Chinese Apple

I am optimistically packing my weekend bag for Stockholm. Hope the Wilco plane has no problems landing in Finland for their shows tomorrow and the next day. Safe travels, Queenie. And enjoy the Finland shows, mrk. Thanks for the Stockholm recommendations, O.Beehive. I'm glad you warned about that sausage thing -- because it looks deceivingly delicious in the photo. We'll definitely visit Gamla Stan, too. However, I'll leave the girl-watching to my man, and will readily slap him on the back of the head if things get out of hand. Yay, Europe! Wilco's coming!

Irish airports possibly closing again. Arrgh. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE64E05Y20100515?type=marketsNews Ash cloud, ash cloud go away!

Ok. I'm starting to worry about that darned drifting Ash Cloud ruining my Stockholm Wilco plans in a couple of weeks.

That's interesting, because my reflexive association when I hear the word "countrymen" is to think of that cliched quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. ("Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears...") Did George Bush use it? Do not remember any of his speeches. But I googled "George Bush" and "Countrymen" -- and lo! One of the top three links was to an Australian paper. Go figure. On the topic of "gendered" speech, I am pleasantly surprised to hear that Australians are so sensitive to that. I guess the sort of Australians I have tended to meet have been those outside of Australia, a

I kinda like this video of the same, better. (For superficial reasons like the slick suits, the pretty people having a good time, etc.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK6VILyHVDE

Seriously! Don't geniuses have to be batshit crazy by definition? There should be a poll option for "Both." I first got into David Lynch while living on the East Coast, but it was when I moved to LA that I had a David Lynch epiphany. There is something Edward Hopper about his movies, and I've read or heard that he used to sit in Bob's Big Boy and watch people in the middle of the night for story ideas -- which totally makes sense, somehow. Then there is that brilliant article by David Foster Wallace about Lynch: http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/wallace.html And my favorite Jul

Counter-intelligence units suspect that MSG may be the new WMD. As my dad used to say: "Be alert! Your country needs lerts."

Looks like all systems go... In the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago: "McDonald's, which has about 1,100 outlets in China expects to boost that number to a total of 2,000 by the end of 2013, said Tim Fenton, the company's president of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, in an interview." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303601504575153702832556686.html And as reported in CNN today: "Starbucks is planning a major attac...pardon, expansion into Asia. The global coffee giant has already planted the coffee beans of growth in various neighborhoods across Asia, but accord

Wow! That is a really interesting theory. To add to the suspicion... when I lived in Beijing, as a Berkeley(!)-trained Taiwanese(!)-American(!) journalist(!) married to a Western diplomat(!), I may have raised a few alarm bells for the authorities. Even though I did not file any stories for the 3 years I was there, I often felt watched or listened to. My email accounts would be inaccessible for days on end. I had (Western) journalist friends there who felt the same way. We'd joke about it -- have conversations with our light fixtures, follow our goodbye on the phone with: "Long live t

I feel I have some insider knowledge to contribute here. I can confirm that restaurants are the next wave, after decades of failed attempts to infiltrate via the Dry Cleaning sector. And, all fortune cookies carry secret coded missives. Also, WW-III will be fought in cyberspace. It will be called WWW-III.

"She got a problem. She's got little Cho Cho." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Drw2_HmK0

http://www.sampleandhold.com/archives/95

Perhaps it was marketed to a different target audience, because it did quite well commercially. I liked what Nels said in one interview, using a "bus stop" analogy: that at each stop, people will come on board or get off the bus. A lot of people got on the Wilco Bus with WTA that I didn't think I wanted to ride the bus with, but on the other hand, Wilco might make them better people, so I'll stay on for the ride.

I'm eating my breakfast, looking out of a 12 story window on a high-rise on a rainy morning in Taipei, and am LOVING this version of Spiders. So so lovely and melty.

You are right! I misunderstood.

And wasn't it only recently that all those Wilco (The Album) record reviews portrayed him as happy and upbeat?

You may have something here. (And not because my therapist said anything to me that makes me think this, but...) Maybe the mood someone perceive Jeff Tweedy to be in says more about them, than about The Jeff's actual mood. I do love reading all about his "lectures" here on VC though. It's all part of his rockstar mystique.

"The lyrics are pure gibberish, often described as sounding like American English as heard by a non–English-speaker." (But thought up by an Italian.)

I really thought I would be able to understand the words if I listened hard enough. Showed it to a drummer friend who says: "With the snare hit on the one! Makes you want to dance, but dance all crazy werido-like!"

Gogo- Obviously, you have an Irish sense of humour. (I'll admit it was part of a cunning campaign to entice Wilco to return to Dublin.) But, look --- Someone else agrees, almost word for word! Sláinte!

Gad, on the first try! PWNed. Your go.

In Dublin, the crowd is consistently perfect: considerate AND enthusiastic. Ever since Handel chose Dublin to premiere "The Messiah" in 1742, musicians have flocked here to perform for the exceptionally well-behaved audience. (I have my theories about the Catholic church run education system.) Seriously, I have been to nearly a dozen Wilco/Tweedy solo shows in several European cities in the last couple of years, and have yet to see Cranky Tweedy. I have not ruled out that it is a seasonal rather than geographical occurrence. Or maybe, since there are more shows in North America, thoug

Clue for round two: "Before the cream sits out too long, you must..."

Would that be "Little Red Corvette"?

Watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00 Then read this: "Prisencolinensinainciusol" is a song composed by Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife, singer/actress-turned-record producer Claudia Mori. A very popular performance of the song, broadcasted by RAI, shows Celentano with showgirl Raffaella Carrà, who is dancing and lyp-synching to Mori's vocals. It was first released as a single on November 3, 1972, and later on his album Nostalrock. The lyrics are pure gibberish, often described as sounding like American English as heard by a non–English-s