Magic Jewball

This weekend we Americans celebrate our presidents’ birthdays by doing much as our current president does: relaxing and doing little work. And thus, I have nothing much to say. But I did just want to show you this video I saw tonight on VH1 Classic. Some time ago, in a galaxy far far away known as the early 1980’s, the band Simple Minds or perhaps their brilliant video director thought it would be cool and sexy to set their little film at an airport security checkpoint. Oh yeah, I’m turned on.

In other news, although I haven’t posted anything real, it’s Sunday, so Where in the World is David Nalbandian and iPod song of the Week are updated. Happy happy joy joy.

And what the hey, even though if I do a video, I don’t usually do a song, how many chances do I get to show this one off?

The Psychedelic Furs – President Gas

I’ve wanted to do a song by this guy for ages but they’re just all so good in their own way that it was hard to choose. I decided to finally just pick one and maybe do some others later. Everyone knows Depeche Mode and some people even know that for the past ten or twelve years they haven’t been the same “classic” line-up as they were in their glory days. So what happened to the cute one? Not Paul McCartney, Alan Wilder!

What happened was that he struck out on his own and began recording intricate, sample-happy, electronicy music under the name Recoil. I gather his voice must blow because he enlisted lots of other fine singers to sing on his tracks, including Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb, Maggie Estep, Siobhan Lynch, and Diamanda Galas. One of his first was Moby who then went on to make a successful career out of doing the exact same thing. Hmmmmm…..

Anyway, I chose this song because the one I really wanted isn’t available on Napster or iTunes. Come on, Alan, get with the program! But this one is a fine choice as well. It’s a really slow build, so don’t go turning it off because nothing seems to be happening. It’ll kick in soon after the one minute mark, I assure you. Like many of Recoil’s songs, this one is dark and spooky and ominous and takes advantage of the fact that Douglas McCarthy sounds quite a bit like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now. It’s not a sample, it’s Douglas. But every time you listen you get just a few more of the dense layers of sound. And if you’re listening to the song for the first time and you know anything about Nitzer Ebb, you know that calm mood can’t last. I’m pretty sure he explodes by the end of the song. Luckily, he manages to put himself back together and be quietly sinister once again.

Recoil – Incubus

What’s a day in NYC without a little disruption due to 100 year old infrastructure? Not my day yesterday, that’s for sure. People say “oh, it’s just a little ice and freezing rain” but when nothing really works correctly in the first place there can be so much more fun than that!

All I was looking for was Thai food and a bottle of wine on V-Day with my also recently unattached friend… oh wait, maybe she wants to be private, who knows? I’ll call her C. Anyhoo, C., one of my bestest friends, lives a short walk away from me on the corner of 96th and Broadway and it was going to be easy-peasy. She ordered the food, I got the wine, I put on my little snow-proof shoes and off I went. Except when I got there, the entire intersection seemed to be a pool of water with chunks of snow in it. I couldn’t really figure out how the snow was melting so quickly in 18 degree weather. Cars from all directions were doing broken U’s to get the hell out of there.

That’s when I looked up 96th Street to see that a river of water was pouring down one side of the street and sidewalk. If you haven’t been to the Upper West Side recently (or ever), it’s quite hilly. Broadway is much lower than Amsterdam and this water was coming down in a torrent. I call C. “I’m right across the street.” She seems baffled, like, so, uh, come on over! Yeah, see, your building has a moat in front of it and I forgot my horse in my apartment. She comes to the window and looks. Holy fuck! She’s trapped in her building. I’m trapped outside her building. Meanwhile, despite it being frigid, a crowd has gathered.

I mean, why not? There’s a lot to see. There are firetrucks by now, firemen wandering around, cops consulting with each other, and should you have anything to do on the north side of 96th St. you are shit out of luck. One guy puts two post office mail cartons on his feet and sloshes across. A car actually goes through the intersection and people start screaming (that usually makes cars go faster, actually, in my experience) and in the very center the car is almost totally submerged with only the window level and up showing. But it makes it through and speeds off.

That’s it, I tell C., I am out of there. C. says there’s no way the delivery guy is going to come anyway. Hey, at least I have my bottle of wine! Later she calls me to tell me that despite the fact that her roommate had to be carried in by a fireman (why didn’t I think of that?) the delivery guy naturally made it just fine. These guys live with 25 other people in a tiny apartment, they need every dime! Sadly, he did not know enough English to explain to C. how he made it across the river in his little sneakers. Another New York mystery.

I went home and fell asleep watching Lost. I have it on DVR; don’t tell me what happens.

NY Post article

Love and Rockets – Waiting For The Flood

Yeah, I’ve had my MacBook Pro less than three months and it’s already giving me agita. Tonight it wouldn’t start up. I mean, you could hear things going on but the screen stayed stubbornly black. It was almost worse than nothing happening at all. “Something’s happening in there! Show me! What’s going onnnnnnnn……..??????”

In the process of trying to troubleshoot I got a CD stuck in there too. Nice going, Becca. So I decided to hand it over to the professionals. I got a geeky sounding guy with such a thick Canadian accent that I almost asked him the score in the Saskatoon Blades game. The conversation went like this.

Apple Guy: So with the computer turned off, press P,R, Command, and Option at the same time then press power, keep holding power till you hear two chimes.
Me: So I’m pressing five keys at the same time? With human hands?
AG: No, you push P, R, Command, and Option, then the power button.
Me: But how will the computer register this if I’m not pressing power simultaneously? I think you mean I need to press all five.
AG repeats word for word what he previously said.
Me: OK, but the power button is pretty far away. I’m not sure this is possible. Have you played Twister at all?
AG: Maybe you should put the phone down.
I try, it is just possible. I almost have to use my elbow.
Me: OK, but I don’t hear any chimes.
LOUD sustained beep sounds.
Me: Well, if you want to call that a chime.
AG: Is it starting?
The Apple logo pops up, my desktop screen appears in seconds as if nothing had happened, and the CD ejects.
Me: God bless y-
I rethink if that’s politically correct and somehow in my confusion it comes out as “God bless America.” I have no idea how, as I never actually say that in normal, everyday speech.
AG: I’m Canadian.
Me: I meant North America.

Oh dear. At least my computer works.

Bob & Doug McKenzie – Take Off

I don’t usually watch the Grammys but I did tonight. Well, I do often watch bits of it via DVR but this evening I actually sat through the whole thing. And survived. This is because of the folks in this photo, The Police. The Police were the first group I ever idolized but I was too young to ever see them in concert. And so, I will probably be one of those people spending insane amounts of money to see them on their soon-to-be-announced tour. In the meantime, I watched them for free on my teevee. Let’s just say, they no longer look exactly like this photo.

And now some random observations….

The only thing worse than Justin Timberlake is self-produced minicam shots of Justin’s face. They didn’t really bring sexy back on my TV.

OK, Mary J, your life used to be crap and now Jesus and your man turned it around. We get it.

Despite the fact that I’m not a Dixie Chicks fan, I was surprised that they forgot the most important line of their speech, “Oh yeah, and clearly we were right. Suck on that.”

“My Humps” is, in fact, the Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group, you are not dreaming. Why, God, why?

Both Tool and Nine Inch Nails were beat out for Best Hard Rock performance by Wolfmother. Are you freaking kidding me?

Somewhere in the middle some awful, awful people (don’t make me list them) were chosen to do do a series of Eagles covers. Gah. But the other scary thing is that almost all of the Eagles songs in that medley now just remind me of the pop culture ephemera to which they are now attached. “Desperado” of course reminds me of Seinfeld and “Life In the Fast Lane” takes me right back to the big dance scene in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

No disrespect to the genius which was Ahmet Ertegun, but James Blunt dedicated “You’re Beautiful” to this guy?

And PS, I still think this guy and his song blow. James, not Ahmet.

How did Justin Timberlake get three songs when The Police only got one? Is there no justice in the world?

How did Corinne Bailey Rae win nothing? First I had to sit through her performing with John Legend and John Mayer and now this? Boo, hiss.

Hm, I think I’d better check off “Rants” as the category here. Becca’s getting upset!

Why was the Red Hot Chili peppers performance supposed to be the one we’re talking about? Was it the confetti? Ooooh, confetti!

Gosh, do you think the members of the Academy were saying something about the current administration with all those Dixie Chicks awards? Hmmmm…..

Well, so ends music’s biggest night. And let me just cut to the chase and say not enough of my label’s artists performed in a killer manner or won important awards, thus ensuring yet another poor week of sales. You see, I could have forgiven the whole “only one Police song” thing if only I could have made some money out of all this.

I wish this were my blog’s theme song.
The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic