Friday, June 29, 2007
DC SHOWCASE UPDATE
DC Showcase Presents is a line of phonebook-size black-and-white reprints of old DC comics, primarily from the Silver Age, or the late 1950's and '60's. These books are almost overwhelmingly AWESOME. I've written about a couple of them before, and hope to eventually review all of them in time. Until then here's a quick, nearly content-free run-down of the books I've read thus far.
AQUAMAN VOL 1: B
BATMAN VOL 1: A
BRAVE AND THE BOLD VOL 1: A
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN VOL 1: C+
FLASH VOL 1: B+
GREEN LANTERN VOL 1: B
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL 1: B-
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL 1: A
METAMORPHO VOL 1: A
PHANTOM STRANGER VOL 1: B-
SHAZAM VOL 1: B+
SUPERMAN VOL 1: A+
SUPERMAN VOL 2: A
SUPERMAN FAMILY VOL 1: A
TEEN TITANS VOL 1: B+
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER VOL 1: B-
THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT VOL 1: B-
DC Showcase Presents is a line of phonebook-size black-and-white reprints of old DC comics, primarily from the Silver Age, or the late 1950's and '60's. These books are almost overwhelmingly AWESOME. I've written about a couple of them before, and hope to eventually review all of them in time. Until then here's a quick, nearly content-free run-down of the books I've read thus far.
AQUAMAN VOL 1: B
BATMAN VOL 1: A
BRAVE AND THE BOLD VOL 1: A
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN VOL 1: C+
FLASH VOL 1: B+
GREEN LANTERN VOL 1: B
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL 1: B-
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL 1: A
METAMORPHO VOL 1: A
PHANTOM STRANGER VOL 1: B-
SHAZAM VOL 1: B+
SUPERMAN VOL 1: A+
SUPERMAN VOL 2: A
SUPERMAN FAMILY VOL 1: A
TEEN TITANS VOL 1: B+
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER VOL 1: B-
THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT VOL 1: B-
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Some Recent Record Thoughts...
Interpol - Our Love To Admire: C
This band is pretty polarizing, but I have enjoyed their previous efforts. I thought Antics was a top record that year. Listened to the new thing twice and its somewhat of a snooze. Only a few (2-3) standouts even make it to the forefront, other than that it just seems like they lost their touch.
Mammatus - The Coast Explodes: B+
California prog metal acid heads. Good shit. A little long in the tooth even for my tastes, but it's still completely bad ass. When a long song can keep me tranced the whole time, i'm game - when it never gets to the pinnacle of awes ribs - I'm no so game. There are enough rad riffs here to slam your brain though. Good disc. Supposed to be epic live. Gotta see em.
White Stripes - Icky Thump: A-
God damn this disc surprised me. It will beat your ass. I dont care who you are if you dont feel the power zone of the song "Icky Thump", then you deserve a kick in the special place. The rest of the record is phenomenal. Songs like "Bone Broke" are good examples of why you like this dude singing - just fuckin' yellin about some shit over a riff. Like, hey dude i know what your fuckin' yellin about. The sound of the record reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin 3 & Gram Parsons. The front cover might even be a nod to the latter. Fuckin' good one yall.
Ween - Friends Ep: A
My anticipation of this thing was through the damn roof. Ween recorded 60 songs for their new record, 5 of them appear here, 20 go on their full length, leaving 35 to float in space. Damn. Most people will probably shit on this ep. Its all over the map - which, what is new for ween - but really what initial haters dont see is how god damn well these songs fit together. Opens with the theme of the summer "Friends" - a colab with THE CRAZY FROG which results in none other than a fucking techno jam that will blow your skull out. Deaner chimes in with one of his blasts "Gotta Put The Hammer Down" about junkies on the run, you have a reggae stomp produced by fucking KING JAMMY, a latino heat jam which they reworked from a country tinged live gem, and it closes with a tears for fears / spandau ballet esque love song about getting blown...away. My love for this band knows no bounds.
R Kelly - Double Up: C+
Two Words - SEX PLANET.
Best song of the earth.
Rest of the album is WAY hit and miss. A victim of too many songs. If he cut this thing down to a 12 song album, it would probably be an "B" or "A" for me. Songs like "The Zoo", "Real Talk", "Leave Your Name", and the previously mentioned "Sex Planet" hit you 4 horse stong and have you laughing your ass off. L and I decided our favorite lyric of the album is from Planet..."I'm about to twinkle and touch your soul / Once I am touring to your black hole(baby uhh)" - amazement. Songs like "Rock Star" make me wonder why he still gets paid to do this, god awful. I sometimes wonder if the majority of Kells' fans like him for his music or because his songs are such a god damned joke.
Dungen - Tio Bitar: A-
Organic jam blast to the frontal lobe. What really blows my mind about this record is the main dude recorded every instrument. You hear these songs and the ambitious nature of each of them and you wonder. How much jam can this dude fit in? A lot. This is a perfect follow up to the first full length. Similar but not the same, acid but not the shrooms. More freak outs here and more concentrated flute jams. I swear, you put this disc on and you might as well have some of those shoes with the wheels on the heel, cause you want to zoom. Get a sixer and enjoy this shit, it rips.
Interpol - Our Love To Admire: C
This band is pretty polarizing, but I have enjoyed their previous efforts. I thought Antics was a top record that year. Listened to the new thing twice and its somewhat of a snooze. Only a few (2-3) standouts even make it to the forefront, other than that it just seems like they lost their touch.
Mammatus - The Coast Explodes: B+
California prog metal acid heads. Good shit. A little long in the tooth even for my tastes, but it's still completely bad ass. When a long song can keep me tranced the whole time, i'm game - when it never gets to the pinnacle of awes ribs - I'm no so game. There are enough rad riffs here to slam your brain though. Good disc. Supposed to be epic live. Gotta see em.
White Stripes - Icky Thump: A-
God damn this disc surprised me. It will beat your ass. I dont care who you are if you dont feel the power zone of the song "Icky Thump", then you deserve a kick in the special place. The rest of the record is phenomenal. Songs like "Bone Broke" are good examples of why you like this dude singing - just fuckin' yellin about some shit over a riff. Like, hey dude i know what your fuckin' yellin about. The sound of the record reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin 3 & Gram Parsons. The front cover might even be a nod to the latter. Fuckin' good one yall.
Ween - Friends Ep: A
My anticipation of this thing was through the damn roof. Ween recorded 60 songs for their new record, 5 of them appear here, 20 go on their full length, leaving 35 to float in space. Damn. Most people will probably shit on this ep. Its all over the map - which, what is new for ween - but really what initial haters dont see is how god damn well these songs fit together. Opens with the theme of the summer "Friends" - a colab with THE CRAZY FROG which results in none other than a fucking techno jam that will blow your skull out. Deaner chimes in with one of his blasts "Gotta Put The Hammer Down" about junkies on the run, you have a reggae stomp produced by fucking KING JAMMY, a latino heat jam which they reworked from a country tinged live gem, and it closes with a tears for fears / spandau ballet esque love song about getting blown...away. My love for this band knows no bounds.
R Kelly - Double Up: C+
Two Words - SEX PLANET.
Best song of the earth.
Rest of the album is WAY hit and miss. A victim of too many songs. If he cut this thing down to a 12 song album, it would probably be an "B" or "A" for me. Songs like "The Zoo", "Real Talk", "Leave Your Name", and the previously mentioned "Sex Planet" hit you 4 horse stong and have you laughing your ass off. L and I decided our favorite lyric of the album is from Planet..."I'm about to twinkle and touch your soul / Once I am touring to your black hole(baby uhh)" - amazement. Songs like "Rock Star" make me wonder why he still gets paid to do this, god awful. I sometimes wonder if the majority of Kells' fans like him for his music or because his songs are such a god damned joke.
Dungen - Tio Bitar: A-
Organic jam blast to the frontal lobe. What really blows my mind about this record is the main dude recorded every instrument. You hear these songs and the ambitious nature of each of them and you wonder. How much jam can this dude fit in? A lot. This is a perfect follow up to the first full length. Similar but not the same, acid but not the shrooms. More freak outs here and more concentrated flute jams. I swear, you put this disc on and you might as well have some of those shoes with the wheels on the heel, cause you want to zoom. Get a sixer and enjoy this shit, it rips.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Chill out MAN!
MILLER CHILL
B (on the Chill Factor)
Man, am I chilled out. Sub zero chill. Last night I got a sixer of new Miller Chill. The beer that is aiming to chill your nerves and make you more chill. Chill I did when I drank the first bottle of this stuff. Hint of lime infused with a chilling Mexi-lager. As I drank on I felt the weight of the work day just lift off and shake down to the floor like they were on a chill break. Got to a level 3 Chill Zone (drank 3 Miller Chills) and the night was right. Don't let it get warm though, because this beer is meant to be enjoyed chilled!
MILLER CHILLB (on the Chill Factor)
Man, am I chilled out. Sub zero chill. Last night I got a sixer of new Miller Chill. The beer that is aiming to chill your nerves and make you more chill. Chill I did when I drank the first bottle of this stuff. Hint of lime infused with a chilling Mexi-lager. As I drank on I felt the weight of the work day just lift off and shake down to the floor like they were on a chill break. Got to a level 3 Chill Zone (drank 3 Miller Chills) and the night was right. Don't let it get warm though, because this beer is meant to be enjoyed chilled!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
so I think that's definitely it for me and wrestling.
I haven't watched wrestling much since 2001, anyway, but now I don't think I could ever get into it again, even if I really wanted to.
I just wonder, obviously Benoit takes the blame here, but how culpable could the industry be in this situation? You can say the constant pain, the probable abuse of pain-killers, and the loss of several close wrestler friends most likely played a role in Benoit's likely actions, but can you really blame pro wrestling for inciting somebody to murder? The steady wave of drug-related deaths is obviously a huge mark against the industry, and something that the WWE could have done more to attempt to prevent, but I'm not sure how much, or if any, blame can be laid upon the industry for this latest tragedy. Of course I'm sure others will do so, and perhaps this will be the final grisly straw that leads to serious efforts to reform the nature of the industry, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Obviously this whole situation involving Chris Benoit's death is horribly shocking and depressing news. He's one of the last wrestlers I'd ever expect to do something like this. I haven't watched wrestling regularly since 2001, but after getting back into it in '96 there was nobody I enjoyed watching in a match more than Benoit. He was the finest technical wrestler of his generation, and the absolute best at making it look real. I'd almost always root for him over his opponent, even if that opponent was a more charismatic or engaging personality, which, to be honest, almost everybody was. As great a wrestler as Benoit was, he was mostly horrible when it came to interviews and the more dramatic (or at least melodramatic) aspects of the medium. And maybe that's why, despite enjoying his matches more than any other wrestler since Randy Savage and Ric Flair in their 1980's prime, and despite everything being so sordid, his death hasn't quite hit me as hard as Owen Hart's and Eddie Guerrero's, or made as much impact as a hypothetical similar death of Chris Jericho or Mick Foley would. It's obviously horrible, I was deeply saddened last night, still am really damn bummed, but it's been less than twelve hours since I found out and I'm already slightly detached from the whole thing, and can approach his death unemotionally. With Owen and Eddie I'd get depressed for days afterward. And like I said, I do believe it's mostly because Benoit failed to create a memorable character, beyond being the serious and determined ass-kicker (a stock wrestling type that I really really like, but that still required more acting ability than Benoit possessed), but also I have to wonder what effect the amazingly sordid and despicable nature of his death has already played upon my memory of and respect for the man. Damn.
Nancy Benoit was a prominent valet and wrestler in WCW and ECW throughout the late '80's and '90's. I first saw her as Rick Steiner's geeky superfan, Robin Green, who would sit in the front row during Steiner Brothers matches and eventually became something like his girlfriend. After a few weeks she asked to accompany the Steiners to ringside; Scott wasn't so sure, but Rick prevailed, and so she became their unofficial valet. Of course she immediately turned on them and helped their opponents win. She ditched the goofy, ill-fitting sweaters in favor of a leather bustier, went from dowdy '80's housewife hair to slutty, overly teased, '80's rock video vixen hair, and changed her name from Robin Green to Woman. She managed Doom during their early masked phase, when they were awful, in a memorably one-sided feud against the Steiners. Later she was the valet for her then-real-life-husband, Kevin Sullivan, and after that accompanied Ric Flair to the ring for a brief period of time. She briefly popped up in ECW in '94 and '95, I believe. In 1995 Kevin Sullivan, who was the booker of WCW, came up with a storyline where his wife would leave him for the young up-and-comer Chris Benoit. To make the story more realistic, Kevin had Nancy and Benoit travel together, during which time they started up a real affair. She left Sullivan for Benoit, and the bad blood between those two men eventually led to Benoit leaving WCW for WWF in 2000. But so, after marrying Benoit and taking his name, Nancy mostly retired from wrestling. Initially it seemed like her death would be overshadowed by her husband's, but considering the nature of of their deaths I imagine you'll see a number of wrestling fans pointedly pay tribute to her. Sort of like I just did, I guess.
I haven't watched wrestling much since 2001, anyway, but now I don't think I could ever get into it again, even if I really wanted to.
I just wonder, obviously Benoit takes the blame here, but how culpable could the industry be in this situation? You can say the constant pain, the probable abuse of pain-killers, and the loss of several close wrestler friends most likely played a role in Benoit's likely actions, but can you really blame pro wrestling for inciting somebody to murder? The steady wave of drug-related deaths is obviously a huge mark against the industry, and something that the WWE could have done more to attempt to prevent, but I'm not sure how much, or if any, blame can be laid upon the industry for this latest tragedy. Of course I'm sure others will do so, and perhaps this will be the final grisly straw that leads to serious efforts to reform the nature of the industry, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Obviously this whole situation involving Chris Benoit's death is horribly shocking and depressing news. He's one of the last wrestlers I'd ever expect to do something like this. I haven't watched wrestling regularly since 2001, but after getting back into it in '96 there was nobody I enjoyed watching in a match more than Benoit. He was the finest technical wrestler of his generation, and the absolute best at making it look real. I'd almost always root for him over his opponent, even if that opponent was a more charismatic or engaging personality, which, to be honest, almost everybody was. As great a wrestler as Benoit was, he was mostly horrible when it came to interviews and the more dramatic (or at least melodramatic) aspects of the medium. And maybe that's why, despite enjoying his matches more than any other wrestler since Randy Savage and Ric Flair in their 1980's prime, and despite everything being so sordid, his death hasn't quite hit me as hard as Owen Hart's and Eddie Guerrero's, or made as much impact as a hypothetical similar death of Chris Jericho or Mick Foley would. It's obviously horrible, I was deeply saddened last night, still am really damn bummed, but it's been less than twelve hours since I found out and I'm already slightly detached from the whole thing, and can approach his death unemotionally. With Owen and Eddie I'd get depressed for days afterward. And like I said, I do believe it's mostly because Benoit failed to create a memorable character, beyond being the serious and determined ass-kicker (a stock wrestling type that I really really like, but that still required more acting ability than Benoit possessed), but also I have to wonder what effect the amazingly sordid and despicable nature of his death has already played upon my memory of and respect for the man. Damn.
Nancy Benoit was a prominent valet and wrestler in WCW and ECW throughout the late '80's and '90's. I first saw her as Rick Steiner's geeky superfan, Robin Green, who would sit in the front row during Steiner Brothers matches and eventually became something like his girlfriend. After a few weeks she asked to accompany the Steiners to ringside; Scott wasn't so sure, but Rick prevailed, and so she became their unofficial valet. Of course she immediately turned on them and helped their opponents win. She ditched the goofy, ill-fitting sweaters in favor of a leather bustier, went from dowdy '80's housewife hair to slutty, overly teased, '80's rock video vixen hair, and changed her name from Robin Green to Woman. She managed Doom during their early masked phase, when they were awful, in a memorably one-sided feud against the Steiners. Later she was the valet for her then-real-life-husband, Kevin Sullivan, and after that accompanied Ric Flair to the ring for a brief period of time. She briefly popped up in ECW in '94 and '95, I believe. In 1995 Kevin Sullivan, who was the booker of WCW, came up with a storyline where his wife would leave him for the young up-and-comer Chris Benoit. To make the story more realistic, Kevin had Nancy and Benoit travel together, during which time they started up a real affair. She left Sullivan for Benoit, and the bad blood between those two men eventually led to Benoit leaving WCW for WWF in 2000. But so, after marrying Benoit and taking his name, Nancy mostly retired from wrestling. Initially it seemed like her death would be overshadowed by her husband's, but considering the nature of of their deaths I imagine you'll see a number of wrestling fans pointedly pay tribute to her. Sort of like I just did, I guess.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Some things...
Killer weekend, here are some thoughts:
- OiNK is my new best friend. Pretty much has every record imaginable up on this "news group". Its invite only and I secured my entry through a friend of a friend. It takes a lot of work though as have to upload almost as much as you download. I havent done that yet and I'll probably get booted soon. But not before I got: White Stripes - Icky Thump, Ween - Live In Toronto w/ The Shit Creek Boys, Comets On Fire - Live In La Zona Rossa, Captain Beyond - Dawn Explosion, Ween - Pure Guava (had it only on vinyl), Boards of Canada - Twoism, Steely Dan - Gaucho Outtakes, Modest Mouse - We Were Dead... (for L), Royal Trux - Live In NYC 1992.
- Recorded a new France song with Ice on Saturday. It will appear on the tour ep - Sub Base. I think we hooked it. The song is called "Dave & The Weird Factor".
- Went to Agnes & Muriel's with the parents for L's bday. Excellent food. Mac & Cheese Fritters! Turkey meatloaf was above par, the chiggers on the new deck were not. Also saw Evan Almiggity. Alright but was made for families with kids. Transformers, soon.
- Sunday got up at 5:45a to go do the Muddy Buddy with L. Totally whipped our ass but was fun as shit. Basically you and a "buddy" do a 10K split between running and mountain biking this extreme course. One person starts on the bike, one running and then you switch at "checkpoints" with these obstacles. We did a bad job of making our bike stand out so when it came time to find the bike in a sea of other bikes strune everywhere - it was hard and added minutes to our time. At the end you meet up with your partner and run together up to this huge mud pit about 2' deep and have to crawl stomach down through 100 feet of mud. Covering you from head to toe. It was a great experience, should have pictures this week of us slathered. Loved being L's buddy for this, we make a kick ass team.
- Logic is going to be a chore to learn. I worked on it for about 3 hours on Sunday, learned a lot but still am miles away from fully understanding it. Read - finishing the EB record could take longer than expected.
- Braves still slippin. Had a blast at the game with L, Ice, SM, & Ice's parents - complete with free tickets and a lot jam, but damn - the braves are just sad right now (thankfully the Mets havent been much better). Here is a gripe: Fuck you Boston. Fuck you Detroit. Fuck you New York. Fuck you Chicago. I cant help it that your respective cities suck ass and you can't handle the weather up there and have to move down south to get the good pickins in A-town. Sorry we have the best fucking area around. Atlanta is a fantastic area, god damn it I can't help that. I'm just fucking sick of going to Turner Field and having these fucking gigantic realms of opposing team's fans. These fuckers move to our town because its so fucking sweet, then feel the need to buy up tickets to come to OUR game and start up their chants. Fuck you, we invented CHANTS. AND CHANT RAP! Last night was pretty awesome b/c anytime the Tigers fans started something up, everyone was booing like crazy and drown them out. But shit, its like playing that Pound The Gopher game at Chuck E Cheese - you only have one mallet and you have like 60 gopher holes to cover, eventually one is going to go by unnoticed. I dont want to start a debate about how Atlanta fans suck this and that, I just want to tell you to stop fucking moving here and disrupting my beer drinking at Turner Field. I mean god damn it every time i went to take a sip I had to pause, boooooo my ass off, then go back to sipping. I mean i clearly missed like 31 sips last night because of these northern fucks.
Killer weekend, here are some thoughts:
- OiNK is my new best friend. Pretty much has every record imaginable up on this "news group". Its invite only and I secured my entry through a friend of a friend. It takes a lot of work though as have to upload almost as much as you download. I havent done that yet and I'll probably get booted soon. But not before I got: White Stripes - Icky Thump, Ween - Live In Toronto w/ The Shit Creek Boys, Comets On Fire - Live In La Zona Rossa, Captain Beyond - Dawn Explosion, Ween - Pure Guava (had it only on vinyl), Boards of Canada - Twoism, Steely Dan - Gaucho Outtakes, Modest Mouse - We Were Dead... (for L), Royal Trux - Live In NYC 1992.
- Recorded a new France song with Ice on Saturday. It will appear on the tour ep - Sub Base. I think we hooked it. The song is called "Dave & The Weird Factor".
- Went to Agnes & Muriel's with the parents for L's bday. Excellent food. Mac & Cheese Fritters! Turkey meatloaf was above par, the chiggers on the new deck were not. Also saw Evan Almiggity. Alright but was made for families with kids. Transformers, soon.
- Sunday got up at 5:45a to go do the Muddy Buddy with L. Totally whipped our ass but was fun as shit. Basically you and a "buddy" do a 10K split between running and mountain biking this extreme course. One person starts on the bike, one running and then you switch at "checkpoints" with these obstacles. We did a bad job of making our bike stand out so when it came time to find the bike in a sea of other bikes strune everywhere - it was hard and added minutes to our time. At the end you meet up with your partner and run together up to this huge mud pit about 2' deep and have to crawl stomach down through 100 feet of mud. Covering you from head to toe. It was a great experience, should have pictures this week of us slathered. Loved being L's buddy for this, we make a kick ass team.
- Logic is going to be a chore to learn. I worked on it for about 3 hours on Sunday, learned a lot but still am miles away from fully understanding it. Read - finishing the EB record could take longer than expected.
- Braves still slippin. Had a blast at the game with L, Ice, SM, & Ice's parents - complete with free tickets and a lot jam, but damn - the braves are just sad right now (thankfully the Mets havent been much better). Here is a gripe: Fuck you Boston. Fuck you Detroit. Fuck you New York. Fuck you Chicago. I cant help it that your respective cities suck ass and you can't handle the weather up there and have to move down south to get the good pickins in A-town. Sorry we have the best fucking area around. Atlanta is a fantastic area, god damn it I can't help that. I'm just fucking sick of going to Turner Field and having these fucking gigantic realms of opposing team's fans. These fuckers move to our town because its so fucking sweet, then feel the need to buy up tickets to come to OUR game and start up their chants. Fuck you, we invented CHANTS. AND CHANT RAP! Last night was pretty awesome b/c anytime the Tigers fans started something up, everyone was booing like crazy and drown them out. But shit, its like playing that Pound The Gopher game at Chuck E Cheese - you only have one mallet and you have like 60 gopher holes to cover, eventually one is going to go by unnoticed. I dont want to start a debate about how Atlanta fans suck this and that, I just want to tell you to stop fucking moving here and disrupting my beer drinking at Turner Field. I mean god damn it every time i went to take a sip I had to pause, boooooo my ass off, then go back to sipping. I mean i clearly missed like 31 sips last night because of these northern fucks.
Friday, June 22, 2007
circling the drain on the radio
Okay, Mesmerization Eclipse still exists every Friday on WZBC 90.3 FM from 3 to 5, including today. It won't for too much longer, though. End of the summer is probably the end of radio, FOREVER.
and yes, they've still got streams and shit.
Okay, Mesmerization Eclipse still exists every Friday on WZBC 90.3 FM from 3 to 5, including today. It won't for too much longer, though. End of the summer is probably the end of radio, FOREVER.
and yes, they've still got streams and shit.
new(ish) weblog by friend and frequent commenter
or perhaps an old weblog whose existence was previously unknown to me: Overundulating Fever. Duly added to the side list there.
also added a link Ryan Lewis's Ryanetics. He writes about comics sometimes. I like comics. I also like reading about comics.
or perhaps an old weblog whose existence was previously unknown to me: Overundulating Fever. Duly added to the side list there.
also added a link Ryan Lewis's Ryanetics. He writes about comics sometimes. I like comics. I also like reading about comics.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
NIGHT MOVES ALBUM
If you dont already have it...
DOWNLOAD THE NIGHT MOVES RECORD HERE!!!
Jay said that he is only keeping it up here for a week, so get on it pronto! Memorize the songs for the show next month!
Then get your foreplay on!
If you dont already have it...DOWNLOAD THE NIGHT MOVES RECORD HERE!!!
Jay said that he is only keeping it up here for a week, so get on it pronto! Memorize the songs for the show next month!
Then get your foreplay on!
True History of the LOLCats *
Startling revelations:
"Not many people know this, but my great grandfather Aloysius 'Gorilla' Koford, was also a cartoonist. From 1912-1913 he produced a comic strip which was featured in 17 newspapers, including the Philadephia Star-Democrat, the Tampa Telegraph, and the Santa Fe Good-Newser.
The strip was entitled 'the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats' and featured the exploits of one Meowlin Q. Kitteh (a sort of cat hobo-raconteur) and his young hapless kitten friend, Pip. The strip did not last long due to a run-in my great-grandfather had with none other than William Randolph Hearst.
See, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats was run by one of Heart's competitors, so 'Big Willy' (as Hearst was known in his day) used the bully pulpit of his media empire to hound and mock the efforts of my great-grandfather. Hearst scribes insinuated Aloysius was an actual trained gorilla and purported to have evidence in the form of banana shipping statements. (In reality, my great-grandfather was an expert climber and incredibly hirsute, and had earned the nickname in college.) Pressures continued to mount and Aloysius hung up his pen after only a year of working on the strip. He turned to a life of quiet dignity as a steamer captain and part-time walrus hunter.
But the story doesn't have to end there.
As the only known cartoonist relative of Aloysius 'Gorilla' Koford, I am authorized to sell black and white postcard sized portraits of Kitteh and Pip (on old-timey looking paper even!), for a mere $20 via HOBOTOPIA.
Own a piece of forgotten cartoon history today!
kthxbai "
Here's a slideshow.
*: not actually true
Startling revelations:
"Not many people know this, but my great grandfather Aloysius 'Gorilla' Koford, was also a cartoonist. From 1912-1913 he produced a comic strip which was featured in 17 newspapers, including the Philadephia Star-Democrat, the Tampa Telegraph, and the Santa Fe Good-Newser.
The strip was entitled 'the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats' and featured the exploits of one Meowlin Q. Kitteh (a sort of cat hobo-raconteur) and his young hapless kitten friend, Pip. The strip did not last long due to a run-in my great-grandfather had with none other than William Randolph Hearst.
See, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats was run by one of Heart's competitors, so 'Big Willy' (as Hearst was known in his day) used the bully pulpit of his media empire to hound and mock the efforts of my great-grandfather. Hearst scribes insinuated Aloysius was an actual trained gorilla and purported to have evidence in the form of banana shipping statements. (In reality, my great-grandfather was an expert climber and incredibly hirsute, and had earned the nickname in college.) Pressures continued to mount and Aloysius hung up his pen after only a year of working on the strip. He turned to a life of quiet dignity as a steamer captain and part-time walrus hunter.
But the story doesn't have to end there.
As the only known cartoonist relative of Aloysius 'Gorilla' Koford, I am authorized to sell black and white postcard sized portraits of Kitteh and Pip (on old-timey looking paper even!), for a mere $20 via HOBOTOPIA.
Own a piece of forgotten cartoon history today!
kthxbai "
Here's a slideshow.
*: not actually true
I Don't Hate This: a review of World War Hulk (thus far).
Whatta surprise: World War Hulk has been kinda awesome thus far. I mean, not the greatest thing ever, and perhaps not even truly great in and of itself, but compared to the other big crossovers Marvel and DC have hoisted upon the public in the past couple of years, it’s really damn good. I’m sure most of the tie-ins and ancillary miniseries will blow, but the core stories, written by Greg Pak and appearing in Incredible Hulk and the World War Hulk mini and prologue, have been tremendous fun. It’s completely goofball, of course, but it fully commits to the goofballery, which is vitally necessary.
But yes, based on the track record of these things, and the fact that I’ve never cared for the Hulk (outside of the Defenders, when he was dumber than shit, like a big green Jim Thome), I totally expected WWH to suck. It definitely got off on the wrong foot, over a year ago, when they started laying the groundwork for both WWH and the preceding storyline Planet Hulk. In 2006 the overrated writer Brian Michael Bendis introduced the concept of “the Illuminati”, basically a group of Marvel’s smartest and most powerful heroes who each represented a different faction of the Marvel universe. Iron Man represents the main body of costumed heroes, Mr. Fantastic is the top scientist around, Dr. Strange is the greatest wizard since Doug Henning, Professor X clamps the lid down on them mutants with his mind, Black Bolt’s just kickin’ it on the moon, and Namor the Sub-Mariner is the unrivalled champ of all the dicks and assholes in the realm (plus Atlantis too or something.) But so they start having these shadowy meetings after major universe-shaking events, going all the way back to the end of the first Kree-Skrull war, which happened in like 1970, real world time. They think they know what’s best for everybody, and since all their meetings have been written by Bendis, almost all of them are written horribly out of character. But so after the Hulk goes on some rampage somewhere, and blows up a refinery or something with the Abomination’s head, these dudes decide it’s time to get the Hulk the hell away from America by blasting him into outer space. Prof X ain’t at that meeting, though, and Hulk’s old Defenders teammate Namor angrily storms off from the meeting in question, making Iron Man, Fantastic, Strange, and Black Bolt the major culprits in the plot. So Hulk’s shot into space, where his ship lands on some crazed gladiator planet somewhere, and over the course of the next year (our time; probably be a day in comics time by 2050) he fights his way up from slave to emperor, just in time for the planet to get ‘sploded along with his new wife and unborn Hulk-child. Apparently the ship he arrived in had some sort of nuclear core reactor failsafe plot point detonator thing, destroying all that Hulk knew and loved and enjoyed and doted upon, and thus sending him into a fit of apoplectic fury unseen since this thing here. He flies his ass back to Earth (through SUPER HULK MAGIC) and decides to batter the four guys responsible into complete and endless death, along with however many billions of random dudes get in his way while going to get themselves a burger, or whatever. So there’s your background, all you non-comics-reading ignorami who frequent this site.
This would be a good idea for a story, actually, if it didn’t make some of the smartest dudes around look like soulless assholes. Even if Dr. Strange is involved, Genocide is NOT cool, whether it's inadvertent or not, and turning the GREATEST FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF ALL TIME (his name rhymes with Proctor Flange) into even a sorta possible bad guy is some hopeless horseshit. So hopefully you can understand my hesitation and dismay at the prospects of World War Hulk.
But yes, that dismay has been unfounded! At least through the first four parts of the story, the first four of like fifty, or only 12 or so, if you discount all the non-Pak written crossovers. Basically these first four parts have seen the Hulk smashing the holy hell out of stuff, knocking down skyscrapers in New York with Iron Man’s limp body, somehow beating the terrigen out of Black Bolt (whose slightest whisper could rend worlds), etc., all while wearing a metal tiara and some leather sandals with elaborate calf-straps. In the latest issue of Incredible Hulk (which I guess is the fourth part, coming after the WWH Prologue, Hulk #105, and WWH #1), Hulk finds out he’s got some folks willing to help him out, including Hercules, the most incomparably awesome dude that almost no comics fans seem to like (repeat: 99% of comics fans are hopeless retards). Angel (who for some reason is no longer blue and metallic) is also on Hulk’s side, making for a nice little mini-Champions reunion, along with Namor’s long-thought-dead-but-recently-revived-in-the-awesome-Agents-of-Atlas cousin, Namora. So I guess these four, along with Hulk’s “warbound” (a bunch of alien jokers who followed him from deadsville to kick human rump) and a demographically diverse group of angry and indigent humans, are gonna help Hulk pummel Mr. Fantastic, or something. Oh, there’s also some Asian boy genius named Amadeus who keeps a coyote puppy in his leather jacket 24-7. I have no idea what the fuck is up with that kid.
So I whole-heartedly endorse these first four installments of Marvel’s latest overblown summer kerfluffle. But that endorsement will be revoked the instant they don’t have Dr. Strange wearily dispatch Hulk and whoever else with an idle twitch of his right hand, without even looking up from the Thaumaturgic Tome of Tatoombah.
Whatta surprise: World War Hulk has been kinda awesome thus far. I mean, not the greatest thing ever, and perhaps not even truly great in and of itself, but compared to the other big crossovers Marvel and DC have hoisted upon the public in the past couple of years, it’s really damn good. I’m sure most of the tie-ins and ancillary miniseries will blow, but the core stories, written by Greg Pak and appearing in Incredible Hulk and the World War Hulk mini and prologue, have been tremendous fun. It’s completely goofball, of course, but it fully commits to the goofballery, which is vitally necessary.
But yes, based on the track record of these things, and the fact that I’ve never cared for the Hulk (outside of the Defenders, when he was dumber than shit, like a big green Jim Thome), I totally expected WWH to suck. It definitely got off on the wrong foot, over a year ago, when they started laying the groundwork for both WWH and the preceding storyline Planet Hulk. In 2006 the overrated writer Brian Michael Bendis introduced the concept of “the Illuminati”, basically a group of Marvel’s smartest and most powerful heroes who each represented a different faction of the Marvel universe. Iron Man represents the main body of costumed heroes, Mr. Fantastic is the top scientist around, Dr. Strange is the greatest wizard since Doug Henning, Professor X clamps the lid down on them mutants with his mind, Black Bolt’s just kickin’ it on the moon, and Namor the Sub-Mariner is the unrivalled champ of all the dicks and assholes in the realm (plus Atlantis too or something.) But so they start having these shadowy meetings after major universe-shaking events, going all the way back to the end of the first Kree-Skrull war, which happened in like 1970, real world time. They think they know what’s best for everybody, and since all their meetings have been written by Bendis, almost all of them are written horribly out of character. But so after the Hulk goes on some rampage somewhere, and blows up a refinery or something with the Abomination’s head, these dudes decide it’s time to get the Hulk the hell away from America by blasting him into outer space. Prof X ain’t at that meeting, though, and Hulk’s old Defenders teammate Namor angrily storms off from the meeting in question, making Iron Man, Fantastic, Strange, and Black Bolt the major culprits in the plot. So Hulk’s shot into space, where his ship lands on some crazed gladiator planet somewhere, and over the course of the next year (our time; probably be a day in comics time by 2050) he fights his way up from slave to emperor, just in time for the planet to get ‘sploded along with his new wife and unborn Hulk-child. Apparently the ship he arrived in had some sort of nuclear core reactor failsafe plot point detonator thing, destroying all that Hulk knew and loved and enjoyed and doted upon, and thus sending him into a fit of apoplectic fury unseen since this thing here. He flies his ass back to Earth (through SUPER HULK MAGIC) and decides to batter the four guys responsible into complete and endless death, along with however many billions of random dudes get in his way while going to get themselves a burger, or whatever. So there’s your background, all you non-comics-reading ignorami who frequent this site.
This would be a good idea for a story, actually, if it didn’t make some of the smartest dudes around look like soulless assholes. Even if Dr. Strange is involved, Genocide is NOT cool, whether it's inadvertent or not, and turning the GREATEST FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF ALL TIME (his name rhymes with Proctor Flange) into even a sorta possible bad guy is some hopeless horseshit. So hopefully you can understand my hesitation and dismay at the prospects of World War Hulk.
But yes, that dismay has been unfounded! At least through the first four parts of the story, the first four of like fifty, or only 12 or so, if you discount all the non-Pak written crossovers. Basically these first four parts have seen the Hulk smashing the holy hell out of stuff, knocking down skyscrapers in New York with Iron Man’s limp body, somehow beating the terrigen out of Black Bolt (whose slightest whisper could rend worlds), etc., all while wearing a metal tiara and some leather sandals with elaborate calf-straps. In the latest issue of Incredible Hulk (which I guess is the fourth part, coming after the WWH Prologue, Hulk #105, and WWH #1), Hulk finds out he’s got some folks willing to help him out, including Hercules, the most incomparably awesome dude that almost no comics fans seem to like (repeat: 99% of comics fans are hopeless retards). Angel (who for some reason is no longer blue and metallic) is also on Hulk’s side, making for a nice little mini-Champions reunion, along with Namor’s long-thought-dead-but-recently-revived-in-the-awesome-Agents-of-Atlas cousin, Namora. So I guess these four, along with Hulk’s “warbound” (a bunch of alien jokers who followed him from deadsville to kick human rump) and a demographically diverse group of angry and indigent humans, are gonna help Hulk pummel Mr. Fantastic, or something. Oh, there’s also some Asian boy genius named Amadeus who keeps a coyote puppy in his leather jacket 24-7. I have no idea what the fuck is up with that kid.
So I whole-heartedly endorse these first four installments of Marvel’s latest overblown summer kerfluffle. But that endorsement will be revoked the instant they don’t have Dr. Strange wearily dispatch Hulk and whoever else with an idle twitch of his right hand, without even looking up from the Thaumaturgic Tome of Tatoombah.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Released Today!
1. Friends
2. I Got To Put The Hammer Down
3. King Billy
4. Light Me Up
5. Slow Down Boy
GO HERE!
1. Friends
2. I Got To Put The Hammer Down
3. King Billy
4. Light Me Up
5. Slow Down Boy
GO HERE!
Pictures from Unplugged In the Park on Sunday
Twas a JAM! Super thanks to everyone who came out, it was really good to see so many folks. Apparently the France was the only band who got the "unplugged" memo, seeing as how everyone else played a regular set. OH well it was cool to switch it up and kinda bring it back to Just Be Friends style. The DAD'S tribute - Thank You For Being A Friend went over gangbusters and we had that whole place just a singin' like a Golden Girls convention. Thanks to Ellie for hooking us up with the show for sure. Dr. Dog slayed as usual, always great to see those dudes. Great sunday night jam sesh.
These pictures are kinda small, but we're hoping to get some bigger ones. **Also take note that the double glasses Scoldjah was jammin' background vox with the Dog the whole time. [finger up to ear] WOOOOOO!
Twas a JAM! Super thanks to everyone who came out, it was really good to see so many folks. Apparently the France was the only band who got the "unplugged" memo, seeing as how everyone else played a regular set. OH well it was cool to switch it up and kinda bring it back to Just Be Friends style. The DAD'S tribute - Thank You For Being A Friend went over gangbusters and we had that whole place just a singin' like a Golden Girls convention. Thanks to Ellie for hooking us up with the show for sure. Dr. Dog slayed as usual, always great to see those dudes. Great sunday night jam sesh. These pictures are kinda small, but we're hoping to get some bigger ones. **Also take note that the double glasses Scoldjah was jammin' background vox with the Dog the whole time. [finger up to ear] WOOOOOO!
Friday, June 15, 2007
radio rebirth
Yes I am back upon the radio today, WZBC 90.3 FM, Newton, MA, from 3 to 5 pm.
Starting the Countdown. Counting down. To something.
Yes I am back upon the radio today, WZBC 90.3 FM, Newton, MA, from 3 to 5 pm.
Starting the Countdown. Counting down. To something.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Dr. Dog & France Light FREE SHOW - SUNDAY!!!
Das is right.
Sunday night at Park Tavern in ATL. Part of 99X's Unplugged In The Park. Big thanks to Elliott (& sunday school) for hooking us up with this. France lite is playing acoustic (aka Forever Dudes style) jamz and it should be a fun one. Oh yeah and Ken will be jamming with us as well, so that means the little woowoo things on TDWTWFU. We go on strong RIGHT AT 7:00 SHARP, not a second later - so be there on time!
FREE ASS FREE!
Das is right.
Sunday night at Park Tavern in ATL. Part of 99X's Unplugged In The Park. Big thanks to Elliott (& sunday school) for hooking us up with this. France lite is playing acoustic (aka Forever Dudes style) jamz and it should be a fun one. Oh yeah and Ken will be jamming with us as well, so that means the little woowoo things on TDWTWFU. We go on strong RIGHT AT 7:00 SHARP, not a second later - so be there on time!
FREE ASS FREE!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
