I was there.

A friend passed along the note that Nat Hentoff has been dismissed from his longtime post at the Village Voice, a move that had initially eluded me. The note pointed to Hentoff’s last column for the Voice, which is very much in the man’s style.

A few months back, when Amanda Doyle and I shifted The Wire radio show into what’s now her solo joint, Topic A, we had Hentoff on as one of our first guests. As we expected, he was interesting and provocative and not a little bit prickly. It was a satisfying (but not exactly fun) way to spend a half-hour of conversation, especially after some early phone woes were cleared.

That conversation’s rolled around my head this week for a couple reasons. Hentoff’s depature keyed it. My media writing classes at Webster are back, with the first two weeks given over to the simple art/craft of the interview. And I’m thinking about a project that would satisfy the yen to talk to some folks that would otherwise not give me the time of day. (More on that in due time/short order.)

My question to you, my five readers: if given the chance to talk to anybody, on any topic, with the web the source of interview dissemination, who would you talk to?

I’ve gotten the chance to visit with Nick Hornby and John Waters and Henry Rollins and Crispin Glover and Lee Ranaldo and Bruce Arena and Butch “Eddie Munster” Patrick and a bunch of other white guys, plus a bunch of other folks who aren’t guys or white. So they’re off my list, for this exercise.

And if I were answering the question, it’d probably be Parker Posey. Well, it would be.

Three thoughts:

1. Does anyone need a crib? Which is to say, does anyone need a rental home, in the up-and-coming Tower Grove East neighborhood? Because I happen to know of one, just next door to me, with immediate occupancy and delightful neighbors. Drop a line for details, if’n you know of such a person/such people.

2. I need a mailbox. Don’t know what happened to the old one. Could’ve been anything. Wild dogs, for example. But I need a new one, that’s for sure. Considering that December was filled with 16 different local arts’n’crafts fairs, I have to imagine that someone locally is doing the punk-rock-inspired-indie-crafty-type of mailbox, yes? Anyone?

3. Need a vintage lamp repaired. Recommendations sought.

Ooh, this is a classic post! Mundane, thy name is…

I’d like to thank Roy Kasten for the hook-up.

Though the Sky Drops have only been in my life for the past, oh, five hours, I can tell that it’s going to be a long-term thing.

Any group that can take me to London, circa 1993, in the space of seconds… well, that’s a band for me.

If there’s anything I love, it’s a project that not only costs you time, it costs you money. Maybe a bit of sanity. And, in all likelihood, you won’t ever be able to fully complete it. That’s the stuff of which life is made!

Here’s one that I came across in just the last few minutes, and it speaks to distinctly to not only the collectors among us, but those who are tempted to take on the silly-slash-impossible:

http://www.83f.blogspot.com/

It involves baseball cards, the recapturing of youth and challenge, challenge, challenge.

(And this is post #333 here. Symbolic? Hyperbolic? Half-demonic?)

There’s more info on this elsewhere on the web, but I’ll note that the Indie Rock Swap Meet will be held at the Tap Room this Friday, January 9, from 7 – 9 p.m. While co-curator/deejay Chris King claims to not have much to actually offer in the affair, I can officially say that much of my basement will be there for the taking on Friday night. In fact, for much of this stuff, I’m not even looking for anything in return; just take the discs and run. Please!

Available for perusal:

* The entire, three-issue run of the late “Silver Tray” fanzine, which I published, gosh, in the late ’90s, or so. Articles by-and-about bands like the Unconscious, Corporate Humour, Stranded Lads, the Eyes, etc.

* A boxload of local CDs from local acts, mostly in the mid-to-late ’90s vein, including several compilations and countless one-offs, singles and odds’n’sods studio projects. It’s quite a ridiculous batch of stuff, in total, from Wayne Shorter to Sammy and the Snowmonkeys. While I confess to cherry-picking the collection just now – oh, there’s that Tribes with Knives CD! and if that Pyschviolet CD didn’t just show up! – there’s still a wealth of weirdness to pour over.

The Lettuceheads play at 9 p.m., as well, the first of three acts on the bill that night. You can sample some Lettuceheads music here and here.

Welcome to a seriously first-person, self-reflexive version of this mess. Apologia! And onward.

UE, Cementland: Unquestionably the worst-kept secret in local UE circles, Cementland is a delightful place to spend the day. Summer. Winter. No matter, it’s always got something to recommend the journey, even when the mud’s up to your knees. Quality UE run, for sure. And did you know it was featured by the New York Times? (Photo by Carrie Z.)

Restaurant, Revival: The place isn’t far from home, the prices are reasonable, the vibe is laid-back, the servers are either unpretentious or personal friends (or both), and the food is… well, the food is amazing. I’ve never had less than an excellent meal at Revival. And, yet, I somehow go there only walk-in every six-to-eight weeks. Peculiar. If only I had some type of artificial reference point to use to stimulate myself to visit more. You know, like a calendar change. Because that fried okra is not to be missed. (By the way, if you sign up for the Revival e-mail newsletter, you get a 20% off discount to Cyrano’s and Boogaloo, as well as Revival. I am obviously fired up about this restaurant.)

Book, “Population: 485“: You ever picked up a book, simply because it was sitting in an unexpected place, clearly there for the grabbing? And, then, it turned out to be a really quality choice, about small-town life in rural Wisconsin? Yeah, me too! Excellent read.

Holistic healing, New Life Therapy Clinic: So, a while back, a good friend suggested that I visit Dr. Thomas Duckworth, a practitioner of traditional Japanese medicine, figuring that he could help me out with some health concerns. I’ll say that his acupuncture treatments have been a real joy, though I’m someone who enjoys the immediate effects of having needles pinned into me for a 20-minute stretch. In fact, I’ve started up a blog for the clinic and can say that anyone within a reasonable drive of the West County offices of NLTC would benefit from the services offered.

Films, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains” and “Jubilee“: In my personal history of Netflix use (and abuse, in this case), I can’t recall seeing a less-satisfying piece of cinema than “Jubilee.” Don’t be pulled in, people! Then again, I hated “A Clockwork Orange.” So, you might even like this one. As for the “… Stains,” a dated and a goofy romp through punk rock teen angst at the start of the era. Not bad, not worth a repeat view. And, hey, Diane Lane was awfully young to be doing nude scenes. Yikes.

Lame, New Year’s Eve: At 11:34 on the blessed night, I realized that I was reading a Naomi Klein book (the brilliant downer “No Logo“) and listening to Morrissey (the brilliant downer “Ringleader of the Tormentors”). With a quick trip to a neighbor’s the only form of social interaction, this one enters the Weak NYE list at a modest #8, at worst.

Soccer, springtime!: Last season the STL UFC team started kicking around in late February, the last Sunday of that month, if not mistaken. Which would be a touch less than two months away. Yoinks!

New DJ gig, The Wedge: Starts, like, tonight. And, in theory, continues on the first Fridays of the month from here. We’ll see. What do the Southsiders wanna hear, you think?

Band, Gang Gang Dance: Always late to the party, but glad to be there, just the same. Delightful stuff and thoroughly unclassifiable, though I’m sure some try (and even get close).

TV show, “Lost”: Did a comprehensive job of not knowing anything about this show, past the fact that it involved people on an island, being terrorized by various-and-sundry thing. Managed this through four seasons of the show, successfully blocking out all media messages about the show. Maybe it was the fact that a student wrote about becoming, er, lost in the show during a recent, week-long marathon with the DVDs, but I cracked on New Year’s Day and am now deeply worried about spending huge chunks of the next month immersed in the show. Only four episodes in and I’m hooked. Had to happen eventually, I suppose. But please, friends, don’t give me any more boxed sets of quality TV for the next li’l while.

Quote, from Chuck Klosterman’s “Killing Yourself to Live”: If any minions of Klosterman come across this, please send me a note to remove, if it’s too much in violation of copyright laws. Just don’t sue me. But this chose graf had to be shared. “When you start thinking about what your life was like 10 years ago – and not in general terms, but in highly specific detail – it’s disturbing to realize how certain elements of your being are completely dead. They die long before you do. It’s astonishing to consider all the things from your past that used to happen all the time but (a) never happen anymore, and (b) never even cross your mind. It’s almost like those things didn’t happen. Or maybe it seems like they just happened to someone else. To someone you don’t really know. To someone you just hung out with for one night, and now you can’t even remember her name.”

Radio, The Foxhole: The Kick Ass Award winning radio program, The Foxhole, is no more! The Team 1380 winner, about sports and general oddness, has moved on to programming heaven, as detailed in today’s Post. Luckily, refugess Mo Drummond (on now) and Marti

n Kilcoyne (coming in the spring) will be reunited on the airwaves of 590 The Fan, in just a few months. My listening time between 10 a.m.-noon has opened wide, wide up.

Generation X, an update: A most-amusing read from Salon’s Heather Havrilesky.

And with that… Happy New Year, etc.

DJ and radio updates, yes. So many important messages to spread.

Thursday, December 25: A Christmas present for me, this one, as I get to spin a night’s set with Jim Utz. As J is still a vinyl purist, I’m breaking out only the platters for this one. Who wants to drink on my tab?

Friday, December 27: With the Pale Divine show coming up at the Pageant, I’ll be joined in-studio during Silver Tray by PD/Eyes frontman Michael Schaerer, who’ll be performing some cuts live. This all came together in about five-minutes last night. (Update: got motivated enough to write this up at KDHX’s blog. Clickey.)

Monday, December 29: The gig I’ve discussed here continually of late is back “on,” as I’ll be spinning records at the Halo after: the Nukes, Pale Divine and, then, The Follow in the Halo Bar. Would imagine I’ll start sometime on Tuesday morning, which is a treat, indeed, on a school night. For some reason, I recall the name of The Follow, but cannot place a tune. Soon enough, I suppose, I shall.

Friday, January 2: Silver Tray at noon, with a no-nostalgia-themed show. And, then, at night, a chance to spin at The Wedge. Thanks, Tyson B. Looking at a first Fridays thing there, so no better time to start than in January. Nice.

Friday, January 9: Silver Tray at noon, then… before the Lettucheads play their pitch-perfect pop at the Tap Room, Chris King and I will be playing old-fashioned cassette tapes on a boombox, while presiding over a dead rock band swap meet at Schafly’s home branch. He’s blogged about this extensively and I’ll defer to his notes on the event.

And lastly, a New York Twitter pal noted this about Silver Tray’s most recent episode: “is the musical equivalent of smoking in the rain on your porch.” I think that’s a compliment. And, even if not, I like it and wish to trademark it.