I am still feeling sort of sick, and really wanted a chocolate milkshake last night. Granted, Burger King isn't the first place you think of when you think of shakes, but what the hell, it's right there. So I head over at 10:30 pm and the shake machine is already done for the night? They are open until 1 am! I guess I'll try around 8 pm tonight. Jerks.
Happy Memorial Day, which is now done. Yesterday was (that's Sunday) weird. I worked all day then went to Old Town School to see Howe Gelb + Choir with Tim, which was pretty fanfuckingtastic or such. Then we went back to Tim's and watched No Direction Home and I started feeling stuffy or something, so he gave me some Contac which immediately made me feel uberwoozy and I had to order a very late nite pizza, after eating a Kraft single. I think I was slipping in and out of consciousness during the rest of the "doco", though I managed to maintain the key points: The kids didn't like it when Dylan stopped doing "folk" music and then got a The Band. Then at like 4am I left. I get annoyed with myself sometimes when hanging out with Tim, and think I shouldn't hang out with him as much. Then I think that's stupid and I should get over myself.
Today I felt waaaay shitty, and didn't get up til like 3pm. Laura and Alison came over and Sooz cooked us some stuff you eat on buns outside. She made me special potato salad which didn't have the crunchy stuff in it! The deviled eggs did have crunchy salt, but that's okay, I just finished them off. I watched Bubble which was pretty weirdish.
Okay, I just swallowed some of that awesome blue Tylenol cough n' sore throat stuff, I lost the dosage cup. Whoops! Hope I wake up in time for work tomorrow.
Lou came by and was like "you should go out with these TN guys and I after the BBJ show", so I did. We had a lovely time at Ricochets, then went to the Hungry Brain. I like that place. The company was good too.
Ooooh Sunday night is Howe Gelb and that gospel choir at OTS.
X-Men 3 was good, though I think 2 was better. Hmmm. It could be because of yakking morons behind us. Who knows. Today's audio word of the day comes to you courtesy of the Car Wash.
so, anyone who came Monday was absolved from tonite, I suppose. I was a wee bit disappointed, but whatever. Adam came and picked up the nite shift, so he wins. He also survived my I am so in touch with everything rambling, though I think he was just falling asleep. Anyhoot. did anyone see the comment made about my review of The Drift? I just noticed it today. It kind of makes me sad, but I think I can totally relate. I'm going to assume whomever made the comment was at some point a huge fan of Scott Walker but feels a little put off by this album. I went through a love affair with a band like that. I think the stuff they are doing now is pretty terrible, but I can see that there are some people out there who really dig it, so I can't really put it down. I just know it's not for me anymore. I suppose I am a Johnny-come-lately as far as the Scott love goes, but I heard the early stuff before the current stuff, and I think part of what I really love is the journey he has taken, the evolution. I wish I still loved that band I used to love, but I still have the older albums, I guess. Thankfully there is new (or old) stuff to be discovered once I become bored/disappointed by that which I once adored. The more I listen to The Drift the more enamored with it I become. Is it because I "get" it, or am I a big schmuck getting the wool pulled over her eyes?
What sorts of snacks does one serve at a Scott Walker party?
Anyhoot, I actually did some stuff this weekend. Friday I went to see Alejandro at Martyrs. I hadn't seen him since he was sick, and he seems pretty healthy now, Hooray! Also, George Wendt was there! I think that guy is following me around. I should have invited him to Delilah's Wednesday (I am DJing, in case I didn't tell you that). Saturday was Hot Dougs, a game of Life with Kris, Alison and Tim (Tim won, boo) and Laura's B-day party... oh and that one bar where that one friend of mine is. I drank a lot that day. Yesterday was not much, I did find a record bag, since my last one all of a sudden had two holes in it. Man, do people care about this stuff?
I hope your happy now, Scott Walker. Wait, no I don't. I think you very nature is to be unhappy, because a happy person would not have made this album that I own 4 copies of. Thank you, Scott Walker, for pulling me into the depths of your despair 4 seperate ways.
Just got back from the HWB at Subt. Dancing and hugging occured. I am not sure what is happening tomorrow nite but Sat and Sun should be cool.
Monday I am hosting the Scott Walker release party at the Hotel SnS (yeah that's right) and Wednesday I play the country music at Delilah's. Yes, I like a wide viortiy of music. Yes, I know it's asking a lot to support both endeavours on a weeknite, but see what you can do kiddies. I promised one guy I'd buy him a drink Wednesday, the rest of ya'll are on yr own.
Brianne, Kris and I got to the Chicago Theatre around 7 am. We counted approx. 35 people ahead of us in the standby line. We set up camp on the cold rainy sidewalk at the side of the ABC 7 building garage. Gods, it was a cold wind a steady drizzle to endure to not even know for sure if you were getting in. There were vague procedural guidelines around the internet, but they didn't adhere to any. At 10am we were told to gather our belongings, we were being given standby tickets! They ushered about 50 of us across State Street to Lake Street next to the theatre, and led us to the holding pen with the email ticket getters, and there wasn't many of them. The wait was a little intenese, but at lease we knew we were getting in. Some folks from Pizzaria Uno showed up with piles of pizza (yes, it was like the Snoopy Game) and eventually Conan comes charging over and tells us we are great fans to wait in the crappy weather and he got us all pizza! Plates of deep dish were passed back through the crowd in the pen. Fast forward through a few hours of drunks, somewhat unsavory people and cold and you have a a charging mob racing into the theatre around 3:30. We chose our seats (Row KK, on the Joel side and aisle, maybe 7 rows back) and waited 'til like 5 I think... The band played some songs, then the Fed Ex Pope (not in robes and hat sadly) to warm us up and ask us to get our Cubs vs. Sox frustrations out.
Then the show started! I've been a Conan fan since he took the slot over from Dave, so it was weird to see the show in a somewhat different set up, but it was really cool. It reminded me of the Toronto episodes a while ago. Of course, ours were better! In trying to pass the time we actually contemplated La Bamba's costume tonite, and were really bummed when the band came out and he was in a suit. He changed within seconds to become the Empire Carpet Man, and everyone sang 800-588-2300 Empiiiiiiiiiiiire! An icon I identified with Chicago before I lived here, because WGN on cable in Florida always fascinated me. They packed a whole lot into the episode, including Andy Richter accompanying Conan on a desk drive thru Chicago (yay Boystown!)... You could see me jumping up and down as Conan and Andy ran past us. The Sears Tower in Sears Clothing returned, and the wheel of Wendt saw George (NORM!) massaging Chewbacca, then making out with him. Obama came out, and said some pretty awesome stuff, then there was more stuff then Wilco! Hooray for doing a song that isn't on anything they are pushing! The crowd wasn't that into them, but it wasn't a really Wilco fanny crowd. We danced and sang, at least. Conan came back out to thank everyone for the week and then he brought out fucking MUCCA PAZZA! Had I read their myspace yesterday, I would have known, but I am much happier that I didn't, because it was such a happy surprise! Hooray for them, and the slightly increased traffic their website is sure to recieve!
I barely made it 'til 11:37 pm to watch it with Brianne and Adam, but we did. It's pretty weird seeing it all put together on TV. Very exhausting, but I am so glad I did it. Four nights of Chicago in-jokes with some of my favorite music AND Pizza (which I really didn't eat much of, but it's the thought that counts)...Thanks Late Night with Conan O'Brien. I can't wait til you rid the airwaves of Leno.
I can't imagine anyone outside of Chicago has been finding Conan funny this week, but I certainly have. La Bamba's costumes, Wheel of Wendt, Sears Tower in Sears Clothing... with any luck, Brianne, Kris and I will be in there tomorrow for Wilco and Obama. At any rate, everyone should watch tomorrow night.
So yeah, Saturday nite was party at Bria's, with the entire staff of POS (among many others). Drinks were drank, etc. There was a nice spread including some Brie, not to be confused with Bria. Sunday Tim and I watched Pola X which was pretty much only redeemed by its Scott Walker penned score. Mimosas were drank (drunk?) and Kristina, I do owe you a bottle of Sofia. Later still Adam and I went to see Fruit Bats at Schubas which was a really really great show, complete with enthusiastic Swedish opening band throwing wild dance moves. Talked to Thax who is not killing himself, so don't worry. Monday was another staff morale boosting nite minus Tim, but with Matt who is still a staffer in my heart or something. We even met our new CTD person! Yesterday I farted around, I was gonna go standby for Conan, but I have a little problem with getting up early. Today, work at 4.
'You could easily picture this in the current top ten'
I survived my first completely homogenic listening of Scott Walker's The Drift. The packaging, which may be different than the for sale one (this one is catalogue # drift1) is a fucking black hole in your hands. Any light immediately around it is instantly absorbed. Even the insides of the jacket and sleeves are black. I'm playing it now pretty loud, and just hope the neighbors don't think someone is being murdered, or has already been murdered and those sounds are the aftermath. Did I mention it's analog(ue)? An mp3, m4a, ogg(?) is never going to sound like this, and I can only imagine how it sounds out of speakers one notch above my Radio Shack specials. Remember those Disney LP/storybooks, where you follow along with the action of the record? This is the antithesis. I followed along with the lyrics in this 12 inch book of blackness and had the shit scared out of me. The LP format is perfect because it gives you breathing time when you get up to flip and change records. You need it. It is not a passive listening experience. I read this interview prior to the listening, and while some of the songs are "explained" they become no less provocative or oblique. I cannot believe this album exists. That this came from one guy's head who appears to be fully functional in society. Strings sound like people screaming. They had to build a percussion instrument for one song because he heard it a certain way and nothing existed to make that sound. One of the things that makes this record even more remarkable is putting it in retrospect to all the ones he made before it, the progression his career has made. While perhaps sonically distant, the world of Montague Terrace isn't that far removed from that of the Flugleman. I guess Scott (1)-4 really doesn't have anything as disturbing as donkey punching or pee pee soaked trousers though. Oh wait; there's the wet head of his first case of ghonorrhea, but he didn't WRITE that one. There are pictures of him throughout the book, not surpisingly they are blurry and he's wearing sunglasses. The full body shot at the end is the best. John said "He looks like an alien in Converse."
He probably is one.
The final song, coming in on the heels of a demonic Looney Tunes interpretation, seriously feels like Scott Walker is tucking you back in your bed after everything that just transpired in the last hour of your life, which felt more like an entire lifetime anyway. You finally drift off to sleep and have dreams of him playing "Cossacks Are" on Top of The Pops. I don't think I could exist forever in that world, but it's nice to visit once in a while to put everything into perspective.
(Special thanks to Dave for getting this in my hands.)
According to the liner note, The Drift is analog and should be played loud. So here goes. This is the blackest looking album I have ever seen. The cover is matte and just absorbs any light that gets near it, and the INSIDE is black. I have never seen that!
How exciting, a loft party with Adam Fitz's Wolf Rocket and Baby Teeth, and Bria is having a party Saturday. I need to find something fun for tomorrow.
Listening to Scott Walker's Tilt after listening a whole lot to The Drift makes Tilt seem rather... gentle.
