The Hold Steady, Art Brut and the 1990s – 11.20.07, The 9:30 Club, Washington DC and 11.21.07, Terminal Five, NYC

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The Hold Steady, Art Brut and the 1990s – 11.20.07, The 9:30 Club, Washington DC and 11.21.07, Terminal Five, NYC

The 1990s have just completed their set and thrown their set list (written on a paper plate) into the crowd of Washington DC’s The 9:30 Club. A group of three girls directly in front of me have caught the plate and are currently giggling over their newly acquired treasure.

I’m given cause to wonder if the girls are even there to see the 1990s but rather to see the better known acts Art Brut and/or The Hold Steady instead. It is certain that for most of the audience the latter is the case.

It is no matter because the 1990s are rock solid. Singer/guitarist Jackie McKeown even manages to recover from having his fly down for the entire first song. Where many of the 1990s songs on their debut album, Cookies, sounded poppy, in their live incarnations, the songs take on a grittier, garage-rock sound. Even weaker songs like “Weed” prove to be compelling when played live. McKeown’s solo style, the centerpiece in the live rendition of “Weed”, is organic and dirty, perfectly suited to the band’s music. Drummer Michael McGaughrin’s strained backing vocals add additional richness to the songs. Frequently running out of breath, McGaughrin jokes with the audience after most every song. At one point McKeown remarks that the band must truly be a mesmerizing live act to a man directly in front of him who is talking on his cell phone. McKeown asks the man who he is talking to, and he replies “Taylor”. McKeown is sure not to forget Taylor, and when the band plays “You’re Supposed To Be My Friend”, he cleverly makes allusion to the cell-phone conversation in the lyrics. The standout song of the night, though, is “Situation”, which the band introduces as their last number. Before starting the song, they modify the statement by adding that the crowd needn’t worry because the song is a long one. Played live, “Situation” evokes an underlying darkness only hinted at on the album.

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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – The Magic Tour

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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - The Magic Tour

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – The Magic Tour: 10.5.07 & 10.6.07 Philadelphia, PA, Wachovia Center; 10.9.07 & 10.10.07 East Rutherford, NJ, Continental Airlines Arena

Tim has always been good with his money. When I got in a tight spot two years ago on my rent, Tim spotted me. The long and the short is that although I am his older brother, I cannot ever recall lending the man cash.

Ever.

Even as kids, when the legal tender was candy, Tim had a savings plan. Only once, when Tim was age five or so, did he invest unwisely. Somehow I managed to convince him that nickels were worth more than dimes because nickels were larger. It was a devious scheme, and a trade ensued as did Tim’s eventual knowledge that he’d been had. Though I can’t prove it, I’ve always suspected that this event led to Tim’s decision that he’d never let anyone outsmart him again, let alone his brother. And so Tim went to Princeton, while I opted for a life of irresponsibility, quitting jobs working for oil tanker certification companies to take other more career-tracked vocations like selling Sierra Club subscriptions door to door. Three days into the Sierra Club wildnerness I quit yet again, this time to stay gainfully unemployed for months on end. When I went to Tim for money I wondered, was I borrowing because my boss at Sierra Club had ended all his statements with the word “sweet” and had a penchant for kick-starting the morning with DJ Shadow, or was Tim finally collecting interest on the nickels and dimes debacle?

So you cannot imagine the shock I felt when Tim ran out of cash and asked me to buy tickets for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s October 9th show at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ.

Actually. I embellish. I wasn’t shocked in the slightest.

There will only ever be one time in Tim’s life when he runs out of money. These rips in the time-space-continuum will somehow always involve Bruce Springsteen. When I saw the show with Tim on October 9th, Tim had, of course, already seen Bruce on his two previous stops at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center on October 5th and October 6th.

Like any sort of fandom, being a disciple of the Church of Bruce is impossible to explain. To significant others, friends, co-workers and taxmen, you are a freak no matter how you cut it. In fact only one type of person understands. The nut in the bandana beside you who has also seen the Boss every date of the tour so far and at the rehearsal show in Asbury Park.

Of the two shows at the Continental Airlines Arena, the October 10th show was better, perhaps because we had general admission tickets that night. The standout song from the set(s) was Nebraska‘s full band and bullet-mike rave-up of “Reason To Believe.” Par for the course, the show was “magic”. And if the Boss adds more dates after the European leg of the tour, I’ve got good “Reason To Believe” that Tim may be running out of money in the New Year, too.

Click here to see photos from the show.

The Dragon Flag Board

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I’m into bodyweight strength exercises.

While this probably stems from my martial arts background, it isn’t because I believe there is some magical difference between using free or machine weights versus bodyweight. In fact, I’m going to guess that using a complete set of free weights is “better” than using bodyweight, in terms of workout input and gain output. The problem is, those aren’t the only factors.

My interest in bodyweight strength exercises solidified when I read The Naked Warrior, by Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Soviet Special Forces instructor. While the guy is may be a little nuts, he brings up some good points; gym weights, are great but, as he notes, unless you live a life with the predictability of a house plant, they won’t always be available.

What it all boils down to is a regimen of doing 2 exercises: the pistol squat and the one-armed push-up.

The results have been good, and, while one-armed push-ups can work out your abs quite a lot, I’m ready for the next level: the dragon flag

Click here for a youtube video demonstrating the dragon flag

So, here is what I’ve constructed for myself, a dragon flag board.

Dragon Flag Board

I’ve been meaning to make it for a while, but I just got a little store credit for returning a lid-less trash can to Home Depot, after using the lid to make a shield, completing a costume of King Leonidas from 300.

SPARTAAAAAA!!!!

Return policy abuse, you might suggest, but maybe someone at Home Depot should have thought of this before refusing to sell me just the lid.

Anyway, the board works by laying yourself on your back, with the bulk of the board under your torso and your head between the handles. You can then grasp the handles and it will support leg lifts and dips. And, it slides nicely under Gus Gus and Buster‘s table when I’m not using it.

I figured, with plenty of athletic experience between us, some sort of weight training post was going to come up. I’d like to hear sometime what anyone else does. Maybe Tim could give us a rundown on his hulkening sessions.

The Black Lips – 9.19.07, New York, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg

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The Black Lips

The Black Lips – 9.19.07, New York, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg

For all the legends and myths in circulation about the wild debauchery of The Black Lips’ performances, when the band played New York’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 19th, they were far more professional than their reputation would have you think. When, for instance, bassist/singer Jared Swilley’s bass broke, rather than letting the set lose momentum, the band continued to play while Swilley frantically corrected the problem. Once Swilley was back on the horse, he apologized for the technical hiccup. Granted, one might question if puking on stage is “professional”, but when guitarist/singer Cole Alexander vomited, it was ever-so-casual, the way most of us nonchalantly glance at our watches. Alexander’s mannerly barf aside, it was the crowd that was foaming and rabid.

Not only was the house teeming with girls in feathered headdresses and grown men dropping from the rafters (one almost hit Tim), but the show was covered by everyone from small time bloggers to CMJ. This is no doubt credit to the Vice media-conglomerate and hype machine. With VBS TV’s recent broadcast of the band’s misadventures in Israel, The Black Lips have the feel of the company’s house band. But the hype from Vice is warranted. The album Good Bad, Not Evil is not only The Black Lips shining moment thus far, but its Gonzo attitude, totally weird, nastily comic and politically charged nature, make it one of the best albums of the year, hands down.

And as for the live show, while the days of urinating in each other’s mouths may be behind the band in their new-found spotlight, The Black Lips put on one hell of show. As their albums have always hinted, the performance is a different beast than the record. The most mesmerizing part of the show was drummer and wild-arm, Joe Bradley. In a zone of his own, Bradley was a war-path-drum-freak, full of frantic screams, crazed “Ah-ha-ha-ha-has!” that were terrifying as hypnotic. A man possessed, Bradley alone made the concert.

Click here to see photos from the show.

Qoheleth

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Generally, on those occasions when I read something from the Bible my reaction is either, “Hmm, hmm . . . sage words,” or, “What kind of crack were these writers smoking and where can I get some?”

But I stumbled across the following yesterday while leafing through an old copy of The Magnificat given me a few years back, and was pretty impressed with the writing.

Whoever Qoheleth was he sure could paint a picture.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the evil days come
And the years approach of which you will say,
“I have no pleasure in them”;

Before the sun is darkened,
And the light, and the moon, and the stars,
While clouds return after the rain;

When the guardians of the house tremble,
And the strong men are bent,
And the grinders are idle because they are few,
And they who look to the windows grow blind;

When the doors to the street are shut,
And the sound of the mill is low;
When one waits for the chirp of a bird,
But all the daughters of song are suppressed;

And one fears heights,
And perils in the street;
When the almond tree blooms,
And the locust grows sluggish
And the caper berry is without effect,
Because man goes to his lasting home,
And mourners go about the streets;

Before the silver cord is snapped
And the golden bowl is broken,
And the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

And the broken pulley falls into the well,
And the dust returns to the earth as it once was,

And the life breath returns to the God who gave it.

“Vanity of vanities,” says Qoheleth,
“All things are vanity!”

– Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

Apparently this is also the origin of the “silvery cord” image adopted by occult literature and popular role-playing games. Who knew?

Dick’s Cinematic Tabletop RPG Combat System, 3 of 3

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Reminiscent of Infantry fight system, and to show dramatic combat with guns, is the final fight scene to the movie Equilirium (2002) by Kurt Wimmer (major spoilers for those who haven’t seen it yet).

At least 20 shots fired and not a scratch on either guy. Notice how it was harder for John Preston to point and pull a trigger than it was for him to wrist-lock the gun from his opponent? That’s because it’s more dramatic that way. Guns are more tricky to pull this off without the dissolution of viewer disbelief (like Mike’s Commando note in the last comments). Wimmer, or whoever choreographed the fights, did a good job throughout the movie.

The two weren’t exchanging blows and deducting hit points. Instead, they were deducting each others’, as I put it in the last post, easily-replenish-able statuses.

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Dumper and Señor Franco – Logline

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In this heartwarming tale of towering scientific minds, feeder mice, garbage pails and fruity booze, Princeton University’s Professor Bob Dumper switches his mind with Señor Franco, the mouse, in an attempt to win all the Nobel Prizes. Professor Dumper’s experiment is successful, but once completed he is unable to switch his and Señor Franco’s minds back. Soon Dumper’s IQ plummets while Señor Franco’s rockets to Algernonian proportions. In an ironic twist, Señor Franco goes on to win the first Nobel Prize ever for Quantum Mouse Theory, while the now mentally deficient Dumper takes to driving a garbage route in Ewing, NJ. Animousities ensue when Señor Franco starts sleeping with Dumper’s wife, Penelope Dumper. When Penelope is killed in a game of William Tell, however, Señor Franco and Dumper’s mutual loss brings them together. The two end up taking Dumper’s garbage truck to California on a wine-tasting, whoring romp.

Dumper and Señor Franco