Inevitability of Death

Once you hit your mid-40s, certain things become inevitable. Even if you're in great shape physically, you notice that you can't do the same things you did in your 20s and 30s, whether that's partying til all hours of the night or living on junk food or just being immature. Which is fine, as long as you accept these changes. We all have to grow up eventually, it just takes some of us longer to do so than others.

Unfortunately, there are other inevitabilities that are harder to process. Like the inevitability of death. I got a taste of this 16 years ago when my father died, but he went early (he was 55). It was an anomaly. But now as I get older, folks I knew when I was first starting my career are falling into that zone. Lately, this has been hitting home for me as several people I either worked with or was acquainted with in my 20s have died, two of them in the last week. One was a state representative from Peabody who I knew well when I worked for the Peabody Times as a reporter; she worked in the court system and was on various city boards while I was there and was always extremely friendly and a great source. The other was the general manager of the Essex County Newspapers chain, of which Peabody was a part. I was never particularly close to him, but I respected the hell out of him and his accomplishments. He did a lot for young reporters, regularly allowing UNH interns to stay at his family's Rockport home each semester (I commuted from home during my internship, but I knew plenty of friends who took advantage of the offer. He was also a big runner back when I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be; he had a shower installed in his office in Beverly to use after his midday runs. And I would see him at local races regularly right up until a few years ago.

I've also had other friends or colleagues die at younger ages, including a co-worker (working remotely in Colorado) who had a heart attack at age 58 and dropped dead on the spot a few months ago. It doesn't matter the age, though, it's always shocking when somebody you know is no longer walking the Earth. There's nothing you can do except hope nobody else dies any time soon, even though there's no way of knowing these things. Better to remember these people the best we can and move along.

Completely Conspicuous 254: History Repeating

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Dave Brigham about our society's neglect for history. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at the BrigHAAAAM Estates
- Dave's doing a reading of one of his short stories on Dec. 11 in Arlington, MA
- Brigham: Working as a volunteer archivist uncovers interesting finds
- Check out Dave's photo blog, The Backside of America
- You can find lots of hidden historical discoveries when you pay attention
- Kumar: Our culture is so focused inward that we forget about history
- Brigham: Finding old collection of dad's military stuff sparked interest in history
- The 2010s are much more of a "Me Decade" than the 1970s
- Dave's got a dumb phone
- American Girl dolls focus on historical settings
- History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man
- "Kids these days..."
- The Petraeus scandal: How is it possible to send 30,000 pages of emails?
- Any technological advance tends to get folks distracted: TV, radio, the car- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Interpol - Roland (demo)
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
The Bohannons - Goodbye Bill
Titus Andronicus - Ecce Homo

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Interpol song is on the Tenth Anniversary Edition reissue of Turn on the Bright Lights on Matador Records. Download the song for free from MatadorRecords.com.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Bohannons song is on the album Unaka Rising on This is American Music. Download it for free from Soundcloud.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Mixology: The Joy of Angst-Ridden, Gen X-er Slacker Rock

Mixology is a recurring feature in which I take a look at one of the many mix tapes or CDs I made over the years. Some are better than others, but all of them are fun to revisit.

The Joy of Angst-Ridden, Gen X-er Slacker Rock (2/4/94)

It's been many moons since the last installment of Mixology, mainly because I've been busy with other stuff and my inventory of mix tapes has dwindled down. But I did have this one kicking around. Alas, I just popped it into my tape deck to get in the mood for this post and about halfway through the first song, the tape deck started eating the tape. This has been part of a complete mutiny on the part of my stereo equipment. It started last year when my turntable (purchased in 1989) finally crapped out. Then a few weeks ago, my CD player (purchased in 1993) just stopped working; whenever I put a CD in,  it spins for a moment before being ejected. And today, the tape deck (purchased a few years back off Craigslist) shit the bed. The only thing that still works is the receiver, which I also bought from someone off Craigslist a couple of years ago. I want to replace all these pieces so I can play my CD, vinyl and cassettes from time to time. Granted, most of the time I'm listening to music on my computer or iPod, but every so often I like to crank up something old-school.

Which brings me to this tape, which I've listened to many times in the car (and on the damn tape deck before it decided to defect to the underworld). The title was a reflection of my distaste with the obvious marketing going on at the time targeted at my generation, the so-called "Generation X." It was all pretty lazy stuff, and with movies like Reality Bites hitting the theaters and commercials and TVs shows all portraying flannel-clad, shiftless 20somethings, I was getting pretty sick of the whole thing.

But the music was still good, although it wouldn't be long before grunge copycats would start taking over the rock scene and making alt-rock rather tiresome. This tape is a good representation of what I was into at the time and I still like everything on it except the Counting Crows song (which isn't a bad song, per se, but overplayed and worn out for me. Saw them at Axis before they hit it big and they were fine, but I quickly tired of Adam Duritz and the band got a little too boring for me). I believe I recorded this while I was still living in Middleton, a few weeks before I moved back to Beverly. Things were turning around for me after a depressing stretch of months, and this mix reflected that. Fairly dark stuff, but in a good way.

Alas, I'll never be able to listen to this mix again (unless I make it again). So rest in pieces, faithful mix. You had a good 19-year run.

Side A
Gentlemen - Afghan Whigs
Rotten Apple - Alice in Chains
Veronica - Paw
Monolith - Redd Kross
Solar Sister - The Posies
Dogman - King's X
Crackbabies - Urge Overkill
Blood - Pearl Jam
Only - Anthrax
Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
Last Chance for a Slow Dance - Fugazi
Latest Monkey - Buffalo Tom

Side B
Reeling - PJ Harvey
Fuck and Run - Liz Phair
Do You Love Me Now? - Breeders
Forbidden World - The Pursuit of Happiness
Dream All Day - The Posies
Time Capsule - Matthew Sweet
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins
Anything That Way - Buffalo Tom
All Apologies - Nirvana
Can't Fight It - Bob Mould
Take a Walk - Urge Overkill
Rearviewmirror - Pearl Jam

 

Completely Conspicuous 253: Smokin' in the Boys Room

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a legendary mid-'70s boogie rock classic. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded late at night at More Lost Time world HQ
- "Smokin' in the Boys Room" came out in 1973, was revived in the Ramones movie Rock 'n Roll High School
- Ric questions the deeper meanings of the song: Is it about drugs, sex or both?
- Rebellion took on a much different meaning in the '70s
- 12 years later, Motley Crue covered the song and hit #16 on the charts
- Cub Koda reportedly influenced stage style of Peter Wolf of J. Geils Band
- Brownsville Station's had a radio "hit" called "Martian Boogie"
- Seven minutes of cheesy effects and stupidity
- ZZ Top was much better at boogie rock
- Koda was making rockabilly solo albums on the side and selling them himself
- Not many weed songs in rock anymore
- Dube talks about the origins of beatboxing, in 1971 from a band called The Counts
- Those awkward moments watching risque TV with your parents

Music:
Titus Andronicus - In a Big City
The Henry Clay People - Everybandweeverloved
Action Jets - Rock Like Pollard

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from Epitonic.
The Henry Clay People song is on the album Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives on TBD Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Action Jets song is available for free download from Soundcloud.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial

Just a few weeks ago, I was reflecting on the glory days of the Toronto Blue Jays with not much hope for them returning to that level of excellence anytime soon. After a .500 season in 2011, hopes were somewhat high for at least some improvement in 2012, but a ridiculous swath of injuries cut through the team and left them four games under .500 and 22 games out of first place. The team was in a shambles and manager John Farrell bolted right after the season to take the helm in Boston, which he called his "dream job." Despite the seemingly capable mind of general manager Alex Anthopoulous, the Jays had a lot of holes to fill and fans were pretty down about the future.

And then this week happened. AA pulled off a monster of a 12-player deal with the Miami Marlins, getting three bonafide star players in shortstop Jose Reyes and starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle and sending several young players and prospects in return. MLB commish Bud Selig is taking his sweet time signing off on the deal, mainly because there has been such an outcry about the Marlins pulling off yet another fire sale (something they did after winning the World Series in '97 and '03). The difference this time is the Marlins had spent the last offseason amping up expectations in the Miami area, unveiling a $634 million taxpayer-funded stadium, new uniforms and pricey free agent signings including Reyes and Buehrle. But the team stumbled out of the gate and owner Jeffrey Loria started selling off assets before the season ended. It's a mess down there.

But in Toronto, the city's going nuts. The Jays used to sell out the then-Skydome every night in the early '90s, but after the baseball strike of 1994, attendance and the team's performance dropped off considerably, as did ownership's interest in keeping up with big-spending teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. Hockey has always been number one in Toronto, but with the lockout inching inexorably toward another lost season, the Jays have a great opportunity to capitalize.

AA didn't wait for Selig to approve the deal before adding another key piece, signing free agent Melky Cabrera to a two-year deal. Cabrera is notorious for leading the National League in hitting before getting suspended for 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. Whether he's able to repeat last year's performance or drop back to his former self is to be seen, but Cabrera is an upgrade over the Jays' current left field situation and he makes the lineup that much more dangerous. And Anthopoulos got him fairly cheaply. The Jays still need to name a new manager, but reports are they're closing in on one.

What all of this means is right now, on paper anyway, the Jays have their strongest team since that early '90s squad that was a perennial contender. They've had superstars in the interim, like Roger Clemens (albeit steroid-aided), Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, etc., but they've never had the full complement needed to really be considered a threat to make the postseason. Now it appears they could do that, if everyone performs to their potential and injuries don't take a toll. That's a lot of ifs, but I'll take them over the dispiriting reality of the last 18 years or so. Hope is never a bad thing, as long as you've got something to back it up with. We'll see if the Jays can actually do some damage next season, but I'm glad they're at least making the effort.

All Over Again

The month of October was an interesting one for me because I spent most of it engaged in a serious diet. The Game On diet was more of a test of willpower, because I had to forgo favorite staples of my diet like sugar and alcohol and bread and eat a whole lot of vegetables and other good stuff.

On October 1, I weighed in at 167.8 pounds and I hoped to get down to 160 by the end of the month. It wasn't easy; I was constantly confronted with temptation at work in the form of pizza, cake and our office Halloween party, which was chock full of candy and other goodies. Game On isn't just a diet, it's a team challenge, so we got points for sticking to our meals and were penalized for any slip-ups. We had to get at least seven hours of sleep a night (which meant I had to start going to bed earlier), drink 3 liters of water a day and take up a good new habit while giving up an old one. You can have a free meal and a day off from the whole thing each week, but the trick was not to go overboard and blow the gains you'd made all week.

I'm glad to say I was good in the face of all the candy and beer and other stuff and finished the four weeks at 153.0, which is the lightest I'd been in over a decade. My team won the challenge and then we took two weeks off, which coincided with Halloween itself. Deb and I stuck to the meals for the most part, but I did indulge in Halloween candy, desserts and beer. When it was time to start up again for round 2 this week, I weighed 157.2, although a few of those pounds were due to overdoing it a bit on Saturday night. As of this morning, I'd already dropped four pounds. Amazing what a little discipline can do. Deb has also been pleased with the results of the game and is enthused about this round, although we're now on different teams.

The benefits were immediately noticeable for me. I shed the flab around my midsection, I can wear clothes that were too tight a few months ago and I just feel better. And I can feel the difference when I'm running. In September when I did Reach the Beach, I was struggling to run 8-minute miles when a year earlier I was much faster. Even my regular runs were in the 8:30 range. Now I've got more jump, which makes sense since I'm not carrying around those extra 15 pounds. I've got a couple of races scheduled in the next few weeks and I'm excited to see how I'll do.

The goal this time around is to get down to the mid-140s, where I haven't been since the mid-'90s. It's encouraging to know that doing something as simple as changing what you eat can make such a difference. For years, I've eaten somewhat healthily and gotten plenty of exercise, but it would be difficult to shed pounds. Now I know I really have to sacrifice certain things to get results. And this doesn't mean I'm giving up beer, because I'm looking forward to having a few this weekend. There's also the matter of Thanksgiving coming up next week, but I can deal with it.

Now for Plan A

The live rock experience is something I go on about regularly, but it's important and something that makes life a little less soul-crushing. And when I find bands who can deliver the goods in concert, I tend to become a repeat customer. Which is why I've been such a big fan of The Tragically Hip over the years.

I saw them for the first time in 1991 at the Paradise along with 25 other lucky folks and it was an amazing experience. I already was sold on the band after picking up their first album a few years earlier, but seeing the Hip live takes them to another level. The X factor is frontman Gord Downie, whose rubbery stage movements and extemporaneous mid-song rants make every show a unique experience. His appearance has changed drastically over the last 21 years--back then, he had long hair, a beard and wore a flannel shirt, jeans and shitkickers and now he's bald, a little skinnier and tends to wear dress shirts--but he's still the same sweaty madman on stage. The Hip's latest tour brought them to the House of Blues in Boston last Friday.


Touring behind their 12th studio album, Now for Plan A, the Hip took a cue from fellow Canuck rock legends Rush and eschewed an opening act in favor of doing two long sets drawn from their long career. It's interesting to juxtapose Downie's convoluted, abstract lyrics with the often-drunk Canadian fratboy-types who tend to go to their concerts. I was up front (in the same spot I stood for the Afghan Whigs in September) and was surrounded by friendly but intoxicated hosers. One kid spent about 15 minutes in the middle of the show trying to convince a security guard to let him onstage; it didn't work.

The Hip played two hours, sprinkling seven songs from the new album among some concert staples ("New Orleans is Sinking," "Ahead by a Century," "Grace, Too") and deep cuts ("Scared," "Last of the Unplucked Gems," "Greasy Jungle"). Now for Plan A is a solid album, better than the last few (which were produced by Bob Rock) and the songs shone in the live setting. "At Transformation" is the best song the band has had in years, but the title track, "Streets Ahead," "We Want to Be It" and "Goodnight Attawapiskat" were all standouts.

Downie was his usual frenetic self, battling with his mic stand, lamenting the lack of NHL hockey  and noting that the band has always felt connected to Boston (his brother lives here). The band was tight as always, with guitarist Rob Baker ripping off fluid solos and Paul Langlois, the Hip's healthier version of Keith Richards, laying down solid riffage and providing backing vocals. The rhythm section of Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay is never flashy and always dependable. But Downie is the real showman, and the band accepts and embraces that fact. And that's why the Hip remains a vital live act.

Completely Conspicuous 252: Into the Night

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a classic cheesy '80s ballad. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- A little background on David Geddes
- Early Geddes song sounds like "Rhinestone Cowboy," which came out later
- The same backing bands played on all the bubblegum pop records of the '70s
- Dube made a video "A Decent Saturday," depicting a day at a NH record store
- The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was a monster hit
- Benny Mardones had a hit with "Into the Night" in 1980
- Kumar: Mardones was going for an Eddie Money thing
- Male facelifts are unsettling
- The "Into the Night" video is creepy
- First line of the song: "She's just 16 years old..."
- Dube: All videos should have flying carpets in them
- Co-written by Robert Tepper
- Our friend Rob Hallworth became obsessed with Tepper
- Mardones liked writing ballads
- Tepper had his one hit on the Rocky 4 soundtrack
- On the cover of Foreigner's Head Games album
- They went from offensive to bland in only a few years
- Dube wants Mudhoney to cover "Double Vision"
- Doesn't matter who's singing for Foreigner or Journey
- Aerosmith was all over the Armageddon soundtrack thanks to Liv Tyler
- The Nic Cage effect
- To be continued

Music:
Kevin Bowe (feat. Paul Westerberg) - Everybody Lies
Johnny Foreigner - 3 Hearts
Chris Stamey - Astronomy

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Kevin Bowe song is on the album Natchez Trace on Okemah Prophets. Download it for free at RollingStone.com.
The Johnny Foreigner song is on the band's EP NAMES, which you can download for free from Bandcamp.
The Chris Stamey song is on the album Lovesick Blues on Yep Roc. Download the song for free as part of a sampler (in exchange for your email address) from NoiseTrade.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Rock for Life

Charity can be found in many different places. This past Wednesday, if you braved the snow, you would have found it in a little rock club in Allston. That was when my good friend Jay Breitling hosted the Clicky Clicky Community Servings benefit at Great Scott, featuring Guillermo Sexo, Varsity Drag, Infinity Girl and the Boston-area debut of Johnny Foreigner.

Of course, nobody could have foreseen the crazy-ass Nor'easter that blew into town that day, bringing with it mucho snow and slippery road conditions. The drive in from the North Shore was rather hairy, but it was nothing compared to the slog JF had to take from NYC, a journey that took the band 10 hours. Meanwhile, the band Speedy Ortiz had been slated to play second on the bill, but they were stuck in Northampton because of the snow, so Varsity Drag agreed at the last minute to jump in.

It was a mini-Webnoize reunion, with me, Jay, Briggy and Doobs all in attendance, as well as other luminaries (and friends of the podcast) Nick Lorenzen (who is raising money by selling pies for Community Servings, which provides free meals to the chronically ill and their families), Mike and Cathy Piantigini and Brad Searles (who got there after I left). Infinity Girl and Varsity Drag both played excellent rocking sets, and then Johnny Foreigner (who only arrived a short while earlier) took the stage and promptly blew everyone's freaking minds.


Jay has been hyping these guys for years and is pretty much responsible for "breaking" the band in the U.S. (using the term loosely, of course) and I've been digging their albums, but JF has to be seen live to be fully experienced. They started their set with "Johnny Foreigner vs. You,"  sung by frontman Alexei Berrow and bassist Kelly Southern as they stood amongst the audience before climbing onstage to explode into "Feels Like Summer." The band thundered through a blistering set of older and newer songs before Southern led a group of folks outside to do snow angels on the sidewalk.

Guillermo Sexo came out for the headlining set at just past 12:30 a.m., but I had to head home so as to not be completely brain-dead the next day at work.

Kudos to Jay and Nick for pulling off such a great event to help out folks in need. And as was heard from the stage early and often that night, buy a pie, dammit.

Completely Conspicuous 251: Let There Be Soft Rock

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect another lost '70s pop hit. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- Latest More Lost Time episode features The Good Rats
- "Run Joey Run" was revived by the TV show Glee
- Geddes has a Neil Diamond-esque delivery
- Another story song
- Dube is skeptical of the premise
- The girl in this song could be the same one from "The Leader of the Pack"
- Song hit #4 on singles chart in fall of 1975
- Geddes was in psychedelic band called The Fredric
- Kumar: Title reminds me of the TV show Run Joe Run
- About a German shepherd wanted for a crime he didn't commit
- Dube breaks out a show promo about a guy wanted for a crime he DID commit
- Geddes followed up "Run Joey Run" with a baseball-themed song, "Last Game of the Season"
- Another song with a character who dies
- Geddes also tried a disco song
- Producer also created the song "Disco Spaceship" by Laurie Marshall
- Dube has no use for "singers"
- Geddes' late '60s sound recalls Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's "Some Velvet Morning"
- Dube: Watching music videos from that time is difficult
- To be continued
Music:
Telekinesis - Clock Strikes Midnight
Endless Jags - Seen Men
Guided By Voices - I'll Replace You With Machines

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Telekinesis song was released for Halloween. Download it for free at SoundCloud.
The Endless Jags song is on the band's self-titled EP, which you can download for free from Bandcamp. 
The Guided By Voices song is on the album Earthquake Glue on Matador Records. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Velvet Goldmine

As I type this, Deb's off in Arizona, touring the Grand Canyon and preparing for a half marathon tomorrow. She left Thursday and won't get back until late Monday night. So I'm here with the girls all weekend, which is cool. Today was dominated by soccer games and tomorrow we're going to visit my mom in NH. But one thing I've been doing in the evenings after the girls go to bed is catching up on some movies on Netflix that I know Deb won't dig. Thursday night, I watched Goon, a hockey film from Jay Baruchel that was great. And last night, I caught up with a movie I've been wanting to see since it came out way back in 1998...Velvet Goldmine.

Directed by Todd Haynes (Safe, I'm Not There, Far From Heaven), the movie was a critical and commercial bomb when it came out. It's a fictionalized look at the glam rock scene of the mid-'70s, with its main character Brian Slade and his alter ego Maxwell Demon (played by Jonathan Rhys Myers) clearly based on David Bowie and his Ziggy Stardust phase. I never caught it in the theaters when it came out but I did pick up the soundtrack, which featured some originals from the era (Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love," T. Rex's "Diamond Meadows," Roxy Music's "Virginia Plain"), new songs (from Grant Lee Buffalo, Shudder to Think and Pulp) and all-star covers of songs from  Roxy Music, the Stooges, T. Rex, the New York Dolls and Brian Eno. It's an entertaining collection.

David Bowie famously disavowed himself from the film after he learned it was based on some unflattering biographies of him (including one by his ex-wife Angie), so there's no Bowie music used in the movie. Still, Brian Slade and his wife Mandy (played by Toni Collette) are pretty obviously stand-ins for Bowie and Angie, while Ewan McGregor played Curt Wild, who is a combination of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, and who has a fling with Slade. And Christian Bale plays a reporter who grew up as a glam fan and a decade later is assigned to track down Slade, who disappeared after faking his death on stage. The movie uses Citizen Kane as a parallel, with Slade in the role of Kane, but there's no Rosebud, no childhood object or memory that reveals why he is the way he is. Like Bowie, Slade is a mysterious figure who assumes other personalities skillfully.

Unlike so many music biopics, Haynes chooses not to follow the traditional story arc, instead illustrating the campiness and glory of glam with music video montages. That seemed to drive critics nuts back in '98, but it makes for an interesting film and it has aged well, as others such as the AV Club's Scott Tobias have detailed. The performances are good: Rhys Myers gets Bowie's androgyny down, although he seems a little more of a blank slate than Bowie was; McGregor does a pretty spot-on Iggy impression, right down to dropping trou on stage while singing "TV Eye"; and Bale is about as far from Batman as possible in his portrayal of a teen outcast who uses glam as a way to express his repressed sexuality and as the older, wiser Arthur Stuart.

Much like glam itself, Velvet Goldmine is an underrated and interesting trip through time and space.