A Live One

Well, it's the last day of NaBloPoMo and I can't say I'm not glad. There were a ton of things that I wanted to write about and never got around to: Bob Dylan's new album, The Libertines, London slang, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, the "Christmas #1" phenomenon, why my posts have the names they do...the list goes on.

I think in retrospect that NaNoWriMo might have been better for me. I'm not sure that I would have been able to write 50,000 words, but I would have written a lot and I would have done a lot less agonizing on a daily basis. Having to post every day means making your words public (not just a word count). There were days (like tonight, frankly) where I simply didn't have time. There were days (and you've read them) where I simply didn't have anything to say. And there were days where I simply couldn't get the words right...but I had to put them out there anyway. I don't write like that. I don't want to write like that. NaNoWriMo would have made me write, but kept the bad stuff private until I was ready to re do it or to pitch it or to post it.

So tomorrow we're off for a secret long weekend. If you think hard enough about it, you'll figure out where we are. I might post about it when we get back and I might not. I will post, however. I'll do my best to find some happy medium between a post a month and a post a day.

And I might actually start that novel, too.

Posted by jmakunas at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry...nothing new to report. Meme-ing again:

1. Take the quiz: What was your Thanksgiving horoscope?

Aquarius: You're the sign most likely to do your own wacky thing for Thanksgiving - like skydiving in a Turkey costume.

Your signature dish: Tofurky (tofu "turkey")

Your signature dessert: A cocktail

This holiday: Give in to all your freaky ideas. Buck tradition!

2. Did you have either of those two dishes on your Thanksgiving table? Of the two, which would have been your choice? Cocktails, of course. Kir Royales beforehand and Port afterwards. Does Port count as a cocktail?

3. Which single food do you blame most for your weight gain? Wine. Next question?

4. Take the quiz: How thankful are you?

***You Are 66% Thankful***
You are a very thankful person - for both the big and little things in life.
Your optimism is powerful. Getting through hard times is fairly easy for you.

Really? Hmmm. Interesting.

5. Which are you more thankful for: your family, your friends, your career or your possessions? I am always thankful for my family, but this year I was most thankful for my friends because I actually HAVE some that came to Thanksgiving. After a year of missing our friends in California, I sincerely toasted having people to - well - toast with this year.

6. Did you do any shopping at all on "Black Friday?" I was working. Went shopping yesterday, tho.

Posted by jmakunas at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jo is here from the States this week and - bless her - she's brought me presents. Most of the presents are things that I've ordered from Amazon or such and had shipped to her, including the DVD and soundtrack for TLG's "Rock and Roll Band," the concert film that Justin Kreutzmann made of the boys at the Fox Theater in Boulder earlier this year.

I have been waiting for this set for a while and I can say unequivocally that it's worth the wait. But not for the reasons I thought it would be, however. The music is excellent - it's as good a show as anything I've heard them play this year, the jams are interesting and the songs are strong. Trevor and Josh are both becoming more refined, picking their moments and playing to their strengths. Ben's equally more creative and expressive, stamping around the stage like a fool in love with the groove. And Scotty is Scotty...understated and lovin' it (though I did think he got ahead of himself in places). The CD sounds wonderful, too. It's always great to get a CD-quality soundboard recording, especially when the show behind it is so good. And there's a Jezebel, which is always always welcome.

The DVD...well...Justin's dad may be a genius, but the DVD leaves a lot to be desired. It's a solid concert movie: the band's only demand was that the DVD leave the full jams intact - no cutting in and out just when the music's going somewhere - and that makes for a satisfying listening experience. But sadly, while there's so much exploration in the music the exploration of what makes TLG tick is stunningly anemic.

I've never ever thought that these guys don't have a lot to say - I wouldn't be listening to them if that were the case. I guarantee you that's why I woke up the morning after the first show of theirs I saw - a disastrous night for reasons I won't go into here - humming their music despite having left the concert early. What they're writing and singing about may not be the most original concepts but how they express them is certainly unique. Trevor has a way with words and with lyrics that he himself admits is born out of immersion in the "old" San Francisco sound: Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, the Dead, etc. etc. Josh admits that he's "a pretty big fan of the psychedelic jam." Scotty chokes up a bit explaining what headlining the Fillmore meant to them. Ben grooves his way down Haight St. with just the right amount of respect and goofy self-awareness. They have a lot of thoughts collectively on what makes music such a vital part of San Francisco and there's a lot to be said about what makes them such a vital part of San Francisco music...but Kreutzmann allows them to say very little and says nothing else himself.

Maybe he's trying to strip it back and let the audience draw their own conclusions, but I think it just feels unfinished. I've done a lot of thinking about the "new San Francisco sound" this year and I think there's really something there - something interesting and true and worth exploring. And I thought this would be a great vehicle in which to explore it. When the son of the drummer for the Grateful Dead makes a concert film about a young San Francisco band just starting to come into their own you expect great things from both the band and the filmmaker. I'm still just as impressed with the band as I ever was, but the filmmaker leaves me cold.

I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who wants to hear truly excellent music. But put the DVD on in the background and just listen to the music. Go to a show if you want to see for yourself what TLG really has to say.

Posted by jmakunas at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been doing a bit of exploring British music to try and figure out why everyone's so obsessed with it, and why they're so obsessed with bands that no one else in the world has ever seemed to have heard of. Why is Pete Doherty such a "legend?" What is NME? Who the heck is Jools Holland? Where did Top of the Pops go? Why does everyone listen to the same thing? At the same time? And why oh why oh why do people like Jarvis Cocker and Oasis and Morrisey and Kate Bush still hold such mythical status?

Part of my exploration has involved picking a few really popular bands and buying their albums to try to figure out why they're so damn popular. So far, so good, actually. (I did some selective picking...sorry, but I'm never going to like McFly, no matter what.)

One of the nicest surprises has been Lily Allen - the teenage wunderkind that was this summer's hottest of the hot. The Observer Music Mag (really a wonderful publication...shockingly unpretentious and democratic writing, if a bit indulgent of wankers like the aforementioned Jarvis Cocker) "broke" Lily Allen last summer after she'd been discovered through her MySpace page. She's the daughter of an old English TV star or something or other and has lived somewhat of a vagabond life and is now currently settled on music, producing a weird hybrid of reggae and pop that's somewhat chavvy and totally addictive.

She was EVERYWHERE this summer and I was determined not to like her precisely because she was everywhere. I hate the flavor of the moment just on principle. But I saw one of her videos on Yahoo! Music one day and it was good. Not just good, REALLY good. Funny and silly with great lyrics and a totally infectious hook. Everything that good pop should be. So I bought the album and I love it. Sad to say, but the hype was right on...she sounds like what Liz Phair would have sounded like if Exile in Guyville was made 15 years later. She's equally wise and dirty and vulnerable and tough and I haven't heard a grrrl as authentic since - well - Liz Phair. Totally worth my time. Totally worth yours.

Does this mean I'm going to have to listen to Keane, Kasabian, and The Magic Numbers now?

Posted by jmakunas at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We did have a lovely Thanksgiving last night, but we're paying for it today...I wasn't kidding when I said that the party broke up after 2am. The bottle count this morning was 11.5...including a bottle of port. That's just shy of two bottles a person, which is just wrong. It was good wine, though. This is what happens when you have two decanters, one on each side of the table.

The final menu was as follows:
- Curried pumpkin seeds, marinated olives, a cheese plate, and melon and prosciutto for appetizers (D and N brought the melon. Was GOOD melon, too. Must eat more melon.)
- Kir royales, champagne, and beaujolais nouveau with the apps
- Fennel and grapefruit salad to start (our own recipe, almost perfect but not quite there yet)
- Turkey
- Ham cooked in Coca-cola, which sadly fell apart and was more brisket than sliceable ham. But it was REALLY tasty.
- Cornbread, pecan, cranberry, sausage stuffing
- Mashed potatoes
- Garlicky green beens
- Butternut squash and creamed spinach gratin
- Cranberry sauce
- Sour cream herb muffins
- Gravy! (a personal triumph)
- Pumpkin pie
- Pecan pie
- Apple-cranberry crumble
- Lots and lots and lots of wine. And then some more wine. And then some espresso, and then some more wine.

It was a lovely evening, relaxed and casual with good friends and good food and good conversation. Lots of leftovers, and everyone went home with food, too, though I barely remember who I gave what to. I barely remember anything after Midnight, but I do remember having the presence of mind to spot bleach and throw the tablecloth in the washer. Heh. I love Thanksgiving.

Photographic proof below.

Posted by jmakunas at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanksgiving is still going on...go away!

Posted by jmakunas at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cranberry sauce has been made. Stuffing (cornbread, pecan, sausage, and cranberry) has been made. Pecan pie is in the oven (no overflows yet...). Once the pecan pie is out, I'll put the curried pumpkin seeds in. I just cannot bring myself to prepare the squash gratin yet, I'll do it tomorrow.

Turkey and ham are sitting out on the porch. We have a LOT of wine.

The bathroom is clean, and Mike's almost dead from the fumes.

The house smells like an odd mixture of sage, brown sugar, and Dettol with bleach.

Thanksgiving! Woo!

Posted by jmakunas at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Despite not having a day (or two) off of work and it not feeling a whole hell of a lot like Thanksgiving over here (we'll do our best to make up for it on Saturday), we started out the day with something wonderful to be thankful for, as we learned that our dear friends (and sole blog readers) JQ and LQ had their baby boy on Monday.

Little Wilson (King of Rockridge!) looks happy and healthy, if slightly puzzled as to what the heck he's doing in the great big wide world. No worries, little dude, you've got some awesome parents. We can't wait to meet you.

Big love to the Qs and many kisses to MiniQ. We were singing his theme song loud and proud this morning.

Posted by jmakunas at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love Thanksgiving, I just wish I had more time off this year to really do it. No such thing in Britain, so I'm in the middle of planning and executing a dinner for 6 - and maybe 10 - while working non stop. This involves 5 separate food markets, new table linens, potentially new chairs, flowers, 3 days of cooking, and an entire scrub of the house. We're 60% there on most of it, but 0% on the food (the shopping has just begun, and I get up early tomorrow to make cornbread).

Updates will be short, but hopefully the food porn will be good.

Posted by jmakunas at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Work's been busy enough lately that I haven't had an extended period of time to sit at my desk with my headphones and really knock something out. It's less the extended periods at my desk and more the headphone aspect that I'm missing. I learned long ago that the only thing that can ever truly trump a terrible day at work - or anywhere really - is my music...preferably some nice long jammy funky show of some sort, maybe even one that I attended that will prompt some good memories, and even more preferably something Phish.

Every once in a while I'll download a particularly great new show or I'll rediscover an under-appreciated gem on my iPod. That's the BEST. There is nothing like having to actually stop working because you're so compelled to listen to what's coming over the headphones. Usually while working the work is more important. As it - ahem - should be. But when I find myself completely zoned out, focusing blankly at my keyboard thinking "Damn...how do they do that?/I've forgotten how got that was/Geez, Trey could you just shut up about the olive loaf and get back to Harpua already?" then suddenly I'm having a really good day.

I had one of those today. I've been listening through the 7/15/98 Portland Meadows show off of Live Phish lately and there are points in that show that leave me completely incapacitated. I pulled it out again after reading a terrific interview with Trey where he talks about suddenly hearing the Tweezer > California Love > Tweezer combo while driving carpool for his daughters and some friends. The hopeful nature of his comments (he says "we stopped the car and they got out and I started listening sort of without prejudice, and it was that jam from the California gig. It's got that 'California, knows how to party,' and it was really good, just so gentle, and I could hear what everybody was playing. It was a really great experience. I called Mike and I called Fish and Page and talked to them about it.") led me to want to hear it again. And it IS that good - super creative, loose, relaxed, funky - everything that's good about Tweezer when Tweezer's good...and everything that was particularly good about them at that time in their career.

And the whole show is like that, and somehow it's been such a long time since I gave it any time that I had completely forgotten and the experience of re-listening to it was truly awesome. Does Phish still matter? My good God, YES. Yes they do.

The show is one of the very best examples of what made Phish so very special in the first place. They're relaxed and chatty; joking with the audience like it was a small club show but playing as if it were Madison Square Garden. They're testing out some new stuff - Roggae, LxL, and Birds (which gets an especially rockin' jam for such a new song) - while still playing the shit out of the old chestnuts (see above re: Tweezer). When I had originally listened to the show it was when it was released as one of Mike's Picks, and I was listening for the bass. You can tell why Mike loves it - it's every bit as transcendent as he makes it sound. And the recording is incredible - I can't recall another one where Page is mixed so well (and so incredibly ON, taboot). They sound like nothing you've ever heard - and the amazing thing is that wasn't unusual for them.

The best part, though, might possibly be the filler track: Bathtub Gin from 7/29/98...arguably the best Gin ever. I think I listened to it 3 times today.

No wonder it took me until 7pm to actually finish my work.

Posted by jmakunas at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nothing that interesting going on again, so I started searching for a meme to do. Man, there are a LOT of people with a LOT of time on their hands out there. Blogs upon blogs upon blogs of people who ask other people questions...eeesh. I went through about 20 before I found one sufficiently random enough to want to do. Sorry. Here you go:

1. When a bill arrives in the mail, what do you do with it: pay it immediately, hold it with others and pay at once, or put it off until the last possible minute?

Well...we don't really get bills in the mail anymore. Most are paid by direct deposit. The bills for things like American credit cards and such are sent to my parents who aggregate and send me a bunch of crap every month, so by the time I get them it's too late. I have to remember to pay bills that aren't automatic online. Usually I'm pretty good about it.

2. Which actor makes the best James Bond?

Connery. Bar none.

3. Of the foods you enjoy, which one are you least likely to try cooking yourself?

Pad Thai, my favorite food in the world. It's so complex that there's just no reason for me to even try to make it. It's also very cheap, and there's wonderful takeout right down the road. Mmmm...pad thai.

4. Take the quiz: What does your birth month reveal about you?

Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very Stubborn and money cautious.

5. Of the results you just got, which one seems the farthest from the "real" you?

"Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved." Um, no. Hardly quiet. I am at my most - ahem - dynamic when I'm excited or tense, though. I'm reserved in that there are only a few people who really "get" me - my parents, my brother, my husband, and a few close friends. I'm not hard-hearted either. The rest is pretty right on, though.

6. Will you see your extended family on Thanksgiving Day this year?

Nope. But that's OK. Lots of friends and lots of wine.

Posted by jmakunas at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the past few months there's been a number of people who have moved with my company from the States to London, much as M and I did 16-odd months ago. In a lovely twist, two of them happen to be in my business unit and one is a good friend from the States and I'm sincerely and selfishly ecstatic to have him in London. The other is an equally nice fellow and last night he and his wife hosted an ex-pat cocktail party for other Americans in London. M and I haven't done much expat socializing because we kind of don't believe in it...we didn't move to London to be surrounded by Americans and I've heard the expat community here can be really obnoxious. However, cocktails last night were truly lovely - we met some nice new people and got to spend some more time with this other chap from work and his wife both of whom we like a lot. In fact, we've invited them for Thanksgiving (along with some friends of theirs who might be in town), and I really REALLY hope they come as a full house is what Thanksgiving's all about.

Anyway, many of the people at this party last night had moved to London from San Francisco or Northern California and it was somewhat gratifying to hear that all of them have had similar experiences to our own. You often hear expats say "I came for 2 years originally but I've been here for 9" or something equally shocking. The assumption is often that nowhere could be as glamorous or as captivating as London and why on EARTH would you want to go back to 10 days holiday/George Bush/crowded freeways/land of excess? However, every single person in that room last night from California was as homesick as we've been. They were all happy with their choices to move, but there wasn't a person there who wasn't planning on moving back to San Francisco.

It was somewhat of a revelation, frankly. San Francisco is our home and we love it more than anywhere in the entire world. When we moved we said that the best thing that could happen would be for us to fall in love with London more than San Francisco...and if we didn't (which we haven't) it would be fine. I guess I just didn't realize how much pull the city really has on us or how much love we have for it in return. I saw a picture of SF on television last spring and started spontaneously crying...that hasn't happened since, but I can't say I don't feel a tug on my heart each and every time I see something that reminds me of home. I thought that was normal, but maybe it's not...maybe San Francisco does have something special that we're lucky to be a part of and that's making our time over here - while valuable and amazing - harder than it would be if we'd come from Omaha. Or maybe we just really miss the burritos. And the Sierra.

All I know is that I've been feeling annoyed that I have to fly to SF in December for work for a week, getting back to London about 10 days before we have to fly BACK for the holidays. After last night I can't wait for it. Twelve-hour flights aside, I can't wait to kiss my friends, grab a bite, and get just a little bit more time at home.

Posted by jmakunas at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry. Too busy to post. Planning Thanksgiving Dinner.

Why yes, that is an Excel sheet above. How else do you plan your dinners?

Or know what grocery store stocks what, if you have enough cooking and serving dishes, and whether or not you actually have time to make everything?

What???

Posted by jmakunas at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So it was a good night last night. I did my first truly planned pub crawl in London (we've done pub crawls, but not with a map and stuff, yo). My goal for the evening was a.) not to stagger at any point, b.) not to mix drinks dangerously, and c.) not drink any of the crappy cheap red wine they serve in 99% of British pubs that inevitably results in a splitting hangover. I am proud to say that I accomplished all of the above.

We started at De Hems, which is probably one of the coolest bars I've been to in London. Maybe that's because it's modeled after a bar in Holland. Seriously though, great beer on draught, lots of energy, and when I turned up after acupuncture there were LOTS of people there for our little escapade. We were there for a bit (long enough for a pint of Leffe Blonde) and then went on to the pretentiously named LVPO for another bit. At some point someone bought a round of Sol beer. I will never for the life of me understand the fascination with this beer. Corona can't be THAT much more expensive, right?

At LVPO, my friend F and I started making noises about getting food. Turns out both of our significant others have refused to put us to bed ever again after a night out without dinner. And since we know they mean it, we started whining at our ringmaster about dinner. Which prompted someone to - as predicted - stick a bag of French Fries in my face. I think the entire neighborhood of SoHo heard me shout "French! Fries! are! not! dinner!" Also? They're disgusting. Hula Hoops are MUCH better. (Note: A cry of "Still hungry" got me a pack of Salt and Vinegar flavored French Fries.)

We didn't stay at the next place - The Pillars of Hercules - long. Or at least F and I didn't. After one drink we discovered that our ringleader had disappeared...a quick call to his mobile determined that - gasp! - he was off buying kebabs (Britain's answer to greasy pizza) and would meet us at the next bar. F and I beat him there then spent 5 minutes fighting about how no, we didn't think this nice cocktail bar would be too happy if ten of us sauntered in and opened up kebab takeaway in their establishment. Which meant we ate our kebabs on the street. 'Cause we're classy like that.

We ended up not at Freud's (the aforementioned home of cocktails in pint glasses, and one of the main reasons I ended up in London...too many cocktails in pint glasses will make a girl agree to anything) but at a sweet little place called the Old Crown, where I had just had lunch on Wednesday. This is one of the few bars in London that serves wine in proper glasses which earns it a little place in my heart forever. It also has a lovely organic menu, a really nice bar staff, and what I've dubbed the "party toilet" - two commodes in one stall in the girls' room. Because you know girls are going to share a stall anyway, why not make it easier?

We managed to score the entire room upstairs and tried (unsucessfully) to get the staff to send up drinks through the dumbwaiter. They had really lovely drinks there, actually. Something with gin and black raspberries and something else? Mmmm. At some point F realized she'd left her purse somewhere, so we went on a reverse crawl to find it (luckily at the PoH...and not all the way back at the beginning...). At some other point there was an ice fight (boys). There was some good natured yelling, boob grabbing (not mine. Ahem.), more drinks, and at some point someone actually left to go take a conference call with the States (at 11pm. No I kid you not.). And there was lots and lots and lots of laughing. I made it home easily in one piece and don't actually feel rotten today. No barf, no fines, no staggering, no fighting, just friends and laughing and a nasty kebab on Shaftesbury Ave.

Yep, it was a very good night.

Posted by jmakunas at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Judging from my experience, I’m going to be in no shape to post when I get home tonight, as I’m just about to be off to a joint leaving do and birthday party and I know it’s going to be insane. British “dos” are like nothing I’ve ever experienced in the States. Sure, we went on jags every once in a while, but they would usually be from bar to bar, peppered with appetizers, dinner, perhaps a stop at someone’s house, and it didn’t usually get sloppy until 2am when we’d inevitably be ensconced under the stalactites at NocNoc downing as many sake shots as we can stomach before last call.

But in Britain, where most pubs close at 11pm, nights out are much rougher, much more concentrated, and much more dangerous. First of all, no one bothers with dinner. Dinner is for wusses. Inevitably, at some point, someone will suggest dinner but that will lose out to the need for the next round and someone will bring back a few bags of crisps or Twiglets or peanuts and you have to grab and make do. I cannot tell you how many nights last year I ate a bag of Quavers for dinner. Quavers are not dinner.

Secondly, no one seems to care what you drink, just how much and how quickly. Tonight, for example, we’re going from a Dutch bar, to a club-type place, to a pub, and we’ll end up at a bar where they serve cocktails in pint glasses. “Beer before liquor” has no meaning here. Perhaps that’s why the city of London has just concluded a major public service campaign designed to start fining people for barfing on the street. The campaign included major bus shelter posters with “£80” written in vomit. Totally outrageous.

Thirdly, after 11pm all bets are off. That’s when it all goes to hell. Thousands of drunk gits are set loose on the streets as the pubs close, searching for someone with a late license, fighting for a cab, careening down the street singing football fight songs, or – you know – fighting with our trash. This is when you hope that you’re out with a nice boy who will put you in a cab and send you home or when you brave the bus by yourself. This is also when you hope you don’t barf on the bus (£80!) or on the cabbie (which could get you chucked out unceremoniously in the middle of Clerkenwell). Neither of which – thank GOD – I have ever done.

So yeah. Not going to be in any state tonight to post. If it's a good night at all.

Posted by jmakunas at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the problems with this NaBloPoMo is that I honestly do not have something to say every day. I mean - it's WEDNESDAY. Outside of the concert on Monday night which is truly a rarity for a Monday night, it's the beginning of the week. I haven't been doing anything interesting besides working (and I flatly refuse to post about work on this blog, on ANY blog, or on the internet in general in any slightly identifiable format), and I likely won't be doing anything radically interesting for the rest of the week either.

I started this blog during a very different time in my life and when I revived it at the beginning of the year it was with an eye to this being a (hopefully interesting) glimpse of our life in London and a way for me to continue to write - specifically about music - despite a full time job. I'm just not comfortable - at least not now - with this being an online diary or a log of my daily life. Frankly, that's just not that interesting: in the past few days I've worked, been out to lunch, had a drink with a friend, read the first 25 pages of American Pastoral by Phillip Roth, actively listened to some music in advance of some planned blog entries, watched England v. Holland in a pre-Euro 2008 friendly, and gone to bed early.

Like you need to read about that.

Posted by jmakunas at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So yeah, the last two entries were a bit of an embarrassment. I had every intention of coming home from the concert last night and posting, but it takes a long time to get across the city and it truly was midnight and I decided to wait.

I'm actually glad I did, as it allowed me time to digest the show last night and really formulate a strong opinion. After all, it's not every day you see a show that started with a badly rhymed invocation by a pirate-cum-town-crier, and included the crew dressed as superheros, a balloon drop to rival New Year's Eve, the lead singer rolling around on the crowd in a big bubble, confetti cannons, confetti guns, confetti/balloon guns, strobe lights, smoke machines, more confetti, go-go dancers dressed like aliens, go-go dancers dressed like Santa Claus, a big blow-up bouncy alien, a big blow-up bouncy Santa Claus, singing nun puppets, extended audience sing-alongs, crazy videos, three disco balls, a number of increasingly uncomfortable (even for me!) potshots at George Bush, one guitarist dressed as a skeleton, the other guitarist singing through a megaphone, a roaring, rollicking, rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to close the night, and a big round of applause from a pair of giant hands.

It was a good show.

Actually, it was a VERY good show. The entire spectacle - and it is a spectacle - manages to transcend the merely weird and wild to exist on an entirely different plane. The Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne posits himself a psychedelic ringmaster for a new millennium and he's largely successful. Charismatic, loquacious, and strangely compelling, he gives you the impression that this seemingly random mash of visual and musical elements has sprung from some deep belief. He has a world view that he's not afraid to share: liberal, hopeful, slightly twisted, kind of cheesy, but ultimately compelling. He behaves as if he truly believes that the sheer force of his will - coupled with the power of his music - can heal the world.

And it's hard not to respond to that. It's hard to ignore someone who puts out that much positive energy, especially when it's done in both a simply outrageous and slightly twisted fashion. It's hard to ignore the two laddish blokes behind us leaving the venue who linked arms and skipped to the "We're off to see the Wizard" exit music over the PA. It's hard to ignore an audience who comes in costume. And it's especially hard to ignore a band that has the venue staff giggling in the aisles as they try to abscond with giant balloons. In my experience, for a band to have that kind of transformative power is quite a gift. For them to recognize it and to use it for good is even cooler.

But (and this is a big, BIG, but)...

The music could have been better. A LOT better. The Flaming Lips are a brilliant band who make outstanding records, and who have - I believe - been known to put on a pretty good live show. Their albums are complete soundscapes built around the same storylines and world views that underpin their live shows. They're funky, poppy, pretty, layered, and ultimately elegant pieces of work, yet I heard very VERY little of that last night. Even their most anthemic songs - "Fight Test," "Yoshimi," and "Do You Realize" - despite being given the full treatment, just didn't resonate (literally and figuratively) to their fullest potential. Just because I'm a jamband fan doesn't mean I look for jams everywhere (case in point: Wilco), but I felt these songs needed stretching. There were beautiful visual moments that begged for musical atmosphere. There were beautiful musical moments that begged for more time. There were too many truncated endings to songs that begged for another verse. There was just too much left begging.

And so ultimately I just can't help thinking: When you have music that inspires a solo listener over headphones, and a stage show that inspires thousands of jaded Londoners, what would happen if theyreally worked together? What I saw last night was only one side of the equation, but what I can envision is a lot lot more.

You CAN heal the world through the force of will and the power of music. And you just may be the man to do it, Wayne Coyne. You've got the will thing down, you've just got to work on the music.

Posted by jmakunas at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...that technically my kitchen clock says 11:58 so I can set the timer on my computer back to get this post in under the deadline? We just returned from the Flaming Lips concert. More later. As you can see, it's nearly midnight, and I have to go to bed.

Posted by jmakunas at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hungover. Ugh.

Posted by jmakunas at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Michael and I decided to walk to Broadway Market for lunch today. Broadway Market is like the Berkeley Bowl to Borough Market's Ferry Plaza, full of earnest couples with their woolly sweaters and their kids with wild hair and striped tights mixing with people from the surrounding council estates and a smattering of young hipsters recovering from a night on the pull. It's all very Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall meets Pete Doherty, only about a 20 minute walk from our flat.

We documented our odd ramble through Hackney in search of a hog roast sandwich and a cupcake:

Shoreditch Church

Courtyard of a building on Hackney Road

Ye Olde Axe - something's still going on in there, despite the facade.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Mmmm...sacreligious.

Indeed it is.

Who knew radiators could be so hip?

Is the Slow Farm like the Short Bus? (No...in all seriousness, this was a cool picture.)

BMX track at Hackney City Farm

Does what it says on the tin.

Not jaded enough not to still think these are cool.

What I want to shout to almost every band in England.

I'm ordering Thanksgiving flowers from this place by name alone.

Hot jellied eels, pies, and mash. Yes, it still exists.

Broadway Market on a Saturday

Everything from organic veg to vintage coats to vinyl to blankets.

Espresso cupcake with candied orange peel from Violet. Worth the walk.

Posted by jmakunas at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five things I love about living in London (it's not all doom and gloom, ya know):

5. Riding on the top of a double-decker bus. Which I do every day both to and from work. It hasn't gotten old yet, and I hope it never does.

4. The pub culture, especially boozy lunches on Fridays and a warm corner with a glass of wine and good gossip after work. I love how "going down the pub" is such an essential part of British life - the "third place" that just doesn't exist in American life (despite Starbucks' attempts to the contrary).

3. Sunday Roasts. The English answer to brunch, and much more my speed. Newspapers, a pint, and some roast beef and yorkshire pudding. Even better in a slightly shabby but still hip regenerated boozer like the Prince Bonaparte, The Princess, or the Northgate (our three favorites).

2. Borough Market. A foodie's dream and so authentically and atmospherically London it's almost unreal. I love that I know it well enough to dash in and out for a quick 20 minute shop or to wander for 2 hours. I never thought I'd say this, but the Ferry Plaza just can't compare.

1. My neighborhood. It doesn't look like much, but it's a vibrant, diverse slice of East London. I love that Spitalfields is right down the street and the Columbia Road Flower Market is around the corner. I love that it has the hippest restaurant I've ever been to right around the corner from the homiest. I love our little Food Hall market for everyday, and that Tesco is a 10 minute walk. I love how Zigfrid's is bumpin' at 4pm on a Sunday. I love how it never gets touristy during the day, but is crawling with the B&T crowd on Saturday nights. I love our Thai takeaway place. I love that one of the London;s best boutiques is tucked away in an alley right behind one of its greatest modern furniture stores. I love how close it is to Brick Lane. I love being able to get challah for 50p 24/7. I love our wine store. I love that it's a challenging place to live. It may not be San Francisco, but it's just fine for now.

Posted by jmakunas at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

National Blog Posting Month can go away right now.

I had a bad thing happen to a good friend today, and I'm truly heartbroken.

It has me thinking about how M and I are so far away from our support system and so out of touch with what defines us as us. Despite email, VoiP, blogs, message boards, texting, and the gazillion ways we're able to stay in touch, and despite the fact that we're lucky enough to be able to visit and be visited by our friends and family, the fact remains that we're 6,000 miles away from the people we love the most and that we rely on to love us back. If our move to London has done anything, it's rendered in high definition the true meaning of home.

Posted by jmakunas at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know you were all looking forward to my continued series entitled "Jenny continues to gush over a band that I've never freaking heard of and when will she shut up already," aka "You should really be listening to The Slip." But I know when I've been beaten, and I'm happily conceeding this race to Mr. Sam Gustin, who has written a review of Eisenhower (did I mention you should buy it?) that hits the nail on the head so hard it hurts.

I wish very much I'd written this myself, but of course could never have. Sam knows the boys in an entirely different way: as a musician, as a traveling partner, and as a stunningly devoted fan who has embraced their entire ethos and evolution. He's as in love with Eisenhower as I am, and hears the same influences and ambitions I do. Yes, the Beatles! I told you so. We both dearly want this album to succeed, he's just managed to say it more eloquently that I could have ever hoped to. It's very much worth your while:

Reasons 4 through 100 why The Slip is the best band you've never heard of.

No, outside of anxiously awaiting my Amazon.co.uk package containing Eisenhower (heh), nothing much else is new. We're heading out to Bath this weekend with some friends who have just moved from the States for our first road trip in England. No I am not driving (thank GOD). We're going to stop at Stonehenge on the way back and play tourist. Work continues, and we're all set for New Year's Eve in San Francisco. We've ordered our turkey and ham for Thanksgiving (6 people + teeny oven = need for two meats). It's cold out. You know...November.

Posted by jmakunas at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continuing this week's series:

#3: Brad, Andrew, Marc

I debated this as a reason, actually. Personally, it's rare that I invest time in a band unless I feel some level of connection with the members. That's normal for me, but I do realize it's largely because I'm a jamband baby. In that scene - born out of the communal Acid Test experiences - it's as much about the audience as the artists. It's not even unusual to have actual interaction with the band. It's still a small scene (relatively speaking - in a world where The Killers are selling out two dates at Wembley, selling out the Fillmore becomes smaller beans) and there are a gazillion ways to meet artists: catching their pre-show golf cart ramble through the lots, sitting in a little bar in Marin, front row at a late gig, or at the bar after the same. I know there are bands out there making great music who are complete twats, but I'm not listening to a lot of them.

That's not what this is about anyway. And it's not about the fact that M has known these guys since they were 13. It's about the individual musical elements that each member brings to the band and the fact that they are - as I've said before - so much greater than the sum of their (very, VERY talented) parts. There ARE only three of them, after all. No extra fat here; no one to cover if someone's caught out. Don't forget my #1 reason is their big BIG sound...this is why that happens.

Brad is quite possibly the most underrated guitar player I've ever seen. He is completely egoless - perhaps to a fault in a scene dominated by Guitarmageddon stunts and laddish showdowns. His counterparts (Gutwillig, Schneier, Clark, Cinninger, Bayliss) seem to get the glory, but Brad consistently delivers the goods. He's consistently creative in a fashion that classes him with some of the greatest ever. I listen to Brad the way I listen to Trey: always expecting something great and constantly delighted by the fact that what I hear is nothing like my expectations while in every way exceeding them.

Marc is equally nimble, able to switch from deep grooves to melodic lines to an almost rhythm guitar-like layering. He's a structural master - responsible for a lot of the orchestration and in control of a wide range of effects. It's rare to hear a bass player supporting the architecture of the song while simultaneously making a beautiful individual contribution to a jam. He's also almost always mixed really well, so you can really hear him play and hear how he thinks about the songs. Again, totally underrated.

And Andrew is mad - in that great British "borderline genius, but just a bit touched" kind of way - as all good drummers are, I suppose. He's Jazz, African, Indie, and Funk all together, all at once, in one dynamic package. And his sweatband rocks.

For a good example of the three of them at their very, VERY best, take a listen to the jam in "For the Paper Boy" from High Sierra this summer. Technically, this is a Surprise Me Mr. Davis song, but from about 3:50, Nathan's off doing his magic tricks and this is pure Slip. At 4:17, Brad establishes the jam, riffing a bit off of a piece of an idea from the night before (we think). At 4:38, Marc takes over the melody, and they toss it back and forth for a while, Marc switching between super-groovy and super-pretty. Andrew adds texture while Brad drives it to the first peak at 5:35, and then they all execute a perfect stop/start-type jam at about 6:35. I must have listened to this song at least twice a week since July and I'm still amazed at how good it is.

Humble is as humble does...these guys deserve to be rock stars.

Posted by jmakunas at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the record before we start, let’s set the stage: Liked Trey Anastasio, loved Plasma, HATED Shine so much that I couldn’t actually tell you where the physical disc is in our flat. And our flat’s not that big. I didn’t even rip it to iTunes, kids. Liked Seis de Mayo and Surrender to the Air for their experimental natures. Loved the 2001-2003 incarnation of Trey Band, travelled to see them, still think the Santana show was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Adore Oysterhead – album and live. Think that Phil Lesh is good for Trey’s head and Trey with Phil is good for everyone’s heart.

So.

Bar 17.

I've had this review kicking around the computer for about a month now, ever since the album came out. I have been at a complete loss for how to really make sense of it as a complete work, and maybe that's because I'm not sure it is a complete work. It's certainly more ambitious than anything he's done on his own (outside of Plasma, which isn't really fair, since it's live) and there are some amazing, AMAZING songs on here. But after that first week of listening to it non stop I haven't listened at all in the past three. When I realized that I hadn't actually posted the review yet, I turned it back on to see if I still felt the same way. Some songs had really mellowed well ("What's Done is Done," for example) but some I didn't miss at all ("Empty House" and, despite M's efforts to dissuade me, "Let it Lie").

Since the album does feel very disparate to me, I decided to break it down song by song:

Songs I love:
Bar 17: It’s about Phish. It’s got to be. The minute I heard the first line, I thought “Of course.” My Mike thought so too, but for different reasons. That aside, it’s probably one of the best pieces of music Trey’s written in the past 5 years…understated, lush, gorgeous. It’s modern and completely new. What a great sound.

Dragonfly: I don’t understand why people don’t love this. I loved this from the minute I heard a gritty GRAB version. I cannot help but dance when it comes on, and for the LIFE of me I don’t get why a crowd that gets giddy over “Rye, rye, rocco” despite it being – in Trey’s words “just some thing that Tom said when he came walking in the door” – thinks they’re above “Boots and your dragonfly.” It’s the same joyful nonsense. Get into it!

Cincinnati: But then we already knew that, huh?

Songs I like:
Host across the Potomac: This is a good one too: complex enough to be interesting, jams that could go anywhere, not over-orchestrated. In fact, it already has Mike, and there’s lots of room for Page and Fish ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo. I’d love to hear this get Trey’s “beast” treatment live. And yes, I can forgive the exploding skyrockets and elevating desks and chairs…at least it’s more figurative than “we all shiiiiiiiine on.”

What’s Done is Done: This one stood up to my listening hiatus well. The end of the song soars. I think it does a better job than Host Across at conveying "emotional elevation." Just very pretty. I know Trey's voice isn't for everyone but I love it, and I love it even more on this song – it makes me happy.

Goodbye Head: His daughter wrote it with him. Too cute. Thank God it's actually a good song, too.

Gloomy Sky: A totally gorgeous melody stuck in a song in dire need of de-orchestration. I’d love to see this deconstructed and pieced back together by fewer instruments in a simpler fashion. I’ve got to believe that will happen live.

Jury’s still out on:
When You’re Walking: Pretty. Has potential. I'd have to hear this one live, though.

A Case of Ice and Snow: I can't decide if I like this, or if I think it's cheesy. I've read reviews that compliment the lyrics here, but I can't get my head around them. Maybe in the right setting or at the right point in a set this would work for me. As is on the album, I'm just not sure.

Mud City: I know this is supposed to be Trey's answer to the Stones, but it doesn't work as a rocker for me the same way that Dragonfly does. It sounds a lot like the Stones, sure, but does the world really need any more songs that sound like the Stones? Just go see the Stones…they're still together, hint hint.

Let it Lie: I cannot get over the "Gonna take my bike out" lyrics. I know they're Tom's, but I just can't do it. I keep thinking about Freddy Mercury singing "I want to ride my bi-cy-cle" and it totally ruins what is otherwise a gorgeous song, in the "Army of One" vein, with a really pretty guitar solo at the end. I do hope that if Phish ever gets back together they don't decide to have Page sing this with Trey doing the stupid background chant. It just makes me squirm. Keep your shirt on, dude.

Empty House: The idea is good – spare acoustics and a folksy melody – but the execution just doesn't work. Again, another one that could work well live but not hold up to anything but Trey, a stool, and a guitar.

Oh Trey, no…
Shadow: Sounds like the theme song to a cheesy 80's sitcom staring Candace Cameron, Ricky Schroeder, and Mark Linn-Baker. So bad.

So (again).

Thinking through all these songs, I guess I've made sense of the album thusly: it's a Phish record in disguise. And as with almost everything Trey or Phish has recorded, it's merely a skeleton upon which to build live shows - even more so because this album desperately needs Page, Mike, and Fish. I am sure that would disappoint Trey to hear, but from what I hear his live shows are killing lately…proving that he clearly has good material. Sadly, I think it's material that's much better than his current band (Ray, Sipe, and the horns aside). There are spaces in this music where just imagining how creative Phish could be gives me shivers. There are songs that are begging to be played to amphitheaters. There's a complexity to these tunes that makes me think that – consciously or unconsciously – Trey wants to be writing songs for the only other three guys he knows can really play them.

They’ll be back. Bet it all on 17.

#2: They can write a damn good pop song

I've written before about how I think that writing a perfect pop song is truly an art. Anyone can write shitty pop (and there's a lot of it out there) but a well-crafted, interesting, meaningful, catchy, complex pop tune is hard to come by. The Beatles did it, of course, and that's why we're still listening to them. Talking Heads was great at it…"Once in a Lifetime" is the best example of what I'm talking about, a song where the form belies the meaning and musicality. I honestly think The Slip is in that category, and Even Rats was the first song that made me believe.

(And for those of you who think I'm indulging in a bit of hyperbole, I've just spent the day listening to songs from Eisenhower while waiting for our pre-order to arrive and know of what I speak. Yes, The Beatles. Yes, it's that good. Go get it!)

(Hey! Did you know that you can actually download the music on here – just click to listen to it with Quicktime (or your favourite player) or right click and "Save As" to keep it. You'll have to do that with Even Rats because it's an M4P - I'll get the MP3 up there as soon as I get the album in my hot little hands. Trust me, it'll be worth it.)

Posted by jmakunas at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Photo by Aislinn Leggett

I just realized today that I've been listening to The Slip for 7 years now. I saw my first show in April of 1999 downstairs at the Middle East with M, right before he moved out to SF. M went to high school with these guys, and unlike every great band in my high school they actually stayed together, went to music school, and pursued being a real band. When I first saw them, they were a straight up jazz trio and had more musicianship in their little fingers than any band I'd seen in a long, long time. But they were - dare I say - a little boring. Tight for the sake of being tight...incredibly nimble and mind-blowingly agile musicians, but not actually mind-blowing. I didn't listen to them actively for a long while after that.

Today, though, as they prepare to release their new album Eisenhower (on election day, natch), I'm convinced they're the best band no one's heard of. They have evolved from jazz masters to genre-hopping rock stars and listening to them today finally - and constantly - delivers that mind-blowing experience that was missing the first time I saw them.

In honor of Eisenhower, and because I truly believe everyone should be listening to The Slip, I now present the first of "Jenny's Reasons Why You Should Listen to The Slip:"

#1: Big, BIG sound
I think I first reconnected to these guys by listening to their amazing Alivelectric album. This is truly a headphones album - deep, resonant, and layered. And it's recorded live, which is even more amazing...they don't need a studio to create a sound that's bigger than the three of them, and this album proves it. It also represents a transitional time for the band, as they started to move from pure jazz to something...else. I listened to this almost every day on the train to work for about 6 months when I really needed to...it's one of those rare albums that never fails to put me in a different headspace.

Give Headshot a listen...it's got the same jazzy spirit and complex musicianship that defines the band, but with the benefits of a simpler, more melodic song structure. Like the band, though, it's anything but simple.

Posted by jmakunas at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stupid blog.

My so-called commitment to this thing is interrupting quite possibly one of my favorite weekend rituals of all time.

M and I are in the middle of cooking a somewhat elaborate dinner (Garlic, Lemon, and Caraway roast pork with apples, savoy cabbage, and mashed potatoes), drinking Lillet, and listening to music. More specifically, we're listening to WEFUNK Radio on the SqueezeBox at a volume that could probably be construed as a bit annoying to our downstairs neighbors, if we actually had downstairs neighbors on the weekends.

There are times when I think WEFUNK has kept me sane in London. It's a station out of Montreal that plays old and new school hip-hop, funk, and groove music, and constantly streams the best of their shows over the internet. I have always had an obsessive love for funk music (in spite of being a whiter-than-white girl from Chicago) and WEFUNK has taught me more about this style of music than any concert I've seen, book I've read, or CD I own. There's something truly comforting about being in our flat in the center of faddish, poppy, clubland in East London and listening to music that reminds me of the Boom Boom Room. In their own words:

WEFUNK celebrates a lineage of powerful, inspired music. The roots of soul, funk and rapping go back way further than the 70s, but something special began when James Brown gave the drummer some, Larry Graham hit the bass harder, Kool Herc gave the dancers breaks, DJ Hollywood worked the mic... and musicians worldwide found the funk seeping through their walls and into their music. Strong music gave a strong foundation to speak on social problems, relationships, politics and living conditions. And it made one hell of a party groove. Funk gave birth to hip-hop, and as the past grew into the present funk and hip-hop touched every modern music, leaving their mark—a swagger, a groove, mo' bounce... and something to twist your face and nod your head to. You know it when you hear it. And we play it on WEFUNK.

For example, right now I'm listening to Joe Bataan sing "Johnny." Who? Joe Bataan. "Johnny?" Yeah...I don't know either, but it's super-funky. It sounds a lot like Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, actually, and I'll bet Denson knows who Joe Bataan is.

About six months ago I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and M was working in the office. I had WEFUNK on and there was some excellent, deeply groovy, hip-hop song playing. The kind that made me rethink hip-hop in the first place. The kind that had me dancing - really dancing - in the kitchen. Like, getting down, spinning around, waving dishtowels dancing. M came out of the office, saw me in the kitchen getting my groove on and said, typically deadpan, "I didn't know you liked Public Enemy so much."

Well, hell. Neither did I.

Posted by jmakunas at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am completely and utterly obsessed with the new iTunes.

(Actually, I'm kind of obsessed with the new version of Firefox, too, since it has an automatic spell-checker that's currently informing me that I've spelled obsessed incorrectly twice. Anyway. iTunes.)

Since I won't be getting a shiny new iPod anytime soon, I had kind of tuned out (no pun intended) iTunes updates and upgrades. I don't do a lot with iTunes...I don't buy downloads (we still buy CDs, thank you, and the music we share is mostly live and always legal). But a friend at work downloaded the new version of iTunes a few weeks ago and I almost drooled on his shiny new iPod while leaning over his shoulder to stare.

One of the things that I'm sad to have missed is the whole vinyl thing, if only for the importance it gave album artwork and packaging. There are so few musicians that are really doing anything interesting with CD liners (Radiohead, Beck, and MMW...sort of...and Phish...also sort of...spring to mind) and that's really too bad. There's still gorgeous stuff out there - M and I have the End of the World Party poster framed beautifully and hanging in our bedroom and I think it's one of the prettiest pieces of art in our house - but the form disassociates it from the music it accompanies. You can't just sit and contemplate a CD liner as you could a record sleeve.

Which is why the new iTunes, with that gorgeous record rack, is so awesome. It's been so long since I've seen some of my CDs (they're online, on the SlimServer, on a hard drive somewhere, in a binder, on my Pod, or randomly scattered across the world) and browsing through the cover art again is a pleasure akin to a leisurely wander through Amoeba, or Cody's Books, or an art supply shop, except I already own all the stuff in this store.

Of course when over half of your music is live it becomes a lot more gray empty spaces than actual albums. And that's the other brilliant thing about this application: you can download your OWN artwork for albums without formal art or for which iTunes can't find the cover. I may not have played with playlists or shuffle or the iTunes store a lot, but I have always been completely obsessed with keeping my iTunes as organized as possible and have spent hours naming and organizing shows to prevent the dreaded "TheSlip2006-3-21d1t02" from showing up on my iPod (which is how most of our downloaded songs appear). I mean, how is anyone supposed to know that's "Airplane/Primitive" from the Trilogy Lounge in Boulder if I don't become one with the metadata?

So of course I feel the same way about the missing artwork. I spent hours last weekend finding the perfect picture for all of the empty album covers. And when I say "perfect picture" I really mean it. I found live shots from each of the 24 live Tea Leaf Green shows I have on iTunes and paired them with their appropriate show as the substitute cover. And when I couldn't find a photo from a particular show, I used the press photo from the year of the show. No, I am not kidding. Yes, I was having fun. The Slip takes brilliant photos and I used lots of those. I found the "Ape Out" sticker for the HABMX NYE late night '04 show. I haven't even STARTED Phish yet.

Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.

Posted by jmakunas at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We're in the process of figuring out what to do for New Year's Eve this year.

I love NYE - it's by far my favorite day of the year, but it's been hard in the years since Phish (in the years since Big Cypress, actually, because Phish has only played 3 out of the last 6 New Years) to figure out how to get the music/party ratio just right. The trick is to ensure you have both quality music - nitty gritty down and dirty "this is what we came for" kind of stuff - and a great party. New Year's can't go off with a whimper, it's got to be a flying-hot-dog-dancing-bunnies-or-gorillas-Stanton-descending -in-a-cage-of-fire-shiny-silver-suit kind of thing.

TLG did a nice job last year, definitely. And Claypool and friends in ape suits in 2004 was also um, interesting. Galactic actually came the closest, though, with the above-linked Fire/Water shows in 2001. But there's nothing, of course, that will ever match Miami for sheer intensity.

I wrote in the entry about Miami that "12/30 was about the music. 12/31 was about the party" and to this day I think that's the ideal. Get all your demons out the night before. Be musically inspired. Expect something great. Then let it all go for New Year's. Pop a few balloons. Boogie. Kiss your husband and your friends. Wear sequins. Play more cowbell. Give free hugs.

So that's why we're thinking this year we'll see My Morning Jacket on the 30th and brave the Sea of Dreams on the 31st. We're not expecting great things from String Cheese, ALO, and Lotus, but we are from MMJ the night before. And that's as it should be, 'cause I just want to dance.

Posted by jmakunas at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today marks the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month...and click at your own risk as it looks like an influx of prospective novelists might have crashed the site).

I would LOVE to do this, but know already that this November is going to be a bad time to commit to something as intensive as writing a novel. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is just to get words on paper. 50,000 of them, or ~175 pages - a novella, if you will. But in my mind, if you're going to get words on paper and call them a novel, they should string together in some sort of coherent fashion and all arrive at the same place in the end. They call that a plot.

I do not have time this month for a plot.

I do, however, love the idea of a public commitment to writing every day. Technically, that's what a blog is supposed to be, right? So I've decided that if I know I can't do a good job with NaNoWriMo, I'm going to have my own JenBloWriMo (Jenny's Blog Writing Month...and get your minds out of the gutter...I know there's a "blo" "mo" joke there, but I won't make it). This is my commitment to write every day this month - and to try to write something worth reading, too.

To kick it off, I want to offer something wonderful for your listening pleasure: the Surprise Me Mr Davis Late Night High Sierra set, streaming courtesy of Percy Boyd (aka Nathan Moore).

I wrote earlier about the amazing experience that was their sundown set in the Big Meadow, but upon listening to the late night set again, it's hard to tell which show was better. I still think the jam in "For The Paper Boy" is the most brilliant single thing I've heard in years, but the late night show is full of truly transcendent songwriting. I especially love "When a Woman," which has the resonant gravitas of a truly timeless song and "When a Little Boy," whose chorus actually made my cry the other night. It's so rare that lyrics are able to capture slippery emotions like wonder and optimism; it's even rarer to find them paired with music as rich and complex as this. Further proof, really, that SMMD is one of those truly special bands where the sum is greater than the parts.

I've been listening to Bob Dylan a lot lately too, and thinking about great lyricists. More on that later. I promise.

Posted by jmakunas at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)