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Thursday,
October 13, 2005 at 10:14:40 (EDT) |
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Gotta run through the jungle
Hey, Harold
Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature!
And Mr Bones got his face scratched up again and he somehow
showed up at our front door, covered in burrs and dirt. He
looked like he'd been through the jungle. He swears he'll
never go outside again without the proper gear.
note the little burrs deposited
all over Buzz's bed
Also I'm making my blog window bigger to allow for easier
swapping with Flickr. For instance, I can just call a picture
from their site now:
This means lazier blogging, and perhaps (theoretically)
more frequent posting.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Friday,
October 07, 2005 at 12:37:37 (EDT) |
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No
siree, Jack, we're just givin' tickets
What does the city/police have against
cyclists? I have learned to accept a certain level of
totalitarian injustice in Manhattan, but now we're seeing
Brooklyn cops sawing through locks and confiscating bikes
because they're locked
up to (or even near) subway entrances. And before you
jump on the side of The Man, understand that there is no law
against locking one's bike up on such structures, as long
as their presence doesn't interfere with pedestrian traffic.
Makes sense, but that qualification is a bit of a gray area.
The sidewalk right near the Bedford L station is pretty narrow,
a bike locked up along the railing might be an obstacle. Of
course, it wouldn't be as much of an obstacle if the sidewalk
wasn't also crowded with those little free newspaper boxes
that seem to be reproducing at a high rate. Stuff like L
Magazine, or Metro, what are the laws regarding
these? Can you plunk one down anyplace you can find something
to chain it to?
Book 'em, Dano. [via untitledname.com]
At any rate, there seems to be a lot of official animosity
towards bicycles in this town, and that seems misplaced.
I have to wonder if the city's dislike/disregard for cyclists
has anything to do with the fact that bicycles do not directly
add to the city's economy as cars do (gas, tolls, paying
bums to wipe down windshields). It's getting harder to deny
that the people in power will only respond to those who
can quantify their existence monetarily. There's an article
in the New Yorker recently about how rumors of conspiracy
to kill off the poorest population of New Orleans have been
running through the southern black community. There is the
feeling that the Powers That Be were actively using the
hurricane as a screen to complete their agenda of removing
the unsavory poor elements from the city once and for all.
The sad thing is, the truth is less dramatic but more depressing:
the Powers That Be care so little for the poor that their
plight didn't even cross the transom of their thoughts until
it was way too late. No conspiracy needed.
Posted By Jimmy
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Thursday,
October 06, 2005 at 12:20:09 (EDT) |
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99
Problems
Wow, I have had nothing to say to you people for over a week.
It's not that I'm lacking material, oh no. It's just that
I don't care. Just imagine the brilliant, pithy thoughts that
have been accumulating in my noggin for the past 8 days and
marvel at my restraint.
Of course, the sad thing is that I am actually super busy
with my super stupid day job. I'm doing a bunch of web work
whose deadline was September 30th. Yes, my company is really
on top of things. They send me the updates ... yesterday.
I may have to work through the weekend to get it all done!
Hooray for the bottomless pit of office bureaucracy! So
of course I can't waste any valuable time here when my talents
must focus on This Very Important Work.
But in the meantime, does anyone have a working theory
for karaoke? I was discussing it after Josh's
latest article
in the Press about a karaoke joint. There seemed to be two
schools of thought: The Karaoke Bar Philosophy, and The
Karaoke Rented-Room philosophy. I maintain that I prefer
the karaoke bar, where performers may be strangers, as opposed
to the karaoke room that one rents with their friends. I
mean, I understand the no-pressure allure of the little
windowless room, but it also kind of begs the question:
Why do people want to sing karaoke in the first place? Lots
of people seem to be unable to do karaoke in front of anybody
but their close friends. So is there a fundamental difference
between the public karaoke people and the private karaoke
people, or is it just a matter of self-consciousness?
Yes, this is just a taste of the fascinating thoughts that
run through my head while I wait for corporate web sites
to publish.
Posted By Jimmy
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Wednesday,
September 28, 2005 at 14:56:39 (EDT) |
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You
want it all but you can't have it
 If
the "No Dogs Allowed" policy wasn't enough, recently the Alibi
traded in its old CD-based jukebox for a Rock-Ola
"Wall Rock" virtual jukebox. This means no more CD mixes
or bar-chosen albums. It claims to have over 200,000 songs,
however, which might make one assume there would be plenty
of decent songs to select. Well, one would be wrong. Dead
wrong.
Over the past several weeks, I have been leafing through
its library in attempt to find various songs and artists.
I am sorry to report that despite containing what should
be a pretty hefty bill of music, I have been unable to find
much of anything worth playing. So what's on the thing?
I dunno. Crap, I guess. I was hoping there'd be some stuff
by more underground/local artists, but they don't even have
anything by Interpol, and we know how the kids that band.
No Steve Miller, no Ted Nugent, no Kraftwerk. Sure, there's
some Beatles and Bob Dylan, but anything remotely nonstandard
for a faux-Irish Pub in Des Moines is not included. Thus,
whatever personality was imparted by the previous jukebox
has been completely obliterated. This wouldn't be that big
a deal, but as the weather turns colder, I won't be able
to sit out in the back yard any more. I will be forced to
cope with this lame device (which by the way, proudly advertises
its extensive collection of Eagles and Journey greatest
hits).
Finally, this thing has an additional feature, cleverly
named "Make Mine First." which, for an additional fee, users
can force their selections to go to the top of the playlist.
So you could conceivably put in some songs and NEVER hear
them all night, as others after you can trump your choices
for theirs. What a rip.
I suppose in time, the library will increase, possibly
adding something worthwhile. But increasing the sheer number
of songs will only mean it'll take even longer to figure
out what's on the damn thing. How long before every bar
has one of these monstrosities? This is all Hi-Fi's
fault!
Posted By Jimmy
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Monday, September
26, 2005 at 16:37:59 (EDT) |
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Love
for sale
Motico
played a fun show at Galapagos on Friday. There was a good turnout
for the Greenhome NYC benefit, which is making me think the
band should only play benefits from now on.
Meanwhile, some guy in England is selling Motico's
record on eBay. Finally, we have international distribution!
Currently the price is below our original selling price, so
if you act fast you could get a deal (well, not counting the
$2.75 for shipping). Eh, the likelihood that anyone would
bother buying it this way is pretty slim, but at least the
guy said the music is "excellent." Then again, he
says that about every single auction he has going. Anyway,
if you don't already have your own copy, next time you see
us, we'll probably just give you one.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Thursday,
September 22, 2005 at 13:45:18 (EDT) |
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96
tears for 24 hours
Once again, Motico
plays the Galapagos
"Art Space" tomorrow night at 10PM. Both times we've
played there have been benefits for GreenhomeNYC,
a non-profit group that promotes environmentally sustainable
building methods. I know it's tough to pull off a benefit
show right now, what with all the hurricane benefits going
on (one of which a fellow Greenhome band is participating
in), but we're doing it anyway. It's still a good cause, and
perhaps it'll rub off on Louisiana, so when they rebuild down
there, they'll keep that holistic big picture in mind. Actually,
now that I think of it, "environmentally sustainable"
takes on an entirely different meaning in a place where everything
was just ripped apart by a hurricane.
 Coincidentally,
Galapagos will be the site of another event that same night.
The group NYC
Midnight will be holding the start of their Midnight
Run at midnight tomorrow (the bands should be all done
by then). At the stroke of 12, groups of filmmakers will be
given a theme (say, "cat juggling" or "cattle
mutilation"). Then they have 24 hours to create a short
film based on this subject. They have to have the finished
film dropped off back at Galapagos the next night by midnight.
Then the best entries will be screened on October 1st at the
Brooklyn Museum as a part of their First
Saturdays series (which Target appears to be sponsoring
now, irritatingly inserting its name into the title so it
sounds like a bad spy movie. TARGET: FIRST SATURDAY).
 Buzz
says that playwrights do something like this as well (although
I can't remember now if the playwrights just write or are
expected to actually put on a show in 24 hours). The whole
thing sounds like Iron
Chef for movies, so I gotta dig that. Come to the
benefit show and stick around for the midnight event, it sounds
pretty cool so far. Makes me think I need to branch out my
interests more, instead of just seeing bands or preaching
about folding bikes all the time. Oh, and the occasional rant
about rising real estate prices. And taking pictures of cats.
 Speaking
of which, the cats are growing more evil and feral with every
passing day. Decatur keeps catching birds, Mr Bones keeps
dragging them through the house. Decatur brought a live mouse
in the house recently, its whereabouts to date unverified.
And Mr Bones brought a dead mouse inside the other day (we
think Freddie the Stray Cat probably killed it first), which
he then proceeded to eat whole. Today he ate a moth. The squirrels
no longer trust Decatur as they once did. Hubcap, however,
has not even the slightest interest in catching vermin, which
currently makes him my favorite cat.
Folding bikes rule.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, September
20, 2005 at 14:22:30 (EDT) |
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Pushin'
too hard
So CMJ is over, and I gotta say I've just about had it with
the flim-flammery of that whole racket. I mean, what is the
point? My grievances:
- Tons of bands play a million shows over several days under
the auspices of this "college" musical journal.
Well, this is New York, there are a million shows every
single night. It's like how Buzz decries the Fringe Festival
in NYC, since this place is already a Fringe Festival. Save
that for Seattle or something.
- Who are these people at the shows? Did you know the full-access
CMJ badge costs $445? Given that almost no show is worth
more than paying, say, $10 for, you'd have to attend over
45 shows to make that worth your while. 45 shows in 4 days.
And several venues weren't accepting the badges if the show
was sold out, so what good did it do anyone? Do people think
they look good with one of those laminated cards swinging
around their fool necks? No. They look like they just got
off work and forgot to take their company ID card off.
- I attended a few CMJ shows, yes. But then, I see at least
as many shows every week. There was some good stuff like
The Forms
(but they play nearly every month anyhow), The
Psychic Paramount (super mind-blowing but they too will
be playing here again soon), and Circle
(who I saw a couple weeks ago also). The 'big' bands of
CMJ (Arcade Fire and them other Canuck bands) don't exactly
need CMJ's help to get people to their shows. Despite the
organization's claim that the only determiner for entry
into CMJ is the quality of a band's music, I didn't see
very many bands that didn't already have some kind of label
affiliation. Considering the 'quality' of some of the bands
that were included, I must take issue with their so-called
selection process.
- Is CMJ supposed to help musical novices find out about
bands they might like? Who can tell? It seems to me that
if people like music, they will seek it out eventually.
And in the maelstrom of CMJ, how likely is it that a potential
fan will be united with a band they don't already know?
I suppose some people saw new bands while waiting around
to see a familiar band, but if they had one of those pricey
badges, they were more apt to be running from one club to
the next trying to get their money's worth.
If you embrace CMJ and love it, so be it. I don't get it,
and every year I realize I never will. It looks like a music
industry pigfuck in the guise of empowering independent artists
(speaking of pigs, Abby noticed ar article featuring the pig
I saw on the street of our hood!). Well, at least the bands
all get those badges. Anyway, partially due to the popularity
of Canadian bands this year, word is that CMJ is dead and
Pop
Montreal is the real deal for bands. I'm not so sure about
that, but at least it's happening somewhere that won't interrupt
my usual band-viewing activity.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
September 14, 2005 at 13:42:09 (EDT) |
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If
you wanna get down
Huh. Remember when I was frustrated about the NY Press' butchering
of my work?
And how I wrote a little mock
piece to illustrate my frustration? Well, look at this write-up
for Cheeseburger:
Cheeseburger
September 15, 10
If you don’t have at least three or
four drinks before this show, you’re not going to
be having the right amount of fun. Cheeseburger is the ultimate
bar band and is best enjoyed through a booze-induced haze.
By the time they play their first song, you should be too
drunk to care what you’re saying or doing, but not
quite drunk enough to try and score coke in the bathroom.
Save that for the afterparty, where more than likely you'll
be hanging out with the band.
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw.
Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111; 10, $20
Sounds a little like the thing I wrote, perhaps a bit more
restrained. Also, if you've ever been around somebody who's
resorted to trying to score coke in a bar bathroom, I wouldn't
exactly describe them as being in a state that a live rock
act would enhance. But apparently you'll want to be holding
to get in good with the band at the 'afterparty.' So is this
a joke or what?
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, September
13, 2005 at 23:49:14 (EDT) |
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I don't
believe in Peter Pan, Frankenstein or Superman
Bested by them Russkies again!Ooh, the Paper of Record just discovered the
magic of the folding bike. Good for them! Is the folder
making a comeback or what? I've been seeing more on the street
lately. So many apparently that I can't feel special about
it anymore. The last time I was out riding I encountered another
guy on a folding bike, and I got ready to give him the Shared
Folding Bike Heritage High Sign, but he just ignored me. Maybe
he was just borrowing somebody else's folder. Dammit people,
when you see another folding bike enthusiast, you have to
acknowledge them! The last thing we need is a bunch of people
on ridiculous bikes acting all snooty.
 The
Times article did bring one concern to my mind. I
know have in my possession two folding bikes that are both
older than I am, both made of steel, and both of which do
not fold to particularly small size. Am I missing out on the
whole point of owning one of these things? I must admit, the
Soviet folder is beginning to edge out my Raleigh in terms
of practicality and overall coolness. I finally figured out
a way to secure the hinge bolt in the folded position so it
won't flop all over the place when collapsed. I could do the
same thing with a short chain or bungee cord, but that makes
me feel lame. Like so many things I do.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Monday, September
12, 2005 at 13:29:55 (EDT) |
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I am
so sickened now
Serious Dogs at Rope Bar I've
had some annoying cough/sneeze/cold thing for the past several
days, so I feel like I haven't really been on top of things
lately. All this stuff was going on this weekend, and I was
there for some of it, but I feel like I wasn't exactly a participant
in a lot of it. Being ill makes me fade in and out of reality
with more lubricance than usual. I do recall coming home and
finding Hubcap molesting Mr. Mucus, the doll who raises awareness
of mucus.
 We
went to Mike's
birthday
at Fort Greene Park, which was a lovely time, despite my medicine
head. I had finished working over the new folding bike and
actually got J on it to ride to the party. Despite its odd
looks, the folding bike is a highly comfortable ride, in many
ways superior to the full size bicycle. Except of course in
the areas of velocity and machismo. But if you need neither,
you could do worse than a folder. The bike was a hit at the
party; it seemed at some point nearly everyone took it out
for a spin. I weakly protested that my Raleigh Twenty is the
superior of the two, but it apparently doesn't capture the
imagination like the Soviet Folder Bike. Alas.
 Oh
and last night we were headed to Rope and ran into a goat
who was hanging out in front of the "A-Rod Grocery"
bodega on Myrtle Ave. It was a darling lil' fella, no bigger
than a medium sized dog. But what fate will befall this guy?
I don't know if people are still into goat sacrifices anymore,
but they certainly eat goats. I can't imagine why else somebody
would have one here. Do they make good pets?
I must now rededicate myself to getting some pictures of
the pig who lives in the neighborhood.
More party pix et al on Flickr.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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September 12 - October 18,
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