I went to a poetry reading at the Idoru wine bar last weekend. It was the first of a new series called Candle Lit Readings.
aside:
It's actually called CANdle LIT Readings, wearing it's Canadian literature bias on its sleeve. Not that it has a sleeve. I'm just saying, you know, if it did. Have a sleeve. Oh, shut up.
end of aside
As with many (by "many" I mean "most," and by "most" I mean "all") poetry readings this wasn't a venue for discovering the next Coleridge. Or even the next Johnny Limerick-Seed.
There were two readers. One hurt my ears. The other delivered a passable free verse set without too much of the Free Verse Monotone that typically plagues these events. In all, I wouldn't say that Vogons came to mind but that may have only been because there wasn't an airlock handy.
Idoru was an excellent venue. I had a duck pannini that was fantastic. I'd go back.
In point of fact, I know I'll go back. I plan to return to the next of these CANdle LiT ThiNGs on March 7. In place of a pair of dissonant poets there will be a staging of Plato's Symposium. An inspired choice of material, methinks. I'll be there will bells on.
Not literally. Probably.
2005 Feb 08 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Play By The Rules" by Sissies
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My car is sending me messages in the way it melts snow on its hood. This symbol means "wash me."
I know that one means wash me because they all mean wash me. Frankly, my car is a tiresome conversationalist with a one-track hood.
Eskimos have 100 words for snow. My car has 100 words for wash me. But I ignore it because I don't speak Car. As far as it knows.
2005 Feb 08 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Slave Dealer's Daughter" by Gin Blossoms
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I went to the Raptors' game this evening. Muchly fun stuff, even though the local boys in white and purple got smacked down by the visiting boys in purple and white.
We were doing really well for most of the game, but we fell apart in the middle part of the fourth quarter. (The eleventh twelfth?)
I write "we" although, let's face it, I'm not the one who lost. I did my job. I sat there, I yelled a bit, I took photos without the express written premission of the NBA, and I commiserated with the guy beside me who needed the Raptors to win by 5 to cover the spread. Nobody can claim I didn't cover my man, so point those accusing gazes elsewhere.
I was willing to do more. I wanted to wave one of those Waving Things to help the defense. I was willing … nay eager to wave one of those Colorful Waving Things. But did they give me a Magical Colorful Waving Thing?
No they did not.
I think it's pretty clear that the rest of the people in my section were waving their Beautiful Magical Colorful Waving Things at me as much as at the players. Smug bastards.
I mean, come on: does he look distracted? No, he does not. Was I distracted? Yes I was. You do the math. Do it!
Looking away from that field of Beautiful Magical Colorful Waving Things, I spotted some beautiful magical colorful waving hair a few rows in front of me.
Hey, I thought, I think I know that hair. I might even know the person it's sitting on.
Turns out, it was Corrine and her cousin, so the adjectives I'd selected were bang on. She said she'd read my blog and I told her now she'd be in it.
And now she is.
2005 Feb 09 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Fortune Teller" by Sugar
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I'm eagerly anticipating the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy movie. I love the casting: the actors cast were surprises to me, but in each case it was a pleasant surprise rather than a Rob Schneider surprise.
The first production stills do nothing to shake my belief that I'm going to love this film.
This is not just an excuse to link to a page that includes a photo of Zooey Deschanel, as far as you know.
2005 Feb 11 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Sad Dress" by Belly
Hidden band name idea: Nothing To Shake
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What's up with these "black and white" MiniDV tapes from Best Buy?
In case the link dies, here are the juicy bits:
Sony 60-Minute Black-and-White MiniDV Tapes (5-Pack) Model: DVM60PRL/5
Each tape holds 60 minutes of high-quality black-and-white video
I'm correct in thinking this is nonsense, right? MiniDV cameras just write an MPEG file to the tapes—having "black and white" tapes is like having sheets of "black and white paper" that work for pencils but not for crayons.
Is this a way for Best Buy to prey on the snobbish pretensions of MiniDV Art Film auteurs, or am I missing something? (Not that those are mutually exclusive ideas.)
2005 Feb 14 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Walkin' The Dog" by Rufus Thomas
Hidden band name idea: Work For Pencils
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I was listening to CARY-FM (my name for my own iTunes library on random play—best damn radio station there is) and I was digging the tunes, as usual. I might even have a little man-crush on the DJ.
I found myself tapping my foot to a bouncy tune. Well, I may not have actually tapped but there was a near-tap movement at the very least. Maybe one of those big-toe-only, in-shoe taps you can do without anybody noticing. Yeah, maybe one of those.
Anyway, "I like the way Tanya Donelly is singing this one," thought I. "I wonder what it's called?"
I followed that thought up with a raised eyebrow, although once again it may have been something more subtle. Maybe a light pursing of the lips with a slightly squinting glance to the side. To be honest, I can't remember the look I gave. My money's on the side-squint, but I wouldn't wager more than a buck or so.
Okay, maybe a buck fifty.
But the point isn't the squint or nonsquint, it's the thought that accompanied it.
"What do I mean, what's it called? I know all the Belly tunes by name—it's not like they have a huge catalog."
Hard on the heels of that thought came these: "I'm sort of hungry. Where'd that come from? Can't I even finish one damn chain of thought about a Belly tune without my mind wandering? Chain of thought? I suppose this is the weakest link. That phrase has really been ruined by reality TV shows. Reality TV—ha, what an oxymoron. And so-called reality shows are as phony as any sitcom anyway. Stupid damn TV, I'm glad I stopped wasting my time watching it. How long has it been since I gave up TV? Three years? Four? Should've done it earlier. Hey, this is a catchy tune, I wonder what it's called? Hold on, wasn't I already wondering that a minute ago? Come on, brain, pull it together. I really must remember not to include this silly mental aside when I blog about this."
aside:
But I forgot.
end of aside
Then I followed those thoughts up with a little bit of "where was I?" wondering, which finally lead me to: "Hey! I don't know this song!"
It turned out that I had a Belly tune in my library that I'd somehow never heard before. It's a cover of the Harry Nillson song Think About Your Troubles, and along with Spaceman and Diamond Rib Cage it's from the excellent Seal My Fate EP.
What a tiny happy thing, discovering a new song from a favorite band. CARY-FM rocks.
2005 Feb 14 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "Think About Your Troubles" by Belly
Hidden band name idea: Ruined By Reality
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I saw Shivaree at the Lula Lounge tonight with Colin, Stacey, and Sandy. The band started good and got even better throughout the evening. Their music is a mix of gin soaked torch songs and slightly loopy lullabies, with a hint of danger. Singer Ambrosia Parsley has an interesting, breathy voice that works perfectly for these songs, and she sounds as good in person as on CD.
It was my first time at the Lula Lounge, and it's a nice venue. The acoustics, food, and staff were all very good. I'd certainly go back.
Parsley's patter was a big part of the entertainment. While the band tuned up their instruments mid-set she told a story about her and her twin brother consuming a giant Cosco bottle of Nyquil when they played "Sheriff" as kids—they'd take turns being the bartender while the one who was sheriff moseyed up to the bar to order "a shot of red eye." Well, Nyquil has that little shot glass on top…
aside:
Her other stories included one about her grandma driving to California to find her "scoundrel" grandpa—and stab him in the neck with a butcher's knife, and the one about her first love—who died, and I forgot to mention the part in the Nyquil story about throwing up Flintstones vitamins…you know, none of it seemed so morbid at the time. Must've been the alcohol.
end of aside
I like seeing bands that are far enough along in their careers that they give a performance that's well worth the cover charge but who are still small enough that they are approachable after the gig. We spoke with Ms. Parsley briefly on our way out and she seemed both friendly and genuinely appreciative of the turnout (an almost full house, versus the "about 8 people" that came out when they toured for their first album).
It was a good evening to have ears. So, you know: fwew!
2005 Feb 17 // Link // E-mail
Song in my head: "I Close My Eyes" by Shivaree
Hidden band name idea: Consuming A Giant
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I'm sure there's a word for the act of sitting down to write a long overdue blog entry only to find that you spend the whole day redesigning your blog so you no longer have time to write anything after all.
It's right on the tip of my tongue. I think it starts with a "p." And ends with something like "rocrastination." I just haven't gotten around to looking it up yet.
If I had written a blog entry instead of just redesigning this site, it would have probably been something about how much I hate hate hate with a capital hate the fact that Warner Bros. is "re-imaginging" Bugs and Daffy and pals as the Loonatics.
Th-th-th-that's all a bunch of crap, folks.
If I had written about that I would have probably rattled on about how the idiotic idiots at idiotic WB are a bunch of idiotic idiots, but I would have used a thesaurus so I would have sounded like a proper writer type with a diverse collection of adjectives.
Then I probably would have fumed about the many ways in which it is idiotic (or fancy words to that effect) to mess with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and Lola Bunny.
Then I certainly would've gotten around to asking just who the hell is Lola Bunny, anyway?
Maybe it's better that I don't have time to write that after all. Even asking the question would have probably just upset me all over again. So, lucky break there, huh?
If I had more time I would probably also tell you that I've fixed the RSS feed on this site, which had been broken ever since I dropped WordPress in favor of returning to my hand-rolled code.
But I don't have time to tell you that, particularly because I've now wasted what little time I did have writing about how I don't have time to write about it. Oh the irony.
So you'll just have to wait until later for me to tell you the RSS feed is fixed, and I'll just have to hold my middle finger up to the window on my way to bed tonight. This one's for you, WB.
