Another tasty taste……

Hope your weekend was good……

A Taste, Just a Sweet Sweet Taste.

Yesterday was a really exciting day. I’ve decided to start submitting essays to my favorite magazine. It’s based in Denver, and pays 10 cents/word, which pretty much rules. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.

Secondly, on the super special secret project - I spent a couple hours with Mr. Janes getting it literally off the ground. I’m stil keeping it slightly secret, but I’m really excited about step 1 (actually step like 9), and wanted to share it with y’all.

PS - If you know of the secret project, keep it to yourself.

When I hug you, I’m not sure how hard to squeeze

In honor of vague posts written while sleepy, I have to say that today was a BIG DAY, or at least feels like it was. Sheesh!

I can’t really go into too many details, but I’m working on a super special secret project I hope everyone will love. I know I do. I’ve finished a bunch of it, and as soon as it’s mildly presentable (tomorrow?) I’ll be letting you all know.

Until then remember that an obsession with the past is just a gadfly.

Tra la la la la

Thought perhaps a quick interview update would be in order.

So far, the following have yet to respond. Days since I sent the questions are in parenthesis.

Chris Ware (379)
Seth (379)
Woody Allen (133)
Doug Martsch (133)
Miranda July (133)
Mirah (124)
Leia Bell (124)
Michael Chabon (119)
Dave Eggers (119)
Garrison Keillor (119)
Yo La Tengo (113)
Jonathan Richman (106)
Daniel Clowes (2nd attempt - 106)
Harvey Pekar (106)

I’m not passing judgment on these people. You should still see their films, listen to their music, read their comix, etc. It’s perfectly ok for them to not respond. That being said, I think I need to get back on the horse, so these week am sending out three new sets of questions.

First: Steve Martin

The second, Kevin Spacey:

And I’m taking suggestions for number 3 this week. Whatcha go, internets?

Even though you’re not around

I’m supposed to be finishing my 2008 plan, but frankly, I’ve had this really amazing, and amazingly strange day. I’ll spare details, let’s just say it’s been a ride, and I’d rather make a quick little blog post.

Last night brother minister Frechette left for a retreat in OCNJ, and asked me to guest blog on the January project. For those not in the know, this is where  we’re going to Gabor’s every night for the month of January, and which is occasionally chronicled over at fuckyouistan.

So, last night it was me and brother minister Morgan continued the streak - 10 days straight. He had the g/t (special), and I had a glass of Merlot. The basic content of our discussion, as I remember it was that going to Gabor’s every night actually cut down on our drinking, and saved us money.

The thing is, we usually go and have one cocktail. Maybe two.  This is compared to going once every ten days, and staying from 6pm-1am, drinking way more than we should, and blowing a lot of money. Wes pointed out that it also served as a reward for running each night, and that given this, he was more inclined to run more regularly or he’d feel like a slob.

I pointed out that, having just eaten two slices of Niccolo’s pizza, not had a run, and now drinking might make me a slob. He denied this. I believed him, because I needed to.

That being said, our discussion moved on to a revamping of the Marion House, to commence this Sunday, and which I’m terribly excited about. Literally cannot wait. That’s all I’ll confess to here, but I will leave you with an excellent video of one of the best Talking Heads songs. When I was a kid, I used to take really long showers listening to music. I’d lay down in the tub, and let super hot water rain down on me for 30-40 minutes, and this was always one of my favorite songs to listen to while pondering my life. It still is.

Why I Less Than Three Built to Spill

Well, since I was called out a little bit for crossing the line into bitter blogging, I’m excited to shoot that down with a brief discussion of Built to Spill.

1. They’re on a major label, but are free to roam. BTS has been putting out great music for years, and for the last 10+ years, that’s been on Warner Bros. records. Somehow, they’ve been able to retain creative control of their work, record and release records when they want to, and do it all with no hassling from Warners. AND this has all happened at the same time the majors are basically stopping any kind of support for artistic development. Kudos!

2. They support their friends who’re musicians. It seems they usually try to bring their friends who play in bands out on tour with them, or support artists like Mike Scheer by showing sideshows of their work during their shows.

3. The actually like and care about their fans. At two shows in Boulder last year, Doug and Brett came out to the sidewalk and did impromptu acoustic sets for the fans who couldn’t get in because the show sold out. They took requests, and playd for about 45 minutes each time.

4. They play EVERYWHERE. On their upcoming tour, sure they’re playing CA, but they’re also going to SLC, Fort Worth, Houston, Gainesville, St. Pete, Jacksonville,  OK City, Ashevill, Knoxville, Louisville, St. Louis, Columbia, KC, Albuquerque, and  Flagstaff. And for New Year’, they went to Australia.

5. Amazing Covers. Cortez the Killer, White Man in Hammersmith Palais,  Police and Thieves, a whole slew of Halo Benders covers, Third Uncle, Dream Operator, and completely irony free rendition of Freebird. Good work.

6.  They’re political. They hate the Bush Administration, they support the environment. On their last tour, the openers (the delusions) had ‘Screw you Dick Cheney’ stenciled on their bass drum. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

7. People LOVE them.  I’ve taken loads of people to see BTS for the first time, and they ALWAYS come away with crushes on the band.

And, all of this is above and beyond the fact that their music and lyrics are just phenomenal.  Built to Spill, you rule.

Why I Hate the Baby Boom Generation

Ok, so I’ve been thinking about this post for a while, and thought I should get some things off my chest. I fucking hate the baby boom generation, and here’s why.

1. Terrible divorce rates and crappy parenting. Seriously. All my friends are like crazy fucked up around marriage and parenthood issues, because all of our parents were so damned crazy and messed up themselves. Look, I’m sorry, but relationships are about commitment and compromise, two traits this narcissistic over-privileged generation never learned. So now we’re left overthinking this shit all the time.

2. Every time they take a shit, it ends up on the cover of Newsweek or Time. I mean really, how many times do I have to hear about the baby boomer’s problems or half successes? Ohhhh, Paul McCartney is 64! How fucking ironic! Ohhhhh, a show about 30-somethings! Wow! I need parachute pants to hide my boner now!

3. They changed the world man! They stopped a war! They blah blah blah. Never mind that the civil rights & women’s rights movements had been active for decades, or wait a second, how about that their parent’s generation stopped Hitler? It’s as if they were the only generation that ever cared about anything, when in fact a small percentage got invovled for a couple years becaue the drugs were cheap and it was easy to get laid.

4. The Doors. C’mon baby, could you be more lame? Putting the king of narcissism, and misogynist extraordinare, up on the pedestal like that is perhaps the greatest failing of the baby boom generation. Christ, could you embrace a bigger douchebag as your hero?

I’m out of steam here. Have I gotten my point across? I hope so. Tomorrow? Why I totally <3 Built to Spill, and the kids of the boomers.

Please God, I can’t be dead yet. I’m only 32!

OR

How I Caught the Gypsy 

If you’ve  ever stayed at the Marion House, odds are at some point you’ve gone across the street to, well, I don’t want to NAME it, because then a curse will be placed upon me. I’ll just point out that gypsies didn’t have houses, and this place is run by two Lebanese women anyway.

Anyway, purchasing anything at TGHC is a total and complete crapshoot. I’ve gotten one coffee for $1.50 one time, and then two for $3.50 the next. Worse are the (amazingly delicious) breakfast sandwiches. A bagel, a bunch of eggs, some cheese, and a fantastic sausage patty, all for some amount of money, usually just about as much cash as you have in your wallet.

One time, I went over asking to have 4 to-go coffee cups for a gag at poker night. It was explained to me that ‘they’re expensive’ and I was charged  $5.

But their sammiches are really where their adopted nationality comes in. Once, it cost me over $18 for 2 breakfast sandwiches (one w/o meat), a coffee, and a gatorade. See, the cost of the sandwich is nowhere on the menu.

A couple days ago, I went there with a friend. On the way, I joked, ‘What do you think they’ll charge today? I guess $8.63′.

Sure enough, the sandwich and coffee came to $9.01. It’s a bagel sammich for pete’s sake. The following is an almost word-for-word recollection of what happened next:

ME: Um, how much is the breakfast sandwich anyway?

OGL: (speaking very loud and fast) Its450forthesandwich1formeatand2forcoffeetherestisTAX

ME: Oh….(doing math in head) Well,  um, if the sandwich is $4.50, and the meat is

OGL : (cutting me off)THESANDWICHIS450THEMEATISADOLLARTHECOFFEEIS2ANDTHERESTISTAX!

ME : Ok, it’s just that tax is 8%, not 30%.

OGL : (visibly annoyed) Ok, FINE, I’ll redo it on the machine. (pressing keys very slowly) $4.50 for sandwich (click), $1 for meat (click), $1.86 for coffee (click), and TAX (click) comes to…….

At this point she goes quiet, and refuses to look me in the eye, as the register shows a bill of…….$7.88!  I paid her then she went in the back to make the sandwich. At this point, I was delirious with joy at having CAUGHT her.

When she returned, she was asking very loudly, ‘How do you think that happened? What could it have been? I don’t understand!’

But I knew what she had done. She hit the tax button three times, not once, and I told her. She denied it, but I knew that she knew it too.

An Obsession With the Past is Just a Gadfly

Ok, so a word of warning, operation, ‘30 days of Gabor’s’ is in full swing, having just returned from happy hour.

But, I’ve decided to put some energy into a much larger writing project, which is still taking insane shape in my head which is nice. In the meantime, however, I may end up writing less here, though I’ll try to throw snippets up occasionally.

Also, I’m going to attempt writing song lyrics soon. Those are def going up here. Maybe some haikus too.

In the meantime, if you need entertainment, go here. There are a lot of jam bands, but if you can get past that, you’ll find Billy Bragg in ‘82, Fugazi in ‘96, Mike Doughty and Elliott Smith.

And, to round this out, I’ll give what I’ve come up with for resolutions so far for 2008.

1. Open a Bookstore

2. Have at least one drink at Gabor’s every night in January

3. Don’t drink at all in February

4. Put out a 7″ with Will under the name, ‘The Gestetners’

5. Actually work out, at least for a little bit

6. Get a mix CD onto the jukebox at Gabors

7. Have the best mustache at cinqo de mustache

8. Be proud of myself

9. Visit every member of my family, where they live

10. Fix my ear problems

There you go. Bitches get stitches.

I wish the sun would stay out, even just for five more minutes

A couple years ago, I signed up on this website to help me quit smoking. It’s one of these deals where they send you an email every day when you’re first quitting and then sporadically afterwards. It’s a great idea, and was a huge help when I quit smoking.

The thing is, a couple months after I quit smoking (successfully) my life took some weird turns,  and I jumped off that wagon pretty quickly, though I still consider it a successful effort to quit.

The thing is, I still get these emails. Usually I delete them without reading them but today, in an effort to avoid work (success), I read it. Here are my vitals:

Time Smoke-Free: 821 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes and 48 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 12327
Lifetime Saved: 3 months, 4 days, 3 hours
Money Saved: $3,082.50

Then it has four little sections, each entitled ‘Who’s better than you today?‘, which given the reality of the situation forces me to answer, ‘um, most everybody?’.

The best one is the first self affirmation which reads, “You’ve made it! A whole 27 months without a cigarette! In that time, you’ve successfully navigated the physical chaos of withdrawal, the emotional highs and lows of early quit, and the pitfalls of relapse!”

Whoops! Not so much!

In other news, I’m listening to Elliott Smith, and before anyone goes ‘oh no’, I want to point out that  you can listen to Elliott Smith, Joy Division, etc. without it meaning you’re bummed, freaked out, whatever. Anyway, that’s my kevetch. The point of the story is that I’m listening to a bootleg from 1/31/2003. Those good with math will recognize this as his 13th last show, and took place about nine months before he died.

The thing is, it’s pretty obvious that he’s wasted. Slurring in between songs, telling weird jokes, starting sentences that only go half way, and just generally sounding out of it. But god damn, when his fingers hit the strings, and he gets the first line of the song right, it’s fucking beautiful, and I’m just amazed at anyone being able to pull that off successfully.  I know ‘wasted rocker hits notes right’ isn’t exactly a great insight, but given that it’s one guy playing acoustically, it’s quite impressive to me.