In today's Twitter post round-up:
- [Personal dreams] "...if we try hard, we can accomplish small things on the fringe of those dreams to satisfy our yearning." -- My Wife
- RT @mattstaggs: Follow @mattstaggs and use hashtag #FINCH to enter contest. Win Jeff VanderMeer's FINCH & copy of ST by Murder by Death.
- “Once.” The true dirty word in the English language, encapsulating loss and regret and diminishment. "Once we were happy." -- @jay_lake
- “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” -- Carl Sagan ( j.mp/rwPUo --listened to daily)
- RT @thexmedic: Sold a short story to Electric Velocipede. Woot. [JW is AWESOME! Hence, proof+ why you should be reading and $upporting EV]
- RT @apexjason: Apex Magazine funding (please RT) shar.es/akZEF
- RT @charlesatan: Interview with the awesome @JeremiahTolbert bit.ly/7ylen #fb
Brought to you by the letter "L"
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- [Personal dreams] "...if we try hard, we can accomplish small things on the fringe of those dreams to satisfy our yearning." -- My Wife
Brought to you by the letter "L"
- I'm Not In Love - 10cc (The Very Best of 10cc 1997)
- Sex Changes - The Dresden Dolls (Yes, Virginia 2006)
- Sunday - Bess Rogers (Decisions Based On Information 2007)
- Stop And Think It Over - Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles (Diamonds in the Dark 2007)
- Joanni - Kate Bush (Ariel - A Sea Of Honey 2005)
- A&E - Goldfrapp (Seventh Tree 2008)
- Kings And Queens - Loudon Wainwright III (A Live One 1979)
- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson (Rumor And Sigh 1991)
- Sweet Bird Of Truth - The The (Infected 1986)
- Every Passing Day - Goanna (Oceania 1985)
A mostly modern set this time around, with a few new wave classics thrown in for good measure. The 10cc song is a favorite from my high school years. The album (yes, children, I originally bought it on vinyl) it comes from (The Original Soundtrack) was a real favorite of mine at the time, although I can't say as I'm too thrilled with the other songs from the disc on this greatest hits CD. Oh well, tastes change. The Dresden Dolls are (were???) one of my favorite groups, local or otherwise, and Amanda Palmer is one of the cleverest musicians around. And Yes, Virginia is their strongest effort. Bess Rogers is a another wonderfully clever artist originally unveiled to me by W♥M, and this is a nicely syncopated song. I went Sarah Borges crazy when their second CD, The Stars Are Out, came out and I picked up Diamonds too. A local group who I have yet to see, sadly. I'm sure she puts on a whale of a show. I've been a huge Kate Bush fan since the early 80s, when I worked with a real Kate fanatic who went so far as to celebrate "Kate-mas", her birthday (July 30th). It was so great to have some new Kate stuff, after a very long wait (12 years!). Ariel is a fantastic double CD. Hmm, looks like it is also a female artist random 10, as we follow it up with my favorite cut from Goldfrapp's 2008 release. Ah, but then back to the wryly ironic in Loudon Wainwright. I've see him in concert a few times and he never disappoints (and never plays Dead Skunk). I was disappointed to find that Black Lightning wasn't on the 3 CD Richard Thompson retrospective, Watching The Dark. It's still a great collection, but Black Lightning should have been on it. It's a great story from a great storyteller. Speaking of storytellers, we move onto The The's Matt Johnson, who can certainly tell an intense story, as he does here. And finally, another song from my Oceania CD, bought in Australia. This is one of my favorite songs of all time, even.
Also picked up a couple of new CDs this week. First up is a local group called Passion Pit. I heard a good song on WZBC coming home from hockey and figured out it was either Passion Pit or Magic Magic. Then I saw Passion Pit's latest CD for only US$6 at Newbury Comics, so I thought it was worth a gamble. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right one. It turned out the great song I heard was from Magic Magic,and was their Over Your Heart song, which is really good. Passion Pit is okay, with this song being the highlight of the CD:
But even better is the Tyondai Braxton CD, Central Market. I've already introduced you to Opening bell here, but another excellent song is the centerpiece, an over 10 minute opus of modern orchestral pop:
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- The rain is heavy: falling with the percussive vehemence of hail. The grays deepen and threaten black, the Sun cowers from the steel horizon
- . @MaryRobinette Wanted to say I loved your "Worst Anachronisms in Fantasy" post. Thx, Mary! [everyone, check it out: bit.ly/2QJlaw ]
Brought to you by the letter "L"
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason & plot: I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason, should ever be forgot.
- Went to a reading/signing last night at UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE (Seattle, WA) to see @jeffvandermeer, @cmpriest , and @catrambo (nice turnout).
- YES! @BrandonSandrson trumped Dan Brown for the #1 spot on the New York Times HC fiction list! I'm ecstatic about this--congrats, Brandon.
- Wow: bit.ly/3tRs7m --Thinking about the intrinsic value of poop post-consumption; if I ate this, I'd be tempted to Ebay my $8k stool.
- . @mattstaggs Went to Maine in '99, had a McLobster--seriously. People think I'm joking, but look at my drink cup proof pic.gd/2e1f78
Brought to you by the letter "L"
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- . @mattstaggs "The Call of Kudzulu" --Nice one, Matt. How about: "The Manwich Horror" #southernhorror
- . @Urraca @mattstaggs "Children of the Cornbread" --Nice, Cesar. How about Stephen King's lesser known "Riding the Mullet" #southernhorror
- . @mattstaggs @Urraca The Bradbury story that scared arteries everywhere: "Something Deep-Fried This Way Comes" #southernhorror
- . @mattstaggs @urraca There is Leroux's classic: Phantom of the Okra #southernhorror
- . @mattstaggs @urraca William Golding's "Lard of the Fries" #southernhorror
Brought to you by the letter "L"
Things I Loathe
- Seeing my girls sick. They are pretty tough kids - not complainers at all. So when they are sick, they are sick. And there's just not much to do about it, which is the worst feeling as a parent.
- Darkness at 5pm (and it'll get worse before it gets better)
Things I Love
- The look of Borderlands. Played about an hour last night and it seemed quite fun.
- Backstopping a shutout. Hey, it's only pickup hockey, but it is my first shutout, and against a team with our best player on it. Pretty cool.
- Discovering unique new music. Check out this song from Tyondai Braxton's Central Market:
- Settling in on the couch with R10.4 for an afternoon of football. We're addicted to NFL RedZone HD - "football porn" as one of my friends called it. Just all the good parts, with none of the commercials - heaven!
- Alexandra's Melody du Jour on WZBC Friday mornings, 7-9am.
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- RT @sixwordstories: Born. Schooled. Worked. Died… Never lived. —Xian [So true of many, and quite sad. Fuel for pondering]
- Use a Finch icon as your avatar today and let @mattstaggs know = chance of wining a signed copy of FINCH twurl.cc/1sta [please RT]
Brought to you by the letter "L"
In today's Twitter post round-up:
- Emptied change box, and bought a Sony 505 e-reader at Target for $69! Yes, new and unopened. This will help me w/my dirty little secret...
- ...I don't like reading fiction on an LCD screen; hate is so much that I secretly gave up reading about 90% of what I used to read online...
- ...You should see my backlog of bookmarked fiction 'to-read' and folder of ebooks and zines. This thing is hackable too. I'm a happy camper!
- The new Wolfmother album RAWKS! As good as I hoped it would be; in some ways inferior to the 1st album, and in more ways, superior.
- Google Voice is cool. Love how it auto-transcribes VMs. Been playing w/calling myself while out shopping, dictating story fragments & ideas.
Brought to you by the letter "L"
I've been busy lately (and not taking many pictures), thus I've neglected this blog. A few things have happened; among them, Halloween was most awesome. I dyed my hair purple:
