Laundry Hog

So last night I rushed home for soup, American Idol and some laundry work. I planned on getting the latter done on Monday but was too tired, so there I was, bag full of dirty clothes, trying to get them nice and fresh for my trip to NYC tomorrow. Our building has two sets of washers and dryers in different areas. I went to the one farthest from my apartment first, but found both washers full of dry clothes. I figured someone had either forgotten their laundry or someone else had removed forgotten dry laundry and put in the washer. Anyway, I decided to go to the other set of washers and use one of those instead. Same thing happened.

So at this point I'm just like "well someone obviously forgot about their stuff, so I'll remove one set so that I can run my clothes through. " I did this and then returned to my place to be unimpressed by the American Idol ladies.

When I returned later on, there was a girl (more like a lady.. a 30 year old trashy lady) putting her close in both dryers. Ok. I ran back to my place to grab my laudry bag so that I could use the other dryers in the building. No such luck. Miss Track Suit was using both of those as well. Needless to say, I was pissed. But it gets even better.

About an hour later, I return to try to snag a dryer again, and once again, Miss Hair Straightener is in the area. She looks at me and says "oo sorry, I usually run my clothes through twice" all whiney and fake nice. She then asks me if I want her to knock on my door when she's done.. and I tell her no, because I need to get up early in the morning for work and was hoping to get it before I went to bed. "yeah.. sorrry..." I then tell her that I didn't think she was gonna use all of the dryers and that I think that it was impolite of her to do so.. "Well I think it was impolite of you to take my clothes out of the washer." I let her know that there was no way for me to know if someone had just forgotten their stuff downstairs or whatever.. and she replies "yeah.. sometimes this happens and I just use the laundrymat down the street." Instead of calling her every filthy name I could think of, I return to my apartment fuming and wondering what I could do for revenge. The answer is nothing. All I can do is be pissed off, and dump my soaking wet clothing on the floor and hope that it dries before morning. The bitch has won apparently, because I'm too much of a wuss to sabatoge.

But then, as I'm cleaning the bathroom, Miss I Dress 10 Years Younger Than I Actually Am comes to the door and offers to put my clothes in the dryer if I leave them for her and some quarters. Right. I blame it on the female guilt complex.. there was no way in hell I'd let that girl touch my clothes just so she could feel like less of a bitch.

You're Not Supposed to Handle Them

Last night I had a dream that I was holding a puppy, but it turned out it wasn't a puppy, it was a baby panda.

Here Comes The Morality Police

After spending all Friday exhausted, I opted to stay in that night. Eli brought over Boca Grande (avocado in a burrito? I say yes!)and we (along with Laura and Nate) settled in for a quiet night with Hustle and Flow. I fell asleep pretty quickly, which caused me to miss most of the movie (which was apparently terrible! who could have predicted?!), but didn't miss out on these choice lyrics from the soundtrack:

You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)
When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)
For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)
[1] Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
[2] Will have a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)

Saturday I went to the Coolidge Corner Gym for the first time in 39849080 months and worked out. It's not the fanciest gym out there, but it's close by and is fairly affordable. But honestly, people should stop warning college kids about the "freshman 15" and start letting them know about the "24 year-old metabolism slow down." Actually I think my brother did warn me of that a while ago. Dammit.

The Headset/Plain Janes/Mittens/Furvis show went pretty well on Saturday, good turn out and I played some songs that the two drunk dancing girls seemed to like... There was also someone famous in the crowd that pretty much made Carl pee himself.. Apparently Juliana Hatfield really likes local musicians.. like really really likes them. Now I know it's not my place to judge, unlike when I watch television, cause those people chose to be on TV and be judged, but is it really that awesome for a 38 year old to be doin it with a 20 something year old? I mean, it's great for him, but really.. do you think she brags to her friends that she's bedding a college-age local musician? Me, Carl and Nate got into a loud discussion about it at the end of the night and yes, I admit I used a bad example,

but whatever.. my point still is: ewwwww. Why doesn't she want to date some middle-aged musician? I hear Scott Stapp might be single again soon....

I forgot to mention this last week, but Eli found this awesome website called Last.Fm. The site monitors what's being played on your itunes, so your friend in California will know that you just listened to that new Nelly Furtado track. You can check out my playlist (and make fun of it) here

WHY WHY WHY WHY?!?!?!?

So I broke my "no drinking on the weekdays" rule roughly two days after making it (well, if you count the saki with dinner on V-day, I'd broken it already). Steve, Canada and I grabbed dinner at Brown Sugar and then headed over to the Paradise to check out The Vacation show. Apparently they were running late, cause we stood in line for what seemed like forever. Luckily super-fan was there for us to observe. Canada said she has a thing for 60's influenced rock bands, he'd seen her at Brian Jonestown Massacre. She's under 21 and seems to have a mental handicap.. and she really loves her musicians. Throughout the whole show she was pacing inside and outside looking for them. It was interesting to watch.

We watched the Twenty-Twos open up, who remind me of The Catch and Veruca Salt. They always get to open up the Fenway Recording sessions at Great Scott, so I'd seen them before. They're pretty good, not earthshattering, but good. The Vacation came on next and channeled some Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop for stage presence inspiration. Between running around shirtless, beating his chest bloody and rolling around on the floor, the lead singer managed to win the crowd over. He really did look like a 10 year old boy with a moustache though.

After that we went over to Harper's Ferry (I know I know) for Group Sounds and I learned how Mark Kates gets all those great shows for the Fenway Recording sessions.. I guess people just come to him. Lucky bastard. Anyway, Group Sounds were good, poppy and energetic. The 18 year olds loved them of course.

Next, since I'd had a few drinks, I went over to the Common Ground and bounced around to some 80's songs for a while. Afterwards I stopped by GS to tell Eli to come over after work (I fell asleep of course) and grabbed a piece of pizza with Nate at Inbound. He had to point out the sodas to me. Because I'm an idiot. And because apparently that was "the drunkest he'd ever seen me." I'm gonna fall asleep now.

Now I Can Look Like A Real DJ! (sort of)

GUESS WHO'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT FINALLY CAME IN THE MAIL?


It's so nice outside that I could scream. It really pisses me off that I'm gonna spend the next three hours in the dentist chair while Edward jams metal things into my mouth.

The smell of Pu Pu Hot Pot reminds me of summer. Is that strange?

"Dude she's gained like 50 pounds"

Rachel of Visqueen posted a bulletin on myspace with a link to their latest newsletter.. which contained some delightful news! It turns out Rachel, who sings on 'That Teenage Feeling' and 'The Needle Has Landed' on Neko's new record, is going to be singing backup not only on Neko's European tour, but will also be joining her during her SXSW dates and an appearance on the Tonight Show (March 9th). On top of that, Visqueen will be playing SXSW at the Lucky Lounge on March 17th. I was a little worried after I didn't see them on the original list, but my fears have been aleviated. Bring on the Shiner!

Eli and I ate burritos last night and watch probably too much bad television (it was so good though!). My Favorite grey-haired American Idol contestant made it through, and Daniel V. will in fact be going to Olympus Fashion Week, so all is well in the world of reality TV. We also watched part of MTV's Fat Camp. In my opinion, Fat Camp looks pretty fun. All they have to to do is eat less food and then run around and swim all day. I would be happy to be stuck next to a lake all summer, but maybe that's just me. Fat kids are mean.

You're Terrible Muriel!

On America's Next Top Model (2 seasons ago), the girls went to Japan and had to do a commercial for Campbell's soup in Japanese. They kept messing up their pronounciation etc.. it was embarassing. So imagine my excitement upon realizing that the appetizer that Eli and I picked out at Mr. Sushi had a name that would no doubt make me look like a fool in ordering it.. We pressed on. When it arrived (it was called Agedashi), it was the same dish we'd ordered in Orlando over the summer. Soupy with tofu and impossible to eat, it also had a strange shredded substance, and radish, which Eli realized he shouldn't shove in his mouth like candy. I was curious as to what the shredded substance was, so I looked it up. Apparently it's some weird fish. I don't feel as bad for spitting it out on my plate now.

After dinner, we ran to my place so I could exchange the heels I'd foolishly worn for a pair of flats, and decided to do our Valetine's Day gift exchange. Along with London Calling (my music collection is crap, Eli is doing a very good job at fixing that, thank goodness), he gave me a copy of Muriel's Wedding on DVD. I know it's not really a "popular" choice for a favorite movie, and I usually hate movies in general, but seriously, I love it to bits. I don't remember how old I was when I rented it, but it directly influenced me buying ABBA Gold.

While the movie is supposed to be funny, it's actually really dark and sad, which is why I like it. I mean, how you could not love a movie about a Australian loser who's obsessed with marriage and ABBA? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Make Us Feel Like Locals

I know this is totally an old lady statement to make, but George Hunter of Catfish Haven has a set of pipes. I'd never heard their music until last night and I was half-expecting to hear a Black Keys rip-off, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Sadly, since I need 495809 hours of sleep, I had to leave early, but I left them a nice note written on a napkin and $8 for their cd.

The whole night was pleasant to be honest. There wasn't a huge turnout, but it was a nice environment for a Monday night that allowed me to play some bands/songs that I ususually don't play on Saturday nights. It also helped me realize that the mono speakers at Great Scott aren't very well equipped to handle Mason Proper's 'A Chance Encounter.' It sounded so much better in my headphones!

The Reciever opened up the show, bathed in colorful disco lights cause the sound guy couldn't figure out how to turn them off. I'd heard a few of their songs on myspace, but this gave me a better idea of what they're all about.. They actually reminded me of Jeremy Enigk, maybe not so much in instrumentation, but in Casey Cooper's vocals. I talked to them a bit after the show about their upcoming record and all that. Apparently I'm not the only one who likes to escape to Astoria. The only difference is they go there to record.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin reminded me of those nice-but-nerdy kids from your high school, if those nice-but-nerdy kids played really good pop music. It's a difficult task for a band to come off as likeable people, but all five of them managed to. Especially cause the drummer requested that Eli play Annie before they went on as their "intro music."

Today is Valentine's Day. My mom just called me to wish me a happy one and ask if I'm "buried in snow" (no) and if me and Eli are doing something "special" tonight (yes). We've got reservations at Mr. Sushi down the street from my apartment.. I've been lusting after that restaurant ever since I moved to Brookline but still haven't set foot inside it. Hopefully it does not disapoint! Afterwards we're headed over to Bill's Bar for Nate's Electronic Valentine show. Should be a good time. Hopefully there'll be a bunch of lonely people trying to hook up with each other. In the meantime, I'm gonna use the holiday as an excuse to eat red pink and white candycorn all day!

By the way, this is one of the things that comes up when you google "puppy love." My gift to you!!

Snowstorm 20062005

We had our first winter blizzard over the weekend, which blanketed the city with about a foot of snow.. As a testament to how I've become a hardened East Coaster, I really didn't think the storm was that bad. Watching the news cover the weather made it seem like we were going to get buried to death.. instead it just gave me a nice excuse to lay around reading gossip magazines and watching Tommy Boy.

Last year's blizzard was a different story (see pic.. not my pic, but you get the point). The skies unleashed a hellish three feet and we were trapped inside like burrowed animals. Ok , maybe not "trapped." I think that was the first or on of the first times Nika and I had hung out. We'd spent Friday night running around the city in high heels until 4am, then Saturday came and I realize I had no snow boots to protect me from the impending storm. I found some furry green boots at Macys just as the first flakes were starting to fall... and fall they did. Nika's car was unrecognizable by the next morning, just a white fluffy mound. Despite it all, we (along with Doug and Jason) managed to make it to the grocery store, and to a neighborhood bar. We didn't even know we had a neighborhood bar until we got lost in the wilderness of Dorchester and stumbled upon it. The bartender seemed annoyed when I ordered a peppermint schnaps and hot cocolate. Apparently she didn't know that snow calls for wintery drinks. You can see actual pictures from last year on Nika's Flickr account here, here, and here here.

This weekend I saw Supergrass, DJ'd (what happened to you Syd Butler?!) and bought a lot of groceries. Tonight I'm DJing the Catfish Haven/Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Receiver show. It'll be fun, I promise.

What Sucks Is That My ID Says I'm 25

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the ones you love. I did that last night. Actually I'm lying.. I half-used Eli as an excuse to check out Paper, a new "hipster" night that I was both confused and frightened by. Since he needed to write about it for the Phoenix, I was able to go under the guise of being a supportive girlfriend. What we ended up learning, as Eli nicely put it last night, is that there's a difference between something being cool, and something being all ages.

We got there earlyish, about 10pm, and found ourselves a safe spot at the end of the bar where we could see the stage, the dance floor and the door. It was empty at first, so I began to think that Carl's visit last week (where he said there were 450 people), was a fluke. I was wrong. It started to fill up at about 10:30 (enough time for the OC to get over and for the girls to pull on their too-short skirts and fluff their ironic haircuts), with a steady line out the door for the rest of the night. After two shitty bands (Veda and Honeyhander), the live DJ came on. We were a little relieved at that point since we were convinced that the a-holes were just going to be blasting music from their laptop playlist all night.. He started out pretty decent, better than I expected, and got people dancing.

I guess I should first explain the people that were there. See, this is a 18+ night. And apparently there's also the stipulation that you have to really really wish you lived in New York. It was almost like watching little kids play dress up. Sparkly grandma shirts topped with oversized belts, high heeled shoes, tight pants, tiny skirts.... Half the people that had wristbands must have had access to a great fake ID dealer. They also didn't realize that when you buy a drink, you're supposed to tip the bartender.

So we sat there, silenting judging, feeling old, rolling our eyes, but tolerating it all because it was amusing... And then there was the final straw. The DJ threw on Popozao. The Kevin Federline single. You've never seen two people leave a place so fast.

As I was thrusting Plan fliers into the hands of those still standing outside, one girl said "I don't know about that Great Scott place." Yeah.

Death Cab For... Beauty?

Thank god for Heather, who is better at figuring out these things..



Walla & Nick.. have you thought of a hairstylist? I'm sure you can afford a bit more than Supercuts now?

Death Cab for Grammy

I was planning on posting a picture of DCFC on the Red Carpet of the Grammys (or is it green carpet now?) but I couldn't find a photo no matter how many different ways I googled "death cab grammy red carpet." What I did find, to my delight, was pictures taken at the first Death Cab show I ever went to... November 9th, 2000. I was a college freshman and ended up falling asleep in the back with Zaneta while they played (I did make it through Kind of Like Spitting and Pedro the Lion though.) It's a nice memory.. and it's nice to look at the days when Ben Gibbard wasn't so doughy.


Jackson of Racetrack/Bellingham/KUGS/etc./etc. took the pics that I found. You can check out his band here.

More Violence-Inducing Than A Video Game

Last night Eli and I skampered down for "board game night" at Commonground.... He needed something to write about for the Phoenix and I happened to see it listed in the Metro that morning (since when do I trust anything in the Metro?). There was no cover, which was nice, with a few tables of peoples full of people and a decent selection of games. After totall winning a game of Sorry, and a few games of Connect Four, we grabbed Operation. This is where the confusion comes in.. well maybe not confusion.. but frustration.. First off, since when are they allowed to add "new ailments" to Cavity Sam? (check out the picture above to see what I mean).

Since when you can you mess with a classic game? I understand making a Shrek version.. some kids just can't connect with Cavity Sam.. but adding in "brain freeze" is not ok. Not everything is better when it's modern! What are they gonna do next, add in bird flu and have you pick out a little plasic chicken?

Another major problem with this game is that it is nearly impossible to get out the charlie horse and wishbone. I was pretty much having a fit right there in the bar... not to mention jumping every time the nose lit up and the tweezers zapped. And why are the hardest ones to get out the ones that pay the least?! OH OPERATION WHY DO YOU ANGER ME SO?!?!?!?

Eli looks exactly like one of the kids on a board game box when he pumps his fists in the air by the way.

Puppy Farm

Nate called the realty people yesterday and they said it would be alright for us to get a small dog, as long as we can take care of it and love it to bits. I admit, I already have visions of taking it on a brisk morning walk and we haven't even picked one out yet. I probably won't get much say in the picking anyway since it'll be Nate's dog.. but I've already suggested that he name it Richard.

I also suggested that we train it to poop in a litterbox, but he didn't think that was a good idea either.

with love // Jens

My favorite Swedish crooner (and #1 Swedish crush)Jens Lekman has posted mp3 versions of his sold-out EPs on his website.

You Deserve Someone Better Than A Bum Like Me (Australian tour EP)
1. I don't know if she's worth 900 kr
2. the One dollar thought
3. La strada nel bosco
4. Tammy

I killed a party again (CD-R EP)
1. REC
2. Kill a Party / Ressurect it
3. Hultsfred 98'
4. Firecracker
5. Someone to share my life with

October 2005 : Tour EP
1. Run away with me
2. How much you mean to me
3. Me on the beach
4. Jag tyckte hon sa Lönnlöv

Cool Dog

Ice cream hotdog? I say yes!

The Olympic Hopefuls Play Boston!

A few years back, when I was DJing/Music Directing at KUGS, I was sent The Olympic Hopefuls.
by Vitriol. Even though I probably spun the record a few times, I didn't take the time to properly fall in love with it until last year. And fall I did... Can you find a more perfect pop song than Let's Go? I doubt it!

Lucky for us Hopefuls fans (they've since changed their name because the Olympic commitee are a bunch of wankers), they're playing Boston.. even though they're playing local not-so-hot-spot Harper's Ferry. Apparently their new "hipster" night PAPER has been gathering big crowds, so let's hope there's more than two people in the front (Eli and I) singing along.

Here's the sorta-creepy listing:
Thu 3/2/2006 PAPER - Become a local celebrityFeaturing rock n' rollers ALOUD with indie rockers THE HOPEFULS. PAPER is for Rockers, indie kids, goths, new wavers, ravers, galmazons, coked out cheerleaders, amateur porn stars and whatevers.

That Teenage Feeling

At SXSW last year, after probably one too many Shiners, Ben Hooker and I tried to finesse our way past the line for Antony's to see Calexico's set.. Apparently Neko Case was to jump on stage with the band, and even in our drunken stupor, we knew we could not miss it. After failed attempts at the door (which I, for the first time, flashed my business card like someone might care) and finding no way to "sneak in the back way," we somehow made our way into the crowded room towards some of Ben's friends, which included Neko herself. And there, tired from too many shows and too many drinks, I met Neko Case. Perhaps I'm being dramatic, but that was probably the closest I will ever get to meeting someone who, in my mind, will some day be a musical legend. Now if only I could convince my mom that I'm right.

3-17 Austin, TX - Antone's (Billions SXSW Showcase)
3-30 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
4-06 New York, NY - Webster Hall
4-07 New York, NY - Webster Hall
4-12 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
4-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
5-27 Quincy, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch Music Festival)
6-15 Telluride, CO - Town Park (Telluride Bluegrass Festival)

We're All Going to Hell

GIANT DOLL

While looking for a picture of a creepy doll to post on someone's myspace page yesterday, I came across this little wonder:

I had no idea that germs could be so cute or that I might find such a perfect gift for Jenny. How great would it be, as a 4 year-old kid, to be able to clutch whatever symptoms you're suffering from as a nurse jabs a thermometer down your throat? Now I just need to scrounge up thirty extra dollars and an address.

If you were wondering, the Clap looks like this: and this: is HIV.