December’s 13

A quick note in relation to the delay of this particular edition, a situation undoubtedly noted by no more (or less) than a half-dozen people. Right. So. After some time apart, I recently became reacquainted with my work ethic, which had been displaced for a series of some months. With this reunion, I was reminded that typing for money is a life’s priority and, thus, the week’s gap in this posting. With my work ethic found, I am now only on the hunt for my iPod (missing about a month) and my good sense with money (missing since birth). All this aside, onto the 13…

Radio show, International Pop Overthrow: While typing this, I’m listening to a “Murmur” special on I.P.O., based on the stone-cold-classic REM album turning 25 this year. It’s a show of such quality, that I’m stuck hovering near my desktop, the only reliable music player in the house these days. Though most shows aren’t as hyper-specialized as this excellent edition, I’m consistently impressed with the depth and breadth of host Annie Z‘s knowledge, which shouldn’t be in question, anyway, as she’s got the best job in town: RFT Music Editor. But this episode, wow. Okay, enough of my programming crush on this show. (WHOA: I’m reading a pre-recorded PSA on-air right now. Mega-meta!)

Footballer, Veded Ibisevic: The legend-in-the-making attended and played for Roosevelt High School. How great is that? I want cable and Gol TV!

Views, back porch of the home of Ann Haubrich and Art Dwyer: What a crib! What a vista! Fantastique!

Proper use of the information superhighway, Wikipedia: The Wikipedia website is very popular, especially this time of year, as students around the country desperately seek to finish term papers and semester projects. It’s also a fine site to reference when you’ve imagined – for, oh, a decade, or more – that there was a cereal called Fruity Wolf. There was not. But there was Fruit Brute. Thanks, Wikipedia!

Store, City Art Supply: Got a chance to finally ramble through this Cherokee emporium over the weekend, with Jeremy and Dana hosting an open house and the print work of Dan Zettwoch. What a great little shop. And as cool as the old Art Parts storefront was as an occasional, underground venue, it’s nicer to see the place with lights on and a total sense of purpose.

Book, “Outliers”: Ah, Malcolm. Thank you. Enjoy this interview. Or this one.

Social network site, Facebook: Though I’ve never put a single thing on the site, I’m sitting pretty at 273 friends. Of which, I’m on speaking terms with, oh, 73 of those good folks, a reasonable percentage. Complete, stalker-only antipathy = my current sociology experiment, in lieu of an ant farm.

Billiken, Osaka: On my list of St. Louis obsessions, the Billiken ranks a solid eighth, with a wintry bullet. We need one of these in Midtown. With all the junk art on the SLU campus, there’s gotta be room for the Osaka Billiken on the Frost Campus. Impressive!

Spin, Halo, Monday, December 29: Yo! I get to close the night in the Halo Bar, on the evening that Pale Divine plays a reunion show at The Pageant, with support from the Nukes. Already doing the mental inventory for the crate: Sisters of Mercy, check; Love and Rockets, check; RevCo, where’d it go? This should be something like fun.

Snack, peanuts and goji berries: Trust me, delicious. Just mix ’em up.

Number 11, open: Don’t got an 11 this month. What you know?

Pizza, The Wedge: Broke down, ate two slices and enjoyed the experience. Life’s too short to boycott good pizza.

YouTube video, “BOO BERRY MOVIE: The Petition for BOO BERRY”: Not sure, but this Ken Siwek mash-up could be genius.

Drums

There are those odd days. You wake up without any grand intentions, per se, but they turn into sorta transformative, or transitional slices of time. You have a distinct notion that the currents of your life have changed, in some small sense.

About an hour ago, I sold my drum set.

This will probably mean little to most, but I’d had this now-departed Pearl set since the late ’80s, having bought it at the old Tower Grove Music, after visiting the store multiple times and staring at the shiny, black kit. It was stored about 12-feet off the ground, high above the packed store’s on-floor inventory and it wasn’t until I bought the five-piece, fiberglass set that I actually got to slap some sticks onto the brand-new heads. I loved those drums, back then, and they served me well. A better kit than I, a hack player, deserved.

One semi-serious and several not-at-all-serious bands later, the drums became a sort of albatross. Years would pass without play. One rack tom was lost in a storage shed. Little bits began to disappear. On the kick, a rust ring began to appear. They were hauled from house-to-house, basement-to-basement, on a two-decade odyssey through Webster and South City. The most use they got was during the holiday shows of the Dave Drebes Players, when they’d be carted up the block for the DDP’s revolving set of drummers to play.

Now, they’ll sit in Typewriter Tim’s basement, there for his band- and jam-mates to use, allowing them to not haul their own kits over. Actually, they’ll sit there, sure, but they’ll also be played. Something they haven’t been in a proverbial month of Sundays.

Good for them, I wish ’em well.

(Multi-)spins

This is going to be a fun week, have that feeling.

Today: The standby of “Silver Tray,” noon – p.m.. I remember hearing that Kopper left the “Wayback Machine,” in part, because he was tired of spending three- or four-hours a week planning the show. Thought that wouldn’t befall me (a naturally lazy person), as I had enough backlogged music to play that it wouldn’t ever be a problem to roll in a just hit play. Turns out that the radio game is really a fair bit different than spinning clubs, which I knew, but didn’t know know, you know? Anyway, spent about two-and-a-half hours planning the show last night. Hope that translates.

(Update: Saturday, November 23 @ Royale. Late fill-in set. ‘S gonna be a good one.)

Thursday, Thanksgiving I: Filling in for Doug Morgan on the “Record Sto’,” from 2 – 4 p.m. Plan the first of a two-day marathon of STL rock, from the ’70s-today. If you happen to have been playing around town during that time and think I may not have a release of yours, lemme know, yo.

Thursday, Thanksgiving II: Here’s a changeup, as I get to fill in for the “Literature for the Halibut” crew, from 7 – 8 p.m. This one, I’ve mildly planning for at least two weeks, a process that would be aided considerably by my iPod turning up. Do you know where my iPod is hiding?

Friday, November 28 I: “Silver Tray” at noon. Day two of STL rock blocks. Some neat things are being unearthed as I type. Thanks Joe and Chris, among others.

Friday, November 28 II: The Rock’n’Roll Craft Show’s taking place this year at the Third Degree Glass Factory and I’m apparently trading cuts during the afternoon with none other than Steven Smith. (The Royale owner; not the gas station owner, or the motorcycle museum owner, or Deandre Latimore‘s promoter.)

Friday, November 28 III: Spinning at the aforementioned Royale, on what happens to be the busiest bar night of the year. To quote a friend: what fortune!

Let’s go record shopping!

Friday Flickr

A pic of mine is on the St. Louis Magazine “The Editor’s Room” blog. This seems apt to note for two reasons: 1) shameless self-promotion; and 2) the reminder to pick up any of the multiple cameras I’ve bought, thinking that each would be the stimulus to taking more photos. Alas.

Here’s it.

KA : 11/13/08 : Post # 314!

Mentioned this below, but we’ll mention it again, to be safe.

The Kick Ass Awards (or are they the Kick-Ass Awards? we’ve never been sure, ourselves) take place this coming Thursday, November 13, with an event at the wacky-and-wunnerful Joe’s Cafe.

There’s info at this here blog: www.kickassawards.blogspot.com.

Andrea, Stefene and I would hate to be all by ourselves, alone with just our 13 swell winners. Drop by and join us!