brownie

I gave Sukierae its first listen on a road trip yesterday. The two songs I found myself repeating right off the bat are Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood (wow, what a great sound to open the album with) and Summer Noon.

It's definitely a great "car" album!

i opted for Dumptruck instead. have fun!

Wow, Dumptruck?! I loved this band back in the day. I didn't know they were still around!

I would love to hear about this show.

I'm about halfway through my first listen via a stream on The Guardian site.

My first reaction is that many of the songs have very "different" sonic things going on, which is definitely engaging and makes for very interesting listening. This is a good thing.

Just home from a free Emmylou Harris/Rodney Crowell show. Great stuff. Emmylou never changes. This is a good thing.

I saw Jerry Seinfeld last night. I laughed so hard, my face hurt.

The show was very enjoyable. The last few songs were the best....among them, Ain't That Enough, The Concept, and Sparky's Dream were all played back to back to back....that was enough to nearly make my head explode.

I had only seen this band once before, many years ago when they opened for Radiohead, when Radiohead was still a fairly small band. At the time, I wasn't really familiar with their material. I'm glad I finally got to see them again after all these years!

Teenage Fanclub

Seeing that Queen Adam Lambert thing tonight.

A few weeks ago I saw a Queen tribute band called Almost Queen who were surprisingly good. In fact, there is a quote from Howard Stern on Almost Queen's website that says the Almost Queen show is better than the current Queen (+ Adam Lambert) that's touring now.

In the past week I've seen Matthew Sweet (great) and NRBQ (first time I've seen them since it's become Terry Adams and 3 Guys I Don't Know - not sure what to make of that show, actually).

Too funny!  I've lived in NJ my entire life, so I guess I have to respond to this one.  

To live in NJ you should

* Love Springsteen, Sinatra or Bon Jovi

Never a big fan of either Springsteen or Bon Jovi, but I do love a lot of Sinatra.  (Although never a "huge" fan.)

* Know the best hole in the wall pizza joints

Reservoir Tavern in Boonton

* Know what exit you live off of on the Parkway (135/137) or Turnpike (14 A)

I don't live anywhere near either of those highways, but if I had to choose, I'd say Exit 145 off the Parkway and 15W off the Turnpike.  And then add about a half hour of drive time.

* Go to the shore over the summer

Absolutely!  It's day trips for me now, always to Point Pleasant Beach, 2 or 3 times a year.  My family used to stay there for a couple of weeks each year when I was a kid.

* Know the *official area where North Jersey Turns to South Jersey

The Driscoll Bridge on the Parkway.  (Did I get that one right?  That's always been my personal marker.)

* Get Taylor Ham Sandwiches at Diners

Heck, not only did I eat them at diners, I used to make them at home!  I wouldn't touch that stuff these days.

* Know that no other state in the country knows what a diner is (Must be open 24/7 and have a 10 page plus menu) and  feature greek specialties and breakfast all day

Diners are great.  No matter what you want to eat, they have it.   

* Realize the diversity of the most densely packed state in the country. Being surrounded by the Ocean, NYC, Philidelphia, Farmlands creates nice diversity

Diversity is great.      Most of my time is spent in typical suburbia, but anything I want to do (city or country) is within easy reach.

*Realize that both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are in NJ

Of course!

*Know that both the Giants and the Jets play in NJ and the Super Bowl is in NJ this year!

But sadly, neither Giants nor Jets will be in the Super Bowl.  (Jets fan here, but I root for the Giants when they're the local team in the Super Bowl.)  I'm having a hard time getting enthused about the Super Bowl this year, with no local team in contention.  Also, I hear there's a high probability of a big snowstorm around Super Bowl time.  That should be interesting.    And I hate that new stadium.  

No.  I don't think I have a favorite band any more.  My favorite band is whichever one is knocking me out at the moment.  And that seems to fluctuate between at least 10 different bands/artists these days, and almost seems to depend on which one I last listened to with any purpose and intensity.  Wilco is definitely among my favorites, but I can't pick one.  The last time I could zoom in on one favorite was almost 10 years ago.

I really hate the whole deluxe edition thing. Unless its like 10 years later or something.

Or why not just have the deluxe edition option when the album is initially released?

I love Yo La Tengo, and I love this album.  I would have gone for a deluxe edition on the first go around.  But I'm not buying it again.

I was at Neil's showcase in NYC on Thursday promoting this album.  He had a 9 piece string section, a drummer, a keyboardist (the arranger), and Neil mostly played grand piano.  The show was phenomenal, and the new songs were unlike anything I've heard from Neil before.  Almost jazzy, very late night vibe.  Fabulous.

I was pretty disappointed in most of the Tame Impala record.  

Agreed.  I loved the last one, but can't seem to get any excitement going for this one.

I'm sorry to have to bring this discussion back to teacher salaries, but I thought I would put this up to make teachers who do not have the good fortune to work in New York envious of their Empire State colleagues:

 

Kingston, NY is the only New York town to crack the top twenty best places for teachers to work. Kingston beat them out with its affordable cost of living index of 108 and the second highest median salary in the Northeast of $78,040. The city was the first capital of the State of New York for twenty years before Albany. The school district covers 640 teachers over eleven elementary schools. - See more at: http://www.valuepenguin.com/2013/09/best-cities-teachers-northeast#sthash.IJdY0qbc.dpuf

Well, I guess if the only thing that puts a place to work in the top twenty is salary, then people might think this is okay.

Honestly, salary has become almost secondary in this job.  The harrassment from both students and administration outweighs any salary for me.

 DAMN forgot about Christie. I think he could be President. He scares the bejesus out of me.

Really?  You think he could be President?  I don't see it.  He just seems too "in your face" to me.

Mind you, Chris Christie was born and raised, and still lives, within 25 miles of where I have lived my entire life.

If anyone here is from NJ, it has been offered up to me by others who were born and raised here, that he is trying to be "Nicky Newark."  *laughs*  Those from northern NJ know exactly what I"m talking about.  Others, sorry, I honestly can't explain it, you'd have to have grown up in northern NJ.

Don't internalize a statement not made about you.

Okay, I admit that I saw red when I'd read that statement and responded rashly.

More reasoned response:

Your statement implies that more teachers are skating by than not.  I just don't see it.  Not in my school, anyway (a public school of about 1300 students), nor in the other high school in my town which is about the same size.  We all work like dogs.  Math, science, English, social studies, etc.  Maybe there are a few who skate by, they are a few.  I would have to think hard to actually name one.   

What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that for a teacher to be all things to all students (which is what the current climate out there seems to encourage), a teacher can have no life outside of work.   Those who are not teachers cannot imagine how mentally and emotionally exhausting this job is, aside from all the paperwork.  That level is just unsustainable over the long term.

For every teacher dedicated to their profession and proficient in their teaching field, there were two who were skating by.

How dare you.  Really.  How dare you.

I have been teaching high school science for 10 years.  Before that, I spent nearly 20 years in industry, as an actual practicing scientist.

I have never worked as hard in my life as I have as a teacher.   But that amount of work is not sustainable.  I think people who think teachers are "skating by" don't want teachers, they want robots.

Seriously though,  Tanqueray is for gin & tonics. Treat yourself to a bottle of Bombay Sapphire for a great martini.

I will do so!  Thanks.

Yup, bad assumption!  I'm in NJ.  But no harm done, and I will look out for those wines at my local places.  Thanks for the recommendations.  

Also, there are some great wineries in Washington that are a lot better than Chateau Ste. Michelle, if you're interested (recently went on a mini wine tour in Woodinville and Chateau Ste. Michelle was easily the worst of what we tasted). Brian Carter Cellars, Januik, Novelty Hill, and Matthews just to name a few. Also, the Walla Walla wineries are excellent.

Well, one's taste in wine is such an individual thing.  I remember taking a wine course many years ago, and the gist of the course was to taste a lot of different wines to find out what you like.

I love chardonnays that are buttery.  Chateau Ste. Michelle's chardonnay fits that bill perfectly.  Hence, I would naturally love it.  

This is a weird thread.  Weird in that it is centered around beer. I hate beer. I had enough teenage run-ins with beer that I can't even stomach the stuff any more. 

I have been drinking, and enjoying, a chardonnay from Chateau Ste Michelle in Washington state, USA.  I also love a good gin martini, usually with Tanqueray.

Beer?  Ick.  I don't get it.

It should be noted that her original back-up band morphed into the dreaded Eagles.  

Why are the Eagles dreaded?  I'm sincerely curious.  Despite all the indie bands that I've loved over the last 25 years, I could never figure out why I'm supposed to hate the Eagles.  They have many songs that I love to this day, particularly those sung by Don Henley.  He has a fabulous voice, and I've always loved his drumming, particularly on the One of These Nights album. 

I can't say I've loved everything the Eagles have done, but I honestly don't see why they are so often put down.

Go on, tell me.  I can take it.  *laughs*

The song that has really jumped out at me is Calling Cards.  It jumped out at me on my third listen through the album, and now I've repeated it five times in a row.  Love the subtle trumpet bits, and the drumming.  That has to be Jacob Valenzuela and John Convertino on that track.

Trailer for the upcoming Big Star Story Nothing can hurt me:

 

Big Star Story Trailer

This film has finally been released.  I watched it twice in two days (cable TV On Demand).  Has anyone else seen it?

Thoughts:

I loved it, although I'm not exactly sure why.  *laughs*  It is very much a documentary without a lot of source material for its subject.  It is mostly interviews with people "around" the band, and musicians who are fans.  There is very little film of the band. Mostly still photos, etc, but it is very creatively done.  I did not learn much that I did not already know.  However, the enthusiasm of those who were interviewed, from musicians (e.g. Chris Stamey, Mitch Easter), and also rock journalists who talk about how hearing the music was "life-changing",  echoed my own feelings about Big Star.  Interviews with Chris Bell's brother and sister were especially poignant.  

I would hate to see remphish leave.

I also do not think the posts he(?) is offended by warrant such an extreme reaction (i.e. leaving the forum).  

Remphish, most of those posts were just questioning you, not dissing you!  (spoken by someone who has literally thrown up from what people have posted about what she said...and I'm still posting on the internet!    )