I have tickets to see Slint (a la reunion) in San Fran, and you don't.

Song of the day: "Good Morning Captain", Slint.

It's that time of year again, kids!

My backyard this week...

I bet you thought your Thanksgiving sucked. I bet you had to sit through several marginal meals (depending on how many step-families and in-laws were involved), defend the merits of your liberal arts degree with Uncle Morty, and then be insulted when your mother insisted you take home all the left left-overs because, you know, "with your salary, who knows when you'll eat like this again...".

And I'm sure you feel martyred.

Well, did your Thanksgiving involve a broken hand of mysterious origins?

I didn't think so.

So ha. I win this year.

Well this is interesting...


*****

Upon further research, I find all of this a little sick and sad...

My question is, how did this journalist cut through the accent to get this interview? I've been watching interviews with Mad Bob for 15 years and I still can't understand him...

The Cure Not Deluded by Revival

ROME (Reuters) - Goth rockers The Cure are enjoying an unexpected revival, but frontman Robert Smith isn't letting it go to his head.

"It's very flattering," Smith told Reuters Television late on Thursday after performing at the MTV Europe Music Awards, his first MTV event in 15 years. "But I'm not stupid enough to think it's an Indian summer.

"We realize that this upsurge in media attention is almost entirely due to very good young bands picking up on The Cure," added Smith, who wore his trademark red lipstick and heavy eyeliner under an unruly mop of hair.

When asked whether his fans should expect a new album on the back of the renewed popularity, Smith said: "Even when we were at our commercial peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s it didn't ever influence what I did."

After more than a decade of virtual obscurity, The Cure has reappeared on the international music stage amid praise from new alternative bands.

On Thursday night The Cure played for some 200,000 fans who turned out for a concert also featuring pop star Anastacia in front of Rome's Colosseum before showing up at the MTV awards on the outskirts of town.

But Smith said The Cure always avoided taking the main road to success.

"The reasons why we do what we do have always been the same and they're not really aspirational. It's never been something I wanted in order to get somewhere."

Just in case you've forgotten...



Cornelius rules.

Song of the day: "Another View Point" - Cornelius.

PBS does indeed rock (thanks to McJason for this one).

Song of the day: "Hello Texas" by whoever that redneck is.

"We're tryin' to find her, but people say she's crazy."

-- OutKast member Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, on his desire to work with reclusive English singer Kate Bush. I'm not going to even speculate the how's or why's of this situation.

Modest Mouse on SNL tonight. Check your local listings kids. This should be good...(snicker snicker)

Song of the day: "Doin' the Cockroach" - Modest Mouse

VICTORY 2004: PRESIDENT'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH INVITING THE 55 MILLION AMERICA-HATERS WHO VOTED AGAINST GOD TO BEND OVER AND TAKE IT LIKE A PRISON BITCH

Song of the day: "Biggest Killer in American History" - Bad Religion

Q. How many men does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. One - he just holds it up there and waits for the world to revolve around him.

Let's just get it out in the open: I hate men. I really do. I'm not speaking in some broad all-encompassing gender study kind of way. I'm talking about individually. As a daughter, wife and romantic partner, completely self-centered men have surrounded me. All of these men have expected me to fill some kind of role in their lives - never once considering that maybe I won't neatly fit into a preconceived category just because I have ovaries. They all claim that they support all things feminist, but let me tell you, the misogyny is there bubbling under the surface. When I'm assertive, I'm bitchy (and probably suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome). When I wanted a divorce, I was selfish. When I decided marriage wasn't for me, I was immature and immoral. When I got fed up with financially supporting another man for a ridiculous amount of time while sacrificing my education and career goals, I was accused of not honoring commitment ("...that's what commitment is about..."). When I acknowledge that I'm a sexual being, I'm a slut. When I demand a satisfying relationship, I'm unrealistic. When I express the desire to have a child, it's thought that I'm trying to unfairly "trick" a man into some 1950's notion of responsibility. When I express any intellectual thoughts or theories, I'm patronized, because after all, I'm just a woman. What it all comes down to is that if I'm not living my life without prioritizing the impact it will have on these men first, I'm leading my life the wrong way. The idea that men are so concerned with the image reflected on them by the actions of the women in their life is quite frankly insulting.

Song of the day: "Land of Canaan" - Indigo Girls

I am allergic to everything. Including myself. I just had to let everyone know.

"The Motorcyle Diaries" was absolutely fantastic, and not just because it had Gael Garcia Bernal portraying one of my favorite Marxists...although it did help.

It was wonderfully subtle, which I liked...I was actually dreading a scene where the clouds would part and Che would see the light of crimson tide (that would be communism, folks, not menstruation). And the scenery (besides Bernal) was fantastic.

A lot has transpired as of late. For one, I quit my job. Unfortunately, my last day isn't until January 29, but there's at least a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm moving to northern California with Jason McCann. I know. I surprise even myself.

My family is divided on the decision. Half (my mother and assorted sisters) are supportive and hold their reservations to themselves. The rest (father and assorted sisters) are "stunned and speechless", so much so they have decided to stop talking to me altogether. You'd think I'd announced I was starting a cult or something. Oh well. I can't very well expect these people to treat me as the adult that I am if they don't behave that way in the first place.

In other news, I went back to Maryville this weekend for an extended period of time. Michael Moore was in town to speak at Northwest. Never thought I'd see the day, actually. He gave a solid predictable speech, and extended much warmth to the twelve Young Republican demonstrators. They didn't appreciate it. Actually, I'm not sure they registered it. Every time he spoke directly to them, they looked like a deer caught in headlights. It was a tad funny.

I saw people there I hadn't thought about in years. All the liberals I've known over the years, who all stuck together like glue at that school, came back for the occasion. It was quite a big deal, when you think about it. After Mr. Moore and La Bonita (they still serve bef chucks) and catching up with Lisa and Matt, we Pubbed it. Oh, The Pub. It hasn't changed. There were two bands performing, Vago and Lovetap. Vago had a lead singer/guitarist on remote who finished up the last song playing a solo while running through the bar. I think I may have come close to shooting Diet Coke out of my nose. He almost fell over Lisa and Jason. Good times, kids.

Other than that, there's not much going on. I got beat up by a client while driving on Mass Street on Tuesday. It was so bad, I had to pull into a parking space and wait for someone to come help. During the time I was there, getting my glasses broken, arms, neck and back scratched, hair yanked, clothes ripped, etc., not a single person stopped to see if I needed help. That's kind of disturbing. I ended up in the ER, and got a tetanus shot. Yeah, that was fun. Then I had to go back to work and finish out the other ten hours of my shift. If I hadn't already quit, I would have done so. I thought about quitting again.

The good news is I'm going to see Death Cab tomorrow night. And let me tell you, I need some good times right about now.

Song of the day: "This Charming Man" - Death Cab (covering The Smiths)

"When you are truly desperate, it is hard to care about anything external to your situation..."

Long time friend Steven Melling has written about the unlikelihood of our generation achieving The American Dream (TM). Well, at least before 40.

As I write this, I am making preparations to relocate to northern California, like a Steinbeck character with a naive hope of a better life. Sometimes I think I'm putting off the responsibilities of adulthood, but is it more that a mortgage and a two car garage and diapers are impossible to achieve in this economy? I was never prepared for adulthood in school, just taught enough to "get by". And that's what I'm doing now. Maybe "getting by" will be more bearable without snow and tornados.

You think smoking the Mary Jane is harmless? Well, think again...

"Marijuana Smoker Beheads Two Women"

Anyone told NORML about this?

Random Maryville pic...



Song O' The Day: "And Justice For All My Loving" - Beatallica

Take the quiz: "What Kind of Soul Do You Retain?"

Dark
"You haven't lived an all-so-happy life, and it's taken it's toll. Malice and cynicsm rotate around all your thoughts, and you are always prepared for the worst."

Bet you never could have seen this coming, huh?

Song of the day: "Cruel" - Tori Amos.

Mac. In a "Wheel of Fortune" commercial. (insert hysterical laughter here)