Karl THE LONG WEEKEND STARTS HERE…
…with THE RAMONES, playing Live in Rome, circa 1980. A concert documentary in three parts (1, 2, 3) showing the lads delivering one of their trademarked relentless performances. At a castle, no less. Hey, ho!
CHROMEWAVES: Frank Yang may be the Martin Scorsese of blog awards, but his Chromewaves blog is “a great site to be introduced to new music” and a “must-read,” in no small part because “in a field sometimes marked by over-the-top writing, his prose style remains enthusiastic, yet admirably restrained.” And he's a Cal Ripken of blogging, too — I can't remember him missing a day. What's more, he's going to be helping steer the future of music policy in October, along with people like David Byrne. Anyway, despite the fact that I steal from him frequently, Pate has made his blogroll. And while it's probably not really like two grand in our pockets, I'm honored that he found the site useful. So I'm having site admin Lance add Chromewaves to the site's “Interesting Links” page — which is the closest thing we have to a blogroll. And it's inspired me to add some more notable music blogs there in the future, which I'll note here as needed.
DINOSAUR, JR. wuz robbed! No, really. Someone stole all of the band's gear in Brooklyn.
IS IT A “BACK TO SCHOOL” VIBE? Serendipity seems to have a number of music bloggers posting tracks from folks who Pate fans will probably remember from college. Some Velvet Blog is streaming a pair of tracks from Rage To Live (the Johnny Jenkins tracks are cool also, but I digress), who (as SVB notes) along with The Individuals (which I have on vinyl), The Feelies, The dB's and Yo La Tengo, defined the “Hoboken Sound.” The dB's (who recently reunited in Chicago) were originally from Winston-Salem, NC, so imagine my delight that the NC Music History Blog posted some rare live stuff like dB's leader Peter Holsapple playing “Love Is For Lovers” solo. Musician-producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon play on the other tracks posted there, which got me thinking about Easter's old band and turned up Let's Active's “Sweepstakes Winner.” And while the pair is best known for producing the early R.E.M. records, Easter also produced NC fave The Connells. As the kids like to say these days, “Good Times…”
SUFJAN STEVENS is rockin' a new Fu Manchu on the cover of Topic magazine.
THE MTV MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS: Despite a gatecrasher's attempt to steal the top prize from J-Lo's hands and the efforts of Jack Black, the 2006 VMAs were reportedly pretty lame, though you can watch the show online to judge for yourself. I won't spoil it by telling you the winner of Video of the Year. However, I will point you to The Five Most Absurd Moments In VMA History (with video) courtesy of the re-launched Cracked magazine.
BEN FOLDS has a blog on MySpace where he enthuses over the Dresden Dolls and how good it feels to draw a penis on the wall with a Sharpie marker. You can stream a bunch of Ben via the Hype Machine. Currently, there are some fairly odd cover songs in that playlist. If you click on one of the icons at the top of the page, you'll have yourself a streaming Ben Folds jukebox.
THE CUTOUT BIN: Friday's fortuitous finds from the Hype Machine include: The Flaming Lips – If I Only Had A Brain; The Beatles – Junk; Bob Dylan – Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again; James Brown – Super Bad; Ike & Tina Turner – Bold Soul Sister; Blackbyrds – Do It, Fluid; Bananarama – Cruel Summer; New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle; The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979; The Modern Lovers – Roadrunner; Matthew Sweet – Livin' Thing (ELO); The Ataris – The Boys of Summer (Don Henley); Styx – Come Sail Away; and The Beach Boys – I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (Stereo Mix).
LESLIE FEIST got a marriage proposal in the pages of the Portland Mercury. You can find plenty of Feist, including an appearance on MPR's The Current and (esp. for Dale Stevermer) her cover of The Kinks' “Nothin' in This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'bout That Girl via the Hype Machine.
RUSH: Just in case Craig O'Neill visits over the weekend, I just wanted to note that The BM Rant recently blogged 2112, which you can stream via the Hype Machine.
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: Parlophone is pretending it hasn't inked a £1 million deal with the troubled singer's band, Babyshambles. The label admits it has been in talks with him, though. It's the record label equivalent of someone doing the “walk of shame” as they desperately try to forget a drunken, sleazy one-night stand.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON has a sex scene in The Black Dahlia so steamy that critics have complained they found it difficult to concentrate afterward. Which officially makes me less geeky than movie critics. Who knew? TMZ has amusing video of Scarlett trying to address the issue of how sexy she is at a press conference for the movie.
NOW SHOWING: This weekend's two widest releases, the Nicolas Cage horror-thriller The Wicker Man, and the Jason Statham action flick Crank, were not screened for critics. Crank is currently scoring 100 percent based on seven reviews on the Tomatometer, so it seems likely to drop (though it does have Dwight Yoakum and the dishy Amy Smart). The remaining new wide release is the basketball drama Crossover, which is currently getting a zero based on 20 reviews, so it's probably your must-avoid flick. The Illusionist is going into near-wide release at just under 1,000 screens — I've noted it's good, though uninviting, with some Paul Giamatti goodness. And there's Little Miss Sunshine, too, if you haven't already seen it.
LINDSAY LOHAN: Splash News is claiming that Lohan's boyfriend Harry Morton was spotted at Cartier allegedly purchasing an engagement ring. And they do have pictures of him in the store. The pair have been dating for only a month, but sometimes these things move fast.
MADONNA is arguing with hubby Guy Ritchie because she wants to take the kids on her Confessions world tour, instead of putting them in school. It seems like just a few months ago that Madge was claiming she couldn't tour Australia because her kids would have to be going to school.
JESSICA SIMPSON admits visiting the trout pout shop. Meanwhile, TMZ has video of ex Nick Lachey chasing Vanessa Minillo at full gallop.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes has a contingency plan to escape Cruise's clutches by helicopter, according to the ever-relaible Star magazine.
JOHN TRAVOLTA was snapped kissing a man on the lips. NTTAWWT, though L. Ron might disagree.
NICOLE KIDMAN: A rep for the actress suspects paparazzi may be doctoring photos to make Kidman look pregnant.
BRADGELINA: In Touch Weekly's latest story — that Jolie “looks” pregnant again — seems completely unfounded. The sole reason I mention it is for the response from Pitt's rep: “It's so stupid. That magazine is a joke.” Technically a non-denial, but funny enough to sell me.
GEORGE CLOONEY and ELLEN BARKIN are heating up, according to London's Daily Mirror.
FORTY YEARS OF SI SWIMSUIT EDITION COVERS: I figured that traffic might be low here today in advance of the holiday, so here's a special treat for those of you stopping by.
YAHRR! Given Pate's origin in Iowa, I must note that the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Nussle to run for Governor is being contested by a Pirate named James Hill.
SNAKES on a PLANE: The Unofficial Fisher-Price SoaP Action Set. Sadly, I was outbid for it.
RADICAL ISLAMISTS forced the cancellation of a 60th gala birthday party for the late Zanzibar-born Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
IRAN, to the surprise of no one, failed to stop nuclear enrichment by a Thursday deadline, according to the UN's atomic watchdog. To the contrary, the report from the International Atomic Energy Agency details Iran's continued stonewalling and lack of cooperation with the agency. Inspectors have found highly enriched uranium, which at extreme levels can fuel bombs, twice in the past. The nuclear fingerprint of a recently verified sample did not match the others, though this appears to be from old, spent fuel.
AN ORPHANED BABY SQUIRREL survives a lightning strike in McAlester, OK.
BEBE, a five-year-old BICHON FRISE, becomes the first dog to get a court order of protection in the state of New York.
PET HOARDING: This time it's just 27 cats in Nashua, NH. But they still smelled bad.
AN EIGHT-FOOT GATOR was not allowed to audit gym class at Parrott Middle School in Brooksville, FL.
THE SHARK POPULATION is dwindling worldwide. I guess they're gonna need a bigger boat.
