Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Excel music quiz
Download this and see how you do. I have 113 of 270 after going through it 3 times. NOTE: There are a few that require or omit punctuation marks and/or have UK spelling. Just play around.

ETA: Also, don't expect to see each bandmember in a photo. I was thrown by one group in particular because only four members are depicted, when with the exception of one album they've always been a quintet.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

TRASHionals seemed to go well. I've seen very few complaints, and the couple that I've heard were quite reasonable. It didn't seem like we were as overboard on the Sideways questions at the time, really. PNC is a swell ballpark, and the Cubs lost as a bonus. The highlight for me wasn't the bobblehead or the Primanti Bros. sandwich -- it was the video accompanying the Pierogi Race. The peirogis go to rival city Cleveland, visit the R&RHoF and demand to know where Donnie Iris was. Comedy gold, I tells ya!

other things:

Mineo's Pizza: quite good. Can't calll it the best pizza I've ever had, but I don't know if I could come up with a clear winner if pressed.

And since Rick asked about it specifically, the Monroeville Mall: I was snazzily dressed in my sombrero, which, surprisingly, I didn't have to check on the plane. Things were going along just fine until I stopped to get my blood-pressure checked...


My expectations were waaaay low, and they were met. Since I know you've all bought the Ultimate Edition DVD set, you know that the mall's been remodeled considerably since 1978: no big pink clock, no more skating rink, no fountains or greenery. And it's really small -- maybe slightly bigger than Brookdale, the cruddy one-floor mall I grew up near. Let's just say that making this dinky little mall look like the best possible place to spend the end of the world is the epitome of movie magic. None of this really surprised me. What surprised me was that there was nothing anywhere noting that a landmark film (yes, landmark) was shot there. Nary a plaque to be found. I figured at the very least there'd be a kiosk or something selling zombie crud; then again I didn't go into Hot Topic.

In other news, while the Gerbils and the TRASH cabal know, I've decided to step down as a question writer and editor. I've had less and less desire to write questions, for the past few cycles I've procrastinated more and more, and I decided it's time to get away from it before the quality slips or I blow a huge deadline.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

How about the Twins designate a "starting reliever" to throw the first inning for Bradke? JAYzuss, this is getting tiresome...

I'm off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for TRASHionals and a game at PNC. Time permitting, I'm going to indulge my inner overt geek and make a pilgrimage to the Monroeville Mall, the location of this favorite film of mine. I've also had Mineo's pizza recommended to me by two reliable sources, maybe I can get there as well.

I'm not a big Ted Rall fan, but this is spot-on. Of course Falwell & Robertson & Dobson are "radical clerics;" why didn't I think of that before?

Speaking of radical clerics, this pharmacist thing is really pissing me off. This is the best analysis I've read of the situation so far. So what happens when a follower of radical cleric Fred Phelps decides to withhold a cocktail from an AIDS patient? The argument that pharmacists have the right to be "conscientous objectors" is utter bullshit, unless Congress recently passed a pharmaceutical draft and I wasn't paying attention. Ah, I remember when the streets ran red during the Apothecary Draft Riottes of 1860. There were pestles a-flyin'.

I finally updated the links to the left. Dee has replaced her locked LJ with an honest-to-god blog. I neglected Andrew's site for too long, and birthday-sharer Blondie & some friends have started the rantalicious Liberal Sirens. Sean is a friend from high school. On the Nifty Strangers, Chillinois disappeared the day after the election. A Small Victory is finally readable now that she's sticking to the pop culture and has some buyer's remorse about backing that jackass president.

Friday, April 8, 2005

Okay, enough of this flailing. The ungotten are:

1. The Clash - Safe European Home (Leadoff track on Give 'Em Enough Rope)
3. Robyn Hitchcock - Airscape (I saw Hitchcock open for R.E.M. on the Green tour, which was the beginning of the end of my love for that band and the beginning of my love for RH. The sound was crappy so he cut the set short, and I wasn't all that familiar with his work, but one song had a melody that haunted me so much that I bought his stuff gradually until I found it.).
4. Elvis Costello - You Belong to Me (last track on This Year's Model, which is my favorite EC album.
6. Hüsker Dü - Celebrated Summer
7. The Replacements - Left of the Dial
8. Lyle Lovett, with or w/o the Large Band - If I Had A Boat
9. Prince - 17 Days (B-side of When Doves Cry. Maybe it's overexposure to the single, but I think the B-side is a better song, or at least held up better over the long run).
12. They Might Be Giants - 'Til My Head Falls Off (this was the point the "band, not a duo" thing really clicked. )
14. Devo - Secret Agent Man
15. The Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays
16. PJ Harvey - A Place Called Home
17. Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump
18. The Pogues - Fiesta
19. Warren Zevon - Desperadoes Under The Eaves (yeah, it's overblown and one step away from being an Eagles song. And?)
20. XTC - Respectable Street (Long before "Dear God," this was the first XTC song I ever heard, as performed (before Partridge went nuts, they were apparently a killer live act) in the movie Urgh! A Music War. It was on the late lamented Night Flight all the time.)

Monday, April 4, 2005

What we did on Sunday
The following is taken from sworn testimony. Can you prove it didn't happen?

I took Kirsti down to Cafe Iberico for some tapas for her birthday. Through a series of amazing coincidences, we ran into many others who share April 3 as a birthday. When we got there, they didn't have a table for us. Kirsti quickly persuaded them to get us one, pronto. With her powers of negotiation and diplomacy, she was a regular Helmut Kohl (1930). So we're waiting for our table, trying not to fill up on bread and engaging in idle chatter.

"I couldn't believe that was Marsha Mason (1942) in Bride and Prejudice. She was looking like hall-of-fame goalie Bernie Parent (1945)." 'Yeah, she's no Picabo Street (1971), that's for sure."

Just then, who should show up but Skid Row's Sebastian Bach (1968) and Mick Mars of Motley Crue (1955).

"Hey, I remember you, didn't we meet backstage once?," Mick asked.

"I think not, you scary little troll-man," Kirsti retorted. "I haven't been backstage since my dad, a founding member of Foghat, quit the music scene. But I do remember you and I discussing the works of Washington Irving (1783) during a show at the legendary rock club First Avenue (1970)."

"Ah, indeed!" Mr. Bach replied. "I remember it well. That was during an unusual triple bill of Tony Orlando (1944), Wayne Newton (1942), and Mike Ness (1962)."

So then we went home. We ate so much we were feeling like Marlon Brando (1924). We thought about watching a Doris Day (1924) or Eddie Murphy (1961) movie, but settled on something non-birthday related. Shortly thereafter Dee called and offered to send Kirsti some fanfic for the WB's "What I like about You," starring Amanda Bynes (1986) and Jennie Garth
(1972). Kirsti politely declined. Why spoil such a nice birthday, after all?

Sunday, April 3, 2005

It seemed like a good idea at the time, making some espresso at 7 to keep from nodding off during tonight's movie. And now I reap what I sow.

The movie wasn't a total waste of time, despite the efforts of the Worst Composer Ever*. Kirsti enjoyed the beefcake/cheesecake ratio more than I did. I'm really glad we didn't see it in a theatre, though. It's been a good 15 years since either of us read The Iliad, so we would have become one of those older couples that sit right behind you and explain things to each other, LOUDLY:

OKAY, WHO'S THAT NOW?
THAT'S...AH...BURSITIS. SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE MUTE.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S HER NAME.
...
HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE IN THIS WAR.
NO, YOU'RE RIGHT. HE'S SUPPOSED TO BEFRIEND KEVIN IN TIME BANDITS.

In other news, today (yesterday) was Kirsti's birthday. A 100% true story on how we celebrated is to come.

*For argument's sake: Best Working Today, Best Ever.

Saturday, April 2, 2005

le meme
gakked from Craig:
The rules: I pick 20 bands/artists I like, and you try to guess my favorite song in the comments section. Correct answers get bolded and credited. Woo!

1. The Clash
2. Sleater-Kinney Oh! - Kirsti
3. Robyn Hitchcock
4. Elvis Costello
5. Talking Heads This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Kirsti
6. Hüsker Dü
7. The Replacements
8. Lyle Lovett, with or w/o the Large Band
9. Prince
10. Tom Waits Step Right Up - Kirsti
11. Tricky Black Steel - Kirsti
12. They Might Be Giants
13. John Wesley Harding Goth Girl - Kirsti
14. Devo
15. The Buzzcocks
16. PJ Harvey
17. Beastie Boys
18. The Pogues
19. Warren Zevon
20. XTC