At this moment...
08.31.08
Forgot to mention that Zerostars received a nice review from the Illinois Entertainer:
"Belle & Sebastian fans will instantly fall in love with Zerostars, whose Basement Stories is a glittering collection of magical pop moments. Sweet-ly twee, with acerbic observations that make the honeysuckle melodies lusciously bittersweet, "I Put My Foot Down" and "Johnny" ring with memorable hooks and pitch-perfect vocals. "Dad's Dress" plays on the genre staple of sexual androgyny backed with luminous guitar sparkle and tumbling drums."
I just wish we could get a few more reviews.
08.30.08
As summer draws to a close...
I'm happy that August is drawing to a close. I've never been a big fan of August as not a lot of good ever seems to come from it.
08.28.08
08.27.08
Nothing stellar, just digging around.
08.24.08
On the right side of the page I added a link to What I'm listening to. I used to catalog every album that I listened to on a daily basis. Now technology can do that task for me. Last.fm pulls in a feed from iTunes and published it for all to see.
08.23.08
Unlike last weekend I was able to take my bicycle on the train to the city. The only thing that was slightly obnoxious was all the people heading down to the baseball game. At one point I looked up and saw a guy chugging a beer and this was at 9:30 in the morning.
Once again, KK destroyed me at Scrabble. Things were pretty close up until she put down the word "showed" and managed to receive a triple word score of 39 points. From there on out I was playing catch-up. I'll win one of these days.
We began our match outside on the roof, but had to return inside when it started to drizzle.
After losing to KK I went and rode my bike along the lakefront. It was a great ride, but I really enjoyed riding down Madison on my way back to the train station.
08.22.08
A big thanks to JM for sending me all the old photos, artwork and select tracks from all the bands that we have been in together over the past 18 or so years. Tonight I added artwork, additional photos and select songs (which you can download) to the my musical history page . I highly reccommend giving all the songs a listen. Make sure to listen to them in chronological order, starting with the Bermans & Arrival songs. I still think Just For the Day off of Lilac She Said to be a beautifully epic song. While This New Placebo showcases the direction that The Holiday Costume was heading just as we were falling apart. It's probably the prettiest song that we ever wrote and one of my favorite bass lines. Oh nostalgia...
On an unrelated note... When I got home after work I was so unmotivated, but at about twenty to eight tonight I decided to throw on my running shoes and go for a run. It felt great. These past few weeks I've been doing short, three mile runs but I've been running them fast and usually in under 23 minutes. At least that's fast for me. A few nights back I even pulled off a sub-seven minute mile.
08.21.08
The other day JM mentioned that DW was thinking about organizing a 10 year reunion of The Holiday Costume. I have my doubts as to whether or not it'll materialize, but I told JM that I'd be up for learning the old songs and playing a show as long as I didn't have to actually organize anything. Although, it wouldn't be a 10 year reunion since we broke up in 2001, but I suppose we formed the band in 1997. However, the classic lineup with DW on guitars wasn't until 1998. Either way, it got me thinking about history. Jason sent me a bunch of old photos from the bands the we have played in since 1989.
I created a timeline/history of my musical life (really, it is our musical history). You can view it here. Ideally I'd like to also get my hands on some old performances and post them. It would even be a lot of fun to put together a documentary, but I can be kind of lazy sometimes, so that might never happen. Oh well, I hope you enjoy this little trip back in time.
08.20.08
08.17.08
From yesterday...
Yesterday I attempted to take my bike into the city via the train. I had big plans of cycling everywhere and taking photos. However, when the train pulled into the station I was told that because of the air and water show bicycles were not allowed on the train. That really sucked.
While out running the other night I started to think about the last cicada of the summer season, calling out its song but not getting a response.
08.10.08
Kk.com sure knows how to cheer me up... After taking the Metra down to the city and catching a water taxi over to Michigan Ave., I met up with KK. She took me to the Aon building and we went up to the 79th floor for a small photo session.
Then we went off to Reckless where I bought David Bowie's Live, Santa Monica '72. Bowie always cheers me up as well.
From yesterday's Cubs vs. Cardinals game. Sadly the Cubs were destroyed... (I still think my Canon EF 24mm f1.4 to be the best lens that I've bought to date.)
More photos are available here.
Listening to:
Paris 1919 - John Cale ("You're a ghost la la la / You're a ghost...")
08.09.08
From Sputnik Sweetheart:
"I turned faceup on the slab of stone, gazed at the sky, and thought about all the man-made satellites spinning around the earth. The horizon was still etched in a faint glow, and stars began to blink on in the deep, wine-colored sky. I gazed among them for the light of a satellite, but it was still to bright out to spot one with the naked eye. The sprinkling of stars looked nailed to the spot, unmoving. I closed my eyes and listened carefully for the descendants of Sputnik, even now circling the earth, gravity their only tie to the planet. Lonely metal souls in the unimpeded darkness of space, they meet, pass each other, and part to never meet again. No words passing between them. No promises to keep.
Song:
Maybe Someday - Richard Butler (Really I suppose the entire album could sum up so much.)
08.07.08
08.02.06
