Bowling yes! We bowled. Maybe not like gods, but we had fun dammit! We were in good spirits and with good friends. Then we went to the diner for more conversation and whatnot. The only thing better would be to gather us together in someone's living room with a warm fire, some wine, cheese, meat and watch a movie on a tv with a huge screen. Say, how about we watch "Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring" on DVD at Paul's house? That would be delightful. Oh yes. Let's do that. Cursive tomorrow night will be a kick-ass time, as well. Too tired to describe anything in great detail or visible wit. Maybe next time.

n.p. Wilco - "Venus Stop the Train"

So yeah, if your band is going to play acoustic-guitar emo, does it HAVE to sound EXACTLY like Dashboard Confessional? I mean, I have the So Impossible EP already, so why do I need to go to my favorite bar to be assaulted with note-for-note replications of something someone else already does? I know there's lots of cover bands on Long Island, but at least they have the decency to ackowledge that they are cover bands. Why not just call yourselves "Dashboard Replicational" or "I Sucked Chris Carrabas' Brain and All I Got Was This Crappy Band?" At least the other band that played had a somewhat original sound, even though it seemed like they played that one song five times (ie, all the songs sound the same). So, please, do me a favor, and if my songs suck and sound like someone else's in that bad way where it's way too obvious, tell me, and make me stop embarrassing myself.

In happier news, we are having the Indie Rock Bowl-O-Rama tonight at 11! I am so psyched. Some of my favorite people will be there, yay! We will drink, bowl, laugh, and live! Sergei, Sean and I will be returning to the first place we bowled together, and subsequently became buddies. Reunited, and it feels so good.

Doing the radio show yesterday, I think I started losing my mind around 5am. First of all, I was off my game from the start, having said "anyhoo" several times in the first minute on mic. I subsequently started screaming every time I said "anyhoo" thereafter. What the hell is wrong with me to make me keep saying "anyhoo" anyhow? Otherwise, it was really fun for a while, as there were several people hanging around the studio (a rare treat for a 3-6:30am shift), and I rocked out a bit before suddenly getting emotional around the time I played Versus "A Heart Is a Diamond" and Velocity Girl "Why Should I Be Nice to You." I am not exactly sure why, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was lost after that. Redeemed only by the half hour of Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom I ended with.

n.p. Alkaline Trio - "While You're Waiting"

Okay. So I'm going to try a new template to snazz things up a tad. The old one looks great for something with a handle of "House of Chicken & Waffles" but I need more things to click on on my page. And since I know HTML like I know the sweet love of a good woman, I have to rely on someone else's judgement. Here goes nothin'.

Well, it's almost 4am and I failed to post during the hours considered to be January 7th, but even so, here is my Tuesday night post. Had orientation for my new jobby job today. Basically filling out work forms, getting an ID badge and learning where the doors are. "I wanna go where the dooooors are/walk in and out of them as I please/where the dooors are/you have to go through that one on your knees..." Sorry, I spontaneously burst into song at random intervals. Yep.
Today was a good day. I do not know why. Witty IM banter with Kipes and Sergei, Destroyer of Teapots, as well as some unmitigated haiku buffoonery on the Come Down Message Board, coupled with a shining sun during waking hours must have had a chemical effect on my condition. So I used my Barnes & Noble Gift Card (thanks Paul!) tonight, getting "End Zone" by Don Delillo and the first JT Leroy book, which better be good. Of course, if I read it within 30 days and don't like it, I'll trade it in for another DeLillo novel.
And thank you to all my friends who have been way supportive of my attempts at writing a book. I thought only I was finding it amusing. I'm glad my friends are as deluded as I about my writing abilities. Boo ya!

Went to the station (WUSB 90.1 FM) today because Desirae was doing her first on-air shift ever, so I wanted to be helpful, supportive friend-type guy. It was cool. After the show, we went to Salsa Salsa to get some eats. Shrimp Fajita Super Burrito!!! Yummy! We ate it at Stephe's house. A grand old time. I was still humming the anthemic chorus nobody has heard yet. I got home at 9ish, only to find out I missed Matt & Anna by about ONE MINUTE! I will never get to see Repercussions UK practice. Dammit. Last time, they were all gone before 7pm. I figured I would have missed them by hours, but noooo. By a minute! Crap.
My day was made brighter, however, by Sergei, Destroyer of Teapots. He ruined his second teapot in two weeks by letting it boil until there was no water left. So I gave him that clever new nickname, and he went out and bought a new teapot, this time, one with a whistle feature. You know, the high-tech kind of teapot.

n.p. Electric Company - Greatest Hits

The first two consecutive days posting post. Boo ya! Listening to Versus because I am the kind of dork that will listen to a band that I've just seen live right after the show. They actually played songs off of "Let's Electrify" which I wouldn't have expected, because I've seen plenty of bands with 10 years + of material that never play the old stuff. If anything, it gave me an excuse to break out that EP and give it another spin, which is something I haven't done in ages. All in all, quite a show. Great fun, a great crowd, and a nice energy level. +/- was really good, despite James being under the weather. It was really only evident when he sang "Queen of Detroit." He told Matt that Versus was going to have to send the Bowery Ballroom photos, so he wants him to send him the pictures he took tonight. He still also has to upload the +/- pictures Matt took for their website. Calla was pretty good. I have a feeling I might like them better on record, though. The first thing Matt & I thought of them was "Gee, the guitar sound is great! Then again, it was an old hollow-bodied Gibson, so it had to sound great." The other thing we both thought was that he was like Brooklyn's Conor Oberst. I think he wants to be Jordan Catalano. Matt chuckled when I said that. Nothing is quite the same as going to a show with my brother. Very few people can get my random obscure references or deal with my music snob mentality like he can. For instance, he's one of the only people to whom I could say "The one thing that bugged me about the last song was that the bassline sounded exactly like 'American Woman' and I could only think of that for the whole time" and have respond "The sad thing is, there's a million bands that do that." We are bastards. It's awesome. Just wait until his new band, Repercussions UK, is ready to take over the world. I know I am looking forward to it. I wish I could share with everybody the catchiest chorus/breakdown ever...but I think I should keep it secret for now. It's my brother's gift to the world and I can't take that away from him. But take it from me, it is killer! I guess that's all for now... I will go to bed humming the most anthemic chorus that will make no sense to anybody outside of the LI scene.

n.p. Versus - "Flax"