7.05.2005

don't call the doctor, call the police

dear friends,

having spent the last few days meowing piteously because I had an allergic reaction to something (insect repellant? bat guano? florida itself?) & was covered in HIVES. HIVES! I looked like the freakin' THING & it wasn't pretty. luckily, the monkey seems to think I'm ok even when I'm a different color & my hands & feet are swollen & that's love, for REALS.

(complicated hand gestures to show how street I am & bring the above paragraph to a close)

1. go read contributor liz's post about pulp here. it explains exactly why a song should be listened to as opposed to writing "it's awesome!" repeatedly which is something I try to avoid. but sometimes I'm weak & can't spell & the awesomeness returns. I'm sorry.

2. ween offers delicious ways to brighten up the office atmosphere. my friend paige once made me a complicated & personal* ween mix which I like to listen to at work so that when my boss comes out & hands me pages & pages of sheets with names & numbers on them, he takes a moment to stop. listen. crack his ankles. & look very, very puzzled.

go seek it's gonna be a long night from their quebec cd. the kind of song that would be taken as a serious party anthem by rapists & killers. you might just think it's funny. I certainly do.

3. in an attempt to single out & shame our contributorship (always a GREAT idea), I would like to note that would-be contributor gregg has been promising to write about one of his favorite songs from a movie, a little ditty called cry little sister (thou shalt not...) from that california vampire classic, the lost boys. perhaps we can shame him into finally writing it. come on. you know you want to.

speaking of great movie songs & bringing it back to above's number 1, one of my favorites is like a friend by pulp written for the soundtrack to alfonso cuaron's great expectations. pulp's lead singer & lyricist, jarvis cocker, who has a tendency to sound so arch it hurts, actually seems shattered in this song. he lists all the things this particular friend is to him ("you are the habit I can't seem to kick/you are my secrets on the front page every week") with the resignation of a man who knows he'll still be blowing off others just to be near her. very pip/estella**. good work, mr. cocker.

4. a great number for the summer months is a tune called bug by vic chesnutt from an album called west of rome which really quite strong in general. like a pony almost***, that's how strong. chesnutt is a poet, a wastrel & a rueful scamp. these things are useful in singer/songwriters. plus he's got a voice that's quavery & damp; if kudzu could sing, it would be him. anywho, I've had this line from the song stuck in my head for the past two weeks, "when the buuuuug hits, that's the time to scratch it", then I scratch away & feel at peace. for five seconds. until it's time to scratch again.

5. dot allison's wishing stone is a dreamy acoustic early morning after doing some VERY BAD DRUGS. she repeats "you're bleeding faster" in a detached almost-whisper as the strums get stronger & a xylophone sounding synth line spins around your head until you throw up. no seriously, this is a good thing.

ah, fuck it. go listen to it. it's awesome, ok? awesome, awesome, awesome!

tons of work to catch up to.

love, d

songs to seek: it's gonna be a long night/ween, like a friend/pulp, bug/vic chesnutt, wishing stone/dot allison

* complicated because it had extensive liner notes WHICH I HAVE SINCE LOST. AH! so I don't know which song is which & personal because she is a true ween nut & a single artist mix compiled by a superfan is invaluable.

** characters in charles dickens' great expectations. look, I can't assume everyone's read it. I love boz, don't mean you do.

*** thank you eddie izzard for the pony reference. you make me laugh & provide me with nostalgic chuckles about stairways of death & boys being chased by sharky-sharkies. one day we shall have a drink & you will find me terribly dull & almost mute but I will still think of you fondly. like a capri sunset viewed from an outdoor cafe.

10 Comments:

Blogger liz o. said...

Thanks, D!
I don't know would-be contributor Gregg, but can I help encourage him into writing about "Cry Little Sister?" That song is, well, awesome! ;-)

5:18 PM, July 05, 2005  
Blogger d said...

ha! nice. I'll be sure to pass on the message.

6:33 PM, July 05, 2005  
Blogger Unknown said...

I have a bit of a difficult relationship with Ween. When I'm haning out with friends of mine who are Ween fans, I can enjoy listening to a few songs (my favorites include "Awesome Sound", "Don't Get To Close To My Fantasy", and "Strap On That Jammy Pack")...especially if we're, you know, not sober. I even bought The Pod, but every time I try to put some ween into the headphones, I always get bored and switch to something else. I feel like maybe I'm not appreciating it the right way.

I should get my pal Pete to weigh in on this, as he taught a class on Ween in college.

9:43 AM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger d said...

wow! a class on ween? that sounds fabulous. that leads me to ask if one could teach a class on a band/musician, who would it be? mine is easy - elvis costello.

10:22 AM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger therese said...

I cannot wait to read about "Cry Little Sister." I'd also like someone to explain the decision to use Echo & the Bunnymen's cover of "People Are Strange" instead of the Doors' original. What with that towering portrait of Jim Morrison in the vampire's lair and all that. But it was probably just some boring money thing.

My college stoner friends and I were always partial to GodWeenSatan. Any Jersey/Philly folks out there remember the days when Ween used to open almost every bill at City Gardens?

12:15 PM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger d said...

it was a boring money thing, t.

at least ian has a big morrison jones. they used to cover crystal ship a lot. I almost typed crystal shit. ha ha ha. I have revealed my love of bitchin' camaro.

12:28 PM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger therese said...

God, who doesn't love Bitchin' Camaro!

Donuts on your lawn,

Therese

12:54 PM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger Unknown said...

"I'm getting a new car, my folks are driving it up from the Bahamas."
"You're kidding!"
"I must be; the Bahamas are islands."

Anyway, the Ween class. We had these things called "Exco's" at school which were basically student-taught classes for which you got 1 credit (as opposed to 3 or 4 for a normal class) - you could apply five of them toward your degree, and in general, they were super-lax, though often extremely hard to get into. For instance, the Simpons Exco was more or less the hardest class to get into in the entire school. I taught one on Woody Allen one semester.

Instead of picking a band to teach an Exco on, I think I'd pick Dischord as a label. That would be a great class.

2:55 PM, July 06, 2005  
Blogger mary said...

I would like to teach an exco on the awesomeness of diorama as an art form. for example, the great expectations diorama I made in 4th grade, feat. a small cardboard pip leaning on a small cardboard grave as small cotton-ball clouds loomed ominously over his head.

my college would never've stood for that jazz.

I like dot allison but missed the ween boat entirely. hmm. wasn't ween a nerd-card prereq? how did I get away with that?

7:37 AM, July 07, 2005  
Blogger d said...

you're just not nerdy enough. work on that.

btw, did you keep the diorama?

10:43 AM, July 07, 2005  

Post a Comment

<< Home