HUDDLED IN STORMS

Beyond earthquakes, hurricanes, and root canals, here's what has occupied my time while the family was in Japan:

• I took the plunge on a Spotify premium subscription. I'm liking the idea of having access to lots of music without the burden of ownership.

• I've developed a completely nonironic love of Rick Steves' Europe. I could watch it for hours.

• A Bon Iver obsession didn't take, but honestly I never gave it much of a chance. Can't force these things, after all-- they need to just happen...

• I compiled a small yet vital collection of low-res cell-phone pics of Taeko, shot by Lana.

• Finished that 33 1/3 book on Some Girls-- it remained sloppy to the end. Then I started the one on Marquee Moon, although I was somewhat dismayed to find that the author had co-written a book with the guy who wrote the Some Girls entry. Incest much, Continuum?

• Started reading Stone Arabia yesterday. So far, so good.

• Still haven't quite finished that copy of Bob Dylan in America that my boss shared with me. I'm a little over halfway through, and we're already on '90s Dylan, which is kind of dampening my enthusiasm for the rest of the book.

• I had what must be one of my top 5 most-liberating haircuts this past Friday. As I watched the brown and gray hair cascade down the front of my slick maroon smock, I swear I could feel my soul getting lighter...

PAID ON FRIDAY

• If I ever curate a rock festival, I'm going to call it “Humdinger.”

• It amazes me that the mainstream media still has not figured out a way to reproduce George Steinbrenner's full quote regarding Hideki Irabu. Try “pus-y” people, as in pus-filled-- “pussy” will just get your editors' collective drawers in a knot...

• A few years ago, I got deep into Ships by Danielson while my family was in Japan for the summer. Well, they're back over there for another visit, and my early pick to click is the new Bon Iver.

• And sorry, Fleet Foxes, but I'm pretty sure it's just not going to happen. I mean, there were a lot of nice, right-thinking people who liked Crosby, Stills, and Nash back in the day too, but I would not have been one of them either.

• A suburban legend from my childhood: You know in Miss You, when Mick sings “Puerto Rican girls that are just dyin' to meechu”? Well “meechu” means “fuck” in Spanish. For real. Ms Krebs of our 7th-grade Spanish class would neither confirm nor deny...

• From my 15-year old niece last weekend: “Do you still have any Sonic Youth CDs? I found the ones you gave my mom a few years ago, and I wanted to hear some more.” Youth against fascism, bitches!

• Dear Rebecca Black,
  “Friday” was transcendently pure and awful-- we've been singing it around the house for months now. I love it because it's the exact thing a 13-year old should produce with a $4,000 bankroll from mom. It's a cultural bellwether right up there with the first Ramones album. But this new American-Idolesque self-empowerment anthem? You just stepped off the curb, sweetheart.
  

• And so I leave you all today with this...