oh, i have my reasons...

boredom being one...

and constantly going back on those affirmative, resolute, I-never-change-my-mind-never-ever statements as a rule for two...

so...

first off...



twenty fucking years man. twenty fucking years. i don't even know why the fate of the jayhawks seems to bug me more than it should, but who cares? as far as omens go, this is a good one and i'm happy it happened... even if no one seems to really understand it... outside of my immediate family and those who... well... do.

and who gives a fuck if Self stays or not? shit. stack paper. make cheddar. get paid. $10 million is a lot to pass up and the jayhawks didn't win with Roy so does it matter? check and mate.

that said...



j/k. now i'm done.

other news...



there's things i know and things i want... the things i want make me an optimist, but it's the way things are that make me more of a... not even a pessimist... more like a nihilist.

or rather...

we're fucked...

obama seems to talk more about how he feels about the olympic protests than anything regarding... well, anything. meanwhile, McCain announces a refusal to rule out pre-emptive war and i'm pretty sure he has no idea what makes a sunni different from a shiite. also, if you're a fan of 'the hills' star Heidi Montag, you'll be happy to know that she's endorsed McCain and vice versa. in a related story, i've endorsed 'snacks'. somehow, Montag's endorsement is bigger news than my allegiance to duncan hines. weak.

all the while, hillary continues to continue, reminding everyone in america of how unorganized and grossly similar the democrats may be to... you get the idea.

and the only person of note who's even asking (or rather, promising) that we pin the current administration to it's sinking ship is that (possibly) gay (maybe) republican gas bag Andrew Sullivan. even he has taken the attitude of 'if you send it up the flag pole,' that tends to work more times than not... so good luck with that. he even makes his accusations and assertions with words like 'war' and 'crimes', let alone 'fiscal accountability'... wow.

still, as far as commentary or even 'news' goes... my blood brother and future employer still tends to hit the nail on the head. so yes. it really is that bad. it won't just go away. and read this one to find out who's to blame.

that's right.

you...

and me.

here's another... on the subject of riots and the DNC this fall, i don't think we need to brace for anything like chicago in '68 or whatever... but i wonder about the manner in which said protest (on however many topics... who knows. don't expect a big seattle production) will be co-opted/conducted and whether it can stir up any kind of shit show. sure.



because that's what a shit show is.

why not. i see it ultimately festering into some kind of lackluster display that will leave a (albeit, small) black, stinky eye on the whole party/event. you're welcome.

also, i compare the uninformed, reactionary element that makes up most of these disasters using a simile vice made once about bike kids (which is unfair to people on bikes everywhere, but who gives a shit?) that i believe translates. oh, and they're talking about Chicago here, but Denver's no slouch when it comes to morons.

"This place used to be all right till it got invaded by Chicago bike weirdos. Does every city have these? Manic Panic’d gutter kids who love disgusting canned beer and build those retarded “Why be normal?” junk bikes on which to spread stupidity across the city? It’s like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but they’re all “fighting” George Bush instead of Tina Turner."

sooooooo yeah.

get smart. fast. listen to npr. shit in public. read news from CSM. do NOT have a blog. leave the economist in someone's bathroom. have uncomfortable conversations, or even better, arguments with colleagues and co-workers, parents and siblings, dogs and cats, etc. stop believing. give up a little. start over. organize. prioritize. wash, rinse, repeat.



speaking of nothing, i got a kick out of the above... just don't know if what bansky does is worth six figures... apparently angelina jolie bought that one... which is funny... because i think the people at the picnic look like brangelina and their adopted kids anyway.

okay. more on nothing next week.

oh wait.

shit i listened to this week... or that i can remember listening to.






does it offend you yeah? - you have no idea what you're getting yourself into


for fans of the rapture and... umm... bullshit. this could get really, really bad in a hurry... then again... that sounds kind of fun. ten points for gratuitous use of an organ. ha. that has a double meaning. ha. innuendo even.





grizzly bear - friend
grizzly bear - yellow house


so they're opening for radiohead this june, so i thought i'd look into what everybody was talking about in 2007... and 2006... apparently. nothing spectacular. i'm sure shit like this grows on you, but so do warts. that said, the video for 'knife' is fucking awful. i'm only including a still from it. you can youTUBE that wack shit on your own, cowboy. yeesh.







chormatics - chrome rats vs. basement rutz

music for travelers. you can feel alienated and alone while waxing xenophobic all from the discomfort of your own couch. or at least, that's what i'm thinking. also good for those dates where you get tested for AIDS and end up at Arby's sharing a bacon beef an' cheddar.





mew - frengers
mew - the zookeeper's boy EP
mew - and the glass handed kites


you kind of have to be from denmark to make stuff like this AND make it interesting. or at least that's the rule i just made up.





athlete - tourist


simple light boring rock stuff that i eat up from somewhere in the united kingdom. file under: music to put off doing laundry to. i don't have 'beyond the neighbourhood'. but i will. they spell shit with extra vowels over there. it's true.





daft punk - alive


way unprepared to deal with the strange rangers scattering around red rocks this past summer. totally prepared to listen to this well into 2008. being into shit like this is weird though, like when your grandma hugs you too long and you realize for the first time that she's stacked... like way stacked.





barronness - red album


so much better than the sword it hurts my dick. oh, and i heard that new album, 'slobs of the hearth' sucks.





autechre - quaristice


it's kind of depressing to listen to this shit because as much is makes me want to hit my brain with a shovel, i kind of want to know what they're doing to get some of the sounds that they get. except the blips and sonar sounds that sound like dolphins fucking on gameboy. i've figured that out.





m83 - before the dawn heals us
m83 - saturdays = youth


can do no wrong. a must have for most new home owners.





lupe fiasco - food & liquor


kick. push. kick. push. kick. push. coast. no, i don't have the cool. never did.





junior boys - so this is goodbye


for people who want to like hot chip, but haven't found a reason as to why. also for people struggling to find out why they listen to cut copy when they once said it was 'music for the gays'. a nine step program that costs under ten bucks and doesn't bum out your folks. hot chip remixed 'in the morning' if you're not ready to get in the water just yet.





stars - in our bedroom after the war


you kind of have to do some cut and paste. 'my favourite book' sounds like norah jones. trash. 'the ghost of genova heights' channels the scissor sisters, and i'd rather have someone feed me bagels from their ass than listen to the scissor sisters. 'barricade' is some kind of ode to 'les miserables' or showtunes in general and that's ALWAYS retarded. so yeah... scrap those three and you've got a solid record. 'take me to the riot' should be radio hit of the year. do kids like this stuff? i don't care.





latterman - we are still alive


i'm pretty sure i'm looking for the first album. maybe i'm thinking of a different band. this just sounds like hot water smoke or gaslight anthem. or the draft.





justice - cross


french dudes have garageband now. it's true. hold a dance party in your studio one bedroom apartment. anything's possible. plus! the justice versus simian video for 'we are your friends' is one of the best ever. ever. ever. this one's not bad either. kind of makes you want to spring for stupid t-shirts... but not really.





voxtrot - mothers, sisters, daughters and wives EP


i really like me some boring ass music.





charlotte gainsbourg - 5:55


nothing special pretty stuff from that girl from that gondry film. soon to be in an ad about iPods or boutique SUVs. and that's about it.





now it's overhead - dark light daybreak


i hope the rest of the saddle creek catalogue (of late) isn't this boring. for fans of tv on the radio, modest mouse and grizzly bear, etc. yawn.





yacht - i believe in you. your magic is real.


hit and miss. long lasting? methinks no. i don't mind shtick like this, but it makes me wonder how easy it is to make music these days. your local guy/gal who has his own dj dance night knows this stuff front to back no doubt. that's too bad.







camera obscura - let's get out of this country


it's like the finished recording some of these songs, played them on a boombox at the end of a long hallway wrapped in sheet metal and recorded that. girls that like echoes and reverb as much as i do. i'm enthusiastic about music.





steely dan - can't buy a thrill


smooth. so smooth.





dillinger escape plan - calculating infinity
dillinger escape plan - miss machine


"i smell that whore!" ... "woo!" fun for everyone. essential listening for anyone who wants to start a family. i want to listen to it underwater.





botch - the unifying themes of sex, death and religion


you'll wanna drive around town on quaaludes and tell bitches they look pregnant. makes me want to re-listen to these arms are snakes.





atari teenage riot - burn, berlin, burn


this band talked about taking amphetamines and writing songs all night until they passed out. i heard alec empire had a shitty solo project once. whatever dudes. this reminds me of better living through chemistry, rob swift, de la soul and whatever else i was listening to in high school. delete yourself.





annuals - be he me


when pop music evolves into shit like this it gives me a hard on like the statue of liberty. big. not shaped.





propellerheads - decks, drums and rock n roll


i get tired of listening to the same shit driving to work and back again. you'll feel like steve mcqueen driving a dick on wheels. except for that shirley bassie song or whatever. that's just weird. that said, if anyone can find me an album by boom, boom satellites i'll jerk you off and melt your face. really.





the duke spirit - neptune


best album of 2008... so far. i would let liela moss put cigarettes out on me. really. i would. why they have six times as many EPs and singles than full-length albums is a mystery to me. maybe that's why they're loaded. people from across the pond must eat that shit up.





vampire weekend - s/t


i don't care about this band. i was hoping i could find the album art for 'hung queens can suck it' instead. oh well.





les savy fav - let's stay friends


this will also make some dumb 'best of '08' list as well even though it came out last year... pretty solid. like a brick through a window. their singer reminds me of a coked-out allen ginsberg and he also did a strip tease of sorts on conan. rad-i-cal.





liars - drum's not dead
liars - s/t


saw them on my birthday. bored out of my mind... kind of. it's like they went from 'drum' to 'liars' and turned up the 'shit's going to be actually happening' knob so people on xanax wouldn't die when they listened to the new record. that's genius.