Skip to main content

You are forgiven

Songs in my head:
"A Quick One (While He's Away)" by the Who
"Good Times" by Jim O'Rourke

No kickball today on account of rain. Rats. Good time for blogging!

Here's a weekend overview:

Friday night, after I got off the afternoon shift, I went to my favorite local pizza place. For about $7.50, it's all-you-can-eat with all kinds of great-tasting pizza. Well, due to the fact that it is right next door to a popular singles club, they want to make sure that clubgoers don't park in their parking lot. So after I find a parking space in front, I get out of my car. I'm then approached by a parking lot patroller asking if I'm going to the club. For some reason, I got really offended. I told the patroller in a very stern voice that I was going to the pizza place. I walked off in a huff. Now, I have never been into the club next door but to me, I don't think it would be a place I'd like to go in. I'm not somebody that likes to go "clubbin'." I'm not a fan of going to a big place that plays music that doesn't appeal to me, "having a good time" by wearing clothes I wouldn't wear and talking to people that I wouldn't want to talk to. If I'm going somewhere, it has to have a purpose that has meaning to me. So after finishing up a couple of plates of pizza, I went home.

I got home and got really excited by what came in the mail: more Netflix movies and the new issue of Alternative Press. I watched Some Kind of Monster later that night. As a fan of Metallica since my late middle school/early high school days, I have listened to them less and less since then. I've always appreciated them doing their own thing and their music still holds up. This documentary is a really moving portrayal of what it is like to be in a band. Yeah, there are the egos, but the relationships between them (strained or otherwise) keep it going. The film doesn't bastardize these people nor do they present them as untouchable. I've heard some people say it's funnier than This is Spinal Tap. I didn't think it was funny at all. Luckily, it's not super-tense all the time. It's very easy to follow and just flows very well. Highly recommended even for the non-Metallica fans.

During my shift yesterday, I got a call from Goose. He was in Houston for his father's wedding. Apparently the reception was going on at the same place where they filmed a scene from Rushmore. It was the scene at the pool where the Blume twins have their birthday party. I'm jealous.

I saw Aloha last night and was very much impressed. Prior, I had only heard of the band's name since they were on Polyvinyl. I always think of that ESPN broadcaster that used to say, "And aloha means goodbye." Anyway, I wanted to go because a) it was a band my friend Jeremy wanted to see b) what little of their music I had heard had pianos, marimbas, keyboards and arresting melodies. They delivered a strong set that was not too short but not too long. I'm now a fan.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Eric: This is Keith - I lost your email address so I thought I'd reach you this way. Today in our paper was another article about podcasting: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10777510.htm
https://registration.mercurynews.com/reg/login.do?url=http://www.mercurynews.com%2Fmld%2Fmercurynews%2F10777507.htm

You've taken the plunge by creating a blog, so when's the audio blog going
to happen???? I want to subscribe and listen ....

You might enjoy "The $250 Million Radio Show" by Derrick Oien.

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J