I Got My MTV
MTV has launched a website featuring basically every music video ever. Well, okay, not really, but it's a whole lot of them. Now if they'd scrap all this "Hills" nonsense and just go back to playing these puppies 24-7, then I might consider watching their network again.
Ten Fascinating Final Pictures
I try not to make too big a deal on this website about my fascination with death, but this list of ten last photographs taken - both BY and OF people who faced mortality imminently thereafter (sometimes by mere seconds) - was too good not to share.
Where the Thunder Comes Dribbling Down the Plains - New York Times
A great, in-depth story about how the Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the author's suggestion that perhaps Tulsa (yeah right) would've made a more "natural" fit for the NBA, he does a great job of showing how our city rose to this challenge.
Proposition 8 Made Me Quit The Mormon Church
A fascinating and somewhat heartbreaking story about a women who lost her faith watching her co-congregants rally around Proposition 8.
Oxford University Podcasts
Ever want to attend a class at England's Oxford University? Well, this is probably as close as you - or I - will ever get.
For the past week and a half I’ve listened to almost nothing but this new album by Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours. It’s just about my favorite thing ever right now, musically speaking.
Style-wise these guys are all over the map in one sense: at times they recall great post-punk acts like Ghostland Observatory or sad-white-guy groups like the Shins or the Postal Service. Combine that with the fact that they’re using some of the best hits of dance and electronica and new wave music from the last thirty years and their sound is absolutely unbeatable. Still, despite their genre-straddling sound the album as a whole hangs together remarkably well.
My favorite song by far on the album is "Hearts on Fire" which employs some of the old La Bouche playbook of dance grooves but to great effect. Other songs from the album recall great 80’s new wave acts like Comsat Angels et al. This is the best running, dancing, cleaning, driving album I’ve listened to in a long time.
You can listen to In Ghost Colours at their MySpace page, and their stuff is available on iTunes or from Amazon. Also, click below to listen to their song "So Haunted," which is available as a free MP3 download from last.fm.
Friday afternoon I left work early, ran home to finish packing and was on the road by 5:30. For the first time in six days I was going to see Brian, and I was sort of panicked to get there as quickly as possible.
The drive from Oklahoma City to Dallas is remarkably easy and fun, and this time of year it’s especially beautiful on the plains, as the winter wheat is coming in and turning everything a really vibrant green. I had the music on loud and made excellent time. I spent the last hour of the trip talking to Woody on the phone; it was perfect.
Arrived at the Belmont, greeted Brian with affection enough to kill a normal human being, and then we decided to mix Buffalo Trace with Coke - who knew? - and then go out. We spent a few hours at J.R.’s talking up some very nice fellow Okies and doing a bit of really quality people-watching, our wit assisted by various and sundry libations and also by Mary J. Blige.
Saturday was surprisingly consequence-free, as we had no hangovers and enjoyed a brunch of chorizo tacos at Cafe Brazil before taking off for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Mockingbird Station was packed, and it took us almost half an hour to find a parking space, but the parade was fantastic. My camera went dead halfway through it and I was tired by the end, so we decided to escape the post-parade traffic and go in search of food.
We got back over to the Dallas Observer After-Party just in time to get in the beer line, which is where we were when Ghostland Observatory hit the stage. It was a fantastic show, but I came to the awful realization that Dallas is, in fact, America’s preppiest city. The realization first started when, as we were standing in line and watching Ghostland take the stage, people kept asking, "Now, who’s this band? When’s Ghostland Observatory coming on?"
Okay, now - I’m not hardcore by any means; a reasonable case could be made for labeling me a "poseur," but the fact is that when I go to see a band in concert I try to find out a little about them beforehand. In this case, Ghostland has been one of my favorite new-to-me acts since Jonathan demanded, on this very website, that I get into them. And get into them I did - muchly. I love them rather rabidly. Turned out most of the people at their show only had a passing familiarity, which I suppose is fine - hopefully they went home more appreciative.
But the preppiness - OH MY GOD THE PREPPINESS. I saw more Ralph Lauren clothes in that place than you find in most Dillard’s stores. People were dressed like they were on a freaking yacht rather than at a rock concert. Is this the new thing? Is preppy back? Pleated shorts, God help me. One guy had on pleated shorts and a PASTEL YELLOW SWEATER. Seersucker, and golf visors and loafers without socks and sweaters tied around shoulders - it really did look like a Young Republicans convention and not a rock show. I need someone to reassure me that these were just a bunch of rich, white-bread SMU kids and that they’re not indicative of some national trend somewhere. Because - dear lord. Seersucker?
Whatever, fine. Ghostland played an awesome show to a so-so crowd, and I realized, for the millionth time, that drinking beer in the sun does, in fact, screw with your body a little. At any rate, I got a few cool clips of the concert:
Oh, and yes, I KNOW that clip is very very blue - I forgot to white balance my camera before taking it. Please don’t leave comments telling me how to do this BECAUSE I KNOW ALREADY.
Afterward we headed back to the hotel, planning to change and then hit the English Beat show at the Grenada Theater. But - sun and beer - I was tired and really just wanted to order some room service and chill, and, it being our vacation and us being adults, that’s exactly what we did. We skipped the show altogether, despite the fact that I’ve been dying to see the English Beat live since high school. It just felt like the right, relaxing thing to do.
Yesterday was an orgy of shopping - West Elm, Urban Outfitters, Crate & Barrel, because, after all, WE ARE WHITE PEOPLE, AND WE ARE RIDICULOUS. We hit IKEA last, where we somehow ended up with a new bed, new dresser and a whole bunch of various and sundry crap which I’ll be glad to photograph for you once it’s all assembled. We felt pretty sick on the drive home, and while I’m feeling better now, Brian took today off work.
I don’t speak for him on this, but as far as I’m concerned, some major stomach discomfort is worth every second of this weekend - it was exactly what I needed.
So, this weekend is already going to be hella-awesome. Brian’s been gone on business since last Saturday night, and now he’s in Dallas. I’m driving down tonight and we’re staying at the Belmont; awesome. Last time we stayed there was during our vacation last year. I plan on ordering blackberry mojitos from room service, lounging by the pool in the expected record high temperatures, and doing a fair bit of shopping at West Elm, Restoration Hardware, IKEA.
I plan on hitting S4 and JR’s for drinks and dancing. I plan on shaking my ass at the English Beat show on Saturday night.
I’m in some kind of nirvana from which I don’t plan to emerge, possibly ever. At least not until Monday, and considering that next week is Spring Break and my workplace will be uber-relaxed, I might stay in this euphoric state for well over a week.
Did you know that the Internet was invented at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)? I found that out this weekend whilst reading this amazing article in National Geographic titled "The God Particle." Today CERN is home to one of the world’s largest particle accelerators, but I like to think that when they were inventing the Internet, this was exactly the kind of thing they had in mind:
So, K.C.’s live recording was off the hook on Saturday; hands-down one of the best shows she’s ever played. Possibly the best. If you missed it, you missed out, for sure. But the good news? There’ll be an ALBUM of that night. So there’s that.
I admit to having had some grave doubts about my plans for last night: as part of my mom’s Christmas present, I bought us tickets to see Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson at Tulsa’s Mabee Center. I wasn’t going to do it, actually, but managed to score 9th row seats through Ticketmaster and thought, ah, well, what the hell.
Now, a disclaimer: I like Kelly Clarkson. My uncle was Reba’s chiropractor when she lived in Oklahoma, so I’ve seen her more times than I even really remember. But I’d given up on this type of music for so long that I was sort of just expecting to spend the concert cheering politely.
So when the lights came up and I heard the first line of Patsy Cline’s "Sweet Dreams" from behind the curtain, I cheered, like you’re sposeda. Then, the next moment, this happened, and I was all in, for the entire rest of the show:
Though I have to say, for me, the highlight was when they did Patty Griffin’s "Up To The Mountain (MLK Song)", because, well, because I freaking love Patty Griffin almost more than life itself. All I’m saying really is that I’d take a bullet for her. That’s all I’m really saying.
UPDATE: After much wrangling, I managed to get the video of the MLK Song into YouTube (Vimeo wouldn’t take it for some reason). So here you go:
Why, you’re coming to see my friend K.C. Clifford record her live album. At the Blue Door. If money is an issue, I’ll totally buy your ticket (though if you’d let me know ahead of time if you need me to, that would help me budget). Also, you may go to this page to hear K.C.’s currently published catalog, which also is available on iTunes. Have a listen and I hope to see you on Saturday!
This blurry photo is of my friends K.C. and David, who make beautiful music together. If you click that photo, you’ll be linked to K.C.’s website, where you can listen to some of the aforementioned wonderful music.
K.C. is recording a live album on February 2 at the Blue Door, which, as I state frequently on this site, is the best place in this city to hear live music. I think that everyone who reads this site - and for whom it is convenient geographically and/or financially - should come to this concert. I’m offering scholarships for those who worry about paying $10 for a concert ticket. Though seriously, for music this good, you can spare a Hamilton.
I’m not kidding, people, and this isn’t the last you’ll be hearing about it from me. Put it on your calendars right this INSTANT.
When your year starts out with a concert by the Flaming Lips - who were nice enough to teach the audience the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne and do the countdown 30 minutes early so we could all go outside and watch the fireworks - you know it’s gonna be a good year.
Ike & Tina Turner on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1970. Photo by: CBS
It happens a lot where a line from an episode of The Simpsons will come into my head, and I’ll be racking my brain going, "What episode was that?" And then two days later it’ll be on in the two early-evening reruns we get every night on our local Fox affiliate.
Monday night, after we lost power, I was lying in the tub, reading, and my mind began to wander. "How old is Ike Turner nowadays?" I asked myself. "Old, for sure. I bet we’re going to hear pretty soon that he’s died."
The founder of the Ike and Tina Turner Review, born in Clarksdale, MS, is now widely regarded as one of the founders of rock and roll for his song "Rocket 88." This from Wikipedia:
Ike Turner’s actual music career began in earnest in the late-1940s where he formed a group whom he christened The Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, the band recorded what historians have debated as "the first rock and roll record" with "Rocket 88", listed on the charts as Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats. Brenston was both the band’s saxophonist and the leading vocalist of the song and Turner was the original writer though credits initially stated that Brenston had written it also. The song was one of the first examples of guitar distortion, which happened by accident when one of the amplifiers dropped before the recording.
He is, of course, most well-known (and infamous) for his collaborations with Tina Turner, both musical and personal, which made her a star and him a pariah. The duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, though Ike missed the ceremony, as he was serving a prison sentence for drug charges. What you might not know is that Ike won a Grammy in 2007 for Best Traditional Blues Album for his record "Rising With the Blues." He played piano on the Gorillaz 2005 track "Every Planet We Reach is Dead" and a sample of his song "I’m Blue" was the basis for Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s hit "Shoop."
He might’ve been a bastard, but there’s no denying the man was a talented musician. So here you go; have a listen to a few tracks:
For the past week and a half I’ve listened to almost nothing but this new album by Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours. It’s just about my favorite thing ever right now, musically speaking.
