Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Ok, so maybe...

MAYBE Plax was out of line, but really, Boston took it one step too far. From Big Blue Interactive:

The City of Boston is already planning a Super Bowl victory parade for Tuesday, February 5th.

Also, although it was just pulled by Amazon.com, you could have pre-ordered "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England’s Unbeatable Patriots" published by the Boston Globe. "If people go out and buy that book before (Sunday), they’re going to be pretty pissed off," said HB Brandon Jacobs.


So I think we're still ok?

In other news, big day in the political world, surely will have some brilliant polling analysis to pass along later today.

UPDATE: The Fix's take here.

And I don't even have time to get to THIS! Man... BIG day!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Also...

Maintaining Sanity

As expected, the primaries have sucked up the vast majority of my free time lately, but this week provided a welcome reprieve (thank you, collective secretaries of state, for not scheduling any primaries). I celebrated with a trek out to Virginia last night for some good old fashioned blues madness... North Mississippi Allstars live at the State.

It was a fantastic show, provided exactly the sort of let-loose outlet I needed. Though I will say that compared with the last time I saw them (way back in the dark ages when I lived in Jersey and saw them at the Bowery Ballroom, I think), this show, in a larger venue with a, um, less dedicated audience, wasn't quite as enjoyable. It got better once I worked my way to the front of the room towards the end of the show, but, lesson learned: NMA are not a band best enjoyed while leaning on the bar. For those unfamiliar, a few clips follow.

  • I've been to shows before where it felt like every guy in the room had been dragged there by their girlfriend (exhibit A, John Mayer at Kahunaville in Delaware, where after a few G&Ts, I actually started asking guys whether they were there voluntarily and found my theory to be pretty darn good), but this show felt like the opposite: every girl in the room had been dragged out by their b.f. Probably because a good portion of the show is spent like this.
  • As that last clip demonstrated, Luther Dickinson's pretty effin' good! In fact, he was named one of the 20 new "guitar Gods" by Rolling Stone last year. The article's not online, but here's a helpful blog post including clips from the entire pantheon.
  • Their recorded stuff isn't as satisfying as their live performance, so if you're building a new NMA collection, definitely start with Hill Country Revue, recorded live at Bonaroo, or Keep on Marchin'.
  • And because it's awesome, here's Cody Dickinson on the electric washboard. Um, sideways. Happy listening!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

New Year, Resolved

2008 is off to a somewhat rocky start for this blogger. I spent the first 48 hours of the new year (plus the last three of 2007) under the influence of heavy doses of cold medicine. For two days I slept, surrounded by unpacked luggage, discarded tissues and the detrius of a month of working too much. As you surely understand, once I was out of the NyQuil fog (and had survived a caucus or two), I had to clean up before I could even begin to blog (sorry, dear readers), but now that it's all done and I've even managed to cook myself a couple of real meals, I'm here. I'm pumped. And I'm ready to blog.

Ended 2007 with one of the coolest things I've ever done: attended the Giants-Pats game and had incredible seats which have surely ruined me, for I will never have seats that good ever again. My favorite picutres are below. First, Tom Brady gazing lovingly at me in the stands.



Second, Eli Manning, living up to his surname and manning up:



The game was amazing, would've been more amazing if we'd have won, but it was damn cool either way.

Since then, I haven't quite achieved that level of cool again, but I have managed to get a byline, which hopefully has not yet gone stale by the time you read this, and do a podcast in which I sound remarkably unlike a person getting over a cold (check out Saturday's Post Politics Podcast if you're interested, if I could find a link, I'd include it, but the best advice I have is to find it on iTunes. Apologies.).

I've also uploaded the whole Christmas bounty of shiny new CDs to my iPod, and have a new offering for song of the day!! Woo-hoo!! Not selected randomly at all but instead with the utmost care and attention, Josh Ritter's Empty Hearts. The album from which it comes, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, is hands down my favorite of 2007. It's BRILLIANT. Massive apologies to Aaron for not taking his advice on this one sooner. Feel like a complete moron, I mean, I could have had the words memorized by now, dammit! Words that include:

"There's a friend that I have, and for her I'll go back. You see all of these empties that I'm holding? They're too much for a man, empty arms, empty hands. And she'll know me by the sound of my hoping. Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart, with an empty heart."


Anyway, here's the clip:



I love it. Check him out, buy the CD, don't be like me and waste four months. I'm off to get some pre-New Hampshire rest. And contemplate spending ridiculous amounts of money on a TV. Anyone with advice on HD sets between 40 and 46 inches, do drop a note in la comments... later taters.

Newslink o' the day: Giant Step (what, you were expecting something political?)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Lemony Goodness

The Lemonheads were fantastic! They still sound good, they played all the stuff that drove me to buy a ticket in the first place (Into Your Arms AND The Outdoor Type and It's a Shame About Ray), and I left feeling nostaligic for the early '90s. Particularly after sitting through an opening band that sounded like just another Blink 182 clone. And to paraphrase David Lowery, what the world needs now is another Blink 182 like I need a hole in my head. What more could I ask for?

Unfortunately, it turns out my new cellie isn't so good at pictures in concert venues, so I don't have any good shots to post. Next time, I will be armed with a real camera.

In song-of-the-day news, I've got one stuck in my head, The Band's "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down." Probably becuase I heard it twice yesterday. Turns out I have two versions in my iPod (turned shuffle off for a mo), the Band's Last Waltz rendition and a Black Crowes live cover from Freak n' Roll. As much as I love the Crowes, the Band's version kind of wins. Since hearing it, I went looking for more info, and I found this article quoting Robbie Robertson on how he came to write the song. And lame though it may be, I definitely relate to his reaction to Southerners. Living in Lex for four years was quite the experience.

Our lyric:

"Like my father before me, I will work the land/Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand/He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave/I swear by the mud below my feet, you can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat."

Our song:



And our article of the day comes via The Fix, because if anyone can figure this puzzle out, it's him.

Enjoy your Fridays, y'all!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Back by popular demand...

Well friends... despite being a writer of such immense talent that I consistently land on page A18, I'm coming back to the Lunchbox.

And with new and improved spiffier content! Since I am once again the owner of a functioning iPod which accompanies me on most of my adventures through our fair city, I'll be posting a lyric of the day culled from one of the songs that randomly played for me. Find today's below.

I will also try my best to give you my favorite news item of the day, with a bit of an admitted bias.

In the holiday spirit, today's lyric comes from Green Day's punk bitchfest, Nice Guys Finish Last. As Billie Joe said, "I'm so fuckin' happy I could cry." Ah, I love Christmas.

Tonight, I'm checking out the Lemonheads at the Black Cat, and am keeping my fingers crossed for this one:



Will post pictures/notes tomorrow. Ciao bellas!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Basking in the Glow of Eggers-ness

Yesterday was an excellent day in Deuce-land. Not only has the weather been fall-perfect for a full four days, and not only has crushdom been going quite well, but yesterday, I left my cubicle, ventured out through that glorious fall sunshine into one of the greatest bookstores known to man and met Dave Eggers, also known as my favorite author (itty bitty caveat... favorite living author, there might be a few dead folk to challenge said title. I dunno... Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Emerson, but among the living this is IT).

He was funny and smart, gracious and enlightening, and never far from tragedy (he was talking about the southern Sudanese, after all). Reading What is the What, it's difficult not to feel it deeply, and seeing pictures of Valentino, of Marial Bai and his family and friends (particularly a picture of a woman named Ashol and her children with a bit of her story that wasn't in the book) it's jaw-dropping. I certainly can't say any of it better than Eggers does, so please please please go read the book. It's out in paperback now (so it's cheap AND portable! what could go wrong?), it'll change your life. Also, if you're my friend, you might be getting a copy for Christmas. :)

I'm still a geek though, and still overjoyed that I got to meet him and talk to him (and that I can now stare at his autograph anytime I want). The man can make words (and little pictures of staplers and illustrations of whales surfacing) dance, and spends so much of his life trying to share that joy. It's inspiring and incredible, and I'm so glad I got a chance to say thanks!

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Taxicab Confessions

Yesterday, I had what ranks as one of the most obnoxious cab experiences ever. I'm usually not the type to complain about cabbies unless they don't know where they're going (a frequent problem among drivers in the DC region, particularly for me since the only destination they seem to be familiar with in Georgetown is the corner of M and Wisconsin. It's a grid people, how hard can it be to find any intersection between a letter and a number?). The cab ride in question combined the joys of a directionally challenged driver with the worst radio selection ever.

Returning from Crystal City via public transportation in the early morning is a dicey proposition on any day, on the weekends, a taxi is the only option. At 6:45 a.m., I set out for the taxi stand in front of the Marriot, pleased to find a long line of cabs waiting for travelers such as myself. I am dismayed to find that there is no driver in the first cab. Turns out, he went inside for some Starbucks, and when he returned, seemed genuinely annoyed that I was interrupting his breakfast. Perhaps next time, he shouldn't attempt to enjoy breakfast while parked at a taxi stand.

In any case, I told him I was going to Georgetown, that at this time of day, either the Memorial Bridge or Key Bridge would work (my first mistake, I should always ask for the Memorial since it's faster and doesn't require overshooting my destination by several congested blocks). But overall, we're cool so far.

Then he starts the car, and the radio comes on. As in most cabs, it's tuned to talk radio. But not the interesting talk radio you normally find in DC cabs. Some are tuned to WAMU, and a little NPR never hurt anyone. Others choose stations catering to speakers of their native language. Those are my favorite cab rides. I love listening to the cadence and unique tones of foreign languages, maybe it's weird, although, so am I. But apparently, I am not as weird as this cabbie, who had the radio tuned to a station playing a radio infomercial. Not just any radio infomercial, but one for Dual-Action Colon Cleanse.

Now, if you've never heard of this product, I imagine you can surmise its purpose from its name. But if not, here's the gist of it. The infomercial consisted largely of the inventor of this product talking about how he noticed that when his infant daughter took a dump, it was the size of her arm but, being a six-foot-tall person, his weren't nearly as large proportionally. Which led him to wonder what was wrong with his digestive system. He then discovered that there could be as much as 20 pounds of leftover shit in his intestines which prompted him to develop this product in order to produce turds as large as his arm.

And I hadn't even had any coffee yet!

Cabbie did not change the station the entire trip. Which involved the long route including not only the Key Bridge, but the trip up 33rd street that causes the drive to add to the aforementioned overshooting of 29th street with an overshooting of Q street as well (since it's split up and the side of the street west of Wisconsin Ave. lies further north than the other half). And then, when he got to Q Street, he wasn't even sure which way to turn and argued with me that the clearly two-way street was actually a one-way.

On the plus side, the cab had a meter, so at least I knew exactly how much I was overcharged for the extra-long cab ride plus commentary on extra-long turds. Argh.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's football season folks! Hooray fall!

Here's your good news of the day, and possibly my favorite news story ever.

And this is, of course, the best news story of the day (and the reason I was in a cab at 6:45 a.m.). Quick, alert the Pulitzer judges...