And If A Double-Decker Bus...

Still, not a lot interesting to have happened. I finally got around to a mess of email correspondance, to some online music magazines and some friends.
But, here, of some import to the world, proof that Morrissey is in fact a prophet and mighty man, despite his latest release:

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out*

Speaking of keen music, Camera Obscura was on the Gilmore Girls tonight. It leads me to say: "I /told/ you they'd be popular." Just like Franz Ferdinand. And just like Architecture in Helsinki will be.

Just call me the Indie St John of the Wilderness. And I bet if he hadn't had his head cut off, he'd say "I told you that Jesus would be popular," as well.

I probably should go on about the qualities of the Spring, the yellow-green buds that adorn the trees, the flurries of dogwood just inside the local woods, the return of birdsong to the air, the perfect blue of the sky et al. But it's been pissing down lately, which is nice because it removes the pollen that coats everything. Nothing like a layer of jizz on everything outdoors...

And yes, I'm still cogitating in the 28 Days Later/Dawn of the Dead piece.

Post brought to you by: CO, obviously; Essex Green, The Long Goodbye; The Luckmsiths, Midweek, Midmorning EP; and by default The Queen Is Dead by the Smiths.

Book of the Day: Dr Who: Loving The Alien. Giant Ants! British Space Programmes in the 1950s! Parallel Universe infiltrating our own! It's the sequel to Illegal Alien, my favourite BBC Dr Who Story! Whoot! Maybe I'll soon have a handle on the 87 plot strings!

*This news item brought you via Ms C. Pigtails.

Alas, nothing interesting has happened to me lately.
Friday was nice: it was payday, so I went out and bought a few things: Jonathan David by Belle and Sebastian on vinyl, Dr Who: Scream of the Shalka, and Blackadder II on DVD.
I also saw Dawn of the Dead this weekend. I may write a decent piece on its relationship to 28 Days Later.
I also tidied up the Template around here as well.
More intelligent writing later.

My, it has been a while, hasn't it?
I've been very busy lately, between work and rehearsal. To illustrate, here's my schedule for the past several weeks.

6.00 am: Alarm goes off
6.20: Actually get out of bed. Get ready for work
7.10: Arrive to work 10 minutes late
7.35: First dose of espresso after successful open of cafe (3 shots, chocolate, milk)
10.35: Second dose, since by now I'm falling asleep again (2 shots, straight)
12.30 pm: Lunch
1.59: Final dose of espresso one minute before clocking out (3 shots, chocolate, milk)
2.30: Home. Twenty minutes of FF3 before my contacts stop working
3.00: Crawl into bed and read for an hour before eyes stop working
4.00: Nap!
6.00: Leave for rehearsal
7.00: Rehearsal in Raleigh
10.00: Leave for home. Listen to World Financial Report on BBC World Service on NPR for no obvious reason.
11.00: Arrive home. Eat dinner.
12.00: Pass out.

You'll notice a distinct lack of social functions there. You'll also have to thrown in radio shows, Music Staff and time spent on preparing matieral for rehearsal.
Bleagh, bleagh, bleagh.

But it's all (temporarily) over. Waiting for Godot opened Thursday to a modest crowd. You can read an accurate, if not glowing, review here. You'll notice the lack of the phrase "...and the dramatug sucked ass" so I must have done okay.*

I also found out I got into the MA Dramaturgy program at Hunter College, which is in Manhattan. I'm still waiting to hear back from Glasgow University, but right now at least I'm leaning towards going to New York.

I've been asked to be the Assitant Director for Burning Coal's (the company who did Waiting for Godot) next show, an original work called The Man Who Tried to Save the World. It's exciting as a) dramaturgs like new plays and b) it's another professional gig before Fall and c) I'm happy about working with this director and writer. More about this later, I'm sure...

And really that's all that's happened. I beat Final Fantasy 3 today. I've been playing that for several weeks, so it was a nice feeling. But it IS a 15 year old game... I might be starting Final Fantasy 4 or The Legend of Zelda 3 sometime soon.

*This actually never occurs in reviews

This post brought to you by: The Essex Green: The Long Good-Bye (cause it's SPRING now); Camera Obscura: Underachievers Please Try Harder (on VINYL), Baxendale: "The Nineteen Sixties".

Books: Holy Blood, Holy Grail: I bought this the night I got the email from Hunter, since I've wanted to read it for ages. It's about Le Prieure de Sion, which may be an actual secret society behind the Knight Templar and whose origin is the sons of Christ, or may just be a group of Fench Aristo Jokers. It ranges from extremely well researched and thoughtful to groping for justification... I'm just not sure at which points. Interestingly, Henry Lincoln was a writer for Dr Who in the 60s.

Also: Blue Box, a sixth Doctor Dr Who PDA. I've also recently finished Heritage and Fear of the Dark.

Word of the Day: Via the above Holy Blood, Holy Grail --
The term Holy Grail first appears in the works of 13th Century troubadours, knight/poets like Chretien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eisenbach as "San Graal". This may be an accidental or deliberate obfuscation of the Medieval French "Sang Real" (same pronunciation) which in Modern French would be "Sangre Royale" and English "Royal Blood".

Recovery is a Process

I was recently savagely attacked by a Welshman. Not this kind, more this kind.
I have consequently gone into a period of hiding/shriving.

Like a Horse, Boyz...

Jay spins tunes as DJ Crude Stallion Get your dj name @ Quiz Me

WHOOT!

The BBC announced the new Dr Who today.
Christopher Eccleston.

He's been in 28 Days Later and Cracker, both of which I own on DVD, and therefore, are swell. I very much approve.

The writers have also been anounced for the series: Russel T Davies, who created Queer as Folk; Mark Gatiss, of The League of Gentlemen; who with Paul Cornell established the New Adventures (Cornell also recently wrote BBCi's Scream of the Shalka and wrote this months's EDA based on it); Stephen Moffat wrote the 35th Anniversary sketch with Rowan Atkinson, The Curse of Fatal Death.

The series starts filming in a few weeks, to be broacast next November.

...My only shame: This guy knew about the new Dr Who before me.

Anyway, your local Nighthawk is off to drink a toast to new Who!

So, Friday was a major coup in that I finally mailed off my grad school applications. I has always assumed that that would be the end of the difficult part, since it would be out of my hands and I could stop worrying.
Ha!
I think I worry more about it now that ever, since I can't actually /do/ anything about them now.
I'm worrying a lot in general: my car is surely dying and I haven't got a dime for the no doubt costly repairs it will take. Also, I appear to have some manner of gastro-intestinal disorder. But the whole no-money siutation also means no doctor.
Also, I think my bed is falling apart.
Bleah...

Rehearsals started yesterday for Waiting for Godot. It was exciting being an "Actual Theatre Professional" and I think I'm doing okay.
Except for the whole "locking my keys in the car while they were in the ignition" deal. At least AAA is free.

Work is... interesting right now. One of the cafe workers is an elderly man with a questionable mental state. Right now, he's difficult. Common consensus is that he's off his meds. Along with the fact that the manager has been on vacation for the past two weeks and the assistant manager had started two days prior, George has turned into a terror. He's literally acting like a three year old: tantrums, walking away from the cafe. Generally, he's incompetent and now he's a burden. Saturday, he had every single person in the cafe livid -- as in calling for his immediate termination.

To soothe myself from this, I went out and bought Belle and Sebastian's Legal Man 12 inch. They also had finally gotten in I'm A Cuckoo, which I also bought. I was baffled to find Matt Henderson and Patrick Doyle, two sinister kids, thanked. I still haven't found out why. I'm inappropriately curious and apt to ponder possible orgies.
I also cashed my tax return check (allowing for such great expense) and then wasted some more money on DVDs (The Fellowship of the Ring and Dr Who: The Seeds of Death) and books (Loving the Alien and Blue Box). I even now regret this expenditure.

I've been unusally moody lately, and a storm Sunday knocked out power, leaving me to read by candelight and ponder my troubles.

Yeah... This was a bitchy moany post. I apologize.

The only really good thing lately has been some guy, who has very patiently listend to me moan at length. He sure is swell.

Current reads: The Suns of Caresh. It's good, but I don't feel like writing a review.
Current music: Franz Ferdinand's new album came out today!
Vocabulary word: Morpion -- a louse.

More results!


You're a Perfect Kiss. You and your best friend
are a little more than friends now aren't
you...? hehe


What kind of Hot Boy Kiss are you??
brought to you by Quizilla

I bet you were thinking, "He only post this as an excuse to have a hott picture up."
Bet you're right.

Yarr

My, it has been a while hasn't it?
Nothing very much exciting has happened.

Well.
I went away for a few day's vacation. I went up North to visit this gut I met. I don't suppose that was very interesting, if you weren't me or that guy. We spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV (esp The Family Feud) and snuggling.

On Valentine's Day, we went up to New York for the day. Most of what we did was stuff that guy wanted to do, since our last trip was mostly stuff I wanted to do. We went to the Mass Transit Museum, located in a disused subway stop across from the Borough Hall in Brooklyn. It was actually very interesting, all about the Els and buses and streetcars they used in the city, as well as Everything There Is to Know about the subway. The bottom level, the actual disused platform, had actual subway cars dating back to the 1910s. Not being a city denizen (a citizen?), I wasn't so intrigued, but I'd definitely pay $5 to go back.

We also went to a little book store and the Union Square Barnes and Noble, several music stores like The Other Place and St Marks Sounds. Happily, I can say in this respect, New York ain't got nothin on no Chapel Hill. (Camera Obscura's new disc cheaper and with more copies here. What else do you need to know?)

We went to an English restaurant, Tea and Sympathy for dinner. The food -- which I expected to be awful -- was great. I had a Tweed Pie -- salmon and cod baked with a cover of Mashed Potatoes. (That guy had bangers and Mash.) They even had Irn Bru. What was Scotland's Own soft drink like? Rust orange in color is about all I can say. The favour was totally unique. We also stopped in their store where I got CHOCOLATE HOBNOBS and tea and a Cadbury Egg.
After that? I walked up to EssaBagel and wandered around ChinaTown and went into a Virgin Megastore (I was too cool to even buy the Franz Ferdinand import CD...)
After that, we drove home -- we had parked in Newark and were just happy to make it back to my Little Red Car.

My biggest kick on /every/ trip to New York is the subway. Being a well-brought up Southern boy, I was raised to believe that the New York subway was as close to hell as a man might get on this Earth. Granted, about 1982 this was probably correct, but in the post-Guiliani world, I get a rush of guilty pleasure riding them. Especially the A Train...
Hee hee...

I'll post again soon.

Request: Denied!

That's right.
Alicia's Livejournal is /officially/ too spicy for Whole Foods Market.

See?

Reality Strikes Back

Dear Jay:
Under no circumstances can you bitch about your haircut when a) you went to a place called Great Clips for Hair and b) pointed out someone in Teen People as the person whose haircut you wanted.

Bet you miss us now we're gone,
Your hair


Dear Jay:
I couldn't help but notice from the above you wanted to have ****** ******'s hair. What you ACTUALLY wanted was to LOOK like him. Unfortunately, you'd need a dedicated team of liposuctionists, dieticians, personal trainers, personal groomers and personal shoppers, not to mention a fully-functioning Time Machine.
Doctor Who don't make no house calls, yo.

Shut up and eat some pizza,
Your Fat Ass

On the plus side, I did get the new Dr Who novel and The Boy With the Arab Strap on vinyl today, so I can swill cheap vodka, read fan-boy wanking and listen to Sad Bastard music in the corner while everyone else goes to see BAILEY'S COMET at the circus....

I Am A Grumpy Fuck

The last few days, I've been in an awful mood that I just can't get out of (cf. Mr Grainger in Good-bye, Mr Grainger, Arthur Brough's last episode of Are You Being Served?). I attribute it to the following:

A) Not being around people enough (see the following)
B) Work. Work is particularly stressful right now. The assistant manager we all loved, Big Al, left this week to move to California. Rather than pick anyone currently employed in the cafe (and therefore /appropriate/ to be a manager) they hired someone new. Now, as the current Manager is... a nice guy but totally unfit to manage, the assistant manager is the one with the real power. But since he comes from outside...
Also, in picking someone from outside, it screws over the people already employed in the cafe, who deserve a promotion. Now, as I'm [hopefully] going to grad school in the Fall, this doesn't include me, but the other people who /weren't/ hired are pissed. And those who have axes to grind are also pissed and using this chance to be publicly pissed.
Leaving me in the middle of all this politics. Eep! It's all quite stessful.
C) Grad school stress. It all costs more than I have available, between transcript requests, GRE reporting, applications fees, stamps and begging people to write nice recommendations. Let alone the stress of worrying if I can actually GET IN!
D) My dramaturgy work, or Needing To Do More Of.
E) Trying to get enough money to visit someone... Stupid snowstorm making me miss work and not make money!
F) My friends ditching me! Okay, this is totally me being dumb, Having no money (see above -- no work, for me = no food, so I waste money BUYING food to live) which means I don't go out, so I don't see any friends.
But in my vain, mean-spirited minutes, I am pissed I'm missing the damn circus.
G) Stupid XDU people bitching about overplaying Camera Obscura! OVERPLAYING CO?! YOU STUPID FUCKS! S.U.C.K. I.T.!

BUT. I am amused for minutes a day by...

A) The video for Step Into My Office Baby, on the single CD release. Colburn getting mad action! Yes! Martin with a bad moustache! Yes! Murduch as a side-burned vicar! Yes! Bad 70s Apparel! YES!!!
B) CD Alley after four months have gotten in my vinyl copy of TWATTYBUS!
C) WEEBL AND BOB! Oh, Secsy Idleberry! Thank You! Oh, how I needed this! Even if it was Mark that properly told me to go, you're much hotter!
D) I made a new drink at work, White Cocoa. It's quite nice having people at work walk up and say "There's a new drink people are talking about. I must try it!"
E) Borders has in the bew 8th Doctor book, Sometimes Never.
F) I illegally copied Underachivers, Please Try Harder. It rocks.


Also, Mad Congrats to Flapson and Alicia, who both got into the UNC Library Sciences School. Especially with Alicia's quote:
"You know a cute Indie Boy in got into my School?"

...
Yo Kev: A HINT!

Meh...

In a recent post, I talked about gay marriage. I think I made it sound like I was universally in support of it. This is sort of misleading. While I am in support of the rights it pre-supposes for long-term couples, I have some issues with it.
I think it puts gay couples in a very weird position. On one hand, obviously any couple would want the tax breaks, hospital visitation rights, adoption rights, etc that marriage would offer, and certainly I don't think couples should be denied these rights merely on the basis of their gender.
But on the other hand, it's a very sneaky technique used by the mainstream to make gays fit into its norms, to make a gay couple identical to a straight couple when obviously there are differences. And to show any reticence at taking on the role of the mainstream is as good as showing reticence to the rights they offer...
I know many people/couples/situations that do not and will not subscribe to a traditional idea as a 'married couple' and therefore will not be rewarded with the rights the government gives to 'traditional' couples.
Also, I think in establishing a marriage, you establish certain (gender-based) roles, and viewpoint I share my friend Karen, who actually was married. To be fair, I only know one other married couple (Kieth and Kate) and I have not discussed this with them.
I feel that, if I were to make a commitment to some boy (Obviously here, more than I have already) that I would want it to be based on the unique, personal relationship I had with him rather than some sort of adherence to a role. For me, a real commitment would hinge on the fact that you have the freedom to get up and leave at any point without repercussion, but you voluntarily chose daily to be with your person day after day.
I sort of look at monogamy in askance, anyway. For me, anyway, I don't think sex is that big of a deal... There are other, more important agents of compatibilty and other reasons for a couple to stay together. I was talking to Big Al at work the other day about What Would End a Relationship, and for me, sex never really entered into it. I mean, for any reason some one might cheat, I was pretty relaxed about it.... If your were just bored with your lover, or wanted to try something your lover wouldn't do, or just plain ol' had the chance to fuck a hott person on the fly -- none of these would really bother me, as long as the person came back. It wouldn't even particularly bother me if I didn't know they cheated, as long as we had some other basis for a relationship besides sex.
That said... I have never been cheated on, so all this is said with a helping of blessed innocence.
Also -- much more importantly -- I am very involved with someone who does not share these views, so I'm certainly not going to sleep around now.

Anyway, see below for Sen -- and Presidential Candidate -- John Edwards reply to my query on his stance on gay marriage.

In other news, I had the most distrubing dream -- I was in my high school American History class when a nuclear bomb dropped. People in front of the window were burned by the flash, and I did the old duck but worried cause I had no cover. The thing I remember most was the screaming that didn't end. I told myself this was a dream, and I should wake up but I didn't and was sure I was really there...
I did wake up, eventually covered in sweat and out of breathe. Weird, hunh?

I hope I can break out of this foulsomely ill mood I'm in...

Soundtrack: Camera Obscura, as overplayed on WXDU, Underachievers Please Try Harder. (No 2 on this week's Top 88!)
Current Book: Dr Who - Emotional Chemisty. Russia: 1812, 2024, 5000. What connects them? Beats me, but it's heavy with reference to Magnus Greel (The Talons of Weng-Chiang) so it must be interesting. Mind the Zygma beams! Also, it has OGRON: Russia does UNIT...

Addendum !:

Dear Mr. Eckard:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.J. Res. 56, legislation
proposing an amendment to the Constitution related to marriage. I appreciate
hearing from you.

As you may know, states generally maintain the authority to establish the
definition of and the requirements for marriage. However, current federal law
defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and
wife" and defines "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or
a wife."

H.J. Res. 56 proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the
United States can only consist of the union between a man and a woman. This
amendment would also state that neither the federal Constitution, the
constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, could be construed to
require that marital status be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups. H.J.
Res. 56 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

As a matter of personal belief, I do not support gay marriage, although
I believe that gays and lesbians in committed relationships have both rights and
responsibilities and should be entitled to partnerships benefits under our laws.

I also have deep reverence for our Constitution, and believe it should
be amended only when absolutely necessary. I am not able to support this
legislation. Please be assured that I will keep your strong views about this
issue in mind as it is considered by the Senate.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Yours sincerely,

John Edwards
United States Senate

Where I've Been



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

SNOW DAY

It snowed today!
I must be getting old, because as happy as it made me to go smoosh my nose against the window and watch at work, I soon thought "Man, snow makes it suck to go places!"
It started a little after nine and contunied til after dark, to be replaced by sleet, and I fear, now, by freezing rain. They're calling for an accumulation of 1/2 an inch. A quarter inch snaps limbs and power lines. I remember only too well a week last December with no power... But still, it's pretty.
We got let out of work an hour and a half early, and Music Staff was cancelled, so I did what everyone should on a Snow Day: I wasted it completely.
I played Dragon Warrior 4 and did laundry, generally shirking my dramaturgical work and playwriting urges. I did ask my parents to pick up the $36 fee for reporting my GRE score to the US colleges I'm applying for. I hope they pick it up. (Civilized institutions in the UK require neither that score NOR an application fee...)
I also listened to If You're Feeling Sinister straight through for the first time in a couple months today. I had forgotten how wonderfully coherent it is, and how... generally perfect it is. And it ends with Judy and the Dream of Horses.
Speaking of dreams, I've had some strange ones recently.

Dirty Dream Number One: (no Canadians involved)
I'm in a hotel bedroom with my parents. They aren't sharing a bed, but each is sharing with one child. My sister is with my mother, and this new child -- a 16 year old adopted boy, who looked oddly like a just-past-punk kid from 80s London -- was sharing with my father. I think, "Oh, I'll share with my older [and real] brother."
But when he comes in, it isn't my /real/ brother, it's my friend Keith, who obviously for the purposes of the dream -- he was conversing with my father, both in a vest and jockey shorts and black sandals -- was my brother.
To spare myself from whatever pyschological weirdness that sleeping arrangement implies, my memory goes on pause here...
...And resumes with me in a train station in Philadelphia (?!) waiting to catch some form of transportation to Chicago. Everyone is dressed in odd 1940s-esque apparell and we're obviously on the viewing platform of a very tall building. I keep asking people I went to High School with for directions to the subway. They're all apparently irritated with me for asking, because they all keep saying "The bus station and the subway stop are at the SAME PLACE!"
Finally this guy Chad gives me the directions ("One street up and three blocks over...") and I wake up.

Dirty Dream Number Two: (It's pretty special, too...)

For reasons that are not clear, large bears are chasing me around my parents yard. But not the yard now, the yard as it was a decade ago. I climb up a ladder we haven't had for 15 years (which I for some reason deeply cherished) and realize I'm being chased by one black bear and one brown bear and the bears REALLY want to eat me. Just before they catch me, I wake up sweaty and gross.

Make of that what you will...

I also bough the Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only. It is keenly, terribly, awfully wonderful. I've only watched three videos (LLPJ -- first of course, then Legal Man and Jonathan David) and I may just ration myself to extend the pleasure, a la Llew and A Conspiracy of Dunces. Also, in the videos, they run around Glasgow. A lot.
That's not a good reason to want to move there, right?

Book of the Day: Doctor Who -- Timeless
Soundtrack: IYFS and Duncan Sheik's s/t debut. God, this sucks so much. SO much. How did I ever tolerate it?

PS: Go here. Click on the Yeti. Click again to swing. Do it. You will understand. You will waste hours. "Ooof!"

Whoa!

Noted Shakespearean actor takes Doctor Who role.
That's right. My look-a-like, Derek Jacobi, plays the role of the Master in BBCi's Doctor Who webcast, The Scream of the Shalka.
I was going to wait and watch one episode a day but SOD THAT.

The Best Term Evah

In dealing with my Tragic Llew-Snubbing Situation, I need to try to headline with excellent phrases as she would do. So here we go:

Offal Based Delicacies!

Go here.

consume Mass Quantities.

Like a Bee, yo

I've been busy.
I'm preparing my graduate school applications (that's Glasgow U*, Brooklyn U and Hunter College), so I'm meeting with professors, tracking down scholarship titles and coming up with self-important position titles to make me sound more desirable. I've also written a Personal Statement illuminating my desire to obtain a Masters degree.
I'll soon have to go get transcripts ($7 a pop) from the University Registrar. I'm debating going to see another** old professor who might refuse to see me or who might write a letter of recommendation with some heft. What do you think?

I also need to go hit up Julie and Dr Moskell, other old professors whom I hope would say nice things.

I'm also busily working on Waiting for Godot stuff. I'm preparing an information packet for the actors, which I hope to be a pocket guide on critical thought on the play. I'm also busily researching the play itself. I should post some links so people can see what I'm doing.
Both of the above mean I'm doing lots of internet stuff, which is made easier by my keen new computer that works (roughly) a billion times faster than my old 1996 model. I can run /two/ programs at once now!

I also hosted Trivia Night this week with Keith and Alicia. It was fun -- Alicia got macked on by a hot guy. I got yelled at by a belligerent fag from the Professionally Gay team I loathe (Score!) and heckled by the Old Bastard. Both on the music ID round. It -- the round -- was the identification of song covers. We gave you the date and some information about each track and you gave the names of the performers, both originally and in the cover. The Fag shouted "And which of these bands have we heard?!" Let's see... Frank Sinatra appeared twice, and so did David Bowie. Bruce Springsteen, Bobby Darrin, and the Beatles all showed up, too. Real obscure folk... Even the one I thought was most obscure, an Iron Wine cover of the Postal Service, had half the teams get it right...

Our other topics were Current Events (all of us), Subtitles (we give the subtitle, you give the common title) by me, Comic Books by Miss A, and Beer Slogans by Keith. We had three ties and a different winner for each round, so we felt successful.

I've also been political, writing to Presidential Candidate John Edwards (who is also the senior Senator from my state) and Congressman David Price, a regular customer at my store, asking their takes on gay marriage. Edwards is personally against it, but against HR 56, which is the initial stages of the Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Price doesn't give his stance on marriage, but also is against HR 56. I'll post his response to me below. Apparently, Mr Edwards is too busy campaigning to respond. Tellingly, Liddy Dole, our junior Senator, has no statement about marriage. I /assume/ she's all for HR 56.
And what about Edwards in the Iowa Caucus? Yay! Although -- and this is strictly a rumor from a Kennedy official who comes into work -- Kerry is going to ask Edwards to be his Veep.

I also got a DVD player. So far, I have bought the extended Two Towers, 28 Days Later, and Doctor Who and the Aztecs. Last night, I had the option to buy the new Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only but I bought BlackAdder the Third instead. I'm stilling trying to figure out why.

I did, however, get a hold of a copy of the band's new single, Step into My Office Baby, so I sort of got my B&S fix for the week. "Love on the March" I adore, even though I didn't really like it on their Peel Christmas show last year. Friday is payday, so maybe then and can get some more B&S goodness. Their next one is due out next month. Camera Obscura is /also/ out this week, and though we got a copy at the station on Sunday, it was snitched away from me. Luckily, it only contained a rogue Lambchop album and no Scots Goodness. Although in the Scots goodness dept I'm already swimming since Martyn Spacekid sent me the Gone Aways EP.

Also, I'm swimming in Dr Who novels -- my two Previous Doctor Adventures -- amusingly, a first and second Doctor story came in this week (Ten Little Aliens and Combat Rock), so I still have... seven to read.
*drools like Homer

I missed the Rosebuds last week and still am feeling po'ly, but they play again in March. Kate's soiree was fun though, and ended in time for me to go home and sleep before work the next day.

Generally, I'm tired and busy, but happy.
Reason Baxendale rules: They mention Doctor Who in their song The 1960s

*They rule. Because they mention Belle and Sebastian on the first page of their prospectus.
**Long story. He was a creep.

Appendix I: My personal statement

The first time I applied to graduate school, the Personal Statement gave me some pause. ?What,? I thought, ?Ought I to write?? I had no concrete idea of what I wanted in post-graduate education, or what I could offer any potential institution I might enroll in.
Now, however, I have a much better concept of what graduate school means to me. I have had the chance to actually do some dramaturgical work, both as a production dramaturg for local theatre companies and as a literary dramaturg, working with playwrights at local universities to prepare their text for production.
As seems most appropriate, much of my desire in returning to school is to further my education in theatre history and dramatic writing. With bachelor?s degrees both in theatre studies and English literature, I have a broad, general knowledge of writing for theatre and its history, but I hope in graduate school to have the opportunity to make a more detailed and serious study of how plays are written, how they fit into their respective historical and social situations and how these works continue to adapt and intrigue audiences and artists today.
My other significant aim in seeking graduate study is to better understand the professional demands of dramaturgy. While I already know to a certain degree what the profession I wish to enter entails, I feel that for my own satisfaction, I need more formal training in what different kinds of dramaturgs are expected to do in their jobs and the best ways to go about doing these tasks.
I have other reasons for wanting to return to my studies as well, although these aren?t quite as acutely pressing themselves on me. I would like eventually to get a PhD in my field, and I cannot progress without first receiving a master?s degree. Also, I have found that working in the theatre in a university setting to be very different from the theatre Outside. There seems to me to often be a greater emphasis on learning the crafts of the theatre and a greater freedom to try very new techniques and methodologies.




Appendix II: The Reply I got from Rep. Price.

Dear Mr. Eckard:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Marriage Amendment, H.J. Res. 56.

I oppose H.J. Res. 56 and will vote against it if it is considered by the House. I do not believe it is the business of the federal government to legislate a "definition" of marriage, much less to amend the constitution in this respect. Our religious traditions have their own definitions, which government should leave alone. Civil marriages and civil unions have historically been the responsibility of the states, and I see no reason to change that.

Furthermore, I have generally opposed federal efforts to limit the benefits or protections which businesses or governments might extend to nontraditional families. In fact, I have cosponsored legislation to follow the lead of many businesses and some states by extending healthcare and other benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees.

As you know, H.R.Res. 56 would declare marriage to constitute only the union of a man and a woman. It would also prohibit state constitutions or laws from conferring marital status on same-sex couples. H.J. Res. 56 has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary for consideration.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to stay in touch on issues of concern.

Sincerely,

DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress

Bitchy

Eh. I had to go home yesterday to get a new computer. (Don't be excited it was cast off from my parents' office.) Not so bad in and of itself, but I was woken up at 8 am by plumbers plumbing in my bathroom. Also not so bad in and of itself, but I was up til 4 after the Jett-Rink show.
So I had to drive home stinky and greasy. Then I had to have dinner with my parents in Hickory, where we promptly got in a debate/heated argument/shouting match over Paul O'Neill.
Then, getting home, the computer was all bitchy and refused to behave properly. Now I have to go home and call Verizon tech support and be treated like an imbecile... ("Is the unit plugged in, sir?")
Also, I woke up too late to shower before work, so I am again stinky and oily.

*grumbles

ANYWAY. Tonight is the Rosebuds, and Kate T is having a soiree beforehand. I'm bringing pie.

Dispatches from Work

On the way to work, there's a dead deer on the side of the road. It's been there since New Year's. Now, I hate deer, so I got a little guilty little pleasure in seeing it each day til I realized today it's only /half/ a deer.
Now I just wonder what happened to the other half.

Also, between the front door of my store and the timeclock, there's a little Order Information sheet with an abbreviation for the Ordering Procedure on it. The abbreviation: PONCE.
Every day as I clock in, I get called a ponce as I walk in. No wonder I love my job.

Today Did Not Suck...

The weather the last few days has been exactly what Winter ought to be but never is hereabouts: snow on the ground, very cold but bright, sunny and clear.
Today was the last of such days: it was clear and sunny, but much warmer, melting the snow.
Other than that, today went quite well. I met with one of my old professors today. We talked about the schools I want to go to, and how to apply -- like, what IS the purpose of Statements of Purpose. Turns out he knows the professors of one school I'm applying to and is happy to write letterS of recommendation. And look at my Statement. Whoot.
Then today at work they finally started the remodelling of our cafe that was supposed to have started in May. I did the majority of the prep work and was thanked by several levels of leadership. More whoot.
More excitingly, we made plans to have dessert and drinks and Kate T's house before the Rosebuds show Saturday night (I'm bringing a Key Lime Pie), and then I my Trivia Team volunteered to host Trivia Night next week. We discussing all manner of categories like Beer Slogans and Subtitles and a covers theme for the music ID. (Us here being me, Alicia, Keith, Forrest, Kate and Christina). So multiple whootage here.
AND Jett Rink plays Thursday night.

If it weren't for the last hour of today, when I was flaked out on multiple times, today would have totally rocked. I think I should just completely ditch Instant Messaging services.

I just saw 'Cold Mountian'. Here are some thoughts:

Charlie Hunnam is in it. Just when I was thinking "Now /there's/ a nice piece of ass" -- he gets his clothes blown off -- I realize he's been killed off. The pitfalls of Civil War dramas...

Kathy Baker was very, very good.

Nicole Kidman, as should be no surprise at all, uses an accent that would peel paint off a wall. Jude Law has virtually no accent at all, but to be fair, he can act. She can't. This seems a decent exchange. Oh wait. No it doesn't.

I exposed to Nicole Kidman's bosoms (amongst others) and in return I got a partial shot of Jude Law's ass. I think this underlies some of the basic themes of the film, the numbing effects of war, man's generally ugly nature, the lack of outside redemption for the soul. You get the picture.

It's been four years at least since I read the book, so I can't judge its transition from a novel into a film. (I know: Good Dramaturg, Jay!) However, it /is/ very well shot, and generally well acted (Amazonian Aussies Excepted) and in many cases very well acted. Well worth seeing.

J Is For JASON Who Drank Lye By Mistake...


The GashlyCrumb Tinies - You have a terribly wicked
sense of humour and people are drawn to your
wit. Children beware of the thin, pale man
with the black umbrella!


Which Edward Gorey Book Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!

Tonight ruled.
I had a dinner party. I made Beef Bourgingon, Alicia (who brought her friend Kevin) brought this super-keen Pumpkin Eggnog Pie, Keith and Kate brought Super Spanish Spinach and much fine wine (almost better than we deserve, really); Amanda, Broccoli dip -- so, so good; Karen, lemon tart; and Jackie, pink champagne.

All the food was not just good. It was Damn Good.

Also, we opened a gift. I may just keep it. It was loved by all!

Then we went to K&K's and had a little Buffy Marathon. "The Pack" and "Halloween" for anyone keeping a record. We left after two to clean up and watch some more Extended Version Lord of the Rings Part 1 (My first rented DVD).
I'm off to do that now...

*sighs tiredly but very happily.
My friends rawk.

Whoot!

Christmas. Rocked.
My parents -- god knows /why/ since I've spouted off that I hate them for at least a decade -- got me a cell phone. I now love it and am looking for ways to make it ring to the tune of Judy and The Dream of Horses.
I also got Lazy Line Painter Jane on 12" vinyl.

And then I bought myself a (VERY cheap and likely to explode) DVD player, though I only have a Jeff Buckley in performance disk and this odd DVD about the Kennedy Assination (a gift).

And New Years is this week.

Rock.

PS: For god's sake, somebody comment on something!
PPS: Take my newly revised Friend Test!

Attention:

The little circle things on the back of this DVD player are Pokey Thingies.
They are very important.

Carry on.

Do you just love these quizzes? If you had an online journal or diary, would you eschew actual content for more and more of these cute little graphics?


Are you damned?
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

You can laugh at the silly superstitions of the religious, safe in the knowledge that we are only dust and lies. All that will be left of you after you die is a slow decay and some fading memories in the minds of your friends. Hope you're enjoying your life at the moment- there's nothing better to come.
Which Survivor of the Impending Nuclear Apocalypse Are You?
A Rum and Monkey joint.

My goddamn rock solid ghetto shiznit name is Harry Wack.
What's yours?
Powered by Rum and Monkey.

My Mormon name is Jae LeRoi Byard!
What's yours?

Reason I Love Chapel Hill #450781

A conversation without words, set to the tune of "You Are a Ghost" by the Sames played Real Loud.

Go! Attendent: *holds up sign that says "$7"
Me: *nods head 'no'
Go! Dude: *points to The List
Me: *shakes head yes
Go! Dude: *points to my name
Me: *shakes head yes
Go! Dude: *thumbs me in

Jett Rink was so, so good Friday night. I can't say more than that.

"This Picture Rules More Than Anything Else Ever Has"

Here

NOW it Works. I See How It Is!

Stupid Blogger not stupid working last night!
Anyway, Monday was Eric's birthday! Go send him belated greetings. I got to talk to him twice: once on AOL and once on the phone. It seems he had a good birthday.
He got Chinese Food and a Chocolate Peanutbutter Cake to eat.

(In comparison, I got... Oh. I got a dinner at 'The Texas Roadhouse' in Hickory where the waitress messed up every course of my dinner -- notably I got a House Green Salad with Ceasar dressing. "Why would I order a green salad with Ceasar dressing?" "You did!" "I didn't. I ordered a Ceasar salad." "Oh. Yeah. I got the Ceasar part right, though!")

Anyway, I'm coming up with a brilliant idea for his birthday/Christmas present since I was broke (and still am) for the day itself.

Today was my day off and I did /nothing/. Well, not nothing. Read. Talked in #sinister. Watched TV. But it was my first day off in over a week, so I guess I'm allowed.
I also found out last night that my Dr Who article (or the first part thereof) had been published in Friends of the Heroes -- link is to the left -- which I was pretty sure didn't accept it. So now I have to come up with the next 1,000 words. But this is always a pretty good impetus to spend time every day writing again, as is the fact that 15 pages or so of a play I had written have disappeared. :(
Hell, I also need to be doing more research for Waiting for Godot and filling out Financial Aid forms.

Hmmm. Me = slack.

A Dullish Day

Unlike Miss Laura Llew, I hardly ever have witty repartee or sexual hijinks in my work day to discuss. After going in on my day off yesterday and working an extra two hours today to cover a co-worker in the midst of a post-breakup pyschofunk, all I have to quote is this about seeing regular customer outside of work [and not being recognized]:

"If some coked-up Soccer Mommy doesn't know where her daily latte comes from, then scew her!"

Do I need to say it was me saying that?

Other than that, it was Trivia Night (Reptiles, Cult TV and Explorers were the categories and Opera was the Music ID). There weren't very many people there, and other than the delightful company -- Christina, Alicia, Keith, Kate --it wasn't very interesting.
From now on, I'm calling Alicia "Dink", as in the Bond Girl.
We came in second.
[Although, in his frock coat and ugly waistcoat, Jeremy the Skanky Bi Host looked like a... well, needlessly skanky version of Patrick Troughton as Dr Who.]

To make up for a dullish post, you can always go here and rent Lichtenstien. Yes, for real. And yes, the whole country.

Ahh!

Just in case it's not up when you read this, the Google Banner ad above read thus:

"Search: Beefcake | Additional Search: Belle and Sebastian"

Wow. A succinct and interesting comment on my life, no?

Work is Weird, Part II
Or, Actual Customer Conversation

A guy walks up to me today. Imagine him as a frat-boy hipster poseur: trucker cap a few months too late, Gap clothes attempting to look chairty shop cool, the irrevocable stains of Dave Matthews on his taste... Did I mention he was so stoned he could barely walk?

Frat Guy: I know you...
Me: I don't think so.
FG: Yeah... You go out with that hot chick.
Me: I'm pretty sure you're thinking of someone else.
FG: You were at... the show. Yeah, the one, you know. You were... like, both wearing hats.
Me: stares at him
FG: She's hot, man.. Like... (laughs) Hott.
exit Frat Guy

I *think* he means the Manitoba/Broadcast show and I *think* he means Alicia, as we both wore hats to that show. But by that same logic, I also go out with Bendte, Viva, Forrest and Casey Burns, who were all within three feet of me.
I now have images of the Chapel Hill's hippest orgy...

Also at work, someone in another department attempted to steal our "Order Specialty Drinks at Cashier" sign. Now, I love this sign with a deep passion, because when people bark orders at me, I smile sweetly, point to the sign in front of their face and say "I'm sorry. You need to WAIT YOUR TURN and ORDER AT THE CASHIER. Thanks!"
Without this sign, my little coffee shop would desend into Chaos not seen since the first milliseconds after the Big Bang.
And she just walks over and tries to take it away. No "Do you mind if..." or "Can I take this...". I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen, so I called in the store manager.
Of course, then we all had to discuss the situation and reach a Whole Foods-y compromise. But I kept the sign up with the important bits on.
Damn straight, Bitch! You don't mess with my sign!

I mentioned earlier my Excellent Mixtape for my trip to Deleware. It went like this...

"Radio" by Pitty Sing, from the s/t EP
"The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" by Bis from The Smiths is Dead Comp
"Electric Version" by the New Pornographers from The Electric Version
"T-Shirt Weather" by the Lucksmiths (illegaly downloaded)
"Take Ecstasy with Me" by the Magnetic Fields, sung by Claudia and not
Stephin, also illegally downloaded
"NYC" from the Interpol album Turn On The Bright Lights
"The Late Great Cassiopiea"by the Essex Green from The Long Goodbye
"Happy Noodle Versus Sad Noodle" By Logan Whitehurst and the Jr Science
Club from the disc Goodbye, My 4-Track

Side II
"The Eccentric Dr Who" by Malcolm Lockyear ans His Orchestra, from the
album Who's Dr Who
"I'd Feel Better" by the Rosebuds from the Merge Comp Survive and Advance
Vol II
"If She Wants Me" by Belle and Sebastian from Dear Catastrophe Waitress
"Yes Sir, Yes Way" by Des Ark from Pox World Empires's Compulation Comp
A song from Pig Lib from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
"Arigoto We Love You" from the Pizzicato 5
"Candy Pants" from the Jett-Rink album

S'up?

Today is my day off and as a) I am sick and b) I have no money you can expect a largish post. I took my car to the mechanic today for an estimate -- one $200 job and another $800 one -- and have slept most of the rest of the day.

"Are You Italian? 'Cause I Have an Uncle named Jay, and he's Italian!"

I have been taken to task by a small dog for not talking about Thanksgiving. I went to Laura's. Traffic was awful -- the four hour drive took six and a half -- but there was plenty of Christian talk to go around, even if the mix tape I specially made sucked.

Then we tripped back to her graciously appointed flat, where her dog was so overcome with lust for me she started to hump the air in a most unlady like fashion. It was freaky, and not in the She's-a-very-special-girl-the-kind-you-don't-take-home-to-Mother kind of freaky. (Later, she also attempted to give me a blowjob...)

Acts of Bestiality aside, we were busy little bees making all kinds of dessert: Pumpkin-Carrot Cake, Pecan Pie, Key Lime Pie, a pumpkin-cream cheese jelly roll and a mysterious but tasty thing called Frog-Eyed Salad. In the middle, we watched the film Willow, went to a store where a guy named Martini allegedly works and wherein a humpbacked fanatic with wild hair scared us, and went to a Bojangles with no food -- "We haven't got any fried chicken." "Okay, I'll have a ham biscuit." "No biscuits." "Fries*?" "No." "I think we'll go to a place with /food/ now..."

Then we went up to Laura's parents' house, where all manner of relations were watching the (football) fields by night. Now, Llew's parents and grandmother were terribly charming but other less attached relations were a bit odd -- smashing wine bottles and such, and sending us off to Bi-Lo** to exchange them. Her aunt uttered the above line when I told her the Frog Eyed Salad has acini de pepe pasta in it. I don't know what it is, either, but I can pronounce it.
I ate lots and lots of food -- Ham! They had Ham! Ham! Pig meat! Ham!! The first I'd had in years! -- and then played with two Labrador puppies named Bear and Meg. I like puppies. Espcecially Lab puppies that are oh-so-dopey and playful.

Then we watched Igby Goes Down, sort of a modern-day Catcher in the Rye but with sex, and Ryan Phillipe with all his clothes on (the point? The Point?). Then I drove home the next day, complete with a plate of left over that made it maybe 8 hours.

(That was also payday so I bought a Lucksmiths EP -- Midweek, Mid Morning -- and a Dr Who book called History 101, about the Spanish Civil War and perception of reality, oh so good).

I also went to the Park and I climbed a tree! We also went out with his cousin to an all-night diner that allowed smoking and we smoked and drank coffee for six hours. Very cool.
I bought two Dr Who books there (The Last Resort and Reckless Engineering) that they don't have here.**

Busy Day at Work

The other day at work (Wednesday), we had: a fire drill, a man fall down and hurt himself badly, a company Big-Wig come through AND a little Mexican midget come through.
I got complimented on my drink menu by said Big-Wig: We have my 9-spice apple cider (It has cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamom, aniseed, gumbo file, juniper berries, white pepper and carraway seeds. And yes, I know that's 11 things but I refuse to tell them at work what's in it and that's part of the secret.), Cranberry Gluvine (cranberry juice steamed with mulling spices, ginger, and lemon), Pumpkin Juice (Pumpkin, milk and spices, blended togethered and steamed hot) and weekly specials. This week is a hot chocolate with gingerbread and frosted mint. Sounds vile, but the first sensation is of chocolate and gingerbread, but then the gingerbread fades away you get an aftertaste of Andes mint.

I imagine that's all the things I meant to write about. Tonight is Friday, so I get some Wendys food! Yay!

*Bojangles fries have crack in them, like MacDonald's Chicken McNuggets.

**If you're keeping count, I have 8 new Dr Who books, two at the bookstore I can't afford to get right now and another one on order. But remember, I haven't had any new ones for over a year and a half!

Work Is Weird...

Today at work, our conversation varied from penis tricks: "I used to make my boyfriend's cock sing by playing around with his foreskin," and "I used to turn it into a a little pig snout and make it sniff around!"* and personal tales of Female Ejaculation** to serious discussion about colour perception being influenced by language, with references to historical linguistics, Isaac Newton and evolution to the Normalization effects of marriage on the gay self-identity.

This is of course when we CAN talk. Unlike Sunday, when all four coffee machines died and the coffee shop had no actual coffee. I lost count after making 15 Americanos, 32 lattes and 16 mochas with an hour.

And yes, I did go to Delaware and to Asheville, but I'm not blogging about that from work...

*No, neither of these was me. They just seem like way silly things to do.
**Ew ew ew. Just /writing/ that is gross beyond belief.

[b]"Lord, Let Me Meet a Jew!"[/b]

So, my favourite part of long cat trips is Christian Talk radio.
On "Unshackled: True Stories of Christ's Impact on Sinner's Lives" there was a dull story about a college athlete who Gasp! smoked dope. When he inevitably found Jesus, he learned Jesus was a jew and prayed these words.
Needless to say, he met one in the next act. I laughed from DC to Baltimore on that one.

In other news, the Christian Right is attacking Abercrombie and Fitch -- Eric's computer won't let me make links here but you can go to http://www.americandecency.org/a&ffall03.htm and http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/lifestyles/html/photos.html#, respectively. A&F's site is regrettably lacking in nude beefcake, but apparently the new catalog isn't.
The Church seems to be uspet that teens are having sex. Hunh. Who knew?
Amusingly, they seem oblivious to the strong homoerotic content of the whole thing, which is funny because their ire over wanton sex seems to momentarily conquered their existenstial anathema to Gay Marriage*.

The upshot: I'm buying Eric's 17 year old brother a copy and telling him never, ever to miss the chance to go to an orgy.

Music: Whoo-hoo! They had the Franz Ferdinand EP here, so I've been listening to that.

*Gay Marriage: Allowing ugly lesbians and their cats to live exactly the same as they've always done.

"I'll have a Laura Llew, please. With soy."

I should have mentioned this earlier, but this week's drink special is called "The Laura Llew." It's hot chocolate with shots of gingerbread and cinnamon. All week long, people have walked up and said "I want Laura Llews to go" and I think, "Don't we all, buddy..."

I'm away to Delaware for the weekend, where I plan to do as little as possible. (Although I will miss the Azure Ray show and Trivia Night.) Speaking of which, we've won Trivia Night two weeks in a row, rocking such categories as "Birds", "Dog Breeds in Film" and "Cartoon ID."

I got my application pack from Hunter College, the only actual paper application I'll be doing. It's sitting very solidly and intimidatingly on my dresser.

Also, with my paycheck, I bought a virtual slew of Dr Who books that have, at last, gotten into the country: The Suns of Caresh, Colony of Lies, Emotional Chemistry, The Crooked World, Timeless and Camera Obscura.

I was up last night til 1.30 and was at work by 6 am. On the plus side I made an excellent mix tape for the trip, made even better by the fact I have little recollection of the second side.
Teaser: Side one -- "Radio" by Pitty Sing, "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" by Bis, "Laws have Changed" by the New Pornographers.

Ack. I have go back to work now.

Doo doo da Doo

So, not much happened today. The most interesting thing was mooching around imdb.com and tvtome.com, looking up obscure shows -- Come Back, Mrs Noah, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, It's A Living, The Tripods, etc.

But tomorrow is payday, when I will buy 4 (Four!) new Dr Who books, eat Chinese food and see the new Matrix movie.

Other than that, life has been oddish of late. Lots of ups and downs.
Ups:
I have decided on the three/four graduate schools I'm applying for: Glasgow University (first choice), Brooklyn University, and Hunter College (both CUNY schools). If I feel ambitious, I may apply again to Yale, but I rather doubt I will. I did find out, though, that apparently no-one gets into the School of Drama their first time -- Thanks folks, for mentioning that before...
I have nigh-employment in my chosen field. I'll be working on productions with two local theater groups on productions of Waiting for Godot and Via Dolorosa. Not that I'll be paid. But still -- experience for the above apps. I also will be working with the Duke University New Works Festival, doing almost exactly what I did in school with my Studio II program.

Work is going well -- I can balance all this new stuff, I think, with a full time job. And we've finally started the weekly drink special (This week, the Belle and Sebastian, a mocha with Irish Creme and Frosted Mint: Oh so good and the Gentle Wave, the same without espresso) and all my new Fall Drinks (Cider, homemade Chai, Pumpkin Juice and Cranberry Gluvine).
I may get a job reviewing music for another online magazine called Dusted.

Thanksgiving in the Mountians with Laura!


Downs:
My car ran into a tree. This did little damage to my car (a small crack in the bumper) but I had to call AAA to tow it out of a ditch.

I got a ticket for running a stop sign and have to pay for it.

Also, growing paranoia about applying for school (Can I get in?! How will I pay?! Help me out, here people!).

Work sucks. Ony stupid people come in and I work with yutzes. Not strictly true, granted, but it can feel that way most of the time.

I am still poor, poor, poor. My parents are harrassing me about being a teacher -- Yes, more hours, lower pay and no insurance will of course turn my life around more than going back to school -- or a minister (they'll never, ever let that one die). But I won't see them again for a while. We quarrelled.

I saw Belle and Sebastian. I interviewed Richard Colburn -- you can check it out at friendsoftheheroes.co.uk -- it's keen.

So that, in a nutshell has been the last few weeks.
Go to #sinister!

Book of the Day: Dr Who -- The Colony of Lies; The Dream Cycle of H P Lovecraft; Mason and Dixon

Word of the day: morganatic marriage -- a marriage of a commoner to a noble, where the spouse nor any offspring recieve title or nobility

Dr Who of the Day: Paradise Towers, part 1. Woo-hoo for the Who of the late 80s! An apartment complex in space, people by lesbian gangs, cannibalistic senior citizens and Pythonesque caretakers. Richard Briers (Goode Neighbours) is the Hitler-esque leader in a HUGE army hat. The sets are a bit naff -- a completely in-studio piece -- and Slyvester in his second story is just getting the hang of his Doctor.

This post brought to you by: Al Jolson and Cab Calloway, I Love to Sing-a!; the theme song to Fraggle Rock and Small Wonder.

Yipes!

It's been a while. Stuff has happened. Unfortunately, I'm very sleepy right now(unusual for any time before 4 am).
I will leave you with three worthwhile links: Here*, Here** and Here***.

*Good, clean fun. Well okay, not clean. Sweaty boys aren't clean.

**These ones are clean. Very clean.

***And this is for those who want good, clean fun in another fashion.

Reason Laura Llew rocks: Who else could find Religious Porn?

Book(s) of the Day: Dr Who -- The Colony of Lies, The Dream Cycle of H P Lovecraft, Mason and Dixon

Word of the day: Balilwick -- one's area of authority or expertise, from the old term for a Bailiff's jurisdiction

The Post Brought to you by: TWATTYBUS, Pitty Sing (s/t debut)

Breathe. Slowly and Regularly.

Okay, so my car didn't start tonight when I went to go to the WYXC 80s Dance.
Okay, so I (apparently) knocked the car out of gear getting out.
Okay, so the little red car coasted across the street and into the neighbour's yard and got stuck on the wrong side of a little ditch after we went back inside.
Okay, so I look like the town drunk.

Okay, so I have no money to repair any damage done to anything, even of no damage appears to have been wreaked.

I will not freak out. I will not freak out. I will not...
Fuck it.

*Screams

Never a Good Idea

Vodka and Friendster.

I suppose as I don't have anyone whom I'd drink and dial, I turn to Friendster, looking up odd people and writing stupid messages.

Viz: I have messages from three people (one high school, one college, one post-collegiate) that I seemed to have written a message to.

Fortunately, either my computer or the Friendster site is acting up because while I got the Notification email, I can't actually access the messages. Which means I'm trapped between my curiousity and my vanity.

In other news, I subbed in for someone at the radio station for an 8 to 10 pm shift. Two people have said "I knew it was you when you messed up."
I'm not sure how to take that one.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig
or, The Long Road Home

I'm back. A day late.
My car died, you see, just outside Baltimore. I dunno the town named, but it was on Highway 175 East, off I-95. I stopped for gas, and my car (ailing now for some weeks) decided not to start again. And I had no money.
I futzed with it for over an hour and then gave up .

Well, he took me back to his house, fed me and put me to bed and then today took me back. The car works now (apparently), but I had no money for gas, so I literally drifted back into town on fumes. Getting to work tomorrow will be fun. Work itself will be fun, since I missed a whole day. I just hope they believe it since they knew I was going away with my boyfriend.

So, other than that I had a fine time! The majority of the time was spent sitting around doing not much else besides cuddling and watching TV or DVDs: Fawlty Towers (The Corpse and the Kipper, Pyschiatrist) Buffy (Witches, Teacher's Pet), Ghost Busters, Star Trek: First Contact and a lot of crappy TV.

The Highlights:

I saw Laura's radio persona on the highway with the vanity tags: MC Hokey.

Nature: We saw Horseshoe crabs. I'd never seen any before and we saw two! We also saw migrating Monarch Butterflies and geese*.

A walk on the Boardwalk. We went into an Arcade and I played for the first time on a slot machine. I won 2 tokens. We then played skee-ball, where we won more stuff. We got a little plastic dinosaur and a plastic ring.

Dinner: We cooked our own dinner (twice) and ate at the dinner table like real grown-ups. Go us.

Christian Radio: I listened to massive amounts of this through Northen Virginia right on up to Delaware. Gay Marriage will "directly cause the end of Western Civilization." Apparently. Not that Canada and Vermont have descended into Barbarous Chaos. Have they? It also makes me wonder if Jesus would have let them hammer in that last spike if he was actually aware of the truly hideous music (not to mention the sheer quantity of it) this act had inspired.

The Pope. Has. A. Scooter. Seriously! There's a Pope-Scooter he rides around in. I so need one of those now. Talk about your Holy Rollers! Hahahahaha!

And we did at least one other thing to pass the time.

It was pretty much the perfect weekend getaway, and it was capped off my dinner.

*does a little Grover-from-Sesame-Street, full body wiggle and says "Yaaaaay!"

Current reads: The Basic Eight (Oh. So. Good. ) which I am recommending for the work Book Club. I was supposed to read it this weekend and then give it to Amanda to read for Club selection. Of course, I read about 20 pages and remembered it's my favourite book ever and have to finish it before I hand it off.
Also, Doctor Who: Blood Heat. London as a jungle. Dinosaurs. Twenty years of alien invasion. This is so much better than when I read it 10 years ago.

Current Music: 69 Love Songs, Vol. 1

Reason Laura Llew Rocks: She gave me a copy of The Basic Eight.

My Confession
Or, Alicia, don't read this!

God, the playlist at WXDU rocks so much! My show last night was nigh completely stuff on playlist. I wish I had the cash to buy some of the stuff on the list: new Stars, Azure Ray, Stereolab, Mates of State, Dressy Bessy, Ladybug Transistor, Portastatic, Rosebuds!!
Oh my gosh! SO, SO good!

In other news, I'm off tomorrow for days with my boy! I'm so excited! And not just the sex! He's really great! I'm going to spend hours just curled up with him on the Jersey Shore.
There's so much I could say about him right now, but there's not much point. He rocks. I don't.

Smithsy

To completely avoiding discussing the past several days, here is this amusement, lifted from Laura:

Choose a band a answer only in song titles from that band: The Smiths

1) Are you male or female? This Charming Man
2) Describe yourself: Handsome Devil
3) How do some people describe you? The Boy with the Thorn in his Side
4) How do you feel about yourself? Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
5) Describe your ex-girlfriend: Girlfriend in a Coma
6) Describe your current girlfriend: Girl Afraid
7) Describe what you want to be: Vicar in a Tutu
8) Describe your current mood: What Difference Does It Make?
9) Describe your friends: Sweet and Tender Hooligans
10) Give Some Words of Wisdom: Some Girls are Bigger than Others

Alt. (boy) 5) William, It was Really Nothing
Alt. (boy) 6) Bigmouth Strikes Again

What today has been like:

*beats face on keyboard till he passes out.
Or:
The. Whole. World. Sucks.*

*One or two nice things actually happened today, like Damo and Christina both coming to visit me at work today.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress...

So today was the release of the new Belle and Sebastian album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. In honor of this, I've decided to post some random Belle and Sebastian and me facts. This is to make up for the fact that, due to sleep deprivation (Ask me what happened at work today, from 6 am til noon. Go on.) and general crankiness (I may well be pissed at every single person I know*. And yes, it includes you. Yes, you.) I have little rememberance of the past two days.

1) First exposure to Belle and Sebastian -- January, 1998: My friend Alise not Alice returns full of affectation from her semester abroad in London. Among her affectation, a taste for Nick Drake-like British music. She pushes a copy of If You're Feeling Sinister in my hand saying "Darling, you will simply /adore/ it**." I listen to "Stars of Track and Field" and "Like Dylan in the Movies" and decide I'd rather listen to Another Band*** and/or commit suicide. I forget about them for quite some time.

2) Next exposure -- On a trip to Washington, DC, December 6th 2000 with Cristina Rentz. She plays "Jonathan David" and I ask her who did the bad Zombies cover. She then spends 10 minutes try to convince me Nick Kildea is really Staurt Murdoch. Two days later, on the way home she plays Tigermilk. I like "We Rule the School." I borrow the CD.

3) First Album -- 12 December 2000. I buy Tigermilk, having listened to "We Rule the School" approximately 100,000 times.

4) Second album -- IYFS two weeks later on payday. In a month, I have gotten everything they've put out.

5) First concert -- DAR Hall, May 2002. With Christina. My parents are so pleased I'm going to DC with a girl, they spring for a hotel room. With one bed. Christina and I get lost on the way back from the show and drive to Annapolis, Maryland only after Christina pulls over in Burger King in downtown DC ("We're sleeping HERE!") and thugs descend like a Biblical plague. We woke up at 5 am and went to bed at 3 am and woke up the next day at 6 am.

6) June 2002 -- Join Sinister. Immediately meet Laura Llew and Lindsey Baker. Write distraught third post after finding a human head in the parking lot at work. ToriSpelling released. I listen to Big John Shaft quite often.

7) August 2002 -- Take up Laura's invitation to An Unfortunate Event. I bring Parsley Soda and White Wine and arrive in a very dapper seersucker jacket and straw panama hat. Met Ward, Llew, Flannery, Kirkus and the Boy G. Rumor has it (and far be it from me to contradict it) I have illicit sex with one of the other celebrants while Laura is outside. Umm, I think we /talked/ about Belle and Sebastian here.

8) November 2002 -- I arrive at Laura's and recieve sweet lovin' down by the fire from Flannery. I fall down several times. Am yanked into #sinister by Laura and unceremoniously nicknamed "GayJay." Attempts at other nicknames fail.

9) Later in Nov. 2002 -- Ridiculously hooked on #sinister. Can often be found No 1 in the stats. Blame largely put on unemployment at the time.

10) December 2002 -- Bored to tears on a date, I decide it's High Time to collect B&S Vinyl. They Holy Quest Begins. #sinister is amused by tales of the recently-dumped-by-an-albino-midget boy who got scabies. I am just afraid.

Okay, that's 10 Quite Interesting things. And the end of a year. It is also bedtime.

*Unless you are Trixie Firecracker or Julie Not-Sauer. Or, presumably, a Bel Ami model. Or willing to give me lots of money. Or a weird combination of them all. A rich Australian gay porn star. Oh please, if you are one, I'm easy. And good.

**She always talked like she was in the middle of a P G Wodehouse novel after she got back. To this day, when I'm at her house, I look for a constable's helmet or a Cow Creamer.

***Okay, so yeah. My boy at the time had given me a new Duncan Sheik album.

Ah!

So, who knew that the wretched little show "Charmed" had a bad cover of "How Soon Is Now?" as its theme?
I mean, a /good/ cover would have been bad enough, but a worse-than-teenaged-Russian-lesbian version?

Pfft to that. Alyssa Milano can go vibe herself.

All Dancing. All Singing. All Naked.

*in a deep cheesey voice, as one selling beef products* Round these parts, that's how we celebrate this kind of day. Dancin'. Singin'. Cavortin' sans clothes.
Cause today is a special day. A joyous day.
That's right, it's a porn star's birthday. And not just any porn star, a Laura Llew star.
Fetch your garters, Grandma. They's partyin' to be done!

Anyway.
Reasons I thought about Laura Llew today:

1) For no easily discernible cause, there was a plastic bottle of Unpleasantly Flavoured Water in our cooler at work today. I have not seen any Unpleasantly Flavoured Water since the Unfortunate Event last year.

2) I saw Llew's new sweetums at work today, when he was in with Darren Jesse. Unfortunately, before I could get a fat man to sit on him til by interogation was over, they had left the store.

3) In a discussion of PBR, I told (again) the store of Mrs. Llew singing the PBR song in church to great mirth.

4) I was sorely disappointed that she wasn't at Elmo's the other day, cause she would have beat Alicia to the punch with the French Comment. Also, she would have laughed at least as much as me.

And none of this is particularly birthday-centric. This is a pretty typical "Thinking of Laura" day.
Sigh.

Oh well. Go have a threesome in her honor, yo. Take some chocolate with ye.

*14 Days till I see *my* boy.

Baggy t-shirt - check. Ill-fitting jeans, check. Air of supreme homosexual rowr-ness - um, check-ish.*

I certainly am not going to write an entire post about how Neil** actually spoke to me tonight at work. Oh no.
That would be silly.

*The title is from a most amusing post by Markelby. You can read it here.

**You have to scroll down a bit. But the pic's there.

Top Three Reasons to avoid my mother...

I just called my parents to see if they have a box of my winter coats (including my leather car coat, my perfect suede -- oh how I love suede -- jacket and ALL my scarves, hats and gloves).

Her first response: You've put on far too much weight to wear any of those.
Me: Since when?*
Her second response: Anyway, there'll all too expensive. You don't need such extravangances.
Me: There'll all paid for already. I might as well use them. And they're all cute.
Her third response: Well, we put them underneath the house where we put the last batch.
Me: *amost dumbstricken, after they let rot $600 of my clothes last time*
You mean the stuff that got covered in mildew and in rat crap?
My Mother: Yes. And don't use profanities.
Me: !!!!!

The conversation lasted about 15 more seconds.
Won't you all join me in the "Get Jay A Winter Coat Project"?

*Am I fat? I don't think I'm fat. Have I become a blimp and not been aware of it? Aaaa! My parents always turn me into a Neurotic mess.

Bleurgh

I've just spent a long time toying with the review site (new links! new reviews!) and updating the music listing here, so I'm not very compelled to write a lot right now.
It's been an oddish day and a half with some ups and downs. Feather Boa glimpsed two old Dames at lunch. A band I reviewed linked their review. Dr Who is coming back. So is Belle and Sebastian. I got a free Jeff Buckley CD. The House piano was tuned today. We won at trivia. I went (attempted) to go shopping with Alicia. In which this was overheard:

Me: *seeing very cute boy with an even cuter scarf* Why don't I have friends
who look like that?!
Alicia: *who has a better view of his upturned lapels and effetely double-tied
scarf* What, French?
Me: *laughs for three minutes*

Conversely, the whole shopping deal didn't really pan out.
I miss my Kitty. A lot. Much more than I ever expected. He was there during my bad spell last year with no job, money or friends.
I also miss my boy. (17 Days and counting til I go up to see him...)
I am very disheartened by applying to Grad School. I do not want to go to Ohio University or the University of Alabama. (But then again, I scorned my present job when I was applying and it turned out to be pretty cool.)
I've been snubbed by cute gay boys TWICE in three days. I don't know why this bugs me, but it does.
I went to a truly awful Lesbian party.

Ah well.
I train somebody tonight as an On-Air DJ.

This post brought to you by: Jeff Buckley, Live at Sin-E
Current read: Doctor Who -- Option Lock
Word of the Day: Puss. As in face.
Carl at Work: Man, you should bottle these things and sell them under
your own name.
Me: With my smiling puss on every damn bottle!

I mean it when I Say I'm Good...

You Are A Chocolate Flavored Condom!

Addictive and totally decadent.

People are passionate about you - driven wild by your every move.

You are often an object of desire, although you're usually too much to handle!



What Flavor Condom Are *You*?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

You Are a Perfect Lay!

All sorts of guys long to hook up with you, but your standards are set high.

You don't just give it up to anyone, but when you do...they can't get enough of you!

You have a knack for pleasing and receiving, and sex with you is never boring.

Only problem is ~ they all seem to be falling in love with you...



What Kind of Lay Are You?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

Oddly enough, I found both of these in a link from Laura's Blog, proving -- Once Again -- LAURA LLEW IS A PORN STAR.

That is all.

Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod.

This.
Repeated, officially, here.

For anybody who knows me, or anyone who even thinks they do, this is Almost the Greatest Thing That Could Happen. And to think, Robin Stout, sexiest Milkman Evah was the first to let me know.

Wow. Belle and Sebastian play my town AND this, within a week. Excuse me, now i have to dance in the Street, Earnest Grainger style.

Reason Number 11, 276...

...That today I have descended into a Snarling, Vicious Zombie of Rage, a la 28 Days Later.

Rude Man at work: I want a latte.
Me: You have it order it at the cashier. (There is a line of three people ahead
of him and a big sign that says "Please Order With Cashier.")
Rude Man: I said I want a latte.
Me: *points at said sign* Please Order your drink with John, the Cashier.
Unfortunately, there are people ahead of you in line (They were an iced
chai and two mochas, incidentally).
Rude Man: *walks in front of Ms Iced Chai and Mr and Miss Mocha to the
register and yells at John* I want a goddam latte! And don't let that
faggot make it, either!

At this point, the entire cafe turns to look at Rude Man. Carl, the shift supervisor, makes the latte (to go) and walks the man to the door. Significantly, no one threw Holy Water on him, beat him soundly or forbad him to ever return.

Also significantly, I had no tip jar for people to express their monety condolences.

*Growls*

I'm still in a foul mood. Even worse than yesterday.
I demand someone /do/ something about this.

That is all.

Grumpy

I went to bed last night in a bad mood.
I woke up (at 5.30 am) in a worse mood and have spent the rest of the day finding reasons to be more foul-tempered. Blah blah, my book order at Borders hasn't come in, people at work are stupid (a latte with extra foam is a /cappachino/ so you have to pay MORE), and other equally trivial stuff.
I have several reasons not to be in a bad mood -- Belle and Sebastian play here next month (tho' this also is a cause for foul-moodedness in and of itself), I have a promo copy of their album, ceded to me by Viva le Fearsome and it's great (Lord Anthony! Roy Walker!) and Saturday night (the Pox World Empire Records show) was ever so much fun.

Still, I have reasons for not liking boys and girls (and who does that leave?) and am still just plain old petulant. Or is that Petullant?*

Where is Laura Llew these days anyway?

Pah!

Wow.

It's the end of the world. It's before noon on a Saturday and I'm up and about.
The power came back on a little while ago. I went to sleep about midnight last night, so I just sort of got up early. I checked my email and was amused by a Markelby post and Ian Hobart (note to self: must link him) post from Sinister. Ian made a butt plug joke at my expense.
*as Shatner* Must find way to seek Retribution!
Or even better: *as Shatner shouting "Kaaahhhnn!" in Star Trek II* "Iiiiiiiiaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn!

I fled yesterday to Chapel Hill, where they had power. (I spent a good hunk of Thursday loading the contents of Whole Foods Market into the back of a refrigerator truck. Woo hoo.)

I bought the new New Pornographers album (Electric Version) on vinyl (less than $10!). It has a cute little Space Monkey on the cover. Shawn, the owner of CD Alley was working and we talked about the album. As always, he knows a disturbing/fascinating amount about me. Or bluffs really well. I always wind up changing the topic to music (No one actually listens to my show, so there is no way he a) knew I played NP or b) knew I moved from a Midnight show to a 10 pm one).

Then I went to The Book Shop and bought a copy of The Country Gentlemen for $2. This was a Restoration comedy by George Villiers and the Duke of Buckingham that was personally suspended by Charles II. The day it was slated to open. So it must be very mean indeed. Buying this made me feel very academic, which is good as I am Officially Applying to Graduate School. (There's a really amazing program done by the American Rep and Harvard that gives you a MFA from Harvard and the Moscow Art Theatre School. I will not get in. I may not even apply. I'm much more likely to get in at Brooklyn College or Ohio University. Sigh. I wish I was smarter and richer.)

Speaking of disappointment, I found a copy of Logan Whitehurst and the Jr Science Club's album. At Schoolkids (yuck). But I had already spent my music money. I hope it's there in two weeks.

Anyway. Tonight is the Pox Empire records show at the Cradle. They're giving away a compilation at the door with tickets. It's all local bands. I can't afford to go, so of course I'll be there. It starts at like 8, and I don't get out of work til at least 9.
*as the little zombie at the end of Buffy* Grr! Arrgh!

Ah!

I have no power and am dying of Boredom. Literally. I even have money for a change, as today was payday.
Stupid hurricane.

Speaking of which:

Actual Hurricane Isabel Discussions at My House

Me: *Comes home in the middle of the storm (winds at 50 mph), wind slams door as I come in*

Idiot Roommate who lacks Style: Did you have to slam the door?!

Me: I'll go out and ask the Hurricane to stop, shall I? She seems a nice girl, I'm sure she'll oblige.

I. R.: *can't think of suitable response. Walks away.

Whenever I get this way, I just don't know what to say.

I'm at work today and we're listening to the 80s Channel radio. To my (greater or less) surprise, New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" came on.

Does anybody know what the hell that song is /about/? I mean, it's one of my favourite songs, but I never really thought about it before. The lyrics make no sense.

Also, WXDU apparently came under attack today in the Duke University newspaper. Apparently some columnist has no idea what the purpose of Independent Radio is and had decided WXDU should become a Top 40 station. The so-called destruction of File Sharing was somehow involved too, but she was fairly incoherent about that causal relationship.
And -- this is the great part -- she misquoted Kelly Q (the station manager) by suggesting we have 50 listeners a day.

Poor girl. She's going to be savaged by a dozen angry hipsters.

So...

Hmm. Eric's been here for the past little while and almost all my time was (rightfully) dedicated to hanging around with him. It was more fun than I can remember in a long time and I was so happy while he was here.
But now he's gone.
I updated my reviews and lots of great stuff happened (Essex Green! Condoms! Bojangles! A New Dr Who book!) but I'm not in the mood to write, I'm in the mood to pine.
I'll have plenty of time this week though.
*As John Nathan-Turner* Keep Watching!

This post brought to you by: The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow. "Reel Around the Fountain" is such a great song. It's woefully underappreciated.

I Didn't Song Him...

Laura did!


you are a pretentious indie asshole. you piss off
everybody but other pretentious indie assholes.
you suck extremely hard and only listen to
stuff on pitchfork media. fuck you.


what type of lame scenester are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I hate Conor Oberst indeed. Like anybody with taste doesn't.

So today is all cool and stormy and I have the day off. I plan to listen to some CDs and review them, go to Music Staff later today and play Dragon Warrior 2. Maybe I will eat some Wendy's food.

I certainly haven't spent the day nobbling around Friendster, checking out cute boys in my Local Network. Oh no. But I have noticed unlikey sorts of connections that make Friendster interesting. "She knows Laurel?" "How does he know Brian?" Things of this nature.

I realized the other day, there are thing certain things, important things about me you'd never know from here.

For instance, Chinese food. I love Chinese food. Cheap Chinese food. I was overjoyed to find a cheap Chinese take away restaurant just down the street the other week. Super China, by name. Rawk! It not only has Shrimp with Broccoli, but also General Tsao's chicken.

Also, Dr Who books are back. I just finished Warmonger (May 2002's book) and am now reading The Book of the Still. It rocks to be back.

First Things First

Go here. Right now. Don't ask. Just go. It may be the greatest thing on Earth.

Next

I realized the other day that during one of my little re-vamps, I forgot to put back two People links. On subsequent nosing around, i realized both of these people still had me linked on their sites.*

Eeep! Sorry Ulla and Feather Boa. I suck.

I put those links back up. As far as I'm aware, that means all the links are bak up. If I've snubbed you accidentally, let me know. If -- for some reason -- you want your own link up, tell me and I'll make it so.

*This is especially awful, as Feather Boa has commented since the Cut and the site features one of Ulla's drawings.

People Really Read This Thing

...and follow the links, too, it seems. I've had now three people admit to reading this at least intermittently. One was a random guy at the Cradle (Eeep.), one was Alicia (note to self: never mention plans to marry her here again), who followed a link from my Friendster profile, and the third was someone else who got disproportionately mad at something he saw here.
*laughs in a self-reflective, semi-ironic, ponderous chuckle.

And... held over from last time...

Cool Music Stuff

*Belle and Sebastian's new album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, is out 7 October. It'll feature a studio version of Lord Anthony which they've been doing live since 1998. It's to be produced by Trevor Horne. -insert 12 minute musical saw solo here-

*Speaking of Belle and Sebastian, I just found out the 12 inch of Lazy Line Painter Jane is available on the (incredibly difficult to navigate) Jeepster site. If only I had a credit card...

*Speaking of Scottish Pop, Camera Obscura is going to be distributed in the US by MERGE. Whoot. No more three month wait to get their stuff on Elefant. One hopes they'll get their shit together and do a East Coast tour now. (They are committed to a Llew Bedroom show). Anyway, Go Christina! Go Gav!

*Upcoming shows: The Coldsides and the Nein, The Clientele, The Essex Green. Hopefully, the Essex Green will be interviewed by WXDU (this time).

*Speaking of WXDU, the new Fall schedule starts tomorrow. I have moved on up like the Jeffersons, out of the late night bracket. My show is now Tuesdays, 10pm to 12am. Listen in this week for a Laura Llew set.

*There's a Humming Bird perched outside my window!! It's tiny! And I've never seen a humming bird not in flight. Aw! It scratched itself with its foot! Oh well. It flew away.

This Post brought to you by David Bowie "Young Americans", The Clash, "Magnificent Seven", James "Laid".

Word of the Day: Avuncular, like an Uncle. As in, I wanted to snog him, but he went all Avuncular on me and just kissed my cheek.

Current Read: The Book of the Still. The Doctor hang-glides into the sun's corona in a hut made from pages of the eponymous book. Fitz thinks he's a 16th Century Prussian swashbuckler. The grossest aliens ever, with external lungs and stomachs. Yeah!

CD of the Week: Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Club. With songs like "Happy Noodle versus Sad Noodle" and "Welcome Back Mr Pants", that's all you have to day.

So I Went to a Show

You can read about it here and here. That has about all the good stuff in it, but chances are great you'd have read it before.
I also went to a show last night. It was Nekko Case and her New Pornographers. Turns out, it's pronounced like "Nico" as in the Velvet Underground German Smack Addict and not "Necko" as in the tasty, old fashioned candy wafers. File this under the "Gee, /Daniel Handler/ is in the Magentic Fields?" and "Joy Division and New Order are the Same Band?" category of Things Jay is Officially the Last to Twig Onto.
In case you have to ask, yeah, it was quite swell.

I think I was going to post more, but now I'm all mad and am forgetting stuff I wanted to write.

So briefly:

A Few Nice Music Things:

Um, no. Fuck it. Later.

Yo

So I'm making like a Muppet and Taking Manhattan this week to see Belle and Sebastian in concert at Prospect Park. Well okay, Prospect Park is in Brooklyn and not on the Isle of Manhattoes, but let's not ruin a perfectly good simile.

So no posts.

Wish me luck in finding old Dr Who novels and Lazy Line Painter Jane on vinyl and you might just get a bright shiny souvenir!