Watching videos of les bouledogues françaises!
I've been missing my friends who live far away.
Yesterday I got a text message from my friend Dave Doobinin in NYC:
He followed it up with a wine-soaked voicemail last night, and it made me nostalgic for nights walking around Manhattan or drinking at Luna Lounge, singing Vanderslice lyrics to each other.
I also found some photos on my phone from my trip to Austin in June.
The first thing I did after I dropped my stuff off at Chad's house is drive over to Chris, Monica, Booher and Jeff's place. Chris showed some Texan hospitality by greeting me with a frosty beverage.
Here's Jeff at the Longbranch Inn, their friendly neighborhood watering hole.
One night Jeff and I squared off with Chris and Monica in a game of Cranium. For one of the challenges, I had to look at word on a card, then draw it with my eyes closed. Jeff had to guess the word before the little sand counter ran out. Here is what I drew (remember, I couldn't see what I was drawing):
Jeff watched me for about seven seconds, and then, to my amazement, blurted out the word on the first try. Click the photo to see what the word was.
I'm on the list +1 for tonight's all-acoustic Eisley show at Swedish American Hall, and I still haven't found someone to go with me. It shouldn't be this hard to take someone to a free show.
Eisley are a quintet of three sisters and a brother, plus another guy, all in their early 20's and hailing from Tyler, Texas, a small town I know too well. I wrote a lot about their major label debut Room Noises (one of my Top 12 of 2005) and I can't wait to hear their new CD Combinations (out August 14th). What I've heard from their MySpace page so far is the ethereal harmonies and pop melodies we expect (think The Sundays, Sixpence None The Richer) with even more weirdness added in, no doubt developed during their extensive touring over the last few years.
Watch the video for their new single "Invasion". (I'd put it in the post, but Warner Bros. has inexplicably turned off embedding for the video. Why do people do that?)
Or just watch this old video for "Marvelous Things".
I caught a little bit of "Roadside Prophets" on IFC last night. John Cusack's got a great scene in it. Let's watch:
The best part is when he winks.
The free tickets fairy just granted me a pair to see Ryan Adams at Herbst Theatre on Monday the 23rd. Hooray! You can also catch him in Berkeley on the 24th at the Berkeley Community Theatre. I love a good seated show in a nice, civilized setting. And I'm really liking his new album - the music and the title.
I'm supposed to be writing interview questions for St. Vincent, but I just got mesmerized by this video instead.
Zoe Cassavete's writing and directorial debut Broken English is pretty great, despite the middling reviews it's getting from critics according to Rotten Tomatoes. I recommend it. Parker Posey really is an amazing actress. She's natural, believable, funny, vulnerable, and plays her characters with an enriching subtlety. I haven't seen any of the big blockbusters this summer, but I have seen several really great indies in the past few months.
The film also gave me a brand new separated-at-birth post! Behold Melvil Poupaud, Ydnar's French frère.
I've been meaning to write about the lovely visit I had last weekend with one of my favorite humans in the world, Ashod. He came into town at the last moment, en route from Fresno to Portland (home to home), and we got to spend about 24 hours together.
After a late night discussing life, love, music and the future at The Homestead and El Farolito on Saturday night, we headed to Blue Bottle for coffee Sunday morning and then to The Ramp for brunch. Ashod agreed with me that the coffee at Blue Bottle is amazing, and The Ramp is more valued for its atmosphere than the actual food. After that we were off on a mission, per my request, to find a copy of his book Real Fun so I could buy it and have him sign it.
[ I have to take a moment and tell you how well the book turned out. It's a collection of the Polaroid photos he's taken during his years on the road as tour manager and/or musician, documenting the 'other 23 hours of the day' when bands aren't onstage performing. Ashod has a knack for capturing and appreciating tiny moments, and making them special with the attention he devotes to them. The book also has stories written by band members and a compilation CD in the back, so buy it for yourself or as a gift for the music lover who has everything.]
We called and visited several book stores, and were about to give up until I told him to call Amoeba - just in case - and they had it! He was too shy to tell anyone it was his book but I'm so proud of him that I had to take some photos. He kind of wanted to kill me for a second there. We capped off a wonderful day with salad and pizza at Little Star on
Valencia, and I was thrilled that they serve my very favorite beer.
