x-men review

I almost popped a boner when Beast (a.k.a. Kelsey Grammer) jumped down from the roof of Alcatraz and started ripping people to pieces.

That's all.

goodbye, Spin...

I received the following email from Spin's customer service department:

Thank you for contacting Spin Magazine. Your refund check is being processed and will arrive in the near future. This is a full refund for the unused portion of your subscription.

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. To ensure yourfuture concerns are handled in a timely fashion, please include all previous e-mail correspondence.

Sincerely,
Steph

Now I get to decide what magazine to subscribe to in its place!! Any suggestions?

wish list

You know, the Amazon "wish list" feature is pretty handy. I just spent an hour inputting a bunch of CDs I need. Most of said discs I have in MP3 form, but there are simply certain albums you need to actually have.

Lots of Big Black, U.S. Maple, Bedhead, Archers of Loaf, Chromatics and Ex Models, Lesus Lizard and Drive Like Jehu mostly. (Mostly stuff I would have owned had I not grown up in the smallest town outside of Buffalo. Then again, even if I had lived in Buffalo, I probably would have been a Snapcase fan.)

It's always fun to have a wishlist. Some of mine was filled earlier today when I picked up The Ladies, U.S. Maple's Long Hair in Three Stages, Wizardzz and Broken Social Scene's You Forgot it in People.

Bedtime.

P-P-P-P-podcast

I made a podcast....

the first installment is a little rough, so go easy on me...

http://auralminority.podomatic.com

be careful...my dialogue is a LOT quieter than the music. I'm working on fixing that....

PROMO DAY!!!

It's promo day, and I'm listening to all kinds of crazy shit I've been sent recently. Especially of note:

The Country Teasers: "The Empire Strikes Back" (extremely well photoshopped at right)
The Eastern Stars: "July 5th, 1969"
Aloke: "One Day We Will Kill You"
The Sound of Animals Fighting: "The Sound of Animals Fighting" (a rather sophomoric attempt by RX Bandits, Finch and Circa Survive members banding together to try and play "The Mars Volta"--but it's kinda neat sometimes)
Umbrella Tree: "What Kind of Books Do You Read?"

Problem is, I cleaned my room and tossed most of the press releases. This happens periodically and I forget who sent what...oh well. I'm sure I'll figure it out...

I was supposed to see Free Moral Agents, The Jai-Alai Savant and Rahim at The Che Cafe on Friday, but the venue had to cancel the show, apparently because they couldn't get some sort of insurance paperwork in on time. But they said they got it in on time for tonight's show (Hawnay Troof, which is Vice Cooler from xbxrx's dorky hip-hop sideproject). The Che has really started to fall apart, it seems.

I'm not sure what insurance company works on Saturday, but whatever. I'm going to see the bands on Sunday in L.A. at The Echo, so no harm done, I suppose. I saw The DaVinci Code instead. It wasn't too bad--though I haven't read the book, so that could make a difference in my opinion. I did think, however, that Audrey Tautou and Paul Bettany acted Tom Hanks out of his jock.

The Sabres won game one today against Carolina. There were so many Sabres fans there that I could actually hear "Let's Go Buffalo" during the third period. The announcers didn't address it. Then again, they didn't address much: they couldn't even get any of the Sabres' names right.

Is it wrong that I just can't get into white rap at all? Whether it's Sage Francis, Radioinactive, Peanut Butter Wolf, Cage or anyone else, I just can't get into it. It all seems so contrived and lame. (Written while trying to listen to Radioinactive's Soundtrack to a Book). Maybe I'm just racist. Ha. Or reverse racist. Or reverse, reverse racist.

Promo day is done. Most of the stuff was worth covering, but not worth raving about.

Spin??

Sia Michel out.
Chuck Klosterman appears to be out as well.

Joanna Angel in.
Ultra Grrl back in.

new tabloid style layout.
All text, no graphics.
front cover text that says: "Hot! Hot! Hot!" and "America's 101 Wildest Parties"

Incredibly difficult to read, both literally and figuratively.
It's now Us Music Monthly. Or something like that. Shameful.

Then again, I could have guessed it from the, well, LL Cool J feature that something was even more wrong with Spin than before.

I'll have to see how much longer my subscription runs. I'm going to tell them to stop sending it even if I can't get a refund. It's not even palatable enough to read as "competition" anymore.

Let's go Buffalo

Courtesy of the Buffalo news:


Ryan Miller's head is full of thoughts. His family calls him "a deep thinker." Connect with him on a subject and he'll offer philosophic commentary inconsistent with the stereotypical star athlete.
Miller also owns an emotional soul. It was on full display in his first forays as a Buffalo Sabres goaltender. His fury over a poor performance would cause his lower lip to tremble. He wouldn't suffer the prodding from reporters in search of answers or a reaction.
You could say he wears his emotions on his sleeve, but a better glimpse into what makes Miller tick can be found on the back plate of his goalie mask.
That's where you'll see what's always on his mind.
The ubiquitous "Miller Time" logo, which has followed him since college at Michigan State, is smack-dab in the center. In the upper-left corner is a USA Hockey logo superimposed over an outline of Michigan, the star in the "A" marking his hometown of East Lansing. A lizard, symbolic of an instinctive creature incapable of rapt thought, is perched in the upper-right corner.
The eye, however, is drawn to two images on the lower half. Between the straps stands a cartoon bulldog in Michigan State gear. Along the bottom, just above Miller's protruding black mane, is "Matt Man" in script.
Matt Man is Matt Schoals, Miller's 16-year-old cousin.
Matt Man would love to have a miniature bulldog someday, but he has more pressing concerns right now. He was diagnosed with leukemia in December.
Miller looks at the insignia just before he slips the mask over his scraggly head. Matt Man is a reminder of what truly matters, and the goalie admitted that has helped propel him through the second half of the season and into the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"You learn a lot from tough situations, and I know my tough situations haven't been nearly anywhere close to what he's gone through," Miller said after Wednesday's practice in HSBC Arena. "The magnitude of the things he describes to me and how tough he's been and how brave he's been is unbelievable."
Which cousin has been the bigger inspiration for the other is difficult to say. Schoals and his family have been blissfully distracted byBuffalo's playoff run, which has been anchored by Miller's remarkable play.
"It's kept my mind clear of everything and kept me positive because I know I have a hockey game to watch and get to see my cousin play against the best," Schoals said Tuesday from a Michigan hospital, where he awaited an unscheduled CT scan. "It's really cool because on days when I'm bored or really lonely, I have something to look forward to.
"I do feel like I'm on the ice with him because I'm on the back of his helmet."
Schoals had been lethargic for days, and then one morning, while getting ready for school, the square-jawed lineman and wrestler broke down into a 6-foot-1, 212-pound, crying heap on the stairs of his family's home in DeWitt, Mich.
Matt's mother took him to be tested for mononucleosis. The finding was substantially more serious.
"Burning sensation when we found out he had cancer," said Matt's mother, D'Arcy Schoals. "It's devastating. Your whole world crashes in. You just reach down and pray to God to bring us out."
The news shook Miller, just nine years older than the cousin he playfully dubbed Matt Man as a newborn.
"I know how hard Ryan took this," D'Arcy Schoals said. She is Ryan's father's sister and cousin to NHL players Kelly, Kevin and Kip Miller. "I remember the first conversation with Ryan how upset he was. He was devastated. It has affected him."
Perhaps there's no coincidence Miller's statistics correspond with the ordeals his cousin has endured.
Before the diagnosis, when trivial matters meant a little more to Miller, he was devastated when the freak bounce of a practice puck fractured his right thumb. The disheartening break sidelined Miller for nearly eight weeks and crushed his U.S. Olympic dreams.
He returned to action five days after he learned Matt had leukemia, and the rookie goaltender went on a run that startled even the Sabres. Somehow, he was better with a tender blocker thumb than he was before the injury.
Miller was 6-4 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage when he got hurt. From the time he came back until the Olympic break, he was 14-3 with one overtime loss and one shootout loss, a 1.98 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
"Every time I tie my skates up I look at this thing," Miller said, pointing to a hockey stick-shaped scar where his thumb attaches to his right hand. "Then you throw in a situation where my cousin is having his young life challenged, you just start to appreciate.
"When you start to think outside yourself and your little life . . . All these things give you perspective. Combine that with my injury, and I felt like "Just enjoy it and have fun. It's not going to last forever, so just do it and have fun.' "
March was a grueling month for Matt Schoals. His immune system was intentionally eradicated by three days of full-body radiation followed by three more of chemotherapy. On the seventh day he rested, but his 13-year-old sister, Lexi, had stem cells and T-cells removed for a March 28 transplant performed at Detroit's Karmanos Cancer Institute, named for the late wife of Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos.
Matt is in full remission. The wicked abnormality known as the Philadelphia chromosome has been eliminated from his body - for now. Unlike the Flyers, whom his cousin helped banish from the first round of the playoffs, the chromosome can come back.
"Everybody knew the chances of him making it was 5 to 15 percent," D'Arcy Schoals said. "We're still fighting the odds. He has shocked everybody because he came out of it in complete remission. There's no leukemia in his system right now. We're still not there yet, and he has an 80 percent chance of relapsing."
All of Matt Schoals' blood still is Lexi's at the moment, prompting him to joke about committing a crime and leaving behind DNA evidence to get his little sister in trouble.
He's taking anti-rejection medicine and steroids. The next stage is rebuilding his immune system. Until then, he must wear a surgical mask and has restricted human contact, which rules out seeing his cousin play live. He hangs out alone at home while his parents are at work, unable to step outside because germs can prove fatal. His diet is limited.
"I'm just excited because I'm almost done," Matt Schoals said. "I'm trying to play football again and all that. I just want my normal life back, just go back to school and hang with the other kids and be a normal high school teenager."
D'Arcy Schoals marveled when informed the days leading up to her son's transplant matched up with Miller's worst stretch of the regular season. From March 11 through April 1, the lizard must have crawled under a rock because Miller went 3-5 with a shootout loss. He was twice removed.
Perspective was never far away, not as long as Matt Man was pressed firmly against the back of Miller's head.
Miller, with his cousin in remission, rebounded in the final weeks of the regular season. He gave up only five goals in his last four outings, including his lone shutout. In the playoffs he is 8-3 with a 2.25 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
"As much as "SportsCenter' likes to portray things as the end of the world when a team loses, like it's the worst day of their life, once you step back for a second and look around, it's a hockey game," Miller said.
"Yeah, it means a lot to the people involved and the fans. It's exciting and fun. But if things don't go your way, come on. Look around you. We're at war with Iraq. We're having a lot of trouble with the Middle East. We're having immigration problems."
Miller paused, looked to the carpet and shook his head.
"And kids are sick before they've experienced life," Miller said. "You're just thankful for what you have."

Corporation buildings

Reason for me being so lax in posting anything:

The Stanley Cup Playoffs. I'll admit it. I'm freaking out about the Buffalo Sabres. That's all I'm going to say, because I don't want to jinx anything at all. Whatsoever.


Also, I saw Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo on Gilmore Girls last night. Pure and utter hilarity.

Lengthy posts detailing my recent visits to NY (we saw Kirk Cameron in the airport!!!) and Los Angeles (I interviewed Daniel Johnston IN PERSON) hopefully will follow.


In the meantime, please note this gem, courtesy of Team America, World Police:

"Pussies don't like dicks, because pussies get fucked by dicks. But dicks also fuck assholes: assholes that just want to shit on everything. Pussies may think they can deal with assholes their way. But the only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick, with some balls. The problem with dicks is: they fuck too much or fuck when it isn't appropriate - and it takes a pussy to show them that. But sometimes, pussies can be so full of shit that they become assholes themselves... because pussies are an inch and half away from ass holes. I don't know much about this crazy, crazy world, but I do know this: If you don't let us fuck this asshole, we're going to have our dicks and pussies all covered in shit!"

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MISSING:

Radiohead's OK Computer, CD only.

Last seen in case.

This is distressing....

tv on the radio picture post

Cross the street from your storefront cemetery

Hear me hailing from inside and realize

I am the conscience clear

In pain or ecstasy

And we were all weaned my dear

Upon the same fatigue

(You're staring at the sun)

Oh my own voice

Cannot save me now

It's just

(standing in the sea)

One more breath

And thenI go down

Your mouth is open wide

The lover is inside

And all the tumults done

Collided with the sign

You're staring at the sun

You're standing in the sea

Your body's over me

Note the trees because

The dirt is temporary

More to mine than fact face

Name and monetary

Beat the skins and let the

Loose lips kiss you clean

Quietly pour out like light

Like light, like answering the sun

You're staring at the sun

You're standing in the sea

Your mouth is open wide

You're trying hard to breathe

The water's at your neck

Your body's over me

Be what you will

And then throw down your life

Oh it's a damned fine game

And we can play all night

You're staring at the sun

You're standing in the sea

Your mouth is open wide

You're trying hard to breathe

The water's at your neck

Your body's over me

You're staring at the sun

You're standing in the sea

You're staring at the sun

You're standing in the sea