I saw the Soda Pop Kids last night at the Airliner. Wow, I wish that venue would take off-three different rooms of rock, two bars, lots of parking, vicinity to the Five and to Chinatown (forget it, Jake!). But whatever. For a band as good as the Soda Pop Kids, I was surprised that I didn’t [...]
Archive for July, 2008
the Soda Pop Kids – Twin Peaks is an awesome way to tune up!
Posted in Bands, Television on July 31, 2008 | 2 Comments »
California Earthquake
Posted in Celebrities, Folk, Los Angeles, Other Stuff, Performers, Personal Shit on July 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
While a lot of people in the L.A. area are feeling “All Shook Up” today, it could have been a lot worse. If I think about the 1906 or 1989 earthquakes in San Francisco, or of course Northridge a decade ago, the quake we had today was basically just a drill for the big one [...]
Farfisa Hall of Fame
Posted in Bands, Electronic Music, Farfisa, Performers, Roxy Music, Songwriters on July 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I just picked up a copy of Cluster & Eno, the collaborative effort between Brian Eno and the electronic Krautrock duo Cluster recorded in 1977. It’s beautiful, atmospheric music that doesn’t seem blah or prog, and it’s delightfully repetitive even though there were no sequencers used, just echo machines, tape recorders, guitars, bass (sometimes played [...]
Robert Novak diagnosed with brain tumor
Posted in Celebrities, Politics on July 28, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Okay, once again, I’ll say what other liberal bloggers won’t–there is bitterly ironic justice in Robert Novak being diagnosed with cancer. In my Tony Snow obit last week, I had some complaints from friends that my coverage was inhuman and mean-spirited to a man whose family is grieving him. Okay, fair enough–I disagree that Snow was liked [...]
the Ohio Express – Sausalito
Posted in Bands, Bubblegum, Personal Shit on July 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I just went to San Francisco over the weekend. Every time I look at the Golden Gate Bridge (which I have never actually crossed, though I’ve ridden under it in a boat) I think of the city on the other side of it and of this song. I’ve gotta go there–everything grows there! And when [...]
the secret life of Karadzic
Posted in Celebrities, Other Stuff, Performers, Politics on July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Guardian UK has a fantastic article up about Radovan Karadzic’s days in hiding in Belgrade. Apparently he posed as a weird mystic beardo who spent a lot of time at a local bar called The Madhouse. Filled with photos of old icons of Serb nationalism and dudes singing Serbian songs, it sounds kind of like [...]
Whale – Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe
Posted in Bands, Personal Shit, Politics, Television on July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Speaking of Serbian war criminals, when this song came out in 1993 or so, my fellow high school friends in Speech and Debate class wondered if it could be a reference to Slobodan Milosevic. Our theory was probably not, but we didn’t care too much. We were all hot for the singer’s braces:
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CBS treats McCain like a reality show character
Posted in Celebrities, Politics, Television on July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I posted a few days ago about reality television, and how much I loathe it. One of the most annoying things is how these shows are commonly edited to make it appear that a comment is a reaction to something we just saw, when in fact the interview was about a different issue or a [...]
Radovan Karadzic arrested
Posted in Celebrities, Christmas, Comics, Other Stuff, Politics on July 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb president from 1992-1995, the ”Butcher of Bosnia” (not sure who coined that nickname–maybe me?), has been captured and will be “transferred to the Hague in ‘due course.’“
When I see this guy, I can’t help but think of Joe Sacco’s book War’s End, his graphic novel about the war in the former Yugoslavia. [...]
Van Dyke Parks
Posted in Albums, Bands, Celebrities, David Bowie, Folk, Performers, Personal Shit, Religion, Songwriters, The Beach Boys, The Beatles on July 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been commissioned to write a review of Inara George and Van Dyke Parks, and I’m pretty stoked. This dude worked on Smile, which is one of my favorite albums of all time (and I own thousands). Most people put Pet Sounds in that category, but in my opinion, while Pet Sounds was a pioneering [...]
