December 30, 2011
Johnny Guitar Watson
I got a bunch of stuff out of storage and was taking stock and inventorying guitars and other things, and had this mini-freakout when I imagined that a guitar was missing. It was kind of a special one, and the thought that I'd somehow misplaced it was too much. I got that dizzy, curtains-drawing-across-my-field-of-vision feeling that often precedes my waking up on the ground staring up at a ring of horrified people screaming "are you all right?" at me. (Though in this particular instance, considering those present besides me, the only thing anyone would have been able to scream at me was "meow.") But, it didn't quite happen. And, as it turned out, the guitar was hiding in plain sight all along, in a case I was somehow not seeing despite the fact that I had been looking directly at it. (It's the one pictured here, the main guitar I played on Our Bodies Our Selves, Women Who Loved Them, and Love is Dead.)
The guy who sold it to me way back when told me that the previous owner had been Johnny Guitar Watson. No idea if that was true or not, but whoever owned it before me, I'm glad I've still got it. Because it would really suck to just, like, misplace a whole guitar like that.
December 26, 2011
December 25, 2011
December 24, 2011
December 23, 2011
Don't Call 911
Here's another case of a naive person dialing 911 for help with a family member in need of medical attention. She probably thought she'd get an ambulance with some nice paramedics who would take her husband to the hospital where he would get medication and possibly counseling.
Instead, the police who responded to the call took the 62-year-old guy to jail, tied him to a chair, hooded him, and tortured him with pepper spray for 48 hours till he was dead. The death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner, but the "law enforcement" officers responsible were not charged and (of course) the department was cleared of any wrongdoing.
So these guys are still walking around with guns and badges. In other words, if you call 911 in Lee County, Florida, these are the guys who might show up.
(via the Agitator.)
I don’t think I’ve ever rooted harder for a dude to get laid
Poshdeluxe over at Forever Young Adult is still trying to talk people into reading King Dork after all these years. Thanks, posh!
December 22, 2011
December 19, 2011
$62.27, or something
Noting recent posts featuring grumbling about spotify and money and such (e.g. here), my old buddy Dallas Denery forwards this pretty funny entry from Too Much Joy's Tim Quirk about the accounting (or lack thereof) of digital royalties on his band's statements from Warner Bros.
Bottom line: it's pretty clearly in the "lack thereof" category.
December 17, 2011
December 16, 2011
Insultingly small amounts of money and the myth that we'll all get the money back at shows and in merch
Steve from 1-2-3-4 Go! Records on Spotify:
The more I think and find out about it the worse it seems. I used this figure elsewhere but I think people should see it. A band on my label got a check from me for digital that came mostly from iTunes for about $900. That was for a 2 month period. To get that same amount of money they'd have to get streamed 200000 times. Two hundred thousand! If they got a stream a day it would take over 547 years to make that same amount of money. Now you tell me why this should be the future for artists and labels and how it's just? All the while Spotify grows and reaps the real profit. Think about this when you support them. Even if you don't have a pay account they make money. They've monetized piracy by doling out insultingly small amounts of money and the myth that we'll all get the money back at shows and in merch. It's bullshit.
December 14, 2011
Don't Order a Pizza
The pizza delivery guy might turn out to be an undercover SWAT officer who will shoot you when you answer the door.
(via Balko.)
December 09, 2011
More Starry Afternoon
Another pic from that Starry Plough show, this one from Joseph Curran. First time on stage with Super Aaron in around twenty years.
December 08, 2011
December 07, 2011
Now We See the Violence Inherent in the System
Debating whether or not Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is too "rape-y".
(via Althouse.)
December 04, 2011
Come and see me play some songs today if you feel like
Show today. (Sunday afternoon.) I'll quote myself:
a matinee release party at the Starry Plough for the second edition of Scott Miller's book Music: What Happened? (He's the GAME THEORY / LOUD FAMILY guy, not only a writer of brilliant, quirky pop songs, but also a gifted writer of musical-cultural criticism, as it turns out; check out the book, it's great.) My old bandmate Aaron's current band, the Bye Bye Blackbirds, are also playing. So it's going to be Scott Miller, me, and the BBBs, who are also going to be my backup band for a couple of songs, heretofore never played electrically, at least, not by me. So that should be interesting. One hopes!So that's:
-- Sunday, Dec 4 at the Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 510 841 2082, 4:00p to 7:00p, with SCOTT MILLER and the BYE BYE BLACKBIRDS.
