A Public Nuisance

The way the weather's been all week, you'd think we were in Scotland or something. It's been in the low 50's and rainy. It's fucking May for Pete's sake. Where's the warm? As for the rain, all of you fuckers with umbrellas need to go buy raincoats. If I have to dodge out of the way of one more goddamn umbrella, I swear I'm going to flip my shit and kill all of you with the bluntest object I can find. In a crowded city, these contraptions with their pointy rods sticking out every which way, are about as safe as plutonium in the hands of a two-year-old. Granted, I'm one of the few lucky enough (that's sarcasm) to be eye-level with just about every umbrella held aloft in this city, and therefore one of the few consistently trying to avoid being maimed or blinded by them, but I still don't see why others can't show a little more courtesy. Especially given the fact that the skyscrapers create wind tunnels, destroying umbrellas left and right, you'd think that most people surely would tire of fighting with these things and just suck it up and buy a coat with a hood. But no--they insist on endangering the health of those of us who's heads peak in the five-foot-eleven to six-foot-three range.

You're all a bunch of bastards.

In other news, I had the best hot chocolate ever today. As I told Sheena, if God were a drink, he would be this one. At $4, it's still almost a bargain. Thank you City Bakery (18th St. between 5th and 6th).

my posts

So, I re-read my last post and, jesus!, is it awful. This summary of events business leads to a pile of trash in terms of writing. In the future I'll try focusing my efforts elsewhere, like calling my writing trash, pizza, and comic books. Speaking of which, I learned recently that Ziff-Davis, the well respected publisher of Computer Gaming World, PC Magazine, and our very own Sheena Mohan's CIO Insight, published G.I. Joe comics. For some examples go here, here, and here. Apparently soldiers in the 50's were happy-go-lucky guys with broad smiles and babies, who liked nothing better than to kick Koreans in the head.

I hate =w= fans and other statements

So last week brought both a new Weezer album and two Weezer concerts. The concerts were both totally rad. At the first one, Sarah, Corinne, and I worked our way up to about two or three people away from the front--only 15 feet away from both Rivers and Scott! There was a fair amount of shoving and squeezing, but it was so worth it. Even the jackass who kept leaning on my neck and resting his elbow on my head couldn't bring the evening down. The second evening was more relaxed. Smarmie, Marty, Tera, and I watched from about midway back (which at the Roseland is still pretty damn close). Rivers was more into it and their set was generally more lively. My Name is Jonas and the Good Life were the highlights of both evenings for me.

Weezer fans though, have taken a turn for the worse. While there were still some clearly, old school, bookish, nerdy types, there were a huge number of obnoxious frat-boys. These guys hurled obscenities at the opener, Ringside, who were really a pretty decent dance-rock outfit. They hardly deserved the You suck!'s and the Get the fuck off the stage!'s that they received. The guys standing next to us smoked a ton of pot smoking before the show--so much so that one of them passed out and had to be carried off. What the hell happened to the quirky, D&D playing, comic book reading, four-eyed kids? A polo shirt with a popped collar is not becoming of a Weezer fan and neither is passing out before a show due to too much pot.

The weekend brought my parents to town for my cousin's graduation. It was good to see my parents (if you're reading this, mom and dad, that's a true statement). We had milkshakes and talked about life in general (speaking of which, regarding my job, there may be news about it in early June... I have a meeting). Then in the evening there was a dinner celebration in honor of my cousin's graduation from business school. Most of the extended family was there. The food was solid. I ate the monkfish (the most disgusting sea creature ever).

Sunday brought more family time with a brunch at my other cousin's place. We discussed the Chinatown buses run by the chassids, Utah, and college. I then bought futbol socks. The afternoon was spent watching a Light at the Piazza, a show at the Lincoln Center. I recommend it to all of those who like musicals and those who love a great cohesive design. In the evening I met up with Liz, Foxy, and Claire for a Sushi dinner on the lower east side. Claire and I then headed down to Park Slope for a preview of her and Sheena's new apartment, which looks like will be a great place for them. There's an actual kitchen. I look forward to many a meal there.

Those living in New York and love their fish'n'chips should hit up the Chip Shop on 5th Ave and 6th St. They also serve the classic deep fried Mars bars (as well as slightly less traditional fried peanut butter cups and snickers bars) As a bonus it's just across the street from the Superhero Supply Store (the McSweeney's/826 NYC Brooklyn homebase). Props to Liz for suggesting meeting there.

There were a few hours of futbol on Saturday and Tuesday. I played mostly like an epileptic (sorry Sarah, it's the best description I could come up with).

Then today after work I went to a Palgrave happy hour where I, along with a select few other Palgravians, downed an Irish Car Bomb.

Also, Revenge of the Sith comes out tomorrow at midnight. Cursory reviews make it sound promising. I am cautiously optimistic. Brendan if you're reading this, you will have final say as to whether I will go and see it or not. If it gets your okay, I will go. Keep in mind, if you okay it and it sucks monkey balls, I will be very angry at you.

one more for old time's sake

Chris Ballew
Lead vocals and guitbass from the Presidents of the USA--his site has a wide variety of stuff from pop rock to very experimental.

The Elected
More stuff from bands with members including Daniel Brummel. This is more introspective, down-tempo, electro-folk type stuff. Kwality.

Chris Maher
A former schoolmate of mine and one of the founders of the anti-folk movement. Acoustic guitar goodness.

mixed nuts

the stypod
Stylus Magazine's free download page. Updated regularly generally with a theme. See the side bar of music blogs for a metric shit ton of music sites (lots of free downloads).

sixeyes
A blogger page. Posts "six-packs" of music. Linked from the stypod's list of music blogs.

Daniel Brummel
Down-tempo; piano; pub music. Former bassist in Ozma, current member of Yes Dear.

I heard Weezer's new album this morning. I'll give you a quick run down of my thoughts. It's a step up in songwriting and musicianship from Maladroit (which isn't saying much). It lacks the immediacy and energy of their first two albums. Some of the lyrics are pretty generic (specifically Beverly Hills, We are All on Drugs, My Best Friend, and well... most of the album). Rivers pretty much stays in the same vocal range as the Green album and Maladroit, and much of the album also is the same intesity, tempo, and volume. Almost all of the songs have the catchy melody and sing-a-long chorus that we've come to expect from them. Overall, I think it's a pretty decent pop album, but only a mediocre Weezer album. The highlights for me include Hold Me, Peace, and Perfect Situation. Look for it in stores on May 10th. They were streaming the whole album on their myspace site (which is how I listened to it), but last I checked that site was down.

=w=

Because I can't talk for more than two minutes without mentioning this goddamn band, here is where you can find some wicked weezer demos and b-sides:

http://www.weezernation.com/
You have to click on media, then audio, then mp3 (this page isn't exactly legal, but it appears to be sanctioned by the band, as it's linked from the offical site).

I love the kitchen tapes: Thief You've Taken All that was Me, Paperface, and Lets Sew Our Pants Together are vintage blue album style tracks.

Later highlights include Lover in the Snow, Wanda (originally slated to be on the Angus soundtrack, but later replaced with You Gave Your Love to Me Softly), and the Songs from the Black Hole, which was a concept album scraped in favor of Pinkerton.

bon appetit.

three more.

Imperial Teen
A boy-girl band with penchant for making amazing a-sides.

Matt Sharp
Dreamy acoustic-ness from Weezer's original bassist.

Mindless Self-Indulgence
Punk-electro-hip-rock.

Music week!

This week I'll be posting as many links as I can to awesome music.

Lyrics Born--some west coast hip-hop for your pleasure. Funky.

The Brunettes--New Zealand pop-rock. They opened for the Shins on their recent US tour. They are way awesome. Just click on a song title.

Spoon. Just listen.