brownie

Her album of Dylan covers is very good, isn’t it? I have to admit I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is.

Looks like whoever is sick, must have got sick in NYC. Sorry you have to miss out again.

Nick Lowe

Today I was going to buy a $35 ticket to see Demetri Martin in September. Went to check out and the total was $55. That’s a 57% increase in the ticket price due to fees. That may be a record, as far as what I’ve come across. I cancelled the sale. Sorry Demetri.

Yikes, you thought about going to a hospital? Sorry to hear. I’ve been very successful at concerts wearing a KN95, although the last two I’ve been to (most recent was last night), I was one of only a small handful of people wearing any mask at all. I felt like an idiot, but was undeterred. I have my last show for a while on Sunday. Cases are dropping around here. I feel like I’m going to have to suck it up and just get it and get it over with in the near future, because I don’t think it’s going away. I have a serious health condition, as I know you do, but I don’t think it wi

Glad to hear! I’ve been wondering how you’ve been doing, so I’m happy you checked in. It sounds like it wasn’t an easy bout of it for you though.

NRBQ

Wow, talk about bad luck. Thankfully he does not seem to have punctured a lung, which is what happened to my cousin’s husband recently when he was in an accident that broke a similar number of ribs. Hoping John gets well soon!

So sorry to hear! I have been to two very crowded standing room shows in the past two weeks, was one of about 5 people at each show wearing a KN95. I honestly thought I would catch it anyway, but amazingly, I have not! Good luck with the Paxlovid. My doc said call him ASAP when I get Covid and he will prescribe Paxlovid for me as well. And yes, at this point I know it’s when, not if. I hope you don’t get Paxlovid rebound!

Did they enjoy it? He must seem like an ancient man to your kids, no?

Kurt Vile

I find it odd that there would be such heated discussion regarding masterpiece/non-masterpiece for an album that was released just four days ago. I have only been able to listen to the album a few times because I did not have early access, and it was a busy holiday weekend. What seems to be happening with me is that the album is slowly revealing itself to me over time. There is no way I can have any opinion at all about it yet, let alone decide if it’s a masterpiece or not!

I spoke to two teachers today. One who still works in the district I worked in ten years ago when Sandy Hook happened, where there was an emergency faculty meeting in the very early hours before school where everyone was distraught. The other works in the district I retired from 7 months ago. Both teachers told me their districts completely ignored the recent events in Texas. I was shocked, although I probably shouldn’t be. It did cement in my head that retiring from public education was a very good decision. Best of luck to all the teachers here. You will need it.

I was a teacher when Sandy Hook happened. They called us all into school very early in the morning the next day for an emergency faculty meeting. Everyone was beyond horrified and thought for sure it could never happen again. Ten years later and here we are again. I’m retired now, but am guessing there will be emergency faculty meetings again this morning. And, more local to me, where I go, and how I travel, there’s the man who was randomly shot dead on the subway in the Canal St. area of NYC while on his way to brunch on the other day. Ten people gunned down in

I never heard of Kevin Morby until @kidsmokementioned him here some time ago. I listened to this album today, which is the first time I ever listened to any of his music. This is a very good album!

Dean Wareham

I see there are even substantial fees on the Solid Sound live stream tickets, e.g. $50 + $11.85 fee for a stream of the three Wilco shows. I rolled my eyes. Nope, not paying it.

$240 for a ticket before fees is pretty insane as well. So that’s a 21% add on fee. I paid a 37% add on fee for a Kurt Vile ticket recently, and a 50% add on fee for a Calexico ticket. Face value of each were less than 15% of the face value of your Wilco ticket, but it’s the principle of the thing. It’s all insane. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen my last Wilco show. I am priced out.

I just didn’t go to many shows for 20 years before I retired. When I was younger and had a corporate job, I could pull it off, but older and teaching? I did it a couple of times early on, and quickly learned “no way.”. Now I have eight shows coming up over the next six months, most of which are on a school night, so if I was still teaching, I wouldn’t have been able to go!

No, it doesn’t. My mom died 16 years ago, and I still miss her. We were best friends as well as mother and daughter, and did all kinds of things together. I could have used her shoulder to lean on these past few crazy years.

That really is a terrific interview. Thanks so much for posting!

I thought the new Nicolas Cage movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, was hilarious.

I have seen Neil Finn many times. I have traveled the world to see him! But I’m not crazy about Dreamers Are Waiting, or about the current incarnation of the band. I have tickets to 6 other upcoming concerts this year, all $25-$60 total including fees. I have always had a close seat for a Neil Finn show, but $315+fees is insane. That’s more than 3X what I paid for first 10 rows in the same theater when Crowded House last came through 12 years ago. I also don’t want to spend $90-$100 for a lousy seat. It’s a dilemma.

My Finn concert buddy and I are still waffling about going because of the absolutely insane NYC prices. We’ve looked at two pre-sales in two days and still haven’t pulled the trigger. I guess we’ll decide tomorrow.

I saw this on Friday. It’s definitely worth seeing, but it’s so fast-paced and exhausting that you don’t have time to think about anything, and it’s difficult to form attachments to any character. I wouldn’t say I found it deflating, but when I left the theater, I couldn’t say for sure whether I liked it or not. As time has passed, I’m leaning more towards saying I liked it. Michelle Yeoh was the best thing about it. She was mesmerizing. And Jamie Lee Curtis was unexpectedly hilarious!