Rod Hits the Big Time

Well, not really. And it isn't really Rod that caused all the uproar.

Jim wrote about Team Rod's bocce practice last night on the team blog. Then it was picked up by a fancy Brooklyn blog because of a certain celebrity who was mentioned.

Brokeback bocce, indeed.

Another Plug for My Baseball Blog Lurks

Red Sticker Collection
Leonard Cohen - More Best Of, 1997
I really am not all that familiar with the career of Leonard Cohen. Sure, I know his best of and now I know his more best of. These songs are all from the 80's or 90's except for live versions of a few of his classics like "Suzanne." I've got to say that this isn't the easiest listen. It is almost Scott Walker like at times with strange phrasings and melodies and the like. And the song "Everybody Knows" creeps me out everytime I listen to it because it reminds me of that Atom Egoyan film Exotica. I'm curious what Leonard Cohen LP I should start with if I want to delve deeper. Any suggestions?

Margo Guryan - Take a Picture, 1968
Oh my, I love this album. I read about her on some music blog a few months ago. It might even have been the Noiseboy's blog? I listened to a couple of songs and was hooked. I was thinking of buying it and wanted to tell SHR about it. When she came home, I started to describe to her the song I had found on the Internet. Before I could finish my sentence, she cut me off and said, "Is it Margo Guryan?" I still don't know how she knew who I was talking about. She said, "I have that Cd." She promptly went to our collection and pulled it out. I was in shock. Not only did she immediately know who the obscure singer that I was talking about was but she had it in her collection! What? Who is this magical woman I'm married to?

The album is perfect 1968. Perfectly pretty vocals. Strings. A little drugged out at times. Jazzy. Rocking. Moe Tucker like at times? Sad. Sexy. An American Francoise Hardy? The album Joni Mitchell wasn't ready to make? I don't know. A perfect time capsule is all I know. Enjoy this before the next Devendra Banhart discovers it and ruins it for everybody.
Listen to "Sun."

Youthlarge Brought These Home
Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, 2006
It is too easy to say that this is Yo La Tengo's return to form. Sure, this is my favorite LP of theirs since 1997. But I did like their last two records even if I really just couldn't wait for them to rock out a little more. This kind of reminds of Tom Waits' Mule Variations in that both of these records feel like career retrospectives consisting of new songs rather than greatest hits.

The band hits all their favorite kind of songs here. The freak out on organ. The power pop. The wispy Georgia led song. The droning way too long song near the end of the album. The Brydsy guitar song. The pop song. The Ira sings all falsetto song. Basically what I'm saying is that this album doesn't break any new ground but damnit, it sure is good. And "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind" is the best groove this band has put together since "Moby Octopod."

The Pernice Brothers - Live a Little, 2006
Every Joe Pernice release makes me so excited for the first few listens. His voice is so full of yearning that it almost like he is begging me to like his music. When added to the clean production and hummable tunes, his music is always immediately charming. But after many listens, the songs tend to blend together for me. Some really stick out and stand the test of time, others just seem mediocre after a few months.

So I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. There are some really great songs on here. Some seem like they might be slotted into the forgettable mode someday just like every other record of his.

But it is hard to dislike the man and his songs. He's so earnest and down to earth and he's a damn fine storyteller. How can you not like a song about the summer he was obsessed with the Clash and pot? So I can't quite call this album one of his best because, to be honest, all of his albums blur together for me. But this is definitely the best Pernice Brothers release of right now. And that is more than good enough for me.
Listen to "High as a Kite."

El Perro Del Mar - El Perro Del Mar, 2006
Girl group ohh laas laas married to moody 2006 atmosphere? That is a terrible description. What a fucking voice! I love love love the sound of this record. Some of the songs aren't all that memorable but the sound is the key. And everytime I think maybe this album isn't good, some amazing be bop a lula or sha la la will grab me. I guarantee you that songs from this album will become a staple of movies and television shows within a year.
Listen to "This Loneliness."

Television Personalities - My Dark Places, 2006
What the fuck? I don't know anything about this band other than they've been around forever. Now they have a new album for the first time in years. And it is fucked up. Always on the verge of falling apart it seems. But only a genius could pull off this sound intentionally. Seemingly every song ends with the music stopping but the vocals continuing on because he still has a little more to say. Male / female vocals interplay but not necessarily melodic on every song. Then there are some really pretty and quite touching moments mixed in with songs about kids on crack. A truly unique experience. Mark E. Smith tries to make a Beat Happening record but being sincere about it rather than cloying? Or something like that.
Listen to "Ex-Girlfriend Club."

Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light, 2006
The promo cd refers to this band as sounding like "a place on the map where MBV, Lee Perry, and Little Willie John can all happily co-exist." I'm not quite sure about that one. I hear a lot of Spiritualized. I hear a little grooved out and slowed down Black Mountain. I hear Mojave 3 trying to sound like Slowdive. I hear some damn fine jamz, organs, horns, and slow slow slow.

Downloaded
Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens, 2005
With apologies to the Noisboy, I don't really like this. Lekman seems like maybe he'll be a good songwriter someday but right now he kind of bugs me. He kind of sounds like The Magnetic Fields trying to do a Jonathan Richman tribute album which in and of itself isn't that bad of a concept.

This is a comp of some of his early stuff so maybe he's gotten better? On this one, it is kind of fun to spot the Belle and Sebastian song he's ripping off or the Beatles riff but overall I don't dig it. There are some really really dumb songs on here - like the one where he sings about how the F word is BS, BS, BS. Clever.

Gifts
Monster Party
A Message to the Ladies
Oh how I love Hot Tub Eric's mixes. So so so good, always and forever. Monster Party is an amazing Halloween mix featuring such amazing tracks as "Coolest Little Monster" by The Cool Ghoul and "The 5 Blobs" by The Blob. Honestly, I'm not quite sure how I survived 32 Halloweens before this one without this collection.

A Message to the Ladies is Eric's response to Listmaker II. If you recall, that CD had a photo of Mr. Eddie Murray on the cover. Eric said that he thought that the CD was going to be all jams that Eddie would have been listening to as the Orioles were winning game after game in the late 70's and early 80's. Eric is right - Eddie would have found most of the songs on the disc to be quite "jive" and wimpy.

So Eric did me one better. He made a mix of what he thought Eddie would have been into during that time. He brilliantly manipulated a photo of an old baseball card into the cover. So how is the CD? Great, of course. But don't listen to me. Read Eddie's review of it here.


Speaking of baseball and music, check out this movie of an organist named Frisbee taken in Little Rock this past summer.

Then head over to the entry on my baseball blog about the game. A definite highlight of the season.

Three Books I Didn't Like and Two That I Did

David Sedaris - Barrel Fever, 1994
I read Naked a number of years ago and I remember really liking it. But I couldn't even get through a 1/3 of this book. Bad bad short stories. Not funny at all to me. Dated and straining way too hard to be clever. Maybe I just like his memoir type stuff? I'm not willing to write him off based on my dislike of this twelve-year-old collection of magazine pieces but I won't be trying another one for awhile.

Douglas Brinkley - The Majic Bus: An American Odyssey, 1994
Chris Larry raved about this book and told me that I had had had to read it. I feel like I let him down when I stopped reading it. It is really fucking long. The first 100 pages were interesting enough but I couldn't fathom reading the whole thing. Brinkley is a history professor who took his class on a history tour in bus in 1992. Chris really liked it because of the whole '92 vibe of it. I think I disliked it for the same reason. Am I anti-nostalgia? I don't think so. I don't know, maybe I was just annoyed with all of the kids on the bus? Maybe I just didn't like Brinkley's writing style? Maybe I would have rather just been on the bus myself?

I felt a little guilty when Brinkley was heavily featured in the Spike Lee Katrina documentary. He seems like a swell guy.

Monica Ali - Brick Lane, 2003
I was kind of enjoying this but after 100 pages I'd had enough. Balgavy told me to wait for the movie when I asked him if I should continue reading it. Weasel told me to finish it.

Bangladeshi woman - arranged marriage. She can't truly become herself until she starts cheating on her loving but stifling older husband, years into her marriage. I didn't make it to the exciting sexcapades portion of the book.

Nicholas Davidoff - The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, 1994
I really enjoyed most of this book. Some of it became slightly tedious at times that I wouldn't have expected. Berg was a third string catcher in the 1930's who ended up becoming a spy during World War II. Later in life, he became a mooching eccentric.

As a player, he was content to live the life but not really play much. One season he only had 11 at-bats. He liked traveling and meeting interesting people. He didn't have much use for other ballplayers, he was much smarter than them, he thought. He was a media darling and he could speak almost ten languages. One year, he showed up late to the season because he was finishing his year in law school.

He enjoyed two trips to Japan as a player and as the legend goes, taught himself Japanese on the boat trip across the Pacific. He traveled around S.E. Asia and he would dazzle the players in the bullpen with stories of his travels.

As a spy, he claimed to once be in charge of deciding whether or not to kill a German scientist if he thought that Germany was close to building a nuclear bomb. He lived it up in the world of espionage and was sad to see the war end.

He spent the rest of his life trying to relive his glory days of baseball and spying. He never went back to his lawyer days. He wanted to remain a spy but his eccentric behavior had irked too many higher-ups. It is unclear if Berg did as much as he said he did during the war. His routines and odd behavior after the war make for interesting reading as does his baseball career. As a regular citizen, he loved to regale folks with stories of his baseball days. Oddly, it is the war section that kind of bored me. Davidoff relies too much on rote history lessons that he seemed bored to be writing. I skimmed a lot of this part.

Still, the book overall was pretty damn interesting. I didn't know anything about Berg and Davidoff's research and insight into what made him tick makes for fascinating reading.

A gift from Jeremy.

Jonathan Kozol - The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, 2005
Obviously, not the most pleasant read. This is the second Kozol book I have read, my first since grad school. The other one I read, Savage Inequalities, was about two kids - one in St. Louis and one in East St. Louis and the vastly different lives they led. Within that context, Kozol wrote about the reasons these differences had developed. In this book, he attacks the same subject but with his thesis in mind first and then by backing it up with examples from across the country.

Rather than be depressed by the whole thing, I was struck by Kozol's overall sense of hope, of still fighting for the cause of true integration in our schools. I suppose he's dedicated his whole career to this fight so he can't give up now. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know how we've gotten in the mess we've found ourselves in. The promise of Brown vs. the Board of Education is nothing but a cruel joke at this point for most of the country.

This book is a good companion piece to this season of The Wire. Both feature good people struggling to do the best they can in the public schools despite crushing indifference.

A gift from my sister.

Indie Rock Apartment Hunting

A fairly uneventful (but very nice) Thanksgiving (other than an entire turkey falling from the stove onto a tiny little chihuahua named Princess) led to a long long long ride back to New York on Saturday.

SHR and I went out to dinner with Mr. Glen and Jane and we talked about the possibilities of buying a house together. We'll see. Both SHR and I ate way too much. I ended up watching some of a two month old episode of that Bill Maher show on HBO in the middle of the night. It was quite amusing to watch Christopher Hitchens repeatedly flip off the crowd everytime he got jeered.

Today SHR and I went apartment hunting with our indie rock real estate broker. She recently sold a place to friends of SHR's - one of whom is in an indie rock band and the other of whom works at an indie label. The broker is also in her own band. In fact, I actually knew someone a few years back that used to be in her band because she had once dated Bill M's older brother.

Anyway, we saw three places all for the exact same price. One was in Windsor Terrace. That one was really big but had a bad bathroom and kitchen and the location isn't ideal.

The second one was in Prospect Heights - just a block or so from Tom's Restaurant. That one was about 200 square feet smaller and I don't think it will quite work out for us. Plus, it was super popular. Thirty people had already come to see it today. While we were there, at least five other couples arrived. Prospect Heights is the place to be I guess.

We got in a car service to head to the third place in Clinton Hill. Our driver was a Latino man in his forties. At first, he was grooving to some metal. Then he popped in a tape. And it sure as hell wasn't actually what any of us were expecting to hear. It was Slanted and Enchanted. What? I've never gotten a ride with a car service driver who was rocking out to Pavement. He was truly digging "Fame Throwa" and "Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era" while we were in the car. Unfortunately, this interesting ride didn't end up with us wanting to buy the Clinton Hill duplex we saw. The place had backyard access but was kind of like two studio apartments rather than a two bedroom place that we need.

Oh well. As a first step, it was a good one. Still, both SHR and I realized that shopping for an apartment just isn't the same without Beth.

Philadelphia Will Never Be the Same

Nate Wiley
1923 - 2006
Bob and Barbara's still remains my favorite bar ever but it won't be the same without Nate Wiley. Thank you to Hot Tub Eric for introducing me to the place. Thank you to Shawn for informing me of this sad news.

I still wish that there had been a way that I could have had the band play at my wedding.

A movie I took from 2004. Unfortunately, Nate is barely in it. I wish I had taken more than just this one.

I Have Seen the Future and the Future is 2002

I am slow to change my habits. While the rest of the world was e-mailing, I was still sending letters. Now that texting is what today's teenagers do, I'm with the old folks that still like to send e-mails. And don't even get Chris Larry started on how long it took me to get an iPod.

While the rest of the world was making mix CDs on their computers, I was still making them on my CD burner stereo component. And I was still keeping track of the mixes I made for people in a pre-typewriter
style.

But over the past year or so, I've seen the light. I now make mix CDs using iTunes. It is much much easier. Now I don't have to worry about forgetting about music that I want to put on mixes (this had increasingly become a worry once I merged collections with SHR) because I can simply add possibilities to the mix over months rather than in one sitting. And it is easier to keep track of what I've already given on other mixes.

I used to make a lot more mixes. Now I make my Listmaker CDs and a few each year for Jeremy. It used to be a pain in the ass keeping track in my notebook about what I had already given Jeremy on past mixes. Now all I have to do is check my folder of old Jeremy mixes and easily see what I've already given him.

The old way - what a mess!

The new exciting way! As always, click on the picture to enlarge.

A simple click on "artist" makes it easy for a neurotic Listmaker to see what has already been given on previous mixes.
And yes, it is this kind of stuff that keeps me up at night.

Jack McF*dden Known as Sk*ppy

Man, 6th grade rock kids get a whole hell of a lot of press. First, it was Listmaker, then it was a Columbia newspaper, then New York magazine and now the NY Times.

I wonder how the son (gray haired gentleman in the middle of the picture) of the famous war general (think failed US war, 1960's) feels about his son digging on the Minor Threat.

Doing their best Sleater-Kinney photo impersonation.
But the best part of the article is from local legend Sk*ppy.

“Oh my god, there’s like a huge, huge kid-rock scene here,” said Jack McFadden, known as Sk*ppy, who booked the show at Union Hall. “It’s really very indicative of P*rk Slope, since so many of the parents who live around here are hip and have these hip little kids that they dress in, like, CBGBs T-shirts.”

UPDATE:
The same article?

I Know Why This Picture is So Funny

Powerful Democrats .... and another one lurking in the background.
But I still can't get over just how funny it is.

Why Do I Have So Many Blogs?

Not that I'm declaring that I'm going to take a break or anything from this blog. But I'd like to point out that I have three other blogs that I write or contribute to regularly. So let me make the case why you should read these as well. They are all lonely and crave attention. All pictures and words are from the most recent posts on these respective blogs.

Listmaker at the Movies
Linda Linda Linda made me realize I'll never get sick of good films about teenagers. The masses out there can have their Degrassis and OC's as long as I can occasionally be privvy to a movie this good.


If You Want My Bocce
I'm in the midst of posting player profiles for all eight of the players on Team Rod. Apparently, Floyd is going to put together trading cards for all of the teams at some point. Consider this a sneak preview.
Greatest Bocce Moment: Making a 9-year-old cry in front of his parents.


Baseball Diaries
I took a long break from writing in this space. But now I'm back and have half a season's highlights to regale you with. I just posted the first game of Baseball Trip '06 on the blog.
Balgavy at one point commented, "I've never been to a ballpark with so many white people in my life."

The people behind us had this to say when Royals shortstop Angel Berroa was announced. "An-hell? That's weird."

The baseball and movie blogs are listed conveniently at the top of my links to the right. I even update the date when I post a new entry so you don't have to bother checking in if I haven't posted recently. I hope to post a new entry fairly regularly in the baseball blog until I finish with the misery that was Game 7 of the NLCS.

The bocce blog can be found about halfway down my list of links.

Anyway, that is all for now. You have your assignment.

The Obligatory Shot Of Me Singing a Huey Lewis Song and 12 Movies!

I think I went a little overboard this time. I just can't get enough of Slice singing karaoke.
Slice loves Billy Ocean.

SHR and Beth love Wham.

Jim sings the Kinks but wishes he was singing Rod.

Slice's Night Moves

Slice gets dirty while reprising past glory.

Wow

He really really means it.

In the Air Tonight, Part 1

in the Air Tonight, Part 2

Beth uses a beer bottle as a microphone.

Heat of the Moment

Oh so near the end of the night.

It Is Almost 2007

And I still have never sent a text message.

Don't get me wrong, I dig receiving them. But, as of yet, I have resisted learning how to send one. I'm sure it isn't hard to do but why bother?

Who knows though? Maybe 2007 will be the year. In the meantime, keep sending them to me. Just don't expect a reply as a text message.

I was contemplating writing this post in that crazy "text message" abbreviated language that all of the kids are so crazy about, but, alas, I don't even know that aspect of the whole text message thing. Do I need to learn it before I start texting or can I simply wing it?

My Class Is Finally Beginning to Come Around

But then again, what group of 8-year-olds can resist Rufus Thomas doing "The Funky Chicken?" They also love "The Funky Robot."

I've got a great video of SHR dancing to Wattstax footage but she would kill me if I posted it. Hell, she's probably going to be mad at me for mentioning that it even exists.

Tribute to Donald on His Bad Day

On a bad day for Mr. Rumsfeld, I pay tribute to his hardnosed squash skills.

''He hits the ball well, but he doesn't play by the rules,'' says Chris Zimmerman, a devoted squash player who works in the Pentagon's office of program analysis and evaluation and is sometimes in the Pentagon athletic complex when Mr. Rumsfeld is on the court.

Mr. Zimmerman has never actually played his boss. But he says he has noticed that Mr. Rumsfeld, 74, often wins points because, after hitting a shot, he does not get out of the way so his opponent has a chance to return the ball, a practice known in squash as ''clearing.''

I played the sport for the first time today against Mr. Chris Mooney. Unfortunately, I didn't play so well. In six matches (Match 3 is pictured above), Mooney won all six times. My best score was losing by a score of 10-3. Ouch.

Two Sentence Reviews of a Few TV Shows

And only a few really bad run-on sentences --

The Wire
Still the best show on television. Love the new school plotline.

Weeds
Almost gave up on it halfway through Season 2 - the toe eating incident was almost the end for me. But then it rebounded at the end and I will, at least, start Season 3.

Heroes
Yes it is silly but I dig it. Alex J and KFan are haters and that is fine with me.

Gilmore Girls
I’m finished with this show. However, I still make sure I’m somewhere in the vicinity when SHR watches it.

Friday Night Lights
I really like it when it sticks to the football and the town dynamic. I don’t like it so much when it becomes a teen soap opera.

Lost
Why kill off characters I like and add new dumb ones who figure out stuff that Locke and Sayid can’t? Who cares when the last five minutes last week are so damn good?

Project Runway
I began to lose interest by the middle of Season 3. But I’ll still be there for Season 4.

The Office
I like that Jim is in a different office so far this year. For the most part, the show still is as fresh and funny as ever.

Battlestar Galactica
SHR and I have just started watching this on DVD and we are almost halfway through the first season. Some of it is great, some of it isn’t but I’m confident that once this show fully hits its stride, it will kick ass.

Other recent writing on televsion:
Balgavy
J. Edward Keyes on the death of Gilmore.

Unfortunately, the 'Stache Is Not Real

It has been way too long that the Interweb has gone without Jeremy Paquette. No longer!


Jeremy explains:

as far as the Jeremys go, this was completely my coworkers' idea. My sales support mate asked if i wanted to double up with her and wear some sort of matching costume (peanut and plain M&ms for example). I managed to hide my horror and politely declined. I came up with a corny idea of my own was excited to show it off. I was The Fairy Godfather - pinstripe suit, handkerchief, slicked back hair,moustache, tutu, wings and fairy wand. I arrived to a crowd around my desk and then Jules came out in a frightening mask - I didn't realise at first it was my face. Then more coworkers turned around to show me that they too were Jeremys. All in all, there were 10 other Jeremys, the entire Sales team here had not only my face but checkered buttondown shirts, dress pants and converse (or similar) shoes as well. They also mimicked my walk when in the hallway. It was super creepy and strangely flattering. I led them on a parade around the building and looking back and a line of Jeremys was absolutely surreal. They had planned this well in advance because Dan from IT came over last week taking photos for "ID cards" but it was really just to get a digital photo of my head. Two of the sales reps got in on it too and sent in photos, one had a photo of both her and her dog wearing my face. Weird people. They won a $50 prize for originality. Thanks for the nightmares, folks.

The End of an Era, Goodbye Pat O'Connor

In case you missed it, this is from yesterday's NY Times.

One of those New York City bar guides prints helpful little symbols to describe each spot, and beside the entry for O’Connor’s in Park Slope, there is a silhouette of a man diving into the water.

A dive bar. Patrick O’Connor, the owner, hated that label. He didn’t stand here all day, every day, running a cheap dump. And by the way, when his was the only place around for blocks and blocks, when the drug dealers outside outnumbered the old men on the stools, he didn’t hear anybody complaining.

“We don’t do much here,” said Mr. O’Connor’s son Joseph, 42, sitting at the bar’s dark wood. “What you do, you do well. Here, you get a good drink in a clean glass at a reasonable price. He hated the word ‘dive.’ ”

A good drink: Patrick kept the liquor lined neatly behind the bar. On the way out the door after closing time, he would dump fresh ice on the bottles of beer. Nothing colder on a hot day. He always used a shot glass to make drinks, so the customer knew just what he was getting. And on Sunday, it is worth the trip just to watch the 78-year-old bartender, Charlie Campbell of Ireland, make a bloody mary. His back ramrod-straight, he pumps the tumbler out and down, out and down, looking like Jack La Lanne with one of his health juices.

A reasonable price: Patrick once told his son, “Joe, I raised the price a nickel, and I took 50 cents of abuse.” The highest amount on the ancient cash register, still in use, is on a button marked $3. That’s what most everything costs.

Clean glasses: perhaps the most important part to Patrick O’Connor. “This place was like his garden,” said Kevin Kash, 38, a bartender. “He’d sit here and wash the glasses the way you’d bathe a child. He had newspaper spread all over the bar. He’d wash one and look at it, wash it, look at it.”

Patrick was born on Nov. 13, 1932, in Galway, and was a baby when the family moved to Brooklyn. His father, Dominick O’Connor, opened O’Connor’s Bar and Grill on Fifth Avenue, on a trolley line just off Flatbush Avenue, in 1933. The grill part was dubious. People came to drink. Patrick began working there as a boy, cleaning the spittoons on either side of the long bar, and later took the place over.

He changed next to nothing. The room snuffs out sunlight and replaces it with either abject gloominess and despair or a cozy, warm embrace, depending on how you feel about dark bars. That big moose’s head mounted on the wall? Patrick said it was the last moose in Ireland, and that his father shot it. Patrick said a lot of things.

“They tell you, never talk politics or religion in a bar,” said Mr. Kash. “Well, he thought politics was one of the only things worth talking about.” He had a saying, when he left for the day: “Keep smiling.”

He survived the hard times in the 1970s and into the ’80s in this way, talking and shining glasses and pouring honest shots of rye. He worked all night and into the morning, closing at 4 a.m. He could not afford a porter to clean the place, so he did it himself. He preferred to leave after sunup anyway, both for his safety and for the bar’s. He could not afford a break-in.

“He was like a farmer,” said Bart DeCoursy, 34, who used to tend bar at O’Connor’s. “A city farmer. It really was like a day-in, day-out thing. This was his.”

Patrick had six children. He and their mother divorced. “We had an absentee father,” Joe said. “He was killing himself. There was no money here. He’d come home and have a couple sandwiches and a couple cans of beer and go to bed.”

Joe took the day shifts at the bar with the old-man regulars. “They were depressing, depressing,” he said. “After 8 or 10 hours, you’d want to hang yourself. But when he came in at 6, the whole atmosphere changed. He lit the place up.”

Then the neighborhood came back. Patrick said he always knew it would. "He was right," Joe said. "He paid the price, but he was right."

Suddenly, it was not unusual to enter O’Connor’s and see something unfathomable a few years earlier: young customers in their 20s and 30s, and lots of them. Drawn to the jukebox, generally regarded as top notch, and the drink prices, the new face of Park Slope — generally smooth-skinned and white — began to outnumber the old men.

The cancer came about five years ago, starting in Patrick’s lungs. “Typical Irish,” Joe said. “He waited to go to the doctor. He thought he could take care of it himself.” He kept working. Patrick O’Connor died Oct. 8, a few weeks after walking out of his bar for the last time. He was 73.

His son gathered a few dozen of the regulars at the bar last week, poured Irish whiskey for everyone, and gave a toast: “He believed even the bad times were always a good time for good friends and good customers.”

Try to find a bar owner in the city today who spends every day behind the bar. It is easier to find a moose in Ireland. With Patrick gone, O’Connor’s cut its hours, opening at 5 p.m. on weekdays. Few even noticed. Most of the old regulars are gone, too. The prevailing belief at last week’s gathering was that wherever they were, they were all together, with plenty of clean glasses that would not stay clean all night.

“He’d say, ‘If I could have anything,’ ” Mr. Kash said, “ ‘I’d have a little tavern on the side of the road, and be a friend to all men.’ ”

The print edition but not the online version had a really nice photo of Bart comforting one of Pat's old friends.

No More Strokes Mania (Once Was Enough)

This time, I've put up a few songs for you to peruse if you so desire. Nothing that will find its way on Listmaker III or nothing but just a few here and there to better illuminate what the hell I'm talking about.

Youthlarge Brought These Home
The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes, 2006
Around 1994 or so, I was worried that when I became on old fart, the only music I'd want to listen to was my Pavement reissues and maybe a Superchunk jam if I needed to pump up for the afternoon's errands. Jeremy told me that he didn't think so, that anyone who could listen to Truman's Water and enjoy it would never end up only listening to the music of their youth.

This LP was a test of sorts for me. Could I still dig new sounds or was I stuck in an indie rock rut? I really wanted to like this. It is completely crazy. The male singer sounds like a woman at times and I still can't quite believe that it isn't a woman. Screaming vocals that might have made me happy back in '95 now sort of just leave me cold though. Not annoyed or nothing, it just doesn't do much for me. Or maybe this band just would have never been my thing? I don't know. But I do know that the next CD I'm going to listen to is that new reissue of Wowee Zowee. And the last time I listened to Truman's Water, I can't say that I particularly cared for it.

Listen to "Set Fire to the Face on Fire"

The Liars - Drum'S Not Dead, 2006
I find this band incredibly interesting even when I'm not completely enamored with every sound. Their first record was all "We're so Gang of Four, Williamsburg, woo fucking hoo!" Then they completely revamped the sound, became a duo, moved to Berlin, and alienated all their fans with a droned out drummed out record about witches hanging out in the woods.

This latest record is more like the 2nd than the 1st but not nearly as monotonous. Some yelps and shit. More craziness. And as the title of the record states, the drums ain't dead. Lots and lots of drums.

Apparently, a concept record about Mt. Heart Attack or something, who knows? I just know that this band doesn't sound like anything else I've heard and that is a good thing.

Listen to "Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack"

Love's A Real Thing: The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa, 2004
70's West African funk. As good as you'd think it would be.

The Thermals - The Body The Blood The Machine, 2006
The new Bad Religion? I don't say this in a bad way necessarily. They are in your face earnest and political. But they aren't as in love with showing off their 50 cent words as Bad Religion is.

The hooks are gorgeous but some of the lyrics drive me crazy. Lyrics like "We don't think we're special sir/ We know everybody is." are cringeworthy. But gosh darnit, Hutch Harris means it so much. I think I'm being too harsh on this record, I like it, honest I do. However, the first album was so frenetic and the lyrics were so buried that maybe I didn't notice how silly some of the lyrics were. This one, there's no mistaking that there is a message that our leaders have no shame - "power doesn't run on nothing" brotha. Not that I'm against political songs but some of the lyrics just don't work. Then again, his heart is in the right place so I'm just going to shut up.

Mojave 3 - Puzzles Like You, 2006
This must be Mojave 3's rawk album. Not that it rocks per se but this ain't no wispy endeavour. Some good songs here. If you like all things Neil Halstead, you'll like this album. If you don't, I doubt you even are reading this paragraph.

Mento Madness: Motta's Jamaican Mento, 1951-1956, 2004
It is this kind of brilliant compilation that I would probably never buy myself. But when it is delivered to my doorstep, who am I to dislike it? Jamaican music from the 50's, fuck yeah, you know. I knew nothing about Mento music. The booklet mentions that many of these bands were promoted as calypso bands because that was what was hot at the time. Jamaican Queen at work heard this CD playing in my room last spring and immediately ordered one for her dad for Father's Day. She said she knew all of the songs and they all reminded her of her childhood. I adore Jamaican Queen. I didn't need any more reason to love this CD but got it I did.

Shonen Knife - O Genki Shock!, 2006
Shonen Knife - Burning Farm, 1983
Everyone's favorite Japanese girl band who loves the Ramones. I've heard them here and there over the years. I know I played a number of their songs on my college radio show years ago. Somehow I made it to 2006 before really listening to a full LP. I listened to the newest one first and loved it. I was told that if I liked that one, I was in for a treat by listening to the old ones.

Luckily SHR brought home a bunch. I started with one from 1983. I was not misled. What a fucking treat. I look forward to listening to more. The new one definitely doesn't seem like it is about to fall apart at any moment like Burning Farm and I like it for that. There is a place for both. Another band I can think of who was putting out records in 1983 and hail from Georgia, USA might want to take a tip from these fine ladies on how to age gracefully without being boring as all fuck.

Portastatic - Be Still Please, 2006
Sorry Hater Larry, but I really don't like Mac's latest efforts nearly as much as you but I am quite amused at how much you love them.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas, 2006
SHR pointed out that their voices really sound great together. But the songs just aren't that memorable. What a shame.

Serena Maneesh - Sereena Maneesh, 2006
Loud fucking band, man. I lent this CD to my boss. He liked it and namechecked a bunch of bands from the early to mid 90's that they sound like. But to be honest, all I really hear is My Bloody Valentine. Ok, maybe some Sonic Youth. And a whole hell of a lot more of My Bloody Valentine. It is kind of eerie. But fucking Kevin Shields himself can't carry the torch, somone has got to.

Brian Eno - Music For Airports, 1978
What is there to say? Pure brilliance.

The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth, 2006
Maybe Chris Larry was right. Maybe the Strokes do suck after all. No, I really liked their first record. And their second one wasn't too bad. But this one ain't so hot. Some of the songs are pretty good. But, for the most part, I'd rather just listen to their first record. And some of the "I'm asleep on stage" attitude seems to have completely seeped into the recording as well. Just because you boost the vocals a bit doesn't make the whole thing more exciting. The song "Fear of Sleep" might be the worst song I've heard all year by a band whose CD I listened to quite a bit. Plus the booklet suffers from major pretentiousness. Plus they have a song on here called "Ize of the World." Maybe I didn't like their second record at all. Maybe I don't like their first one. Do I?

Maybe Chris Larry was right.

Two other pieces of writing about the Strokes you should read.
Last Plane to Jakarta
My 2002 Music List, Skip to the Bottom

Actually Purchased by Me
Eric Bachmann - To the Races, 2006
Bachmann's first proper album under his own name. The whole feel is very 70's singer songwriter to me. The cover sets the tone - a picture of a bearded Bachmann in the woods. Archers of Loaf this sure is hell not. Even the Crooked Fingers albums had their very catchy kickass moments. To the Races is a departure even from that. Sparse and quiet this album. Just Bachmann, some piano, some cello, acoustic guitar, and wispy female backing vocals.

If the last Crooked Fingers album was a summer LP, this one is late autumn, the chill is coming type album. I wasn't that impressed when I saw him live in September at Bowery Ballroom. I do like the record quite a bit though. It is definitely not my favorite of his post Archers work, but I'm so enamored with all things Bachmann that I'll gladly take this. And there are some great moments on here. I think "Man 'O War is one of his best songs of recent years melodically even if it suffers from clunky lyrics at times.

Listen to "Man O'War"

The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneyground, Part One, 1970
One of the many concept records in a row that continued to confound audiences worldwide. Not that I have all of them but I have a few during this period. Some great songs on here and, of course, the big hit. I don't know why they weren't bigger during this time because the songs are so damn good. This probably should be in the Red Sticker Collection part of the writeup but I can't help it if SHR's copy was all scratched to hell so I bought it my own damn self.

Borrowed and Burned
The Beach Boys - Beach Boys' Party!, 1965
One of the silliest albums I've heard in awhile. Rushed to get a record out for Christmas, this is what the boyz produced. They went into the studio, got drunk and stoned, invited some girls over, and recorded some covers. In between each song, you can hear bottles rolling on the floor, giggling, arguing, and conversations. Then as soon as the songs start, it is all perfect harmonies and gloriousness. The cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin" gets me every time. Click on the link to listen. Thank you Alex J. for burning this for me.

Gifts
Dinah Washington - What a Difference A Day Makes!, 1959
One of several CD's I took from my late grandfather's collection after he died. The rest were all Sinatra LP's. This album has some great songs on it from beginning to end. A perfect late night or early Sunday morning album. And the title track reminds me of Chungking Express so that makes me like it even more.

Frank Sinatra - Classic Sinatra: His Classic Performances: 1953 - 1960, 2000
They'll all here. The hits. The big ones. The songs in credit card commercials. And damn, if all of these songs don't smoke. One of a number of CD's from my grandfather's collection. He loved Sinatra. When I listen to Sinatra, I think of my grandfather.

Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm and Blues, 1945-1970, 2004
Jeremy gave this two CD collection for my birthday. There is some great stuff on here. Some classics like Arthur Alexander and Joe Tex and then a whole helluva lot that I've never heard before. I really can't get enough of this stuff. All of the stuff is either by a Nashville artist or was recorded in Nashville.

More Halloween Pics

Thanks to Mondale and Ms. Bri at school for sending me these pictures. I had to get the yellow glove feet online somehow. Thanks again goes to Erik C for letting me borrow his chicken outfit.



Also there is some discussion going on over here about SHR's Sonya Thomas costume.

Blog highlights of the past few days:

The Noiseboy and I go head to head in the comments section of this post.

Sweet Sweet Bocce Victory

The Heroes debate keeps raging. Sorry that I recommended the show to people right before a crap episode aired.