Aug
18
A Big Deal
August 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
In 1989, my friend who sat next to me in 10th grade English class went to see the Pixies. The next day she kept muttering to herself that she still had buzzing in her ears. She said she’d been standing on some speakers, and clearly didn’t wear earplugs. That was as close as I got [...]
Oct
13
Rock banz: the old guys
October 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In the past week, I had the opportunity to see two bands that released amazing records in or around 1980, one of the most important years in my record collection (another is 1987).
On Wednesday it was Wire at the Middle East. Their first three records (“Pink Flag,” “Chairs Missing,” “154″) assemble a variety of different-sounding [...]
Sep
19
Someone’s calling; plus
September 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
Another “s”? Yes; it’s true. I am continuing on a quest that has occupied me for more than a year: listening to every song on my iPod in alphabetical order by song. I get distracted from time to time for a month or so. But I’m still in “s.”
Which letter has the most songs? No [...]
Sep
17
Smalltown boy
September 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This was today’s greatest hit while listening to my iPod out on my bike. Yes, I do listen to music when I’m riding. The horror, the horror. I can hear the cars, and I am far out from the city when I do it. And it makes me happy. So please lay off the scolding.
Sep
9
The scientists have rhythm
September 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Watch this delightful video to learn all about the Large Hadron Collider, which will start performing experiments in the big ol’ particle accelerator in Switzerland/France tomorrow, its first day of service.
Okay, apparently the YouTube window broke my website, so just click here.
Mar
28
Playing makeup, wearing guitar
March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Carrie Brownstein, a member of Sleater-Kinney (one of my favorite bands of all time, now on ‘indefinite hiatus,’ whatever that means exactly), has a very nice blog over at NPR. Her current posting addresses The Replacements, one of my favorite bands of my youth, and apparently hers too. She puts it: “Paul Westerberg’s lyrics …. [...]
Jan
8
2008 has come upon us and I never bothered to get around to creating my own “best of”s to add to the ubiquitous 2007 year-end lists. I thought at least I could assemble a list of my top five favorite songs. I can only come up with a few songs that I listened to obsessively [...]
Apr
2
An audio plug
April 2, 2007 | 2 Comments
I ride my bike with an iPod. I wear both headphones. But since the Apple headphones totally don’t fit in my ears (I guess I have defective ears), I bought the kind that hang from the top of my ears. This conflicts mightily with my glasses, and the whole thing kind of flaps in the [...]
Mar
18
The New Pornographers and University of Phoenix?
March 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Yes, I’ve already endured those cute songs by the Postal Service as background music for some unusually upbeat and up-to-date ads for …. the U.S. Postal Service.
But I was a bit surprised to hear the stellar late chorus from the New Pornographer’s “The Bleeding Heart Show” as the soundtrack for the University of Phoenix’s online [...]
Mar
2
Loose ends
March 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment
1) Upon returning from my trip to the south, Boston’s temperatures in the low- to mid-30s actually seem quite balmy. I traded my winter cycling shoes for the warmer-season shoes and felt fine. I guess a couple of weeks of riding in eight to 10 degrees makes 30s feel a bit warm.
2) Leipheimer at Tour [...]
