Out in the world

Things to do in your lifetime (A List)

Learn another language
Build your own home
Hold a baby chimpanzee
See the Northern lights
Go to a Tom Waits concert

Wait(s)! Scratch that last one OFF! I have seen the man and been illuminated by his sparkly bowler hat!

Mykle and I went to Texas for the sole purpose of seeing Tom Waits but also got to hang out with our good friends and meet other good friends. We got to meet one of our close friends' baby, and bike around humid artistic Austin, eating good food and keeping ourselves submerged up to our eyeballs in cool spring water.Thank you Chris and Brenda, and baby Sasha, and Annie and Holly, and all of their lovely friends whom we are the better for having met....

My report on Tom Waits.
by Kai Smart
His voice is of a much lower gravel than on his albums when he preforms, and he dances like the crazy drunk old men on the corner in the natty suits, brown-bagging it, and singing together in the afternoon. It's less of a dance and more of a jerky incantation. Waits stomps his big boots and puffs of white powder rise up like he is dancing in hell. he doesn't seem to favor any one album except Real Gone, off of which he plays "Hoist that Rag" "Dead and Lovely" "Trampled Rose" "Make it rain" and I forget...time for me to harness the poswer of the internet;
set list
Lucinda
Down in the Hole
Falling Down
November
Dead and Lovely
Lie to Me
Day After Tomorrow (everyone clapped during this, it's an anti-war song)
Hoist that Rag (his young son came out to play bongos)
Get Behind the Mule
Cemetary Polka
Trampled Rose
Jesus Gonna Be Here (My band covered this in Antarctica, badly yet soulfully)
Lucky Day (Tom on piano)
Tom Traubert’s Blues (Tom on piano)
House Where Nobody Lives (Tom on piano)
Innocent when you dream (Tom on piano) (I cried, Everyone cried...I cried some more)
Make it Rain
Murder in the Red Barn (done jazz style with a flamenco guitar opening)
Come on up to the House
Eyeball Kid
Dirt in the Ground (what a good way to end it)


I'm not sure if it is just my extensive knowledge of Tom's entire catalogue or what, but at the start of every song I was like, "Oh yay, he's gonna play THIS!!"
There was something on the little stage he was standing on that was written in arabic. Let's see if the internet knows what it is...

nope, oh well.

Anyhow, it was a great show, and when Tom took off his regular black derby and put on one encrusted with mirrors, TURNING HIS HEAD INTO A DISCO BALL, it was worth the commute. Ha ha.

feeling unreservedly sweet

This could be the bitter end. I know it won't.

I feel like I should go over to my brother's house. Funny enough, now that we live in the same town, I don't often see him. I started out as his connection to music, now he's mine. I've been happily revolving my favorite CDs for the last 6 months or so, but I fear getting too used to them.
Brother Jordan! What should I buy? What is the new thing? Give me a CD to devastate me........

Last 6 mo. Fav. CDs:

Silversun Pickups stay refreshingly not-boring AND put me in a killer yearning/self destructive sort of teenager mood.

Handsome Furs perfectly complement my empty countryside and nothingness-town ennui. And the Joy Division part of myself.

Andrew Bird produced a masterpiece, Armchair Apokrypha, which I am super wary of over-listening to, because it's on the ipod at work and we listen to music for 9 hours straight there.

The National's new album is rock for grownups, and very beautiful. The lead singer does not sound like a little boy, and that makes all the women instantly like it.

Patrick Wolf is my perennial art-boy crush and his new album is fucking awesome (and has Marianne Faithful on it).


I want new music I want all music.
I live in a house with two professional musicians and they almost NEVER listen to music at home. I listen to probably 97% of the music played in the house, but do to the aforementioned musicians annoying habit of making fun of all music that is played in the house, I listen to less and less, unless I sequester myself in the bedroom or studio.

I want to buy (on CD in my hot little hand):

The new Magnetic Fields
The new Bob Mould (I read a good review of it)
Vampire Weekend (possibly? The sound like afro-pop)
Lightning Seed (I read a good review of this too, They're from the Black Mountain family)
Cat Power's Jukebox
Something by Sage Francis (whenever he starts rapping on the ipod at work I'm like "woah this is awesome," and then I check and it's Mr. Francis being incredibly verbose AGAIN.)
23 by Blonde Redhead (why don't I have this already??)

more? Can YOU reccomend something? I have incredibly varied musical tastes. I even like goth and celtic (is that the same thing? Hmmmmm.) So try me.



I love this video because of the way she moved down to hip hop video level- crouching, walking towards the camera with her makeshift "posse" of bar denzins behind her, throwing up "signs". Also because it is so happy-golden-summer.

Cat Power- Lived in Bars
Starts off slow and sultry, ends joyfully.