some Spinanes. Click here for tickets.
- Skyscraper Mag interviews Billy Bragg. Respect. [via chromewaves]
- The History of Neil Young. Thorough. [via chromewaves]
- The Church of Me tells the UK what they SHOULD be paying for every record in the week's top 40, as opposed to what the price is at the local HMV. Dude, you are sooooo wrong about Phantom Power.
- The Flaming Lips are re-releasing Yoshimi, this time with an extra DVD included. Woot! Another record I can scratch from the "I Downloaded It and Loved It, So I Must Go Purchase it" list. Radio 4's Gotham is next.
- The Sports Guy meets his idol, Freddie Lynn. Respect ensues.
- Former Celtic great Dennis Johnson and I have something in common. He's unemployed and so am I.
- ESPN is doing some sort of theme this week about the "underrated" amongst us. Here are their non-sports male and females. Whatevs fave Keira Knightley makes the womens list.
- Ticketmaster under fire yet again. Like anyone will do anything about it. Ever seen how many results for get when you search Google for "Ticketbastard"? 1450. [from the Velvet Rope]
- Craigslist: The Movie. [from Gawker]
- The Chuck Palahniuk website has a ton of news. Best of all, an audio blog from Chuck himself. Beyond coolness. This applies to my rant about uncreative bands from yesterday. Why don't they do something like this?

Have a great weekend everyone. The girlie and I are hosting a dinner party tonight. We are such Thirtysomethings. Actually I'm broke and refused to go out to eat.
Remember, you kiss like a rock, but I need it anyway.

Music listened to in iTunes during this post(via random play):
Name / Artist / Album
Believing Is Art / Spoon / Girls Can Tell
Save Your City / Radio 4 / Gotham
The Turnpike Down / Lemonheads, The / It's A Shame About Ray
Prologue To History / Manic Street Preachers / Bangin' Summer - Select June 99
Major Leagues (Demo) / Pavement / Major Leagues EP
Heart Fog / Th' Faith Healers UK / Lido
Leave / R.E.M. / New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Undertow / Lush / Split
Three-Dee Melodie / Stereolab / Mars Audiac Quartet
Say Hello To The Angels / Interpol / Turn On The Bright Lights
Disappointed / Morrissey / Bona Drag
Exorcism Babe / Noise Addict / Meet The Real You
Unlovable / The Smiths / Louder Than Bomb
Gigantic / Pixies / Death To The Pixies

2003-08-07T17:44:00.000-04:00

Update:

I am in possesion of an urgent missive from none other than Whatevs dot org. Forsooth:

euphoria is the name of the drug that Emily Valentine dosed Brandon with in that 90210 ep you referenced. best.
i'm equally deadly with Saved By The Bell resets.
-Whatevs

Thank you kindly. Now I will be able to sleep tonight. Seriously.

New Blogs for you to check out:
Bill Maher's Blog
Chromewaves.net - No doubt a Ride fan. Nice.
Largehearted Boy
Lightningfield.com - representing Park Slope. Nice.
The New Topography - representing Brooklyn. Nice.

4 entries today. Unprecedented.
You just witnessed history. Enjoy.

2003-08-07T15:35:00.000-04:00

Here is some more info on the Phish show I was talking about. This is some impressive stuff.
It boggles my mind that in the music industry there is so little true creativity happening. What bands are pushing the boundaries of what can be done? Phish, Radiohead, Pearl Jam and Super Furry Animals come to mind, but that list is embarassingly short. Am I forgetting anyone? Most bands aren't involved in the music industry to be innovative, it seems they just want to get rich. I mean there are soooooo many bad band websites out there. If I were in a band, I would devote a great deal of time to my band's webpage as it is the easiest way for you to interact with your fans. Why don't bands try and push the limits more? Probably because they all are derivitive of each other and are scared to do anything new(just like the labels). But I digress...
NEWS AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB
- Byemusic.com's aping of the Apple's iTunes Music Store ads just strengthens Apple's brand recognition. Cheers guys. Douchebags.
- Hey there are 26 definitons for "douchebag" at urbandictionary.com.
- Be careful when you use public computers.
- Mayor Mike backtracks on his statement that he will be able to repeal the new taxes he recently mandated.

Cheers all.
Remember, First time they bust, I'm breezin', talking 'bout "what's the reason?"

2003-08-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

YO!

Peep my fotolog at once!
I promise it will get more exciting.

2003-08-07T08:47:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm assuming everyone watched The OC the other night...I watched some of it(the girlfriend wanted to see it) even though I felt I had seen the entire episode between all the promos FOX has been running prior to the broadcast. The first thing I thought when I saw it was "This is the new 90210". Except they drink until they pass out, etc. Remember how booze and drugs were depicted as evil on 90210? Dylan was a recovering alchoholic and Brendan did that drug in one episode(I forget what they called it) and everyone freaked out. Times have changed folks.
NEWS AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Yanks trade Armando Benitez to the Mariners for Jeff Nelson and cash. Buh- Bye. For the record, Benitez lasted for 21 days, or 504 hours, in the Bronx. Not that I am counting.
- Kevin Garnett switches shoe companies again(he's been on the Fun Police with Nike and also And 1) and signs a lifetime deal wih Adidas. The Brand With The Three Stripes now has three players from last years 1st team All NBA squad: Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and KG. Go Adidas!
- Grading Danny Ainge. Shocker: He passes with flying colors.
- Golfer John Daly's wife was running a drug and gambling ring without him knowing it. Good for him. For not knowing. Nevermind.
- Yo, this is fucked up, the father of a tennis player apparantly drugged his kid's opponent which may have led to that person's death. That is some crazy shit. I used to play on the tennis circuit in high school(just the state level, I wasn't the next McEnroe or anything) and I can tell you it's ultra competetive.
- Photos from Siren are up.
- Melody Nelson and themodernage.org get the spotlight from NY Press. Congrats to them both. It's well deserved.
- Is now the time to buy some Apple stock?
- The Voice's Mr. Roboto debunks Apple's G5.
- Let preface this next bit by saying I fucking hate Phish. But this is ultracool. They set up a ton of iMacs at a recent festival/gig and let concertgoers pick out a set of live tunes from the band and burn their very own CD of said mix using iTunes. The future is now people.
- Arnie wants to "pump Sacramento up".

That's all for now folks. More later today.
Remember, This is, This is, This is, This is....my...last exit.

2003-08-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

Thought I would post this for shits n' giggles. It's a long read but worth it. And don't skip it just because of the next three words.

By Rush Limbaugh:
I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving the country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11.

Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own U.S. Congress just voted themselves a raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month, and most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They also do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.

If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, you may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed you in harm's way receive a pension of $15,000 per month. I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters
who are now fighting.

"When do we finally do something about this?" If this doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can.If your interested there is more.......................

This must be a campaign issue in 2004. Keep it going.
SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth the read. It's short and to the point.)
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security. Many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example,
former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 - that's Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. These little perks they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan.

The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Fund--our tax dollars at work! From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into -- every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. And that change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE, each one of us... can make a difference.

2003-08-05T19:02:00.000-04:00

G-G-G-G-G-G-G UNIT!!

Check 50's new video for the Snoop remix of P.I.M.P. with the extra gratuitous iPod shot in the beginning! 50 is down with the iPod. Chutch.

Remind me to tell you my 50 Cent story sometime. We used to be boys. Not really, but I have spoken to him on more than one occasion.

2003-08-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

Thank god for basketball. I have had a rough 48 hours. It fucking poured here yesterday. My clothes are STILL wet. Subways were all screwed up. The weather even stopped Monday Night Football.
My car wouldn't start this morning so I had to have it towed to the shop. Wonderful.
I was in a bad mood when I got back...I turned on NBA TV and lo and behold, life was good. Celtics v. Hawks from March 1985. This is the game where Larry Bird scored 60 points, breaking the old record he helped teammate Kevin McHale set two weeks earlier. It could have been 62 but the refs disallowed a 3 pointer he made in the waning seconds, calling the foul before the shot. Bird was unreal. Brought back some good memories. Here's a look at some of the people from that Celtics squad:
Larry Bird - GM of the Pacers, took team to NBA Finals as head coach
Kevin McHale - GM of the Timberwolves
Danny Ainge - GM of the Celtics.
Dennis Johnson - coached the Clippers last season
Rick Carlisle - coached the Pistons to back to back 50 win seasons, won Coach of the Year
Quinn Buckner - TV analyst
Quinn doesn't really count but I threw him on there anyways. The announcers for that game were the Hawks guys for local TV. They were talking about how the next home game was "Rap Night featuring the rap group Run-DMC". Times have changed. Now the players make rap records.
ESPN Classic was showing the #2 Georgetown Hoyas v. the #1 St. Johns RedMEN(not the PC friendly Red STORM) at MSG from February 1985. Ewing v. Mullin.
Bird and Mullin are my two favorite basketball players ever. Reggie Lewis, Danny Ainge and Paul Pierce round out my starting 5 in case you were wondering.
1985 is in the house today. And I am thankful.
NEWS AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB:
- In other Larry Bird news, he wants to resign Reggie Miller.
- Will Kevin Garnett still test the free agent market next year?
- Here me now, believe me later! 73 days until Midnight Madness(that's when college basketball practice starts, bitches). Say it with me now....BLUE DEVILS! Want to know the answers to some burning questions from the upcoming ACC season, me too. Roy Williams has been at UNC for 100 days. As soon as Carolina gets better, I can derive more pleasure from the W whenever the Blue Devils crush the Tarheels.
- Ex-Dukie Trajan Langdon playing overseas this year. Getting married too.
- UCLA to name the court at Pauley Pavillion after Coach Wooden and his wife. Why in the hell did it take this long? Coach K already has the court at Cameron named after him.
- Travis spill the beans on their new single and upcoming album.
- Strokes hype machine gets warmed up.
- How to install Windoze XP in 147 easy steps OR 5 hours, whatever comes first. Ahem...Apple Rulez.
- Business Week looks at Apple's future. Are they the new Sony?
- More businesses turning to Apple's OSX server for their needs.
- Hey, Byemusic.com, you stole Apple's marketing shit. Biter's never win. You're all a bunch of followers.
- Apparantly the money the MTA are making from raising subway fares 50 cents is not enough to keep 45 subway booths open this year. How is that? This is bullshit. Mayor Mike....hello?
- Actually Mayor Mike is busy shaking down your local newsstand so he can open new revenue streams for the city at their expense.
- Now for your reward for listening to me rant...Kylie's bum! [via modernage]

Cheers all.
Remember, Holston export times 3, Jimmy Hendrix and Thin Lizzy.

2003-08-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back. The girlfriend and I went up to Cape Cod and spent a relaxing weekend on the water. I was very depressed to get back on I 95 and head back home today. Molly's friend Anna and her family have this great little cove near Falmouth, MA and they have 5 or 6 little cottages on the water. I seriously think it's the greatest place on earth. It's the definition of chill. All we do is eat, drink, go out on the sailboat or take the Sea-Doo out for a spin. I hope everyone else had as relaxing a weekend as me. I'll try to post some pictures somewhere when I have some free time.
We went and saw Seabiscuit on Friday. I think the Sports Guy was right on with his review, as usual. The narrative thingy drove me nuts.
NEWS AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Badjocks.com. Where Sportscenter meets Cops. HA!
- Anthony Carter's agent will pay the player $3 Million this season because of his fuck up. Carter's agent was supposed to exercise his player option with the Miami Heat(a "player option" is basically when the agent tells the team that the player will return and play for them next season and they must pay him per the terms agreed to in the current contract, if a team holds the option then the team informs the player what the dilly is and that's called a "team option") by the beginning of the free agent period but failed to do so. So the Heat didn't have to pay him the $4.1 million he had coming to him this season. The Spurs signed him for a little over $1 million per season so his agent has agreed to pay him the difference. What a tool. There were rumblings that happened so the agent could get another of his clients a bigger payday with Miami but it looks like that didn't work either. Loser.
- Danny Ainge (aka "The Genius") is trying everything to improve the Celtics.
- Coach K Academy. Sounds awesome.
- Peter May on Larry Bird's new gig. Wither Isiah? Loser.
- The next Bobby Hurley?
- It took me a while but I finally got the iTrip to work. This thing is much better than the iRock. Reviews here, and here. The second one has in-depth instructions that are handy. Anyone want to buy an iRock?
- PS - iTrip is illegal in the UK.
- Spider-man 2 posters. Hotness.
- The Onion on Digital Music Piracy. Spot on.
- Verizon Wi-Fi locations in NYC.
- Primal Scream to support the Rolling Stones.
- The Strokes debut 3 new songs in Japan. They are all cleverly named.
- Ummmmmm...the Glasto-wank.
- Billboard reports on the progress of the iTunes Music Store for the PC.
- Park Slope = gentrification. [from Gawker]

Cheers all.
Remember, nothing is EVER as good as you imagine

2003-07-30T18:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates this week but it's been hectic. I had 3 doctors appointments today but that's cool because they all had good news for me. Doctor #1 performed a post-op check up on my surgically repaired right knee(the second such checkup) and proclaimed it "Solid as a rock." Nice. Doctor #2 fitted me for a new knee brace much less cumbersome than the one I am forced to wear now. ETA 12 days. Doctor #3 was my physical therapy appointment and she told me I was voted "ACL Of The Month" because of my fast healing ways.
And you say I never win anything!
Yesterday I broke down and rented Daredevil. My curiosity got the best of me. Daredevil was one of my favorite comic books when i was growing up. I read it religiously ever since Frank Miller made it what it was. I honestly didn't have high hopes for the movie(specifically Ben Affleck and his forehead) but it turned out OK. Good, but not great. There were many details that they totally nailed, the dark mood of the film in particular, and for the most part, the movie was cast pretty well. My big problem with the movie was Bennifer. There were parts in the movie that he absolutely nailed. But every time he started talking to Jennifer Garner and did that damn smirk, he lost me. Colin Farrell's character was way too over the top. Just laughable. He needed a costume or something. The thingy on his forehead was silly. Why not a tatoo or something else instead? Jennifer Garner and Michael Clarke Duncan both did great work in this film. I particularly liked the part on the roof when Daredevil wants to go intervene in a Kingpin related mugging but Elektra asks him to stay and he does. Daredevil is a real man and needs love and comfort and does not get it often. This was one of those chances, if it interferes with work, so be it. If Jennifer Garner tells you to hang out 'cause you're about to get some booty, I'd be like "Screw work!" and so would you.
Overall, the screenplay was great(except for the psuedo fight in the playground, that was wack) and it was honorable to the Miller penned "Elektra Saga." It's just a shame those 4 great books had to be condensed into one movie. Also, all the hard rock in the move reminded me of "The Crow." That is not a good thing.
I give it a B- but I have a feeling I would like this movie less and less with more viewings.
NEWS AND STUFF FROM THE INTERWEB
-NY Times reviews Lollapalooza and Siren. Guess which one I went to?
- The dude kicked out of the Libertines accused of theft.
- REM continue to amaze on their European tour. Damn!
- Super Furries add new UK tour date.
- Lollapalooza for Europe. Ummm....they already have better festivals over there Perry.
- Ticket dickheads Radiohead confirm new European tour dates. No I am not bitter.
- In todays' episode of DANNY AINGE IS A GENIUS I present to you the Jumaine Jones trade. Let's see, the Celtics trade their 15th man, a 7 foot stiff guarenteed to never leave the bench and our 3rd string point guard(granted he played well at times last year) for what will likely be our starting small forward, all the while skirting the salary cap imposed by the league and Celtic ownership. Josh Ozersky also weighs in. I've said it once, I'll say it again. Danny is the man. Also, the schedule for next year is released. Highlights here.
- Peter May on the T-wovles and Spree.
- The Sports Guy reviews Seabiscuit.
- Red Sox acquire more help for their bullpen.
- This just in...2/3 of spam is misleading. Information Leaf Blower is NEVER misleading.
- Best Buy to carry Apple computers. Rejoice!
- USA Today thinks Byemusic.com leaves alot to be desired. Apple rulez.
- Breaking news on Kobe. Check Whatevs from 7/29 for some more info. I hope everyone realizes that this trial isn't happening until like February. Get used to all this shit.

That's all for now folks.
Remember, you have to be prepared for the possibility that God does not like you. Tyler Durden says so.