The Dead Part of You

I'm still pretty busy at work this month but there were two anticipated records that came out this week:

Since "Will You Find Me", Ida's records have just been all peaks and valleys for me - two or three absolutely amazing songs, and then a bunch of filler. Of course, Ida's filler is still pretty darn good. The new record kind of returns to the feel of their earlier records - every song is a solid 3 or 4 stars. Nothing jumps out and says "Listen to me over and over again and cry". Nothing jumps out and says "Skip to the good song". I'm really happy with it - a little too "folk-pop" and not enough "sadcore", but what a great consistent, solid collection.



The most over-hyped record of the year. Absolutely shitty generic indie rock [Pitchfork is lying to you] that borders on crappy Paul Simonish adult contemporary. Maybe I will change my mind someday, but probably not for a few years at least.

I get inappropriate crap stuck in my head all the time, and today's no exception.



That bird better pray he don't screw up my credit.

So you find a dead body and the first person you call for advice is Mary-Kate Olsen. Really?

Wolozin knew that the "Full House" star and Ledger were friends, and she asked Olsen for advice on what she should do next.

Actually, that's all I have to say about Heath Ledger. And that Brad Renfro was way hotter anyway.

This week has been pretty sweet - it feels like the first week where I finally have nothing to do, I can just go home every night and no plan or running. So last night I got to spend time with Crackhead Tim for the first time in ages. In checking out his new dual tuner DVR [SO. JEALOUS.] I came across only the best show ever and made him watch. The best part is the way it's listed in the guide:

SEX BUNKER

Do you know what's most awesome about SEX BUNKER? Early on in the courtship of Rob we watched it together. Not only that, we put off going out to dinner so we could finish watching it. It's the little things that turn into benchmarks.

The best part is when he videotaped a dance party in the sex bunker, and then forced a sex slave to go to karaoke. I know, I know, I know it sounds fantastic, but it's true.

Sex bunker.

Edit: The point of the story! When I said to Tim "Oooh, let's watch Sex Bunker," he IMMEDIATELY assumed it was a reality television show, and you know? It totally should be. TONIGHT: ON SEX BUNKER!@11.

I went to see Blonde Redhead Sunday and I didn't recap it yesterday because it was pretty disappointing. I had pretty high hopes - their Lollapalooza set last summer really impressed me, and it's been so long since there's been anything worth going out for that I didn't mind venturing out on a Sunday night.

The best part turned out to be the opening band School of Seven Bells, which made me feel all 1992. Blonde Redhead came on about 9:20 and it was sold out. I know I should talk about the band and not the crowd, but unfortunately we were packed in right by the kid who smelled like vomit, and the kid who ripped real eye-watering farts all night. I lasted about 15 minutes before making Rob switch places with me, and 15 minutes later we just retreated to the back of the club for the rest of the show.

The band? The rocking, upbeat stuff is great live - but that only accounted for maybe a third of the set. The rest of the lazy dream-pop that works so well on record just did not translate live for me. And now that I think of it, their set at Lollapalooza was a straight forward hour of rock, which is why it impressed me then. Would I go see Blonde Redhead again? THE ANSWER IS PROBABLY NOT AS A HEADLINER, BUT DEFINITELY AS AN OPENING ACT!!!1!

I took pictures, but I'm too lazy/busy to get them off my camera today.

Misery is a Butterfly

You know what I got yesterday? A World of Warcraft Visa Card application. FOR REALS. The thing is, I actually kind of want it. The thing is, it would be so embarrassing to actually use it in public.

In all seriousness, if I was ever going to do a balance transfer, it would probably be a neat collectible to get out of the deal.

Or an obscene credit card. Really, I want to see how far I could go.

The event will not carry the Coachella brand.

In my late teenage years, one of my goals was to go to one of the UK music festivals - Reading or Glastonbury. That goal never happened, but all this time I've been very jealous of their blowouts. Over the past few years, they've started appearing more and more in the US, and while that's great for accessibility, I have to admit, some of the specialness is starting to be lost on me. Honestly, the reason I didn't go to Coachella last year was that there really wasn't anyone playing worth crossing three time zones for. Honestly, the reason I went to Lollapalooza last year was that I missed going to Coachella, and there were bands playing that were worth crossing one time zone for.

It's a snow day, so go ahead and please, please enjoy a pornographic photo that I say is photoshopped, but Rob reminded me that people put a lot of crazy shit up their ass.

Be sure to note that it was taken in what appears to be a dining room. With a cat litter box in the background. Tacky. WAIT WHERE IS THE CAT!!1!1

It's the most wonderful/hated time of the year, where for the next few weeks there's all sorts of Coachella rumors. I've already decided not to go - it's just too far and expensive and LA, but it pretty much sets up what we can expect for the rest of the US festivals, including Lollapalooza, which I am definitely going to again.

Did I tell you I went to an open casting call for Big Brother last month? Yeah, it went slightly better than I expected. I expected them to look at me and just say no, however they were polite enough to make chit chat for 3 minutes first, with the parting advice that I'd be better off sending in a tape and application.

ANYWAY, Showtime is going to air Big Brother [insert sultry Julie Chen voice] After Dark again, and you know what? I am totally going to watch.

Do you know what my first thought was about the Abba Museum? I wonder if the turd from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert will be on display. It looks like it going to be a real classy place, so probably not.

Last night I bought Mario Party for the Nintendo DS I never use, which can only mean two things today:

• After only playing for a bit last night, I'm reminded, via acute wrist pain, why I never use my DS.
• I still can't stop thinking about running home and playing more [damn! I knew should have snuck it into work].

I nibbled an edge, had a vision of a crying Dutch farmer, and put it down.

Sometimes, I like to threaten Rob with food in a bowl.

Tin foil hat. I can't pull out a key quote. Originally via, I found it while cleaning out my delicio.us links, and it's just crazy talk. Sweet, sweet crazy talk.

I try to base most of my grocery purchases on literary content.

But there's a difference between being detained involuntarily for psychological treatment and being forced to endure Dr. Phil involuntarily.

Last night Rob and I were at dinner and The Insider was on in the background, spending an entire 30 minutes on her, and all I could think of was how dare Pat O'Brien be allowed to report on any of this. I then spent the rest of the meal offending all parties around me by continually quoting his voice mail messages.

What if I web logged the stuff I came across during my day today, old school?

He broke me in in a Times Square subway about midnight, inside the porter’s room, from where we could peer into the men’s room.

After the whole daily structured web-logging, it's kind of hard to kick it freestyle again. In the world of the music not much is happening this month - the new Ida record is out the end of the month, Blonde Redhead are playing the end of the month, and that's pretty much it. I finally downloaded the Niggy Tardust record and it was pretty good and all. In an unrelated development I found myself reading Trent Reznor's thoughts on it all, strangely as they were published [seriously, I could have been FIRST!]. I pretty much found his rant kind of insulting - if you wanted people to pay 5$ for the download then maybe you shouldn't have put the whole "Free" option in there. I will definitely consider checking out Saul Williams live though, and would buy a tasteful T-shirt at the event.

In the world of television, lord it's been busy. New Years Eve brought my DVR an Intervention marathon, and New Years Day filled it up with The Biggest Loser. I even watched the premiere of The Biggest Loser: Couples. And ate ice cream, cheesecake and bacon and shouted FATTY BOOMBALATTY at the television while it was on.