On the recommendation of a former Columbus resident – who has since moved to (or back to?) England – we made our way out to The Summit last night to catch Heavy Trash. I had somehow altogether overlooked their existence … surprising, given the line-up includes Jon Spencer and Matt Verte-Ray (of Speedball Baby fame). I think I had expected them to have a slightly punkier edge given their histories, but they ended up being pretty straightforward rockabilly … just dirtier and with the unmistakable guitar work and voice of Verte-Ray. I woke with a slightly sore face from smiling so much. Here’s a vid:

For good measure, and because I’m a huge fan of Speedball Baby, here’s one of theirs from the Uptight! album:

If Heavy Trash comes near you, definitely make your out to the show.

Yay, a few days off work! Figured I’d take the opportunity to get caught up on this blog, which I’ve been pretty much neglecting except to post the occasional video. Here goes:

We haven’t been out much, mostly because both of our cars broke down (D’s is now fixed, mine’s not worth bothering with) but we have had the occasional outing.

We hit Studio 35 the Friday before last to see Where the Wild Things Are, which was absolutely amazing. It’s definitely not for the kids … M wasn’t sure what she thought, but I loved it. I think something about the fact that Max went home and left the Wild Things in the same ruin in which he found them resonated with me; you can leave town, but your problems will always follow.

That Saturday, we saw The Patsy’s, Columbus Power Squadron, and The Exceptionals at Carabar. CPS was at their very best. They have a slightly new lineup, and it suits them well. They even did a Slade cover that had me apparently wiggling around singing along – I wasn’t aware until I glanced around and saw a friend cracking up at me. So it goes.

We also made it out to last week’s movie night at Surly Girl. Three Bela Lugosi flicks to celebrate what would have been his 127th birthday. M gave me an awesome Avengers video as a belated birthday present. Sweet.

This past weekend, I went to Cleveland with my mom to see Leonard Cohen at the Allen Theater. Not nearly as ornate as the Fox in Detroit, but still very cool. We stayed downtown, less than a block from the theater. Spent the day running around the Coventry area, because I had to go to the toy store and get french onion soup from Tommy’s. I got an awesome set of Elvis magnets from Big Fun. They each have a saying on them, like “He dared to rock”. I can’t resist an Elvis purchase. I think maybe it’s because Elvis stuff reminds me of my gram who had an amazing velvet Elvis.

Sidenote: GPS does not work so well in roundabouts.

I don’t think there’s much I can say about the show that I didn’t have to say in my previous entry about a Leonard Cohen show, other than that I FINALLY got one of those Intertwined Hearts rings I’ve been coveting since May. After getting a total of 5 hours of sleep over two nights, and almost 10 hours on the road in a couple days (Columbus to Findlay to Cleveland to Findlay to Columbus) I passed out early last night, and am still pretty beat, making me extra specially happy that I don’t have to be back to work until Thursday.

Upcoming stuffs: Leonard Cohen again tonight, Columbus Power Squadron on Thursday, Night Family and Dead Sea on Friday, and a Day of the Dead party on Saturday. I was rather worried at the beginning of the month that ROcktober may pass me by, but it appears to have turned out just fine after all.

I think I’ll take some time to laze about today and let me shoulder recover from the nasty spill I took down the stairs this morning when I got up.

This song gives me the chills. So beautiful! Also, I’m a sucker for a horn section. So there’s that. In this video, Beirut is joined by members of Arcade Fire and others.

They call it night, they call it night, and I know it well.

Flamin’ Groovies, dig?

First, the coolest news … Through a series of mistaken identities, I somehow came into contact with Sid Griffin (of The Long Ryders) who is now mailing me some CDs under the condition that I share the goodies with my friend S. How amazingly cool is that?! Here, listen:

Sometimes life just kinda rocks that way.

In other (decidedly less exciting) news, we had a party a couple of weekends ago. The first I’ve had since New Years Eve of 2001 or 2002 after which I’d sworn I’d never have another. This one, however, went really well and did not involve cleaning up vomit from the porch or from beside the toilet, nor having to ask couch crashers to leave several days later. Ah, see, there are some joys in getting a bit older! Also, we now have an insane amount of various liquors and wines … we could use some company to help us drink it before our livers shut down entirely. Call me if you’re up for the challenge.*

This most recent weekend, we attended the coolest wedding ever. The ceremony was short and incredibly sweet and wrapped up with the groom yelling “Okay, let’s party!”. A fantastic bluegrass-ey band (from Athens, I think) played while we all drank some home brewed IPA. I wish I could remember the name of the band, because you should hear them. But, I suck. I had spent the previous two weekends (between working on the house and having the party) trying to find a dress to wear to the wedding and failed miserably. Because, apparently, I am the smallest person on the planet and they don’t make grown up clothes for people my size. I’ve never had such trouble shopping before (in actuality, I’m just over 5′ tall about just shy of 100 pounds) but everything I found drug on the floor. I finally gave in, and went dressed in a less casual Annie Hall style. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, it’s rather boring now that I skim over it. Moving on …

I finally ordered that Lost Skeleton of Cadavara poster I’ve had my eye on for ages. The dining room has mostly come together, but needs some artwork. We’ve decided to go with vintage horror posters. We already have The Fearless Vampire Killers, and I bought 4 others as well, including the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Sweet!

Now if only I could convince Larry Blamire to do one of those “…Returns Again” screenings at the Drexel. Ok, I suppose I should wrap this up, especially given the last few paragraphs of drivel … ’til the next!

*This offer is restricted to people that know me outside of cyberspace.

I try to keep politics off of this blog. But …

I ran across an article this morning about Obama’s want to extend the time students spend in the classroom to allow US citizens to compete with other countries that have significantly longer days and years. After reading the article (complete with a few random quotes from students threatening to drop out of school and whining about how they already don’t have time for their extracurriculars), I googled it to see what people were saying … and was completely taken aback that the majority opinion seems to be profoundly negative.

First, there was the much ado about Obama’s speech to students, telling them to work hard, stay in school, and actively help your government and your community. Only to be banned in some schools! (Although it was perfectly acceptable for Bush to make the statement “…and to the C students… I say, you too can be President of the United States.” WHICH, by the way, unless you’re a trust fund baby, or daddy has some significant oil interests: no. No you can’t. ) Would JFK’s “… ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” speech be banned today? Would it cause the same outrage?

And now the temper tantrums about furthering education. When the bloody hell did it become socially acceptable in this country to be ignorant and undereducated?

We bitch about American companies moving overseas, especially to Asia. Yes, often for cheaper labor. But also for technological advances. Twenty years ago the United States was a leader in education. We are now ninth among industrialized nations for our students even graduating high school - only 75% of American students now graduate [via].

News flash: as an adult, you’ll be working 8-12 hours a day. Why are people so against adequately preparing their children for this? What happened to wanting a better life for your kids? What happened to American pride? What happened to striving to be the best? What happened to working hard? You can’t allow (much less fight for) your children to be inadequately educated AND bitch that they then can’t get a job. This country’s development was founded on leadership, entrepreneurship, and a willingness to work hard to be the best. Take some responsibility for your own education, and for the education of your children. Demand that they are the best educated in the world. If that means an extra month being added to the school year, or a few hours being added to the day: so be it.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it cannot long remain the foundation of a world power.

I don’t like you, but I love you
Seems I’m always, thinking of you …

I could listen to Smokey Robinson all day every day. But it’s especially nice on a rainy day like today.

I’d love to stay & chat, but I’m going back to my book (and I need to flip this record).

Finally! Sundazed is releasing “Love Lost”, a double LP comprised of tracks Arthur and the boys recorded in ‘71, during their (very) brief stint on Columbia. I have some version or another of this album someone burned for me, but there are a handful of tracks on this double LP that I don’t have at all; not even on any of the miscellany live recordings I have. It’s set to be released on October 27th, but you can preorder it. There’s also a limited solo Arthur Lee 7″ you can order (which has already been released).

Track Listing:
1. Love Jumped Through My Window
2. I Can’t Find It
3. He Said She Said
4. Product of the Times
5. Sad Song
6. Everybody’s Gotta Live
7. Midnight Sun
8. Good & Evil I
9. He Knows a Lot of Good Women
10. C.F.I.*
11. Find Somebody
12. For a Day
13. Good & Evil II
14. Looking Glass
15. Trippin & Sippin’/Ezy Ryder
16. He Knows a Lot of Good Women (alternate)*
17. Find Somebody (alternate)*
18. Midnight Sun (alternate)*
19. Product of the Times (alternate)*

* previously unreleased acoustic demos

Now if only Johnny Echols would get the long awaited, much rumored, and highly anticipated Gethsemane released, I’d be a very happy little bear.

The Sundresses do Leonard Cohen ::

Yessir, this does rawk.