Happy fucking 2011

Just watched Dick Clark and felt sad for the dude, much like I do for you losers. Have a great goddamn year, everyone. I'm ringing it in with the X reunion show tomorrow (well, today, now) and it should be a good'un.

What's everyone's best of 2011 list look like so far? There has not been a single 2011 release I've liked so far.

Worst year in recent memory. Um........

Happy New Year TP'ers !

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I'm ringing it in with the X reunion show

Tell us how it went - I've heard mixed reports, like sometimes they're phoning it in. Understandably since they're playing 25 year old songs over and over. And as Dick Clark would say, "Haagghy Ghuue Yurrr..."

I'm out in the Florida Keys--and am pretty fucking happy to be away from temps in the single digits and the 3 feet of snow in my "homeland."

I had conch for lunch. I bet I'm the only Patriots fan to be able to say that this football season.

Just watched Dick Clark and felt sad for the dude, much like I do for you losers.

We must be lovable losers, because you're still here.

Watched my Sooners beat the hell out of much less talented team, and then continued the Community marathon. The theme song might be my new fave song of the -- errr, last -- year.

Community brings me more happiness than anything else in pop-culture right now I think.

It's borderline embarassing how much I love that show.

I honestly think Community could save the world. That's how highly I regard it.

Fuck Community. Not that I've ever seen it. 1000 Ways To Die is where it's at.

I've been lucky enough to be on a road trip in the South. Weather's been unseasonably chilly (even in Panama City last week), but at least I've missed out on the near-zero temperatures, snow and icy road conditions that hit Colorado Springs over the New Year's weekend.

This video was shot right near my parents' house. (They're okay, BTW. They were out of town too.)

Let me know if they do Real Child of Hell.

Real Child of Hell, yeah
Moments in Hell
Real Child of Hell, yeah
Groening in Hell
Nobody knows what shape He takes....

Oh yeah, I forgot to come back and report on the show. It was a pretty dynamic performance with a good selection of songs from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums (and all of the first). I don't think they played a single song from Ain't Love Grand or See How We Are. Unfortunately, the sound was pretty shitty and Zoom was way too high in the mix, so the vocals were buried.

And a guitarist buddy of mine thought Zoom's playing was uninspiring, esp given that he's clearly capable of so much more (and my buddy knows that), but I thought it was fine (just too loud). He's still got that goofy, psychopathic serial killer grin and look in his eyes when he plays.

Oh, also, they opened the show with a screening of "The Unheard Music." Prior to the show, I thought that was a kinda cool idea. But when I got there and remembered that the show was almost completely unseated, it seemed like less of a good idea to have us stand there and watch a movie for 1.5 hours. And not having seen it in 20 years, I'd forgotten how arty/pretentious it is in parts, and that too made it a not-very-good choice for an opening act. By about 2/3 of the way thru it, people were occasionally shouting out "start the show!" and I can't say that I disagreed with them....

[Edit] And I don't they did play "Real Child Of Hell", Hoip, thought the Groening reference would have been completely apropos here in Portland.



Post Edited (01-04-11 14:23)

They should do 'Ain't Love Grand' live 'n' raw, without the hair-metal production. Maybe then I'd like it.

That's a helluva tummy-ache Jermoe, hope you're feeling better.

This particular loser went to the ER with the worst stomachache ever last Thursday night. Ended up getting an appendectomy on New Year's Eve. Was anesthetized throughout my Dawgs' entire miserable Liberty Bowl. I talked my way out of the hospital a day early Sunday afternoon.

The one silver lining to this entire experience is that my company bought me a brand new Mac Book with Adobe Creative Suite 5 on it so I can work from home. Wait, is that a silver lining?

Well, I have been able to read a couple of books (Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and Haruki Murakami's After the Quake: Stories), listened to a bunch of random music I've been meaning to get around to (that Ben Folds/Nick Hornby collaboration looked better on paper) and finally managed to get my email account in some semblance of order.

Dang, Jermoe---I hope the healing goes swiftly and well.

Yikes! Hope everything's okay. On the sort-of-plus side, you did get to read a damned fun book: Good Omens. If you haven't, try American Gods next.



Post Edited (01-04-11 20:15)

Thanks, but I already read that one, blasmo. I've read a ton of Gaiman, but this was my first exposure to Terry Pratchett...so of course he's the 2nd best-selling fiction writer in the UK...guess who's #1?

The appendicitis itself wasn't fun, and I don't much care for hospitals. I've felt remarkably better since getting home. Just gotta wait for everything to heal, then I'm back to fighting in the streets.

Glad to hear you're on the mend, Jermoe; probably a good thing that you missed the Dawgs' bowl game.

On Paganizer's point about Exene's illness, my wife had mentioned to me a while back that Exene was sick (MS?), but I'd never have known it from watching her perform. Maybe she doesn't jump around quite like she did back in the day (who amongst us does?), but she was pretty energetic and certainly showed no sign of unsteadiness or anything.

Man, that sucks. Sounds like the healing has begun, though.

Good Omens is a fun read. I've read a lot of Murakami, but not that particular tome. Good?

After the Quake is a short story anthology, with each piece loosely tied to the Kobe (aka Hanshin) earthquake of 1995. Since you're familiar with Murakami already, you'll probably like it. I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction, however.

For me, one of the most challenging/rewarding aspects all of Murakami's writing is discerning his message(s). The first time I read his short stories (think it was The Elephant Vanishes), I was looking for the thread, the keystone, the Carver-esque talisman to unite everything, and came up frustrated. Once I'd read more of his novels and non-fiction (especially What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which offers insight on much more than Murakami's exercise habits), my reading style adapted to his writing style...or something.

Anyway, Michael, to answer your question, I'd recommend the book. It offers a peek at how profoundly this natural disaster (which killed over 5,000 and devastated the city of Kobe, leaving the rest of the country more or less intact) affected the already-battered psyche of many Japanese citizens.

I never understood the hate for Ain't Love Grand ands it seems like it came about years later. Those songs were always good live. They smoked each and every of the 8 or 9 times I saw them. I'm sure Exene's illness makes it hard. Zoom is in his 60s now. Not a week goes by that I don't warm up with one of his riffs. More power to them.