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Thursday,
August 04, 2005 at 13:00:09 (EDT) |
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I hope the Russians love their children
too
Tonight begins a 2-night marathon of shows at Sputnik,
the newish bar in my back 40. It's a duplex club, band room
in the basement. I fully intend to have Motico
play there before too long (don't forget, Motico plays Death
Disco Sept. 7th!!) but in the meantime we have these offerings:
Tonight (Thursday): Cobretti
performs at 10. This is the band who usually only plays once
a year. Not because they want to, but because they break up
after each performance, then it takes them a year to come
to their senses and get back together. This is the band that,
through some weird coincidence of space/time, contains the
original lead singer of Bob
City, the Columbus, Ohio, rock powerhouse that used to
do a mean "Am I Evil" cover.
Friday it's my friend Adrian's band, The Divorcers, again
at Sputnik. This is the band's debut public performance, so
there is much anticipation surrounding the show. Having sequestered
themselves away at a variety of practice spaces over the past
year, they've come up with some bizarre musical motifs which
should be pretty interesting to see in the flesh.
Finally, it may just be me, but I think Eric Paul, the lead
singer of Chinese
Stars, looks a lot like Tony Hale who plays possibly-retarded
brother Buster on Arrested
Development.
Eric Paul |
Buster |
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
August 03, 2005 at 15:42:46 (EDT) |
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Don't switch the blade on the guy in
shades
 The
Voice has an overly-long
essay about the recent resurgence of the upturned-collar.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who has noticed this of late.
A few years ago it came back as well, so perhaps we're in for
a bleak future of seeing those limply placed collars rising
again and again every few years. On the upside, at least that
means this current spate of upturned collars will die out soon.
 I'm
trying to rack my brain if anybody I know engages in this
practice, besides my mom (but she knows I don't approve; then
again, Mom has been flipping her collars since the 80's).
Maybe somebody who thinks this looks good can explain it to
me. I hated it in the 80s, I hated it in the 90's when it
came back for the first time, and I still hate it now (although
I must admit every time it reemerges I have less and less
energy to get irritated by it). The Voice essay posits
that one of the reasons people continue to perpetrate this
fashion is because they felt they couldn't back in the day,
whether because of self-esteem or societal influences. So
is it a way for people to 'take back' the style from those
whom they felt victimized them in their youth? Yikes, that's
a load of rich creamery butter. Then again, I don't like the
look to this day for the same reason: it reminds me of the
prep-school wannabees from my junior high school who looked
down their multilayered outfits at me in my unflappable geekery.
 Ooh,
that reminds me, do you guys remember that other preppy trend
of layering clothes? Like you'd have a turtleneck on, then
put a knit shirt over it (collar up, natch), then put an oxford-type
shirt on top of that. Actually, I think some people would
sub-layer with several turtlenecks and and knit shirts. Of
course, several years later these same kids would trade in
their Polo garments for flannels and achieve the same look
à la grunge.
One look I would like to see again is one I've seen only
once. When I was about 14, some friends and I took white polo
shirts and tie-dyed them. it didn't really work but college
kids found it mildly humorous. I just searched and actually
found some place that makes
these, and now looking at them I can't say they're an
improvement, even if the wearer keeps the collar down.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, August
02, 2005 at 12:18:24 (EDT) |
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What big eyes you have
On Saturday, J and I visited Fabulous
Fanny's in the East Village. It's the boutique that specializes
in vintage eyeglass frames, with some stuff dating all the way
back to the Renaissance. But of course, most of those frames
are for display only. We rifled through the drawers of more
recent acquisitions, hoping to find decent glasses that a) wouldn't
cost a fortune, and b) wouldn't look like everybody else's glasses.
Here's what I got:
The last time I bought frames was like in 1997. Since then,
eyeglasses have become small. Really small. Why did this happen?
Was it a reaction against the big unruly frames from years
past? I guess so, but there was something practical about
frames that could cover nearly your entire range of vision.
The new wave of tiny frames seems to imply, "I may wear
glasses, but I don't like it, and I'm not planning on seeing
much of anything through these little-bitty lenses."
I need normal sized glasses! Anyhow, I found a pair that fit
and was in good shape, so now all I have to do is find the
cheapest place in town to have the lenses ground.
I know now not to go to a place like Lenscrafters,
since they charge about $240 just to put in basic single vision
lenses. They have a lot of deals, but they're all based on
buying the frames and lenses there. I don't need my glasses
the same day, so I should be able to shop around. I'd like
to think the little shop where I got my eye exam would have
a good deal, seeing as how they're a small operation with
little leverage in the cutthroat world of corrective vision.
I also read about 39dollarglasses.com,
which promises single-vision lenses for $39. I don't know
if that's for a pair or $39 per lens, but I'm all for that
either way.
 Do
they still make glasses from glass itself? I miss that, even
though they were heavier. They didn't scratch as easily, and
frankly there's something a little lame to me about wearing
nothing but plastic across your face. Plastic is silly somehow.
Perhaps that's why my previous frames were combinations, metal
with a little bit a plastic for good measure (lower pair in
above pic, the glasses on top are my old-old glasses from
my undergrad days). These frames are based on the famous "Clubman"
design and not only is the company who invented them still
in business,
they still make the frame, and they're based in New York!
I can get a new pair for as little as $80,
so I may just get that as well.
What does this all mean to you people? The next time you
see Motico
live (which probably won't be until September 7th at The Delancey),
we'll truly be a Glasses Band, but my glasses will be just
a little bit cooler than the other guys'.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Friday, July
29, 2005 at 15:15:00 (EDT) |
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The longest running show underground
About 4 years ago I was on a subway and some guy was preaching
to the car, reading out of a book of scripture. He was shouting
over the din of the A train, and everybody was trying to ignore
him. I quickly realized he wasn't actually speaking any real
words, just hollering nonsense, although he acted like he was
reading from the book. I figured he was either a performance
artist attempting to challenge social convention by testing
the public's limits for subway interaction. Either that or he
was just some nut.
Now, years later, once again on the A train, I came across
the same guy. He's still shouting gibberish at everybody but
he's added to his repertoire a funny hat with a bunch of crap
in it. He was also wearing some kind of vest with some sort
of political slogan on it something. And he held that train
captive. We were on the train with him a long time, and he
kept up his routine until some guy snapped and starting yelling
back at him. A couple of cops got on the train and the guy
urged them to arrest the guy, but of course they didn't do
anything. It is interesting to note that while the police
were present, he was silent, but went right back into his
act when they left. Finally I had to take his picture, and
he posed for me:
So is this guy just some subway weirdo, or does he know exactly
what he's doing? He's way to put-together to be your average
bum, and he's awfully aware of his surroundings and his effect
on people to be a total psycho. Has anybody else ever seen
this guy?
Also last night we checked out some rock at .The
Frying Pan I'd never been there before. Aside from the
hefty cover and pricey whiskey, it's a supersweet spot, on
a docked ship near the Chelsea Piers. "People of the
North" performed, which is supposed to be Kid Millions
and Bobby from Oneida.
But for some reason Jane was also there, and they played a
bunch of Oneida songs. Can this still be considered a side
project if all the original band members are present? More
pix on Flickr.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
July 27, 2005 at 14:30:40 (EDT) |
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Who put this thing together? Me!
I had a weird moment the other night while reading Donnie
Brasco, the book about the FBI guy who goes undercover
to infiltrate the New York Mafia:
Whaddya know? I'm a made guy! And the physical description
is spot-on. Fuhgeddaboudit.
They never suspected a thing
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Week of July 24 - August 6,
2005
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