behind the 8-ball...

Ever have the feeling that you can't catch up? The feeling that no matter what you do the endless items on your To Do List never seem to get scratched off?

That's my life, right now. I'd update you, but after my computer was hit by lightning I had internet access issues. I bought a new computer (a super-sexy MacBook Pro, but more that later), but was still thwarted by a lack of access due to my modem also being electrocuted. I (hopefully) will have time to pick up a new modem today.

I was also out of town at a family reunion this weekend (details to come...), which meant that I could not keep up with my normal life; things like doing laundry and cleaning my apartment. Add to that the piles of miscellaneous computer detritus from my disassembled PC and my apartment looks like a bomb went off.

And I won't even get started on what I need to do for work (in the next 30 hours) or for school (in the next 4 days).

Suffice it to say that you may not be hearing to much from me in the next few days, but I'll be back with a vengeance once I get my ducks in a row... and shoot them.

Sunshine review (courtesy of Mr. Ethan Schwartz)

Thanks to Ethan for writing this review and saving me the time of doing so.

Sunshine tonight

So tonight I am going to a screening of Sunshine, the new Danny Boyle/Alex Garland colaboration. I remember seeing this trailer in the theater a while back and getting excited, so I hope this is a good one...

Here is the trailer for the flick. Expect a full report tomorrow.

computer problems...

...so yesterday when I got home from dinner at the parents my computer was off, which is quite unusual since it is usually running 24/7.

I tried to figure out what was wrong with it by plugging and unplugging things, but to no avail. I could not get the CPU to start.

I did a bit of researcdh to day and narrowed down my problem to be either a fried power supply (which is fixable) or a toasted mother board (in which case I am screwed).

I hope its the former.

So what I'm trying to say is that my internet and cmputer access is going to be less then normal for the next few days.

Harry Potter and the rainy weekend spent (mostly) reading...

Unless you've been living under a rock that doesn't have internet, TV, radio or any other method of communication for the last week or so you know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in J.K. Rowling's epic Harry Potter series, was released this past Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m. I'm a pretty big fan of the books (and the films based upon them). I remember going and buying the first one while at school in Montreal and starting to read it while waiting for the Metro... which stopped and left again without my poking my nose out of the ever-engrossing children's book I had just started to read. These books have a way of making time disappear.

You may not know this, but books released in Canada often have a different distributor and/or publisher then books released in the United States. This is the reason why the Canadian versions of the Harry Potter novels have different, more colorful (or, as a nod to the Canadian spelling, colourful) covers. As an example, take a look at the two versions of the new book:

The American cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Canadian cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Rather different, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, since the majority of the time that J.K. Rowling was cranking out stories overlapped with the time I spent in Canada, I had acquired Canadian versions of the first five books. I got a friend to buy and ship me the sixth book from Vancouver, since at the time Amazon.ca would not ship to a non-Canadian address. When the release date for the newest book hit the street, I checked and was to discover that this time around I would be able to purchase a Canadian edition online.

Unfortunately, there was no way that I was going to get the book the weekend it was released, so I had made peace with the fact that I would not be apart of the first wave of folks reading the book. I'd read the book when it showed up in my mailbox, which was alright by me.

The hardcore of the hardcore: these two girls are reading their copies of Harry Potter on the rail at Brooklyn's Siren Festival.

On Saturday morning I left my apartment early to meet with my project group from one of my classes at my school's library. We got our business out of the way and split up. I was heading out of the building with the other two males in my group when something sitting on the circulation desk. "I'll see you guys later," I said as I headed to the girl working the desk.

I picked up the massive tome that was sitting in on a small easel labeled "Book of the Day" and asked her "May I check this out?".

"Of course you may," she said with a smile. "I've been wondering how long it would sit here before someone grabbed it." She scanned my library card and opened the book's spin for the first time to place a green "Due On" card in the back. I skipped out of the library happy about my unexpected acquisition.

Even though it was difficult, I trudged my way through a bunch of schoolwork before heading home and directly onto my couch. I set myself up with some music, a glass of wine and 756 pages of fine adolescent literature. One of South Florida's infamous afternoon thunderstorms was getting under way outside my window (that's what I get for getting my car washed), so I was more then happy to be inside curled up in a fantasy world.

Five hours later I looked up and it was beginning to get dark. I was almost 500 pages in and I felt likeI had been reading for no time at all. Amazing how time seems to disappear when you're completely immersed in a good book.

False spoiler at the NYC release party

That evening I hid the book from my own view and went bowling with the crew. Many beers (and assorted strikes and gutters later) I passed out on the couch.

If you've ever passed out drunk on the couch, you know that it ain't easy to sleep through the night. I woke up at 6 and headed to my bed, but it wasn't long before the mental alarm clock that prevents me from sleeping late was clanging in my head, so I headed back to the couch to read some more. If I didn't have plans with the parents on Sunday afternoon I would have probably stayed in my underwear and devoured the rest of the book. But I left to spend some quality time with the family, knowing full well that I'd have a chance to finish the book that evening.

Which I did, at about 11:30 last night. The conclusion was surprisingly satisfying. Without spoiling anything, I can say that I felt Rowling did a good job tying up what seemed to be a million loose ends in the extremely complex mythology of her wizarding world. The characters have grew and changed dynamically, and even at the end some are revealed to be not what they seem. I am pretty sure that the Deathly Hallows will be the last book in the saga of Harry Potter. I can only hope that the author is planning her next project. Maybe it will be an adult one, as the last couple books of the Harry Potter series, especially this last one, are not really for children.

Unlike most movies, which leave me disappointed in the ending, I felt happy with this conclusion. Plus I didn't turn on my television the entire weekend, which is a feat I am quite proud of.

Best music video ever!

Remember when the Thriller video first came out? I do. I also remember that it was always the number one video of MTV's video countdowns. (Remember when MTV used to play videos? I do.)

This amatuer version blows the original away. Sure, it doesn't have special effects or makeup, but it makes up for those shortcomings by the sheer size of the production. Oh, did I mention that it was performed by the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Phillipines.

I'm a big fan of the dude in drag playing the female role. These guys must have had some serious practice to do this so synchronized

Is this what really happens in thirdworld prisons? Song and dance numbers? Sure sounds better then what was portrayed in Brokedown Palace and Midnight Express.

Lighters yet again allowed on airplanes!

Smoker's rejoice! Starting August 4, you won't be forced to buy a lighter every single time you get off a plane just to get your nic fix. When I used to smoke cigarettes the first thing I did after getting off the plane was un out the door to huff a butt. Even though I quit a few years ago (best decision I ever made, by the way), this is good policy.

Especially when you read this article and hear the comments from Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for the Transportation Security Administration:

...the ban had done little to improve aviation security because small batteries could be used to set off a bomb...“Taking lighters away is security theater,” Mr. Hawley said. “It trivializes the security process.”

So he pretty much comes out and says that his agency has been wasting time searching passengers and their carry-on bags for lighters instead of looking for things that can cause real damage, like bombs.

But here is the kicker in the article, the one thing--hell, the one line--that really pisses me off:

Disposing of the seized lighters has cost about $4 million a year.

Four million dollars?!?! For a plan that is an admitted waste of time, money, energt and manpower? You have to be kidding me...

Here are some extremely interesting facts abourt the lighter ban, all of them taken directly from the TSA's page on new policies.

• The U.S. is the only country in the world to ban lighters – all other nations, including Israel and the U.K., do not.


• 22,000 lighters are confiscated by TSA staff every day.


• In 2006, 1,607,104 knives and blades were surrendered by passengers to TSA staff. There were 11,616,217 lighters surrendered

Also of note, a mother can now carry breast milk through security with or without her child present, though I don't know why a woman would be transporting breastmilk if a child is not there to drink it.

Supaspoida posts a Bays set a Day

The Bays are a group of electronic music producers from the U.K. who have never recorded an album, never have a setlist and have never played the same show twice. Each performance is a completely improvisational experience, both for the musicians and for the audience. They've never played the U.S. before.

In August they will make their first stateside appearance at the Disco Biscuits (almost) annual festival, Camp Bisco, which this year will take place in mid-August in Mariaville, NY. Many festival attendees (and poor schmucks like me who can't make it) consider the Bays' upcoming set to be one of the highlights of the festival.

One of these people has vowed to post a Bays set a day on his blog until the festival. That means that there is going to be a ton of their music available.

I'm surely going to be taking advantage of the situation.

Battles on VBS.tv

I've mentioned the band Battles here before, and my review of their show was a glowing one. They're playing a ton of dates this summer and don't look to be slowing down any time soon. It seems like all sorts of people (and media outlets) have the band on their brains these days.

One of these media outlets is VBS.tv. I recently got turned on to VBS.tv, the visual aspect of Vice Magazine's growing multimedia empire (Vice Records rounds out the audio portion). I started reading Vice Magazine back when it was printed on dirty newsprint and you could get it for free in its first home, the lovely city of Montreal. Now the only way I can get my dose of modern day gonzo journalism is by overpriced subscription (which I am happy to fork over my dough for).

The Vice crew profiled Battles on their short program Practice Space, and I found it to be a pretty interesting look at a very interesting band.

I hope you enjoy.

Take a look at some of the other stuff that VBS.tv has to offer; some of it is really funny (in an obnoxious and irreverent kinda way). Note that many of these clips are not safe for work.

the Crime of Fashion....

Ever see one of these, or something like it?

I don't really understand the proliferation of guns as pieces of fashion. I feel the same way about skulls. And ninjas. And pirates.

Though I'm not a big fan of the violent message that wearing weapons implies, I wouldn't think that we're a gun on your belt would be cause for the police to take action against you.

Police surrounded the Wells Fargo Bank branch on Camino Ruiz near Mira Mesa Boulevard in Mira Mesa at 11:42 a.m. after someone in the bank reported a man had what looked like a gun under his shirt.

The man, 24-year-old Jacob Johnson of Rancho Peñasquitos, was wearing a dress shirt, casual slacks and a belt with a gun-shaped bucklewhen he and his friend and neighbor, Jeffrey Russell, entered the bank.

Johnson said he sat and waited while Russell opened an account and cashed a check.

Several minutes later they walked out of the bank to see 10 to 15 police officers with their real guns pointing at them, Johnson said.

“They said 'Put your hands in the air,' ” he said.

Officers then handcuffed both men and put them in the back of separate police cars.

So maybe wearing replicas of dangerous items on your person when you go into a bank is not the best idea.

Lesson learned.

I just broke two of my fashion rules...

1. I bought a black t-shirt.

I almost never wear black t-shirts or white t-shirts. I'm a semi-slob, so the white t-shirts are a bad idea since I'm more then likely to stain it in the first wear.

2. It is an LRG t-shirt

LRG gear has proliferated and infiltrated many of the places I find myself on a regular basis. Usually their clothes are way too expensive for me, but I made an exception (read: I got a deal) for this one.

Here is the design:

The LRG Live @ the Fillmore T-Shirt in Black

Product page @ Karmaloop can be reached by clicking the design

Not that bad, right?

If you sign up for Karmaloop's newsletter you get $10 off your first order, which is the only thing that made this shirt affordable.

You know, I never thought that I would care at all about clothes and fashion...

Girl Talk gets crazy at the Montreal Jazz Fest

Girl Talk is the nom de laptop of Pittsburgh, PA's Girl Talk, one of the most bastardizing mash-up (or, depending on who you ask, rip-off) artists around. He takes two seemingly unconnectable songs from incredibly disparate genres and puts them together. Picture classic rock and hip hop carefully layered upon each other in a delectable mish-mash of of pop culture goodness.

When Girl Talk played Langerado, the promoter had the brilliant idea of having him play his next-to-the-last-set-of-the-fest set on a stage set up next to the soundboard while the next band set up on stage. Our crew had the heads up, so we were right there on the rail when he came out and started rippinig off his clothes and banging on his laptop.

Soon, he was dragging good looking girls onstage to dance with. Following the good looking girls were the slightly-to-extremely intoxicated jocks, who we promptly booed. By the end of the set security was seriously pissed and it took the promoter's intervention to keep Girl Talk from getting dragged off by the po-po. Apparently, festival staff had warned him specifically not to bring the bitches on stage to shake their groove things, and he had blatantly and intentionally ignored their direction.

That's the kind of guy that Girl Talk is. So it was no surprise to me when I saw the following video from his performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival a week or two ago. I used to live in Montreal, and the Jazz Fest is pretty much the best possible week on the face of the planet. There are free shows all day long on 5 stages, and then if you have the bucks, you can pay to see shows that rarely appear anywhere. I saw Tabla Beat Science in Montreal's Opera House and saw Medeski, Martin & Wood's annual throwdown with more special guests then you could shake a stick out. So I've seen a few crazy things there.

But no performance was as crazy as this video. To sum it up, here is an excerpt from a blog featured in the local (mainstream) newspaper:

[Girl Talk said] "You guys wanna party? Come this way!" And the huge crowd poured into the streets and over to the small vacant lot next door to Club Soda. Kids were hopping the fence, there was confetti in the air and glow sticks whirling about. And there, set up in the gravel was a generator, two giant speakers and a soundboard. It was mayhem! Girl Talk hijacked the jazz festival.

Sound good? Take a look!

Freakin' awesome, I tell you. It seems like one of those shows that you'll remember forever.

Wish I were there...

well, I sure feel D.U.M.B.er... (part 2)

Welcome back to the next installment of the thrilling, chilling tale of our crazy little weekend mini-tour!

(To read the first part of the story, head here.)

After we bailed on the latter part of the Umphrey's McGee we worked out way into the inside room of the club, known as Heaven. What a bad choice of a name! First of all, the entire place was painted black, and all of the staff were semi-freaky looking goth kids. It was only slightly cooler inside then it was outside, except there was a humidity level of about 99 percent; if you went into the restroom it got considerably worse. Luckily the bars were cash only or I'd still be hungover today; I drank some seriously stiff vodka/sodas up in that place.

Perpetual Groove needed to bring their A-game to this show, and they definitely delivered. I stopped by the merch table to chat with my favorite band manager/generally nice guy Ben (thanks for the t-shirt) who told me that they were ready for the Ruckus.

Perpetual Groove
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

When the band came out it was immediately evident that he was right. Over the PA a majestic fanfare played, and the quartet from Georgia came out and took their places on the small stage. Here's what went down:

I: Teakwood Betz, A Day the Way, TTFPJ*, Save for One, Suburban Speedball, Pepper**, Two Shores, Robot Waltz

Set II: Speed Queen, Diggin' in the Dirt, Occam's Blazer, Under Lock and Key, MOTA, Out Here> Space Paranoids

E: Crapshoot

*With Allen Aucoin on drums and Aron Magner on keys, Disco Biscuits
**With Joel Cummins of Umphrey's Mcgee on keys

The show started strong with Teakwood Betz, one of the group's major tunes that always pleases. Next up was A Day the Way, which is one of their newer songs and one that I have yet had the chance to fully appreciate, perhaps due to its late placement in the two shows I have seen it at. Plus, it is a tad on the slow side. But when they dropped into the funky dance party of TTFPJ the crowd returned to get down mode.

And that was before the special guests took the stage. Aron Magner and Allen Aucion, the keyboardist and drummer from the Disco Biscuits, respectively, joined the band for an extended electronic jam in the middle of the tune. Magner even gets to drop his "wish I was a gangster" line in the middle. There's so good stuff going on here, take a listen:

Perpetual Groove w/Aron Magner & Allen Aucoin - TTFPJ - 6-30-07

After the first guests left the stage pGroove played two of my favorites: the relatively new rocker Save For One and the hauntingly beautiful Suburban Speedball. Next up, they invited Joel Cummins, keyboardist of Umphrey's McGee, onstage for a rousing rendition of the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper". Two Shores followed up before a massive Robot Waltz closed the set.

Disco Biscuits' drummer Allen Aucoin fills the drummer's seat for a tune
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

I would have probably left at this point thinking that the show was over if the keyboardist's lovely wife didn't let me know that they were coming out for a second set. I'm pretty glad that the rest of the crowd did not receive this same heads up, as the crowd thinned out nicely during setbreak.

Bassist Adam Perry celebrates his birthday with some rock star moves
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

When they came back on they wasted no time dropping into the rocker Speed Queen. I could hear some faint teases of Peter Gabriel's "Diggin' in the Dirt", so I has happy when the played the song as their next tune. It happens to be one of my favorite covers that they play, and I haven't heard it for while, so I was happy. Next up was Occam's Blazer, another one of the group's instrumental monsters. Sometimes when the band locks into a good psychedelic groove I lose track of time, and this Occam's could have been 5 minutes long or a half an hour long as far as I could tell. Under Lock and Key is another new one I can't talk to much about, but it gave me a chance to catch my breath before MOTA--another trippy tune--started. Next up the band dropped into the fist-pumping ballad Out Here, which segued into the old school favorite Space Paranoids.

That sexy Matt McDonald
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

A quick Crapshoot encore, I said my hellos and goodbyes, and we were out the door. All in all, a great performance from Perpetual Groove, the late addition to the lineup who actually got the opportunity to play longer their either of the more popular bands on the bill. Food for you guys; it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of dudes.

I said a quick goodbye to my lovely lady before jumping in the back seat of the car for the ride back to South Florida. I'm not embarrassed to say that I slept nearly the whole way back.

Next time, the shocking conclusion of the story!

well, I sure feel D.U.M.B.er... (part 1)

Disco Biscuits' bassist Marc Brownstein

(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

...which, if you ask me, is to be expected. I mean, last weekend was a serious one. Serious in terms of partying and good times, not serious like morose and humorouslessness.

We started out on Thursday evening when we packed up a buddy's little Scion (sure is bigger on the inside then it looks from the outside) and set off on the first part of our journey. It didn't take long to make it to Ft. Pierce, where we were picking up our final traveling companion. We tossed him in the back seat and set off for Atlanta. Fast forward to 6 a.m. I've been driving the final shift for a couple of hours. We're so close to my lady's house that I can smell her dog keeping my place in the bed warm. And we hit Friday morning Atlanta rush hour. Although I was tired I was also a bit wired from the caffeine, and my right leg cramped out terribly and I bounced from gas to brake and back again. Finally, we overcame the bottleneck and finally arrived at our destination.

A few hours of sleep before we make breakfast and head out on a food shopping expedition. Normally, a trip to the supermarket does not excite me all that much, but I had been awaiting this trip for quite a while. It was my first opportunity to visit Trader Joe's. I had heard nothing but good things about the store and its' cheap prepared foods and even cheaper bottles of wine. The hype was much deserved, as I filled the cart with bottles of "Three Buck Chuck" and ogled the store's lines of sauces and homemade pastas. There are approximately 479 Trader Joe's locations in the state of California, and not a single one in Florida. Someone should do something about that...

Anyway, we took our groceries home to prepare for a big dinner. The lady and I made both a meat lasagna and a veggie lasagna--from scratch, thank you very much--and fed a full house of dinner guests. Much revelry commenced, and my hazy recollections seem to recall some time spent with Comcast's Karaoke-on-Demand. Good times.

Saturday. Game day. Show time. I had made plans to go to BBQ before the show. In hindsight, eating a sloppy plate of pulled pork with all the fixings prior to consuming large quantities of alcohol and partying really hard wasn't a really good idea. Add to that the fact that it was at least 100 degrees outside and that there was approximately 7-and-a-half square feet of shade at the venue and you'll understand why I felt like I was dancing with a lead weight in my stomach. The heat (and probably the pork, as well) made me thirsty, and next thing I knew I had spend $50 on bottled water. The water added to my stomach discomfort, but I only peed once the entire afternoon. The rest I sweated out my pores as the day went on.

On to the music.

The Disco Biscuits are a nighttime band. They play a dirty trance-rock hybrid that is well suited to dingy, smoke-filled nightclubs. In Atlanta, they were playing in the blazing sunlight in a park in the middle of the day. Not really the ideal local for a Disco Biscuits show, but they wrote an interesting setlist and played it pretty well.

Set I:
Digital Buddha> Crickets¹> Strobelights and Martinis> Mindless Dribble> Voices Insane> I-Man²> November Rain³, World Is Spinning, Save The Robots

¹ inverted
² with "Gamma Goblins" (Hallucinogen) tease
³ ending only; with Brenden Blayliss (Umphrey's McGee) on guitar

the Disco Biscuits
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

Buddha was a good way to kick things off, and Crickets is always nice to hear. It is worth noting that they didn't finish (or in the case of the inverted Crickets, began) either of the first two tunes. The segue into Strobelights and Martinis was a bit sloppy. Dribble gave me an opportunity to punch my boy D00K in the face a few times (one of the only times it is acceptable to do so is during the slamming intro to this tune), and the band kept the pace up by segueing solidly into Voices Insane, which smoothly transition into the meat of the show.

This version of I-Man is one of the best I've heard. It starts out as a rocking version before the jam starts; once it does it turns into a techno monster. Teases abound, including the mentioned Gamma Goblins and the unmentioned "Swingtown" by the Steve Miller Band, complete with audience melody sing-a-long.

Near the end of the tune, Biscuits' guitarist Jon Guttwillig gave his guitar to UM's Brendan Bayliss and picked up what looked like a Strat or Telecaster as Bayliss wailed away. They absolutely killed the > November Rain, with Bayliss taking the lead and tearing it up through out.

Brendan Bayliss (L) and Jon Gutwillig tear it up. Aren't they cute?
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

World is Spinning was throwaway, and Save the Robots was a great way to end a solid set.

I'd post some tunes, but the show has not yet been uploaded to archive...

I'd post Umphrey's McGee's setlist, but since I don't really know any of their songs it wouldn't really matter. It did seem like the majority of the crowd was there to see them, as it really started moving once the band unleashed its' shredding dual guitar frenzy. I had a good time at this set. UM teased Black Sabbath's "Crazy Train" what seemed like a million times, and they really can jam. We left early to try to secure a spot for Perpetual Groove's late night set at the terribly misnamed club Heaven on the inside portion of the venue.

Umphrey's McGee
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

It turns out we missed the Biscuits come out to perform an encore after UM had finished their set; they played Helicopters, which segued (with a band switch off) into UM's Miss Tinkle's Overture.

Tommorrow I'll continue with the late night Perpetual Groove throwdown, the drive home (I slept almost the entire way) and a rainy Sunday night in Pompano Beach.

make believe, not war...

Here is a nice new t-shirt design from No Star Clothing:

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

I really like it, but at $24, it is a little outside my price range.

If they ever have a sale, I'm all over it.

the zombie food pyramid...

...or, influences made apparent.

Here is t-shirt design that was recently submitted to t-shirt competition web site Threadless:

click on the shirt to get to the product page

And here is a the graphic from a story in the satirical newspaper the Onion from 2002 entitled "Zombie Nutritionist Recommends All-Brain Diet":

the Onion's Zombie Food Pyramid

Inspiration?

Rip off?

You decide...

forget about smoking weed...

...you should be worrying about whatever it is that is making you hallucinate so bad.

Seriously though, that dog freaks me out.

the Crime of Fashion....

Ever see one of these, or something like it?

I don't really understand the proliferation of guns as pieces of fashion. I feel the same way about skulls. And ninjas. And pirates.

Though I'm not a big fan of the violent message that wearing weapons implies, I wouldn't think that we're a gun on your belt would be cause for the police to take action against you.

recovery...

I guess that partying one's ass off is more difficult as one ages.

Those of you who hold an advantage (or disadvantage, depending on how you glance at the hourglass of time) on me in years may be laughing at me knowingly. Especially those of you that saw me this weekend. It was a celebration, so I got down without abandon. What can I say, I'm a hedonist.

And I sure paid for it over the last couple days.

But I'm feeling better and will post a review of the two D.U.M.B. shows I saw this weekend over the weekend. Right now, I'm getting ready for a big change: I'm about to start grad school, and that is going to begin occupying a large amount of my time. But this blog has been a nice little release for me, and it seems like I'm gonna need a therapeutic outpouring of meh on a pretty regular basis.

Wish me luck in my new endeavor.