My Wikipedia Entry

I finally decided I had something worthwhile to add to Wikipedia.  Since I have been writing so extensively about McSweeney’s Books, I decided to create a more or less comprehensive list of all of the books that they have published.  (I once asked a McSweeney’s rep if he had a list and he said he [...]

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Neal Pollack–Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel (2003)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2003). How do you follow up the fantastic Soft Bulletin?  If you’re The Flaming Lips, you simultaneously pull back and push forward.  I often thing of Yoshimi as Bulletin part 2 but that’s really not right or fair.  Yoshimi has a more Pink Floyd vibe: it’s quite [...]

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Pseudonymous Bosch–If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-The Soft Bulletin (1999). This album brought The Flaming Lips out from the underground (or one-hit wonder status) into the spotlight of Well Respected Bands.  It made a whole bunch of best of 1999 lists and even a few best of the 1990s lists. The album is a lot more commercial than [...]

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Sandra Tsing Loh–Mother on Fire: A Ture Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting! [UNFINISHED]

[READ: February 14, 2009] Mother on Fire I heard about this book on The Sound of Young America.  Sandra Tsing Loh was pretty funny.  She’s a writer/performer and a contributor to NPR. This book is all about being a mother at 40. I read about 15 pages and decided that a) the book is more [...]

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Steven Blush–American Hair Metal (2006)

SOUNDTRACK: Hmmm…. There’s so much to choose from to go with this book.  And yet, despite how much I loved metal in high school, I really didn’t like hair metal at all.  In fact, when looking at the bands listed at the end of this book, there were very few that I own or intentionally [...]

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Waitin’ for a Superman [US maxi single] (1999). This single contains the official stereo mixes of two Zaireeka tracks: “Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” & “Thirty Thousand Feet of Despair.”  Unlike the downloadable homemade mixdowns, these were  created by the band.  The tracks are modified somewhat from [...]

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Ben Schott–Schott’s Original Miscellany (2003), Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany (2004) & Schott’s Sporting Gaming & Idling Miscellany (2005)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Race for the Prize (1999) & Waiting for a Superman’ (1999) singles. When these singles were released, Zaireeka was out of print; these discs were the only way to get any of the tracks.  So, each of these singles has two track from a Zaireeka disc as a B-side: “Riding to Work [...]

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Ara 13–Drawers & Booths (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Zaireeka (1997). Okay, get ready.  Zaireeka comes as a 4 CD set.  With a twist.  Each CD is meant to be played simultaneously.  So, you get yourself 4 boomboxes hit play at the same time and enjoy! Each CD has some aspects of each song.  So, on one disc you may get [...]

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Lemony Snicket–The Lump of Coal (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Clouds Taste Metallic (1995). Clouds Taste Metallic is a clear precursor to later Lips albums.  The opener “The Abandoned Hospital Ship” even sounds like it could come from Soft Bulletin (in fact it sounds more than a bit like “The Sparks That Bled”). Wayne’s high voice is finally finding its range nicely.  [...]

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Lucy Thomas–Jokes Told in Heaven About Babies (2003)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993). It’s easy to see how people could cry about the Lips moving to a major label.  I mean, comparing this to Hear It Is, they’re like different bands. Except that they’re not.  They’re still the same band, they’re just better, more refined, more mature (maybe) and [...]

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