May 2012
47 posts
So as it turns out, a book proposal CAN be written in a day.
It might not be a very good one, but it can be done.
April 2012
28 posts
33 1/3 deadline tonight. →
33third.blogspot.com
O CURSE THE WORLD THAT ONLY LET ME ONLY FIND OUT ABOUT THIS OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TODAY, THE DAY OF THE DEADLINE.
I have an idea for a book for this series. A REALLY GREAT IDEA. Would it be possible to write a 2,000 word intro by midnight? Collect competition reports? WOULD IT?
It’s the best idea. It really is. GRRRRRRRRR. Can I do this?
Red Line Observation
Assembly Line People Program
Yesterday, for a host of reasons, I went down a lot of rabbit holes leading to the past; one specifically led to WNUR’s now-former-but-then-new studio in the back of Annie May Swift Hall, which was where I first heard the Assembly Line People Program, a jagged Chicago outfit with an all-too-brief recording career. I liked the way they were constantly pulling back from the edge, teetering there long enough to create spectacular blips of chaos. This song is called “Red Line Observation,” and I especially like how its structure mimicks the herky-jerky nature of a too-early morning commute.
Here’s another song of theirs. And here is an interview with the vocalist from 1999 in which he has some things to say about making Internet friends; I wonder if he stands by that statement now.
MUCH LOVE for Assembly Line People Program. We followed Blur on their self-titled album tour in 1997, the same year ALPP was touring with them. ALPP and Blur seemed like an odd pair to some on that tour (especially with Papas Fritas smushed in the middle), but Graham’s guitars mesh really well with ALPP’s jaggedness.
When I lived in Chicago that following summer, it was Mikey who helped me find a place to live with some of his friends. Which made up for the fact that after the Chicago Blur show, one of the ALPP brothers essentially suggested a murder hotel for us to stay in. (We found out later it was because he’d driven past it and always wondered what it was like on the inside. TripAdvisor he was not.)
They were a great band to see night after night; really energetic live performers. I think about those shows a lot, still have and listen to my vinyl copy of Chicago, IL. I was really glad to hear this today.
Play
Play
Play
10 Ohio Bands You Should Listen to Now →
pastemagazine.com
Timely, from Paste Magazine. (See previously.)
Play
“Where last year’s Record Store Day in New York felt like sponsored chaos, the mad dash of collectors and fans alike, this year’s Record Store Day was a comfort: to see so many people there, to watch people in the act of listening, to see so much local music on display. All of it a big ‘ol sign saying “Cincinnati: poets live here, too.”
—
[acot&awp] - Support Your Local Poet
Wherein I start preaching the good word of the Cincinnati music scene. There’s more to this city than Afghan Whigs, you know. (Click on that AW link. It’s good. [RIP Sudsy Malone’s.])
The Man With No Middle Name
“What’s the point of middle names, really? They should just get rid of them completely.”
“They’re used to distinguish two people with the same name from each other.”
Long, thoughtful pause. J stares off into the distance.
“Well, fortunately, you see, I have a unique personality.”
Some gems from an email thread between Josh Osmium and me, August 2009:
“I wonder if I would be less agitated every day if I didn’t read everyone else’s gripes on the internet via Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr, and then somehow my head lumps all of those on top of my own and then it seems unsurmountable. Which might be a word, I don’t know or care. I mean, I’d miss the clever or funny bits, but that’s like finding chocolate chips in cookies.”
“Internet geeks will live longer. Think about how less lonely we’ll be in our eighties because of the internet.”
“You’re right. Those are the good parts. Why do I just remember the bad parts from day to day? Probably more about my own head than the internet.”
“The advanced level is to be noticed by people who think I suck. Opposition. This is the path to growth.”
“Congrats on your zen-like calmness. I’m gonna go sit outside and eat my sandwich.”
Emphasis mine. I always think about the “being less lonely in our eighties because of the internet” thing. I think I can already vouch for the truth of this now, since most people seem to equate living in Cincinnati with being housebound (but oh what a house to be bound to). And given that a majority of my friends still live in New York or LA or San Francisco or London or Liverpool, yes, the internet is a godsend.
(That said, I would love to be having a beer in the Bohemian Beer Garden with Sarah + Josh + others right about now, practicing our model walks and talking JAZZ.)
Play
