Posted on October 7, 2002 at 11:31 am | No Comments

Ok, my ears have finally stopped ringing.

Went to see Jason Loewenstein and his little rock n’ roll trio on Friday night at the Middle East Upstairs, and was expectedly and thoroughly blown away by his over-an-hour set. A fine, fine job of recreating the sound of his one-man album, and pretty damn tight for the second night of a tour. ‘Funerals’ was far better live than I’d imagined it could be, and there were a couple of bonus Sebadoh numbers thrown in (including ‘Bird in the Hand’ from ‘The Sebadoh’, which rocked me mightily). Actually, that may have been the only ‘Doh song, but the set was long and there was beer. Hard to say.

This show will go down as the one that ensured I would never, ever forget my earplugs again. Jesus, was it loud. Townshend-tinnitus loud. Muffled-hearing-for-two-days-afterward loud. That’s the last time that’s going to happen to me, I do solemnly swear. Am I getting old? I s’pose my tolerance for the eardrum-bending loud rock is fading, as is my ability to leave my house after 11pm. Granted, I can easily stay out until all hours, but when it comes to actually walking out the door around midnight… bedtime beckons. This time I waged a battle of wills against my sleepy self, and won. You will not break me.

I’m going to put that to the test this week as I spend lots of time at local clubs. On the agenda, we’ve got…

That’s a high-quality batch of shows, right there. Shortly after we’ve got Mary Timony, Fontaine Toups, the New Year, Doug Martsch, and Sleater-Kinney. Ouch. I mean, hooray. I think. Looking at that list on a Monday morning is a bit overwhelming.

Posted on October 1, 2002 at 8:46 am | No Comments

Ok, two things.

First off, how can it be October already? Sort of snuck up on me there. September was a whirlwind of work, travel, class, tv premieres, movie-going, and more travel. Blink blink, and it’s gone. All that action, and just a few blog entries. Makes sense I s’pose.

Secondly… October 1st and the temp is heading into the 80s here in Boston? Maybe mother nature is still stuck back in August along with my brain.

In an effort to conserve valuable inter-web space, I’ll refrain from writing about our little trip to Vermont, Montreal, and the uber-consumer-theme-park that is Ikea. Instead, I’ll just send you on over to Matt’s for the details. And yes, the salad was just that good.

As was pointed out to me in one of my comment boxes, that whole interstate-as-landing-strip thing I relayed last week was, as they say, bunk. A steaming pile of bunk. And it’s been sufficiently ‘de-bunked’. I’m tempted to email my TCP/IP instructor that link, so he stops spreading these blatant mistruths to his unsuspecting students. Nah, let him ramble.

These words are flying around the ‘net right now, and I think they’re worth a little copy and paste…

“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch, and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.” — Anonymous

“People can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism.” — Herman Goering

and lastly…

“There ought to be limits to freedom.” — GW Bush

Is anyone listening?

So long, Suzuki…

Speaking of things making their way around the wwweb, you’ve probably already seen this by now. Does car = our economy? Or does car = our foreign policy?

Not So Secret Service…

Oh, I’m so confident that our stealthy SS agents are doing this for our “protection”. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

To Breathe, Perhance to Dream…

Oh, please let this happen. Maybe someday I’ll come home from a show at the Middle East and not have to throw my jeans in the basement to escape the smell of stale smoke.

Turn your head slightly to the right and feast your eyes on a couple newly coded pages: a slew of P-town pictures, and a massive collection of comic-related links. While you’re clickin’, check out a few photos from Amie’s recent 5k road race. Run, Amie, Run.