Posted in Beverly Hills 90210, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Corporate skewering, Devandra Banhart, Eoin Colfer, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Josh Lieb, Political Humor, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Thomas Pynchon, YA Books on November 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND-Trout Mask Replica (1968).
–Fast and Bulbous.
–Bulbous yes, but also tapered.
This is an infamous disc in the history of music. Which surprises me, as I can’t imagine many people have ever listened to it in its entirety. I learned about it though my Frank Zappa fascination (he produced the record).
This [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Boredom, Broken Social Scene, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Dreams, Fantasy, Feist, Fiona Apple, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jeff Smith, Jimmy Gownley, Marriage Trouble, Set at School on October 12, 2009 | 2 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: FEIST-Let It Die (2004).
I’ve recently discovered Feist through Broken Social Scene. I know that she is huge (and “1,2,3,4″ is a really great song that we used for our son’s 4th birthday video), but it took me a while to catch on.
This first album (technically her second, but her first was released only on [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Big Books, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Canadian Content, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Infinite Summer, James Joyce, John Krasinski, Kurt Vonnegut, Meta, Postmoderism, Set at School, Short Films, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Tennis, The Future, Threats, Violence, William Golding, Yuck! on September 22, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Okay, now that I’ve had time to digest the book (and to cope with the ending) I wanted to give some final thoughts on the book. I also wanted to tie up some loose ends by posting my original response to the Salon.com questions as well as my letter to the posted article (keeping all [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in A Clockwork Orange, Big Books, Boredom, Canadian Content, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Infinite Summer, Meta, Neurotics, Set at School, Short Films, Sonic Youth, Suicide, Supernatural, Synesthesia, Technology, Tennis, Violence, Yuck! on September 21, 2009 | 7 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-”Rather Ripped” (2006).
When Rather Ripped came out, I was really excited by it. It rocked heavy, it was catchy and it featured a lot of Kim. I listened to it all the time, and would have said it was my favorite SY disc of this era. However, listening to Sonic Nurse reminded me [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Adventure, Big Books, Boredom, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Edith Wharton, Eschaton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Humiliation, Infinite Summer, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Morality, Neurotics, Oddities, Postmoderism, Racism, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Sports, Supernatural, Technology, Tennis, The Future, Threats, Universities, Violence on September 18, 2009 | 2 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Sonic Nurse (2004).
After the glorious Murray Street, SY return with an even better disc: Sonic Nurse. This is probably their most overtly catchy (and therefore in my opinion wonderful) record since the Goo/Dirty period of 1991. (Can it really be 13 years between these discs?).
This disc features Jim O’Rourke as well. I’m led [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Bewitched, Big Books, Boredom, Canadian Content, Cheers!, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Infinite Summer, M*A*S*H, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Neurotics, Postmoderism, Ren & Stimpy, Seinfeld, Set at School, Short Films, Suicide, Supernatural, Technology, Tennis, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Violence on September 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES-Don’t Know How to Party (1993).
I’ve always had a thing for ska (although even I got sick of it when No Doubt took over the airwaves, thanks Gwen). When ska gets added to blistering metal, well, it’s hard to resist. And so we get Boston’s own Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
This was the [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Big Books, Canadian Content, Colin Meloy, Consumerism, Contests, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, David Lynch, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Eschaton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Infinite Summer, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Neurotics, Noir, Postmoderism, Set at School, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, Sports, Sports Illustrated, Suicide, Technology, Tennis, The Future, Violence, Wikipedia, Work, Yuck! on September 4, 2009 | 5 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000).
In the midst of all of the experimentation with the SYR discs. Sonic Youth released this “proper” release.
At the time, it was actually the impetus for me to stop buying Sonic Youth records. Between the experimental discs and the expanding palate of 1,000 Leaves, it felt like Sonic Youth [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Adventure, Big Books, Boston, MA, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Eschaton, Esquire, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Goonies, Infinite Summer, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Oddities, Political Humor, Postmoderism, Religion, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Suicide, Technology, Tennis, The Future, Toilets, Violence, Yuck! on August 29, 2009 | 8 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: GARBAGE-Garbage (1995).
I was thinking about how IJ reminds me so specifically of a place and time (I instantly think of the apartment I was in when I started reading it). And there are also some discs that I was crazy about at the time too.
I very distinctly remember when the first Garbage single “Vow” [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Big Books, Boston, MA, Canadian Content, Dave Eggers, Death, Demons, Drinking, Drugs, Eschaton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Humiliation, Infinite Summer, Meta, Mystery, Neurotics, Postmoderism, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Soiled Underpants, Sonic Youth, Sports, Suicide, Supernatural, Tennis, Threats, Universities, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), WYYY 109 FM: The Largest Whole Prime on the FM Band, Yuck! on August 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH: A Thousand Leaves (1998).
This CD actually ties to the book because the crossed out title on the CD is “mille feuille” and the first song is called “Contre le Sexism.”
This opening song is weird and lets you know that this disc is not going to be a friendly listen. Over some feedback [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Big Books, Boston, MA, Canadian Content, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Garbage, Infinite Summer, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Paul F. Tompkins, Prison, Set at School, Sonic Youth, Sports, Suicide, Technology, Tennis, The Future, The Sound of Young America, Violence, Yuck! on August 15, 2009 | 5 Comments »
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star (1994).
“Bull in the Heather” is one of my favorite Sonic Youth songs. I love everything about it (even if I haven’t got a clue what it’s about): the simple opening, the switch to harmonics, and, my favorite part, the drum break that leads to the chorus [...]
Read Full Post »
