Pixies after "Trompe Le Monde"

I was just at the Frank Black Forum and one of the threads was about someone was wondering if the Pixies recorded any songs together after their last LP, Trompe Le Monde- there was a link to Youtube and a couple clips of Pixies demos.

One of them- "Hang On To Your Ego"- I'd heard before. Still, it was interesting to hear it again. The other was "Brackish Boy" which ended up being recorded for 1993's Frank Black. Youtube just has a clip but I'd love to hear the full song; it sounds really good.

Now I'm listening to other songs from a bootleg called The Purple Tape 2. It's got "I Can't Forget" from the Leonard Cohen tribute, I'm Your Fan, and "Born In Chicago" from Elektra's 40th anniversary collection.

"Born In Chicago" is a throwaway, but "I Can't Forget" is interesting. It sounds like it was recorded the same day as their other tribute album song from that era, Neil Young's "Winterlong".

It's great, though, hearing songs like these. I love the Pixies but I've played the shit out of all their songs- even their B-sides are worn out so it's good to hear something of their for the hundredth time instead of for the thousandths time.

Here's some news:

Stephen King has a new novel coming out this fall called 11/22/63 and I read yesterday that they're making it into a movie and Jonathon Demme is directing. So many great directors have done SK novels, I think the only one left is Scorsese.

Let's see, there's been DePalma, Kubrick, Cronenberg, Carpenter, Mary Lambert, George Romero, am I forgetting someone?

Also, King is working on a sequel to The Shining. It's going to be called Doctor Sleep. Interesting title.


I just realized tonight that tomorrow is a big day: it's going to be the 3 year anniversary of RJ Battles. I can't believe it's been that long.

I want to do something special but I'm not sure what would be "special". I'm going to have to sleep on that. I'm going to bed now, Good night.

Pixies after "Trompe Le Monde"

The computer

In general I'm not very ambitious, but today I was feeling super-lazy, so I spent almost the whole day on the computer looking up random shit. And for the past three hours I've been on Youtube, mostly watching Kevin Smith.

I don't care for his movies and I don't see why people make such a big deal about them but I like him a lot. He tells a great story- when he talks about Prince the whole story is probably longer than a half hour but it leaves you wanting more.

He also tells a funny story about a fued with Tim Burton. I love that kind of thing. He seems very truthful, a lot like Kathy Griffin. Some things are, I'm sure, exagerated for effect, but I feel like he's really trying to be as real to life as possible. I like that.

Best songs since 1999 (not since "1999")

Here it is- the very last day of September and I'm back.

I was without internet for a few weeks- the router was broken here at my house.

Luckily, there hasn't been much to report so you haven't missed anything. One thing I wanna talk about tonight, though, is songs from the past decade that I really love.

Last night I was on YouTube and I kept looking up videos for songs that really got a strong emotional response out of me over the last 10- 12 years. Songs that I consider beautiful and near- perfect, and- in some cases- kind of get me choked up.

One of the first songs I thought of was 1999's "My Love Is Your Love" by Whitney Houston. A second ago I said "near- perfect"; this song might be perfect. I'm not a big Whitney fan. Then again, I grew up with her music and there are a lot of her songs that I'm very, very fond of:

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

"Moment of Truth" (the B-side of the previous song)

"How Will I Know?"

"I Will Always Love You"

"I'm Your Baby Tonight"

"We Didn't Know" (duet with Stevie Wonder)

While "My Love Is Your Love" wasn't a huge hit and a lot of people have never heard it, I think it's one of those songs that everyone who has heard it, loves it. Right now, I think everyonwe considers "I Will Always Love You" to be her signiture song, but I believe that in the future, "My Love Is Your Love" is the song that she will be remembered by. From the very first lines it has something special.

One song that reminds me of a certain time period in my own life- around 2004- is the Sarah McLauchlin song "Fallen". While it's a bit over-produced it still hits its marks. It's sad and regretful. It's like a serious blues song. And I think a lot of people can relate to it. And even if it doesn't reflect your own life, I think that for four minutes or so you can imagine that you relate to it.

I never bought a Dido album and I only know her singles. I don't know why I've never sought any of her other songs. It' strange because the Dido songs that I've heard are so good and they really hit me. I know three Dido songs. The most popular is probably the weakest of the three: "Thank You". But it's a great song. Then there's 'White Flag". I love the sentiment. I'd really love the song but something doesn't match up. Maybe I just don't belive what she's saying. And for a song like that you have to belive that it's true and not just a love song.

I'd say that Dido's best song is the first of her's that I heard: "Here With Me". With this song I belive that she means ever word she says and this song still gets to me.

There's one song from the past decade that really hits me hard. I love all the songs from Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Aimee Mann, and Jenny Lewis. But it isn't a song from any of them. It's a big, commercial, radio song that really gets to me and puts a lump in my throat.

One summer- either trhe summer of 2008 or 2009- there was this big hit on the radio called "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. I heard it a few times and didn't understand the appeal. I still don't.

A few months later, Lewis released another single, this one called "Better In Time". I fell in love. This song is so sad and so sweet and Lewis sings so beautifully. I feel two things when I hear this song. I relate to it because I've been through it and I understand it. And at the same time, I feel so bad for Leona Lewis. When she says "Gonna smile cause I deserve to" I get choked up.

Anyway, there are a lot of great songs that I've enjoyed over the past dozen years but those are the ones that hit me hard.

These days

I can't believe it's already September 4. This summer- this whole year- has flown by. The sad thing is, I have nothing to show for it. I feel like spring and summer are the time when you've got a lot of energy and daylight and you accomplish a lot so that when the weather turns cool you can relax knowing that you've done what you need to in order to prepare for the winter. You reap what sow and falltime is harvest-time. I've got very little to harvest cause I've done next to nothing in 2011. I certainly have no savings.

But I guess it's not too late. Really, it's still summer, so I can still get things done.

I want to-

1) Save money

2) Do spring cleaning. I'd like to clean and organize my bedroom and take inventory and get all my clothes into order.

3) Have a sexy summer romance (That's not gonna happen. Next.)

4) Be in the moment, so that time stops passing me by

So, this Friday I'm taking a train to Baltimore. I've never been to Baltimore and I've never been on a train before- this is gonna be a big weekend.

Roger Clemens

I was just reading a story about Roger Clemens in USA Today. It turns out that he's gonna be re-tried for perjery. The defense is saying that the prosecutors purposely introduced banned evidence so that they could start fresh- one of the jurors said he believes that the government has no business investigating steroid use by ballplayers- and, of course, he's right.

I think they should leave Clemens and the other baseball players alone, but anyway- I liked something I read in the story. The defense is accusing the prosecutors of having a "win-at-all-costs" attitude. Maybe the prosecutors should try some steroids.

Home

It's time to tell you about where I live.

December 1, 2009, I moved into this house on the outskirts of town- it's a 45 minute walk to my job downtown. The house id owned by a 48 year old man I'll call Papa Bear. He's a very cool guy, very enthusiastic with a lot of energy. He has a white Alaska Husky that's a lot like him, Porter. Porter is very friendly, always shaking his tail and holding a toy in his mouth.

For at least 20 years, Paopa Bear has been friends with an older guy I call Stickman. Stickman has been living here with him ever since he bought the house around 1995. Stickman is around 55 but looks and seems older (though I think he thinks he can pass for 40). He's a second shift nurse and he expects to have the bathroom all to himself for the 2 and a 1/2 hours leading up to the time he leaves for work. He takes insanely long showers and God knows what he does with the rest of the time.

The third and final roommate is a 20 year old coolege student who works part-time but spends most of his days and nights playing computer games. He pays partial rent and Papa Bear buys all his groceries and cooks dinner for him every night. I call him Baby Bear. Between his size and the way that Papa Bear cares for him the name fits perfectly. I like Baby Bear. All he needs to be happy is a computer game, some pot, and maybe some Doritos and Mountian Dew. He's got a good attitude. Like Papa Bear, he's got a good attitude: enthusiastic. It'll be late afternoon after a long day of work, or it'll be 10pm and I'll be in bed so that I can be up at 5am, and I can hear Baby Bear on his headphone/ speaker set, talking to his teammates, and it's very relaxing. It's loud sometimes but it never bothers me; it puts me right to sleep.

Here's how everyone gets along: I get along with everyone. Me and Papa Bear talk a lot. It can be rough sometimes- he's always gotta be right. And he's the dominant dog. Sometimes, too, it seems like he's being contrary on purpose. But that's it. Those are my only complaints, and, anyway, that's what makes him Papa Bear. I'm always happy to talk to him and he's very easygoing and flexible.

If I don't talk with Baby Bear much, it's only because he's almost always at the computer and i don't want to interupt. There are some trust issues as well. For instance, he never owns up to doing anything wrong when Papa bear asks who's the one who did something. On the other hand, I've overheard him rat out Stickman for certain things.

I've gotten along with Stickman but he's gotten crabby with me over stupid shit, like cutting into his bathroom time. But really, it's not that we've clashed so much- I avoid him because I overhear his fights with Papa Bear.

About once every 3 months Stickman will come home from work and get into a shouting match with PB. These fights get loud and ugly. Once, PB yelled that Stickman was a miserable piece of shit with no friends and no teeth. I was listening and laughing into my pillow.

Stickman and Baby get along alright. The have pot in common. But really, I don't think that Baby likes Stickman. I think he's using him for free pot and free cigarettes. Baby helps himself to smokes from both PB's and Stickman's packs when they're not around. I've heard them yell at him but most of the time Baby gets what Baby wants.

I mentioned that I have some trust issues with Baby Bear. It's because of this: For the first 6 months that I lived here, baby was sneaking into my room and taking cigarettes. Now I just said that he'd take cigarettes from the other guys. Well that's different. They had an understanding. Baby would help himself while PB was at work or while Stickman was outside doing yardwork all afternoon.

Baby was taking my cigarettes when I went to take a piss or while I was downstairs for 2 minutes putting my clothes in the dryer. It seemed like sometimes I'd have less cigarettes than I thought but I didn't think anything of it till one day I brought a load of laundry downstairs. As I walked past his room we nodded at each other. When I opened the washer door I could hear squeaking of floorboards directly above me and my bedroom was directly above me. I dropped my socks and rushed up the stairs. Honestly, I didn't want to catch him- that would be too awkward. But I caught his shadow in the hallway. When I got to the top of the stairs he was across the hall in Stickman's room, playing with Porter.

What really confirmed my suspician was one day later that week when I had company but they didn't park in the driveway. Baby came home a few minutes after we did and I was taking a piss. From the hallway you can always tell if someone's in the bathroom- you can hear the fan and you can see light through the door. My friend told me after that he opened the door without knocking, looked surprised to see them, and then said he was looking for a Sharpie to borrow.

So, yeah, I like Baby, but he's a little sneak and that bothers me. I feel like I should visit with him more often, but since i don't trust him I figure, Why bother?


To be continued...