Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Unbuckled Thursday
Thursday is gonna be a crazy day. The day begins with me taking care of everything at work by myself, since my co-workers all decided to schedule doctor's appointments and home emergencies tomorrow. I guess that's not really your concern though.
After work I get to run home, change, get right back in the car and head to Ft. Reno to catch The Evens and The Routineers. I don't know anything about The Routineers, other than they include Amanda MacKaye (co-owner(?) of Sammich Records and Ian's sister) and Jeff Nelson. The Evens are just Ian and Amy Farina. Not quite acoustic, not quite electric. I'll call it roots-punk, but what do I know. Read what the Post says about them here. I expect this to be one of the bigger Fort Reno crowds of the summer. You can CDs from both bands via Dischord.
When you go to Fort Reno, buy a t-shirt or just give them some money. Free concerts actually cost money to put on. Every few bucks helps.
As soon as this is over I'm off to the Black Cat. DCist is putting on something called Unbuckled.
Basically, It's Cartel and Bicycle Thieves performing on the backstage, DJ Leafblower (from Bluestate) dj-ing, and lots of giveaways. I was going to see Cartel anyway. Everything else is just a bonus. Sounds like a great night though.
Not familiar with Bicycle Thieves, but I like the sound of the song below. And I love Cartel. They've got this melodic, sort of dreamlike quality that really gets under your skin. They remind me a lot of Death Cab for Cutie, but a bit more mopey. That's a good thing. Based on the crowd they drew at the last Black Cat show, it should be pretty crowded on Thursday. Get there early. Buy some CDs and help both bands out.
Cartel - Fleets
Bicycle Thieves - Loser Of The Year
Update: Cartel is also playing at Iota on 7/3. With The Cassettes no less.
mp3s are only up for a limited time. I only post them to try to help spread the word about music people might not know about. If you like what you hear, go buy their music. Most of these bands can really use the support. But if it's your band and want me to take them down, just let me know.
After work I get to run home, change, get right back in the car and head to Ft. Reno to catch The Evens and The Routineers. I don't know anything about The Routineers, other than they include Amanda MacKaye (co-owner(?) of Sammich Records and Ian's sister) and Jeff Nelson. The Evens are just Ian and Amy Farina. Not quite acoustic, not quite electric. I'll call it roots-punk, but what do I know. Read what the Post says about them here. I expect this to be one of the bigger Fort Reno crowds of the summer. You can CDs from both bands via Dischord.
When you go to Fort Reno, buy a t-shirt or just give them some money. Free concerts actually cost money to put on. Every few bucks helps.
As soon as this is over I'm off to the Black Cat. DCist is putting on something called Unbuckled.
Basically, It's Cartel and Bicycle Thieves performing on the backstage, DJ Leafblower (from Bluestate) dj-ing, and lots of giveaways. I was going to see Cartel anyway. Everything else is just a bonus. Sounds like a great night though.
Not familiar with Bicycle Thieves, but I like the sound of the song below. And I love Cartel. They've got this melodic, sort of dreamlike quality that really gets under your skin. They remind me a lot of Death Cab for Cutie, but a bit more mopey. That's a good thing. Based on the crowd they drew at the last Black Cat show, it should be pretty crowded on Thursday. Get there early. Buy some CDs and help both bands out.
Cartel - Fleets
Bicycle Thieves - Loser Of The Year
Update: Cartel is also playing at Iota on 7/3. With The Cassettes no less.
mp3s are only up for a limited time. I only post them to try to help spread the word about music people might not know about. If you like what you hear, go buy their music. Most of these bands can really use the support. But if it's your band and want me to take them down, just let me know.
Scary Subject
I just got an email from OnTap Magazine with the following Subject line:
Subject: Fourth of July, Blues Traveler, Foam Party
Luckily, these are three separate events.
Subject: Fourth of July, Blues Traveler, Foam Party
Luckily, these are three separate events.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Nike Apologizes
Pitchfork reports that Nike has apologized for their use of the Minor Threat record cover.
an excerpt:
---
Minor Threat's music and iconographic album cover have been an inspiration to countless skateboarders since the album came out in 1984. And for members of the Nike Skateboarding staff, this is no different. Because of the album's strong imagery and because our East Coast tour ends in Washington, DC, we felt that it was a perfect fit. This was a poor judgment call and should not have been executed without consulting Minor Threat and Dischord Records.
---
First of all, the anal-retentive record collector in me has to point out that the "iconographic" artwork is from an early EP which came out in 1981. Being such big Minor Threat fans, I'm surprised the folks at Nike didn't catch that.
Secondly, it sounds like they're saying "We decided to steal the artwork, change it a bit and use it for our own purposes. Turns out that wasn't a good idea. Sorry about that." Not much of an apology.
I'd be more likely to believe them if they said that their art department came up with this concept and the company had no idea the art was from a legitimate record. They could pull the ads, apologize and say "We didn't know." But that's not how it happened. They knew what they were doing ahead of time, went with the ads anyway and apologized for it later. They knew it was illegal. They just thought they could get away with it. That's the difference between being ignorant and being scum.
I'm sure Nike would be much just as understanding if everyone started putting modified "Swoosh" logos all over their blogs. Right?
an excerpt:
---
Minor Threat's music and iconographic album cover have been an inspiration to countless skateboarders since the album came out in 1984. And for members of the Nike Skateboarding staff, this is no different. Because of the album's strong imagery and because our East Coast tour ends in Washington, DC, we felt that it was a perfect fit. This was a poor judgment call and should not have been executed without consulting Minor Threat and Dischord Records.
---
First of all, the anal-retentive record collector in me has to point out that the "iconographic" artwork is from an early EP which came out in 1981. Being such big Minor Threat fans, I'm surprised the folks at Nike didn't catch that.
Secondly, it sounds like they're saying "We decided to steal the artwork, change it a bit and use it for our own purposes. Turns out that wasn't a good idea. Sorry about that." Not much of an apology.
I'd be more likely to believe them if they said that their art department came up with this concept and the company had no idea the art was from a legitimate record. They could pull the ads, apologize and say "We didn't know." But that's not how it happened. They knew what they were doing ahead of time, went with the ads anyway and apologized for it later. They knew it was illegal. They just thought they could get away with it. That's the difference between being ignorant and being scum.
I'm sure Nike would be much just as understanding if everyone started putting modified "Swoosh" logos all over their blogs. Right?
Monday, June 27, 2005
New Links
I added 2 new links on the left under "My Stuff".
One takes you to a list of just about every concert I've been to. The list is primarily assembled from ancient ticket stubs I have laying around. Eventually, I hope to scan those stubs too.
The other one is a mostly-up-to-date list of our music collection. Me and the BF combined. I've been too lazy to type up the 100 or so R.E.M. cd singles I have. Someday.
One takes you to a list of just about every concert I've been to. The list is primarily assembled from ancient ticket stubs I have laying around. Eventually, I hope to scan those stubs too.
The other one is a mostly-up-to-date list of our music collection. Me and the BF combined. I've been too lazy to type up the 100 or so R.E.M. cd singles I have. Someday.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Chet Helms 1942-2005
Chet Helms, a towering figure in the 1960s Bay Area music scene who brought Janis Joplin to San Francisco and ran the Avalon Ballroom during the Summer of Love, died early Saturday after suffering a stroke last week. He was 62.
The SF Chronicle has a nice obit here.
The SF Chronicle has a nice obit here.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
They Sure Don't Make Them Like They Used To
In honor of the Black Cat's "Run For Cover" event tonight, I thought I'd post a few of my favorite cover songs.
A good cover song is more than just a band playing someone else's music. Any two-bit bar band can do that. The key is to take the tune and twist it in some way to make it interesting again. Speed it up. Slow it down. Completely change the musical style. Do something that'll take a familiar tune and force people to look at it in a new way. Take something that's old and tired and make it exciting again.
9353 is an old-school DC punk/art/psycho band. Their version of Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild is manic, scary and catchy all at the same time. I'm not sure if I should jump around and play air guitar or hide under the couch. This comes from their 2nd LP We Are Absolutely Sure There Is No God, later released on CD as Make Your Last Days Loud Days. Despite the fact that Amazon lists it, I'm pretty sure it's out of print. It turns up on Ebay periodically though. Be warned that it you search for "9353" on Ebay, you'll also find the occasional Air Supply single. Really.
There's no denying that Rock Around The Clock is an absolute classic. Of course, that makes it the perfect target to be destroyed. This version comes from the Sex Pistols' Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. I've heard that this is The Sex Pistols, Tenpole Tudor, or possibly Eddie Tenpole fronting the Sex Pistols. I really don't know. I know it's a great tune though.
Talk about fun. What could be more fun than a bunch of New York hipsters playing toy instruments. Well, they could be covering a classic pop song. Say...The Letter. Pianosaurus does exactly that. Originally by Wayne Carson Thompson and made famous by The Box Tops. This band never fails to put a smile on my face.
The last time I saw Q And Not U I picked up this compilation called Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again. It's a compilation of indie-rock folks (many from here in the DC area) putting a new spin on songs from the Vietnam era. There are tons of great covers from the likes of Enon, Beauty Pill, Ted Leo, Death Cab and a bunch of others. Since I picked this up at a Q And Not U show, I figured I'd put up their track. It's a cover of Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down. The disc is on Exotic Fever records. It's a benefit cd for the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). If you download this and like it, you should track it down and buy it. You can get it from Exotic Fever's website, or from Dischord. It's money well spent.
Devo has done a few covers in their day, but nothing else comes close to Satisfaction. It takes some balls to take one of the most recognizable rock songs of all-time (with one of the most distinctive guitar riffs of all-time) and turn it into a herky-jerky new-wave classic all it's own. Try not to run out of breath on the "Baaaabybabybabybabybabybaby....." part of the song. This can be found on the Are We Not Men? cd. Everyone should own that. Easily my second favorite cover ever.
And then there's Hüsker Dü's cover of Eight Miles High. This song absolutely destroys every other cover song ever done. I remember the first time I heard this in the mid-80's. My college roommate brought home the 7" one day. I knew The Byrds and this song. I knew a little about Hüsker Dü and what they sounded like. I knew this would be interesting, if nothing else. Holy Mother of God. Nothing prepared me for this. Total aural onslaught. If you know what song it is ahead of time, you can pick out the parts that sound like the original...maybe even a few lyrics. Play this for your folkie friends and watch them run out of the room. The rawness and power of this song are just amazing. It goes way beyond land-and-fast. The emotion that pours out simply transcends the noise. It's one of those songs that leaves you physically drained after hearing it. I really like The Byrds version, but it's the Hüsker Dü version that just kills me. Play it as loud as you possibly can. Then play it again. You can buy it here.
All songs are posted simply for the sake of turning someone on to something they may not be familiar with. They're only up for a limited time. If you like what you hear, you should support the artists and labels involved and buy the music somewhere legit. If you support them, they'll be able to make more music. If you don't, they'll have to become insurance agents or something. Who wants that?
7/5 - mp3's are down.
A good cover song is more than just a band playing someone else's music. Any two-bit bar band can do that. The key is to take the tune and twist it in some way to make it interesting again. Speed it up. Slow it down. Completely change the musical style. Do something that'll take a familiar tune and force people to look at it in a new way. Take something that's old and tired and make it exciting again.
9353 is an old-school DC punk/art/psycho band. Their version of Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild is manic, scary and catchy all at the same time. I'm not sure if I should jump around and play air guitar or hide under the couch. This comes from their 2nd LP We Are Absolutely Sure There Is No God, later released on CD as Make Your Last Days Loud Days. Despite the fact that Amazon lists it, I'm pretty sure it's out of print. It turns up on Ebay periodically though. Be warned that it you search for "9353" on Ebay, you'll also find the occasional Air Supply single. Really.
There's no denying that Rock Around The Clock is an absolute classic. Of course, that makes it the perfect target to be destroyed. This version comes from the Sex Pistols' Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. I've heard that this is The Sex Pistols, Tenpole Tudor, or possibly Eddie Tenpole fronting the Sex Pistols. I really don't know. I know it's a great tune though.
Talk about fun. What could be more fun than a bunch of New York hipsters playing toy instruments. Well, they could be covering a classic pop song. Say...The Letter. Pianosaurus does exactly that. Originally by Wayne Carson Thompson and made famous by The Box Tops. This band never fails to put a smile on my face.
The last time I saw Q And Not U I picked up this compilation called Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again. It's a compilation of indie-rock folks (many from here in the DC area) putting a new spin on songs from the Vietnam era. There are tons of great covers from the likes of Enon, Beauty Pill, Ted Leo, Death Cab and a bunch of others. Since I picked this up at a Q And Not U show, I figured I'd put up their track. It's a cover of Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down. The disc is on Exotic Fever records. It's a benefit cd for the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). If you download this and like it, you should track it down and buy it. You can get it from Exotic Fever's website, or from Dischord. It's money well spent.
Devo has done a few covers in their day, but nothing else comes close to Satisfaction. It takes some balls to take one of the most recognizable rock songs of all-time (with one of the most distinctive guitar riffs of all-time) and turn it into a herky-jerky new-wave classic all it's own. Try not to run out of breath on the "Baaaabybabybabybabybabybaby....." part of the song. This can be found on the Are We Not Men? cd. Everyone should own that. Easily my second favorite cover ever.
And then there's Hüsker Dü's cover of Eight Miles High. This song absolutely destroys every other cover song ever done. I remember the first time I heard this in the mid-80's. My college roommate brought home the 7" one day. I knew The Byrds and this song. I knew a little about Hüsker Dü and what they sounded like. I knew this would be interesting, if nothing else. Holy Mother of God. Nothing prepared me for this. Total aural onslaught. If you know what song it is ahead of time, you can pick out the parts that sound like the original...maybe even a few lyrics. Play this for your folkie friends and watch them run out of the room. The rawness and power of this song are just amazing. It goes way beyond land-and-fast. The emotion that pours out simply transcends the noise. It's one of those songs that leaves you physically drained after hearing it. I really like The Byrds version, but it's the Hüsker Dü version that just kills me. Play it as loud as you possibly can. Then play it again. You can buy it here.
All songs are posted simply for the sake of turning someone on to something they may not be familiar with. They're only up for a limited time. If you like what you hear, you should support the artists and labels involved and buy the music somewhere legit. If you support them, they'll be able to make more music. If you don't, they'll have to become insurance agents or something. Who wants that?
7/5 - mp3's are down.
Nike rips off Minor Threat
Promo for some lame Nike-sponsored tour:
Cover of an early Minor Threat EP and Complete Discography:
Maybe they got permission? Nope. From Dischord:
Many people have now noticed that Nike has appropriated the Minor Threat artwork and logo for a new skateboard demo / ad campaign. To set the record straight -- Nike never contacted Dischord to obtain permission to use this imagery, nor was any permission granted. Simply put, Nike stole it and we're not happy about it. We are not yet sure what options, if any, we have to stop Nike from using our images to sell their shoes, but if you would like to direct your complaints to Nike that would be a good place to start.
You can email Nike at:
http://swoosh.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/swoosh.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Or give them a call:
Nike World Headquarters: 1-800-344-6453 Mon- Fri 6:30 am - 4:50 pm (Pacific Time)
To longtime fans and supporters of Minor Threat and Dischord this must seem like just another familiar example of mainstream corporations attempting to to assimilate underground culture to turn a buck. However it is more disheartening to us to think that Nike may be successful in using this imagery to fool kids, just beginning to becoming familiar with skate culture, underground music and DIY ideals, into thinking that the general ethos of this label, and Minor Threat in particular, can somehow be linked to Nike's mission. In any regard, we would like to thank the many people who have written to us in the last several days to express their outrage, support and encouragement.
-------------------
Nike should be ashamed and embarrassed.
Cover of an early Minor Threat EP and Complete Discography:
Maybe they got permission? Nope. From Dischord:
Many people have now noticed that Nike has appropriated the Minor Threat artwork and logo for a new skateboard demo / ad campaign. To set the record straight -- Nike never contacted Dischord to obtain permission to use this imagery, nor was any permission granted. Simply put, Nike stole it and we're not happy about it. We are not yet sure what options, if any, we have to stop Nike from using our images to sell their shoes, but if you would like to direct your complaints to Nike that would be a good place to start.
You can email Nike at:
http://swoosh.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/swoosh.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Or give them a call:
Nike World Headquarters: 1-800-344-6453 Mon- Fri 6:30 am - 4:50 pm (Pacific Time)
To longtime fans and supporters of Minor Threat and Dischord this must seem like just another familiar example of mainstream corporations attempting to to assimilate underground culture to turn a buck. However it is more disheartening to us to think that Nike may be successful in using this imagery to fool kids, just beginning to becoming familiar with skate culture, underground music and DIY ideals, into thinking that the general ethos of this label, and Minor Threat in particular, can somehow be linked to Nike's mission. In any regard, we would like to thank the many people who have written to us in the last several days to express their outrage, support and encouragement.
-------------------
Nike should be ashamed and embarrassed.
Great time at the Ted Leo show the other night. Ted was kickin' - as always. Radio 4 didn't suck nearly as bad as I expected. Their singer really needs to see someone about that twitching problem he has though. It reminded me a bit of Angus Young, only this guy's head was swinging from side-to-side, rather than up-and-down. Ted Leo's bass player reminds me of this guy from Room 222:
The highlight of the evening was watching this guy and his friend do their "Love Is A Battlefield" dance. I'm still chuckling over that one.
Baseball game last night. Nats won 3-0. Sleater-Kinney tonight. Rock chicks rule.
The highlight of the evening was watching this guy and his friend do their "Love Is A Battlefield" dance. I'm still chuckling over that one.
Baseball game last night. Nats won 3-0. Sleater-Kinney tonight. Rock chicks rule.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
I Feel Like Bustin' Loose
Congrats to DC's own "Godfather of Go-Go" Chuck Brown on receiving one of the 2005 NEA National Heritage Fellowship Awards.
From the NEA site:
As a group, these folk and traditional artists reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their beginnings to become part of our national character. Americans all, they bring age-old customs, crafts and ways of living to the flux of American life, a pluralism that makes us strong and defines us, in the words of Walt Whitman, as "not merely a nation but a teeming nation of nations."
Rock on, Chuck.
Another of this year's honorees is Wanda Jackson, who just so happens to be playing at The Black Cat on July 8. I may have to check her out.
From the NEA site:
As a group, these folk and traditional artists reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their beginnings to become part of our national character. Americans all, they bring age-old customs, crafts and ways of living to the flux of American life, a pluralism that makes us strong and defines us, in the words of Walt Whitman, as "not merely a nation but a teeming nation of nations."
Rock on, Chuck.
Another of this year's honorees is Wanda Jackson, who just so happens to be playing at The Black Cat on July 8. I may have to check her out.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Random Stuff
The Knitters are coming!
The Knitters are basically X - Billy Zoom + Dave Alvin + Jonny Ray Bartel (on stand-up bass) singing old-school country songs. They put out one lone album back in the mid-80's. Looks like they're touring and have a new CD coming out in July. Tickets are already on sale for the Birchmere gig on 8/12. Don't expect an acoustic X gig. Go here for that. We're talkin' finger-pickin' country/bluegrass/rockabilly down-home goodness. Not to be missed.
Pool status - New coping stones and tile. Tomorrow they come out to frame where the new deck is going.
The boyfriend gets to stay home and watch the pool boys all day while I go to the office.
hrmph.
Which reminds me - The Fort Reno schedule is filling out nicely.
Ted Leo is almost sold-out. Get your tix ASAP.
Apparently, Billy Corgan is tired of being a solo artist nobody cares about. That didn't last long.
Spent Sunday with the family for Father's Day. I love my Dad. He's the best. I helped him put up a swing-set for my great-niece. Made me feel quite manly. She's growing up way too fast. She's talking like crazy and climbing everything in sight. I feel lucky as hell to have a family as close as mine. I wouldn't trade 'em for anything.
Damn. I forgot to mention Bluestate is tonight. It's not too late. Get down there and buy Leafblower a beer for his birthday.
The Knitters are basically X - Billy Zoom + Dave Alvin + Jonny Ray Bartel (on stand-up bass) singing old-school country songs. They put out one lone album back in the mid-80's. Looks like they're touring and have a new CD coming out in July. Tickets are already on sale for the Birchmere gig on 8/12. Don't expect an acoustic X gig. Go here for that. We're talkin' finger-pickin' country/bluegrass/rockabilly down-home goodness. Not to be missed.
Pool status - New coping stones and tile. Tomorrow they come out to frame where the new deck is going.
The boyfriend gets to stay home and watch the pool boys all day while I go to the office.
hrmph.
Which reminds me - The Fort Reno schedule is filling out nicely.
Ted Leo is almost sold-out. Get your tix ASAP.
Apparently, Billy Corgan is tired of being a solo artist nobody cares about. That didn't last long.
Spent Sunday with the family for Father's Day. I love my Dad. He's the best. I helped him put up a swing-set for my great-niece. Made me feel quite manly. She's growing up way too fast. She's talking like crazy and climbing everything in sight. I feel lucky as hell to have a family as close as mine. I wouldn't trade 'em for anything.
Damn. I forgot to mention Bluestate is tonight. It's not too late. Get down there and buy Leafblower a beer for his birthday.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Looks like the Decahedron show ain't happening. It's no longer listed on the Black Cat's site. I guess that solves my dilemma of whether or not to rush home tonight to try to make it.
I just discovered that the word preceding "dilemma" in Yahoo!'s dictionary is "dildo".
I just discovered that the word preceding "dilemma" in Yahoo!'s dictionary is "dildo".
Saturday, June 18, 2005
This is what our backyard looked like when we moved in:
This is what it looks like as of today:
They finally started working on the pool this week. We're having it resurfaced, getting new tile and brickwork, a new deck, etc. We were hoping to have everything done by the middle of June, but the whole process is taking a lot longer than we expected. They said it would be done by July 4. I've got my fingers crossed for that. At least we'll have most of the summer left. It's gonna be great when it's done. Party at our house.
BF just informed me that we're going to the Lantern tonight. That works for me.
Now playing: the new Sleater-Kinney. Holy crap. Rock chicks rule.
This is what it looks like as of today:
They finally started working on the pool this week. We're having it resurfaced, getting new tile and brickwork, a new deck, etc. We were hoping to have everything done by the middle of June, but the whole process is taking a lot longer than we expected. They said it would be done by July 4. I've got my fingers crossed for that. At least we'll have most of the summer left. It's gonna be great when it's done. Party at our house.
BF just informed me that we're going to the Lantern tonight. That works for me.
Now playing: the new Sleater-Kinney. Holy crap. Rock chicks rule.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Thanks to OnTap Magazine I ended up with a last-minute free ticket to Bloc Party's show last night. I was going to see Travis Morrison, but since it was free, I opted for Bloc Party instead. I'll catch Travis at Fort Reno this summer.
For a show that sold out in weeks in advance, there sure were tons of people looking to sell their extras outside. Considering that there was a fair amount of room available in the back of the club, it looks like many people got stuck with them. Missed all the openers. Bloc Party put on a good, solid, brief set (about an hour, including the encore). Had I never seen them before, I probably would have thought they were great. Having seen them 3 times in 2 months (twice this week alone), they just didn't do much for me last night. I like their CD and EP a lot, but I think I'm Bloc-Partied-out. That says more about me than their performance. They sounded fine. I'm glad I went. I'm glad it was free. I won't go out of my way to see them again any time soon.
Oh yeah - you can download the show here. NPR broadcast it last night and they're making it available in mp3 format.
Decahedron's playing the Black Cat on Sunday. I'd like to go, but it's Father's Day. I doubt I'll get back in time to hit the show. Gotta spend time with Dad. I don't do that enough.
Got the re-ish of You're Living All Over Me this week. What an awesome disc. Highly recommended.
My boss is back after a rather lengthy absence. Back with a vengeance. Ugh. When's it my turn for a vacation?
For a show that sold out in weeks in advance, there sure were tons of people looking to sell their extras outside. Considering that there was a fair amount of room available in the back of the club, it looks like many people got stuck with them. Missed all the openers. Bloc Party put on a good, solid, brief set (about an hour, including the encore). Had I never seen them before, I probably would have thought they were great. Having seen them 3 times in 2 months (twice this week alone), they just didn't do much for me last night. I like their CD and EP a lot, but I think I'm Bloc-Partied-out. That says more about me than their performance. They sounded fine. I'm glad I went. I'm glad it was free. I won't go out of my way to see them again any time soon.
Oh yeah - you can download the show here. NPR broadcast it last night and they're making it available in mp3 format.
Decahedron's playing the Black Cat on Sunday. I'd like to go, but it's Father's Day. I doubt I'll get back in time to hit the show. Gotta spend time with Dad. I don't do that enough.
Got the re-ish of You're Living All Over Me this week. What an awesome disc. Highly recommended.
My boss is back after a rather lengthy absence. Back with a vengeance. Ugh. When's it my turn for a vacation?
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Fort Reno
The Fort Reno summer concert schedule is up. Well, a good chunk of it anyway. Lots of "TBA" slots.
Pretty good list so far: Q and Not U, Mary Timony, Medications, Del Cielo, The Evens, French Toast, et al.
For the full schedule, go here.
Pretty good list so far: Q and Not U, Mary Timony, Medications, Del Cielo, The Evens, French Toast, et al.
For the full schedule, go here.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
You're a Bone Machine
So last night I dragged the BF out to Merriweather to catch The Pixies. After our long, tiring weekend, I give him all the credit in the world for heading up to Columbia on a rainy night to see a band he's not very familiar with. He's the best.
We got there right about the time The Bellrays started. Never heard of them. The best way I can think of to describe them would be Janis Joplin fronting The Blues Brothers. From where we were standing they sounded terrific. If you missed them, you missed-out.
Since the BF was being such a good sport, I told him we didn't have to go down for Bloc Party. I didn't really care about seeing them as much as I just wanted to hear them. I could do that fine from the lawn. About that time the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain. Our instinct was to run into 9:32, but after a few seconds we realized that the rain actually felt pretty good, considering the heat and 200% humidity. We just stuck it out and got a little wet. We ended up running into a few friends during the BP set and hung out with them for a while near the back of the lawn. BP sounded good, but I think the early heat and the later rain kept the crowd's spirits down a bit.
Then there were The Pixies. I caught the DAR show a few months back. They were pretty good then, but I didn't really see what all the hype was about. I think I get it now. They were nothing short of amazing. I don't know if it was the fact that everyone was hot and sweaty as hell, the fact that they were awarded a gold record for Surfer Rosa after the second song (it only took 17 years) , or they were just damn glad to be playing, but they were f-cking on fire last night. Holy crap. One blistering song after another, and they looked like they were loving every sweaty second of it. Wow. I have seen the light. Bone Machine, Caribou, Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Hey, Broken Face... Outstanding. Oh yeah - we even got the best parking spot ever. Once in the care, we were out of the parking lot in under 60 seconds. Really.
I know a lot of people hate it, but I love Merriweather. It's like a little jewel among a ton of really crappy amphitheaters. People don't realize how good they have it with MPP nearby. Wolf Trap is probably a little nicer, but that, too, is an exception. Most other big amphitheaters are almost exactly like Nissan. Big, ugly, concrete messes with absolutely no soul or personality. MPP is a great venue. Thanks to IMP for bringing it back up-to-snuff for us.
Thank God for bands like The Pixies.
We got there right about the time The Bellrays started. Never heard of them. The best way I can think of to describe them would be Janis Joplin fronting The Blues Brothers. From where we were standing they sounded terrific. If you missed them, you missed-out.
Since the BF was being such a good sport, I told him we didn't have to go down for Bloc Party. I didn't really care about seeing them as much as I just wanted to hear them. I could do that fine from the lawn. About that time the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain. Our instinct was to run into 9:32, but after a few seconds we realized that the rain actually felt pretty good, considering the heat and 200% humidity. We just stuck it out and got a little wet. We ended up running into a few friends during the BP set and hung out with them for a while near the back of the lawn. BP sounded good, but I think the early heat and the later rain kept the crowd's spirits down a bit.
Then there were The Pixies. I caught the DAR show a few months back. They were pretty good then, but I didn't really see what all the hype was about. I think I get it now. They were nothing short of amazing. I don't know if it was the fact that everyone was hot and sweaty as hell, the fact that they were awarded a gold record for Surfer Rosa after the second song (it only took 17 years) , or they were just damn glad to be playing, but they were f-cking on fire last night. Holy crap. One blistering song after another, and they looked like they were loving every sweaty second of it. Wow. I have seen the light. Bone Machine, Caribou, Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Hey, Broken Face... Outstanding. Oh yeah - we even got the best parking spot ever. Once in the care, we were out of the parking lot in under 60 seconds. Really.
I know a lot of people hate it, but I love Merriweather. It's like a little jewel among a ton of really crappy amphitheaters. People don't realize how good they have it with MPP nearby. Wolf Trap is probably a little nicer, but that, too, is an exception. Most other big amphitheaters are almost exactly like Nissan. Big, ugly, concrete messes with absolutely no soul or personality. MPP is a great venue. Thanks to IMP for bringing it back up-to-snuff for us.
Thank God for bands like The Pixies.
Monday, June 13, 2005
What a weekend!
The weekend sort of started on Thursday, when we decided to pursue our love of the arts and check out 10 Naked Men at the Warehouse Theater. It was cute. Not great, but cute. OK, I fully admit we just wanted to see this guy naked. Since we were right around the corner, we decided to head to the Eagle for a few too many drinks. Didn't get home until 3-ish. Not good on a school night.
Friday. Eagle. Sucked. Being Pride weekend, we thought it would be a bit more happening. We were wrong. Oh boy were we wrong.
Since it's Pride weekend, we decided to just get a room downtown and not worry about driving back and forth from home several times. Priceline set us up with a great room for $65/night. So cheap we decided to stay both Saturday and Sunday nights.
We skipped the parade. We decided to go see the Nationals game instead. The game was pretty boring until around the 7th inning, at which point it started to pick up. Just under 40,000 people on a sweltering Saturday night. Not bad. They won 2-1.
The plan was to go back to the hotel to change and shower before heading to Blowoff, but we decided to just go straight there. We figured it would take about 10 minutes before we'd be all hot and sweaty in the 9:30 basement anyway. We were right. Got there in time to hear some real rockin' stuff, including something by this "band" called Amusement Parks On Fire. "band" is in quotes because it's really just this one 19-year-old kid playing all of the instruments. I initially thought it might be My Bloody Valentine. Bob said it reminds him a bit of Swervedriver. I'm not very familiar with them, but based on the few samples I just listened to, I'd have to agree. Loud, swirling, lush guitars. Very nice. Check 'em out.
The boyfriend started to get a little bored, so we decided to work our way up front and head-out fairly soon. On our way up, we ran into chrisafer and I finally introduced myself. We ended up hanging out with him for the rest of the night - staying waaay to late and drinking waaay too much. It was a blast though. And that was sort of the whole point in getting a room for the weekend - so we could stay out late without worrying about driving anywhere.
The Capital Pride Festival was on Sunday. It was hell-hot outside, but still kinda fun. Ran into a bunch of people we haven't seen in months. As predicted, we didn't get there early enough to see Betty. Oh well. We got to see a 20-foot inflatable bottle of lube take out a lamp post. The lube was deflated shortly thereafter. There's a joke in there somewhere.
The highlight of the day was seeing Bob Mould perform. I think he got in 4 songs before the announcer came back and basically told him he was done. I got the impression he was gonna play one more song. They were running a little behind though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they cut everyone a little short. Just a guess. Here are a few pics:
There are a couple of great pics at Bob's blog. Knowing he was only playing for about 15-20 minutes, I didn't want to spend too much time jockeying for position and trying to take more/better pics. I was more concerned with watching and listening.
Lots of eye-candy all day. The beer tents were packed, but I think it was more for the shade they provided than anything else. You know it's hot when I actually prefer water to beer.
Dinner at Peppers, then back to the hotel. No time to rest though. Now it's time to head to the Black Cat to catch Sloan and The Capitol Years. The Capitol Years are a great band out of Philly. kick-ass rock and roll. Tons of fun to watch. They did not disappoint last night. I wish they could have played a little longer. They have some songs up on their myspace page.
My first time catching Sloan. I only have their new CD, which is a collection of singles. That made up the bulk of their show, so I was pleased that I knew a lot of the songs they played. The CD is full of great pop songs, with a bit of an indie-edge to them. Live, they're much more in-your-face and come off more like a solid garage band with great pop sensibilities. Very impressive. I'm surprised they're not more popular. They certainly slipped under my radar for a long time (they've been around for something like 14 years already). The Cat was less than half-full. If you like catchy pop tunes, check them out. Tell all your friends and show them how cool you are.
The boyfriend wasn't interested in the show, so I met up with him at the Eagle afterwards. Pretty exhausted by this point. Back to the hotel by 1:00am. An early night for a change.
So now I'm home. As if I didn't have a full weekend already, we're getting ready to get in the car and head up to the Pixies/Bloc Party show at Merriweather. Should be swell. You'll probably find us at 9:32 between bands.
Apparently, MJ is completely innocent.
Friday. Eagle. Sucked. Being Pride weekend, we thought it would be a bit more happening. We were wrong. Oh boy were we wrong.
Since it's Pride weekend, we decided to just get a room downtown and not worry about driving back and forth from home several times. Priceline set us up with a great room for $65/night. So cheap we decided to stay both Saturday and Sunday nights.
We skipped the parade. We decided to go see the Nationals game instead. The game was pretty boring until around the 7th inning, at which point it started to pick up. Just under 40,000 people on a sweltering Saturday night. Not bad. They won 2-1.
The plan was to go back to the hotel to change and shower before heading to Blowoff, but we decided to just go straight there. We figured it would take about 10 minutes before we'd be all hot and sweaty in the 9:30 basement anyway. We were right. Got there in time to hear some real rockin' stuff, including something by this "band" called Amusement Parks On Fire. "band" is in quotes because it's really just this one 19-year-old kid playing all of the instruments. I initially thought it might be My Bloody Valentine. Bob said it reminds him a bit of Swervedriver. I'm not very familiar with them, but based on the few samples I just listened to, I'd have to agree. Loud, swirling, lush guitars. Very nice. Check 'em out.
The boyfriend started to get a little bored, so we decided to work our way up front and head-out fairly soon. On our way up, we ran into chrisafer and I finally introduced myself. We ended up hanging out with him for the rest of the night - staying waaay to late and drinking waaay too much. It was a blast though. And that was sort of the whole point in getting a room for the weekend - so we could stay out late without worrying about driving anywhere.
The Capital Pride Festival was on Sunday. It was hell-hot outside, but still kinda fun. Ran into a bunch of people we haven't seen in months. As predicted, we didn't get there early enough to see Betty. Oh well. We got to see a 20-foot inflatable bottle of lube take out a lamp post. The lube was deflated shortly thereafter. There's a joke in there somewhere.
The highlight of the day was seeing Bob Mould perform. I think he got in 4 songs before the announcer came back and basically told him he was done. I got the impression he was gonna play one more song. They were running a little behind though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they cut everyone a little short. Just a guess. Here are a few pics:
There are a couple of great pics at Bob's blog. Knowing he was only playing for about 15-20 minutes, I didn't want to spend too much time jockeying for position and trying to take more/better pics. I was more concerned with watching and listening.
Lots of eye-candy all day. The beer tents were packed, but I think it was more for the shade they provided than anything else. You know it's hot when I actually prefer water to beer.
Dinner at Peppers, then back to the hotel. No time to rest though. Now it's time to head to the Black Cat to catch Sloan and The Capitol Years. The Capitol Years are a great band out of Philly. kick-ass rock and roll. Tons of fun to watch. They did not disappoint last night. I wish they could have played a little longer. They have some songs up on their myspace page.
My first time catching Sloan. I only have their new CD, which is a collection of singles. That made up the bulk of their show, so I was pleased that I knew a lot of the songs they played. The CD is full of great pop songs, with a bit of an indie-edge to them. Live, they're much more in-your-face and come off more like a solid garage band with great pop sensibilities. Very impressive. I'm surprised they're not more popular. They certainly slipped under my radar for a long time (they've been around for something like 14 years already). The Cat was less than half-full. If you like catchy pop tunes, check them out. Tell all your friends and show them how cool you are.
The boyfriend wasn't interested in the show, so I met up with him at the Eagle afterwards. Pretty exhausted by this point. Back to the hotel by 1:00am. An early night for a change.
So now I'm home. As if I didn't have a full weekend already, we're getting ready to get in the car and head up to the Pixies/Bloc Party show at Merriweather. Should be swell. You'll probably find us at 9:32 between bands.
Apparently, MJ is completely innocent.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Concert Meme
I saw this a while back, but never got around to doing it. Data Jockey's recent post reminded me about it.
* Reply to this message telling me which of these 30 artists you have also seen perform.
* Take the ones from my list that you have seen, and post them in your own blog.
* Add more until you have 30.
Some of the bands I've seen:
The Cure *
Death Cab For Cutie *
Siouxsie and the Banshees *
Bruce Cockburn *
New Order *
Love and Rockets *
Mark Eitzel *
The Grateful Dead
R.E.M.
Ramones
KISS
The Psychedelic Furs
Black Flag
Divine
David Bowie
The Residents
Laurie Anderson
X
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
The Cramps
Foo Fighters
Mission Of Burma
Q And Not U
The Fleshtones
Patti Smith
Nina Hagen
Trouble Funk
Public Image Ltd.
Pat Benatar
Devo
* - in common with data jockey
They're in no particular order. There are probably at least 100 more. I've seen most of these bands multiple times. Yes, that includes KISS and Pat Benatar. Unfortunately, I only saw Divine once.
I've actually got a list of just about every show I've seen. I should link to that someday.
* Reply to this message telling me which of these 30 artists you have also seen perform.
* Take the ones from my list that you have seen, and post them in your own blog.
* Add more until you have 30.
Some of the bands I've seen:
The Cure *
Death Cab For Cutie *
Siouxsie and the Banshees *
Bruce Cockburn *
New Order *
Love and Rockets *
Mark Eitzel *
The Grateful Dead
R.E.M.
Ramones
KISS
The Psychedelic Furs
Black Flag
Divine
David Bowie
The Residents
Laurie Anderson
X
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
The Cramps
Foo Fighters
Mission Of Burma
Q And Not U
The Fleshtones
Patti Smith
Nina Hagen
Trouble Funk
Public Image Ltd.
Pat Benatar
Devo
* - in common with data jockey
They're in no particular order. There are probably at least 100 more. I've seen most of these bands multiple times. Yes, that includes KISS and Pat Benatar. Unfortunately, I only saw Divine once.
I've actually got a list of just about every show I've seen. I should link to that someday.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Coupon King
I'm a sucker for coupons. Give me a decent coupon and I'll buy all kinds of crap I don't need.
Case in point: I found a Borders coupon in one of the monthly rags they distribute here at work. 20% off just about anything. I immediately changed my plans for my lunch hour, jumped in the car and headed for White Flint. Thanks to traffic, I only had about 10 minutes to browse before I had to start heading back.
I ended up walking out with 3 books. Books instead of music? Don't sound so surprised. The books are all about music.
Cinderella's Big Score - Maria Raha
This has been in my wishlist for a couple of months, but this is the first time I've actually seen it. I picked it up and opened it to a random page. The first words I saw were "Casual Dots." I had to get this one immediately. Looks great, although I'm a little disappointed that 80 pages of it is bibliography, discographies and notes. I love rock chicks.
From The Velvets To The Voidoids - Clinton Heylin
Back in print. I actually found it on the "New Releases" table. I've been half-heartedly looking for this one for a couple of years. It's supposed to be one of the best documents of the era. We'll see.
Psychedelic Furs: Beautiful Chaos - Dave Thompson
Before I found The Grateful Dead and R.E.M. I was the world's biggest Psychedelic Furs fan. OK - probably not - but they were the first band that had me scavenging record stores for imports, b-sides, alternate pic sleeves, etc. I couldn't get enough. I remember begging my parents to let me go into DC to catch them on the Forever Now tour at the Warner. They didn't want me driving into the big bad city, after only having my license for a few months. I caught them a bunch of times later in both larger and smaller venues, but missing that tour still bugs me.
This book actually looks kind of lame, but there's not exactly a library full of books regarding the P. Furs. Anything is better than nothing. My copy actually has a different cover. I guess it's been reprinted recently.
A quick glance through Amazon shows what I expected. I could have saved a few bucks by ordering these all online. But the lure of the coupon was too much to resist. Now I have 3 more books to add to the ever-growing stack that I haven't read yet. Hoping to catch up a bit this summer. We'll see.
Sucker.
Case in point: I found a Borders coupon in one of the monthly rags they distribute here at work. 20% off just about anything. I immediately changed my plans for my lunch hour, jumped in the car and headed for White Flint. Thanks to traffic, I only had about 10 minutes to browse before I had to start heading back.
I ended up walking out with 3 books. Books instead of music? Don't sound so surprised. The books are all about music.
Cinderella's Big Score - Maria Raha
This has been in my wishlist for a couple of months, but this is the first time I've actually seen it. I picked it up and opened it to a random page. The first words I saw were "Casual Dots." I had to get this one immediately. Looks great, although I'm a little disappointed that 80 pages of it is bibliography, discographies and notes. I love rock chicks.
From The Velvets To The Voidoids - Clinton Heylin
Back in print. I actually found it on the "New Releases" table. I've been half-heartedly looking for this one for a couple of years. It's supposed to be one of the best documents of the era. We'll see.
Psychedelic Furs: Beautiful Chaos - Dave Thompson
Before I found The Grateful Dead and R.E.M. I was the world's biggest Psychedelic Furs fan. OK - probably not - but they were the first band that had me scavenging record stores for imports, b-sides, alternate pic sleeves, etc. I couldn't get enough. I remember begging my parents to let me go into DC to catch them on the Forever Now tour at the Warner. They didn't want me driving into the big bad city, after only having my license for a few months. I caught them a bunch of times later in both larger and smaller venues, but missing that tour still bugs me.
This book actually looks kind of lame, but there's not exactly a library full of books regarding the P. Furs. Anything is better than nothing. My copy actually has a different cover. I guess it's been reprinted recently.
A quick glance through Amazon shows what I expected. I could have saved a few bucks by ordering these all online. But the lure of the coupon was too much to resist. Now I have 3 more books to add to the ever-growing stack that I haven't read yet. Hoping to catch up a bit this summer. We'll see.
Sucker.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Erasure
Last night the BF and I fought the monsoon and made our way to the 9:30 Club to catch Erasure. It was a fairly miserable drive downtown, but just as we were arriving the rain pretty much stopped, which allowed us to get inside relatively dry. The same can't be said for many of the others there, who appeared to be soaked to the bone. Ugh.
As we were walking in, I thought I heard Bloc Party in the background. Nope. Turns out it was the opening band Elkland. We caught their last 2 songs. Not too bad at all. Another of those too-dancey-to-be-a-rock-band-but-too-rockin-to-be-called-dance-music kind of bands - a la The Killers, Bloc Party, etc. I liked them. I wish we had gotten there a little earlier. Must investigate further.
I'm not the world's biggest Erasure fan, but as a gay man coming out in the 80's they were inescapable at the time. I probably couldn't name a single Erasure song, but I recognized at least half of what they played last night. Close my eyes and I can easily picture being back at JR's circa 1989. Talk about a mixed-blessing - haha.
As expected, they put on a helluva show. Hit after hit after hit. The stage and lighting were nothing short of stunning at times. Beautifully done. Costume changes, angel wings, an Elvis-type jumpsuit, backup singers in Marilyn Monroe-esque dresses...never a dull moment. We even got an interesting cover of Blondie's "Rapture".
One of the most fun crowds I've seen at a show in quite a while. Most of the shows I go to are loaded with jaded too-cool-to-have-fun types. Not last night. The whole crowd was singing, dancing, cheering and clapping along through every tune. It was impossible not to get all caught up in it. Everyone around me - gay, straight, male and female was having a blast. Even the BF was dancing around - and that's a definite rarity.
This was also probably the most comfortable sold-out show I've seen at the club in a long time. There seemed to be plenty of room. I didn't feel like a sardine. Nobody was forced to watch the show from the hallway. Very pleasantly crowded. I wish more sold-out shows were like that. I wonder if that had anything to do with the date-change?
Great show. I had my doubts going in, but they were terrific.
Snagged a Pixies/Bloc Party poster on the way out. Stopped by JR's on the way home. We thought it might be jumpin' with folks coming from the show. Instead it was packed for Showtune Night. Ugh. We didn't stay long.
The sky opened up again on the way home. The right lane of 16th St. was basically a river. The west side of the street was pitch black. No power. The east side of the street was fine. That was kind of eerie.
Tried to check on the bunnies when we got home. No sign of them, but we can't see in their hole. Hopefully, they've burrowed down deep and are ok.
As we were walking in, I thought I heard Bloc Party in the background. Nope. Turns out it was the opening band Elkland. We caught their last 2 songs. Not too bad at all. Another of those too-dancey-to-be-a-rock-band-but-too-rockin-to-be-called-dance-music kind of bands - a la The Killers, Bloc Party, etc. I liked them. I wish we had gotten there a little earlier. Must investigate further.
I'm not the world's biggest Erasure fan, but as a gay man coming out in the 80's they were inescapable at the time. I probably couldn't name a single Erasure song, but I recognized at least half of what they played last night. Close my eyes and I can easily picture being back at JR's circa 1989. Talk about a mixed-blessing - haha.
As expected, they put on a helluva show. Hit after hit after hit. The stage and lighting were nothing short of stunning at times. Beautifully done. Costume changes, angel wings, an Elvis-type jumpsuit, backup singers in Marilyn Monroe-esque dresses...never a dull moment. We even got an interesting cover of Blondie's "Rapture".
One of the most fun crowds I've seen at a show in quite a while. Most of the shows I go to are loaded with jaded too-cool-to-have-fun types. Not last night. The whole crowd was singing, dancing, cheering and clapping along through every tune. It was impossible not to get all caught up in it. Everyone around me - gay, straight, male and female was having a blast. Even the BF was dancing around - and that's a definite rarity.
This was also probably the most comfortable sold-out show I've seen at the club in a long time. There seemed to be plenty of room. I didn't feel like a sardine. Nobody was forced to watch the show from the hallway. Very pleasantly crowded. I wish more sold-out shows were like that. I wonder if that had anything to do with the date-change?
Great show. I had my doubts going in, but they were terrific.
Snagged a Pixies/Bloc Party poster on the way out. Stopped by JR's on the way home. We thought it might be jumpin' with folks coming from the show. Instead it was packed for Showtune Night. Ugh. We didn't stay long.
The sky opened up again on the way home. The right lane of 16th St. was basically a river. The west side of the street was pitch black. No power. The east side of the street was fine. That was kind of eerie.
Tried to check on the bunnies when we got home. No sign of them, but we can't see in their hole. Hopefully, they've burrowed down deep and are ok.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Bunnies
Yesterday, the boyfriend and I were curled-up, napping on the couch when there was a knock on the door. It was a girl from our neighborhood, telling us that we had a baby rabbit in our front yard, and it looked like it was dying. I ran out to the sidewalk to take a look. Sure enough there was this tiny baby rabbit squirming around on the sidewalk. Small enough to fit several of them in my hand. Eyes still closed. Ears pinned back. It would take a step or two, then fall over onto it's back, where it would wriggle around for a few seconds, until it could flip itself upright again. Poor thing. It must have come down the ivy-covered hill in front of our house, then fallen off of the retaining wall.
As I said thank you to the little girl, I noticed that there was another one a few feet behind her. Same deal. Laying on it's back, trying to flip over. I ran inside to get a box to put them in, before the local cat could come over and get to them. I came back with the box and discovered a 3rd bunny. A few minutes later, there was a fourth. We filled the box with grass and took it onto our porch in the backyard.
We took a look at rabbit.org and a few other sites. We were a little worried about touching them, thinking they'd be abandoned by their mother, but we didn't feel we had much choice. The alternative was to leave them on the sidewalk or let them squirm their way onto the street. The websites said that rabbits weren't put off by human scents and the mother wouldn't really care. Whew. The sites also said the best thing to do is leave them alone, that the mother would be back later in the evening to feed them. So we decided to find their nest and put them back. Based on info and pics on those websites, I'd say the rabbits were maybe a week old. They had fur, but their eyes weren't opened yet and they had trouble keeping their balance.
We poked around in the ivy for a bit and finally found their hole. Inside the hole we could see at least 2 more bunnies poking out. One-by-one we put them back in the hole. A bit comical, as one would crawl in, another would crawl out and start making it's way down the hill. They eventually all stayed in and appeared to go to sleep.
After finding another one on the sidewalk a few hours later, we decided to put a small chicken-wire fence up at the bottom of the hill. At least that way they'd stop falling off the retaining wall. That appeared to do the trick. No more bunnies on the sidewalk today. We checked on them this morning, and they were up and about, crawling all over the ivy. That's fine, as long as they don't make it to the sidewalk. No idea if their mother came back to them.
(Insert "Bunnies" by Pansy Division here)
As I said thank you to the little girl, I noticed that there was another one a few feet behind her. Same deal. Laying on it's back, trying to flip over. I ran inside to get a box to put them in, before the local cat could come over and get to them. I came back with the box and discovered a 3rd bunny. A few minutes later, there was a fourth. We filled the box with grass and took it onto our porch in the backyard.
We took a look at rabbit.org and a few other sites. We were a little worried about touching them, thinking they'd be abandoned by their mother, but we didn't feel we had much choice. The alternative was to leave them on the sidewalk or let them squirm their way onto the street. The websites said that rabbits weren't put off by human scents and the mother wouldn't really care. Whew. The sites also said the best thing to do is leave them alone, that the mother would be back later in the evening to feed them. So we decided to find their nest and put them back. Based on info and pics on those websites, I'd say the rabbits were maybe a week old. They had fur, but their eyes weren't opened yet and they had trouble keeping their balance.
We poked around in the ivy for a bit and finally found their hole. Inside the hole we could see at least 2 more bunnies poking out. One-by-one we put them back in the hole. A bit comical, as one would crawl in, another would crawl out and start making it's way down the hill. They eventually all stayed in and appeared to go to sleep.
After finding another one on the sidewalk a few hours later, we decided to put a small chicken-wire fence up at the bottom of the hill. At least that way they'd stop falling off the retaining wall. That appeared to do the trick. No more bunnies on the sidewalk today. We checked on them this morning, and they were up and about, crawling all over the ivy. That's fine, as long as they don't make it to the sidewalk. No idea if their mother came back to them.
(Insert "Bunnies" by Pansy Division here)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Catching Up
Went to see Washington Social Club, Army of Me and Exit Clov on Friday. What a great night. The Black Cat was packed. Great to see people come out for a night of all-DC bands. Despite what some people think, there's a lot of good music here in DC. Nice to see people supporting it.
My first time seeing Exit Clov. I had heard great things about them. They didn't disappoint. I'm not sure how to describe them though. Kind of poppy. Kind of jammy. I definitely need to check them out again. Check out the songs on their website. Apparently, they just bought a new van. If you like what you hear, buy an EP and help them out.
Army of Me - the band that seems to open for everyone on the planet - put on a fine show. I'm starting to like them more and more. According to Coolfer, they're starting to get noticed. Catch them while you can. Good, basic indie-pop. Songs here.
Of course, my local fave WSC stole the show. I can't get enough of these guys (and gal). The crowd up front was loving every second of it. They always look like they're having such a great time. It's quite infectious. I could go see them every week. I've got some pics, but they're not ready to put up yet. I'll try to get to that tonight. Looking forward to their new disc, whenever that comes out.
Other stuff...
Went to the Lantern last night. Not our usual Saturday spot, but we were up for something different. $5 for all the beer you can drink? Cool. Of course, 5 minutes after we paid for that it was shirtless guys drink free for an hour. Oh well. I can't really complain about spending $5 all night. Annie's for a late-night breakfast. Yummy. We may have to hit the Lantern more often. Did I ever mention that the BF and I met there? At the old, sleazy Lantern no less - haha.
Erasure tomorrow night. Heaven or hell? I'll let you know on Tuesday. Should be interesting either way. Too bad we're not going on Tuesday:
ERASURE TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM CAPITAL PRIDE
DirectorÂs Awards Will Also Recognize Outstanding Service in Advocacy, Family, Health, Arts and Community Service
Washington, DC ÂThe British pop band Erasure will receive a special Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts from Capital Pride as part of this yearÂs Capital Pride DirectorÂs Awards. The award will be presented to Erasure at their concert at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, June 7.
We bought a new camera yesterday. Ritz had it on sale. The salesman said they were out. We had him call a bunch of different stores to try to track one down. He said nobody in town had them, but if we wanted to pay for it now, they'd let us know when it comes in. umm....no. We went home, called 2 stores and found one. Then after having the second salesman explain for 5 minutes why we needed the smaller memory stick, he proceeded to sell us the wrong size. We need to go back tomorrow and replace it. I'm sure there's a joke about the big stick in there somewhere...
Got the camera just in time for Capital Pride. Technically, it starts this week. All the good stuff happens this coming weekend. We'll probably skip the parade and go to the Nats game instead. The plan is to hit Blowoff on Saturday and maybe the Eagle. Then hit the festival on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Betty, if I can get my ass out of bed and over there in time. They're the very first act on the main stage. Bob Mould plays later in the day - around 3:50, I think. Solo acoustic. I was hoping for the new band, but I guess it's not worth it for the limited time he gets to play. Should be great though. Nice interview with Bob in the Pride Guide.
We may just get a room in town that night. No point in staying out until a ridiculous hour, heading home for a couple hours, then returning to the city by noon. I guess we need to decide that soon.
Got everything straightened-out to get our pool redone. Unfortunately, they can't start until next week. This is taking a lot longer than I had hoped. At the rate, we'll be lucky to have it done by July 4. It's gonna be great when it's finished though.
Lots of great shows coming up. The Pixies, Ted Leo, Sleater-Kinney, Dinosaur, Jr., Devo, Medications, Decahedron....busy, busy, busy. And that doesn't even count the Fort Reno shows.
Admit it. You chuckled at least once when you heard Anderson Cooper say "Deep Throat."
Time to get outside and mow the lawn. I love these hot and humid days. Bring 'em on!
My first time seeing Exit Clov. I had heard great things about them. They didn't disappoint. I'm not sure how to describe them though. Kind of poppy. Kind of jammy. I definitely need to check them out again. Check out the songs on their website. Apparently, they just bought a new van. If you like what you hear, buy an EP and help them out.
Army of Me - the band that seems to open for everyone on the planet - put on a fine show. I'm starting to like them more and more. According to Coolfer, they're starting to get noticed. Catch them while you can. Good, basic indie-pop. Songs here.
Of course, my local fave WSC stole the show. I can't get enough of these guys (and gal). The crowd up front was loving every second of it. They always look like they're having such a great time. It's quite infectious. I could go see them every week. I've got some pics, but they're not ready to put up yet. I'll try to get to that tonight. Looking forward to their new disc, whenever that comes out.
Other stuff...
Went to the Lantern last night. Not our usual Saturday spot, but we were up for something different. $5 for all the beer you can drink? Cool. Of course, 5 minutes after we paid for that it was shirtless guys drink free for an hour. Oh well. I can't really complain about spending $5 all night. Annie's for a late-night breakfast. Yummy. We may have to hit the Lantern more often. Did I ever mention that the BF and I met there? At the old, sleazy Lantern no less - haha.
Erasure tomorrow night. Heaven or hell? I'll let you know on Tuesday. Should be interesting either way. Too bad we're not going on Tuesday:
ERASURE TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM CAPITAL PRIDE
DirectorÂs Awards Will Also Recognize Outstanding Service in Advocacy, Family, Health, Arts and Community Service
Washington, DC ÂThe British pop band Erasure will receive a special Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts from Capital Pride as part of this yearÂs Capital Pride DirectorÂs Awards. The award will be presented to Erasure at their concert at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, June 7.
We bought a new camera yesterday. Ritz had it on sale. The salesman said they were out. We had him call a bunch of different stores to try to track one down. He said nobody in town had them, but if we wanted to pay for it now, they'd let us know when it comes in. umm....no. We went home, called 2 stores and found one. Then after having the second salesman explain for 5 minutes why we needed the smaller memory stick, he proceeded to sell us the wrong size. We need to go back tomorrow and replace it. I'm sure there's a joke about the big stick in there somewhere...
Got the camera just in time for Capital Pride. Technically, it starts this week. All the good stuff happens this coming weekend. We'll probably skip the parade and go to the Nats game instead. The plan is to hit Blowoff on Saturday and maybe the Eagle. Then hit the festival on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Betty, if I can get my ass out of bed and over there in time. They're the very first act on the main stage. Bob Mould plays later in the day - around 3:50, I think. Solo acoustic. I was hoping for the new band, but I guess it's not worth it for the limited time he gets to play. Should be great though. Nice interview with Bob in the Pride Guide.
We may just get a room in town that night. No point in staying out until a ridiculous hour, heading home for a couple hours, then returning to the city by noon. I guess we need to decide that soon.
Got everything straightened-out to get our pool redone. Unfortunately, they can't start until next week. This is taking a lot longer than I had hoped. At the rate, we'll be lucky to have it done by July 4. It's gonna be great when it's finished though.
Lots of great shows coming up. The Pixies, Ted Leo, Sleater-Kinney, Dinosaur, Jr., Devo, Medications, Decahedron....busy, busy, busy. And that doesn't even count the Fort Reno shows.
Admit it. You chuckled at least once when you heard Anderson Cooper say "Deep Throat."
Time to get outside and mow the lawn. I love these hot and humid days. Bring 'em on!
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk - 5/30/05 - 9:30 Club
It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of electronic music. Still, I knew that the arrival of Kraftwerk was a big deal. They don't tour much at all and who knows when I'll get the opportunity to see them again. With a bit of trepidation, I plunked down the $40 (ouch) and bought my ticket.
In preparing for the show, I picked up a copy of Computer World, something I haven't heard since hanging out with my old high school friends. I also dug out my old vinyl copy of Man Machine and my Tour De France 12" - neither of which has seen much (any?) play over the last 10 years or so. Listening to all of these from a new perspective, I'm blown away by all of them. I always thought Kraftwerk was kind of interesting, but I didn't really "get it". Listening now, I can hear bits and pieces of nearly every dance track I've ever heard. Their influence is unmistakable. They were doing things 20 years ago that are still prevalent in music today. Damn. That's pretty impressive. I started getting very excited for the show, although I still wasn't sure how much I'd like sitting through a whole show's worth of it. Kraftwerk isn't exactly known for their stage presence.
We got to the club and instantly found a few friends, including an old friend from high school I haven't seen in a few years. We found a spot in the back of the sold-out crowd and planted ourselves for the evening. Kraftwerk did not disappoint. They took their classic songs, updated them so they'd fit in perfectly on any modern dance floor, and still managed to make them just twisted enough that they're still ahead of the curve. The films and light show did a fantastic job of keeping things visually interesting, while their music seemed to keep everyone in a sort of techno-trance. Lots of hits. "Neon Lights", "The Model", "Tour de France", "Trans-Europe Express", "Numbers", "Computer World" and a bunch more. They pulled out the robots. Neon-striped suits. Everyone ate it up. Before I knew it, over 2 hours had gone by. The longest show of the year felt like one of the shortest. Even the BF thought they were really good. And he HATES electronic music. He had no idea what to expect. Halfway through the first song he shot me this look that said "I can't believe you dragged me here." By the end of the night he was bopping along with everyone else, totally impressed and very glad he went. Now, whenever he hears anything remotely electronic, he just starts singing "Autobahn!" haha. He's so cute.
I won't quite give this "gig of the year" status, but I will say it's been the most impressive so far.
It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of electronic music. Still, I knew that the arrival of Kraftwerk was a big deal. They don't tour much at all and who knows when I'll get the opportunity to see them again. With a bit of trepidation, I plunked down the $40 (ouch) and bought my ticket.
In preparing for the show, I picked up a copy of Computer World, something I haven't heard since hanging out with my old high school friends. I also dug out my old vinyl copy of Man Machine and my Tour De France 12" - neither of which has seen much (any?) play over the last 10 years or so. Listening to all of these from a new perspective, I'm blown away by all of them. I always thought Kraftwerk was kind of interesting, but I didn't really "get it". Listening now, I can hear bits and pieces of nearly every dance track I've ever heard. Their influence is unmistakable. They were doing things 20 years ago that are still prevalent in music today. Damn. That's pretty impressive. I started getting very excited for the show, although I still wasn't sure how much I'd like sitting through a whole show's worth of it. Kraftwerk isn't exactly known for their stage presence.
We got to the club and instantly found a few friends, including an old friend from high school I haven't seen in a few years. We found a spot in the back of the sold-out crowd and planted ourselves for the evening. Kraftwerk did not disappoint. They took their classic songs, updated them so they'd fit in perfectly on any modern dance floor, and still managed to make them just twisted enough that they're still ahead of the curve. The films and light show did a fantastic job of keeping things visually interesting, while their music seemed to keep everyone in a sort of techno-trance. Lots of hits. "Neon Lights", "The Model", "Tour de France", "Trans-Europe Express", "Numbers", "Computer World" and a bunch more. They pulled out the robots. Neon-striped suits. Everyone ate it up. Before I knew it, over 2 hours had gone by. The longest show of the year felt like one of the shortest. Even the BF thought they were really good. And he HATES electronic music. He had no idea what to expect. Halfway through the first song he shot me this look that said "I can't believe you dragged me here." By the end of the night he was bopping along with everyone else, totally impressed and very glad he went. Now, whenever he hears anything remotely electronic, he just starts singing "Autobahn!" haha. He's so cute.
I won't quite give this "gig of the year" status, but I will say it's been the most impressive so far.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Your Radio Turned Me On
TGIF
Washington Social Club tonight at The Cat.
C'mon - Even I think Olivia is hot.
w/ Army of Me and Exit Clov.
Nice bill. Get there early.
Washington Social Club tonight at The Cat.
C'mon - Even I think Olivia is hot.
w/ Army of Me and Exit Clov.
Nice bill. Get there early.
