It picked the pigeon out of the air? Wow.

I've seen portions of skirmishes from a distance, among smaller birds, but even that is like, "Huhuhuh, nature's cool."

The Turkey Shoot. We talked about Beck.

Jeebus, that was you? You sounded completely reasonable, and I agreed with what you said.



That's almost frightening.

Were you introduced as Vivian Darkbloom?!!

Nah, I used my real life alter ego.

before i went to bed, i had a nice glass of juice. then at about 3 am i woke up in a weird sweat, craving more juice. i satiated that need and returned to bed.


it was very strange.

I've found a somewhat generic but equal equivalent to Quaker Oat Squares. My shit is sTokeD!

Take a knee, Skinny - what you need to do is use your skateboard to roll over to Trader Vics, see? Then you shoplift a box of Trader Joe's 'Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars'. You're welcome.

Christmas songs are weird.

Like "Santa Claus is coming to town."


He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

For goodness sake? BULLSHIT. This song instructs children to keep in line because they are being constantly monitored in a neverending Panopticon of Santan surveillance.

Panopticon. You like the metal, Vivian - this is full of vegetable rights & peace.

Things are too serious lately. I really need some good laughs; real shits and grins......I already saw Chris Rock's latest presentation on HBO....puhleese, is there anything really funny out there....not just dopey cartoons and movies that only someone with the brains of a dead armadillo would find humorous? I hope I am not being taken in a condescending way, but it's the shits in the news.....Chambliss won, Franken isn't going to win...

and all hell broke loose in India and Pakistan and then, of all things, "the super sad news about the Plax",.....these are too much to take in one week!!

i would..but you know my history with health bars.

i still wake up shivering at night just at the though of that mummified baby wiener.

Dear Tracy Jordan

The TV I got my hub for Xmas arrived. The tape was broken on the box. Now I'm not sure if I should take the whole thing apart and make sure it works, or leave it alone and hope for the best.

*bummer*

Oh, yeah - I forgot about that. You ever get paid for that? What're you going to blow your Brewster's millions on? You own one of those talking wall mounted fishes yet? The ones that sing, "Don't worry be happy now"? They whistle, too? You need one of those.

please expound


i see you over on the music side a little more lately... is Alan rounding his corners?

You threatening me? I'll bust your upper lip only with a roundhouse kick from the traditional horse stance. I don't need 'rounding' - I put the 'analwithahotmodel' in 'renaissance'.

what is a plax

we don't live in a universe, we live in a multiverse.

Trader joes baby Trader Joes. they are called shredded oats of all things. I know, the name is deceiving but they are cut from the same beautiful die as the old Quaker brand. they are cheaper AND the box is bigger.

nuff said

It's really not. You should also say, "Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-dah kicker of elves"

Yeah, Isis is about as metal as Belle and Sebastian. Drone metal is mostly for wankers and vegans. I was referring to the Foucauldian concept.

Main Entry: Fou·caul·di·an
Pronunciation: \fü-ˈkō-dē-ən\
Variant(s): also Fou·cault·ian \-ˈkō-ē-ən\
Function: adjective - of, relating to, or characteristic of the philosophy of Michel Foucault

Which begs the question...what the hell is a structuralist? Leave it to the French to paste a 'post-' on something & insist it's important, right?

And Belle & Sebastian are punk & disorderly! And the cover of Tiger Milk? C'mon - Scottish boobs? So creamy. And that other chick keeps cutting records with Mark Lanegan - I heard 'Nearly Lost You' thundering out of a passing car on the way to the subway yesterday.

I really want to unwrap Alan's Xmas present.

i got a black eye and a screaming trees show.


i know right?

It's the latest gift for Xmas this year.....it's a new super power toothbrush that comes with a trigger that cocks itself right at your gums, but if it doesn't work, it blasts a hole in your buccal mucosa (lining of mouth) and you bleed like a pig.......that being said, wait until the recall, when a new version is released with a chip in the brain that works and comes with a money-back guarantee!!!!!!!

Also, the new one doesn't require a friend be close by for proper use, nor will it work if wine is being held in the opposing hand......






the other kind of plax...

Going someplace for a long weekend, just not sure where we should go or our able to get to. Hopefully someplace warm for a few days.

we're tossing around this idea too rob.

I'd settle for a weekend at the Borgata in A.C. about now, speaking for myself about vacations....

My b.p. was just 117/100......gotta take a Catapres break......such is life.....*getting old ain't for wusses"...dammittall!!!

I'm actually going this weekend.
I'm looking at weekend temps in US cities. About as good as it gets is mid 70's. No way we can get to Florida. Flights are too filled. Maybe San Antonio. Never been and hear it looks mighty fine come Christmas time.

San Fran's a possibility as well. You hear that Senor?!

I'm Jewish - my tribe doesn't celebrate that reason for the season. Nah, I'm not Jewish - I'm just kidding. I have a Jewish uncle, though - he lives in Florida now and makes crafts and shit...walking sticks with precious metals & gems in the handle. Hell of an amateur photographer, this guy...I once cracked the windshield of his Audi with a penny.

I'm detecting a note of sarcasm.



Huh.

i swear to god im losing my head.

Puerto Rico is awesome, I was there in September. It's lovely. It's about a 4 1/2 hour flight from here, so keep that in mind. If you go, you MUST go to El Yunque, the rainforest near San Juan.

Rob- Would be awesoem if you made it out Californi-way. We could hook up for beer and some Clientele records.

It's kind of nasty chilly here lately, though, in all honesty. Super foggy and creepy atmosphere throughout the Bay Area for the past week.

I'm pretty sure that guy on the back is smelling his own fart.
I can recognize that expression miles away.

this was my first thought

El Yunque is amazing and the best part is that you can drive up into it very easily and then do short little hikes to all the cool spots like that waterfall above.

Skinny, don't go to Puerto Rico unless you can get to Culebra for a few days. it was the best part of our PR trip. San Juan gets a little old after a few days.

The Challenge:
My brother G and I selected 15 tracks that we thought our Mother would enjoy during our Thanksgiving road trip. Our brother A compiled and randomized the songs, replacing any duplicate selections with a track of his choosing. Mom graded each song on a scale of 0 to 5 (including half points). Highest total score wins. My mother likes Barry Manilow, Neal Diamond, The Beatles and Motown. She does not like things she describes as "quirky"

The Songs:
Mom's score follows each song title. G or K indicates selection. Running score totals are provided, along with number of tracks scored. Mom's comments are provided below each song.
G (left justified)

1. Skinny Love - Bon Iver - 3 (G=3/1)
"I enjoyed the music more than the words (later: it sounded like guys trying to sing too high)."



3. As Tall as Cliffs - Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos - 3.5 (G=6.5/2)
"we haven't gotten to the very last note yet...i didn't like the end, the very end"



6. Another Day - Jamie Lidell - 5 (G=11.5/3)
"That was my favorite song so far. I understood the words and I liked the musicality (that's a big word on Dancing With The Stars)"

7. Not on my Side - Cameron Mcgill - 3 (G=14.5/4)
"Too folk-songish."



10. Buildings & Mountains - The Republic Tigers - 3.5 (G=18/5)
"I was going to give it a 4, but the instrumentality at the beginning and end went on too long."







15. Always a Friend - Alejandro Escovedo - 5 (G=23/6)
"I liked that song...it reminded me of Huey Lewis and the News"



17. You Came Around - Nico Stai - 3.5 (G=26.5/7)
Mom: "3.5"
G: "It's not over yet."
Mom: "oh"..."Yes, 3.5. Here's what I say: if they're playing it live, people will start clapping because they think the song is over."
Dad: "The music was louder than the words." (a brief discussion/argument about bass/treble levels followed)



19. Hitten - Those Dancing Days - 3 (G=29.5/8)
"Umm, 3. It had a good beat, you could dance to it." [a car from hawaii almost caused 2 accidents during this song]

Intermission: Mom: "I generally prefer songs by guys, and not a lot of pre and post instrumental."

20. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She and Him - 5 (G=34.5/9)
"I liked that song (I know I just contradicted myself)"



22. Walking on a Dream - Empire of The Sun - 2.5 (G=37/10)
At the start of the song: K: "whoa" G: "Yeah, I'm not sure how this is gonna do."
...
Mom: "2.5"
G: "Better than I thought!"



25. Would You - Richard Swift - 5 (G=42/11)
Dad: "I knew she'd like that song." Mom: "It sounded like Little Anthony and the Imperials."



27. Born to be Your Man - Birdmonster - 3 (G=45/12)
"Easy to understand the words, but I heard something about blood and when your uncle died."

28. I Stand Corrected - Vampire Weekend - 3 (G=48/13)
"I say 3"



30. Neverending Math Equation- Sun Kil Moon - 3.5 (G=51.5/14)
"Better than some, not as good as others."

Final Score (14 songs counted for each):
G - 51.5 total - 3.68 average
K - 45 total - 3.21 average

G wins for the second year in a row...I pretty much got destroyed.

Recap:
Songs with that "Motown" sound generally score very well (see: Jamie Lidell, Jonathan Richman, & Richard Swift). We have also learned that Mom prefers: male vocals, intelligible lyrics, shorter & less instrumental songs, and a general lack of dissonance.

Both G and I took more risks than last year, with varying results (but more fun!). My stubborn love for Bodies of Water didn't do me any favors, although there was a track mixup involved, and I was only supposed to have one of their tracks on my selections. My fault, but it wouldn't have made a difference. G put Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream" on the mix for a laugh, fully expecting it to score a 2 or below, we were pleasantly surprised with the 2.5 it received.
I seriously expected higher scores out of Raphael Saadiq, Neko Case, Flight of the Conchords, Mates of State & Fleet Foxes. Oh well, 0/2...and another year we didn't have to listen to my mom's music for 3 hours.

i'm headed down to Miami to go to Art Basel as part of my topics in contemporary art class, and i just found out Jad Fair, C. Spencer Yeh, and Prurient are playing a free show. my new goal for the weekend is to get as many people in my class really drunk and/or high and convince them they would love this show. should be a good time

Haha, nice job kmac, but you got another tough break. Your mom is dropping lots of hints for next year's competition. Use them to your advantage!

Maybe you guys need to let your dad participate next year as well--he has to listen too, after all. Unless you think their dueling scores would influence one another somehow...Pretty sure I couldn't sit through 3 hours of (presumably) mellow indie music myself--nor Neil Diamond & Barry Manilow. 3 hours of Motown/Beatles might be doable though.

Highlights for this reader. And your ma wasn't that far off with the Dylan remark - that's off the Guthrie tribute record, right? I'd think everybody would love that Neko Case song...

All of my pages shortened and all of the responses are in short form at the bottom, making it very difficult to follow a thread. Did I hit something wrong? Or is it like this for everyone now?