I heart Jimmy Fallon.
I mean even if he did kind of look just a tiny bit like Pee Wee Herman - you know, too much pancake makeup and all...but still, not only is he funny and cute but he managed to elevate the MTV Video Music Awards from the usual yawnfest into something fun and interesting.
Just a few thoughts on the VMA's

• Michael Jackson is a ...actually I don't even need to finish this thought, it's too obvious, you know?


• Pink is my new girl-crush


• Isn't Eminem done yet?


• Lisa Marie Presley is a ....um, actually see Michael Jackson above....


• The Vines = rock-by-numbers. I mean, not only do they SOUND just like Nirvana but then they had to go and do that equpment-smashing thing....


• What was Justin Timberlake thinking? Wait ...what am I thinking even asking such a question....


• Axl Rose is the new Michael Jackson - whose idea was it to trot him out to do songs that are over 10 years old? And Buckethead and that guy from Nine Inch Nails are just creepy....Tommy Stinson needs a reality check. Then again the paycheck probably cancels out any reality checks

###
School update: got my classes figured out and attended my first class (a fiction workshop) on Thursday. I think everything went well - except maybe for the part where I didn't have a regular notebook in which to do my in-class writing excercise which meant I had to turn in my first assignment on Hello Kitty writing paper.
Hey - I might be 32 but I'm not "32" 32 - ya know? Oh well...so much for first impressions....

this is kind of funny....the Strokes vs. Guided by Voices ....sort of....(download the video to watch)

So you want to know about Ozzfest? (C’mon, I know you do…).
Well what can I say other than it was loud and smelly and hot and utterly enthralling in a people-watching sort of way.
We had free tix so neither Cory nor I felt too obligated to check out many of the bands. In fact we basically only watched Rob Zombie who is very entertaining – though he is starting to look a bit weathered.

So yeah…people watching – isn’t that what this is really all about? If we had paid for our tickets I’d say we got the most entertainment out of the food line alone where I was almost certain we were going to get caught in a riot after they started shutting down registers for no apparent reason.

We had this guy in front of us (wearing a shirt featuring a frog resting on a block of ice and the word “chill”) who was threatening to beat up the poor $5.25-an-hour food service workers. We had two yahoos in back of us who just wanted to get their beer and get it now. There was a family of four to the right of us arguing about the merits of chili cheese nachos versus garlic fries and then there was the guy to the right of them who punched his hand through the freaking window because the service was too slow.

The guy was wearing Scooby Doo shorts so it was a bit difficult taking him seriously even when he did have blood dripping down his arm.

My favorite moment of the day, however, was watching Eve the dominatrix torture the preppy boy wearing Abercrombie & Fitch boxers.

Witness this little charming tableau:

“What is this?” asks Eve as she examines the top of a pair of underwear peeking out from the waistband of the young college-age boy she has just chained up to a giant velvet and metal-studded X.
“Abercrombie & Fitch? Who wears Abercrombie & Fitch boxers?”
Eve tugs at the designer skivvies so that they hang over the top of his jeans. “I hate Abercrombie & Fitch! Just for that you’re going to be a girl.”
With that Eve – who was not wearing much more than vinyl and mesh underwear herself, takes a tube of bright red lipstick and smears it into two bright clown-like circles on the young man’s cheeks.
He smiles and his friends - who’ve pooled their money to treat their buddy to such behavior and are now watching from a (safe) distance - roar with approval.
Eve just shrugs, pulls out a thin whip and prepares to get down to business.

God, it was beautiful. Just beautiful.

But hey, if preppy boy S&M ain’t your thing then Karen Charman has an interesting Alternet article on Recasting the Web: Information Commons to Cash Cow” where she examines the evolving business-consumer dynamics of the Web:

The Internet itself is not going away. Rather, technological advancements, changes to the rules governing its use and the continued consolidation of media empires are combining to turn it into a conduit of commerce, booby-trapped with barriers and incentives designed to keep users where dollars can be wrung from them. As a result, a lot of freely accessible information and websites may become difficult or impossible to connect to -- hindering the efforts of those posting that information to reach others.

And, somewhere along the same greedy lines, Billboard reports that the Recording Industry Association of America is blaming web piracy for a 10 percent drop in CD shipments during the first six months of 2002.

“While the RIAA acknowledges that other factors, such as the decline in consumer spending, played a role in falling music sales, president Cary Sherman says illegal downloading is the main culprit. "Cumulatively, this data should dispel any notion that illegal file sharing helps the music industry," Sherman says in a statement.”

Gee, you don’t suppose high prices and music that just generally sucks had anything to do with it?
Now that many major retailers are starting to offer new CDs by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and the Vines at dramatically-reduced prices during the first few days/ weeks of sale it will be interesting to see if there’s any change in consumer habits.

i am really tired of people. I mean, nothing personal, you know - but after a trip to both the State Fair and Ozzfest - well, I've just had enough of my fellow human being.
I don't have it in me right this second to give you the Ozzfest update - but I promise, it's coming (though, alas, with no photos - I really have to get better about carrying the camera around with me).
So, that's all for now, I just wanted to confirm that I'm still alive. Spent last week visiting Mills College for orientation and registration. If everything goes the way it's supposed to I'll have one class on Thursday nights - a writer's workshop - and one independent study class. Which means I'll only have to drive down to Oakland once a week.
Which means that maybe I won't go crazy after all this semester.
Then again - I'm not making any promises.

Last night was our annual State Fair trip - which of course meant our annual State Fair photo booth pictures:
We usually get black and white (although this year we did do a color strip as well - but there's something about the harshness of color that makes the already less-than-flattering photobooth lighting seem even crueler). Oh, and yes Cory is in that second frame - sorta towards the bottom left - if you focus you can see him. It's sort of like one of those Magic Eye pictures that were so popular in the early '90s.

We went with our friends Kepi & Roach from the Groovie Ghoulies. Unfortunately the only group photo we got was one that some State Fair shill took of us right when we walked in (well, at least we were more fresh-faced then) and then tried to sell to us. I did, however, get one picture of Kepi posing with an intimidating fortress of giant Spongebob Squarepants dolls.

Hopefully I'll have time to post some of the other pictures later - you know, a visual diary of the evening. Although, in retrospect, I realize that I've failed us all mightily by neglecting to document the massive quantities of junk food that we consumed. Where to start? Egg roll on a stick. Bean tostados (veggie of course). Holy Guacamole Garden Burgers with fries. Caramel Apple Tower (a huge plastic cup filled with apples, whipped cream, nuts and gobs upon gobs of hot caramel), the infamous (and requisite) funnel cake. Frozen yogurt in a waffle cone. Beer. I think the only thing missing this year was the fried zuchinni.

Oooh and too bad I didn't get any pictures of America's Favorite Hypnotist Terry Stokes...eh, on second thought - he was having a really off night (something about his dog escaping from his hotel room which meant his assistant / wife / girlfriend / whatever was dispatched to find the pooch), so maybe next time.

For some reason, however, I did decide to take numerous photos of the Ferris Wheel. I don't know what it is, but I just love the way a Ferris Wheel looks. I haven't been on one in probably 10 years. I think over the years I've somehow managed to develop a fear of heights. So along with the fact that I can no longer (literally) stomach most of the more land-level carnival rides (anything that spins or twirls is bad news), I also shy away from the rides that give you great views. I am definitely getting old.

Speaking of stomach-turning. I can't stand those jeans with the ass / knees / whatever bleached out and now they had to go and add color to the bleached-out area. I think the official name for these kinds of jeans is something like "whisker-washed" - but for Cory and I (via a pal of mine) they have been and always will be known as Assleak Jeans. And no, the girl didn't see me take her picture. I was all sly and casual and non-obvious about it. (Thanks to Roach - Cory and Kepi just acted like they didn't even know us...). But seriously - I had to document these pants. You can't see the detail too well, but trust me, they're hideous. Why would you want to wear something that makes it look as if you have hygiene issues? I hope that someday the term "whisker-wash" is as embarrassing and repulsive to the general public as "acid-washed" is today.

Wow, here it is August 20th and it feels like autumn outside. I am
not complaining.
In fact, I'm pretty damn happy about it all....so happy that I want to
celebrate by sharing with you this pictorial history of Britney Spears' boobs .


From up:



and down:



to very very round:

More of Britney's boobies here

###

Speaking of post-teen pop divas. I'm happy to see that Bitch magazine favorably reviewed Pink's latest album in its appropriately-themed "Pink Issue". .

Calling "M!ssundazstood" an "effortless fusion of hyperbole-laden hip-hop, smoldering R&B, '80s arena rock and confessional songwriting" the feminist publication praises Pink as "pop music's last, best hope".

In the same issue: a feature on "the history of superfeminine world of direct sales" via Avon and Mary Kay Cosmetics. and an interview with Lynn Peril the author of "Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons" as well as one of my favorite zines Mystery Date.

And finally, the New York Times Sunday Magazine (my favorite read these days) featured an interesting piece, "Queer as Folk" (free registration required) that examines the relationship between lesbians and folk music. The one aspect missing from the piece, however, is the rise of lesbian punk - an interesting evolution of the sound and the politics among younger lesbians.

Oh, by the way, Cory and I are going to the State Fair tonight - photo booth pix to come - eventually.

as opposed to the Friday Five (cuz I'm just in that kinda mood today), we have the Thursday, um, *four*

1. Jay Bennett and Edward Burch at Old Ironsides on Friday night


2. The Flipsides, the Helper Monkeys and the Riff Randals at Capitol Garage on Saturday night


3. Celebrating my third year wedding anniversary w/ Cory yesterday (actually this should be number one - but I think he'll be OK w/ following the rock...hopefully...)


4. Got $2 more dollars from Arbitron for my radio diary (which I'm supposed to start keeping today). Will try not to spend it all in one place...oops....too late...

####

Thanks to everyone who came by to visit the site. Remember, to the left are your safety exits, to the right you'll find the archives, a guestbook and a Notify List - sign up and I promise not to bug you more than once a week (regardless of how often I post....I don't want to be any more of a pest than I already am...)

Cool...Billboard magazine reports that Evolver Records will release a new Jeff Buckley album on Oct. 15 that will feature 11 previously-unreleased tracks that he recorded with Gary Lucas. Glad it's not just another recycling of the same demos and live tracks. Well, some of the stuff has appeared in other forms (even when released under the same name) but it looks like those songs will sound different enough. Oh who am I kidding? If you put something out with Jeff Buckley's name attached to it I'm gonna buy it. Period.

Mitsubishi is now offering a comp CD of the songs used in its car ads (yes, it includes that now very-annoying Dirty Vegas song). Glorious Noise discusses the mutually beneficial relationship between car manufacturers and musicians.

"Whereas the DaimlerChrysler bank account is deep enough to sign Aerosmith, Mitsubishi didn’t have the requisite amounts to sign big names to their advertising campaign. So some audiophile at Deutsch went listening for options. One such option was a 1998 number from The Wise Guys, “Start the Commotion,” which was released in the U.K. and quickly departed the charts. It sounded right for the black and white, quick-cutting, trendy spots of attractive people driving the Eclipse. But what’s interesting to note is that the commercial in question (entitled “Fun”) was released in 2001, long after “Start the Commotion” had proved to be a non-starter. The aforementioned veep told me that thanks to the car commercial, “Start the Commotion” was driven to the Top 10 in the U.S. (And, yes, Mitsubishi sales have increased.)"

# # #
FYI - I added a few new poems plus I finally added some pages to the "Other" section including the requisite "about me" page and links page. Hope to get more links up soon and to also actually put up some reviews and interviews for the non-fiction section....

Did you know that the average life span of a musician is 36.9 years?
Mark Eitzel knows this and lets the rest of us in on the secret ...along with other fascinating bits and pieces - including a diverse index of links (the final meals of Texas' Death Row inmates, YouthSpeaks - an SF-based spoken word project and more)....by way of Margaret Berry who writes with snarky but insightful irreverence on the subject of modern ettiquette for The Morning News.

# # #

Let's start taking bets now on how long this celebrity marriage will last...

# # #
The Unlimited Sunshine tour stop here in Sac was a bust - it's sad that the likes of Cake, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, De La Soul and Kinky couldn't even fill half of the Memorial Auditorium. I guess the fact that none of these bands - excepting Cake, and not by much - get airplay in this town. The bands were alright - what we saw of them We left early because it felt like a graveyard in there. Have I mentioned how much our local radio sucks?

Speaking of which, got my letter from Arbitron on Saturday. That Small Cash Payment?


$1.

So it seems that Cory and I have been selected to be an Arbitron household for a week. Arbitron is like the Nielsens of radio ratings. Cory doesn't really listen to radio - except for the occasional NPR or talk radio and I only listen out of desperation because I just have a tape player in my car and most of my tapes are worn out. But, when they offered a Small Cash Payment in exchange for our time - well who could resist? Though I do have to wonder about just how small a Small Cash Payment really is....I mean is this like the time BMG sent me a penny taped to an invitation to join their record club? Or perhaps like the time Mother Jones magazine mailed me a prize check for $1.12 for some sweepstakes I never even entered? Who knows...but in the meantime I've already started jotting down thoughts for my diary ....

Dear Diary: Why does every station insist on playing P.O.D. or Nelly Furtado every five minutes? It gives me a headache. Life is so unfair....

# # #

....Got the new Sleater-Kinney record ... the first two spins left me cold but after listening to it in the kitchen yesterday while I did laundry and washed dishes (two of the best activities to which to listen to new music) I started warming up to it...I really liked their last album, "All Hands on the Bad One" - but the one before that, "The Hot Rock" seemed too contrived and deliberate.


While there do seem to be some contrived choices on this new record - I'm not quite sure about some of the politically-themed lyrics - I like the musical choices the band is making. "One Beat" features horns, a keyboard and even some male vocals. The songs aren't instantly hooky - but let 'em spin a couple of times and they'll slowly dig their way into your brain.

Zinefest 2002 is still a month away, put it on your calendar now.
By way of this column in the SF Chronicle it appears that M/E/A/N/I/N/G, the independent journal of artists' writing and critical comment that died in 1996 has been reborn as ArtKrush.
Speakiung of art, today is Andy Warhol's birthday - check out Google's tribute...it's smashing...
On Sunday, the New York Times Magazine ran a fascinating piece on future pop star Amanda Latona (requires free registration). Haven't heard of her? Oh don't worry, if J Records continues its quest to dominate the charts - you will. I can't wait until after her first single goes to number one and I can start reading the interviews where she talks about how personal and heartfelt her music is.

I'm a big fan of Alternet but I don't understand how they can - without irony - simultaneously decry what the impending flood of Sept. 11th anniversary products and hawk their own Sept. 11th book.

After all one person's tacky tchotcke is another's gem.

#

Watched the Anna Nicole Smith Show.
Whew. What drugs is this woman on? Can I have some? No, seriously - I was actually kind of disappointed by this so-called reality show.
Reality show my ass. E Online promised me a televised train wreck but what they delivered reeked of contrivance - I find it hard to believe that this modern day Jayne Mansfield really and truly acts like that - what with the banging of her head against walls and dry-humping pink satin bed covers - and can then face the camera with such composure and normalcy.
I just don't buy it.
Of course, it's not like I'm going to stop watching or anything silly like that.

#

By the way, I recently added some more poetry and a few short stories.

OK...addendum...Cory says that NME didn't say that the The Vines record was the 'best debut ever' - rather, they asked it as a rhetorical question.

I feel much better now.

Received a new magazine in the mail the other day. It's called The Week and it bills itself as the publication that will tell you "all you need to know about everything that matters".

In short, it's a news / arts magazine digest that takes reviews the events of the previous week both with short summaries and excerpts / quotes from other media sources.

Aside from the fact that this mag looks like my newspaper's weekly TV magazine (i.e., it's very thin and printed on newspaper stock) it's also a tad bit too digest-y and definitely too safe and mainstream - at least in their arts coverage. I mean, they cover the the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Dave Matthews Band on their reviews page for chrissakes....bor-ing.

Even though it's been around for a year or so it seems as if The Week has yet to develop its own voice.

Still, it's only one issue and they're giving me two more for free so I'll reserve my final opinion until after I've checked out a few more issues

OK, like I mentioned in the last quasi-post, I think I've finally gotten the archives figured out. Now I can move on to adding additional pages to the rest of my web site.
But in the meantime there's been a lot I've been meaning to post here but due to archive troubles, technical snafus, lack of energy and lack of time...well, I'm just now finally getting around to it.

And course it's like um, what was I going to say again?.

Oh wait...I remember now.

OK, item one: new music
Got that new Vines CD. Boy, they weren't kidding when they said it sounded like the second coming of Nirvana. Cory told me that the British mags are just raving over this disc. I think he said it was NME that called it the best debut ever.
That's right. EVER.


Ahem.


OK, first off, it's not bad - in fact parts of it are quite good. At its best it's a garage-flavored '60s pop record that calls on the Monkees, Beatles and Beach Boys to inform its sensibilities.


But at its worst - well at its worst it's a Nirvana rip-off.




What I am really digging these days is I Am the World Trade Center's new disc "The Tight Connection". Nothing earth-shaking here, just super-enjoyable '80s-flavored new wave a la Berlin, the Cars, Gary Numan and Blondie - with just a hint of the swinging '60s thrown in.




I'm also really enjoying an advance of a record by Iron and Wine.
Iron and Wine is basically one guy from Florida named Samuel Beam. The press release calls this an "ode to an older South - a part of America that is defined by 'traditional values'...." But honestly what I hear is some great British-folk styled stuff along the lines of Belle & Sebastian and Nick Drake. Which of course means it also sounds quite a bit like Simon & Garfunkel.





item two: blogs


Almost done with Rebecca Blood’s new book The Weblog Handbook. This is a nice starter guide for anyone who wants to start his or her own blog – Blood is considered part of the blogging old school but she doesn’t act blogger-than-thou about it…which is pretty refreshing after traipsing around the Net and reading blog after blog after blog from people who think they are much much cooler and in-the-know than you are.


Don’t get me wrong, I love sites such as Metafilter – I read them all the time – but yeah, I’m a bit intimidated by the old guard hardline.



Speaking of Blogs, in last Sunday’s New York Times Sunday Magazine, William Safire discourses on the new blogging lexicons…for true geeks and pop culture pundits only.





item 3: blogs pt. 2


Speaking of blogs (again) – today I got an e-mail from someone who visited my site.

I am constantly amazed how many young women and lots of guys blog and fill pages with statements abuot (1) I am bored, (2) I have nothing much to say, (3) ah, didn't do much today so won't write anything etc etc etc
An idea: when you have something to say, say it. When not, don't
What to say: how do you feel today? are you in love, in a relationship? have dreams working? what is it like? Not working, why not and what are you doing. In school? how is it going. What do you like, dislike....in other words, make your personality , your self come alive and be felt and present for your reader
My best and dont takethis as harsh criticism (sic).

Hmmm, nice advice – harmless enough. This guy didn’t leave me a link to HIS site but through some pretty basic Internet snooping (thank you Google) - I tracked it down

Ummmm, it’s like 90 percent nekkid chicks – with no commentary.


Just girls, girls girls…


Which, you know, is fine and all …but please – keep your ‘how to write a blog’ advice to yourself if all you have to offer up as an example is a bunch of softcore pin-up JPEGs – and skanky ones at that.

holy $#@!
I think I got my archives working....jesus....