“hello to you hello to me
yeah i really care
i’ll see you all around sometime
i hope that i’m not there
today’s news is yesterday’s news
you don’t remember you forget
that’s the way the stories all go”

Here I am sitting at my desk thinking about what to pontificate about when it dawned on me. Since I listen to music just about every chance I can (which seems to be all the time), I should talk about a song that’s got me all doe-eyed at the present time. Right now, that song would be Goodbye by the one and only Psychedelic Furs. Easily one of my top five favourite songs from an all-time great band.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is about this song that makes me swoon. The saxophone? The perfect unison between Tim Butler’s bass and Vince Ely’s drumming? Richard Butler’s Bowie/Rotten lovechild-esque vocals are always a given so that element doesn’t count. Maybe it’s simply the way simply comes together to form an underrated new wave classic. What’s more Goodbye follows the seminal 80s classic Love My Way on what is my favourite Furs record, the Todd Rundgren-produced Forever Now. What better way to follow up such a timeless single than with an absolute stomper such as this?

I think I’m going to listen to this again…

“Goodbye (Dance Mix)”, taken from the Columbia release, “Here Came The Psychedelic Furs”

Wait, some of you might be thinking. Who is Robin Tunney?

Robin Tunney; image courtesy of tvdramas.about.com

I think Tunney was slated to be a star when she started cropping up in movies in the 1990s. While stardom didn’t happen for her, she’s had steady work, currently starring on The Mentalist, a CBS procedural. She was supposed to co-write a book on feminism with her friend Liz Phair, with whom she worked on the movie Cherish. I’m still waiting for that last one.

For many in my age group, we know her from back-to-back appearances in Empire Records and The Craft. As both movies were slumber party staples in my friend group, featured teen girl characters, and were accompanied by popular soundtracks, I knew I’d need to revisit them.

Empire Records came out in 1995 and developed a bit of a cult following, despite poor reviews and a dismal box office performance. It also instilled a personal desire to work at a record store, particularly an indie fighting to stay that way. At 13, it looked so cool and fun to “work” all day at such a place with hip teens and twentysomethings.

Well, maybe not them specifically, as the characters in Empire Records aren’t believeable as people so much as underwritten Generation X versions of cool kids dreamt up by a team of movie executives: there’s Joe, the anti-establishment boomer-era owner (Anthony LaPaglia); Lucas, the Zen-like hipster (Rory Cochrane); A.J., the sensitive artist in love with the unattainable Corey (Johnny Whitworth); Corey, the wholesome speed freak perfectionist (Liv Tyler); Gina, Corey’s slutty best friend who wants to be in a band (Renée Zellweger); Mark, the stoner (Ethan Embry); Berko, the rocker who clocks in between gigs (Coyote Shivers, who was married to Tyler’s legendary mother Bebe Buell at the time); and Debra, the rebel girl accountant who shaves her head after attempting suicide (Tunney).

Oh, they are so selling out; image courtesy of chartrigger.blogspot.com

The writing is the movie’s biggest problem, though I’ll never understand why casting directors thought someone as boring as Tyler would ever be a huge star (I’d ask this question again later in the decade when Katie Holmes started landing movie roles). The motivations of the characters, though meant to be read as young and madcap, are childish and inconsistent. The boys pine after girls, eat pizza, get high, and glue quarters to the floor. The girls pine after has-been teen idols doing in-stores, alternate between loving and hating each other, and get together with the boys who pine after them. Both sexes deliver such profound lines like “If I can love her in that skirt, than this must really be it” and “I went to rock and roll heaven, and I wasn’t on the guest list.”

That second line is the answer given to a question about bandaged wrists. It’s delivered to withering effect by Debra, potentially the movie’s most interesting character. She’s not glamourous like her female co-workers or sophomoric like her male colleagues. She also seems to have gone through real pain, deeper than the surface angst used to promote OK Soda and perhaps closer to the actual pain brought on by parental neglect and low self-esteem. In the early 1990s, these and other issues were particularly relevant to young girls, some of whom would form or discover riot grrl and queercore and develop their own queer and/or feminist identities. We only get a sense of Debra’s absent mother, resistent intellect, boredom with men, feelings of inadequacy, and the hope for something better.

Note: I’d recommend watching director Allan Moyle’s far-superior Times Square. Rest assured that the tale of two girl runaways falling in love amidst downtown New York’s early-80s squalor will get its due on this blog.   

It’s weird that slashed wrists bridge Tunney’s two major performances to date. Clearly suicide, perhaps most unfortunately personified by Kurt Cobain, was on young people’s minds at the time. I’d hedge that this has more to do with class frustration, racial injustice, conflicted feelings about sexual orientation, coming out to unsupportive families and communities, dysfunctional home lives, and a lack of any real support system. I’d also add that it’s an on-going problem.

Absent mothers also connect Debra and Sarah, the latter of whom lost her mother during childbirth. As The Craft was originally pitched as “Carrie meets Clueless,” it seems necessary to point out that these movies feature girls with compromised mother-daughter relationships. Carrie’s mother is a crazed witch. Cher Horowitz, like so many other fairytale heroines before her, lost her mother at an early age and has only an idealized memory of her. Sarah has similar baggage, along with the additional burden of being responsible for her mother’s death. Oh, and carrying on the ability to perform witchcraft. That’s a hell of a lot for any teenage girl to shoulder, especially when she’s moving to Los Angeles with her family.     

A heartening aspect of The Craft , no doubt motivated by how successful Clueless was, is the presence of girlfriends. Sarah meets shy Bonnie (played by Neve Campbell) and becomes friends with a trio of Goth girls. Two other movies came out in 1996 that focused on girl gangs – Girls Town and Foxfire. For a more nuanced analysis of these two movies and their depictions of homosociality and developing feminist politics, I highly recommend checking out my friend Kristen’s thesis Revenge, Girl Style. 

The Craft entertains the progressive potential of girl friendship, particularly for outcasts. There are also hints at the queer possibilities of homosocial bonding and witchcraft. It even contains racially charged moments, particularly when Rochelle (played by Rachel True), the coven’s lone African American member, casts a spell on Laura Lizzie (Christine Taylor), a popular blonde who is on the swim team with her. After enduring Lizzie’s racist comments about her hair, Rochelle turns her bald, thus rebelling against normative, white-centric notions of feminine beauty. 

But these suggestions are sidelined. Because what the movie is really about is the battle between Tunney’s kind-hearted Sarah and Fairuza Balk’s destructive ringleader Nancy, who is jealous of her frenemy’s natural aptitude for witchcraft. It should also be noted that Nancy is working-class and coded as queer. The movie makes a considerable effort to undo her queerness, putting men in between her and Sarah, whether they be ex-boyfriends or Manon, the supernatural male figure that the girls worship. The movie ends with Nancy trying to kill Sarah, resulting in a showdown that tears the group apart, causes Sarah to move, and leads to Nancy being institutionalized. The final shot is of Nancy in a straight-jacket trying to fly out of a padded cell. The movie’s message: we are the weirdos, mister. Just don’t expect us to stay friends or keep a hold of our sanity. So much for sisterhood.

Nancy's farewell; image courtesy of channel4.com

Sisterhood is often lacking in movies, but is emphasized to market teen movies, if only to tap in to the girl market. But much of this was eclipsed in story development to make way for more lucrative prospects, none more pronounced at the time than the soundtrack. A considerable number of American teen movies in the 1990s featured a soundtrack, many boasting songs by alternative rock artists. Unlike The Craft and Empire Records, and more in line with All Over Me, Girls Town and Foxfire paid particular attention toward showcasing female artists, particularly those closely associated with hip hop and the then-waning riot grrrl movement. Scholars like Jeff Smith and Mary Celeste Kearney have addressed this in their work, theorizing that the soundtrack served as a way to cultivate potential audience markets and a source of textual identification for fans.

While female artists are present on the soundtracks to Empire Records and The Craft, they’re not the focus, perhaps out of fear of alienating a broader audience. This might further explain why The Craft soundtrack features covers of popular songs from lesser-known acts. Our Lady Peace contributes a version of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Heather Nova covers Peter Gabriel’s “I Have the Touch,” and Letters To Cleo take on The Cars’ “Dangerous Type,” a tactic they’d repeat when covering Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” for 10 Things I Hate About You at the end of the decade. And let’s not forget the double-nostalgia of former Psychelic Furs’ front man Richard Butler covering The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now” with his post-Furs project Love Spit Love. 

Cover to "The Craft" soundtrack (Sony, 1996); image courtesy of thesoundtracktoyourlife.co.uk

A major problem both of these movies share, and is evident in other titles of this period and in the Brat Pack movies of the 1980s, is the need to broadly define its characters as members of a generation, rather than as complex young people with particular problems oftentimes informed by their identities. And while ennui and an ironic fluency in popular culture were markers for Gen X, these young adults were more than just sneering (white) kids in flannel, combat boots, and barettes. At least off-camera.

Oftentimes, they were frustrated by how little high school and a liberal arts education could get them in a job market, particularly during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the economy had yet to recover from the 1987 market crash. They were annoyed at the shrine their parents built to the 1960s, as it was clear just how empty and hollow their promises of revolution were. In some ways, they were no different than people my age or boomer hipster Paul Kinsey on Mad Men, turning to interesting records, movies, books, and TV shows, but knowing they wouldn’t make them any happier, politically mobile, or economically viable.

Michael Gladis as Paul Kinsey, proving the every generation has its hipster; image courtesy of readingunderthecovers.blogspot.com

Some of these people formed bands, often annointed with glossy but unremarkable one-word monikers: Sponge, Drill, Lustre, Cracker, Elastica, Spacehog, Dig, Hole, Belly, Hum, Bush, Toadies, Oasis . . . In a particularly cruel example of market imperative, many of these bands broke up or were without major label record deals by the end of the decade.

I still have Elastica's debut album!; image courtesy of forgottenfavorite.com

But it’s hard to convey all of this in a 90-minute movie, especially one that hopes to cash in on the wages of the very demographic these popcorn flicks were hoping to represent. Some did a decent job of conveying this generation’s ambivalence, particularly indies like Kicking and Screaming. I’d also add that Reality Bites highlights these problems, even pointing out the crass ways in which corporate America capitalizes on the very market its created. While I wish Winona Ryder’s filmmaker character Lalaina didn’t end up with Ethan Hawke’s slacker Troy, I understand why she can’t be with Michael (played by director Ben Stiller), who works for an MTV-type network that makes worm’s meat out of her documentary about her friends. 

Richard Linklater’s second feature, Dazed and Confused, did a considerable job at suggesting that Generation X inherited their sense of slacker frustration (and detached nostalgia for Schoolhouse Rock and The Brady Bunch) from their parents. That Linklater cast a bunch of twentysomething unknowns like Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, and Marisa Ribisi to essentially play the teenagers and young adults who would become their parents may strengthen Robin Wood’s argument that Dazed is a horror film. 

Some television shows also did a good job articulating the nuances of the slacker era. I’d offer up British programs like Spaced, along with MTV’s Daria and ABC’s My So-Called Life. The latter featured an angsty girl protagonist, complex teenage characters, depicted boomer parents being just as clueless and angsty as their brood, and created an immortal stoner heartthrob named Jordan Catalano (played by Jared Leto), whose band Frozen Embryos changed their name at the end of the series to perhaps the most perfect of Gen X band names: Residue.

Angela Chase (Claire Danes) with the object of her affection; image courtesy of thefbomb.org

But it’s always different for girls, and unfortunate that Tunney and many of the actresses of her generation were not given the consideration they deserved (though I love that Austin Chronicle writer Margaret Moser fancies herself as being like Balk’s character in Almost Famous). Some may attribute this to their flat delivery or lack of believability, but I’d wager that this has more to do with poor character development on the part of screenwriters and the industrial emphasis on youth than it does on the actresses. At 19, Kristen Stewart is playing the slouched-shoulder ingenue of a multi-million-dollar film franchise, its latest installment complete with a soundtrack featuring of-the-moment, indie and indie-friendly artists like Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Lykke Li, Grizzly Bear, and Thom Yorke. I only hope she has that sort of star power at 25.

Kristen Stewart at the "New Moon" premiere in Los Angeles; image courtesy of justjared.buzznet.com

As regular readers remember, for over a year we counted down the 666 best songs of all time, one a day, until the end of this past September when Lucid Culture went halfspeed. As we get into December, we’re still at halfspeed but we’ll be back with new stuff on a daily basis here in just a couple of weeks. Which gives us plenty of time to say good riddance to the decade of the Zeros and welcome in the Teens – til then, here are the songs on the list which will take us up to the first of the new year. Enjoy!

237. Randi Russo – So It Must Be True

Careening, otherworldly, somewhat flamenco-inflected epic from this era’s greatest writer of outsider anthems. The studio version on the classic 2001 Solar Bipolar album is great, but it can’t quite match the out-of-control intensity of the live version from Russo’s 2000 Live at CB’s Gallery cd.

236. Erica Smith – Pine Box

The multistylistic New York rock goddess has been off on a sultry jazz tangent lately, but five years ago she was writing lusciously jangly Americana rock and this is a prime example, ecstatically crescedoing yet dark and brooding as the title would imply. Recorded and leaked on a few bootlegs, but officially unreleased as of now.

235. The Electric Light Orchestra – From the Sun to the World

You can hear echoes of this clattering, frenetic suite in a lot of obscure art-rock and indie rock from the last thirty years. Jeff Lynne’s scary, out-of-focus apocalypse anthem kicks off with a Grieg-like morning theme, followed by a warped boogie and then an unhinged noise-rock outro that falls apart once it’s clear that it’s unsalvageable. From ELO II, 1972; mp3s are everywhere.

234. X – Nausea

The combination of Ray Manzarek’s organ swirling dizzyingly under Billy Zoom’s growling guitar and Exene’s thisclose-to-passing-out vocals is nothing if not evocative. From Los Angeles, 1980; mp3s are everywhere.

233. Stiff Little Fingers – Piccadilly Circus

Big punk rock epic about an Irish guy who gets the stuffing knocked out of him by a bunch of knuckleheads on his first night in London. From Go For It, 1981; there are also a million live versions out there, official releases and bootlegs and most of them are pretty awesome too.

232. The Wallflowers – Sixth Avenue Heartache

Elegiac slide guitar and organ carry this surprise 1996 top 40 hit’s magnificent eight-bar hook, the best song the band ever did and the only standout track on their disappointing sophomore effort Bringing Down the Horse. Mp3s are everywhere.

231. Bruce Springsteen – The Promised Land

This backbeat anthem makes a killer (literally) opening track on the Boss’ 1977 Darkness on the Edge of Town lp, perfectly capturing the anomie and despair of smalltown American life. In the end, the song’s protagonist speeds away into the path of a tornado. A million versions out there, most of them live, but it’s actually the album track that’s the best.

230. The Moody Blues – Driftwood

Towering powerpop anthem from the band’s 1977 “comeback” lp Octave, opening with a big whooosh of cymbals and lush layers of acoustic guitar. And Justin Hayward’s long electric guitar solo out, over the atmospheric wash of the strings, is a delicious study in contrasts. Many different versions out there, some of them live, and they’re all good (the link above is the studio track).

229. David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

Surreal, Stonesy apocalyptic anthem from the Thin White Duke’s vastly underrated 1974 lp. Did you know that’s Bowie on all the guitars – and the saxes too?

228. Mary Lee’s Corvette – 1000 Promises Later

Centerpiece of the NYC Americana rockers’ classic True Lovers of Adventure album, 1999-ish, this was a live showstopper for frontwoman Mary Lee Kortes and her steely, soaring, multiple-octave voice for several years afterward. It’s a rueful breakup anthem sung with typical counterintuitive verve from the villain’s point of view.

227. New Model Army – Luhrstaap

Written right as the Berlin Wall came down, this ominous, bass-driven, Middle Eastern-inflected art-rock anthem accurately foretold what would happen once East Germany tasted western capitalism: “You can buy a crown, it doesn’t make you king/Beware the trinkets that we bring.” From Impurity, 1989; the live version on 1992’s double live Raw Melody Men cd is even better (the link above is the studio version).

226. David Bowie – Life on Mars

Soaring epic grandeur for anyone who’s ever felt like an alien, from Hunky Dory, 1971. Ward  White’s live Losers Lounge version (click on the link and scroll down) is equally intense.

225. Telephone – Ce Soir Est Ce Soir

Absolutely creepy, methodical epic nocturne that wraps up the legendary French rockers’ 1982 Dure Limite lp on a particularly angst-ridden note. ”Ce soir est ce soir/J’ai besoin d’espoir [Tonight's the night/I need some hope].”

224. Al Stewart – Bedsitter Images

The live acoustic track in the link above only hints at the lush, orchestrated original, a big radio hit for the British songwriter in 1969, Rick Wakeman doing his best Scarlatti impression on piano. It’s a masterpiece of angsted existentialist songwriting, the song’s narrator slowly and surreally losing it, all by himself in his little flat.

223. LJ Murphy – Pretty for the Parlor

Our precedessor e-zine’s pick for best song of 2005, this blithely jangly yet absolutely sinister murder anthem perfectly captures the twistedness lurking beneath suburban complacency. Unreleased, but still a staple of the New York noir rock legend’s live show.

222. Wall of Voodoo – Lost Weekend

Creepy, hauntingly ambient new wave string synthesizer ballad from the band’s best album, 1982’s Call of the West, a couple gone completely off the wheels yet still on the road to somewhere. In the years afterward, frontman Stan Ridgway has soldiered on as an occasionally compelling if sometimes annoyingly dorky LA noir songwriter.

221. Randi Russo – House on the Hill

One of the New York noir rocker’s most hauntingly opaque lyrics – is she alive or dead? In the house or homeless? – set to an absolutely gorgeous, uncharacteristically bright janglerock melody. Frequently bootlegged, but the version on her 2005 Live at Sin-e cd remains the best out there.

220. The Wirebirds – This Green Hell

Our predecessor e-zine’s pick for best song of 2003 is this towering janglerock anthem, sort of a global warming nightmare epic as the Church might have done it but with amazing harmonies by songwriter Will Dial and the band’s frontwoman, Amanda Thorpe.

219. The Psychedelic Furs – House

“This day is not my life,” Richard Butler insists on this pounding, insistent, anguished anthem from the band’s best album, 2000’s Book of Days, the only post Joy Division album to effectively replicate that band’s unleashed, horrified existentialist angst. Mp3s are out there, as are copies of the vinyl album; check the bargain bins for a cheap treat.

218. X – See How We Are

The link above is the mediocre original album version; the best version of this offhandedly savage anti-yuppie, anti-complacency diatribe is the semi-acoustic take on the live Unclogged cd from 1995.

217. The Sex Pistols – EMI

Gleefully defiant anti-record label diatribe from back in the day when all the majors lined up at Malcolm McLaren’s knee. How times have changed. “Unlimited supply,” ha!

216. Amy Allison – No Frills Friend

As chilling as this casually swaying midtempo country ballad might seem, it’s actually not about a woman who’s so alienated that she’s willing to put up with someone who won’t even talk to her. It just seems that way – Allison is actually being optimistic here. Which is just part of the beauty of her songwriting – you never know exactly where she’s coming from. Title track from the excellent 2002 cd.

215. X – Johny Hit & Run Paulene

One of the greatest punkabilly songs ever, nightmare sex criminal out on a drug-fueled, Burroughs-esque bender that won’t stop. From Los Angeles, 1980; mp3s, both live and studio, are out there.

214. The Sex Pistols – Belsen Was a Gas

Arguably the most tasteless song ever written – it’s absolutely fearless. The lp version from the 1978 Great Rock N Roll Swindle soundtrack lp features its writer, Sid Vicious along with British train robber Ronnie Biggs. There are also numerous live versions out there and most of them are choice. Here’s one from Texas and one from San Francisco.

213. Randi Russo – Battle on the Periphery

Russo is the absolute master of the outsider anthem, and this might be her best, defiant and ominous over a slinky minor-key funk melody anchored by Lenny Molotov’s macabre, Middle Eastern guitar. From Shout Like a Lady, 2006.  

212. The Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia

True story: Pepsi wanted to license this song for a commercial despite its savage anti-imperialist message. Jello Biafra said no way – which might have planted the seed that spawned his bandmates’ ultimately successful if dubiously lawful suit against him. So sad – when these guys were on top of their game they were the best American band ever. From Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980.

211. X – Los Angeles

One of the great punk rock hooks of all time, title track to the 1980 album, a perfect backdrop for Exene’s snide anti-El Lay diatribe. Ice-T and Body Count would sneak it into their notorious Cop Killer twelve years later.

210. The Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK

Yeah, you know this one, but our list wouldn’t be complete without it. As lame as the rhyme in the song’s first two lines is (Johnny Rotten has pretty much disowned them), this might be the most influential song of all time. If not, it definitely had the most beneficial effect. Go download Never Mind the Bollocks if you haven’t already: the band isn’t getting any royalties.

=====================================================

Pegasus Finance & Land - Richard Butler (twitter.com/pegasuspartners)

Was offered a base salary, high commissions, car, and more. We were to promote Vanuatu property, that Butler was in partnership with another guy. After I left company, Butler claimed that everything fell through, but he is now promoting sales for his “resort” in Vanuatu”.

16 months later, Butler still owes $4,000AUD in commissions. He is advertising again, looking for sales people and offering them $10,000AUD a sale. He was also investigated for embezzlement of $1 Million AUD. Be VERY wary of this one. Likes to make BIG promises he does not fulfil.

=====================================================

Voy a intentar no decir nada sobre Pancho Campo y el Wine Future Rioja 09 en esta entrega noticiosa. De verdad. Cero. ¿Que no fastidie? ¿Que ya lo puse sobre la mesa y va a ser como el proverbial elefante en la habitación?

Bueno, la intención es lo que cuenta.

Estaba leyendo hace unos días en Decanter.com, siempre generosa fuente tanto de noticias de verdad como de tonterías, que el Hunter Valley Wine Industry Climate Change Case Study ha arrojado ciertas hipótesis bastante duras para esa región vinícola australiana. Aparentemente, a causa del cambio climático, los australianos del Hunter deberán plantearse la utilización de nuevas variedades de uva más resistentes al calor si insisten en seguir con lo de la viticultura. Es interesante eso. ¿Variedades de uva más adecuadas al calor como el tomate, ciertos chiles, el melón o el aguacate quizás?

Años ya llevamos algunos diciendo que muchas regiones debieran plantearse reorientaciones del cultivar. Y no sólo en Australia. Económicamente, la cosa anda muy jodida. Si a eso sumamos los efectos del cambio climático… Ya, ya, dije que no iba a permitirme momentos de todo conecta. Que hablar de “cambio climático y vino” no tiene por qué sugerirnos el tema de Panch…

¡Que no!

Pero quizás de verdad todo conecta. Otra historia en Decanter.com va de como los productores de Burdeos ahora se preocupan por satisfacer las expectativas–creadas a base de pura hipérbole por los habituales prescriptores–en torno a la cosecha 2009. Aunque se ha venido hablando de una “añada excepcional”, e incluso de otra de tantísimas “añadas del siglo” que han habido en tiempos recientes, Aunque se cacarea sobre una “cosecha perfecta”, aparentemente muchos châteaux enfrentan un reto a la hora de mantener controlados los alcoholes en los vinos, pues la añada ha salido, digamos, un tanto madurilla.

A ver, tomemos el siguiente parrafito:

Noemi Ruelloux, gerente de comunicaciones de Château Haut-Bailly, declaró a Decanter.com que uno de los más grandes retos que encaran a los enólogos es mantener el equilibrio en los vinos después de una “cosecha perfecta. (Mi traducción)

¿Seré yo el único que me encuentro una nada fina ironía en eso de reconciliar falta de equilibrio natural (porque si hay que hacer trapisondas enológicas para lograrlo creo que muy “natural”, lo que se dice “natural” no puede ser) con una “cosecha perfecta”? ¡Ay, merlot a 15%! ¡Ay, la humanidad!

Y después algunos se quejan de las trompetillas que tiendo a soltar cuando me vienen a hablar en serio del Burdeos actual.

Ya que hace un momento mencioné la palabra “hipérbole”, siguen en la internet del vino los cuestionamientos en torno a la credibilidad del hiperbolista-en-jefe de la cultureta actual del vino (e inventor de la hipérbole numérica), Robert M. Parker Jr. Dr. Vino devuelve al candelero el tema de cierta reciente cata a ciegas de burdeos de la “fenomenal” añada 2005 en la que Mr. Parker, por decirlo brevemente, no puso una. Aparentemente, ahora Parker ha publicado sus notas numéricas de los vinos catados en la noche en cuestión y no son para nada consistentes con las impresiones que diese durante la cata, según confirman asistentes a la misma, con todo y audio. Ante las insistentes preguntas de los participantes en el foro de discusión de erobertparker.com sobre sus serias inconsistencias, el gurú norteamericano acusó a “algunos” de “querer quitarle al vino todo lo que tenga que ver con diversión” (mi traducción).

Me susurran al oido que la palabra equivalente a  “diversión” en ciertas lenguas aborígenes de América del Norte se traduce literalmente al castellano como “mentecatez”. Para que sepan.

Una línea argumental esta de la “diversión” que bien podía ser parienta no muy lejana de la de Mr. Parker fue la esgrimida por Pedro Sanz, presidente del Gobierno de la Rioja, en un debate hace un par de días. Según la noticia de Rioja2.com:

“Ojalá vengan más Ferias como éstas y más catas de Robert Parker” ha dicho Sanz, al tiempo que ha cargado tintas contra el anterior presidente de la DOC Rioja, Ángel Jaime Baró, miembro del Partido Riojano. “Lo que ocurre es que al señor Jaime Baró le molesta que durante su mandato no pudo conseguir traer una feria como ésta” y ha concluido, “lo mejor que le ha podido pasar a la DOC es que Jaime Baró se fuera de ella”.

Pero que no… ¡Que no iba a hablar de eso, carajo!

Una para el commentez et discutez: El Chicago Tribune sacó recientemente un artículo con el listado de “Las 10 peores modas gastronómicas de esta década”. Entre las tendencias citadas están la ostentación vínica, la gastronomía molecular, los platos principales de cuarenta dólares, las espumas, la “deconstrucción” culinaria y  los chefs como putones mediáticos. Mayormente de acuerdo por aquí. Pero saquen ustedes sus propias conclusiones.

Del departamento de noticias felices, les anuncio que la semana que viene vuelvo con Josie a Nueva York. Algo de trabajo y el coñazo de las visitas médicas de siempre, pero también la celebración de nuestro aniversario de bodas, la gran cata del portafolio de Louis/Dressner (ocasión magnífica para probar vinos naturales excepcionales y hablar con la gente buena que los elabora), cierto evento en el que se vertirá una cantidad nunca vista de vinos envejecidos en ánfora y algún par de asuntillos interesantes más. Ya les contaré.

Ahora, videito. No se por qué, pero viernes por la mañana estoy de un humor algo ochentero. La voz de Richard Butler en esta versión acústica de “Love My Way” me recuerda una trompeta con sordina que bien podría ser de Miles Davis en uno de sus períodos eléctricos.  O me recuerda una queja de amante somnoliento. O una frase sabia de un borrachín a la más maldita de las horas, cuando le cierran el bar.  The Psychedelic Furs, una gran banda…

Adam was asked by Penn State Public Broadcasting to post this interesting video discussion featuring former Australian diplomat Richard Butler talking about nuclear weaponry.

Unfortunately, this request was overlooked, but going through some old email the request surfaced.

Given ongoing concerns about Iran, Israel, North Korea and instability in Pakistan and India, now does not seem a bad time to post the video.

It is lengthy, but it repays viewing.

It is lunchtime in the office.  I am listening to  Jo Dee  Messina and Tim McGraw singing “Bring on the Rain”.

Another day has almost come and gone
Can’t imagine what else could wrong
Sometimes I’d like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war (cause)

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

It’s almost like the hard times circle round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated
I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing but I’m not dead

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

I’m not gonna let it get me down
I’m not gonna cry
And I’m not gonna lose any sleep tonight. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am missing my father who just left before the second storm hits Manila.  I miss my pets.  I miss old and real friends.  I do not have the appetite to eat anything.  I am unafraid of Mother Nature’s anger this weekend.  What terrifies me most is that I am in this  sea of emotions -   waves crashing against one another without goal or direction. It is killing me slowly unless I find, yet again, a channel to calm the waters.  I cannot comprehend my lack of control.  Has my spirit been so free all this time that everything else intangible within me exists in tandem with a wild nature?  After 34 years, has not my subconscious learnt the union of superficiality and human fickle-mindedness?  I may be barely breathing but tomorrow is another day to think about – another day in this sea of conflicting emotions and I bear  the  blows that may as well have been as real as those that Manny Pacquiao delivers.

I need to live again away from anyone who only seeks pleasure in my pain.  I am not them. My father told me to leave my principles at home the moment I went to work.  However, how does one separate two entities that cannot exist without the other to begin with?  I did not ask for what my parents  gave me - intangibles more absolute than most of what life today has to offer in general.  I am not the others because of them.  I am in this sea of emotions because of them.  I love dearly and unconditionally because of them.  I am mostly happy because of them.

Chandrika Manogaran. Richard Butler.  Tan Boon Seng. Betty Frois. James Resol. Shah Nawaz. Jean-Philippe Endres. Robert Joseph Torres. Alexis Moyrand. Clotilde Breuillin. Samson Averia.  Alexander Makedon. Nathaniel Angeles. Tatyana Schmakova-House.  Christine Wong. Cindy Zaini. Rosny Kasim. Chris Ngo Chin Ser. Vipada Wongwanachot. Bernard Wang.  Angela Mukirae-Hatier. Mohd Faisal Mohd Ali.  Nadine Husain. Suryani Said. Kim Sowon.  Rex Lee. Marissa Bagunas. Julian Cole. Donna Shin. Lester Susi. Yanny Jung. Fiona Kirsten Woerpel. Lusmiwati Lu. Anita Irmasari. Pimmanas Pongnarikul. Valentina Raho. Harvinder Singh Rai. Judy Whisenhunt. John Kaplan. Monica Kiang Wai Sum. Brandon Wang. Graeme Ortega. Johnny D’aversville Lee.  Priya Pejavar. Rob Zaldua. Sharanya Rao. Supriyo Chatterjea. Kim Gwon. Salik Rizwan Khan. Knut Flottorp. Mia Tijam. Jake Borromeo. Don Wyngard Aguiling. Buddy Kim. Moses Tan. Jose Maria Sison. Cheryl Meyer. Shahzad Manzoor. Ryan Gomito. Francedith Ballarta. Asmah Mahmood. Ann Lorenzo. Pocholo Carmelotes. Maricon Brizuela. Ohnie Reyes. Claudine Ramirez. Malyn Mae Martir.

There are names I remember and there are the people who have remained with some unexpected permanence in my mind perhaps because they are what my spirit hungers for – positive nourishment and intellectual stimulation.  Still, I am not hungry and I am alone.   Has this sea of emotions engulfed me?  Am I dead?  Am I dead to the world?  …but I am here and breathing with all the energy I can muster no matter how things  are…so bring on the rain because I am Lora Morier.

Richard Butler

Gun Owners of America executive director Larry Pratt recently announced his organization’s strong endorsement of Catherine Crabill for delegate in the 99th House District (the NRA backs incumbent Albert Pollard in the race).

So, who is this Pratt guy anyway? He served in the VA House of Delegates for a term in the early 1980’s, and is a member of the mysterious, secretive Council for National Policy. He’s also considered one of the founders of the 90’s militia movement that produced the likes of domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh, but that’s not a surprise knowing Crabill.

In 1992 Larry Pratt shared a stage with Richard Butler and Louis Beam at an event organized by Pete Peters (when this was discovered in 1996, Pratt had to resign as national co-chairman of Pat Buchanan’s presidential campaign).

Pratt’s participation in a 1992 anti-government gathering in Colorado of 160 white men called together by Identity preacher Pete Peters to strategize about the Randy Weaver stand-off in Idaho was cited by the Associated Press (Asheville Citizen-Times February 16, 1996) as a key reason for the resignation.

Here’s the Anti-Defamation League on Richard Butler:

Richard Butler remains one of the country’s most prominent and longstanding proponents of white nationalism and religious racism. His ideology melds the fundamentals of Christian Identity with paramilitaristic, Nazi-like views and a high regard for Adolf Hitler. He has reportedly asserted that while Jesus Christ was the greatest man who ever lived, Hitler was a close second. It is no surprise, then, that he has always had associates across the spectrum of right-wing extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazi National Alliance and anti-government militias.

In 1981, for example, Butler was linked closely with imprisoned German neo-Nazi Manfred Roeder, whom Butler hailed as “the truly Great Aryan Leader of Europe this day!” [sic] The connection to Roeder was significant in that it provided networking opportunities between Butler and other Roeder supporters – including James K. Warner, head of the New Christian Crusade Church in Louisiana, National Alliance boss William Pierce and anti-Semitic propagandist Willis Carto.

Shortly thereafter, in 1983, several of Butler’s followers joined with members of the National Alliance and Ku Klux Klan splinter groups to form The Silent Brotherhood, known more widely as The Order, which planned to overthrow the United States government in hopes of establishing an Aryan homeland in the Pacific Northwest. To this end, The Order committed a series of violent crimes in 1983 and 1984 – including murder, bombings and armed robbery. Members of the group were eventually arrested and imprisoned, while its founder and leader Robert Mathews, an active recruiter for the National Alliance, was ultimately killed in a fire during a shootout with federal agents in December 1984.

As for Butler’s protege, Louis Beam:

For more than three decades, Louis Beam has been on a crusade against a government he views as tyrannical and controlled by Jewish conspirators. Beam first became active on the far right as a paramilitary Klansman, later as a neo-Nazi with Identity ties. In each incarnation he has been a powerful voice of anti-government hatred and white supremacy, one of the most influential and incendiary figures on the far right. Generally considered the first important proponent of the “lone wolf” or “leaderless resistance” model of activism, Beam has encouraged anti-government and racist terrorism by means of small underground cells that cohere through ideology rather than formal organizations. Once considered Richard Butler’s likely successor at Aryan Nations, Beam was passed over in the mid-1990s. During the past five years, he has significantly lowered his public profile and has limited his activity primarily to postings on his Web site.

And, finally, Pete Peters:

Pete Peters has been a leading anti-Jewish, anti-minority and anti-gay propagandist. He is a proponent of Christian Identity, which argues that Jews are spiritually degraded and pose a threat to civilization, that blacks and other people of color are inferior to whites, that homosexuals should be executed and that northern European whites and their American descendants are the “chosen people” of scriptural prophecy. Events sponsored by Peters and his church have assembled many of the nation’s most active Identity champions.

Pratt says the association with these people is meaningless, and said it was part of a smear campaign. But then there’s this:

Larry Pratt, head of Gunowners of America, an organization that had contributed tens of thousands of dollars to (Kirk) Lyons‘ CAUSE Foundation

Kirk Lyons is famous for defending white supremacists, who he considers “patriots.”

Quitting his personal injury practice, he went to Fort Smith, Ark., to defend (Louis) Beam in what would become widely known as the “Fort Smith Sedition Trial.” Ultimately, the government’s case proved to be a weak one, and in 1988 Beam and all his co-defendants were acquitted.

Suddenly, Lyons was a celebrity on the radical right.

Lyons spoke that fall to the Aryan Nations World Congress, hosted by Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, one of the men acquitted in Arkansas. There, he touted his vision of a non-profit foundation that would defend the kind of men that Lyons saw as “patriots” and “dissidents.” The Patriot’s Defense Foundation (PDF) would not take shape until late 1989, but Lyons started work immediately.

In October 1988, he took up the defense of James Wickstrom, the former “director of counterinsurgency” for the rabidly anti-Semitic Posse Comitatus and a man who spoke of hanging his enemies from “ALL the telephone poles.” In the end, Wickstrom would be convicted of federal counterfeiting and weapons charges in connection with a plot to distribute counterfeit bills at Aryan Nations.

It was a busy period. In 1989, Lyons was the featured speaker at a “Rocky Mountain Family Bible Retreat” hosted in Colorado by Pete Peters, a leading ideologue of the racist and anti-Semitic Christian Identity religion.

He marched at the head of a Tennessee parade of 400 Klansmen, neo-Nazi Skinheads and other hard-liners. On the legal front, Lyons assisted in the successful 1989 defense of Douglas Sheets, a former White Patriot Party member accused of murdering three men in a North Carolina gay bookstore.

Or…I swear, I’m not stalking you.

 I saw the Psychedelic Furs the other night and they were as brilliant as ever.  Once again, I had the opportunity to give my man, Richard Butler, one of my business cards – and, once again, he hasn’t called.

“Once again?”, I  hear you ask.

 Cue up flashback soundtrack……..

About a year ago,  I had the divine pleasure of seeing Psych Furs in concert from a view just feet from the stage.  Richard was singing to the audience and I noticed that his pants pocket, slightly open, was a mere arm’s length from my face.  Stealthily, I grabbed one of my business cards and placed it gingerly in his pocket – he didn’t even notice.  It was the coup of the season for me.  Later, when I had the chance to meet him,  I told him to check his pocket.  “Check my pocket?” he asked, quizzically.  Alas, with all of his gyrating about and such, it seems my card had fallen out.  I’m sure I gave him another, but I was too awestruck to make much of an impression.  (Did I mention I’m really not one of THOSE types of people – rockstars in general, big deal…but Richard Butler, that’s a whooollleee different story).

 Fast forward one year. 

 Of course,  I was running late – spending much more time than usual getting my look “just right”.  Two newly-purchased, sparkly flower clips adorned the left side of my hair, showing off my bob and bringing out my 1920’s flapper side.  It was another great show and I, slowly, had managed to wiggle my way up to two rows from the stage.  Three quarters of the way through the show, I realized the pants pocket trick wouldn’t stand by me again – he was out of reach and the front row was not budging.  He was jumping about on stage, grabbing the hands of his adoring fans (Who are all these people ?).  My brilliant idea hit me in a flash – I took one of the adorable clips from my hair,  clipped it on my business card (the new one that says I’m a chef, not the old one that had my corporate job on it) and placed my hand out.  He grabbed it like a lake bass going for a worm.  I wish I could have captured the look – he looked at it like “what the heck” and then looked back at me with this questioning look.  Perhaps I should be going for an adoring look from him and not this quizzical one I keep receiving – but, hey, at least he’s looking.  He placed it in his pocket and flashed me a smile.  I think I melted.

 It’s been a few days now and, no, he hasn’t called or emailed. But hope springs eternal, and, yes, I HAVE been checking.  I know it’s silly to keep up the pursuit, but what’s a little harmless adoration anyway?  It makes ME happy.  I’m waiting to receive the Cease and Desist order any day.

I have a crush on Richard Butler.  Who?

This guy.   Yeah, I’m not one of the women who drools over Brad Pitt or Patrick Dempsey.  This is the guy that piques my interest.  Are you wondering who the fuck he is?  He’s the lead singer of Psychedelic Furs, a band from the 80’s (and also an accomplished artist).  Although I liked the band, I didn’t think much of him back then, but now, mmmmm.  It could be the glasses – I have a thing for skinny men in glasses.  Although, it’s more than that.  I saw a Psych Furs show about seven years ago and thought, “hmmm, still charming and charismatic”.  Saw him again about three years later and though, “yum”.  I saw him last year and realized I had a crush.  I met him that time, although briefly.  The Psych Furs are coming to my city in a few months.  I woke early today to be one of the first to buy tickets – did I think they would sell out??!   Am I 16?? I told my friend who’s joining me to be ready to push to the front.  Yep, I have a bit of a crush.

The following have been elected in the Adare Electoral Area in the local elections .

Leo Walsh Fine Gael topped the poll,Richard Butler Fine Gael,Rose Brennan Fine Gael,Tomas Hannon Labour,James Collins Fianna Fail ,Leonard Enright Fianna Fail and Patrick C Fitzgerald Independent were all elected  to Limerick County Council.

Update :7Th June 2009.

There was a recount between Seamus Sheahan(1,168 )Independent and Patrick Fitzgerald(1172)Independent this morning in the UL Arena ,as there were four votes of a difference.Patrick Fitzgerald was deemed elected after the recount.

See more courtesy of  RTE Here

Word: ersatz [er-zahts, -sahts, er-zahts, -sahts] adj. 1. serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial: an ersatz coffee made from grain ∞ n. 2. an artificial substance or article used to replace something natural or genuine; a substitute

Birthday: Thomas Chippendale (1708), Pat Garrett (1850), Pancho Villa (1878), John Maynard Keynes (1883), Salvatore Ferragamo (1898), Richard Scarry (1919), Spalding Gray (1941), Ken Follett (1949), Suze Orman (1951), Richard Butler (1956), Kenny G (1956), Jeff Garlin (1962), Ron Livingston (1967), Brian McKnight (1969), Mark Wahlberg (1971), Chuck Klosterman (1972), Pete Wentz (1979)

Quotation: I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat.  I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me! – Dr. Seuss

Tune: Ever watch the great old comedy sketch show The Kids In The Hall and wonder who did the theme song? The band is Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and the song is called “Having an Average Weekend.”

Gallimaufry: With President Obama in the White House and most everyone pissed at California over Proposition 8, it’s easy to look at our country and decide it’s moving in the right direction. Enter Ken Pagano, pastor of New Bethel Church in Louisville, Kentucky. This June 27th, Pagano is inviting his congregation to attend services with their firearms, “to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.” Says the ex-Marine-and-one-time-handgun-instructor-turned-pastor, “We’re just going to celebrate the upcoming theme of the birth of our nation. And we’re not ashamed to say that there was a strong belief in God and firearms — without that this country wouldn’t be here.” No loaded guns will be allowed in the church. In addition to bringing firearms, Pagano is asking attendees to bring a canned good and a friend. I mean, it’s only Kentucky, but still. It’s 2009, jackass. ∞ For the record, Sonia Sotomayor’s “Wise Latina” comment is no different than Sarah Palin’s comparing hockey moms to pitbulls. But no one, including the idiots over at FOX News, are going to make the connection. The Supreme Court nominee was referring to a group of women who make up a large portion of the nation’s population, while Palin was talking about a group of women in Alaska who don’t represent enough people to fill up The Rose Bowl. (That may or may not be true.) Both women were making their comments in jest. In the grand scheme of things, I’m guessing Alaskan hockey moms are considered a bit more innocuous than Latina women. Just a hunch. ∞ Sitting out in the sun for extended periods of time, getting high and drunk with your closest friends and listening to dozens of popular bands is every American’s right. At least it should be. The warm weather invading us right now means only one thing – it’s Summer Concert Festival Season. Check out Pitchfork’s comprehensive guide to this year’s opportunities to pass out on a stranger’s blanket by mid-afternoon.

Incoming: I know I promised some thoughts about Arthur Kade (I’ve grilled my considerable group of contacts for this one and unearthed some great stuff.) and movie remakes, as well as 3 Things To Do In Philly When You’re Dead, but as they say, life got in the way. I’ll be working on all those for the beginning of next week. Also, for everyone attending this weekend’s TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship (What happened to simply calling it “The Bike Race?”), make sure to stay hydrated and have some fun. I’m not quite sure if I’ll be making my annual appearance as of yet, but if I do, I’ll make sure to say hello.

The CGA hosted its inaugural faculty symposium on March 27, 2009. The all-day event, which drew a near-capacity house, was entitled: Post-Euphoria: Global Challenges Facing the Obama Administration. The talks showcased full-time faculty and focused on raising awareness of the national security and foreign economic problems that the United States is likely to face in the near future.

The day began with a keynote address delivered by Ambassador Richard Butler entitled  ‘Renewing Foreign Policy.’  This was followed by a panel on ‘Primacy, Perils, and Players: What Does the Future Hold for American Security?’ moderated by Louis Klarevas and featuring Mark Galeotti and Michael Oppenheimer. An afternoon panel on ‘Oil, Money, Aid, and Trade: Where Do We Go from Here?’ was moderated by Carolyn Kissane and featured Thomas Flores and Everett Myers. The day’s event culminated in a reception which allowed the audience to interact with the faculty of the Center – and follow-up on topics discussed earlier in the day.

On March 5, CGA Diplomat in Residence Richard Butler delivered the first of a trilogy of public lectures at Penn State’s School of International Affairs. Entitled Renewing US Foreign Policy, it explored the need for substantive change. In Ambassador Butler’s view, “It is beyond doubt that U.S. foreign policy requires revision, reformulation and renewal” and “This will be achieved only if there is clarity about the nature of US interests and principles. Smart power, hard power, soft power — all are potentially in play. But, there is a need, first, for all involved in U.S. foreign policy to share a conception of its foundations, of its goals, opportunities and limits; a conception that goes beyond slogans such as ‘axis of evil’ or a belief in a crusading global mission.”

An interesting idea has appeared in the papers. It questions whether we now praise children so much that they can’t take criticism. They’re turning into little narcissists, psychologist Carol Craig told a conference in Birmingham.

The praise has obviously stemmed from the perceived need to build children’s self-esteem to ensure their mental health. So far, so reasonable.

But being trained in personal construct psychology, I immediately queried why the construct had to be “praise v. criticism”. Everyone makes differentiations from the day they are born and those differentiations are often unique to the individual. So whose construct is “praise/criticism”?

Society obviously has some communally agreed constructs that help us live together. But here, the idea of praise has been posited as somehow being the only possible opposite to criticism – as though we all agree on that.

Well, I for one, don’t have this construct. When a child does something well, I might comment on how carefully or skilfully they did it. But if I don’t say any of that, that doesn’t mean I criticise. My opposite pole to praise is being “neutral”. Being factual. Simply accepting in silence even.

So if we want to leave off on the praise, we  might argue that young people must learn to accept and approve their own behaviours without the need to be fuelled by a constant “well done”. I’d go along with that.

But inserting criticism instead of praise undermines anyone. And in any case, showing where there are errors is not actually criticism per se. Nor is showing a better way necessarily antagonistic – it can be quite collegial if the relationship is right. And that’s where we mostly find ourselves as therapists: setting up a relationship in which the child can feel acceptable enough to be open to change or learning other ways of doing things. Criticism has nothing to do with it.

The difference between where a person is and where they’d like to be (metaphorically speaking) is where we find self-esteem. If the gap is small, self-esteem will be high; if the gap is wide, self-esteem will be low. In general, I find that self-esteem is only in tatters if significant others (parents, teachers etc) have criticised long and hard over the years. If Carol Craig thinks that giving criticism free rein will help kids learn, then heaven help them.

The idea of differentiations (ie constructs) is a great way of seeing the world from the young client’s point of view. If you’re interested in a personal construct approach to therapy, do have a look at The Child Within by Butler and Green. It would be of interest to most therapists because it’s a meta theory and doesn’t prescribe what one should do, only how we might construe the child and their issues.

212
Amethyst
Ape Fight
Awake Asleep
Ben Trovato
Big Orange Cone
Billy
Bionic Rhoda
Blue Fire
bobfields
Bon Jovi
Boxcar Nancy
Brian Dewan
Brine and Bastards
Butterspy
Corn Monitor
Crash Test Dummies
Cropduster
Dan Bern
Dead Go West
Dewey Defeated
Dishwalla
Double Breasted
Enemies of the Oyster
Evan Dando
Everlounge
Ex-Models
Fishbone
Floodgate
Fountains of Wayne
Fury of Five
Gravity’s Pull
Hero Pattern
House of Leaves
Inchworm
Indus
Inflatablemen
Instant Death
Jim Testa
John Easdale
Jonathan Andrew
Kid With Man Head
Lincoln
Lisa Loeb
Lo Faber
Love Gas
Love in Reverse
Makeout Party
Mars Needs Women
Mason Dixon
Matt Witte’s New Blood Revival
Miles Hunt and Malcolm Treece
Mono Puff
Mr. Holland’s Anus
Nebulous Thoughts
Nerfherder
Neud Groove
Nickelback
Oui 73
Pedro the Lion
Pennywise
Peter Searcy
Plug Spark Sanjay
Psycho 78
Readymade Breakup
Realistic Danger
Richard Butler
Richard Swift
Skeleton Key
Skyline Rodeo
Small AM
Spacehog
Sparks Fly From a Kiss
Spiral Jetty
Suran Song in Stag
The American Flag
The Benjamins
The Carlsonics
The Causey Way
The Christmas Cookies
The Connells
The Contact by Garvey
The Danielson Famile
The Erics
The Flaming Lips
The Jigmakers
The Jimmy Wilson Group
The Mellowtraumatics
The Milwaukees
The Mink Lungs
The Misteriosos
The Nerds
The Rosemary Pure
The Selzers
The Slow Wire
The Stuntcocks
The Swimmies
The Urchins
The Wahoo Moment
The Waking Hours
The Washington Social Club
Three to Six Inches
Tris McCall
True Love
US Maple
Val Emmich
Weezer
Wesley Willis
Wisemaster Joshu
Wolfe and the Wayside

Juliana Hatfield just completed a promo tour behind her new (10th!) album, How to Walk Away, as well as her new book, When I Grow up: A Memoir. How to Walk Away contains some of her best work, especially “This Lonely Love,” which features her singing with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.

In an age of singles, this album is stellar throughout and contains some of her finest guitar playing.  If you’re fan or need to fulfill some voyeuristic need, Juliana has been blogging about past songs and the meanings behind them.

Also, JH recorded a new song and video to accompany, its raw but its “directed” by Ryan Adams, what more do you need?

Juliana Hatfield: website | myspace | blog | live in Phila.

Cover of the Smith’s song – Love Spit Love -Richard Butler

& 2 other songs by Love Spit Love

Broken Aeroplanes – Richard Butler (Broken Aeroplanes)

Beautiful – Akai (Akai – website)

Boats Against the Current – Olivia Newton-John Boats Against The Current

Mr. Brightside – The Killers

You fucked up – Weens

So what – Pink

Love you ‘Till the end – The Pogues

You Could be Happy – Snow Patrol

Always on Your Side – Sheryl Crow

Dont’ Cha – Pussycat Dolls

Let Him Fly – Patty Griffin

Every Me & Every You – Placebo

Before We Were Brittle – Say Hi

God Only Knows – Switchfoot

One More MOment – Mindy Smith

This song is from the 80’s. When I was a senior in high school, my boyfriend (future husband, ex 1) introduced me to the Psychedelic Furs. I love the lead singers raspy cigarette smoking vocals.When I got my first apartment at 20 this is the song on the outgoing message of my answering machine

There’s an army on the dance floor
It’s a fashion with a gun my love
In a room without a door
A kiss is not enough in

Love my way, It’s a new road
I follow where my mind goes

They’d put us on a railroad
They’d dearly make us pay
For laughing in their faces
And making it our way
There’s emptiness behind their eyes
There’s dust in all their hearts
They just want to steal us all
And take us all apart
But not in

Love my way, it’s a new road
I follow where my mind goes

Swallow all your tears my love
And put on your new face
You can never win or lose
If you don’t run the race

So I have not posted anything on my match.com date night. I’m afraid I may be googled and I’m just not able to say everything. Heres what I will say…

“Chuck” was a really nice guy. Did he look like his picture? No, just his hair. His personality was close to the impression I got of him with the emails and online chatting. Was there an attraction? Not physically. He’s just not my type. I’am drawn to him as a friend. He is easy to talk to but will he be able to be okay with that? He has let his interest in me be known. I know I just need to be honest with him. The last thing I want to do is hurt his feelings or lead him on. How do I verbally explain this to him, what do I say? Any advice would be appreciated. God, this is so tough. I hope I get a good friend out of the deal.