jimmyjimmy

C-7s and C-9s are the best Christmas lights! Becoming fewer and farther between, so even more special.

I'm partial to the painted C-9s but you hardly ever see them these days.

I actually had plenty of spare bulbs for this season but, fear not my friend. We have a resource: http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/c9-frosted-christmas-lights-bulbs--452.htm

They even sell the stringers buy the foot and by the roll too!

Rockin the C-9 lights again this season. I know they're wasteful as hell but i love 'em.

Year's not even done yet. GEEZ.

True. But I love these lists cause it allows slackers like me to catch up on all the stuff I've missed.

So far, the releases from Girls , Malkmus+Jicks , Fucked Up, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Waits come to mind as favorites.

Although there's probably something as good as any of those I'm leaving out and will remember 10 minutes after this post.

NR:

 

 

Oh man - I can't tell you how many times I've re-read the story "Hills Like White Elephants." It kills me.

Hills like white Elephants is totally beautiful and flows with a slow poetic rhythm. One of the better/best Hemingway short stories for certain.

Of late:

$5 first edition second printing.

First time revisiting this since late childhood.

Next:

NP:

In regular heavy rotation at the moment.

NP: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Digging this.

A lot!

 

Neon Indian - Era Extraña

Hey:

Saw these guys on Fallon the other night and dug them.

Your overall thoughts on this record??

NP:

 

Classic, definitely. In some ways it looks like a dated/old font, but I too use it often because it is one of the most readable/easy readability fonts.

And that's exactly why I chose it for the text I recently had tattooed on my left, inside forearm.

There are some pretty dorky threads around here but this one clearly takes the cake...no offense.

It's true. But, still..."fun".

Tahoma, for a long time. Now I'm into the classic serifs of Times New Roman.

That was fun.

But the kid getting punched in the stomach was definitely not LaMont Chu and the little girl didn't exactly pull off the Belorussian look of Ann Kittenplan.

Vibes to you:

I tore my Right Achilles probably twelve or thirteen years ago in a pick-up game of basketball at a work event where we were visiting a local gym. I was a heavy runner at the time and it kinda devastated me psychologically for a bit. They ( my surgeon and Physical Therapists) started me on PT surprisingly quickly. It was a solid year before I felt strong enough to run/train with others again and a full two before I felt I was back to where I’d been before.

In regards to Vonnegut, don't skip "Bluebeard", lighter fare maybe, but still really good.

NR:

I tried reading Blood Meridian a few times and gave up - need to try again. On two of the occasions, I brought the book on vacation with me and realized its not much of a vacation read.

A brilliant book.

A horrible choice to take on a vacation!

God it's bleak.

Just finished Infinite Jest again yesterday.

I lost track of where I was ( easy enough considering the number of pages at the back of the book dedicated to footnotes/errata).

The last line literally snuck up on me. Now I'm left feeling a little lost.

Something by Martin Amis will probably be next....

Recently:

Paul Murry's Skippy Dies

Rick Bragg's All over but the shoutin'

Jennifer Eagan's A Visit from the Goon Squad

Now:

I didn't allow myself to be exposed to any of it's content until now and I'm really enjoying it.

It's nice to hear that voice again.

I honestly don’t see TKOL as being all that terribly boring.

I know I’ve said it dozens of times, here and elsewhere, Amnesiac is my favorite Radiohead album.

So, there’s that, again. Because I agree this record is very reminiscent of that one I'm going to be biased toward it.

Somewhat.

I downloaded TKOL Friday (finally got around to it) and had it spinning in the background most of the weekend along w/Amnesiac and In Rainbows ( in the context of the comparison in the “what have you done for me lately” school of thought).

Here’s a few impressions.

“Bloom”

Staccato beats, marching feet on the ground. Right off the bat you see where all this reminiscing of Amnesiac/ the Eraser is coming from. Obligatory Yorke “glick” tracks. Expected. Out of the way early on.

“Morning Mr. Magpie”

Guitar, muted notes, moderate beat. Colin’s bass up front in the mix, driving now, propelling the track. Proves to be rather thematic to the record. Keeps my attention to what’s just under the surface. What’s hiding underneath. Can you dance? You can’t help but move. Steal the magic it falls apart.

“Little by Little”

A lot of “In Limbo” in this one. I keep thinking this could be on the soundtrack to a James Bond film.

Weakest track on the record.

“Feral”

Sometimes your just initially taken by this bands choice of sounds, instrumentation and arrangements.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I love the breathy vox sounds. Reminds me of speaking while running. Maybe an animal on the run? Holy shit, a rabbit in the headlights? Lame. I like this song.

“Lotus Flower”

Has the effect of hand claps ever been used to greater…effect? Probably. But it’s really cool here. Sounds alive.

Refreshing as a Spring day. Terrific mix of acoustic and electric drum . Layers, layers layers. The concept of unfolding isn’t lost on me here.

“Codex”

I’ll make the association here right off the bat: Codex moves me in a way very similar to “Pyramid Song” It’s the pace and the timbre. What exactly are we hearing here, are these strings or keys? Chorused and flanged. God, what a great sound. Even that little truncated clip of Tom at the beginning, that ugly “aaaa” thing. A jusxtiposition of something disturbing against something beautiful ( yeah, thats right). That sound evokes the feeling of an inhalation/exhalation due to the onset of a stabbing chronic pain. Maybe that’s what Yorke is…a chronic pain to everyone who laments this band’s glorious run from the Bends through Kid A.

"Give up the ghost”

Does this song really remind me of Neil Young or is it the naked acoustic chords and the knowledge that Yorke is a huge fan boy of “After the Gold Rush”? Doesn’t matter. “Considered and thoughtful electric guitar” ( don’t we all just LONG for the epic heyday of Radiohead’s’ glorious wall of distorted guitars) and Colin Greenwood’s vocal-esque bass line.

“Separator”

If nothing else, this will be brilliant live. Or maybe my optimism is shining through. It’s light on its feet. I gave up trying to figure out who’s doing what a long time ago but whoever laid down the guitar track here (shit there are a lot of guitar tracks on the record!) did excellent work. God it’s “CHEERFUL sounding. Yorke’s lyrics have at times been utterly frank and others enigmatic at best. Often “soundbite-ish”. I have no idea what he’s on about here. Could be depressing as hell, I haven’t gotten past the guitar yet. He may be talking about blood and taxes and .50 caliber rounds, I’ve no idea. But it sounds reaffirming!

In the end, for now at least, I see this album as a collection of great riffs and ideas that never really coalesce in the way In Rainbows does.Of course THAT record was composed of some pretty old material ( Nude, Arpeggi, Reckoner...) that was refined over years. And honestly, for me it’s only been three days of exposure.I never feel the same way about a Radiohead album weeks and months after initially hearing it.

That’s what makes the fun?

Electric= Boomers in 10s & 11s

And

Earth Opera

I'm only about a hundred and thirty pages in at this point....This is pretty fun so far.

Charlottesville

Christmas comes early this year.

Here's the story. I was in Thaddeus's chair. My guy. My hairstylist extraordinaire. So we start the 'do, and he's kind of stiff the whole time, kind of distant, and when he spins me around with the mirror so I can approve the back of my new haircut, I see it plain as day. I got a damn bald spot the size of a damn dime. I'm straight-up monk dimin'.

 

Maybe you didn't hear me. I'm monk dimin'.