I told you these guys were going places!

Learn more about it at the website. You can also put together nice little B-Sides CD from the free mp3's they are offering here.

Speaking of great touring bands, there is a nice little behind-the-scene's footage of the Tragically Hip for download at thehip.com.  I have never been able to turn any friends on to the hip. I thought once the the Mix-Tapable Sacred  with its WWI historical alusion might do the trick for Alex, but no, I think the battle of the Hip has become [insert WWI reference important battle-line here].  Alex, by the way, is doing great work in the comments pages.  You might just appreciate listening Gord's recitation of his poem, here.  I can't help it, I love these guys.  

I don't know who comes up with this shit
but, I wish they'd stop saying;
'it's not the band I hate, it's their fans'

You can't hate "fans".
You must narrow your hate
You can't hate huge, hate sprawling, hate the wild,
unfocussed hate hates itself,
pick your victims. specialize
find the good n' unaffiliated, the heir-not apparent, the everyday outcast,
the weirdo with the heart of gold, infiltrate the hoser elite.
Find the ribs-showingest rock n roll stray dog
That ever pushed melodious air
howling against vivisection in the uncompartmentalizeable
night.
and, then hate

or go to a show - look down your row.
the lights are on - find people you know.
There's AnthemSinger standing with his arm
around DarklyNurturedDream.
and Ol'Quintessential listening to HigherThanACBCGuest say;
"I haven't read them, but I understand them."
And there's BrainOfAToaster (he knows when things are done)
next to that girl, CradlingHerKeyCard, whispering,
"this might be my last show, come."
Check it out! There's HoldStill and Gently - together again for the very first time.
and MyDoctrineHasFailedMeButMyMusicHasn't
next to ColderValues, next to FeaturelessButFree.
Hey, even TheEmperorHasNoHook is here and IDon'tWannaTalkAboutItHowYouBrokeMyHeart, she's here too.

make the jump for more.

He's done that before, replaced proper names with sentences.  Its original, and yet almost of the defninition of poety. You're trying to get as much out there is as little space and possible, and names are so inefficient.   See this verse for an example in one of his songs.

We hung around til the final band
called 'Escape is at Hand for the Travellin' Man'
you yelled in my ear this music speaks to me
they launched into 'Lonely From Rock n Roll'
followed by 'They Checked Out An Hour Ago'
closing with 'All Desires Turn Concrete'

.....

I walked through your revolving door
got no answer on the seventh floor
elevator gave a low moan
the pigeons sagged the wire with their weight
listening to the singing chambermaid
she sang 'They Checked Out an Hour Ago'

 

That's good shit

Pitchfork has the goods on the Dinosaur Jr.  reunion:

The You're Living All Over Me material resonated most: The anthemic trudge of "Sludgefeast;" Murph's miniature drum fills in "Kracked"; "Little Fury Things" would be a hit today. Their encore rendition of "Just Like Heaven" was a little surprising-- it would seem like Mascis would've gotten over the joke/tribute of the song by now-- but the death metal breaks in its chorus still kicked total ass. When a band proves they can still bring it, it isn't just nostalgia you're feeling but exhilaration refueled.

more here

Pho, I suggest McCammon's "Boy's Life" which I loved but none of my friends have been able to get through. Everyone loves his "Swan Song" which has a similar premise and theme as "The Stand". 

 They're not a similar as Point Break the The Fast and the Furious though. Wow. 

The opening track of Riviera, Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ Sixth Album, is sure to strengthen the notion that it’s not front man Todd Park Mohr’s Knopfler like guitar heroics that power the band, rather it’s his soulful blues singing.  This is an opinion that was bordering on cliché a decade ago when Big Head Todd was at their height of popularity.  Of course, At the time no one knew that the band popularity was at its peak:  It looked liked the years of constant touring the college circuit in a dilapidated conversion van were about to yield huge dividends:  The Album Sister Sweetly managed to stay on the charts for over a year and its hit single “Bittersweet” had become an instant classic. But ten years and two disappointing albums have freed the band from any expectations save to perpetually tour for a loyal ex-frat fan base.

This lack of expectation makes the invigorating Riviera, and its sultry follow-up album Crimes of Passion, that much sweeter.   Neither album goes anywhere that Todd hadn’t been before, but the surprise in their ability to succeed where past efforts have failed.     While some Critics will note that neither album contains a “Bittersweet” on it, they may fail to notice that both are the bands' most complete.  Rivera’s single “Again and Again” has many of the same elements as earlier hits. It contains a smooth delivery paired with a simple, catchy and repeatable chorus, “I want to leave you again and again, but I don’t want to leave you Again”. 

However, this time around the band has forsaken extended length songs to instead establish a momentum that makes these albums more listenable than any of their predecessors. This restraint, which works so well on Riviera, suffocated Strategem, the album that was supposed to build upon the success of Sister Sweetly.   Meanwhile, robust numbers like “Secret Mission” and “Runaway train” and “Come On” lay to rest Todd’s own fear that the three-piece band needed help filling up the stage, a concern that seemed to have led to the clumsy amalgamation of keyboards and backup singers that was their fifth album “Beautiful World”.  The differentiating ingredient in the latter two albums, insofar as it’s not simply ‘better songs’, is a laid back approach.  This mood is evident in Riviera’s second track, Freedom Fighter, which contains this swipe at activism chic:

 “The world has come undone, yeah whatever, dang chains look good on you”. 

Riviera stays the assumed demise of Big Head Todd and the Monsters by correcting the mistakes of Strategem and Beautiful World.   Crimes of Passion continues the redemptive trend by successfully traversing blues, funk, R&B, classic rock, and folk of Beautiful World, this time without sacrificing their honest three-man rock sensibilities.   All of this put Big Head Todd and the Monsters in the enviable position of having survived an artistic malaise to arrive at their artistic peak after 15 years of recording music.  Courage, REM and U2.

I had this Idea today to start a crossfit-eque gym.  What is crossfit

In 100 words:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

On the difference between health and fitness:

Many authorities (e.g. Mel Siff, the NSCA) make a clear distinction between health and fitness. Frequently they cite studies that suggest that the fit may not be health protected. A close look at the supporting evidence invariably reveals the studied group is endurance athletes and, we suspect, endurance athletes on a dangerous fad diet (high carb, low fat, low protein). .......

(As a note of interest, Mel Siff PhD, whom we often respect and admire, holds his atherosclerotic disease and subsequent heart attack as anecdotal evidence of the contention that fitness and health are not necessarily linked because of his regular training and “good diet”. When we researched his dietary recommendations we discovered that he advocates a diet ideally structured for causing heart disease – low fat/high carb. Siff has fallen victim to junk science!)

 

On weights:

Why the deadlift, clean, squat, and jerk? Because these movements elicit a profound neurodendocrine response. That is, they alter you hormonally and neurologically. The changes that occur through these movements are essential to athletic development. Most of the development that occurs as a result of exercise is systemic and a direct result of hormonal and neurological changes.

Curls, lateral raises, leg extensions, leg curls, flyes and other body building movements have no place in a serious strength and conditioning program primarily because they have a blunted neuroendocrine response. A distinctive feature of these relatively worthless movements is that they have no functional analog in everyday life and they work only one joint at a time. Compare this to the deadlift, clean, squat, and jerk which are functional and multi-joint movements.

on Gymnastic

The starting place for gymnastic competency lies with the well-known calisthenic movements: pull-ups, push-ups, dips, and rope climb. These movements need to form the core of your upper body strength work. Set goals for achieving benchmarks like 20, 25, and 30 pull-ups; 50, 75, and 100 push-ups; 20, 30, 40, and 50 dips; 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 consecutive trips up the rope without any use of the feet or legs.

At fifteen pull-ups and dips each it is time to start working regularly on a "muscle-up." The muscle-up is moving from a hanging position below the rings to a supported position, arms extended, above the rings. It is a combination movement containing both a pull-up and a dip. Far from a contrivance the muscle-up is hugely functional. With a muscle-up you’ll be able to surmount any object on which you can get a finger hold – if you can touch it you can get up on it. The value here for survival, police, fire fighter, and military use is impossible to overstate. We will in future issues be covering the details of this great movement. The key to developing the muscle-up is pull-ups and dips.

News from Pitchfork

First Brian Wilson finished Smile. Then Jandek played live. And now, Jeff Mangum, the elusive, fragile and possibly downright batty mastermind behind Neutral Milk Hotel, has made his first major public appearance in years, joining Olivia Tremor Control last night at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. (What next, Syd Barrett does Coachella? Pretty soon, we’ll have no more mysterious crazy geniuses to obsess over.) According to Billboard.com, Mangum "bounded" on stage "decked out in a blue button down shirt and green ball cap" to belt out "I Have Been Floated". The crowd promptly lost their shit, and there was much rejoicing. He later returned for the encore, "Shaving Spiders," which ended in a chaotic group hug/pile-up.

Reader Nicholas Kinsey reports, "When Jeff sang, his voice came from the earth, not the heavens (as he does on the records we love). He was haunted, as if he had not sung a note in five years...It was powerful yet unsure...His eyes darted from the audience and up past the ceiling and into the sky as he clenched a water bottle that looked like it would burst... There was optimism in the whole show...A revolution thought defunct, now alive."

I have been to busy to write lately.  Or, more accurately, to write well. I was all over the place talking about Ryan Adams, and didn't get to make a point about his fast and loose similes.   Well I just heard a Guy Clark song that made the point for me.  Its the first song he wrote and kept, he jokes. But he learned from Townes, so he had a bit of an advantage. Here are the Lyrics.

And that old time feelin' goes sneakin' down the hall,
Like an old gray cat in winter, keepin' close to the wall.
And that old time feelin' comes stumblin' up the street,
Like an old salesman kickin' the papers from his feet.

And that old time feelin' draws circles around the block,
Like old women with no children, holdin' hands with the clock.
And that old time feelin' fall on it's face in the park,
Like and old wino prayin' he can make it 'till it's dark.

And that old time feelin' comes and goes in the rain,
Like an old man with his checkers, dyin' to find a game.
And that old time feelin' plays for beer in bars,
Like and old blues-time picker who don't recall who you are.

And that old time feelin' limps through the night on a crutch,
Like an old soldier wonderin' if he's paid too much.
And that old time feelin' rocks and spits and cries,
Like and old lover rememberin' the girl with the clear blue eyes.

So the grey cat line is great.  I have had Prufrock on my head for over week now too. Remember this:

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, 
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes 
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, 
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, 
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, 
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, 
And seeing that it was a soft October night, 
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep. 

Ok, Ok, there isn't much of a relationship between that Cat and Clark's.  Like I said, the poem has been in my head, that's all.

The next song contains this greatness:

Gimme a bowl of chile,

gimme milk and toast.

As long as you're dishing it out Lord

 I'll take a litle of both

Bet Elliot couldn't come up with something like that. Too much swagger for the ole Brit.

Or this line, earlier in the CD

""She's standing on the gone side of  
leaving."            

I just googled that line to make sure I had it right and found some interview with a poet who is claiming it to be his own.  Or maybe I am misterpetting the parenthetical "Orginal" in this:

You take a phrase like "She's on the gone side of leaving me for good" (original).....and build around it. Songs are usually highly structured and poems don't have to be.

Way to ruin a line by trying to do to much with it. And then claim it as your own?

Though I have some different ideas then her, I have always thought Krista at Stumptuos.com was the goto girl for beginning weightlifting tips.  She's got tons of   good advice, and seems plenty motivational.

Here are some money clips from her website.

ON SUGAR

Personally, I think deliberately selling chemical and sugar laced shit to children should be considered akin to corporate child abuse. Probably the same people who make Ritalin also make Froot Loops - it's a great karmic cycle. I think whoever comes up with the latest blue-coloured cartoon-character-sponsored piece of sugared crap should be forced to remain in a small locked room with a toddler who has just consumed that substance.

ON SQUATS

In fact, there is strong evidence that squatting actually improves knee stability! The increased strength, balance, and proprioception from regular squatting can make a substantial contribution to keeping knees healthy. .......Most interesting to me is the problem with what is usually recommended as "safe": squatting to parallel. At parallel (where the thigh is parallel to the floor, higher than the depth of a full squat by about 30 degrees), the compressive forces on the patella (kneecap) are actually at their highest (Huberti & Hayes, Journal of Bone Joint Surgery, 1984: 715-724). Decelerating, stopping, and reversing direction at this angle can inspire significant knee pain in even healthy people, whereas full squats present no problem.

Another exercise which is supposedly "safer" is the leg extension, even though patellar tension and shear forces on the knee joint are demonstrably higher with such an exercise (see sidebar).

ON WOMEN WHO 'DON'T WANT TO GET BIG"

FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, YOU CANNOT GET TOO BIG FROM LIFTING WEIGHTS! A NON-DRUG-USING MALE TRAINEE WOULD HAPPILY CRAWL ON HIS LIPS THROUGH A FIELD OF LEECHES TO ADD FIFTEEN CRUMMY LITTLE POUNDS OF MUSCLE A YEAR! DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE SOMEHOW SO SPECIAL THAT YOU WILL DEFY THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY AND SUDDENLY BECOME HUGE ONE DAY? WAKE UP AND SMELL THE GODDAMNED TESTOSTERONE, HONEY! WHAT'S THAT? YOU CAN'T? OH, PERHAPS THAT IS BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU BULK UP???? RAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH KRISTA SMASH!!

 ON PANDAS

I'm not saying pandas deserve to be eliminated, but....

 

Everyone go check out her site, then get back to me with your favorite quotes.