Jon Spencer News Explosion April 28, 2006
So I just found out that Jon Spencer (of JSBX and Pussy Galore fame) is from the UV! There was an article in yesterday's paper about how he's returning to actually play here in a band for the first time ever. Little known facts:
- his dad was a Dartmouth prof (in what, you ask? read the article, lazybutt)
- his older brother is the lead prosecutor in the trial of 9/11 man Zacarias Moussaoui.
His sister is the director of education at the Lebanon Art Center here in town, and has asked him to come with his new band for a fundraiser and either he owed her a big favor or he's looking forward to it, but he's playing here nonetheless! Hooray for concerts!
[link to the Valley Snooze article/interview]
In other news, Google Calendar is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
This is Bush’s new health care plan —————————> April 27, 2006
Where do I begin with this?
Well, why don’t I start with something completely different. Here’s a list of nights you will never see on American Idol:
- ska night
- Violent Femmes night
- polka night (ok so that was a gimme)
- Kelly Pickler night
I’m glad that states are beginning to realize that we need to begin impeachment proceedings against you-know-who (hint: he’s the one healing the leper in the picture). I could list all of the reasons why his breaking the law is worse than what Clinton did (or had done to him, rather), and in my recent studying of Founding Fathers, it makes me madder than before that the Constitution is treated like it’s irrelevent because it disagrees with a GOP agenda.
The amount of buddy-buddy oil company-government goings-on is ridiculous;
I hope you all not only vote your conscience this fall, but vote for the future. Here’s what’s at stake:
- your civil liberties
- the environment
- your security (and by that I mean if we continue down this awesome path of pissing off the rest of the world, we’re in for it)
- your children
- AMERICA
If you don’t, you’re just getting us into a lot of
I have seen a lot of great vanity plates around lately. Yesterday in the span of 5 minutes I saw QTP2T and my all-time favorite, -PWN3D-
Dear sons and daughters of hungry ghosts, April 19, 2006
This is awesome — a completely mobile office! Too bad I have absolute zero use for this.
This dude is hardcore metal! “Maybe the metal gods above were smiling on me and they didn't want one of their true warriors to die on them. Otherwise, I'd be up there in the kingdom of steel.”
The Wolf Parade show last night was AWESOME. They put on a real killer show — well worth the money. It was their first time to Burlington and judging from the response they got from the crowd, it doesn't look like it'll be their last. I don't know what the setlist was exactly, but they played:
- shine a light
- i'll believe in anything
- this heart's on fire
- you are a runner
- modern world
- grounds for divorce
- we built another world
- dear sons and daughters of hungry ghosts
- more, including a bunch of new stuff.
Overall, they were just a really really great band to see live. It was pretty well-attended to capacity, which is really nice to see. Plus, the crowd was just amped to see them in general. I know I was excited! That photo is from the phone, and I guess it came out okay.
The Weekly Blurb April 17, 2006
The Weekly Blurb is the greatest movie website out there today. Seriously, it is! Because every movie, no matter how bad, deserves a good blurb!
Thank you, Satellite News, for the tip!
While I’m on the subject of comix April 13, 2006
My local paper, the Valley News, has the worst comics page of all time. I'd call it the funnies pages, but there is not a single funny thing about this. The picture to the left is not an example of these comics, but rather an example of what gets run on the front page just about every day. This guy is making an example out of someone on some selectboard, as Selectboards are great ways to not run your town.
First of all, the daily paper carries one set of crappy comics while the Sunday paper carries a somewhat different set. For example, it's really a bummer when I can follow the adventures of Cathy all week long but then get denied on Sunday!? Cathy-blocked — Ack! And who determined that Beetle Bailey and Hagar the Horrible have earned the right to be in my comics all week, yet B.C. only berate and humble me on the Sabbath?
We get snivel like Sally Forth and Zits on Sundays, but thankfully we don't have to hear their whiny pseudo-teenage pseudo-complaints during the week. But against all of my wishes, I'm forced t be glued to every day's worth of For Better Or For Worse. I always wonder if this is a question that the author is asking me — and no matter what I answer, they say "nope, worse." Could there be any more depressing plot lines? And not to mention, every strip never fails to end with someone getting a cold steel rod shoved down their pants and the said person looks shocked and exasperated. (it's true, look in your daily paper. Don't get that pre-web "paper"? too bad, you'll have to take my word for it.) So, reasons that For Better or For Worse is the most depressing comic out there:
1. It takes place in Canada
2. cold steel rods in pants daily
3. I can't keep track of the characters and their seemingly real lives
So I'll be writing a letter to the Valley Snooze to get to the bottom of this comic strip mystery. Ha — comic strip mystery — what is this, Apartment 3G? That would be an improvement over Shoe!
Zippy The Pinhead on the J! April 13, 2006
I already love Zippy the Pinhead's alternate view of the universe, and this was Wednesday's strip. Oddly enough (or was it planned) — Zippy was featured in a J! answer on Wednesday. Hmm…..
not just a hobo expert, but also a musical expert April 12, 2006
John Hodgman tells us what's in his ipod. The part about children's music is great. I think he really misses hobos for some reason. I should write him a letter in hobo sign language from my mug and see if he does the same back.
Unrelated poll:
what could possibly defeat a time-traveling zombie army?
Spring Cleaning! April 10, 2006
This weekend was spent spring cleaning! That may sound boring, but there’s something great about having a weekend with beautiful weather where you can open the windows after a long (not so) cold winter and air the house out while you get rid of the piles of junk you’ve been stockpiling like a rat for the last 6 months. The rugs are vaccumed, the place re-organized and improvements are done. I know I enjoy the spring and summer so much more when you’ve been through the winter.
It’s sugar season, and if you don’t know what that means, read this. All around the area the sugar houses are cranking out the smoke and boiling the sap down in order to get that precious liquid sweet gold. I have not tasted this season’s batch yet, but I anticipate doing so real soon. There’s nothing like real maple syrup on some hot pancakes. Mmmmm!
workin hard? hardly workin! April 5, 2006
The last 2 weeks have seen me go back to the old school methods of having to bake every single night. It is not always the best, but after some time I enjoy it as you reach this zen-like period where everything you do just flows very nicely. I am back into the groove of baking and I do enjoy it as I start training a new baker next week. That, coupled with my schoolwork, keeps me very busy. I've been tidying up today and it's quite the chore. I did get my car mp3 player installed yesterday so I've also been busy with that. That should prove to be an awesomely fun thing to waste my time with. 
Not much time for anything else as I have to paint, but I'll throw out a little product plug. This winter my hands and skin were getting incredibly dry from the cold air and the dry heating method we have in the house (wood stove). It got to the point where my knuckles were cracking and bleeding — something I've never had. After a few misfires, I found one product that worked amazingly and now I keep it handy (get it? handy) at all times. It's Burt's Bees Hand Salve. Holy crap does this stuff replenish your skin. Just let it sit on there for a few minutes to dry and within days (just once a day use) your hands are amazingly better. It's better than any of that Udder Cream or whatever people steal from their cow's medicine chest. Burt's is all natural and that's a big plus. Find it at CVS or just about any drug store on the planet. This stuff works. And it smells like honey.
