play your part

I saw Girl Talk at House of Blues on Monday night.
I had nothing but good things to say about the venue before visiting on Monday; after, I had my doubts. When we got in line outside, one of the staff checked our tickets and sent Serpico, Kim and I to the upstairs mezzanine, RJ [...]

there’s a clock on the wall and it counts my time

Saw some live music at the House of Blues this weekend.
The Islands
The first opening act, The Islands combined the best aspects of Radiohead with the worst aspects of The Arcade Fire. Good stuff but I don’t feel compelled to buy it. I was really confused since I showed up long after doors had [...]

I’ve got that rock and roll; I’ve got that future flow

We’ve Got The Beat That Bounce
Watching the video for “Boom Boom Pow” this weekend – just because, okay? – raised the obvious question: what do the other two guys in the Black Eyed Peas do? Why are they there? You’ve got Will.i.am producing the songs – and as little as I like their [...]

it’s a big ol’ land with countless dreams

Nine-Eleven, Nine-Eleven, Nine-Eleven
I heard perhaps the worst song I’ve heard in years – worse even than Gwen Stefani’s “Wind It Up” – while grocery shopping on Sunday: Aaron Tippin’s “Where The Stars and Stripes and Eagles Fly.”

This song wasn’t written in a Los Angeles studio by cynical shysters looking to cash [...]

from the homicidal bitchin’ that goes down in every kitchen

Take for granted that, when you give a man money and freedom for the first time (post college), he will either (1) live like a child or (2) live worse than a child, acting out all his repressed fantasies. I think about this every time I sit down to the lunch I pack myself [...]

sephiroth!

The lights went down on the Wang Theater and up on the crowded stage. A conductor with a shock of white hair and a black jacket with large silver buttons took the podium and tapped the orchestra to life. A screen behind the orchestra lit up, displaying the parallel lines of Pong. [...]

you think that this is just a kiss but I suggest you consider it a warning

I’ve spoken before (primarily on Yelp) about the premium I pay to live in Boston, as opposed to cheaper cities like Austin or Chicago. This weekend I made the most of that.
First off: Tasca after work on Friday with RJ, Sylvia, Joanna and Brian. Each of us picked three tapas off the menu; [...]

money on the dresser, drive a kompressor

Quicksilver: The first ninth of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. The publishers broke out each super-tome into three moderate paperbacks – more convenient for the commuting bachelor like myself. If you like Neal Stephenson, or peppery revisionist histories of the founding of the modern banking system, or sinister tales of intrigue between rival mathematicians, [...]

and so you’d better do what you are told; you better listen to the radio

Hey, friends: recommend me some of the following:
Podcasts. Anything entertaining or informative.
Books. Scope out my progress on my 50 books in a year for an idea of where my tastes lie. But I’ll try a pretty wide range of genres.
Television series available on DVD. I don’t need cable now that I [...]

all of her lovers, they talk of her notes and the flowers that they never sent

Overstuffed media blow.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: I unwittingly joined the Oprah Book Club by picking up this one up used. A fantastically nuanced portrait of the immense loneliness a person can feel even in the heart of civilization. The fact that McCullers wrote this at age 23 will astound me, and [...]