A Most Important Date
Posted on December 14, 2004 at 3:52 pm | No Comments
The holiday party at the Middle East last night was a mighty swell time indeed. Lotsa food, buncha people, friendly & familiar faces everywhere, and some hilarious metal/punk live band karaoke action.
High Rocktane was the backing band, and they definitely brought the rock-riffin-chops. The Descendents, Van Halen, the Cr�e, lots more. The cell-phone photo over on the right is some guy doing “Hot for Teacher“. The highlight was our friend Chris P. and his Lemmy impression on “Ace of Spades“, singing upwards into the mic… and if you know Chris, he is not a short man, so that was no easy feat. His intro was the best: “Up next is Chris. The guy’s pretty shitfaced, but he’s got spirit!”. Good times.
Randomness follows…
Set the TiVo: The Pixies are on David Letterman tonight.
Oh my, oh my. The reunited Slint is coming to Boston. March 20th at the Roxy, with tickets going on sale this Thursday. I’ll be click-click-clickin’ away.
Major congrats to Micki & Jason, who finished their very first marathon on Sunday. I’m in total awe of those two. Looking at the tracking results, it appears Jason kept up with Micki most of the way, but she left him behind a bit in the last leg. I’m dying to know what she said when she pulled away… “Eat my dust!” or the more kindly “Um, would it be ok if I took off?”. I’d imagine it was somewhere in the middle there.
Hey, when you’re partaking of the holiday shopping, you might wanna Buy Blue, and funnel your spending dollars to businesses that support Democratic candidates. It can be tough (especially when you bought a freakin’ house and Home Depot is unavoidable), but it’s good to stay informed either way. Amazon might donate 61% to right wingers, but hey, maybe your cash will be part of the other 40% that heads left.
My obsession with HBO’s The Wire couldn’t possibly get any more intense. I have a hard time writing or talking about it without getting all giddy. It is, without a doubt, the best show on TV right now, and probably my favorite drama ever (yeah, ask me again when I have some distance from it).
Right now, though, I’m completely caught up in the climax of season three. Sunday’s next-to-last episode had me riveted start to finish… just so brilliantly written, acted, and executed by all involved. How this show can continue to be ignored by award-givers (and much of the viewing public) is a complete mystery to me. If this really is the final season (it has yet to be renewed), I’ll mourn the hell out of it… although given what happened on Sunday, it sort of feels like the end. But please, oh please, someone say it ain’t so.
An article from The S.F. Gate wonders: ‘The Wire’ & ‘Arrested Development’: Too Smart To Make It?. Sad but probably true… keep in mind what this country did on election day.
A cool little moment from Sunday’s show, for those who didn’t recognize it, was a cameo from Boston author (and sometime Wire writer) Dennis Lehane, behind the desk at the Property Room…
“McNulty, Major Crimes”
“Sullivan, Minor Irritations”
Yeah, that’s him behind the girly mag. Word has it that Lehane is working on a new book that starts off in 1918, and us Sox fans know what that year used to represent.
For fellow Wire fans who are following along, and have already seen this past episode (you smart, smart people you), here’s a great article from yesterday’s New York Times (use bugmenot if you need to login later). I recommend not reading it if you haven’t seen any Wire… skip the spoilers and get the Season One dvds, asap.
The new Strong Bad Email over at HomestarRunner is particularly amusing, especially for all of us former college radio DJs. Um… uhhhhh… yeah. *dead air*… it, uh, sure is.
So why is this a most important date, you might be askin’? Well, thirty five short years ago today, the super-cool, totally-cute, highly-tolerant, never-boring, big-smilin’, animal-lovin’, ass-kickin’ girl I’m lucky enough to call my wife was born. There aren’t many more important dates to me than December 14th.
So happy birthday to ya, Aim. We’re so not old.
[Live MP3s] Ted Leo & the Pharmacists in Cambridge 2004
Posted on December 13, 2004 at 1:16 pm | No Comments
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists‘ sold-out show at the Middle East this past Thursday was expectedly excellent, with a set-list that touched on all three of his/their albums (2001’s Tyranny of Distance, last year’s Hearts of Oak, and this year’s Shake the Sheets), along with the Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead EP.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
live at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Dec. 9th, 2004
[ download the set as one .zip file ]
01. My Vein Ilin (from Tyranny)
02. Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone? (from Hearts)
03. The Crane Takes Flight (from Hearts)
04. Me and Mia (from Sheets)
05. The High Party (from Hearts)
06. Biomusicology (from Tyranny)
07. The One Who Got Us Out (from Sheets)
08. Counting Down the Hours (from Sheets)
09. Little Dawn (from Sheets)
10. I’m a Ghost (from Hearts)
11. Six Months in a Leaky Boat (Split Enz cover / from Balgeary)
12. Timorous Me (from Tyranny)
13. Shake the Sheets (duh)
14. Under the Hedge (from Tyranny) – broken string version
15. The Great Communicator (from Tyranny)
16. Loyal To My Sorrowful Country (from Balgeary) – fades out
I love that Ted mixed it up so evenly between the records, veering away from the traditional new-album-heavy setlists that others rely on, and also chose to give a couple solo songs the full trio-treatment (Loyal To My Sorrowful Country and the cover of …Leaky Boat). I’ve always been a Split Enz fan, so was psyched to find him covering it on the EP, and even moreso in hearing him bring it out with the band.
I was a little too far away for good photos, but I did grab one of his brother Chris (opening up acoustic as Vague Angels). I’ve listened to Chris for a long time, in four of his past bands, but have never heard him do the solo thing before. With less going on to grab my attention, I really took note of just how outstanding a guitar player the guy is. Finally got his new book, looking forward to diving into it.
Also opening was Matt Pond PA, a band I’ve now officially fallen for. Having heard, and liked, some of their stuff before, I’ve been guilty of not listening closely enough, not absorbing a full-length in one sitting. Thursday night changed that. Their performance motivated me to pick up their latest, Emblems, and I’m so into it right now. It was my long-weekend soundtrack.
As mentioned, Mr. Leo appeared bright & early on Air America Radio’s Morning Sedition the following AM, and the full broadcast has been archived over at Air America Place. The Big Ticket was kind enough to edit down the Ted material (an interview and 3 live songs), so head on over (just scroll down a bit once you’re there). Thanks much, Mr. Gilbert.