Happy New Year

Probably won't get to it tomorrow...

Chrysalis (and the Afterlife's A Little Funky Tonight)

I come from a close, sarcastic, loving and important extended family. They are, for lack of a better phrase, my people. And while I doubt that many of us would find ourselves friends if it were not for the bonds of blood or marriage, those people will always have my back should I need it.

One of the things I've noticed since moving away from the geographic base of this group is how much age works in six month intervals for both the youngest and the oldest amongst us. Those of us in our 30s and 40s, even the few in their 20s, don't change all that much in the time between my trips back home.

But, sometimes, someone walks in to the room and is suddenly old. Or, sometimes, someone appears and an insecure, shy child is in the process of being sloughed away to make room for a woman that is coming, and it seems she will be confident and secure and sure of herself and it's a wonderful thing to see.



And, while we're here, fare thee well James Brown.

Happy Christmas to All...

In Which Delta Screws Up My Holiday Plans

Instead of being out and about in Brooklyn and Manhattan this morning, I'm waiting for Delta to deliver my lost bag. My bag, which had they actually put me on the direct flight I'd paid for, would not have missed the connection because there would not have been a motherfucking connection. Which, really, was the point.

Many years ago, after a brutally negative experience that had me spending far more time in Salt Lake City than I'd ever wanted, I swore off Delta forever.

But the price on this ticket was good. And the flight was originally direct. So I did it. I went back to them. And every single thing has been fucked from start to finish.

Delta, please bite me.

What I'm Listening To Wed.

Early north Jersey industrial skyline
I’m a all-set cobra jet creepin’ through the nighttime
Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a payphone
this turnpike sure is spooky at night when you’re all alone
Gotta hit the gas, baby. I'm running late,
this New Jersey in the mornin’ like a lunar landscape

Bruce Springsteen, Open All Night, Nebraska

And, in an excellent cover version:

Son Volt, Open All Night, Badlands--A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska

Friends, keep your eyes and cell phones open for me.

Because There's a 13 Year Old Boy Living Deep Inside of Me

Please don't watch this at work. It might get you fired. But the simple fact is that SNL hasn't had anything as funny as the "Digital Shorts" segments for a long, long time.

One More Quality Holiday Tune and The Zilker "Tree"

Via ampcamp, "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto," James Brown

A Couple of More Holiday Tunes I Enjoy

Deck The Halls, Twisted Sister, because really, who doesn't love hearing Dee Snider sing about gay apparel?

Christmas Wrapping, The Waitresses. Because, well, it's a good tune.

It's 70 Degrees! It Must Be Christmas!

Well, it's balmy and lovely this week, but the calendar says we're in the mythic 12 days leading up to Christmas, so while I wait on my true love's gift of a pair of turtle doves and a lone partridge residing in a pear tree, I offer you Austin's take on the Civic Holiday Decoration.

While any American city or municipality worth its salt can truck in a giant fir tree and festoon it with lights, Austin says, "Keep your pines with their falling needles and sticky sap; we don't need no stinking conifers to make Holiday Magic." No, Austin, as Austin is wont, needs to be different.

So, some history.

In 1894, Austin became one of the first American cities to figure out that street lights were a good idea should one want to discourage the less desirable elements of society that tend to conduct their illicit business in the dark. But, of course, our modern idea of blazing halogen lamps was but a dream in those distant days of yore.

So, Austin erected 31 "Moonlight Towers" around the city. These towers, whose soft glow was said to enable an honest man to read his watch from 1,500 feet away, were a civic marvel. Today, 17 towers remain (and one features in the climactic party scene of Richard Linklater's love letter to 1970s Austin, Dazed and Confused).

They are the only tower lighting system left in any of the world's cities, and, I have to admit, they are pretty cool.

One of the remaining towers is in Zilker Park, the largest green space in town. In lieu of a classic tree, the tower is adorned with festive lights.



It is, as these things are supposed to be, visible from all around. But, rumor has it that Austin tradition holds that one is supposed to gather under the tower/tree and spin in circles to create a swirl of color.

I am vomit adverse. Thus, I am spinning in circles adverse. So, when Olga and I arrived at the tree tonight, after quite a nice meal washed down with quite a nice bottle of Italian wine, it seemed foolish to spin. So I did not.

But I have attempted to capture the experience through the marvel of modern digital photographic technology so that you can know what the fuss is all about.



One parting note, should you ever visit Austin during this festive time of year and be tempted to join the spinners, the air was ripe with the smell of a certain herb that has been noted to ease nausea. I suspect its use was medicinal, what with all the spinning in circles.

What I'm Listening To Wednesday

The only holiday song I can really enjoy:

Father Christmas, The Kinks

Stumped on What To Get Me This Holiday Season?

I'm told all the time that I'm hard to buy gifts for. Which is hogwash, because booze and books will always make me happy.

Still, if anyone's looking for a last minute gift for me, this would make me happy.

Oh, the faces I would get sporting that shirt around Austin.

I Raise My Glass...

One very good friend and one friend I haven't really met yet have good news to share. While our corners of the blogosphere have much overlap, I figure they both should get a shout out on my pages.

So, first, Wes has launched his new business, Lexie Lew.

Lexie Lew, purveyor of well designed pet accessories to those who become woozy at the sight of L.L. Bean plaids, is launching today with much fanfare as Wes is reportedly making an appearance this morning on WABC 7 in New York City.



This is a project that Wes has been working on, in one form or another, for quite some time and I'd better get video of the a.m. news appearance. Big, big props to Wes for following through on a dream and making something tangible of it. I wish him all the success he can handle.

And, of course, it has recently come to my attention that Wisdom Weasel and his bride, Country Mouse, are expecting. I've tried a number of word combinations to christen this new joint venture--WisCount (the actual pronunciation, particularly when aping Weasel's native accent, did me in), Measel, etc--and have settled on Mousel. So I wish them much luck and happiness as they wait on Mousel, who I can only sadly conclude will be an early inductee into the cult of the Red Sox Nation.

EDIT: Wes, Pet Expert Video

I've Got Nothing

Not a whole lot of interest to blog about these last weeks. So, we'll try a new feature.

What I'm Listening To Wednesday with a couple of links to selected, quasi-legal uploads from albums currently in my stereo. All files, are of course, for evaluation purposes only. Go buy records.

Elvis Costello, King of America, American Without Tears

The Happies, Meet The Happies, If

Pernice Brothers, Live a Little, PCH One

Healthy White Baby, HwB, Soul

This is a test...

In my last post, I referenced a widely available, leaked record by a band that some of you have interest in.

My friends over at Ampcamp have suggested the leaked record may in fact not be the real record, and they have a nifty alternate take of one of the tracks on their Mp3 page.

That said, I'm going to post a couple of tracks from that forthcoming record here and hope that an army of record industry lawyers don't descend upon Casa Notes From a Former New Yorker bearing Cease and Desist Orders.

These links take you to an external file sharing site. It's a touch slow, the links will expire at some point, but it's free.

Australia

Phantom Limb

The Shins, Wincing The Night Away

The record doesn't drop until January, but leaked copies abound and one found its way to me today.

A caveat: It may not be mastered yet, but it sure sounds like it.

My take after one listen is that it's a solid record, much more Oh Inverted World than Chutes Too Narrow, in that it often passes by easy pop answers for a touch more complexity.

So far, I like. And, I might be nuts, but I'm hearing some Split Enz influences much more clearly than I would've expected.